Ouch! They Got Me!

I have been tagged! Don't I feel special.

((( Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog. I've been tagged by outdoorknitter at The Local Needle. )))

1. I like the color pink way more than can probably be considered healthy. Purple too. My husband fears the day I buy pink paint for the house.

2. I was born in Georgia, and have lived in North Carolina, southern Virginia, North Carolina again, southern Virginia again, and now north Florida. I am a bona fide Southern Girl. During the 10 weeks I lived in the Northeast, I gained an entirely new appreciation for the South and missed it a lot more than I expected.

3. In spite of #2, I do not have a noticeable southern accent - and I am very proud of this fact. However, any time I talk on the phone with my mom's relatives, this ceases to be true.

4. I love food. I love going out to new and different restaurants, as well as cooking at home. I watch the Food Network all the time. Alton Brown is my favorite Food Network personality.

5. Because of #4, I spend about half of every year trying to lose 10 lbs. A quarter of each year is spent indulging and not caring, and the other quarter is spent trying to lose 20 lbs instead of 10. There is a cycle.

6. I am terrible with plants. I have no trouble taking care of my dog and my cat, but I can't seem to keep a fern alive. I wish I had a garden where I could grow my own veggies and herbs, but, well, I don't think it would work out.

7. I drive a pickup truck. Yep. A little blue one.


How's that for random? Now, who to tag...

Bethany
Corgimom
Dove
Jen
Skully
Stephanie
Teresa

I Can SEE You!

My best friend (aside from my husband, I suppose) just got a Mac. Pretty much the same one as mine. And last night we figured out how to do video chats. It's way cool and has rekindled the novelty of having a Mac in the first place.

Yay technology.

Koigu

Oh yeah. I bought some yarn.

In general, yarn purchases are not an extremely big deal. But this is my first yarn purchase since January. I said I would try and last until April; I set a resolution and I stuck to it. I placed this order the last weekend in April, and it arrived a week and a half later.

Koigu KPPPM color 608, 3 skeins, from Knit Purl. It took longer than expected to receive my order - but when it came, there was a handwritten note that they were waiting on a backordered pair of needles I ordered. So, I can go ahead and promote their site after all!

(These two skeins are labeled as the same dye lot, but, they most certainly are not. They're still lovely though.)

The majority of this yarn will be a pair of toe-up socks. Specifically, the "On-Your-Toes Socks" by Ann Budd in the Summer Interweave Knits. It's a simple pattern, but this being my first pair of toe-up socks, it'll be helpful around the tricky parts. Note that though it is the 7th pair of socks I've made now, but the first pair I'll have made for myself.

It is, in fact, quite a bit farther along than this picture. This picture was taken with the nice camera, which B took with him when he got underway. I could get the old camera out, but... nah. Just imagine this, but longer.

Kitty Squid Does Its Part

This modest little cat toy pattern will soon be helping kitties in need.

Back in October I made my first one of these and posted the pattern. It's made its way into various collections and brought a large percentage of the visitors to this site. But it looks like this little guy was meant for a much larger purpose than generating blog traffic and amusing kitties I know personally.

The nice people at Maine Coon Adoptions, a cat rescue organization in the San Francisco East Bay area and a part of SAFE (stands for Saving Animals From Euthanasia), contacted me to kindly ask permission to use this pattern to promote their cause. And of course, since I'm a big softie for animals in need, I said, Absolutely! The toys are going to be made for fundraising, and additionally the organization is going to put together kits including the pattern (with my blog address snuck onto it), yarn, hook, and a picture of the final product (what a neat idea, huh?). All the money raised will go toward helping the cats - I hear last year the organization rescued over 160 kitties.

I am proud to play this small part in helping their organization. And you can help, too! If you can crochet and want to help some kitties (and the people dedicated to their cause!), all you need is some leftover yarn and perhaps a couple hours of your time. Make one - or several - of these simple toys and send it to this address:

Maine Coon Adoptions

2527 Carmel Street
Oakland, CA 94602

* Once again, the pattern is HERE. *

And visit their website, and see the other great things they are doing! Read stories, donate, volunteer, adopt a fantastic new family member!

I hope those California kitties like their squids as much as Bettie likes hers.