Real Men Have Afghans

According to my Crochet Pattern-A-Day calender today we are starting on a new and exciting project that is going to take us through the year! And, if we could get a little drum roll here, it is the Crochet Dude's Afghan! Yay, Crochet Dude! It is a very "dude-ly" looking afghan, if I do say so myself. Worked up in Lion Brand Wool-Ease CHUNKY. No goo goo sport weight baby yarn for this afghan. Nuh-uh. We've got CHUNKY. A total of 16 squares of testosterone in a variety of masculine motifs. I wonder if I could crochet a man to go along with it ...

Over at C'ville, I've joined the Summer Scarf Swap and am anxiously waiting to find out who I'll be crocheting a scarf for. I already have the pattern I want to make and this will be my first foray into the world of bead crochet. I am WAY excited. This is my very first Swap. Of course the only bad thing about it is I won't be able to post pics until my swap person has received the scarf I make. And we all know how much I love pictures. In fact, I am planning on purchasing a new digital camera tomorrow!

Speaking of which ... if you are currently digital camera-less and would like a used, but still operating digital camera of your own, please e-mail me at Sakkasie@hotmail.com . Because who really needs two digital cameras? Once again, this offer only applies if you are digital camera-less due to limited financial resources.

That's it for today, crochet fans.

Toast Me

Here at the Weaving Inn, we continue to bobble along. This particular square is called "Band of Bobbles" for obvious reasons. This square is also driving me crazy because every time I think of the name it reminds me of that early 70's hit, "Band Of Gold."

Now that you're gone,
All that's left is a band of gold
All that's left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the memories of what love could be
If you were still here with me

Such a cheerful little ditty. You'll be humming it all day long.

Am I the only person who posts pictures of food in their blog? Probably. This is a jar of marmalade that I bought at Draegar's on Sunday. Draegar's is a very upscale grocery store with locations in Los Altos, Menlo Park and San Mateo. It's almost the type of grocery store that makes you wish you'd put on makeup before you walked through the doors. And left the sloppy sweat pants at home. So of course you have to buy things you can't get anywhere else. Like Pink Grapefruit Marmalade. Mmm, mmm, mmm, I love me some marmalade. Especially if it's served on toasted wheat bread with lots of butter and a big cup of tea on the side.

Now this is the part where you need to pay attention; the key word in the previous sentence is "toasted." This week we're forgetting about Canada and instead concentrating on a much more important subject. Toasters. Of course I own a toaster. And it's the worst toaster in the world. But what would you expect for $9.99? Something that actually ... toasts? So the hunt is on for the world's best toaster.

Which is where you, loyal reader, come in. I know nothing about toasters. Which is probably pretty obvious considering I thought $9.99 would get me a good one. So now's the time for you to go in your kitchen, check out your toaster, and write a short review on why your toaster is THE best toaster in the world. Or maybe it's not the best toaster in the world. Maybe your friend Gladys has the best toaster in the world. That's cool, tell me about her toaster then. Help me find a toaster.

Come Friday (aka payday) I will choose my new toaster based on the best review written and march down to Fry's and buy one. I know that this is a serious responsibility you are taking on, pointing me in the direction of a new toaster and all, so of course you will be compensated accordingly. In yarn. Please, no epic toaster reviews. Just tell me does it toast evenly, can you actually retrieve the bread from the toaster, is it wide enough to toast a bagel (mmm, toasted bagels), you know, important toaster stuff. Post it here in the blog so we can all read about your amazing toaster.

Lily says, "Does this cage make me look fat?"

Bouncing Baby Bobble Blanket

Here we go with the first square of the Bouncing Baby Bobble Blanket. As mentioned yesterday, there's a new CAL over at Crochetville and it's based on the book, 200 Crocheted Blocks. I've decided to make all the bobble and popcorn stitch blocks for a Project Linus blanket. This is the "Arrowhead Bobbles" square. Theoretically these squares are supposed to be 6" but mine are coming out around 7 1/4". But it's all good, providing they all come out the same size. And they're fun to do! So fun in fact, that I've almost finished the fourth one. In addition to the Arrowhead Bobbles, I've also finished "Bobble Diamond", "Lemon Stripe" and I'm working on "Band of Bobbles."

Here's another WIP that's proving to be really fun to do NOW that I've figured out the pattern.

This is the Two Way Tee from "Crocheted Sweaters." Why is it called "Two Way"? Well first you crochet the bottom half sideways and then you crochet the top half up-ways (yes, I know that's not a real word). AND the necklines are different, the front is square and the back is rounded. Have I mentioned this is my first wearable? Ahahaha, I'm *insane.* Let's just be thankful there are no sleeves.

