It Pours

"Mama, come play football with me before it gets dark."

That's why I was out in the backyard playing football with the munchkin. Which is how I got this:


Notice the badly swollen ring finger. (Also notice the absence of anything resembling a ring, but that's another story.) For comparison, here is the unswollen left ring finger.

Therefore, any lengthy, insightful, thought provoking posts will be postponed until said finger can be returned to normal use. Which may take a while since I can't take any anti-inflammatories.

I'm going to go get very friendly with an ice pack now.

Oh, one more thing, the vet said Rylea may get to come home tomorrow. Hee Haw!

A Contest--In Which I Combine The Passions Of My Life

STICKY--Scroll down for regular posts. Please read the contest rules carefully before posting comments. Thank you.

This month, one of my karate buddies got his braces off. In honor of this occasion, I have decided to hold a contest. I've posted here several photographs of smiles. Can you identify all 12?

UPDATE (11/28/07): My apologies to everyone. I was thinking that the 30th was Thursday. I realized this morning it isn't. So you have until midnight FRIDAY night to submit or revise your entries. Sorry about that.


HINT #1: They are all men. Even though one of them has a rather feminine smile, he is still a man.

HINT: #2: They are all different men. Some of the smiles may look alike, but there are 12 different men represented there.

HINT #3: Though they all appear on TV regularly, none of them are actors.

HINT #4: Though none of them are professional actors, at least 4 currently appear in commercials.

HINT #5: They are all athletes.

HINT #6: They all play the same sport.

HINT #7: They all play (or played) the same position.

HINT #8: Here it is, the biggest hint I will give you. Eleven of these twelve men have been mentioned by name--first and last--somewhere in my blog.

That's the most I can tell you without giving you all the answers outright. Have fun and happy guessing.

Official rules:

The contest will run until November 30th, giving you plenty of time to guess and research. These pictures were all gleaned from the internet--many from the same site--and all are relatively famous--some more so than others. There is a theme to them as well. I'm not going to tell what it is. That would give it away, but once you've guessed a couple, you should be able to figure it out. Send an e-mail to isshinryubearmom @ yahoo (dot) com with your answers. If I don't acknowledge your e-mail within a day or two, nag me about it until I do. Do not put your answers in the comments. We don't want to give our opponents hints, now, do we? Comments with answers in them will be deleted.

The winner will be the one who has guessed the most answers correctly. If there is a tie, those names will be put into a hat and the winner will be drawn randomly. All entries, regardless of the number of correct answers, will be entered into a random drawing for a prize just for playing. Also, if you link to me on your blog, leave me a comment letting me know that you did so, and you'll get your name into the hat an extra time.

First prize will be this:

.Two 50 gram balls of Knit Picks Essential in the Riverbed colorway, and not one, not two, but three, yes three, count them, three sets of double pointed needles. The two on the left are Clover bamboo in sizes 2.25 mm and 3.25 mm. The set on the left is Comfort Zone size US 2. It doesn't give the mm size. Neither of the bamboo sets has been used as far as I can remember. They aren't warped and look brand new. Nothing is wrong with them, I've just decided I prefer Knit Picks nickel plated needles. The Comfort Zone needles I tried to use, but just couldn't get used to how bendy they are.

Second prize--the one decided by the random drawing will be this:



Two undyed balls of Patons Classic Merino wool. This yarn is 100% wool, and great for dying or felting. Each ball is 100 grams and just over 200 yards of worsted weight wool. It should be enough to make a hat and matching gloves, or a decent sized scarf.

Answers, along with the winner, will be revealed the first couple of days of December.

So are you ready? Let the guessing begin!

1.
2.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
9. 10. 11.
12.

I Was Dreaming Again

I'd been following the Dallas-Green Bay game on the computer, since none of the local stations were carrying it. However, it was already 9:30 and they'd only just started the third quarter. Since 5:00 AM waits for no Cowboy, I went on to bed.

And dreamed.

About the game.

The Cowboys would score. Then the Packers would score. Then the Cowboys would pull ahead, and the Packers would come back and tie the game. The Cowboys would pull ahead again, but the Packers wouldn't give up. They would rally and tie the game.

Finally, the game was tied at 41 all, with 36 seconds left on the clock and Tony Romo trying to get within Nick Folk's field goal range. He took the snap, dropped back, and threw the ball waaaay down the field.

And I woke up.

I looked at the clock. 11:15 P.M. "That game is over," I said to myself. So I jumped out of bed, ran down to the computer room and opened my browser. Once my browser was open, I clicked on the Football button in my toolbar (why, yes I do have a Football button in my toolbar. Doesn't everybody?) and saw the headlines in big three inch letters:


The Road To The Superbowl Runs Through Dallas: Cowboys defeat Packers 37-27

And the new catchphrase that's sweeping the Cowboy nation,

Getcha popcorn ready!!!

