Things that start with K

I found this on one of the blogs I read and thought I’d give it a go.

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, real names, real things, nothing can be made up. If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you has the same first initial. You CANNOT use your name for the boy/girl name. Good Luck!

Your name:  Kay

1. Famous Singer/Band: Kenny Chesney/Kiss

2. 4 letter word: Kiss

3. Street: Kelly

4. Color: Khaki

5. Gifts/Presents: kitten, keys to a car/house/heart

6. Vehicle: K-cars (Plymouth or Dodge? do they still exist?)

7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: kites

8. Boy Name: Kevin

9. Girl Name: Kathleen

10. Movie Title: K-19 The Widowmaker

11. Koolade

12. Occupation: KNITTER!!!!!!!!

13. Celebrity: Kathleen Turner

14. Magazine: Knitter’s Universe

15. U.S. City: Knoxville

16. Pro Sports Team: Nashville Kats or Kansas City Chiefs

17. Reason for being late to work: knee injury

18. Something you throw away: Kleenix

19. Things you shout: King Me!! (checkers)

20. Cartoon Character: Kitty Bright from Katnip Kollege

Let me tell you that wasn’t easy! I had to use the net to find number 20. lol Needless to say that cartoon was long before my day.

Lexi says: Where’s my crown? I’m the Queen around here.

Yarn, knitting, knitting and yarn….

Ok, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve shown anything related to knitting.  It isn’t because I wasn’t knitting.  And it wasn’t because I haven’t been buying any yarn either!  lol  Above in the first picture is some lovely Lamb’s Pride that I’ve been eyeing at Gourmet Yarn for a long time.  I have a project in mind for this yarn but I won’t reveal it just yet as I’m creating something of my own.  If it’s successful you’ll see it.  If it isn’t you won’t.  lol  The second picture is a lovely yarn cake of Miss Priss by Schaefer.  I love this yarn.  I can’t go on about it enough.  There is something very satisfying about knitting with it.  A side note is it most often smells lightly of vinegar.  I believe they use that in the dye pot to set the colors.  It’s a warm and inviting smell to me and I love it.  This will probably become a scarf for Red Scarf Project 2008.  Ohh, by the way, they changed the dates to send in completed scarves.  I don’t recall the exact date right now but it is this fall, 2007 and not February of 2008.  The third picture is a yarn cake of Fiesta Boomerang.  This yarn has the best squish to it.  This too will probably become a scarf for Red Scarf or I might do something for myself.

On the knitting front, in the first picture is my first toe-up with short row heel sock.  It took Margaret many hours (with lots of interruptions-not her fault!) to show me how to do this.  Don’t know if I could ever do it again but I did it once!  lol  The second picture is my 2nd tomato hat.  One of the guys I work with is going to be a daddy for the 3rd time any day now.  I thought I’d knit a tomato hat but I grew weary of it and set it aside.  I might get the motivation to finish it.  Time will tell.  In the meantime, the third picture is the baby blanket I’m knitting for the baby instead.  I’m using Plymouth Jeanee in some lovely baby colors, lime, yellow and aqua.  I usually can’t stand the feel of acrylic but this yarn has the right mix of cotton and acrylic.  The drape is wonderful also.  I’ve heard some knitters complain they can’t stand to knit garter stitch or they can’t stand to knit squares or rectangles.  I guess I’m a different breed.  To me, it’s the zen quality of being able to knit without having to think about what I’m doing next.  Maybe they don’t have enough stress in their lives and don’t need to zone out?  lol  Anyway, I’m enjoying the process and to me that is what counts.

This first picture is some yarn I bought because I love how it’s packaged.  This is Classic Elite Star.  I think the packages are adorable and I might just keep them in this state since I tried knitting with some and I do not like the yarn.  lol  It’s too stretchy, thick and that’s not my cup of tea.  I was attracted to the colors and the packaging.  What can I say?  The second picture is some Bamboo I decided to try.  These will hopefully turn into socks some day.  And the third picture is the queen of the house.  I made the mistake of laying a pillow in this chair one day intending to pick it up later.  Little did I know she would zoom in on it and now it’s her favorite place to sleep.  Lexi says:  You are pushing the line interrupting my beauty sleep!

Another one hooked….