Here at The Weaving Inn we're still on a chocolate kick. Viva La Chocolat!

These delicious little treats are from Saratoga Chocolates. For those of you not in the Bay Area, Saratoga is one of the many little towns surrounding San Jose. It sits up against the Santa Cruz Mountains and it's one of my favorite places. Of course, the fact that Knitting Arts is also in Saratoga makes it even more wonderful. And 'lo and behold, Saratoga Chocolates is a mere two or three doors down from Knitting Arts. I'm thinking of building a shrine to the Yarn Gods in Saratoga because they've obviously blessed the town. But since I'm still working on the box of Purdy's chocolates that Cindy The Wonder Friend gave me on Thursday, this box is hidden in the cupboard. In case robbers break in. Take the T.V. but don't take my chocolate.

Chocolate And More

Last night was the weekly meeting of the Silicon Valley Stitchers. And for some reason there was a LOT of chocolate going around. So just to keep the momentum going, here is a picture of some Grand Marnier brownies. Although I did not make the brownies in the picture, I have made Grand Marnier brownies. On more than one occasion. Did you know that Godiva chocolate has a website with recipes on it? And that the recipe for these brownies can be found on that website? But heck, I'll make things easy for you; http://www.godiva.com/recipes/recipe_zoom.asp?id=22 . One little click and you too can have the recipe for Grand Marnier brownies. Aren't I helpful?

There's a new CAL going on over at Crochetville. It's the "200 Crochet Blocks CAL" based on this book. This is a wonderful book for all you lovers of 6" squares. And also for those of us who might be a bit "color challenged" at times. There are a number of layouts in the front of the book using different blocks and colors; could it get any easier than that? There are both your traditional granny squares as well as sampler squares. The squares are also rated according to skill level. I bought this book when I was home in Canada at Christmas and I think it's worth it just to admire the author's use of color. But then I'm a color junkie.

So what the heck am I going to make? Well now that the Peek-A-Boo afghan has been put to bed (and btw, thank you to all the nice people who said nice things about it) it's time to start April's (the month, not me) Project Linus blanket. So I think I'll pick out 25 or 30 squares and have at it. I think 30. Then I can use three colors. And one of the colors will be this!

Doesn't this just scream "BABY BLANKET"? No? Well what if we add some of this?

And then we'll put in some of this! Oh wait, the third color is white. Everyone knows what white looks like.

Oh, and from the "Better Late Than Never" file, a Happy Anniversary to Gordon and Cindy who celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary yesterday. 27 years, wow. But if you knew Cindy like we know Cindy, you'd know that spending that many years with her would be no problem at all. I'm still hoping her and Gordon will adopt me but I don't think it's gonna happen ...

It Must Be Spring Somewhere

Ta da! The Peek-A-Boo, renamed Snowdrops On Roses, afghan. Finished as promised last night at the Santa Clara Valley Crochet Meet-up. Well, almost finished. There's that little task of weaving in the ends that still needs to be done. There's also the issue of where this little blankie will end up. I'm pretty sure Project Linus only accepts 100% acrylic blankies and this one is 20% wool / 80% acrylic. But it's machine washable. I shall have to investigate. Stay tuned.

Yesterday I made a false claim. I stated that I was going to make the lovely white sweater on the cover of "Crocheted Sweaters" with yarn purchased at the Knitting Arts fabulous 30% off winter yarn sale. Alas, the only yarn on sale that I liked and that would have been suitable for this particular project would have ended up costing me $88.00. No. Nope. Never. If I was making it for myself ... maybe. To be given away ... not happening. So let's switch gears and think SPRING!

Ooo, can't you just taste the minty goodness? This is Rowan's "Calmer." Is that a great name for yarn, or what? In fact, this particular shade is "Calmer." So it's actually "Calmer Calmer." I think the Gods are speaking to me. Anyways it's 75% cotton, 25% Acrylic/Microfibre and it's wonderful. I'm not a big fan of cotton because it can be a bit stiff and occasionally a little on the rough side. But the acrylic in this yarn makes it feel like silk. As well as giving it a bit of elasticity. Another bonus. This may be my new favorite summer yarn.

