Fun Facts for Friday

Ready for some Friday Fun?

I googled "interesting this week" and found a site with 193 funny and interesting facts...so not specific to this week but interesting nonetheless.  And I didn't "fact check" so if one isn't quite right...don't blame me. I won't post them all...but here are a few to entertain you.

About animals...

Rats and horses can't vomit.

Sloths take two weeks to digest their food.

Guinea pigs and rabbits can't sweat.

The life span of a squirrel is about nine years.

A group of twelve or more cows is called a flink.

Humans...

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different!

Human birth control pills work on gorillas.

More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

Just plain weird...

Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.

Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.

In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child.

What?

You can tell the sex of a horse by its teeth.  Most males have 40, females have 36. (Couldn't you just look underneath?)

A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

(Gotta try this, next time I pop open a bottle of champagne.)

Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like friend bacon.

(No way am I fact checking THIS one.)

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

(I think there's one on Jerry's shelf in the apartment. I'll have to start looking...)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

(Well, nice to know we're not alone.)

Hand Dyed

No "flashing back" today folks.  Well, except to maybe tell you that I dyed yarn once, a long time ago.  It was, probably 10 years ago?  I used KoolAid and made self striping yarn.  It was fun, the socks came out cute...and stripey.  

Fast forward to Tuesday this week.  It snowed.  I had a snow day!  Justine didn't...they didn't even call for a delayed start.  When she walked to the bus it was a very light, soft snow BUT as the morning went on, it really snowed...I bet we got 4-5 inches.  It had stopped by the time school let out and I had shoveled the drive way, cleaned off the car (very easy, the snow was super soft and light) and the snow plows had done their duty.  So I did pick her up from the bus stop, at least.  Oh...and Joey doesn't start classes at AACC til later in the month, so he slept through it all. 

Anyway....back to MY snow day.  I cancelled my doctor's appointment (drive in the snow...what? are you kidding!) and thought about what to do.  Why not dye some yarn?  Pam, in an effort to thin out her stash, gave me some "naked" yarn, oops...I mean bare yarn for dyeing.  I had mentioned I'd like to try some tonal dyeing someday.  She's really wonderful and not just because she gives away yarn either.

So I did what anyone who wants to try something new and doesn't have any idea how to do it...I went to YouTube!   I watched a few videos about tonal dyeing.  These are so fun...most are regular gals, in their kitchens, shaky camera and everything.  I considered myself armed with info and ready to jump in.  Hey, it's just yarn and dye...no problem.  (You're waiting for the punch line here...but really, it was no problem!)

I used Knitpicks Bare fingering yarn and their acid dyes I bought many moons ago.

Remember my original idea about tonal dyeing?  Ok...I just couldn't do one color.  I couldn't!!!  I really wanted to but I couldn't.  Especially that pink!!!!  I CAN NOT resist that pink!

So here is what I did:

8 cups of water in a pot

a splash of white vinegar (measure out a couple tablespoons if you can just wing it and splash)

Then I brought it to a healthy simmer (not quite a boil).  I then put in the DRY yarn...important that you don't pre-soak the yarn. I pushed it down into the water with a slotted spoon.  Once submerged, I added the dye.  I had a plastic spoon, but the bowl of the spoon was too wide to dip into the jars of dye, so I used the handle of the spoon and dipped that in.  Worked like a charm!  I used a tiny bit and sprinkled some here and there, over the yarn.  I started with the yellow, then the pink, then the blue (lightest to darkest). Then I turned off the stove, put the lid on the pot and (here's the hardest part) LEFT IT ALONE.  Don't stir, don't poke (I did poke a little to get some of the dye powder on top of the water, down into the yarn), don't mess with it at all!

I didn't mess with it...but I did check it A LOT!  (It was hard to get a photo without the steam clouding up the picture.) I was so excited!!  After about 30-45 minutes, I took off the lid and let it cool a bit.  The water is supposed to be clear in the pot, that way you know all the dye has been absorbed, but I think I had too much dye in there because the water wasn't clear but it was much lighter.  That was good enough for me.  The dye says you should use one teaspoon for one pound of yarn...so, um, yeah, I used probably way too much dye.  Did I mention I was excited?! 

One great tip I learned from watching the videos...use something white to check the color of the water.  I used the plastic spoon, which was white.

I took it out of the pot (it was still pretty hot) put it into a big bowl and added cooler water, a little wool wash and rinsed till the water ran clear.  Squeezed out as much water as I could, organized my skein (thank GOD for those ties that keep the yarn organized), hung it on a hanger in the bathroom to dry.  And viola! hand dyed yarn...by me!!

Both sides of the hank. 

