I Have Found Him-My Hottie Robin

(The Big Guy already knows about my teenage crushes so I can show these pics with no guilt.)

I watch the BBC Channel now and again and keep seeing the previews for their new "Robin Hood" series coming up. It got me to thinking about the one that I used to watch back in the day when MTV played music videos (ALL THE TIME) and me watching anything else was rare. I knew what my Robin looked like, I just couldn't remember the name of the series. For a long time now I've tried to find out if it was ever on DVD. I've searched Cinemax & Hbo and I finally googled "actors who played Robin Hood" and found it the other night (DuH! It was on Showtime)! It amazed me to find SO MANY fan sites on it that I felt a little silly to have NOT found it by now! Big time embarrassed! All hail the Google Search.

Here's my Perfect Robin Hood:

How I wanted to be Maid Marion.

Maybe it's the long hair, maybe it's his dark looks, or maybe it's because this was a really AWESOME series (...it was him), I LOVED this show. And it's on AMAZON, so we all know what this little girl is getting for Christmas. Michael Praed (My beloved Robin) was only on it for two seasons, then Sean Connery's son took over the part and I quit watching it.

The 80's. These were the fun years of fabulous crushes and dreams. Lots & Lots of good memories, concerts, and shows. I can't remember how my BF Julie and I decided "who" we wanted as our own out of what band/show, but we never picked the same guy which shows what great friends we are. But if she had wanted Michael....hmmmm LOL!!! Nah, She would've given him to me, I'm sure of it!

I also was clearing out my email and came across one that my knitting buddy Jane sent me back in December 07. It's about this fellow:




Opera can bring me to tears easily. It's beautiful, emotional, strong, (and difficult to sing). So hearing about Paul Potts being a cell phone salesman when he went on this show was amazing. I, like the judges didn't expect what they got. He's a very simple man who seems as sweet as the day is long. This is very touching and you "know" from the audience that something "magical" is happening right before their eyes. (I see major $$ signs in Simon's eyes too). Now Paul Potts is all over Youtube and has his own CD out. He's amazing. I've watched this (0ver and over and over) and shed a few tears, as well as his follow up and win on the show. It's so heartwarming. He's just the sweetest guy and deserves all the success he has now. A real Cinder-fella story to warm your heart. I'm just so out of the loop, he's been all over the place and I just "happened" to find him from an email from five months ago! Never give up on your dreams. He was 37 when he did this. Find what makes you happy and do it.

Robin is all over youtube too (under Robin of Sherwood- or Loxley). I loved the music from the show and it turns out Clannad has family connections to Enya who's music I love as well. Talk about relaxing and romantic. I have to get that music too...good thing I'm on this yarn diet....

Now I'm off to watch my Elizabeth: The Golden Age dvd. I love almost anything from this time period -it's my favorite time in history. And I love Cate in this role. She's magnificent and just as I would imagine the real Queen Elizabeth I. When that perfect combination of actor/person exists for me, it's just magic and I'm a true blue fan. - who needs to check out youtube more and practice googling.

I like to knit...I like to knit...

First, proof of my massive indecisiveness lately. Hmmmm, which to choose.... I've literally been winding skeins almost every other day rather than getting any knitting done.

Eureka! I have it!! Well.... I HAD it.... (my scarf is buried in that bunch up there, whole other story...)

I was so excited to start the Broadripple Pattern for my Mom for Mother's Day after all the indecision lately. I found some other Cascade Fixation in my stash (which is NONE of the above!) Pink Yarn makes me happier than I can imagine so I was jazzed. Yea Baby!

Well, that was until I cast on the "first" time following the pattern with a 56 st cast on. Boy, did that seem "huge". (My Mom has small feet and little ankles). So, I decided to frog and redo it with size 2 DPN's needles instead of 3's. Okay, slightly better on my second go, but still a little bigger than what looks right to me. I figured "I'll see where this goes" so I re-cast on for try #3 with my magic loop needle instead. Working with the size 2 DPN's was not as comfortable as the 3's, things are definitely tighter for sure. (How anyone knits with Cascade Fixation on 0's or 1's is beyond me, they must have strong fingers.) I also decided against doing so many of the Garter Ripple sts at the beginning of the pattern which may or may not have been another cast on try, I've simply lost track by now.

Looking Good: Side one of my needle




Now side TWO. Ah, uh-oh. Drats. Cast on # zillion and one coming up.



