Dutch Fans At World Cup 2010

Looks like the Dutch fans in their mini dresses are back!!! Hope they don't land in the slammer this time around. You can read about the Bavaria Beer gorilla advertising scheme here!

Healthcare Reform in Action

Not sure who wouldn't want a piece of this health plan.

world cup watch party update

"Bummer, dude!!!!!!!!"

world cup watch party!!!

We are into the added 30 minutes of the U.S. vs. Ghana game. Let me just say ... all the girls are very nervous and a couple are feeling a little sick from the excitement.



One is feeling particularly passionate about the star player for the U.S. !!!!

Good Juju at Good Juju

When my niece invited me to go to a couple of flea markets with her today, I hesitated for a second when I thought of all the crap around the house that needs attention... but then I had this good feeling... that kind of feeling you get when you know you are going to find a treasure... turns out my feeling was right.

It was at the second place, called Good Juju that I spied her from across the room. Don't know if it was the turquoise dress that caught my attention or the rhinestone buttons on it that flickered in my eye... but there she was... a dirty, creepy Shirley Temple doll with bad hair.


At the checkout, one lady kept looking at me... looking at the doll. She wasn't the lady who took my money, but she was wrapping people's purchases. She asked me if I wanted a bag and I said no, I would probably be gazing at her the whole way home. She said she loved that doll and I said I did, too. Then she told me she got the doll when she was 3 and now she is 55. I told her she was going to a good home. I think she was glad about that.


Time for a dolly bath and hair treatment. Surely, she will look and feel better after it is all over... and HEY! don't call me Shirley!

Luncheon Date

My husband and I rarely go out for a lunch date together. I can probably count on one hand and part of another how many times we have lunched out in the past 20 years... so I was very excited when we made plans today and actually followed through with them. We decided to go to the Filling Station... a very yummy place, indeed.

I was really happy to be there with Peter... again, let me emphasize that the planets seem to have to align for us to go to lunch alone together... so when I informed Peter that I had brought along a friend, I was happy that he didn't seem to mind... maybe because she is so darn cute.

Then when we discovered Windy-Lou invited Hugs along, well Peter was fine with that as well. (Peter is a swell guy, no doubt.)

And of course, Hugs pretty much goes nowhere without Squoze... so much for our Luncheon Date. Luckily Peter is a “the more the merrier” kind of guy.

Speaking of luck...we were lucky none of us got kicked out of the place... the door sign says it all.

We all had a lovely time and agreed we should go on a Luncheon Date more often.

Bonkers for Blythe

Clara Bow is here. We have big plans for a movie shoot this summer. Stay tuned.

Dead Girl

This past weekend, Olivia was in a play that took place in a graveyard tucked away in a nearby neighborhood. The graveyard is filled with the descendants of the founders of Johnson County, Kansas and Olivia played the part of Ann Johnson... the niece of Reverend Johnson, who founded the Shawnee Indian Mission. Ann died when she was 14. The play was about the various people who lived at the mission and each actor basically did a monologue about their daily life and some of the historical incidents that took place there as well. Olivia did a really great job. I thought the whole thing was going to be a little like "Waiting for Gufman" but it was actually really cool. They did 4 performances on both Saturday and Sunday.


Genevieve and Olivia and I were looking at this photograph (and the one above.) G and I noticed the pink foggy stuff around the ground. Genevieve is certain that it is the ghost of Ann Johnson. I bet we could get this on some sort of bad ghost hunting show with this (like the ones on the History Channel). Do you suppose Ann Johnson likes the color magenta?

EEEEK!!! Blythe has Leprechaun Spots!!!

Somehow my Blythe, Bonnie B.C., woke up one morning with horrible green spots. I was mortified and shocked... until I realized that I had carelessly laid Bonnie down on some cheap-o St. Patrick's Day beads. Apparently it only took one night for my Blythe to get tattooed by the beads. Needless to say, I wanted to cry.
After my initial freak-out, I posted a "HELP" on Twitter, and started google-ing things like... "stained Blythe", "my Blythe has chicken pox", "spots on my Blythe....EEEEEEEK!," etc. I finally found great information on Yahoo Answers, don't you just love that?!! So I tried the Magic Eraser and no luck.... staying calm, I jumped in the car and ran to the CVS for some zit cream. I lathered her legs, covered her body in a towel, and set her in a sunny window. A few days later, voila!! The spots had faded tremendously!!! I will post new pictures to show the progress. Hopefully, they will all be gone as soon as we have a few more sunny days.

Finally Feeling Better

I can tell I am felling better because I can actually knit without needing to take a nap afterwards.
This cute little sweater is made from the pattern "Basic Top Down Raglan Sweater for Blythe" which can be found on this blog.

I made the sweater as a secret prize for one of my new Blythe friends. I am convinced that our dolls are twins... "separated at factory". Some day they will probably be on an Oprah episode about twins who find each other via Twitter. Who knows...right?!

Feeling Icky

I have been feeling icky of late. So tired and icky, that I have barely managed to have the strength to pick up the needles.

Pretty much, this is all I have managed to make in the past three weeks... three little felted hats...about 3 inches high... made to wear on some felted animals made by my friend, Debbie Pettid, owner of the amazing Reading Reptile bookstore. The animals are from the book, "Why Do You Cry?" by Kate Klise.
Anyway, I told Deb (weeks ago) that I could whip up the little party hats for her animals. Little did I know that I was coming down with a nasty virus that has hung on (uninvited) for an extremely long time. So today, I managed to knit and felt these just in time for Kate Klise's visit to the Reptile. Perhaps I can muster up the energy to knit a few Easter items this weekend. I hope so, but I won't hold my breath. Especially since it is hard enough as it is to just breathe.

