Librarian...

If you are a librarian or a media specialist you should appreciate this video *grin*

Funny Video...

My Life in Song

I was reading random posts when it happened..... I got TAGGED by Snakes, snails & curly puggy tails!

Time for a fun blog! You're it, anybody reading this!

Directions: If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

1. Open your mp3 library
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press Play.
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the Next button.
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool.
7. Don’t skip songs.

My Movie:
01. Opening credits: Your Mamma Don't Dance - Poison
02. Waking up: The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
03. First day of school: Bitch - Meridith Brooks
04. Fight song: Geek in the Pink - Jason Mraz
05. Breaking up: The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
06. Happiness: You Dropped the Bomb on Me - The Gap Band
07. Life’s okay: Once Bitten Twice Shy - Great White
08. Mental breakdown: Dirrty - Christina Aguilera
09. Driving: Talk Dirty to Me - Poison
10. Flashback: When I Hear Music - Debbie Deb
11. Getting back together: Animal - Nickelback
12. Wedding song: Black Magic Woman - Fleetwood Mac
13. Birth of first child: Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega
14. Final battle scene: Goodbye Cruel World - Shakespeare's Sister
15. Death scene: Proud Mary - Ike & Tina
16. Funeral song: Mama I'm Coming Home - Ozzy
17. End credits: Silent All These Years - Tori Amos

OK, that was strange. Enjoy!

Knitter's CoffeeSwap 2 Questtionaire

QUESTIONS

1. Whole bean or ground? I prefer whole bean
2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Oh definately Fully-loaded
3. Regular or flavored? Regular, I am not a fan of flavored coffee
4. How do you drink your coffee? In order of preference: soy lattes, espresso, or American style with creamer and Splenda
5. Favorite coffee ever? Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, LavAzza Super Crema Espresso
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? Unfortunately, I am very fussy - the curse of an Italian upbringing :)
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Aside from a good book, I would say gooey fudge brownies or Madeleines
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? Not that I can think of outside of the above questions
9. Yarn/fiber you love? Cotton/silk blends, alpaca (baby especially), merino wool, I lean much more toward natural fibers though I do think that soft acrylics have their place when it comes to baby stuff :)
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Anything stiff and scratchy
11. What's on your needles? That's a loaded question right now... arm cozies, fairy dishcloth, Monica tank, 3 differnet scarves, first sock ever, and I have 1 crochet project started
12. Favorite colors? My color pallette really varies. Fall or royal colors in red, black, purple, blue, green or vibrant brights like fushia, turquise, purple. (Definately no yellow, orange light or bright greens)
13. Allergies? I'm prone to migraines so I stay away from strong overpowering scents especially florals. Smoke - not really allergic, just really can't stand the smell
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I collect whimsical fairies. I'm an avid reader (more on the fiction novel side - mystery, fantasy, horror, science fiction, not pure romance though).

Goodies, Yarn Porn and Philadelphia

This was a hectic weekend. It started out (after work of course) with finding several lovely treats at my door when I got home. I had ordered a few items from QVC (I know, I know - that a dangerous channel to watch) I had ordered 3 different kitchen items from them last weekend. The first thing I ordered was an Electric Mandoline Slicer w/Removable Tray. I tend to be accident prone when I am in the kitchen working with knives. I usually enjoy cooking when I actually have the time, so I am hoping that this will help me regain some time and in the end save me a little money in the long run.

The second thing I ordered was a set of Cast Aluminum Lemon and Lime Squeezers! Perfect for Midnight Margaritas!! These things are awesome. They literally squeeze just about every drop of juice out of the lemon or lime. You cut the lemon or lime in half and place a half cut side to the holes. Then you squeeze the handles together to get the juice to come out and the tool literally turns the sliced half inside-out!

Strange how such little things can make life just a little easier to bear :)

The last thing I ordered from QVC is a new FoodSaver Automatic Vacuum Sealer. The one I bought numerous years ago is on it's last leg and I just love that this one is a.) stainless steel and b.) it can stand up so that it takes up less counter space when you don't need to use it!

