4.29.2008

The Return of the Pink Panther

Oh my. The things we find on the internet. And in the kitchen.

Big redecorating plans?

I will say that though I am generally against having outdoor or indoor-outdoor cats (unless they are working cats, ie barn cats, in which case they are not really pets are they?) because I think the risks to them far outweigh the benefits (except under supervised situations), this video is darn cute, easy-access cat door and all... 

So my great Christmas-present project has been stymied by the fact that the small roll of kitchen cotton I was knitting it with has run out, and the other fact that all the other kitchen cotton in my possession is attached to Absorba, The Rug That Would Not Die. So, in the interests of furthering the Christmas-present cause, I have resigned myself to the fact that I have to finish that damn bathmat (it's back to being a bathmat) so that I can continue with the Christmas-present project. I finished binding off one edge last night while watching DWTS and started on the next one... I'm up to block 14 now, so I bumped the % finished bar up to 65% over on Ravelry... I had initially planned on 20 blocks total, though I may not make it that long, since it really is actually big enough already to use as a small bathmat. No photo though, it kinda looks the same as before, just bigger. (Here's the other back story - I was at Kohl's last weekend looking at the bathmats, since the small and thin bathmat I inherited from my aunt (originally from IKEA) annoyed me to no end and recently I have been using an old, folded-up towel in place of a bathmat instead, and though they were not terribly expensive ($15 for a decent sized one that was fairly nice) they were all made in China or Malaysia. Not a single one was made in the US. I have sort of made it my mission to buy American, which really sucked last weekend also since, at Crate & Barrel and armed with a gift card, the only cake plate I really was enamored with was made in China. No cake plate for me. :( Anyway, no bathmats were made in the US, and I almost caved and bought one anyway, since I really rather need a bathmat, when it occurred to me that I had 2/3 of a bathmat already at home. Duh. So Absorba-knitting I shall go. Besides, Absorba shames me. Apparently I started it in August 2006. (I was still living in NYC.) I must finish it before it has been a WIP for two stinking years. Truly, I don't love it that much.

Speaking of DWTS... oh, the drama! I do have to say though that I though Shannon or Marissa would go home this week (despite all the praise for Marissa from the judges yesterday I didn't think those were her best dances, I thought the samba and quickstep were from the previous two weeks). I am afraid for Christian that he is going to hurt himself something awful. And, I think they don't give Kristi nearly enough credit - I thought the v.waltz was lovely and charming and with clever use of the umbrella (entertainment is supposed to be part of it after all, isn't that what they keep saying?) and if they have a problem with her turns I would like to see any one of them do what she did last night (she's not a professional for crying out loud...) There's such a double standard I think - the less accomplished dancers get highly inflated scores, and the stars that do a really good job time and again get penalized for relatively minor things. And what's with the giving up on the no-lifts rule? Are their ratings slipping? Gah. And Def Leopard. Oh my. Pour Some Sugar on Me was one song I danced to in a dance recital (it was acrobatics, go figure). In fourth grade. God I feel old.

Anyway.

Since I have no knitting to show, a cat photo instead:

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I call this one "I Spy".

posted by Carrie @ 8:19 PM 0 comments

4.27.2008

Unintentionally Absent

No time for excuses. I got busy and then no blogging (or knitting for that matter) occurred. A short list of recent events:

1. Dancing has occurred:

2008-04-06_sat_nite_fever.jpg
No, this is not a wedding, nor is it the prom (good heavens, that was a long time ago, and best left forgotten). And yes the photo is blurry. Intentionally blurry. To protect the innocent. Yeah, that's it.

2. Visitors have been accomodated:

2008-04-12_golden_gate.jpg
The first nice day of the year in the city and there were millions of people out and about. Possibly gazillions. The sailboats were cool though. Bonus points if you know where this photo was taken from. 

3. Stuff has been growing around town:

2008-04-16_evening_primrose.jpg
Showy Evening Primrose, I believe, found growing near my office.

4. And eaten:

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Balcony lettuce.

5. And felines persist in being cute:

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I love this shot. Too bad I suck as a photographer. It is blurry.

DWTS is on tonight, so no time to chit chat, my chums! Would you believe that for once the right person has gone home every single week so far (in my opinion anyway)? The whole nonsense with the lift/no lift annoys me to no end; personally I think if you can't do it yourself (with a few standard exceptions) it should not be allowed at all, never mind the whole "one toe was touching the floor" copout. I assume they do it for 2 reasons: 1) safety (a bunch of non-professionals doing aerials willy-nilly might be a tad risky, although they let them go hog wild in the group dance and freestyle etc.) and 2) if they didn't allow some of the flashy stuff the routines would get really boring. Never mind that a lot of what they do isn't really lead-and-follow. Meh. Now see what you've gone and done? No matter, I'm going to watch anyway!!

Coming up next time: actual knitting content! This year's Christmas present dilemma has be solved. 

posted by Carrie @ 8:36 PM 0 comments

4.08.2008

Week 4


Sorry for the lousy video quality, but it was this or the full 6 minute version, and I'm not sure who would watch that. Anyway, though I have loved (loved) absolutely everything Kristi has done (go and search YouTube for her dances from weeks 2 - 4) I thought this one with Shannon was really sweet. 

As for the radio silence, I have been out of town doing something fun. Can you believe it? Film at 11.

posted by Carrie @ 7:29 PM 2 comments

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