Sasha said, "just lay down on something, you'll feel better".

I Need A Knitting Boss

I wish I had someone to say "knit THIS with THIS yarn". Would I listen? That would be the question.

My girls are good at giving me some direction with my knitting, but it's most definitely my job to be the boss of them (though they test that theory almost every single day), so it's easy to say "ah, maybe..., maybe not". The Big Guy just stears clear of these types of conversations, he knows it's a never ending deal and I'll change my mind 100 times.

Why is it so hard to make "yarn" decisions sometimes? I want to use what I have, but then - I'll have to use what I have. Then I won't have it anymore. Well, I WILL, but not in that lovely twisted skein. I know, I'm crazy. (It's a full moon??) This is a totally quirky side to my personality. I hate to use things up. Silly me. I've always been like that, I often won't use the "last" of almost anything. Just so I'll still have it.

Have you seen this new yarn? I saw it in a recent knitting magazine and then checked out the site. It's an interesting way to sell sock yarn! I'd like to actually see these colorways in person tho, the pics aren't so great on my monitor. I read where someone said they'd most likely wind it in a ball to use anyway to get out the kinks. I'd have to see how kinky it was first I think. What I like is that it's almost another art form to view the colorway in. Kinda Cool.

Next year. I may just buy TWO of everything. That may just help make things easier.

OTN: Trying sock patterns for Mother's Day socks that probably won't be delivered by Mother's Day (luckily Mom is quite understanding).

M&M Surprise Socks

Hey Dawn! I got my M & M socks done!! My first picot edge socks rock!

Behold the beauty:

They turned out fraternal but I kind of like them that way! They're kind of happy, crazy socks and that keeps right with the joy of them. I used a 64 stitch cast on and they turned out a little tight for me but as USUAL, my oldest claimed them right off the needles anyway! She wears them at night and loves them. I love the picot edge, I have a ball of Opal that I'm going to start tomorrow and I'm going to try to go up to a 72 stitch cast on maybe. I couldn't pull these ones up over my heel! Duh!!!

The yarn is Trekking XXL in colorway 165. Dawn sent it to me in a Christmas package. Thanks Dawn!

Knitting Nite is tomorrow night, my gallbladder ultrasound is Friday afternoon. I hope I make it. I've been so terribly out of it this week. Very tired. Sometimes I think the Fibro (or whatever it is) just kicks my butt. I'm not in tons of pain like I was before, but have felt so run down. I HAVE been sleeping good which is a blessing though.

I haven't walked at all this week. I got VERY discouraged after being so good for 5 weeks and found out at the Dr's office Monday morning that I GAINED 2 pounds.

Talk about depressing. Not only did I lose my knitting mojo, now I gotta get my exercising mojo back too!! Any advice would be appreciated. My Dr's nurse tried to be nice she said "maybe you gained some muscle". Isn't she cute? I know that I have to kick it up a notch and really exercise harder. I've just been trying to go slow in the beginning to gain some strength first and deal with any pain issues that my muscles would suffer. I'm okay, I just gotta stop feeling bummed about those two extra pounds. I mean I gave up PEPSI for gosh sakes!!!



Well, Tomorrow is another day....

Stormy Weather

We had some crazy storms come through yesterday. Living in California most of my life with earthquakes never unnerved me more than these "tornado watches" we have here. Every single time it happens I can understand why I have so much gray hair now. It scares the beejeebees out of me. When the TV starts beeping and you see "Seek shelter, go to an innermost room or basement of your home..yadda yadda yadda" I kind of lose my composure. An earthquake rocks you, you don't get swept away with your house (okay, unless you're living on a hill by the ocean). I don't think I'll ever get used to it... (watching the Wizard of Oz all those years growing up probably didn't help much either come to think of it!) I'm just grateful that we're okay so far and that we don't have anymore huge trees surrounding us in our new home. I've seen a big oak go right thru the middle of someone's house. Trust me, not pretty.

Anyway, my knitting mojo is slightly better lately. I started a simple diagonal stitch scarf pattern that I found on Ravelry.