Hey! You Got Your Politics In My Holiday!

Rockefeller Center

The biggest Christmas tree lighting of the year. This year marked the 75th year. I'm not even going to talk about the fact that none of the TV personalities, singers, or various other celebrities would say "Merry Christmas." and all said, "Happy Holidays" instead. I won't even mention how ironic I find it that someone would go to a Christmas party to light a Christmas tree only to be offended by a Christmas greeting.

No, what I'm going to talk about is the politics of environmentalism. I'm going to talk about the host--I don't even remember who he was--laying on the guilt pretty thickly. Go to this reforestation website, he would say, and buy a tree to be replanted. Give a tree as a gift, he would say, to plant in someone else's name. They would make up for some of the more than thirty-two thousand trees cut down this time of year. Oh you shameless environmental rapists cutting down all those Christmas trees!

What he conveniently failed to mention--in hopes that most of you wouldn't catch on to the fact--is that nearly all Christmas trees sold in the United States come from--you guessed it--Christmas tree farms. Where trees are planted, grown, and carefully shaped to be the perfect Christmas tree. When trees are cut, the farmer replaces them with another crop. More trees.

When you bought your tree, you paid the tree farmer to do exactly what the talking head was suggesting. You are paying him, in part, to plant another tree.

Which he will do, in the spring.

So go ahead. Enjoy your live tree. Sans guilt.

Packages

There were three of them waiting for me when I got home today. One contains a Christmas present, so I can't show you what it is, but I can show you the other two.

This one I was expecting, sort of. I found a fellow Raveler who had some blue fun fur yarn in her Sell/Trade stash. I asked her how much she wanted for it, thinking I could use it for our Cowboys KAL. When I told her what I was planning on using it for, danged if she didn't up and send me a whole box of yarn. For free, too.

It is much appreciated, and will be put to good use. What I don't use for this KAL, I can use for Scarves From The Heart.

The second box that came was a near total surprise. It is from my friend Patti. She'd mentioned once that she had some stuff that she was going to send me, but it just didn't register until after I'd opened the box. So I was semi-surprised to find this:


It is a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a cap and notebook from our old alma mater. She also included a package of wooden letters she'd bought when Cody was born. They spell out his name. She was going to do something with them, but couldn't ever figure out what she wanted to do. She sent them on to me, thinking maybe I could come up with something.

Squeaky has already claimed the sweatshirt. I hate to break it to her, but she isn't going to be able to keep it.


I called to check on Rylea, and they said she is doing fine. The vets were actually doing something to her when I called, so I talked to the receptionist. They wanted to keep her one more day, so I'll call back tomorrow. I just feel so sick when I think of all the times Cody and I walked up and down the street looking for her. We probably walked right past her more than once, and didn't find her. Poor baby. But she is safe and sound and on pain medication now, thank goodness.

It seems to be a rite of passage around here--getting run over. Katie was hit badly when she was about the same age as Rylea. The wheels didn't go over Katie, but the way she was hit slammed her head into the asphalt pretty hard. She was actually knocked senseless for a bit, and I thought we were going to lose her. She is ok now, but she lost half of her tail in that accident. I've been thinking about that all day. I didn't even think to check and see if Rylea still has her tail. In the grand scheme of things, it just isn't that important.

I just hope Rylea learns faster than Katie, and stays out of cars way from now on. Katie had to get hit more than once before she learned. She's had so much stuff happen to her that we began to say she must be part cat--nine lives and all. But she is 12 years old now, and has outlived 3 dogs and 5 cats.

After I'd gotten home last night, I went to bed about my usual time, but tossed and turned until about midnight. Unfortunately for me, 5:00 AM still came at the same time, so I'm a bit brain fried tonight. I'm going to stop rambling now and go to bed early.

Goodnight.

Rylea is Back

but she's in a bad way. It looks like she got run over. Not just hit, but actually run over. Both of her back legs are severely injured, and one appears to be broken. The vet said her injuries look to be a couple of days old. Likely she was hit Sunday and it took her this long to crawl home.

We were over at B and J's putting up their Christmas tree. I'll post about that later. I was heading home, when I heard a noise from under the old house. "Rylea?" I called. As soon as she heard my voice, she started barking in that hound dog yell she has, and barked until I'd found her. Cody was carrying his flashlight, and was able to locate her with that. She wouldn't come out, so I had to crawl up under there and get her. I took her inside, and laid her on the couch on a towel. Cody stayed with her, while I called the vet. I explained to him what had happened, and he agreed to meet me at the clinic--despite that it was nearly 9:00 PM.