This is my friend Gretchen.  Remember I wrote a post about her a few months back?   This is her.  See what she is doing?  That’s right.  She came to spend the night with me earlier this week and made the mistake of saying she wanted me to show her how to knit.  She didn’t have to ask me twice!  lol  I took her up to Gourmet Yarn so she could go into a real yarn shop and see all the pretty yarn.  She has a 2 year old granddaughter and I made sure she saw all the cute items she could knit for her.  We came back to the house and I got some needles (sticks) and yarn out and taught her how to cast-on, knit, yarn over, and decrease.  She is a natural!  The next morning I taught her how to purl.  I did have to laugh, she worked with some bamboo sticks for awhile then said she wanted to try the addi turbo circulars.  She liked them best!

I allowed her into my yarn closet.  That might have been a big mistake.  lol  For years I have thumped on her about the clothes she buys, the cologne, the purses, the shoes…..she is quite the shopper.  She’s always taken my “beatings” with a smile.  Well, she took one look at my stash and said this:   Don’t you ever say anything to me ever again about what I buy.   lol  I think she went on to say I was eaten up with it??  Something like that.  And she did tell me earlier that she knew I was a true knitter because I drove all the way up to GY from Norman just to show her around.  lol  Welllllllllllll   lol

I’ll leave you with a picture of my traitor kitty.  Usually I’m the only one who gets to do this:

My Dad….

If you ever wondered where I got my sense of humor and my storytelling abilities, this is the man who passed those traits on to me. You probably can also tell there was no way he could deny me. I look most like him minus the red hair. My daddy was the baby in a group of 5 siblings. His mother died when he was 2 and back then men had a very difficult time making a living. This was during the depression. My grandfather had to travel around to find work so his first thought was to put the kids in an orphanage. My great grandmother and great aunt said no, bring them to us and we’ll raise them. The oldest of the bunch was 9 and Daddy was 2. My uncle, who was the oldest and a big bully most of his life, died a week and a half before my dad did. Daddy was dying of pulmonary fibrosis and could not attend his oldest brother’s funeral as he was bedfast and on oxygen with only a few days left. Since he couldn’t be there, he asked my cousin to read this story at my uncle’s funeral and then when we had my dad’s funeral a couple of weeks later my cousin read this story again. When my daddy and uncle were kids my Uncle Bob wanted some watermelon and knew exactly where he could find one. He asked my dad to come outside with him. They wandered out of the yard and Uncle Bob told him the plan. So they walked to a local farmer’s watermelon patch and started thumping melons trying to find the perfect one. Before they could the local farmer was yelling and running their way. Uncle Bob told Daddy to run. Daddy knew they weren’t supposed to take a melon and had been nervous the entire time anyway. So when Bob told him to run Daddy took off as fast as his little legs could carry him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same path they’d taken to the patch. He ran thru the patch, thru a field and thru some trees and before he knew it he ran right into the middle of a hobo camp. Well, they were scared of hobos and so Daddy kept on running and found himself sliding across an oil patch. By the time he got home he was a horrible mess. His grandmother peeled his clothes off and gave him a good bath while demanding to know what on earth had happened. Daddy told her the story and she put him in clean clothes and told him he needed to take a nap. Instead of putting him in the bed, she put him on the floor on the other side of the bed so he wasn’t in view. Shortly after Daddy drifted off to sleep Uncle Bob came into the house. He wandered around not saying a word looking to see where Daddy was. When he realized he wasn’t at the house Bob broke into tears. His grandmother asked him what was wrong. He sobbed and told her the hobos must’ve gotten daddy. We don’t know how long she let him believe the hobos got him, but I guess that was her way of teaching Bob a lesson of not involving Daddy in his misdeeds. lol Daddy was pulled out of high school at the age of 18 during World War II. He was drafted into the army and the picture above was taken in boot camp. He was a slim tall drink of water with a thick head of carrot red hair. He was in the Aleutian Islands when the war ended. Shortly after, he was discharged and sent back to Oklahoma. It was a special exception as many young men were pulled out of high school to go fight in the war so he was allowed to return to his classes. Fast forward a few years and he was working for the telephone company as a lineman. He didn’t realize he would work there for the rest of his working life. That’s rare to see in this world today. A couple of years after he started working for the phone company his knee started bothering him. He had to go into the hospital for knee surgery. Good thing, that is where he met my mother. She was a student nurse. They married about a year and a half later and not too long after that I came along. He always told the story of how I was about the size of a quart milk carton. He said he could hold me in one hand and that I had the hiccups when he brought me and Mama home from the hospital. He pulled my first tooth and most of the other ones. He taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance and how to spell my name before I started school.  He taught me how to hula hoop and how to ride a bike.  He was the one who gently told me to go see what my mother was doing when I asked my 55th question while he was working in the garage.  He was the one who helped me with that “new math” homework.  It was his lap I’d sit on while we munched on popcorn and watched Route 66 and Rawhide on tv. It was his shoulders I was riding on when we went to the Fort Worth zoo and I saw a snake pit for the first time in my life. It’s a scene I’ll never forget. He was the one who held me and rocked me when I cut my thigh open and had to have stitches. When they were wheeling me down the hall to have my tonsils removed it was Daddy who was running beside me telling me he loved me and that everything would be ok. He is the one who took me to the only place in Sapulpa where you could get your school supplies and stood in line with me for over an hour to do so. He took me to the Father-Daughter Blue Bird Banquet which was a rare occasion to be with Daddy without Mama and my sister. He was the one to which I directed most of my teen-aged angst and I realize now because I knew he’d never stop loving me. Daddy was the one who called me the day after my son was born (December 6th) to ask if I’d give him the middle name of Pearl since he was almost born on Pearl Harbor Day. Daddy didn’t require a lot. He did have his toys which mostly consisted of a small fishing boat, rods and reels and some lures. Since he had two girls who didn’t enjoy fishing, it was my son who eventually became his fishing buddy. That second picture was taken when he became the President of the local Lion’s Club. He was the one who named me and who was there for every important event in my life. He died in September of 1999 at the age of 72 and with me holding his hand. Happy Father’s Day, Daddy. I love you.

