Is Wendy Coming unraveled?

I'm writing this post while watching Little Miss Sunshine for the second time in two days. Wow, you guys! Have you seen this movie??? If you haven't, you must drop everything and go rent this movie immediately!! There is a very good reason it was nominated for Best Picture a few days ago.

So it's been a while since I've tortured you with knitting pictures and tonight's your night!

I started up my little stripey alpaca sweater again and got pretty far along when I decided it needed some improvements. When you knit in the round, the stitches go in a spiral, which is only visible when knitting with stripes. When you get to the "end" of a round, the first stitch and the last stitch don't line up, which is ok if it's down the back of your sock or something. If it's right in the center of your chest on a sweater...not so good.

See? Looks like crap.

So I've decided to rip out the sweater all the way back to the bottom of the v-neck. It's actually not a bad thing, since now I know that I made the sleeves too big anyway, and I figured out how to hide the messed up stitches under the armpit.

AND ripping out stitches with a ball winder is REALLY fun!! It's almost tempting to knit up a huge blanket or something, just so I can wind it all up again.

If you haven't already figured out what a huge dork I am, here is concrete evidence:

And now here we are all set to start knitting again. And this time I have a plan, Stan!


I leave you now with a photo from last weekend when the last of the Christmas decorations were put away. A sad, sad day for Zeke.

SNOW!!!!! The Sage Continues

Part 2: A Scientific Discussion of Snowshoeing

Now I'll admit, at first I was a little worried. The snowshoes didn't feel like they were holding me up on top of the snow.

So I decided to do an experiment. Except by then the camera battery had run down and I didn't get any pictures. Not to worry: after going inside for fresh batteries and to blow my nose (gross!) I came back out to recreate the action for my faithful readers.

The following is a re-enaction of true events:

First, observe how deeply the snowshoe goes into the snow.

But look! The snowshoe-less foot sinks MUCH deeper! Fantastic! They DO work!

Now we need to do something very important. We have to trample down a big spot for Zeke to go poopy. I'll tell you - there is nothing funnier than a dog trying to go poop in deep snow and his butt keeps getting all snowy. He didn't think it was funny though.

Here's Zeke pretending to be a Siberian Tiger. He has such an imagination.

Would you like to see up and down my street?
UP:

DOWN:


And finally, a few things I learned this weekend.
1. -10 degrees is a little chilly.
2. Walking backwards in snowshoes is very hard, but possible.
3. Old 5 foot tall flagpoles make great ski poles, but it is a little embarrassing.
4. It is very difficult to walk in snowshoes when a large dog is standing on the back of them.
4a. Dogs do not understand this.
5. Whacking snow off of pine limbs with a broom, making the branch shoot back up in the air and sending torrents of snow down on one's head is really. freaking. fun.

SNOW!!!!!

IT SNOWED! IT FINALLY SNOWED! Lots of snow! How much, you ask? Let me consult my Automatic Snowfall Depth Calculator.

Yup, it's up to Zeke's belly.

Do you people know what this means???? It's finally time to showshoe!!!! And look how smooth and perfect it all is. I don't know about you, but when I see brand new snow like that, I'm consumed with an overwhelming desire to mess it all up. Wow, we're going to be busy this weekend.

But first, we have some work to do. It's not all fun and games when it snows, kids.

I have to rescue the phone and cable lines from the snow covered tree limbs without electrocuting myself on the power line.

Then I have to clean off the satellite dish, so I can get a signal again...(So THAT'S why everybody's dish is on the ground here.)

Then we have to check on FU Tree. I think that's too much snow for him to carry. And by the way, little FU is doing MUCH better socially, as well as health-wise.

See? Zeke has found other places to pee.

Oh look! The snow plow man has arrived! My hero!

Let's make sure the mail box is cleared off...

You know, some people pull their cars up to the mailbox, but I prefer to walk out to get my mail. Know why? Because this is my view on the way back.

NOW!! IT'S FINALLY TIME TO TRY THE SNOWSHOES!!! But I fear this is way too much excitement for you, so we're going to have to continue this little saga tomorrow. I know, just try to calm down. Have a glass of wine or something.

Some Stuff

First of all, I'd like to say:

GO RAVENS!!!! YAAAAAAAY!!! Please have your playoff games on either ABC or Fox, as these are the only networks I can get here. OK? ESPN is OK too. And somebody PLEASE remind to watch?! January 13 or 14, January 13 or 14th, January 13 or 14th.

Now, on to some stuff I did.

Several weeks ago, my knitting group had a little Christmas party and gift exchange. The rules were to only spend $2 to $5. Here's what I got:

Cotton yarn so I can make more dishcloths! I love the colors and I'm very excited - I usually don't like what I get at these things and this time I totally lucked out.

And here's what I gave:

I've seen people make stitch markers on other blogs and it looked pretty easy - and it was! I went to AC Moore and found some beads and little hoop-ey things for real cheap, and put them together. I made some for myself too. Sure you could use a little plastic ring to keep your place in the knitting, but these are a little snazzier. They're kind of like jewelry for your knitting.

The lady who got them was really happy with them, which made me happy too!

AND
Here's what I made for Lula's Mom for Christmas:

I actually finished something! This is Koigu yarn, 100% wool and Lula's Mom claims they actually FIT her, which is a plus.

These were made almost entirely during breaks at work or on knitting group nights.


Now, I know what you're going to say.
"Wendy, you could care less about college football. So why are you all of a sudden a fan of the Boise State Broncos?"

Well, I'll tell you. I was too lazy to change the channel tonight while working on my blog and it happened to be on some college ball game that I was totally ignoring. From where I'm sitting, I can't even see the tv through this giant Christmas tree that appears to be in my living room. As I typed away for the entertainment of my gentle readers, I heard this:

"I'm Ian Johnson, running back for the Boise State Broncos."

Yeah, whatever. Which picture of these socks looks the best?

"I love pets. I've got four animals....."

Awww, what a nice boy. Ooh, that's a nice clear picture.

"My mom taught me to crochet when I was in high school."

WHAT?

"I brought it up here with me to Boise. I used to sell 'em, now it's just a hobby of mine. I get called all different types of names: Knit Wit, Crochet Boy. I've even been told to crochet myself a friend every once in a while."

And THAT, my friends, is why from now until I forget (which is probably tomorrow morning - I have a short memory) I am a total fan of the Boise Broncos. Except I need to change the channel now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!