So these lovely little balls plus two more will be turned into this. Which was also on the cover of "Crocheted Sweaters." In fact, I've already crocheted and frogged four rows so I'm off to my traditional start. And YES, I did a gauge swatch, thank you very much. The reason for the "froggage" was because the instructions said, "ch 39, sc in 2nd st, blah, blah, blah." Well the gauge for the sweater was 15 ch = 4". I did the math. If the instructions were correct, then the front of my sweater would be 10.4" wide. It was supposed to be 20". Was I destined to be a pattern tester YET AGAIN? Read. the. instructions. April. The bottom of the sweater is crocheted SIDEWAYS, then you pick up the stitches along one side and crochet UP. Who would have thought? Not me. Obviously. And no, I'm not telling who this is for. Not me. Obviously. Not if it's only 40" around. Ha.

Now Entering ... Wearable World

Tonight is the bi-monthly meeting of the Santa Clara Crochet Meet-Up at Knitting Arts in Saratoga. I am excited. For two ... maybe three, no make that four reasons. First of all, I'm maybe two rows away from finishing my "Peek-A-B00 Now Known As Snowdrops On Roses" afghan. And without the presence of any yarn crazed felines I should be able to get that finished without any problem whatsoever. Secondly, Knitting Arts is having a 30% off sale on all their winter yarns. And 20% off everything else. Since I'll be attending an "event" tonight, tack on another 10%. That's 40% off winter yarns. Yes, 40%! In my eyes, heck, that's half off all winter yarns. Which leads us to reason number three for my building excitement and also an explanation for my repeated use of the phrase "winter yarns." See how clever I am with that little segue?


Here is my latest most favorite ever sweater book. I bought this at ImagiKnits on Saturday. And I kid you not, there are at least 10, if not more, sweaters in here that I MUST MAKE. This book is a gem. We're talking beautiful, easy to make sweaters with fantastic detail (I love detail). I've already ordered the yarn (from Canada, no less) to make one of the sweaters. But the sweater (pardon me, "wearable") I'm going to BUY THE YARN FOR AND START TONIGHT is right there on the cover. The lovely little white number. It looks like it's knitted, does it not? Newp, crochet. So with my little 40% off winter yarn savings I'm gonna pick me up some yarn and make this sweater. Unfortunately I don't wear sweaters because hey, I'm lumpy. Me in a sweater is an affront to humanity. However, my friends Cindy, Kerry and Sue all have sweater friendly figures so who knows where this little number will end up? Do you have a sweater friendly figure? Let me know, there's another nine sweaters I need to make out of this book.


The fourth reason and oh my God I'm having a hard time breathing just thinking about this ... Knitting Arts is having a knitting / crochet retreat from April 28th to the 30th in Carmel, California. At the lovely La Playa hotel. For those of you not familiar with Carmel, well it's beautiful. The beach is gorgeous. I feel faint ... Anyways, two ladies sharing a room can get all 15 workshops, breakfast, lunch and snacks for $495. $675 for a private room. Truly, I'm dying here. Do I have $675 for a three day vacation? Oh Lordy, I hope so. I leave you with a picture of the beach at Carmel.

Persist, Persist, Persist

I bought the books. I bought the yarn. I bought the dreaded double pointed needles. I locked Andy in the bedroom. But ... I still can't get the hang of knitting SOCKS! Twenty years of knitting and I am stumped by socks. And let me tell you about double pointed needles. They are the spawn of Satan. These tiny smooth toothpicks are designed to drive you OUT OF YOUR MIND. I don't know which is harder to comprehend; a) how to knit socks or b) how people maintain their sanity while they're actually knitting the socks. So, one last kick at the can. For the next three Tuesdays, beginning on the 28th, I will be battling rush hour traffic into San Francisco so I can learn to knit socks at ImagiKnit. With the money I paid for this course I could probably have bought enough socks to last me a lifetime. But I am determined.

Spike

Here's Spike in his jaunty blue bandana. Poor Spike, he's currently living in Oakland courtesy of the Smiley Dog Rescue. My apologies to anyone who lives in Oakland but let's be honest here. People get killed in Oakland. Often. Which is why it is imperative that Spike get out of Oakland ASAP. I'm just sayin'. He's four years old and this is what Spike's foster mom has to say about him: "Spike is very friendly and affectionate and loves human cuddling. It doesn’t take long for him to be on your lap flirting and giving you kisses." And who doesn't need more kisses?

Maple Syrup On Mine, Please

Anyone up for a side of yarn cakes? These arrived in the mail on Friday. I bought them off eBay and they originally came from a fellow Crochetville'er by the name of Elizabeth (aka threeolivemartini). I'm quite pleased with them. Elizabeth is a "yarn blender." Each strand is actually three different yarns put together. I'm thinking a shawl. What do you think?