The Second Book……

I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns tonight.  I did not find this book as good as I did The Kite Runner.  It could be the subject matter was very upsetting to me as the main two characters are women who were born in Afghanistan.  I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can believe it is acceptable to treat women or anyone in this fashion.  I also felt the author did an OK job of writing about this subject but I can’t help but wonder if a female author from Afghanistan would have written a better description.

On a side note, I recently contacted a friend of mine (thanks Linda) who is working a contract job in Kabul.  I started reading this book last week, made contact with him this weekend, and have seen pictures he’s sent of scenes and people in Kabul.  It’s not surprising I dreamed about Afghanistan a few nights ago.

He’s offered to send me some pashmina yarn.  I’m very curious but I’m also concerned about odors.  lol  He’s told me some stories about the odors and smells there.  lol

Please keep him in  your prayers as he is in danger when he travels to work to help teach their military how to be officers.

Saturday Stuff…..

You Are the Thumb

You’re unique and flexible. And you defy any category. Mentally strong and agile, you do things your own way. And you do them well. You are a natural leader… but also truly a loner. You inspire many but connect with few.You get along well with: The Middle Finger Stay away from: The Pinky

What Finger Are You?

 

 

I saw the above test on another blog.  Sometimes I like to amuse myself with this stuff.  lol  Other times I like to amuse myself with all these gorgeous pictures of the feline of the house.  I think I took 36 pictures overall.  Thank God or your higher power that I did not post all of them.  I only posted those that you’d never see unless you lived here.   Lexi is pretty entertaining…or is it I’m easily entertained?   Don’t answer that.  Have a great weekend.

Reading

Long before I discovered the internet, I used to be an avid reader.  I went thru the historical romance “bodice ripper” stage.  Thank God I got over that!!  lol  I’ve also read alot of what I call “fluff” novels thru the years.  Sometimes I just need an easy read to distract my mind from life’s everyday stress.  And sometimes I will find a book that makes a huge impression on me.  That’s what this post is about today.  And the book that I’m posting about is this:

Just a little side story here.  My sister wasn’t the student when we were growing up.  I was.  She did what she had to in order to get by.  I was the near-straight A student, the one who made the honor role and I was the reader of the two.  So fast forward to a few years ago and my sister (who did go on to graduate from OSU and become a very good art teacher) told me about her book club and this wonderful book they had read.  It was called The Kite Runner.  I knew if it caught her attention it had to be damned good.  So I got the book and started to read.  It grabbed me from page 1.  I’m not going to analyze the book.  But let me just say that I’ve never read a book that made me feel so many emotions.   Not only is this an interesting story that taught me about kite flying and how seriously it is taken in Asia, but it also teaches a life lesson.  I couldn’t put this book down and remember when I came to a certain part of the story how upset I was that I was reading it.  I felt the tragedy, the sorrow and the disappointment along with knowing the guilt that would follow the character for the rest of his life.  With that said, I strongly recommend this book.  And yes, get ready, this knitting blog may have several book recommendations coming up in the future!!

PS:  Lexi loves it when I read because that means my lap is hers!!!  No knitting to take up any space!  lol

A birthday…..

Someone  turned eight today.

My dream is to one day get a picture of her with a birthday hat.  I think it will remain a dream.

As you can tell by these pictures, she isn’t into posing.

It’s a tough life being a spoiled kitty.