The goodies didn't stop there! Next up.....

YARN PORN!

In addition to these three treats there was a special envelope in my mailbox as well. I had found some Great Adirondack yarns on eBay for a steal of a price! I mean SERIOUSLY! On the left is Great Adirondack Silk Delight yarn and on the right is Great Adirondack Nassau yarn. The colorway for both is Purplicious, so I'm thinking it might be neat to make something with the yarns together, I'm just not sure what. I just could not pass up those vibrant colors!

Lastly on the knitting frontier....

I have finished one half of the Monica for my niece's birthday gift! Birthday being May3rd and the other niece's birthday is May 13th! I have pinned it down and sprayed it with water to block it. I have the back on my needles now! I'm thinking of modifying the pattern slightly for the 2nd one and knit it on circulars to knit in the round and avoid seems. Hopefully I will have them both done by their party - no idea exactly when that is yet!

Philadelphia!!!!
Most of my weekend was spent in Philadelphia. I am one of two state representatives to my national organization (American Association of School Librarians - AASL) and we had a Region II meeting this weekend to discuss some issues before the meeting at the annual ALA conference in June. There wasn't a whole lot of time for site seeing when you are in a meeting from 9am-4pm on Saturday. We did all go out to dinner Saturday night. We went to the Chart House... mmmMMmmmm. Here are some shots I took when we went to the restaurant.

And of course, no post would be complete without Frisco! I don't know what it is about a laundry basket full of dirty clothes, but he just seems to love hanging out there! This is where I found him when I got home from Philly earlier today!

Stitch 'n Bitch night

Tonight was another happy and relaxing night at Border's with some knitter and crocheters. I'm still learning everyone names as some people come to every session and others come sporatically. Some of the ladies in the group have decided to knit or crochet stuffed animals for charity. Isn't that the cutest hippo!
Ivy (pic below) - who constantly tells people Just remember Poison Ivy and you'll never forget my name or something along those lines, is just a riot! She talks a mile a minute and is constantly taking pictures of the group. As you can see, she can be still long enough for anyone else to get a picture of her though!
Nexy is a pic of KozyKitty. As you can see she is diligently working on her Sahara KAL for the SexyKitter's group.
Lastly is a pic of some beautiful stitch markers KozyKitty made for me. She gave them to me when I finished my National Board's portfolio. I just love the one she made of my Frisco!

Not suprising

Now, being that I am a media specialist and work with books all day long, does it really surprise anyone that I would be a literature nerd :)

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand.
Artistic Nerd
Social Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Drama Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Anime Nerd
Musician
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Breast Cancer Awareness

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Project Updates

WARNING: Lots of pictures in this one.

Well, now that I have completed my National Boards portfolio, I thought it was time to catch up on some projects. I decided to take stock after reading PhD Knitting's post on her UFO addiction to see what I had started around my house. First up are the Arm Cozies from Lion Brand that I started a few months back. I used Wool-Ease instead of their cashmere blend yarn simply because I had it in my stash. They are about 50% done. Of course now that warmer weather is coming (if Mother Nature can make up her mind that is) I have no real draw to them except for the fact that I think they will look really neat when finished. After working the pattern for this long though, I am contemplating on frogging them and re-doing them on circulars so that I don't have to deal with the seam. At the same time, I like making them both at the same time this way I know that my decreases are on the same rows and they will be the exact same length and tension. So I'm really undecided as to what to do with them. Any thoughts from you all?

Next up was a recent trip to Cloverhill Yarns were I picked up several skeins of Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece to make the Monica for my nieces. Their birthdays are in May - 10 days apart! For the younger one, I'm using Raging Purple for the body and Wisteria for the top ruffle. For the older one (my sister doesn't think she will like the ruffle) I'm just making the tank in Prairie Lupine minus the ruffle. I pulled out all my size 6 needles that I had to get started. I'm going home this weekend for Easter, all these pieces will be in my knitting bag to take along and work on. The girls will be there too, so it may be a little tricky with them around, but at the same time I might get a better idea as to whether or not the older one likes the ruffle or not. Who knows.