She is up at the vet's clinic now. He said the joint on her--well, both back legs are bad, but one is worse than the other. The joint on her worse leg looks like infection has started to set in already, which is bad. On the other hand, her only being 6 months old is a big plus in her favor.

None of her injuries appear to be life threatening. He said her heart sounded pretty good, considering. It's just the threat of infection that is troublesome. He started her on antibiotics and pain killers and will just let her rest tonight. Tomorrow he will sedate her and clean her wounds up really well and get some x-rays. Then we'll take it from there.

I'm just glad she's back.

It Must Be

Rylea is missing. I let her out yesterday evening to do her business and haven't seen her since. She's never been gone this long.

I think it must be my destiny to not have a dog.

Post Thanksgiving Post

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality. You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes. But you're by no means generic or ordinary. In fact, you're one of the most original people around. Those who like you are looking for something (someone!) special. You tend confuse people when they first meet you. You're not as complicated as you seem. Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering. You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Funny thing, that is just about my favorite kind of pie. I even figured out how to make it without eggs, and it tastes just the same.

It's Over

Well I said I'd find a game to watch, and did I ever pick a doozy. I just happened to stumble upon the Tennessee vs. Kentucky game midway through the second quarter. The game looked like it was going all Tennessee's way. They were leading 31-14 in the third quarter, but Kentucky rallied and tied the game at the end of regulation play. Four overtimes and a few stopped hearts later, Tennessee hung on to win 52-50. Next, they will face LSU in the SEC Championship game.

The next game on was Florida vs. Florida St. That game was pretty boring. Watching Mr. Tim I-can-do-it-all-by-myself-who-needs-you-other-losers -and-yeah-I'm-disrespectful-to-my-mama-what-of-it Tebow have his way with the Seminoles just isn't all that exciting. For some reason, the Seminoles all seemed scared of him. I wanted to tell them that the boy can be beat. And when he does get beat, he puts on an even better show, stomping and crying on the sidelines like a two year old. I tell you what, listening to the commentators gush on and on about Tim Tebow was positively sickening. When one of them said, "He's the man you would most want your daughter to marry," I nearly put a foot through the TV. Not my daughter. If I had a daughter, I'd want her to marry a man with much more character and integrity than that white washed sepulcher. The most exciting moment of that game was when the Seminoles kicker booted a 60 yard field goal. It had no bearing on the game's outcome, but was impressive nonetheless.

To top off a day of great football, undefeated Kansas went down in flames to Missou, in the final game of the day. Missou jumped out to an early lead, but Kansas fought back to within a touchdown in the final moments of the game. In a heartbreaking turn of events, Missou sacked Kansas Quarterback Todd Reesing in the end zone for a safety with 12 seconds left on the clock, putting the game out of reach.

There is one more week of regular season college football, but all of my teams are done. Oh, well. I suppose I could watch the Army-Navy game.

Dreary Saturday

Cold, overcast, and rainy. A perfect day for staying inside, knitting and watching football. I don't know what football we are going to watch. All of our teams have already played this week. LSU and Texas both lost yesterday, but Dallas and Indianapolis both won Thursday. Oh, well, I'm sure we will find something.

Speaking of watching games, Dallas and Green Bay play this Thursday in what is expected to be the biggest game in the NFC. Both teams are 10-1, and while they are in different divisions, this game will do a lot to decide home field advantage in the playoffs. Some people are calling it Superbowl 42 3/4.

But it's more than just a game. Tony Romo grew up in Wisconsin, watching the Packers play. He decided to become a quarterback when he was 12 years old after watching Brett Favre. Favre's influence is strong in Tony Romo's style of quarterbacking. He makes Favre-like plays, takes Favre-like risks, and yes even makes Favre-like mistakes. Now, for the first time--and maybe the last in regular season play if Brett Favre retires after this season--Tony Romo will play against his boyhood hero. And none of the stations are carrying it! Ack! How can they do this to us!

One more question: how did Green Bay get through the entire season without having to play either Indianapolis OR New England? 'S true. Not even in pre-season did they face either of those teams. Dallas did. Both of them. Indy in pre-season, and NE in regular season. Who makes up these schedules anyway?

Last night, as I was heading to bed, I walked through the living room, and this is the sight that met my eyes:

Cody and Rylea asleep on the love seat.

Katie asleep in my recliner. They looked so comfortable that I just couldn't make them move.

