bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

A Contest for Squares

hey everyone!  the response to my call has been awesome.  i know elisa's been really touched and i'm confident that this blanket will be beautiful.

to thank you all for participating, i'm going to have a little contest.  for every square i receive from you, i'll put your name into a hat (or bowl or bag) and award some prizes.  how's that?  i might have more than one prize even.

so, we need a deadline for the contest...how about thursday, february 14th. yep, that's valentines day.  i bet you didn't know i could be a bit of a sentimental sap.

"To the Knit Cave!!!"

hey kids!

know what this symbol means?

it means someone needs our help. 

elisa's dad is in a VA hospital in iowa far from family and friends and needs a blanket.  and i think that if we all pitch in and knit (or crochet) just one square each,  we can help his daughter give this man a little love and warmth and help him get back on his feet. 

so here's the plan:

knit or crochet a square.  preferably in a worsted weight-ish machine washable yarn. this blanket will be at the mercy of the VA laundry service.  i'm sure the laundry staff are very hard working and do an excellent job on laundry, but i think it's safe to say that this blanket will not be hand washed in cold water with eucalan.  just a guess.

try to get this square as close as possible to 8 inches square, blocked.  use a ruler if you have to.  (i know, that was snarky.  but i know how you knitters are about following directions.) 

when you're ready to send the square, just contact either me or elisa and we'll send you an address.

boston area knitters who would like to send a square can give/send the square to me and i'll send them off to elisa.

thanks kids!

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ETA:  some of you have asked for a few more details, so here goes.

Timeframe?  As soon as you can, next couple of weeks would be great. 

Colors?  Any color is fine.  Just maybe not pink?  or other girlie color?  He is after all a grown man. 

Thanks so much for interest in helping us out!

He's Such an Angel When He Sleeps

he's probably praying that i don't kill him in the night. KIDDING!

My Nieces

yeah it's heavy on little E, but two of her cousins are there and so is one of her sisters. 

HOLY CRAP!!!

now i know how crazy aunt purl must feel with all of the comments!   oh my.... thanks to all of you for your kind words.  it's been a difficult few days, but today was the first day that i thought about him without crying.  and thank you CAP for sending over so many of your friends. 

a few of you asked if i was going to adopt another feline friend, because really, what is a knitting blog without a resident cat.  well, there's no need.  because although napoleon was the star of the show (he was the little emperor after all), there were two ladies waiting in the wings.  

this is sparky and droopy *cough*.  until about 9 years ago, there was a josephine (yes, go ahead and mock) but she got sick and had to be put to sleep.  napoleon was despondent and lonely and so after a year of it just being the two of us, i adopted sparky and droopy, two 3 year old sisters whose owner needed to move and couldn't take them with her.   her children had named them sparky and droopy and i renamed them sophie and madeleine, but the names never stuck.  what we call them now is "little black kitty" and "big black kitty."    and those are pretty much the names they respond to.

napoleon was the coverboy because he was the easiest to photograph.  his markings were distinctive and his fur didn't cause all sorts of issues with exposure.  since he followed me around the house, he was always ready for a photoshoot.  and he didn't move all over the place.  "little black kitty" is a spaz and can't sit still for a minute.  "big black kitty" is so entirely black (her only white markings are on the underside of her paws and a tiny patch on her chest), that it's almost impossible to focus on her.  and when i do get a picture, she just looks like a great big black blob.  i don't know how chris does it.

once again, thank you for your stupendous outpouring of love for my beautiful napoleon.  (ok i'm going to stop now because i'm getting weepy again).

my next post will include knitting, i promise.

 

Napoleon 1990-2007

my napoleon died last night. and i'm so sorry that i wasn't with him when it happened. the poor guy wasn't himself yesterday and i was going to take him to the vet this morning to have him checked out. but it appears that he didn't want to go. i will miss him terribly. he was my boy. and we had been together for a long time.

What a Difference A Day or Two Makes

monday, i was so grumpy, i actually considered quitting blogging.  or at least taking a break.  "bah!" i thought. "i can't handle the pressure!"  and i thought of other things, but i won't go into them here because then i would be participating in over-excessive navel gazing and woe-is-me pity-partying.   like i tell my 2 month old niece ... "there's no crying in [fill in activity here]."

but today i'm better.  good enough to give you my list of "things i like monday "on wednesday.

1.  i like that dunkin dunuts, in honor of it being the first day of spring, is giving away free iced coffee.  i love iced coffee.  and when it's free, it's even better.  i picked one up on my way to work this morning.  i'll stop by on my way home.  woo-hoo.

2.  don't tell anyone because people will think i'm crazy but i kind of enjoyed our little snow storm this weekend.

and let me tell you why.  because i could hang out in my sweatpants at home guilt free.  i mean, i couldn't get the car out of the driveway, let alone drive safely down the road.  so i stayed home.

i baked bread. and i baked brownies.  the bread was good.  i hear the brownies were too.

 

"hey! where do you think you're going with those brownies?"

and while sitting on the couch i knit and i crocheted.  sometimes almost simultaneously -- one row on the blanket, one row on the sock, that kind of thing.

the old -- my ripple blanket.

the new -- socks.

3.  by sunday, the driveway had been cleared and the roads were clean so i got to spend time with the inlaws and my niece, eating corned beef and cabbage.  lots to like there.  (i love cabbage.  when that happened i haven't a clue.)

how creepy is that doll?   guess which one is real?  heh heh

finally, napoleon thanks you for all of the birthday wishes.  or he would if he were not a cat.  so on behalf of my old cat who tends not to really give a crap about anything except for tuna and cold fresh water (in protest to his water not being cold and fresh enough he's taken to straddling the toilet bowl and trying to drink out of it.)  i would like to thank you for the wonderfully warm birthday wishes.

have a good wednesday! 

All Baby All of the Time

isn't she the cutest?

 

The Baby's Here!

at 2am, baby E was born.  7lbs 9oz.  my very first, fresh, new niece.  i have to go to work unfortunately and won't get to meet her until later on today.  but i've outfitted her sisters with new t-shirts that will announce to the world that they now have a brand new status.

The Baby's Coming!!!

just got the call less than an hour ago.  my sister in law's water broke.  there will be much rejoicing!

Update:  I'ts almost 6pm and still no baby. 

Is There Ham for my Rocky in Heaven?

 

when i said goodbye to rocky the morning we left for france, i think i knew that i'd never see him again.  during our vacation, we got a call telling us that it was "time."  rocky's breathing was labored.  he could do nothing more than lift his head.  he was tired and in pain.  j isn't exactly sure how old rocky was, but our guess is that he was probably 15 or 16 years old.  that's ancient in a big dog like him.  so j's dad took care of it and was with him when he fell asleep.

it's only now hit me how much i'm going to miss the big smelly mutt.

bye rocky. 

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thank you so much for your kind words about our rocky.  i cried when i read each of your comments.  yes, despite my crusty exterior, i do have a gooey center.  he was a good boy and like many of you surmised, a sweet and gentle soul.   thanks again.