New Breeds

We've had some chat on my Rav group about new blends of yarn.  This is all based on a strangely worded sign, but you know, that's often how ideas happen.  There is a sequence of events and when the sequencing ceases, things are different. Think about dog breeds for a moment.  Consider the Schnoodle.  There you have it. 

First on the agenda: a blend of Merino and Alpaca.  Say there had been Something Funny Going On out at the farm. Somewhere there are now some little Merpacas or Paca-rinos running around, bleating and spitting and generally looking absolutely adorable. 

(How do you know who should get top billing in breed crosses??? Naughty Aplaca + Fence-Jumping Merinos = ??? I like Merpacas, personally.) (Can these animals actually cross polinate? Not sure I want to know.)

If you combined cattle with Cashmere, you'd have a Cashcow.  The male offspring of a  llama and a sheep would be a Ramallama.  A Corridale sheep plus a llama would be a dale-llama  (Don't say 'dale,' as in Chip 'n Dale.  Say Dah-le.  Now say llama.  If you aren't getting it, you must go meditate.  Preferably in Tibet.  Get it now?) 

Como se llama is one of a handful of things I know how to say in Spanish.  Means, how is your llama?

Angorafobia is the fear of rabbit fur.

TWSS.





 

In Which Organized Knitting is Discussed

Completely gratuitous photo of adorable children with fake moustaches.

I have come to the conclusion that the personalized Sock of the Month kit thing is an excellent idea for others, but not for me.  Because clearly, I do not do Organization.

Early on, I removed three of the original 18 sock skeins to knit as scarves or shawls.  I took one to make fingerless gloves.  I actually did knit 3 complete pairs of socks from that selection.  However, I knit more from other random yarns I met during the course of the year.  Most of the original Kit yarns are still in the Space Bag. 

To review the Yarns of 2011, I can safely say that I used a great deal of yarn and had a huge amount of fun doing so.  Things were knitted.  In fact, some things were even crocheted.   However.  Virtually none of them came from the designated Sock Kit Thingie.

The conclusion?  My organizational skills are...different.

This year, the plan is to knit as the spirit moves me, but with an eye towards using stash.  This has a good chance for success, as Stash is There.  When inspriation hits at 11 p.m., Stash is available.  It's like a 24-hour Walmart, except the yarn is better and I don't have to get dressed and put on makeup to go to it.  This could be a plan that suceeds. 

I also have more requests for hats this year than I have requests for socks.  Hats are better for instant gratification. 

And now...to actually go knit something.

The Essence of Blogging

It has occured to me that if one has a blog, it might be...I dunno...bloggier, perhaps...if one actually blogged.  More frequently than sometime last August. 

However, whatever my thoughts on the matter, it's quite apparent that an abandonment of blog occured.  Why?  Not for lack of things to say.  I always have things to say.   More than are sensible to say.  Always.  (Not in a Snapesian way, though.)

(Oh, come on...'After all this time?' asks the Headmaster.  And the reply:  'Always.'  But you knew that.  It's Snape 101.)

So, after putting the trappings of Christmas away, I resolved to get after this bloggy business and go forth and blog stuff.   And the Christmas stuff IS put away. So that's a win.

In doing all this shifting about of things in the house, I discovered the Space Bag containing my own personalized Year of Sock Knitting.  Lovely.  I started with yarn for 18 pairs of socks...and as of today,  I have made a grand total of  3 completed pairs.  This is great, but they were not made from the yarn I selected for my sock club project.   Clearly I have had Sock Club Failure.

So now I have to decide if I want to have do-overs this year, or just admit that I don't enjoy structure quite that much and call it a day.  Whatcha think?  Keep truckin' or try something different?

And break time is over, and so concludes this entry!  Happy New Year, my little ones!  May all good things be yours!

Yarn Harvest

Oh look!  The yarn is ripe!  80 little mini skeins hanging up to dry.

Roll 'em up, roll 'em up and put 'em in a pan...
They will keep well, and may be used at any time,
in whatever recipe you desire.

Another (Very Hot Day) Dawns

Temperatures here in Cozyville: 106 in the shade at 1 pm.  Yesterday afternoon around 5, Hubby took set little digital (non 'bulb')thermometer on a wood surface in full sun.  When it hit 128.5 he grabbed it and stuck it in the carpenter pocket on his scrubs.  That pocket is really for your cell phone, but clearly it does in a pinch when you need to hide a dire thermometer.  (All temps are Farenheit.) 

To celebrate the Fourth, DD, Senior DGD and I crunched through the park in search of snowcones.  It was 106 in the shade at 1 pm. The mist tent was emitting warm vapor.  People were standing in it anyway, just for the psychological boost I think, because it didn't do much otherwise.  We chose the snowcone vendor who was situated so people in line waited in the shade.  He was a very, very popular man. 

(The other popular booth was the free-bottle-of-water-please-rehydrate-yourself-before-we-have-to-dial-911 station.)

We pondered over the flavor selection at the snowconery.   We got a red one called Tiger's Blood, and a clear looking one called a White Russian, that tasted like coconut.

A couple snowcones would be nice today, but oddly, there don't seem to be any around.  (What?  Nobody wants to set up a vendors' concession somewhere in the sun to sell ice?  Where is the entreprenurial spirit?)

The Harry Potter finale opens tonight in selected locations.  Cozyville is not one.  Cozyville, which is located 3 miles east of the Jumping Off Spot of the Universe, has no theaters.  (Laughing about the Jumping Off Spot, are you?  Best you stop.  There used to be a sign there but it got pushed into the void.  If you don't watch yourself, you'll fall the heck over the edge.  You won't be laughing then.)  This additionally means the odds of Alan Rickman showing up here to watch the movie with us are pretty low.  Crap.

This is all for today.  Hubby put the little digital thermometer back into the cabinet.  We tied a kitchen mitt on a string to the door that faces the west.  No freakin' wonder the handle is hot.

Le Sigh

Well, I'm officially sad.  Nobody missed me when I was gone.  Nope.  Not. A. One. 

And the drain gizmo on my bathtub is busted.  It's stuck in the 'closed' position and won't drain.  At all.  Seriously closed.  It didn't hold the water in the tub this well when I WANTED it to.  I did get all the water bailed out.  But it was a job.

On the 'to the good' side, my hubby is getting slowly but steadily stronger.  He has a long path ahead of him.  Doc said it takes a full year to recover from this surgery.  Wowser.  But he's moving along well.  Soon the difficult thing will be keeping him from overdoing.

And now, I'm going to go sulk for a while.  I'm not going out to eat worms.  It would mess up my plan to consider being a vegetarian.  But sulking sounds like fun.  Nobody missed me.  Nobody.  This is so sad. 

Well.  I suppose this means I can say really wild'n'crazy things here as nobody is looking.  You won't know what you've missed.  Mwwwahhh-ha-ha-ha.

Coming up for Air

Oh, look!
Something is crawling up from behind that rock!
What it are?

It is I!  I am posting! 

Did we miss me?

(Oh, please say you have missed me.  It will make me feel so loved.)

And this is it for now.  I shall surely return to write more in the nearish future.