I was right (of course)

Remember how I was complaining about dishcloths and my lack of love for them? And then remember how I justified buying new cotton yarn thinking that would make me love dishcloths again? Well, hooray for me, because I just cranked out these lovely ladies in lavendar...

BTW, here's a quick movie review for "Ladies in Lavender". Now, I like me a good boring movie. I've watched several movies of the "chick" kind that Lee will say "Oh, is this the scene where they talk and stare at each other?" Or "Oh, is this the scene where they dance and don't speak?"

Ok, so "Ladies in Lavender" was TOO BORING for even ME. I kept finding excuses to get up. I'd be gone for 5 minutes, and had not missed anything. It's the story of two old English ladies (sisters) who find a young man washed up on shore by their house. (There. Now you don't need to see it, because that's all there is. Ok, and the boy is an excellent violinist, but, really, who cares?) The most exciting part of the movie for me was when I knew the boy's nationality before Judi Dench did, and I yelled at the TV "He's Polish, for crying out loud!" It was based on a book. Hopefully a SHORT story.

Check out this lovely lady... can't go wrong with happy happy spring blue.

Dishcloths... now with 90% less enjoyment

Feeling bad about these last night.

I finished the dishcloth that was on the needles. Ran short of the hot pink about 5 rows from the end. EH! I winged it with a different color.

I pulled the DPNs from the socks and the mittens, so I could put the DPNs in my new DPN cases. Also, I just wasn't committed to finishing those 2 particular items. Back into the stash the yarn went... still in cuff format. No sense in Doing the Job Right.

Haven't dealt with the Miter Square yet. (By the way, I think the German language has it right when they capitalize the Nouns. Just makes sense, at least with how I talk. Well, maybe in German you need them capitalized to know where they are. Actually, for me, it'd be easier if they capitalized the Verbs. It gets confusing. It confusing gets. Don't get me started about past tense auf Deutsch.)

Ok, here's a story about me, as a newbie german speaker...
I went to Austria in 1996... I'll write up the "why" at a later date. My friend Brad picked me up from the airport in Munich. So, I'm extremely tired and stressed from travelling alone and a layover in Amsterdam. Alone. Anyhoo, we're driving, driving, driving, and we keep passing signs for Ausfahrt. By about the ninth sign, I say to Brad, "Man, that Ausfahrt must be a HUGE town." I don't believe Brad knew he was capable of laughing so hard. There may have been snorting involved. Through tears streaming down his face he said, "Chris! 'Ausfahrt' means Exit." I believe this story was told again and again long after I left Austria. So, if you've heard a version of it about a friend of a friend ... IT WAS ME. :)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

the GOOD... We went to Cedar Falls, IA to see Matt (Lee's cousin) get married to Sara. The wedding was God-centered, to the point, and simply pretty. Lee and I found the perfect gift (the one titled "Side by Side") for them in Galena on the way there. Of course I also gave them dishcloths.










Speaking of Galena... guess what there is in Galena... go on, guess... I admit to buying a few, TOTALLY ESSENTIAL things. Also, it was warm in the store and cold outside. Don't judge me. The shop owner was very nice and gave me a pattern she'd just made when I admired the item in question. Lee thought perhaps her generosity had something to do with the $50 we (ok, I) just spent in there. Skeptic.


the BAD and the UGLY... What's that on the ground? Oh, that? That's just 2 inches of ice from the freezing rain. Oh, is that all? Poor Matt and Sara. Their wedding day reminded us of OUR wedding day, when Mother Nature decided to have a big ole' hissy fit and spit out freezing rain for 24 hours... starting the night before the wedding. (In our case, it was a blizzard 5 days before and a foot of snow the night before the wedding.) Our hotel was not far from everything and basically in a straight line, but it took a solid 1/2 hour every time we got to the car to chip the ice off. I say "we", but it's the royal we. By that, I mean Lee. Bless him, he did have some fun. I was able to open the windows from the inside and punch the ice out that way. Good stuff. Tried to get more action shots, but OUCH... freezing rain hurts. And it's cold. We ventured out Saturday morning. There is a yarn shop 2 blocks from our hotel. It was closed. Yeah... freezing rain. Pretty sure we were the only fools out walking. Glad we went to the yarn shop in Galena the day before. Oh, so glad.

Unclear on the Concept

Kitty Pi is done. It took 4 (!) skeins of Lamb's Pride worsted. I did it with 2 strands, #10.5 needles. Here is a pre-felted look at it... I set Sibbie in it and she settled right in.

A word about felting in a front load washer. (Remind me to get a top load washer next time, although I didn't choose this washer... it came with the house.) Anyway, there is no way to check the progress of the felting, and there just is not as much agitation. That's great for clothes, but not so much for felting. Sooo... Kitty Pi got 2 washes, then the sides stood by themselves. I did the i-cord bindoff rather tight so that the sides would bulge a bit, and they do. Love it when a plan works the way I pictured, rather than the opposite of what I pictured, which has happened.

Here's the felted version which Sibbie would not step in. Ok, granted, it was wet at this point, but there had better be some major kittie useage once it's dry. I'm not above sprinkling catnip on it. I know they will love it if they would use it. Also here's a pic sans cat.

Lee and I TRIED to watch Black Dahlia... booooooooring. Maybe the book was better. We turned it off after 20 minutes, which felt like and hour and a half. So, we popped in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, season 2, and I worked on these:

Yes, I'm still in love with dishcloths. I hope I can part with them when the time comes, cuz I'm pretty much in love with them and their cheerful colors.

Ever have a crappy day suddenly get better?

After an emotionally draining day at work where the news was bad to worse, and you just have a gnawing pit in your stomach, then have to lead a Bible study, then drag yourself home, wander around the house, finally decide to put pjs on, you walk in the living room and see that those darn cats have been in your pile of dishcloths.... but wait.... cats wouldn't have left you a message drawn in dishcloths... would they? All together, Ladies... "Awwwww...." What a good, sweet man I married!

Dishcloth Frenzy

My name is Chris and I'm a dishclothaholic. I am apparently unable to stop making them. I need an intervention.

Even Dirty Dishes Deserve Clean Knitting

I'm also in love with Ballband Dishclothes. The colors make me very happy. If you're a friend of mine, forget you saw these, as you'll be getting one for Christmas. :) I can't stop making these guys.