kitty: second night of Candle night

Textured Shawl Start of Day 2 of Candle Night It is disturbing when you think about how much effort you have to go through to unplug your life for just a couple of hours a day. Just turning off a ups will send shrieking sirens to go off while electronics still run on battery power for several hours. Taking all rechargeable items off outlets. Unplugging cable boxes and clocks so they don't pull power. And then there is the draw of a computer, cell phone, telephone, tv, DS, PSP, ipod... that we just take things for granite.

Pattern: textured shawl recipe Fiber: Habu A-1B Kakishibu Tsumugi Silk Colour: 52

kitty: Happy Sumer Soltice

Setting outside between 8 - 9:30 tonight in observance of Candle Night . Sadly the bugs didn't agree with me staying outside until 10. I must admit that I found out about it from MG flickr stream. :) So I am a copy cat in the observation of the event. I may have also jumped on the textured shawl band wagon tonight since I will be in a conference latter this week I needed something to work on that is mindless. Pattern: textured shawl recipe Fiber: Habu A-1B Kakishibu Tsumugi Silk Colour: 52

kitty: work in progress - Missoni Inspired Hat

item #: Missoni Inspired Hat - Work in progress content: Paternayan Persian Wool 100% Wool price: $8.00 Manufacturer: Ellsa Williams Since I didn't have any internet connection on Monday I essentially had the day off. The roads around the house were closed due to down trees and no street lights so I spent the afternoon knitting. It was such a rare and luxurious afternoon of JDrama and HK Action flicks and two FO's. I have long been obsessed with Missoni for a couple of seasons so since I had some time off I decided to sit down and see if I could figure out there stitch patterns. So I sat down and started to swatch and swatch. I was able to distinguish a couple of the patterns and started on a hat. Well this ended up being my giant swatch. The yarn is pretty horrible to knit with and is way to stiff for a slouchy beret, but it is a start and for $8.00 I don't have a huge investment in yarn for a swatch.

kitty: Happy Belated Moon Day.... one we will never forget

If you had told me a week ago that a Hurricane could hit Columbus, Ohio I would have told you that you were absolutely crazy. On Drugs even... M and I went out to buy stuff to grill for our Moon Day celebration in the early afternoon and by about 4:00pm we started to feel 30-45 mph sustained winds with gust up to 77 mph hitting the area until 9:00pm at night. Ike hit a low pressure when it hit Ohio and built in strength again. Craziness pure Craziness! Obviously our grilling celebration got put on hold. Even tonight there are 1.3 million AEP customers that still don't have power in the area. Street lights at major junctions are still out. It is even dark enough to actually see the stars in the sky since there is no light noise around. Just an really strange feeling. M and I are safe and sound we only lost power for a couple of hours and internet connection didn't come back until late Monday. Luckily our house was safe. We lost some computer equipment but it could have been so much worse. MG sadly still doesn't have power, so send her positive thoughts that it will soon be on. :( My heart goes out to all the people who lost there lives and homes because of Ike. It really was an amazing hurricane and tropical storm. That touched so many people.
Wind moved our 500lb grill on the deck.
Signs of damage in the neighborhood.

kitty: the fashion world lost one of its true icons, Yves Saint Laurent over the weekend...

Fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent passed away over the weekend at age 71. The man who changed the silhouette of women of the 20th century with his daring look. He had left the house of YSL in 2002 after 4 decades of great design. He was discovered by Dior when he was only 17. Definitely one of the last true masters of design. Signature quote: “Isn’t elegance forgetting what one is wearing?” Au revoir Monsieur Saint Laurent!

kitty: have you thanked your favorite fireman/firewoman today?

National Fire Prevention Week!