This yarn is wild. I mean WILD!!  It's got the original dye colors...yellow, pink and blue...but there's also green, orange, white, purple and everything in between.  Really fun to look at...and hopefully fun to knit!  I'll make a pair of vanilla socks with it, probably.  That pink...it's just as bright in person as the photo...in your face pink! A friend suggested I name the yarn.  Maybe I should.  Any suggestions? I have a few...Pink and Friends, Wild Pirie, 1st Time Color, Excited...

Which one do you like? Do you have a better one?

Let me just say that I have to try this again...and actually do a tonal dye.  One color. Just one! That will be tough.

And one last thing...I woke up to 9 degrees outside with -9 real feel temperature.

If you're day is warm and sunny, if you're wearing shorts and a t-shirt instead of layers and layers of clothing, if you're AC is running, not your heater, I'm sorry.  You can't look out your window and see a beautiful blanket of white on the world, you can't get a giggle watching your dog hop on three feet because she's got snow between her toes (oh, relax, I carried her home) and you can't (comfortably anyway) wear lots of woolens, you lovingly knit over the years while sitting on the couch...knitting...while looking at Winter's beauty.  

I hope you can find your silver lining today, too.

Happy Monday

Well, Happy Monday.

Yeah, it's Monday.  The first Monday of the New Year.  First Monday after the holidays.  First Monday after company has left and gone back to their normal lives.  First Monday back to school of the New Year. Back to reality Monday. Monday.

I'm ready to take down all this Christmas stuff around me.  Last year I put if off and off...it was past January 8th before I finally got around to packing everything away.  I think I'm ready this year because I enjoyed Christmas more than I did last year.  Last year I really struggled with my "Christmas spirit".  This year, not so much.  I enjoyed shopping, didn't enjoy not getting something I ordered online and had to replace with other gifts...but mostly it was ok.   I didn't worry so much about the cost of things, just got what I thought people would like and bought it.  I knit gifts this year...more gifts than I EVER have.  Three were for Mike and the girls.  That's never happened.  It was exciting to knit so many gifts.  I hope the two other family members who I knit for enjoyed their hats. I also crocheted the cutest snow flakes for my knitting friends.  There were so fun to make.  Justine suggested I make huge ones and hang them all over the house...um, no thanks.  Well, maybe someday.

One of the things I got for Christmas has me super excited...and it's not yarn/knitting related!  (stop it!)  It's a book called 712 (more)Things to Write About. The first one published was 642 Things to Write About, this is the sequel.  Well, kinda.  Anyway, it's full, 712 full, of writing prompts and space to write.  The idea is to do it quick, like blender pulses, and complete the work in 5-10 minutes.  Here's a sampling:

I met him on the stairs.

What is the hardest thing you've ever had to forgive?

When did you last receive an unexpected gift?

Describe to a retailer why you're returning a pair of shoes designed for walking on the Arctic Circle.

A magazine is writing an article about something that happened to you yesterday...What does the headline say?

Fun, huh?  No, maybe not to all of you.  The challenge is going to be to dig deep in a short amount of time.  Find the feelings, articulate them, write (not type on the computer with a convenient back space feature) them in a way that makes sense...in 5-10 minutes?!  A challenge for sure. Good brain work. 

I did one.  What to see?  OK

Write a 12-line poem whose lines begin with words that start with the letters R, V, H, O, K, E.  Use each letter twice.

Winter's Dance

Remember last Winter's

Venues of white with

Hands warm in mittens?

Over the ground a sprinkling of sugar

Keeps reminding me Spring is

Ever at bay.

Rivers frozen in time,

Volumes of fluff at the roadside,

Houses take on a gingerbread persona.

Old Man Winter does a happy dance,

Kicks up his heels at the

End of the day.

                             

I won't share them all with you, but some I will.  This was my first, so a good one to share.  And I like it.  Hope you do too.                   

Happy 2015!

Well, the New Year is here! Hope you had a fun time last night.  We did...we stayed up till mid-night watching Ryan Seacrest and playing dominoes.  It was fun!

My year is starting off great!  Mike offered to walk Gracie for me (I have the morning walk shift) so I'm still in my pjs, drinking coffee and about to tuck into my knitting!

I couldn't be happier.  I hope you're feeling the same!