Rumor has it that slow and steady wins the race. Whoever thought up that cliche must have been a knitter. Honestly, I wish I'd never learned to crochet because now knitting seems soooooo slow. But I shall persevere even if it takes me 300 years to knit one single scarf. I know the picture is a little dark but can you see what a lovely job Andy did on rearranging my ball of yarn for me? God forbid it should stay in one nice easy to work with ball when we can tangle it into oblivion.

Andy says, "Huh, what? I'm just chillin' like a villain."

OK, OK, I know. I haven't posted the question for the Rowan Summer Tweed fantastic prize. Lemme think. Hmm ... Let's make this an easy one. Which Canadian city is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics? There, it doesn't get any easier than that. Which means I can log and go work on my afghan.

Think Green

It's raining. Again. Am I sick of this rain? Oh yes, I am. Last night on the news the weather man proudly proclaimed that we had only had two days of sun this month. If I wanted to live in the rain, I'd move back home to Vancouver. But rumor has it that there will actually be sun this weekend. In which case, I'm gettin' outta San Jose and heading North to San Francisco. One can only stay in the suburbs so long.





But meanwhile I'm stuck here, at work, and need something to cheer myself up. I know, I'll order some yarn online AND give some away! How about three balls of Rowan Summer Tweed in "Dew". This looks kind of springy to me and we could probably all use something springy right about now. Summer Tweed is a mix of silk and cotton so it would be just right for a little tank top or lacey summer scarf. I don't know, I'm babbling. I don't quite know how I'll give it away though. So I'll leave this picture up and post the question tomorrow. Being evil also cheers me up.

Another thing that cheers me up is finding good homes for animals that need them. Here's ....

Diedra

She's five months old and is a chihuahua mix. She's available from the Nike Animal Rescue Foundation ( www.narfrescue.org ) in San Jose. Of course I don't know ANYONE that would want a chihuahua mix but gosh, you never know. I'm just sayin'.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Bring on the corned beef and cabbage. NOT.

Knit One, Purl Two

Better? I think so. This yarn is from Nashua Handknits and is 75% wool, 25% alpaca. I got it at The Knitting Room (that makes 2 trips to The Knitting Room in one week) and was a very reasonable $8.50. I seem to have gotten the knitting bug again and thanks to my lovely ergonomic harness thinger I can knit practically pain-free. Now if I could just get Andy to stop chewing on the ends of my bamboo needles, life would be grand.


Here's the label from my all-time favorite Canadian beer. Which must mean it's time for another "Made In Canada" contest question. Hooray! Today's question is - who is the Canadian equivalent of George Bush, what is his official title and which political party does he represent? I know, that's actually 3 questions in one but the winner of this one gets a 16 ounce box of Godiva truffles. So it's worth the extra Google time. Post your correct answer in the blog, please do not enter if you've won in the last four weeks since we must be fair to everyone right? I'm so Canadian sometimes.

INVASION OF THE TABBY TOWER !!!

Wilma is NOT amused; Andy is, as usual, possessed.

The Dark Side

Oh my word, she's gone over to the dark side ...

Is that a KNITTED scarf in the picture? Oh yes indeed it is. A knitted scarf with a VERY glaring error on the right hand side. C'mon, don't try and be polite and say you can hardly see it. It practically leaps off the screen. But that's OK, I'm ripping it out because this particular yarn (Louisa Harding's "Kashmir Aran") is totally wrong for this project. A lace scarf should not be knitted in a yarn with a polished sheen - it just doesn't work. Nor, in my humble opinion, should it be knit using a worsted weight yarn but hey, that's what the pattern calls for and who am I to argue? So I gave the second ball of this yarn to Andy to play with along with his morning Q-tip and I'll go buy something else tonight. Stay tuned for new pictures tomorrow.

I'm sure glad I have smart friends. Last week I was whining because I was trying to crochet the Peek-A-Boo Afghan from the Crochet Pattern-A-Day calender and it was turning out all wrong. So I gathered up my ugly afghan and the pattern and took it to the weekly meeting of the Silicon Valley Stitchers. Kerry and Cindy had a look at it and the consensus was that the pattern had the colors reversed. I've begun redoing it and this is what I've got so far - pretty, eh? So since a change has been made to the pattern which essentially makes it a NEW pattern I'm renaming it. Henceforth this project shall be known as the "Snowdrops On Roses Afghan." Serves them right for not editing the calender better.