This yarn is Colinette Tao. It's 100% silk and one of the goodies that I splurged on when my LYS went out of business. Since I first got it I've been trying to find a pattern that worked well with it. The reason is the colorway, it's called "Moss" and it's mostly a pretty sagey, silvery colorway but there are also "pinkish" spots mixed in it. They make it look like I've spilled Kool-Aid on myself by accident when the pattern is too closely knit. I finally decided that opening it up may help and it does. I just hope it blocks okay. I'm still not sure how to treat this, it says to "hand wash" and I don't usually wear anything until I've cleaned it, but this may be a "spritzer" one because I'm just to chicken to emerse "silk" in water! I'm also going to knit it shorter than I usually would to compensate for any stretching. That seems to be a famous trait of silk as well. We shall see. I just hope I don't ruin it! Oh yea, to knit with this...it's a DREAM (especially after that Malabrigo, oy).

It's like Buttahh.


I also started some stash socks out of some All Things Heather. This particular one is a merino/tencel blend that I picked up at my LYS - The Yarn Haven.

I'm really not sure about how this looks knit up. The colors just look so..so.. . (And my terrible pictures don't help!) Honestly, It looked a LOT prettier in the hank. I know it's not one of the "great" ones when neither of my girls is asking me twenty million times "Can I have those?" I do like that it's smooth and it's also firmer than usual sock yarns (it's the tencel) but I'm still knitting it up on my size 1 circ. (Magic Loop AGAIN! I'm SOOO addicted.) Maybe I should've overdyed it....oh well. I'll wear them.

This is probably the 4th pair of socks I've started. I know it shouldn't be so hard but I'm very indecisive these days. I've searched Ravelry to death with my stash yarns, and yes, I have found things, but even when I start something I lose my oomph for some reason. I'm going to finish these though. I just have to finish something! Maybe then this spell will be broken!

I AM doing well with my walking though (Yea ME!). At least there's something that's working out! I've also quit drinking soda again (Yea ME AGAIN!!). With my gallbladder acting up it just seemed like it would help.

It's very late so I'm going to shut up and go to bed. Happy Knitting.

PS. Julie, I'm so jealous that you're going to Rome!!!! You need to call me with all the details!! (And bring me a cute italian guy home! ) ahahahah! Just kidding!!!!! Laurie had a blast there when she got to go. You gotta take a million pictures!

Sunny Days

We've gone from a week of April showers to bright "hot" sunshine! It's past time to break out the shorts! Well, time to go shopping for more anyway. These kids are growing way too fast. My daughter tried on several pairs of her old capri's and shorts and only two out of around 15 still fit. I'm also hoping my big caboose will fit into something (ANYthing from last summer...)

I did better on my walk this Sunday, we went around the trail twice and it felt great. I can certainly do better walking than anything else right now. I'll probably be back there tomorrow after school's out, I just hope it's not grossly humid. I sure miss that cool spring breeze we had for a bit there, now I wish I had started a few months earlier.

Nothing new on the knitting front, I still haven't found "the project" that makes my heart go pitter patter. I think it's spring fever. It's just so pretty outside, I want to be doing other things right now. Today was house cleaning day, not something I WANT to do, but somebody HAS to do it I guess. Soon I want to go thru my craft room downstairs and get it sorted out, I have a lot of stuff that probably should go. I'm never going to scrapbook, I'm (probably) never going to sew...I need to get things organized. That Spring Cleaning bug is getting to me again...

I've been meaning to tell Anna about how the Panda Cotton Socks turned out once they dried (in like 3 days-Reminder: Throw them in the dryer next time!).
I like the way they feel, they are soft, but these aren't on my "fav" list. I gave them to my oldest because they turned out a little snug for me and the tops do tend to stretch out just a bit. The yarn's a little splitty (which didn't bother me much) but my usual sock formula didn't work so well with them. I don't like having to re-do socks so many times. These befuddled my knitting brain! (Not that that's hard to do!). You may like it, I had no trouble with Soxx Appeal or Fixation. But these were a bummer. You know how it is when you're just glad you're done? I LOVE the color tho!! LOL!

Remember how we said that there were never any good patterns in Vogue? Isn't this pretty? I do like this one from the last issue.

Okay, it would NEVER fit me, (I never show my tummy like that after 2 c-sections and chocolate) but I adore this sweater...I may make it one day just for fun. Maybe my girls will use it one day.

I'm being so good on my yarn diet that I ordered myself a couple of books from Amazon. And I got another magazine in the mail today...it's a good day.

I sure wish I could make it to Atlanta or Nashville to see The Yarn Harlot. She totally cracks me up and I only wish I had half her talent when it came to knitting. Someday I'm going to make it to one of her stops on a tour. Someday. Off to break the spines of my books!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Well, I can't get pictures of my latest cast-ons since it's so dreary outside, this has been a very wet week for us! But it fits with everything in my universe right now since I've been frogging just about everything I start lately!

