Flickr

Just a quick post to tell you I'm posting my knitting project pics at Flickr.

More Birding pics and a Meme

First the meme - please post your answers to these questions either in my comments, or on your own blog, and then let me know you've posted!

4 Things to know about me: I love puppets, I love to tell and listen to stories, being around people cheers me up, I'm generally a positive/happy person even in the midst of trials

4 things that may surprise you: I sometimes lose sleep at night worrying, I have never bitten my nails, I sometimes like to be alone, I used to be even more talkative than I am now

4 jobs I have had: Librarian, puppeteer, seamstress, music teacher

4 places I've lived: Columbus . . . Boardman, Ohio . . . Grove City, PA during college (only 2 for me)

4 favorite foods: sushi, cheese, dark chocolate with nuts, high quality ice cream

4 favorite TV shows: The Muppet Show, Ned's Declassified, Wild Thorneberrys, The Simpsons

4 places I'd rather be right now: on a beach, camping in the mountains, with friends at a coffee shop knitting, sleeping

4 people who will post answers: Yarmando, Aunt Gerry, Mom, CychoLibrarian and maybe Sock Princess (yes, I know that is 5)

Now for a few pics . . . here you see my Mom, Mike, Dave (if you look closely you can see him kneeling behind my mom) and another birder, all trying to identify a warbler. Warblers are all small birds, smaller than my fist, all about the same shape. They're tricky to ID because they're all the same silhouette. I was not up to the task, but I did enjoy seeing and hearing them.

This is a cool shot of the fallen trees. I like the rugged, un-touchedness of this.

Here is a cool log - rotted out and growing new plants. My mom called it "nature's planter" and her pic of it was better than mine, but I figure I'll be humble and show you mine. Sigh.

This is a little barn swallow posing for me. I was close enough to touch him, but he was being very indignant.

This is why - he was protecting his nest. You can see the tail feather sticking out if you look closely. This is right at the entrance to the visitor's center. Very cool. Did I mention we saw over 100 species on Saturday? Well . . . Mike saw them. I wrote them down, and I saw some of them . . . but not all.

Happy Birthday, Old Man!

Friday was my husband's birthday. We drove up to Lake Erie - Port Clinton, Ohio - and met up with my parents. Friday evening we went out to the lakeshore to watch for boats and see the sunset. Here are my dad and Simon. This is an echo from a picture we took about 10 years ago of them doing the same thing - I'll post that soon.

Here is Si, telling Pop-pop about Boy Scouts or something. It's great to see them talking like this. I find it very comforting and cozy.

Here are my mom and hubby, both watching things on the lake. I just thought it was funny, them facing different directions.

Here is the sunset. You can even see the lovely nuclear power plant there. Aaah - how romantic. It made me feel like we were the Simpsons.

And here is the first pic of Saturday - a Baltimore Oriole feeding on an orange. Beautiful. We saw over 100 species of birds Saturday!

Birthday Cards not a Hoax

I know, I know, you've heard it before. Send cards to help this kid get well and make his waning life a little happier. Well, I've checked it out and it's true. Shane Bernier is 7 and wants to get 350 million birthday cards by May 30 for his 8th birthday. According to Urban Legends it is all true. So - send those cards and letters and help this kid win a record! Of course, if you read the Urban Legends article you'll see their word of caution . . . but hope springs eternal!

Cup Snuggies and other oddities

Some of the books waiting for my husband to put them away. I would do it, but he has a "system". Also, we are out of bookcase space.

These are some cup snuggies I made for my MIL last weekend. We were visiting, and it hit me that she was running out of snuggies since she was resorting to using beer cozies. They were quick and fun to make with yarn leftover from the baby hats. She likes them. Pattern, you ask? Umm - cast on about 40 stitches (worsted weight, size 8 dpns), k2p2 ribbing for about 4 inches or so, then decrease quickly by knitting 2 together all around until you're down to just a few stitches and you can thread the yarn through and pull tight, weaving in the end. Presto, zippo, it's done!

This is Sunshine. She is a dear old cat that lives with my MIL and FIL. She joined them after being abandoned by someone else in the neighborhood. She is one of the sweetest, snuggliest cats I've ever known. Her sweetness is largely why I finally decided I could no longer live without cats. I had to take some pics of her because she is so old and frail, I'm afraid she won't be with us much longer. One of her housemates, Ugher, is also very old and frail, but she's still so darn grouchy I didn't want to bother the old dear with the flash.

Preemie Hats

Gerry asked for patterns, so I emailed here the following, which I then thought some others might like. She is working at the Ronald McDonald house, helping people who stay there who have kids in Children's Hospital, and had requested some hats.

These are so fun and easy! I'm using worsted weight, generally, on size 8 needles. That JellyBeanz yarn is great, very soft, and cheap at only $4 a skein at the Merc. For the smallest ones I cast on 40 stitches, although I don't think you have one of those yet. Those would be for about a 4 lb preemie, which is often the size they come home. Well, that's how big Simon was when we brought him home. The thing is, when you're making donations, you can play with the sizes because SOMEone will eventually be able to use them, right? So - the largest one I gave to you had, I think, 52 or 56 stitches cast on. For the roll brim you just knit and knit and knit around for about 4 inches. Then divide your total number of stitches into 4 and start your decreases. I do raglan decreases like in the Half Dome Hat . I like the way they look, and the way they hug the head. I decrease to about 4/5 stitches, then do an Icord until it's long enough to go around my finger. Then I bind off and tie the Icord into that little top knot.

For the ones with the fold up cuff, you just do k1p1 ribbing or k2p2 ribbing for an inch or so first, and then follow the rest for knitting and decreasing.

I like doing them. I made so many hats for Xmas last year, this is nearly mindless knitting, and it is just the thing my soul needs as I watch my own preemie turn into a teenager. It's also good for when work is stressful because it's great for that short attention span. If I want something just a smidge more complicated I put in a stripe. LOL Maybe I'll try a ruffle or something on the next pink one.

Well, I'm not sure why blogger changed my picture settings, but this post is going to have all the pics centered. LOL. These are preemie hats for donation. I don't seem to have the attention span for anything more complicated right now, as work is very busy. I went home to Boardman this weekend, just me! My brother (Bless him) fixed my AC on my car and checked the rest of it out to ensure that the recent repairs we've had done were all right. My parents had a concert I attended Friday night - witness their formal wear! Arent' they a great looking couple? Guess how old they are - go on, I dare you!
This is an old Arby's sign (obviously) that I liked the look of. Just something on the road between my folks' house and where I met up with my friend Laura for breakfast Saturday. Saturday afternoon my mom and I went to the Fellow's Rose Garden which is part of the Mill Creek Park - the metro park in Youngstown. It was much prettier than my pictures convey. I like this candid of Mom because it shows her nice smile. Here are some of the pretty tulips in the park. Thanks for reading!

Daemon from Golden Compass

If you've not yet read any of the Philip Pullman "Dark Materials" books, it's time you tried one! With Golden Compass: the movie coming out in December this year, you've got plenty of time to see what the buzz is about! Each person has a personal daemon who is their life's companion. Here is what it chose for me:



Somehow or other it classed me as "shy". LOL

I read _Golden Compass_ when it first came out. I remember reading _Subtle Knife_ in a Pulisher's Proof copy I picked up at ALA that year. Seems to me I never got around to reading the third book - how could that be??? [off to get that book reserved]