Black Friday

The biggest shopping day of the year. The day I avoid stores like the plague. I usually end up having to run in and get a string of lights or garland or something, but this year, everything worked, so I haven't been anywhere.

When I was a child, this is the day we made fruitcakes. This is a family tradition that dates back to wayyyy before I was born. I don't make them any more. Cody won't eat them, and I don't need them. Of course, now that I'm allergic to eggs, the point is moot anyway.

This is what I did instead.

I've still got more decorating to do, but this is the big thing.

LSU lost to Arkansas in triple overtime. Triple overtime!!! Cody was quite upset, but forgave them and hung his Mike ornament anyway.

There's no hope for a national title now, but they still should get a bowl game. Texas also lost to Texas A&M, and Miss St. took the Egg Bowl on a last minute field goal. Hard to believe this is the last weekend for college football--regular season anyway. It wasn't a good weekend for us.

At least Dallas won.

Thanksgiving 2007 In Pictures

Our Thanksgiving sky looked like this for most of the day. A strong wind was blowing out of the North, and the temp dropped steadily throughout the day.


Still, the overcast sky and strong wind didn't stop the two hunters from heading out this morning, and coming back with this nice sized doe.

J let Cody take the first shot, but she wouldn't be still, and he didn't want to take a bad shot. Cody passed, and in the end J shot her. He kept calling her "that crazy doe" because she was so spastic. She weighed in at 110 lbs. Cody and J cleaned the deer, while I watched the parade. Santa entered Harald Square, and I cried, as usual, and soon it was time to eat.

I had to wake Cody up, as the mighty hunter was worn out.


Since it was just the four of us this year, B only did a breast instead of a whole turkey.

But we had plenty of food anyway.

Here is my plate, and every bit of it egg free! Doesn't it make your mouth water?

B and J enjoying the feast,


while Annie says, "Where's mine?"

After dinner, I had to come home to watch football. J was watching hunting shows, believe it or not. There was a lot of hype coming into this Cowboys-Jets showdown. After all, the Jets pulled off a surprise upset of the Pittsburg Steelers just 4 days before. Would Dallas fall to the same trap? Would the Jets defense shut down Tony Romo the way they had shut down Ben Rothlisberger? Would the mighty Cowboys fall to the now 2-8 Jets?

All the speculation was for naught, though as Dallas steamrolled over the hapless Jets. After jumping to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter, Dallas put their game into cruise control and pretty much coasted for the rest of the game. Even so, they still scored 13 more points, while holding the Jets to only a field goal. With Tony Romo's two TD passes, one to Jason Witten and one to Terrell Owens, he tied Danny White's single season club record. Kellen Clemens, who hasn't done much better than the Chad Pennington he replaced earlier this season--only managed to get the Jets into Dallas territory twice in the whole game. They just couldn't get anything going. One almost felt sorry for them. Almost....

While watching the game, I finally finished what I'd begun to think were the neverending socks:


I kind of like the way the colors turned out. This is yarn I dyed from left over Easter Egg dye. I'm not sure I like the short row heel, though.

I finished this hat yesterday evening:


This is for my KAL. I have enough yarn to do at least two more of these. Remember, items knit for charity don't count on your WIP list. We finished off the evening by watching Miracle on 34th Street--a Thanksgiving tradition in my house for at least the last 13 years.

Before I say goodnight, everybody likes to make their lists of things they are most thankful for. To vary the pace a bit, I leave you with my list of things that aren't really that important, but I'm thankful for them anyway:

10. Scarlett hasn't upchucked in 14 months.
9. Rylea hasn't had an accident in the house for 3 months
8. I finally finished those socks that were driving me nuts.
7. Our local Wal-mart carries an egg free nog.
6. Since charity knits don't count as WIPs, I'm down to 4 active WIPs.
5. B made egg free salad dressing, just for me.
4. Katie will be 12 on Sunday. That's the longest I've ever had a dog.
3. The Cowboys won. That's always a good thing.
2. It took two years, but I finally got a puppy who lived longer than a month.
1. I can still beat my son in arm wrestling--but just barely.

A Thanksgiving Memory

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection. A time for family, for traditions, for making new memories, and for reliving old ones. It seems that everyone has one holiday memory, or one special holiday that stands out in his memory above all others. This is the story of mine.

The year was 1990. I was in the Navy, attending my C school at Ft. Gordon, GA. Thanksgiving approached, and it seemed that everyone had somewhere to go but me. Oh, I could have flown home for the weekend, but I decided to wait and save my money to fly home for Christmas.

