Knitaholics Project

Got STASH? Those *Little Bitty Balls of Yarn left over from a bigger project? Can't bear to throw them away????? (me neither!) I have a new project I would love to tell you about that I would like to do. One of my friends has been undergoing treatment for cancer...getting chemo and radiation. I made her a "love-blankie" to take to chemo treatments and I thought why not make some more for others going through the same thing? You can participate with those *LBBY. If you can make a square or two or three thousand that can be joined with others to make "love-blankies" for chemo patients, I would LOVE it! ANY type of yarn: Cotton, acrylic, wool (soft non-scratchy) and it will be joined with others of similar type.
CO 30, K 30 rows, use size 8 needles. That's it! If you would like more info and address, please drop a line to knittykatz@gmail.com Also, please feel free to pass the word along! thank you thank you thank you!

Three cups of tea

TCOT is a book my DD recommended. I put a request in @ the library and found out I was a gazillion down the list. Finally I got it. I picked it up and was immediately taken with the story of a man, Greg Mortenson, who, after a failed attempt of climbing K2, met up with people in a little village in Pakistan. He was so taken by this extremely poor village, he decided to build a school. Although it took a LONG time, it finally came to fruition, despite many setbacks. It is truly an uplifting book about saving the world's poorest children from an uneducated life and in the process, healing rifts of religious extremist's terrorist teaching. It was amazing. Check out these websites: You will be amazed at the love and care that one man has fostered. http://www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
There are now 61 schools as a result of this one man's mission. Read it, you will never be the same.

Back in the saddle again!

OMG! How fast time flies! I cannot believe it's been so many months since my last post. The usual excuses: Christmas, New Years, Winter Break, Spring Break, National Pickle Week. You name it, I will use the excuse. I knit so much for Christmas that I have taken a break the past few weeks (other than little trifles and small things) I have been reading so many books my head feels like exploding. Here at our library in Portland (OR pronounced Ory-gun for all you east coasters, and ps by the way, we don't live in log cabins and yes we have malls) I put myself on the lists for many books I wanted to read. I knew they were popular, so I casually placed my name on the lists i.e. #4,032 out of 3 books available, thinking, oh, yeah, got plenty of time to read my books one by leisurely one. haha. NOT so fast! I got 6-8 books ALL AT ONCE. My usual modus operandi is to read 1 book at a time, but alas, I cannot, so I am reading several books at once. (In no particular order) "Confessions of a Teenage Sleuth" a parody of beloved Nancy Drew, by Portland writer extraordinaire Chelsea Cain, "The Audacity of Hope" by my fav candidate Barack Obama (I mean we can just say "obama" or "barack" and you know who I mean, sorta like "Oprah" or "Cher", those one name wonders) another book by Chelsea Cain, "Heartsick" "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Piccoult and at least three others.. To top it off, I am writing my own book...yes a cool mystery (one of my favorite quick read genres) and I am 50+ pages in: It would be lots more but I find myself working more hours than I have in years. Book is slightly on hold, but notes abound so I may hopefully catch up soon. Anyhoo. I'm Back and Sassier (a nice word for bitchier) than ever. PS to Mary: Whew, glad you got Luigi! He's been missing WAY too long. Roni

A hat w/a pattern

A first time patterned hat that I made. Someone had started this project and after the first few rows gave up and passed it on. fortunately with a picture of the finished hat and a pattern to follow. I can't believe it worked! I am so proud of it and my friend Tina gets it for her bday. (I was actually knitting it at the birthday party and made her try on the half-made hat to see if it fit. Fortunately, she's a good sport!) All in all, I was happy with the results and now will try another. For her party I also made a flourless chocolate cake, so rich that a small sliver is plenty. Here's the photo: My two loves: Baking and Knitting!

Oh oh oh! My Knit 1 Tea 2 Package is here!!!

Today was a gloomy day in Portland, Oregon USA. I did my three WW meetings under duress (only coz it was gloomy) and lo and behold, I'm thinking I have to take a nap when I get home. thought I'd check my email and there was a note from my pal saying the pkg had left Washington State (traveling all the way from Houston, TX!) So I am thinking, maybe it'll come today. I hear the mailman go down our street and I am thinking, maybe just maybe today is the day. IT WAS! And what a delightful day it has turned out to be! I now know my new pal's name. It is Kathy!http://kat65.blogspot.com/ and each and everything was a pure delight. Not only that, but she had been sending me little things for weeks: "TEA-SERS" so to speak, some tea here, honey sticks there. I have been so spoiled! I kinda didn't want the pkg to come too soon coz it has been so fun anticipating. the only drawback was, I didn't know who to thank for all this largesse. So I open the box *gingerly* making it last. Each item was carefully wrapped in Pink and White with beautiful bows with a note stating the theme of white for the tea and raspberry colors for the jam for my scones. Now keep in mind, there was also a tiny note attached to each beautiful gift. What a labor intensive gift! First off were the beautiful tea coasters in delicate shades of pink and raspberry: so detailed like little miniature Persian rugs! Next the tea-pot shaped cookies! Not only adorable with a capital "A" but delicious buttery lemon flavor.Then the first (!) box of tea: flavor: White Peony, which intrigues me no end. Next the hefty mug, just perfect for an evening cuppa in front of the fire (that is IF I had a fire....) then a muffin cook book! A strainer! A tea ball! Oh Lordy, there's so many things! Then what's this????More cookies? A delicate little sugar cookie. mmmm, so good! Then a lovely jar of raspberry jam, MORE tea, an Earl Grey White (a fabulous dichotomy!) Some pink M&M's (with peanut, no less) then a cute little tea bag holder shaped like a teapot (back atcha Kathy...wait for it) Now as if this wasn't enough, the box held a sweet scent of violets, not just any violets, but from violet candy, but this is the coolest part: the scent is DEVON violets, which as you may know (or may not have, but you do now) my daughter's name, named after not only Devonshire, England, but every time I smell that Devon Violet perfume, I remember being in Devonshire and deciding those many years ago that if I had a daughter, she would be named Devon just for that reason. So there you go, an amazing package from an amazing woman: Thank you so much Kathy! I have truly been spoiled! Rotten! Love it!

First Hats In the Round!

I did it! I did it! I did it! Devon sent me some bamboo needles in the round and lo and behold, they were perfect for this hat pattern. I did the one on the left first, then graduated to the pumpkin hat inventing the "stem" as I went along. So fun! Now I'm working on one that will look like candy corn. Too much fun!

Gone Crazy

My original goal was 10 things for Amy. Now, due to unbelieveable response from my Weight Watcher group, my Curves group, other friends and family, I have reset my goal to send 50 things to Amy by the deadline. I have already sent 7 things, soooo, that leaves 43 I need to get together. So far, I have thirty done (of the 43 left) and that means I need to get my needles cracking. I am trying for a scarf every two days, so I think I can beat the deadline with room to spare. Look for the goodies Amy!