I was only able to walk once this week but got on my bike and rode for a bit today as a substitution. It's a lot harder for me than walking! (puff puff) I'm terribly out of shape and have zero stamina. I think I'll have to do that in spurts. 5-10 minutes here and there (okay, 3-7 minutes). It takes time to build up, I have to remember that.

I did finish this "stash" scarf a couple of weeks ago because it was FAST and got rid of four balls of yarn in my closet! Woohoo! Just what I need in the spring time! LOL! ! But it was "mindless knitting" that I seriously needed on size 11 needles. The perfect RX for a "mojo-less" knitter.

It's a keyhole scarf that I saw on Knitty Gritty and it's also in Candy Jensen's book Knit Scarves! I had made another one in a darker pinkish red but I don't know what happened to it. My youngest took it and I never got it back! She loved it. It's really a great idea for kids, they easily keep their neck covered while they're outside playing like a nut. It's very soft too since it's made out of Berroco's Softy. I think this one will be mine (yeah right!).

Sasha Says: "This is so....ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I Am Dawn

What Dawn Means

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace. People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very charming... dangerously so. You have the potential to break a lot of hearts. You know how what you want, how to get it, and that you will get it. You have the power to rule the world. Let's hope you're a benevolent dictator! You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I'm such a "Dawn" except in the "confident and agressive" area. I'm good at saying what "should" be, as long as I can hide behind The Big Guy while he takes care of it! LOL! I'm a big crybay too. Bossy, but chicken. That's me.

Sound the Alarm!

Yep. We're getting an alarm system put in this week.

Sunday while The Big Guy was mowing the lawn, a neighbor stopped and told him she saw two men parked in our driveway on Friday afternoon and they were standing in my flowerbed trying to look in my dining room window. Uh-huh, I know. Creepy.

Most know that I have a hard time sleeping at night (if at all). Sometimes during the morning/early afternoon is when I sleep the best (again, if at all, and sleep blocks out the constant construction noise). So knowing that someone was out there and I was probably alseep did NOT make me a happy camper. A two-story home has a lot of noises all on it's own. It's tough, some things I hear VERY well, and others I can't hear at all. My nerves are jumping all the time. And I was HOME. That's scary, creepy too. There could be a few explanations, but who the heck goes right up and looks in your windows? I was thinking maybe a realtor/buyer because our neighbor just put their house up for sale, but the lady said they were in a truck. Sounds fishy to me.

The truth is I've never been comfortable out here because we were somewhat secluded, but the more our neighborhood grows, the worse things are getting. The neighbor across the street had a truck tool chest stolen from his front yard, same thing: in the mid-afternoon. Someone else had moved out and someone forced the garage door open by bending it. It totally baffles me because so much is going on around here all day. The trucks are driving by, the mailman comes by, the kids get off the buses all day (kindergarten, elem, middle & high school - all at different times.) There's always some traffic, I find it hard to fathom that someone would try, but most burglaries are in the daytime...

People have a whole lot of nerve apparently and I'm not going to wait and see if anything happens. I think these construction guys are getting sticky fingers and with all the work going on, people don't think much seeing trucks parked in people's driveways around here. I'm just glad that lady kept an eye out. She didn't know if they were here to work or what but she let them know she saw them.

The next day we put blinds up in those windows (the only ones that didn't have them, I have sheer curtains there). Now no one can see in any of my windows and we'll have the alarm in very soon. That's some comfort I guess. I know it's not the "end all" to crime but it helps. I wish it would blast them to bits and disentigrate them if they tried to get in!! Well, you just can't be careful enough these days. Now I'm really on guard and plan to stay that way.

No knitting lately, I was working on a hat in the Malabrigo but man is it tough on me. It's soft, but yet still "prickles" my hands for some reason. It feels like little electric zings, kind of "itchy". Not fun. Plus my hands feel so dry when I use it. Does it dry your skin out? Is that crazy?? I don't know, but it's happening to me. No cool knitting mojo going on yet but it'll happen.

The Big Guy caught Miss J's cold (she actually has pneumonia!) so they're both going to be home for a day or two with me. Whew! Makes me feel better. We may have company by Friday too so I still have a lot to do. My knitting will pick up next week hopefully.

Happy Hump Day. And Be Safe.