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February 24, 2005
And the winner is...
High Energy Jenny! She guessed 28,500 and was darned close. The correct answer was 28,586. Though I know Jenny a little bit from her blog, I think I'll consult her before picking a prize. Buying yarn for people makes me nervous. I should have contests more often*. It was really fun to read all of your responses. I actually laughed outloud when people started posting numbers in the hundred-thousands. I wish I had knit that much in five days. I would have finished two or three sweaters... and made an appointment for wrist surgery. So thanks to all who entered. I'm honored that so many of you are under the false impression that I knit quickly. I'm still knitting my little hands to the bone. And I still can't show you. Sorry. I can't even tell you how much it's killing me to not talk about what I'm working on. Instead, here's a photo of one of my window garden boxes this morning.
One of these days my knitting blog will actually be about knitting again. Thanks for being patient.
*My one year blogiversary is coming up, so we'll see...
Posted by kate at 08:48 PM | Comments (13)
February 21, 2005
Impromptu contest
Two hours after I said something about the yarn in my last post, it arrived. And two days later, the needles arrived. Do you think that means that in 2 weeks we'll know about Frog's job and, say, in a couple years I'll win the lottery and have beautiful clothes and in a couple decades I'll have warped the space-time continuum? That's my hope. Stay tuned for updates.
I've been knitting a lot since last Wednesday. Go ahead. I dare you. Guess how many stitches I have knit in the last 6 days... I was going to tell you, but I think I should have a contest. Alright. This is a contest. The winner gets... uhhh... French yarn or something... or a Phildar magazine if they want one? Or chocolate if they have too much yarn already? I don't know. Bear with me. I just decided I was doing this as I typed. I'll try to find something good based on your tastes. I can't show you what I'm knitting, but I'll give you a couple hints:
I think that's all the info I'm going to give. You have until the next time I post to leave a comment - could be Wednesday or Thursday . We'll see. I'll pick the person who was the closest (over or under). One guess per person please and if you are in on the secret of what I'm making, I guess you're not eligible. You know who you are.
Posted by kate at 12:39 PM | Comments (116)
February 16, 2005
Waiting - the story of my life
today's post is brought to you in the form of a list of the things I'm waiting for
1. A package of yarn that I desperately need. Later: Bitch and you shall receive! The yarn is here! Now for the rest of the list.
2. Addis that I ordered from Germany that haven't arrived because the store lady says, "You live in an area which the mail can not drive in, they must ring a bell and you open then." I'm puzzled by this as I live on a pretty big boulevard in a city and three weeks seems a bit excessive between two European countries.
3. Frog's contract to be over so we can move.
4. To know if Frog's contract is going to be extended so I can buy plane tickets to go see my sister and go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival while I'm at it.
5. To have a project that is not tied up with some sort of restriction so I can actually show it to you so you don't think I've stopped knitting.
6. To win the lottery so I can buy all of the gorgeous clothes I saw at le Bon Marché the other day.
7. The laundry and dishes to do themselves.
8. My brain power to become strong enough that I can type with no hands while I knit.
9. A way to warp the space-time continuum so I can get everything I have to do done and still have time to cook a nice dinner.
10. Spring
Posted by kate at 10:25 AM | Comments (23)
February 14, 2005
Happy Valentine's Day
Posted by kate at 01:49 PM | Comments (29)
February 10, 2005
Gotta love little kids
crumpled up hat to go with the sweater which just needs buttons and a hem
I went to knitting group tonight, sat down, cast on and was working the last decreases on the way home. Woot! I love that little kids have little heads. Now I just have to wash it. It smells a little smoky from the place we meet, plus one of the long ends was kind of wet when I was weaving it in... I'm afraid someone spit on the bus and the yarn dragged in it. I don't know that's what it was, but with all the puddles I see all over the city, it was either that or le pipi. Yuck.
Posted by kate at 09:27 PM | Comments (13)
February 08, 2005
Good things come in pairs
I got tagged by two people for the music thing and yesterday I got packages from two people!
On the left are all of my sweets from Louby Lou's contest and on the right is a lovely gift from Alison. And look what's in the package.
Silk for spinning! I am so not worthy of this lovely a fiber. I'm going to have to practise a lot and consult with the spinning gurus I know before using it so I don't just ruin it. And there was also some yummy smelling tea and a cute magnet which is already hanging on my magnetic chalk board.
Thanks ladies!
Posted by kate at 12:49 PM | Comments (8)
February 07, 2005
La la la la la la la la la
MJ and Julia tagged me on more or less the same day and I took so darned long to get my blog working and post this, that I'm just going to say thanks to both and post this darned thing.
1.Total amount of music files on your computer?
None. I had my hard drive replaced a while back and never reloaded them on my computer. I rely on Frog for all of the MP3s and he has a lot (5.5 GB) of them. Although as I'm typing this I'm realizing that I kind of miss listening to the crazy hodgepodge of songs I had. When I was still in NYC and Frog was in Paris, he used to send me French music every day or two. Sometimes rock, sometimes rap, sometimes cheesy songs from the '80s or '70s or '60s. Our French friends are always impressed that I can sing Les Ritas Mitsoukos as well as Jacques Brel.
