4 x 4 Meme

Brynne tagged the knitting group for this one, and I'm feeling up for the challenge! Here goes!

4 jobs you've had in your life:
1. Teacher, 8th grade Language Arts
2. Cashier, Cornelius Nursery (Very, very hot in the summer, but Eddie Russell was my boss, and he has to be the best boss ever! A wonderful person, through and through.)
3. Sales person, Marshall Field's Housewares (I was newly-wed, and spent most of my paycheck!)
4. Co-Director, Saturday Morning Experience (a program for GT kids thru Trinity University; probably the most fun I've had at a job-- I worked with two of the nicest teachers-to-be, with a whole bunch of great mentors and dozens of exceptional-- albeit challenging!-- kids!)

4 movies you could watch over and over:
1. Green Card-- I don't know for the life of me why I like this movie so much. I think it's the simple plot and the straightforward characaters-- and the unlikely match between Gerard DePardieu and Andie McDowell.
2. Pride and Prejudice-- the A&E version. Joey and I watched this every weekend we had to work on grades for two years, still watch it occasionally, and may never tire of it. We quote it to one another from time to time. Mansfield Park is a very close second to this one!
3. Love Actually-- my sister and I both like this one, and usually comandeer the t.v. for a night in Crested Butte to watch it. Good slumber-party kind of fun.
4. Rear Window-- good, classic Hitchcock. Joey introduced me to this one. I like just about any Jimmy Stewart b&w, and you almost can't go wrong with Hitchcock!


4 places you've lived:
1. Stillwater, OK (born here! My blood runs orange-- Go 'Pokes!)
2. Edmond, OK (mostly raised here)
3. San Antonio, TX (great place for college)
4. Houston, TX

4 tv shows you love to watch:
1. 24-- my husband and I have watched all previous seasons on DVD because we find the week-to-week waiting too painful. But we're trying to make an exception for this season, because the first four hours were so good!
2. Law and Order SVU-- I really like the main characters on this. I think I'm attracted to "crime solving" shows because I like to feel like there's order and justice in the world-- or at least folks trying to preserve what they can.
3. Maya and Miguel-- PBS afternoon kids show, which I watch with Katie when she gets off the bus. I really liked Liberty's Kids better, being a fan of American History, but it was replaced.
4. O'Reilly Factor-- I don't watch this all that regularly, but I still get kick out of it-- I alternately cheer Bill on and yell at him. And he doesn't yell back, so I get to be right.


4 places you've been on vacation:
1. Panama City Beach, Florida (glorious vacations with my grandparents when they were still alive. They never minded being awakened early by me, and Grandaddy never tired of playing on the beach with his grandkids. It was a good life.)
2. Crested Butte, Colorado (every summer since I was 5 yrs. old, many winter vacations)
3. Glacier Nat'l Park, Montana-- and Prince-of-Wales in Alberta, Canada (a wonderful honeymoon with a wonderful man-- and salt-licking goats. A trip to remember!)
4. Crested Butte, Colorado (who needs Disney World when you can have these views?!)

4 websites you visit daily:
1. bloglines.com
2. google.com
3. amazon.com (I like to play with my cart. Put things in, take things out, move them to "save for later." It's a sickness, I think.)
4. allrecipes.com or familyfun.com-- both are good resources


4 of your favorite foods:
1. Chocolate-covered peanuts
2. "Everything" Bagels
3. IZZE sodas, any flavor (pomegranate is current fave)
4. Coffee, and anything that goes with it

4 places you'd rather be right now:
1. Crested Butte, Colorado
2. Yarntopia (of course!)
3. Prince-of-Wales Hotel, bar lobby overlooking the glacial lake (I'd take my knitting group. Oh, would we have fun!)
4. My bed, with my girls cuddled up, reading stories. (Would be there, but they're fighting right now. Ah, the sibling rivalry.)

4 people to tag:
Well, the knitting group is already s'posed to be doing this one! (If you haven't yet, consider yourself re-tagged! This was a fun one!)

Kitty Socks

I apologize for the lousy picture; I had to snap it Monday morning as Meg was walking out the door to go to preschool. She's wearing the "Easy Children's Socks" from Knitting Pure and Simple, in No No Kitty's "Hair." And her Regia boots, to show them off! (She seems to really not care that I'm making her something, but when I finally give it to her she's so excited-- it makes all the work (and even the lack of enthusiasm) worth it!) Maybe she's taken a lesson from my mom. Mom's Queensland "Vincent" sweater is still on the needles, waiting. Mom has no doubt learned by now NOT to be excited about something I'm making for her b/c it may take me YEARS to finish.

The pattern was very, very easy-- I've got the basics of sock-making down now, so maybe it's time to branch out and try a more difficult pair! (I thought about signing up for Sockapaloooza this time; I'm not really a beginner but not quite talented enough to run with the big dogs, so maybe NEXT time I'll have the courage to do it. Does anyone have a suggestion for an intermediate pattern to try? Please let me know!)

I'm going to give old "Vincent" some attention today. Maybe I'll even have a progress picture to post-- Mom will be so happy!

Blog Revisited

You know, it gives me such a thrill to check in with Bloglines and get caught up on everybody's knitting and crafting and such. I hope you all haven't given up on me entirely! This would be the "catch up" blog; I've got lots of pictures and projects and stuff to share!



This would be the beautiful ornament knitted by Brynne that I was fortunate enough to snag at our ornament exchange. The pattern is from Handknit Holidays, with Brynne's own intarsia worked into the pattern. I am so proud to hang it on my tree; it will remind me every year of what wonderful knitting friends I have, and how special (and talented!) Brynne is!



This is an amulet bagI made for my brother's girlfriend, Kelly. It's out of the same yarn (Blue Heron chenille) that I used to make Wendy's hat (Wendy and Kelly were college roommates and are best friends).


And this would be John and Kelly, in the Wooden Nickel. Joey and I went to the Nickel with them after dinner one evening (left the kids with my parents at the house!) It's a cozy place to have drinks and visit, and I really enjoyed getting to know Kelly better! (She's a lawyer, but doesn't seem like one! She wants to be a science fiction editor when she "grows up"-- which Joey loves, as they can talk SciFi talk!-- so I guess she's not a hard core lawyer-type!) Shebought the scarf she's wearing! I'll have to introduce her to the joys (pain?) of being the friend of someone who knits!

On the needles:

Now I'm working on the Irish Hiking Scarf for Katie. It's in a beautiful pink-and-purple hand-dyed yarn from Chile, which she picked out at the yarn store. She has in her possession my first real knitted object ever: a too-long, too-wide scarf out of maroon Lion Brand chenille, in garter stitch, with several dropped stitches threatening to take apart the whole darn thing (and looking pretty trashy as they do!). She says she loves it, will never give it up-- and wears it to school whenever the temperature drops below 70. (I have a great, supportive kiddo, don't I?) I am trying to entice her away from the original scarf with a lovely pink-and-purple cabled scarf (she picked the yarn and the pattern).

I've also got socks for Meg from No No Kitty yarn in "Hair." Unfortunately, the talented lady who dyes the No No Kitty yarn is giving it up because the business grew too fast. (I wish she'd called me. I would've worked for her for yarn. Maybe I would've even settled for getting those beautiful colors on my hands, who knows!) She has a pair of see-thru boots to show off her handknitted socks, so I'm under a lot of pressure to get these finished! (She wore the new boots with ONE new sock and one white sock. How to embarass your slow-knitting mother!)