I was going to post a few more pictures but Blogger seems to be especially constipated this morning. So that's it for today, crochet fans.

The Siren Call ...

... of the sock. Whispering softly, a multitude of delicious colors, it beckons. "April, knit me, knit me. Fear not, the dreaded circular needle or worse ... the evil double pointed. Gaze upon the beauty that a mere $12.53 can bring."

Whoa, no more drinking at lunch.

Yet, who am I to resist? Socks, ladies, not alcohol. Especially when Knit Picks sends me a catalogue with socks like these on its cover? How can one possibly say NO? I love Fair Isle, I love purple and green together - it's like the Marketing people at Knit Picks put their little heads together and declared "Our next catalogue will drive April into bankruptcy."

Because not only were these socks on the cover, THIS WAS INSIDE!

Cables, oooo. Purple, oooo. Big needles. Double oooo. Of course I'm trying hard not to remember that the physical act of knitting gives me a back ache which then develops into a severe headache. But ... maybe I've just been knitting with the wrong yarn! Or doing the wrong project! Maybe socks are pain free knitting, perhaps it's just sweaters that make my back hurt. Shhh ... just nod your head. And pass me the 222's.

A picture for Kerry Berry. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Will It Flip?

Those of you who like to make hats are probably aware that after you've done a few rounds your hat begins to take on the shape of well ... a hat. The edge starts to curl in and you breathe a little sigh of relief that you're not going to end up with a very bizarre doily. I've seen it happen before and it's not a pretty sight.

Here we have my current hat in progress. It's from the Vogue Knitting "Crocheted Hats On The Go." Frankly this hat has been kicking my butt. I'm crocheting it in KPPM yarn (Koigu Painter's Palette something or other). This is not cheap yarn. The first two balls I purchased to make the hat with, Andy kindly puked all over. I cleaned it off (hey, it's $11.50 a ball) and started again. Then I ran into a little uhh ... gauge problem. Figuring this yarn was cursed I bought two new balls in a different color. What, you've never heard of cursed yarn? Trust me, it can happen.

I can usually crank out a hat in a day or two. I am on day 4 with this hat. But what do you expect on an "F" hook with round and round and round of single crochet. But today it actually started to look like a hat, the edge began to "flip" (big sigh of relief). And then I realized that the amount of yarn I had left might be a bit less than what I needed to complete this FABULOUS PROJECT. Why don't we take another look at the pattern? Oh. This hat does not take one ball of each color. It. takes. two.

Let's have a little crochet humour to lighten the mood, shall we?

A police officer was sitting alongside the interstate when he noticed a car speeding by and driving erratically. He pulled behind the car and turned his lights on. The car kept swerving all over the road. He noticed that the driver was an obviously distracted woman. The cop sped up and pulled along side her. She still did not notice the cop, but he noticed that the woman was crocheting as she was trying to drive. The police office pulled out his bull horn, rolled down his window and yelled “Pull over!!” The woman looked up and yelled back “No, it’s a scarf!!



And just for Cindy ...

Fiddlesticks

There haven't been a whole lot of patterns in this year's Crochet-A-Day calender that I've absolutely loved. However, the one for this past weekend caught my eye. It's called the Peek-A-Boo afghan. Imagine in your mind (providing you haven't lost it like I have) tiny squares of white framed entirely by blue. I really liked that afghan. I liked it enough that I actually bought the yarn it specified (Lion's Brand Wool-Ease) and did a GAUGE SWATCH. For an afghan, will wonders never cease? Of course I changed the blue to rose because blue reminds me of my ex mother-in-law but that's a different story. Now, I ask you, does this look like tiny squares of white framed by rose? NO. It looks like big ol' blotches of white with specks of rose. This is NOT the effect I wanted. However, I have posted a poor, pitiful "Help Me" on Crochetville and hopefully someone will tell me either (a) I'm doing the pattern entirely wrong, (b) the pattern is wrong or (c) they airbrushed the picture of the afghan to make it look nicer than it actually is. OK, maybe answer (c) is a bit far-fetched but I want my afghan to look like the one in the picture!

Amber asked today how long I was going to be running the "Made In Canada" contest and how often. The answers are (1) until I get bored with it and start another contest and (2) I plan on posting a question on a random day each week. So each week you'll have a new chance to win. And perhaps learn something new at the same time. Please remember, you can only win once in a 4 week period. This is to take into account that I am a night owl and usually post late at night. And since I'm on the West coast this gives the people on the East coast a better chance of winning if they log on first thing in the morning. Which isn't fair to my West coast friends. I'm just trying to keep everybody happy.