Wordless Wednesday

The Cold and The Cookies

Veronica arrived on Friday! Yeah!! I love having the whole family under one roof.  When I got to bed at night, it's the last thing I think about...I know where everyone is; with me.  That won't last, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

So it's cold here, colder than Gainesville (that's for sure!).  I knit the most cozy infinity scarf with Malabrigo Rasta.  It's a single ply, super bulky yarn...almost like a roving yarn.  Anyway, super simple scarf, I cast on about 80ish stitches in the round and worked seed stitch till I thought I had enough yarn to cast off.  When working the bind off, I ran out of yarn about 10 stitches short...no problem!  I recently learned the Russian Bind Off (thank you Athena!) and so I worked those last few in that manner and Viola!  DONE!  I haven't had a chance to even wear it when That Young College Lady finds it and confiscates it.  I'm teasing...God knows I don't need another scarf.  I gladly gave it to her. She tripled it then wrapped it around her head to stay warm.  In the house.

Even Gracie is needing a little extra layer to stay warm.  In the house.

Maybe I should turn up the heat a bit but it's so nice to see everyone wanting to wear my knitted stuff.  KIDDING!  I'll go turn it up.

Last night we decorated Christmas Cookies!!  Veronica made them.  I tell you it's so nice when I can supervise kitchen activities from the comfort of my knitting nest (while knitting, of course).  So we usually do half plain for decorating and half with colored sugar sprinkles (Mike's favorite).

Here she is in action...

Watch out Betty!  (as in Betty Crocker)

Ready, set...GO!

I posted this on Instagram and so far no one has noticed the poor gingerbread man with the torn off, bloody leg courtesy of Justine.  You think maybe we watch too much Walking Dead?

And some gifts arrived from our family in San Diego!  Thanks Lisa, Mike and John!  Uncle Mike couldn't wait to get into the chocolate, John...so he did!  I'm sure he's on Santa's naughty list. (I didn't complain since he shared it with me.)

I hope you're as excited about Christmas as we are!!

Fair Isle Dreams

This will be another knitting post so those of you non-knitters might want to look away.  Or keep reading! Hey, it could be worse.  You could be fighting traffic to get to the mall for last minute Christmas shopping...or circling the Target parking lot for a parking space...or something equally as dull and boring (and not knitting related).  I'll try to post pretty pictures to keep you interested.  hee-hee

Oh wait...coffee, gotta get another cup.

Ah. Better.  Ok, knitting.  I'm not too severe when it comes to New Year Resolutions. I usually half-ass promise myself to do something and fail miserably, so not a good idea.  But occasionally I do make a knitting promise...like to try something new, knit from the stash exclusively, etc.  Next year I'm thinking...fair isle (or stranded knitting to some)!  

What's that, ask you non-knitter types?

Here's an example:

Yeah, I cringe a little too.  The old fair isle style is very boxy shaped and all over print. Look up Alice Starmore if you want to see more.  An updated version appeals to me...more fitted (not tight but shaped) and narrower sleeves, too.  This one is toned down quite a bit as far as color goes, usually there are multiple colors (15-20 colors) and can be a bit loud and in your face.  Fair isle is usually knit in a small gauge, like fingering weight, which might sound daunting to knit a whole sweater in that weight but it actually goes quickly.  Watching the colors change and pattern emerge is a great motivator to quick finishing.  

Techniques are fun to learn and master when you do fair isle...how to hold the yarn so the color you want to pop, does and the dreaded...queue dramatic music here...STEEK! That's a section of the sweater designed to be secured and cut (yup, with scissors) to create a cardigan, neck, sleeve holes, etc.

So here are a few patterns I'm thinking about...I could change my mind in the future but it's at least a good sampling.

I've started this hat and it's been sitting for a while so it will probably be first on the list.  Mine is a bright blue and white...very wintry.

Snawheid Hat by Kate Davies

And this one Peerie Flooers by Kate Davies

Kate has a ton of fair isle hats, yoke sweater, etc.  She just came out with a book too.  I gotta get it.  Anyway back to Peerie Flooers.  Mike got me the kit; yarn, pattern and adorable bag to go with...so this one is a must for next year. I'm hoping there will be enough yarn leftover for some mitts.

Here's a sweater or two I have yarn for in my stash.

Dijon

It's stranded...two colors.  Mine are charcoal gray and bright pink.

My friend Dolly made one and used a variegated yarn for the yellow so it looked more like color work, very clever and cute sweater.  What to see it?

Cute, huh?  

And this sweater (another Kate Davies) I'll use as inspiration for my own design.  I hope.  I have some med-gray and some purples in several shades I thought this might work.  Do the color work on the body only and solid sleeves.  

And some smaller projects too. 

Lusekofte-sque Mitts

It's even a free pattern on Ravelry! Don't they look soft and warm?

And these...

Perri

(another freebie)

You might be scratching your head about now...didn't she just post a totally different list of things she wanted to knit? What about all the KALs and MKALs? 

Part of the fun of knitting is planning and queueing and dreaming....