2. The last CD you bought was:
Uhhhh... I really have no idea. Seriously. Frog's the big CD buyer. It might have been Bjork's Medúlla or a Ray Charles complilation.
3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
Besides the jingle for an insurance company on TV? "De Cara A La Pared" from Lhasa's La Llorona. GOD I LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! It makes me feel all sultry and Spanish. Note to self- learn Spanish in order to stop being jumpy and waspy
4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:
"Hyper ballad" by Bjork from Post - I love Bjork. I love Bjork. I love Bjork. She's a freaking genius and I dream of being as endlessly creative as her. And having a crazy swan dress might be cool too.
"Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major" played by Yo-Yo Ma on The Cello Suites Inspired by Bach. I had wanted this album ever since I saw the Inspired by Bach series about 7 years ago on PBS and when my kind co-workers gave Frog and I a bunch of gift checks to la FNAC for our wedding, I blew my half on this CD set. I nearly cried the first time I sat and listened to it. Note to self- learn to play the cello
"La Nuit" from Robots in Disguise on Get RID - It's catchy. They're English and I can hear their accents when they sing this song in French, which makes me feel better about mine. It doesn't really mean a lot to me since the song is much more about partying and night clubs than I am, but I can't stop listening to it. Plus, it makes me think of when I went to the bateau phare (a night club on a boat) with my pal Zoë who I never get to see since she lives in Shanghai. You there, Zoë?
"Foolish Love" by Rufus Wainright - I picked this one because it's the song that always ends up sticking in my head off this album, but I like the whole album, really.
"Lettre à France" by Michel Polnareff - I know Polnareff is kind of wacky and maybe a little creepy now that he's older and wears bicycle shorts all the time and my French friends say he's "naze" and "ringard" (lame and... lame) but I still love this song. It makes me think of driving from Brussels to Bruges with Frog not long after we met.
5. What 3 people are you going to pass this baton to and why?
Louby Lou because she sent me awesome candy.
Molly because I wonder if she listens to crazy Japanese stuff while she's eating her pocky.
Sarah because she rocks my world and has much cooler taste in music than une ringarde like me.
Posted by kate at 04:36 AM | Comments (9)
February 05, 2005
Our blogs, our selves
My blog was sick. Now I am. You may have noticed that for the last week nearly two weeks there was no posting, no commenting, sporatic email. That had to happen when there was a ridiculous photo of me posted, didn't it! I'm catching up on the email I owe, so please be patient if you haven't heard from me. Things are more or less back in working order now
Here's the last two weeks in a nutshell:
Tuesday - Sarah gave me Sweethearts (which I ate right away so you'll have to go to her site if you really want to see a photo of them).
Wednesday - I won a contest! I never win contests! Looby Lou asked people to identify a poem and I did! I asked for haggis, but she suggested old-fashioned Scottish sweets instead.
I met Kim (who you may have seen in the comments) and Trish (who I found out reads, but doesn't comment as far as I can remember) and their husbands (and mine) for a really great dinner with good wine which I drank enough of to babble incessantly. Kim brought me all this:
the world's biggest box of Cheerios so I can eat breakfast, gigantic plastic bags to continue my new yarn organization obsession, muffin papers so I can teach the French that muffins don't have to be chocolate and they are not the same thing as cupcakes, and candy corn because they aren't all melted together.
Don't you love the beautiful, clean packages of yarn? I think I should do this with all of my yarn, or would that just be scary? And sorry for the crap photo. It was dark out.
Thursday - I had a lovely tea and delicious scones with Auntie M, who was delightful company.
Friday - I got Knitting on the Edge in the mail (you know what it is so I won't bother to link) and read it in the laundromat with Sarah.
Frog and I took the Eurostar to London to hang out with my cousin. I took 2 knitting projects with me but only knit for about 3 minutes of the trip before falling asleep.
Saturday - We discovered a great love of crumplets. I didn't knit but I bought a ball of Rowan wool cotton that I really needed to finish Laura. I heard someone say "Gov-ner" for real - not in a film and not joking.
Sunday - I bought crumpets and cranberry juice to bring back. Still no knitting.
Monday - Ate crumpets. I worked on a couple patterns and felt like I got amazingly little done even though it took me all day
Tuesday - Work, work, work.
Wednesday - Worked my butt off again and got a lot done, including some seams on the Laura sweater. I just need to attach the second sleeve. Went to bed with chills and aches and a fever.
Thursday - Called in sick. I never call in sick. I wanted to take advantage of this unexpected day off to get some stuff done, but in order to do so, I would have had to go to the other side of town to buy a ball of yarn that I needed. Walking across the street to the pharmacy was difficult enough. I had to miss knitting with Kim and Trish. whatabummer.
Friday - I was so sick I couldn't do anything besides sleep and whine.
Saturday - According to my host, my blog should be cured. And I feel a bit better thanks to anti-biotics. I might even be able to knit today and Frog said he'll go get my ball of yarn so I don't have to move.
Posted by kate at 11:47 AM | Comments (14)