It Might Not Be Mutual

It's kind of obvious that Hugs is taken with Sandy, Genevieve's Blythe. I don't think the admiration is mutual.
However, her lack of enthusiasm does not seem to squelch his.
Hugs is knit from the wonderful Hugs + Squoze pattern by Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land. I still have to knit Squoze (Hugs's little friend) and perhaps when Squoze is finished, Sandy can get a break.

If you go to the Mochimochi Land Blog (search through the archives for Blythe + Hugs) and you will find the first picture here posted over there!!! Anna's blog is my favorite, and I am thrilled she liked the picture of Hugs + Blythe.
I love Anna's patterns ... they are really well written and her toys are so darling. I can't wait for her book to come out this early summer!

Hugs to all of you! Remember Spring is near!

Misterioso!

Lately Genevieve has been making disguises for her dolls. I think her Blythe looks rather snappy in this chic mustache and top hat ensemble.

I love the dress...it is way vintage. I don't know what doll it came from originally, but it was always in the Barbie case that belonged to my older sisters. I have always loved that dress, and now my girls love it too. I think Sandy looks smashing in it.

Big Plans... not.

Okay... so I had big plans for knitting these past couple of days. Lots of knitting... lots of needle clicking, color play and finishing projects... oh, yes. I had big knitting plans and couldn't wait to start...but my daughters had plans of their own. They both decided to make these awesome gifts for their friend who requested money to save for a laptop instead of random gifts for her birthday. Genevieve thought it would be hilarious to make a T-shirt purse with a One Thousand Dollar bill on it. I wish she had made me one. The braided handle is extra groovy... and all the hand stitching looks really cool.
Olivia made a laptop softie. On the outside where the apple usually occupies, she made a muffin... her friend's nickname is NerdMuffin.
When the laptop opens, you see this cheery little guy. Don't you just want to trade in your real laptop for something that dang cute?! So now that the girls are at their party and the table is full of polar fleece and t-shirt scraps... maybe, just maybe, I will have time to do a little knitting! Oh wait... it's time to pick them up from the party! Nevermind.

Hostess With The Mostess

Hostess With The Mostess

A couple of weeks ago, my friend and I made this all-in-one apron for an auction to benefit NAG, a group who brings artists and workshops to kids who live in a very rural part of Montana. The benefit dinner and auction of aprons made by artists was the perfect venue for my friend Michelle Lambson and I to collaborate. We first found the yellow dress at an "upscale" thrift store... (We were there to find a jacket to make into an apron... a kind of MichaelJacksonesque number), but this yellow dress screamed at us from the rack... and thus was the beginning of the "Hostess With The Mostess."
Our ideas started flying... I immediately thought of the fabulous gloves in the Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines book by Anne Shayne and Kay Gardner. Chelle found the fabulous Kate Spade bag... the perfect accessory for our Perfect Hostess. P.H. really started coming together when we found the exact yarns for the gloves (made longer and more elegant) and the pocket (which is the famous ballband warshcloth pattern from same said book.) We were stunned when all the parts and pieces made themselves manifest on our 8-hour shopping spree. I even had the exact dyes we needed in my dye stash for the apron!
Chelle did all of the fabulous hand-stitching of all of the trim (hours and hours of it). She also split the dress and made the straps for the back. It was a labor of love and we were both rather sad to pack P.H. and send her off to Montana. We were told she went to a wonderful home.
Good-bye Hostess With the Mostess! Have fun in Montana. We will miss you.
p.s. you might want to put on some panties before the auction. Just sayin'.

Lame me.... I originally forgot to give credit for the fantastic pictures to Michelle Lambson. Aren't they great?!!!

The Shire

I had the most fun at the wonderful store, Florilegium in Parkville, Missouri... (just a few minutes from downtown Kansas City.) A few weeks ago, David Gentzsch of Ozark Handspun was at Florilegium conducting a wonderful felting class, followed by a great fashion show featuring all sorts of clothes, hats, wraps, and other accessories made with Ozark Handspun.
Notice the book in the picture above? Well, I was thrilled to find that my new wonderful book, Hattitude by Cathy Carron had two hat patterns using Ozark Handspun!

I decided to make the hat called "Romantic" to wear to the workshop... I already had the Ozark Handspun in my stash... I wore it to the workshop and fashion show... it was a hit. I named it "the Shire" cause it feels a little like a Hobbit might like to live in it.
(Me and the Shire and David Gentzsch at Florilegium!)

Hats With A 'Tude

I just got this knitting book, "Hattitude" by Cathy Carron. Lately, I have been pleased if a knitting book has 4 or 5 projects that I want to make... I feel like the book was a good purchase.
Let me just say, that is not how I feel about "Hattitude". I feel like it was an excellent purchase... Not only did I find at least 6 hats that I want to make for myself, but one of my daughters marked 5 that she is about to die for. And the other daughter.... well.....
...she marked 19 hats that I just have to make her! NINETEEN!!! So the big decision is which one to cast on first. I could probably just randomly open the book and see which one it opens to... or check out my ample stash and match up the project that way. I have some Ozark Handspun and some Burly Spun... maybe I will start the hat called "Romantic". I would make that one for moi! Oh what fun!

Rock and Roll Mitten

I started this mitten the other night at my son's rock and roll show at a bar in Westport. It was about 1 degree F. out that night... and I really felt the need for a decent pair of mittens. Anyway, I am sure it was bad enough for my son to have his mom show up at his gig... and to be knitting!!! Yikes.
This awesome elf hat will go quite well with my mitten(s) when I get them all done. The hat is lacking a tassle at the tip and braided ties. I love wearing things that most adults wouldn't be caught dead in.
Happy New Year!