Today's post is completely unrelated to knitting or crafting, but it is more about the visibility of what we know or don't know about fire safety. Scout's post about what happened in her home last night really should be an eye opener for us all. I remember Fire Prevention Week in elementary school and junior high, but a lot of what I learned is alarmingly out of date. You should really go read Mia's post for National Fire Prevention Week she just posted. I got my replacement batteries at lunch today! But most importantly, don't forget to thank your firewomen and firemen. In most cases they volunteer to help save your life, and there work goes sadly unappreciated by most. Thanks J, Mia and all your sisters/brother for the work you do!

kitty: we interrupt this blog for a special geek moment in history

:-) turns 25 today

25 years ago today, Professor Scott E. Fahlman put together the very first use of the three famous keystrokes. Emoticons were born on September 19, 1982 at 11:44 am.

kitty: knitting for others, feels really good

As soon as they finish blocking, 5 squares will be off to Blacksburg be added to the pile. I tried starting Saturday night but all I ended up doing was ripping out swatches. I had great plans to do interesting stitch patterns and designs, but in the end I went with pretty simple and one lace block. I figured it was better to get them done and sent to Blacksburg than to set around waiting for the perfect pattern that may or may not get completed before the deadline. It felt really good to knit for a cause that I truly believed in and hopefully will help the healing. I have a little more yarn so I may knit more. We will see how time allows. May is going to be a busy month.

kitty: For the sake of the Hokie's, Knitters & Hookers Unite!!!!

For the sake of the Hokie's, Knitters & Hookers Unite!!!! Have you heard about the wonderful project that Mosaic Yarn Shop is working on? I saw the posting over on Mia's site and I knew that I had to help. They are asking for knitters or hookers to make an 8"*8" square in any composition and drop it off or mail it to the shop. They will then be sewing the squared together and giving them to the victim's families. They will be collecting the squares through the end of May. I am excited and sadden by this undertaking. It will be no small task. They will need to collect over 2,000 squares. I just am so moved that they would do this for the families and I want to help. Please mail squares to: Mosaic Yarn Shop 880 University City Blvd. Blacksburg, Va 24060 If you need help with the colours, you can always call Gina and order directly from the shop. I just placed my order a few minutes ago with her since my LYS had nothing in Hokie colours, unless they wanted buckeye squares instead. I also just found another person's blog - Got Gauge, this paragraph. "Here are a few of the yarns to help you know the Hokie colors. Noro Silk Garden 84, Noro Iro 9, Cascade 220 Colors 9465 & 2401, Lopi Colors 0116 & 9988, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran Colors 13 & 15 and Rowan Big Wool 28. Black and white are also used as accents for the school." written by Phyl I think we have all been really shocked by what happened at Tech. I know after the shooting my phone was ringing off the hook with friends calling and asking about what kind of town Blacksburg was and what kind of dangers there were in that part of the state. I don't think I have ever heard Roanoke mentioned so much on the news, and this wasn't the reason I wanted to hear it either. I found it really strange that everyone wanted to know how to get to Blacksburg. At one point I did contemplate giving them my Uncle's phone no. So he could better describe what it was like to walk the drill field between classes since that was something I had never done. Growing up in Roanoke those who wanted to stay in VA to go to college and didn't get into UVA went to Tech. So I cannot even count the no. of friends who attended Tech. Or even the no. of family members who have gone to the school or taken classes over the years. I don't think I will ever be able to drive through Blacksburg without thinking about the event.

kitty: thoughts and sadness

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the Hokie Students and their Families.

 

kitty: Happy Chinese New Years

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEARS!!!! Wow, I sit here realizing that this time last week I was probably setting on a boat on West Lake in Hangzhou, China walking the steps that Emperors walked before me. M and I, normally take a vacation around Chinese New Years each year, well part vacation and part business trip. This year the schedule was pretty much clean and plans fell through to go to Taiwan. So the choices were Shanghai to visit M's brother or Hong Kong. So we made the decision pretty much last minute to go to Shanghai. It ended up being a once and a life time experience. There were a couple of negatives with the trip, some of which was I didn't get to see MG or my mother for New Years. I did walk away with a new appreciation for what we have in the States and a love for Starbucks Coffee Bathrooms. So that's why I have been pretty absent the last couple of weeks. With clearing out work tonnage and getting ready to go. Here is M and my photo journal of the trip. Hope you enjoy. And of course there has to be a photo of a well traveled ball of yarn to finish up the trip. I also want to send out a special thank you to B and G for being such wonderful tour guides during the trip. You guys were wonderful and we thank you dearly. There is a new FO that is blocking as I type, but that is for another day.
Day 1 - Shanghai	Day 2 - Shanghai
Day 3 - Shanghai	Day 4 - Hanghzou
Day 5 - Hanghzou	Day 6 - Shanghai
Day 7 - Shanghai