Below is my first sock! I'm using Lana Grossa's Meilenweit Cotton. It's a very simple sock pattern. Of course that won't last long as I already have patterns for socks with pretty patterns. The tricky part for me will be when I get to the foot portion as I am a size 10 and most patterns I have come across are made for a "medium" size foot. I purchased 2 skeins of this yarn on the shop owns recommendation, but I am really hoping that I don't use that second skein. I do like the color variation though.

As you can see, I am building my sock yarn stash. The two skeins of the Louet Gems were purchased to make a Lilac Sock pattern from a sock KAL that I joined. Guess I should probably finish the basic pattern I started above before I start on a more intricate pattern. Maybe? Maybe not? I guess I'll see where the wind takes me :) The other two skeins, well, I liked the colors and I'm sure I can find a pattern for them. I think I might use the On-Line yarn for the Monkey socks from Knitty, but I have to check the pattern to see if it's enough.
I am about 45% complete with My So Called Scarf from Sheep in the City. I made some minor edge adjustments so the edges are a bit smoother. I HEART this Malabrigo yarn!! Of course after working for a few nights on size 2.5 for socks and size 6 for the tank these size 11s feel HUGE in my hands. Takes some getting use to. This picture makes the yarn look really blue, but it's a gorgeous purple color. Those needle point protectors are teddy bears! I just couldn't resist buying them when I found them online. Yes, I have a thing for teddy bears as well as fairies.

OK, next is the Braided Cable Scarf from MimKnits. I purchased two skeins of Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride. I wanted to test out this yarn for possibly using it for the Saffron Cables blanket. I chose the pattern to also see how cables would look in this yarn. I really love the color. Unfortunately this photo doesn't really show off the cable work in this scarf.

Next is a scarf I started for my younger sister. She saw this ticker tape yarn and just fell in love with the colors and bought a few skeins and asked me to make her a scarf out of it. I didn't know what to do with a tape style yarn, so I make a simple stockinette stitch with a garter stitch border. The colors are really nice, but I am bored with the pattern! Not to mention it is not very easy to keep this tape yarn flat while knitting. I have seen swatches of this stuff knitted up in the stores were the yarn is nice and flat and it looks great. I just can't seem to get the yarn to do the same thing when it's in my hands!

Up next are some dish clothes (or bath clothes) that I made. My first FO in a while! *laugh* The pink one is made from a pattern of Smariek Knits blog. The pattern is called Intertwined Dishcloth. I really liked the cable pattern. The green is a simple basket weave.

I have also joined a Monthly Dishcloth KAL and have been following the pattern portioned that are emailed out daily. Can you see the pattern coming along? I'm using Lion Brand Cotton-Ease that I had from my stash. It's the original color of Cotton Ease that came out a couple of years ago, not the more subdued colors they have on their site now.

My last WIP is a crochet blanket that I am making for my parents. They have recently redecorated their family room and mom mentioned that she wanted to make a blanket for the room. That was my mother's subtle way of asking my to make her one, since she hasn't touched a crochet hook since the mid 70's! So, I found the perfect shade of cranberry that matches her curtains! I was so excited. Of course the pattern that I'm trying to follow is incorrect, so I have to work out the kink and then get back to it! It's going to be their Christmas gift this year. Yeah. I'm getting a jump start on gifts :)


Of course this post wouldn't be complete without Frisco. The last two days here we've had temperatures in the high 70's. I had turned off the heat and opened all the windows upstairs as I get a nice cross breeze when the front and back windows are open. Frisco can never resist an open window with sunlight. So there he is soaking up the rays.

And he wasn't moving from there either!