Speaking of winning, Raquel was our winner today simply by knowing that Queen Elizabeth the Second is on the Canadian penny. And for that she wins three skeins of Plymouth "Encore Worsted Weight" yarn in pink heather. This is another personal favorite. It's 75% acrylic and 25% wool and each ball is 100g / 200 yds.

And now it's time for bed because I'm exhausted.

Gauge Swatches - Always A Good Idea

It's been over 20 years now since I first started knitting. And probably at least 10 years since I seriously attempted to knit anything of substance. But I can still remember religiously doing my gauge swatches before every single project. And each time the Yarn Gods would smile down upon me and my swatch would be exactly 4" on the suggested needle size. Exactly. Every time. Ask my Mom if you don't believe me.

So naturally I assumed this miraculous ability to create according to specification would carry over to crochet. Ha! Double ha! Apparently I put the "T" in TIGHT when it comes to crochet. Granny squares that *suggest* an "H" hook I do with a "K". Shawls that *suggest* a "J" are done with an "L" (and only because I refused to go a size larger.) Eventually you'd think I'd learn from all of this and do a gauge swatch before starting ANY crochet project. That's what a smart person would do. As opposed to say ... a woman who refuses to believe that her crochet won't be perfect the first time. No, it's only after I've gone 10 or 12 full rows of a hat that wouldn't fit a 2 month old kitten that I concede defeat. Which is why this hat that I started Saturday night is only six inches across. Because I just never learn.

Monet Afghan update - six squares done, six more to go. I had the lofty goal of doing one square per day this week so by the weekend I could start putting it all together. Then ... well ... please see picture # 1.

Amber won the first FANTASTIC PRIZE in the "Made In Canada" contest and here's what she won! Two six ounce skeins of Bernat Baby Coordinates in pale yellow (thank you stupid camera for failing to capture that) and the Leisure Arts Leaflet "Quick And Easy Baby Afghans."

Since the "Made In Canada" contest is a work in progress I've decided to add a rule. And the rule is - you can only win ONCE in a 4 week period. Oh and here's a modification. Please post your CORRECT answer to the blog; that way we don't waste people's valuable time e-mailing me their answer if someone else has already won.

Here is today's "Made In Canada" question: Who's profile is on the Canadian penny? Good luck!

And now I must go retrieve my yarn from the cat. Andyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

The Best Of Plans

Over at ol' Crochetville I'm involved with the Hat-A-Week Crochetalong. I love making hats, everyone knows that. Instant gratification happens to be my middle name. But I can't say I'm too gratified with this little number. Here's ol' Lydia No Face modeling "Denver" from the Little Box of Crocheted Hats and Scarves. The original yarn it called for was Noro "Kuryeon" (I know I've spelt that wrong) and I decided to sub Manos d'Uruguay (that's probably spelt wrong too). But I didn't care for any of the colors that Kuryeon came in. So off I went with ol' Manos which is 100% wool. This hat had real potential with a multitude of different stitches (dc's, popcorn, clusters, reverse single crochet) but when done it's just ... blah. It kind of balances on your head. And it's WAY too short for my fat head.

And the more I look at it ... the more I think ... it looks like a bunny with a pancake on it's head.

The other day I was yattering on about the next contest I was going to hold. It was to be called the "MADE IN CANADA" contest. Some of you may have thought you had to be Canadian to enter. Well given that the few people who do read this blog are probably American, well then that wouldn't be a very successful contest now, would it? No, my Crocheting Goddeses, that is not what the MADE IN CANADA contest is all about. What it IS about is my ongoing mission to educate the Amercian public on their neighbor (neighbour) to the North. Since I've been in the United States it has come to my attention that there may be one or two things about Canada you might not know. So. This is how it works. Each week, on a random day, I will post a question about Canada. The first person to respond correctly will win a FANTASTIC PRIZE. Send your correct answer to Sakkasie@hotmail.com . Basically what this contest is all about is who can type www.google.com the fastest. But you never know, we Canadians are a tricky lot. So here's the first question. How many provinces are there in Canada? Good luck!

In other prize news, if you want your consolation prize from the Heartmade Blessings raffle it would be a really good idea to send your snail mail address to the above e-mail address as well. Please and thank you.

In home decorating / pet furniture news, here's the latest addition to the Campbell mansion. It was originally a wicker basket, it's now known as the "Tabby Tower." Why do Andy's eyes look like that? Because he's FREAKIN' POSSESSED !!!