No fear, I was prepared. I'd gone to the commissary and bought a turkey and dressing TV dinner. I put on my most comfortable sweats, ignored my shoes, gathered up my current cross-stitch (my craft of choice at the time) project, and went upstairs to the second floor lounge to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Photo by Dhenningbw

I was happily stitching away, watching whatever came on before the parade started, when one of my instructors, an Army sargeant whose name I can't remember, walked into the lounge.

"Where is Chief Smith's room?" he asked me.

"Oh, he is in the hall on the other side of the landing--third door on the right," I answered and Sarge walked back out of the lounge. I returned to my cross stitch and my TV program, but a couple of minutes later, Sarge and Chief Smith walked back into the lounge.

"What are you doing?" Sarge inquired.

His tone made me a bit nervous, and thinking I must be in some kind of trouble, I shrank down in the chair just a bit, and rather hestitantly responded, "I'm getting ready to watch the parade."

"No, you're not." he said. "You're coming to my house."

"I'd need to change clothes," I said, attempting to put him off. I was wearing a pink sweatsuit. Oh, it was nice and comfy, but not exactly dinner dress.

"No, you don't," he responded. "You look fine."

"Ok," I said, but insisted that I at least needed to put some shoes on. He agreed to this, and once I'd put on my shoes, and put away my crafting, we all got into Sarge's van.

"I've got one more pickup to make," Sarge said, and he picked up Darren.

There were three students from the Australian Army who were going throught the class with us that term. The other two had taken the long weekend to drive to Memphis to see Graceland. They didn't like Darren so they didn't invite him to go with them. I don't know why they didn't like Darren. I thought he was a bit dorky, but he was really nice. I liked him well enough.

When we got to the Sarge's house, two or three other army guys were also there, in addition to Sarge's family. I found out later that he did that every year. He would go round up folks who had no where to go over the holiday and take them to his house for dinner and football.

I felt like I should be helping to get dinner ready, but Sarge's wife insisted that I was a guest and should go sit down and enjoy myself. Darren and I sat on the couch and watched the parade until time to eat.

When dinner was ready, Sarge called us all together, and explained to Darren what Thanksgiving was and why we celebrated. He then asked a blessing, and we began eating. Since there wasn't enough room around the table for everyone, Darren, Sarge's kids, and I ate in the living room in front of the TV. And watched football. Dallas Cowboys of course. Actually, Detroit first, then Dallas.

Photo by Ben Nelson

Now, Darren, being from Australia, had no idea what was going on, so while we were watching, I was trying to explain the game to him. This was an education to me. I grew up watching football. The game has never not been a part of my life. I was still young and pretty selfish at the time, and it never occurred to me that someone would not know what a down was and why you punted the ball when you got 4 of them. Or why this guy was tackled, but that guy was sacked. Or how these guys lived through the game. Darren was constantly amazed by this fact. That they lived through the game. "WOW!" he would exclaim. "I can't believe he walked away from that!" or "He got back up! I was waiting for the ambulance to come and get him!"

What I found to be extremely ironic about the whole situation was that I, the only female in the room, was the one doing the explaining. Apparently, I did a pretty good job because none of the men felt the need to correct me.

All too soon, it was time to head back to the barracks. Sarge dropped me off, I retrieved my crafting project and headed up to the third deck lounge--where there were actually people, and finished watching the game. Dallas won, and that is the only game I can honestly say that I saw Troy Aikman play in. Then the day was over, and another Thanksgiving had passed into history.

What made the day so special to me? It wasn't the food, though that was excellent. It wasn't the company, though that was outstanding as well. It wasn't that Dallas won the ball game, though that is always something to be happy about. No, what made the day so special is that someone saw that I was alone and said, "Come be a part of my family."

And that's something to be thankful for.

Holiday Fun

Your Pilgrim Name Is

Prudence Allerton

What's Your Pilgrim Name?

Your Native American Name Is...

Talutha Namid Your name means: Blood Red Star Dancer

What's Your Native American Name?

Road Trip 2

Cody got a skateboard for his birthday a few years ago--like 4 or 5 years ago. He rode it maybe three times, then basically forgot about it. It hid under his bed for a while, then laid around in the yard for awhile, and finally, about a week ago, it vanished altogether. Funny thing that. After years of ignoring the board, as soon as it disappeared, Cody suddenly decided that he had to have a skateboard. Just had to have one.

I sure wasn't going to buy him another one, so he saved his allowance and began looking for a skateboard he could afford. The local Wal-mart didn't have any. Neither did the Wal-mart we went to last week. The local sporting goods store was a little too proud of their skateboards, so Cody began bugging me to head North, toward Memphis, to see if any of the stores up that way had any.

About the same time, I noticed that Monty had outgrown his hide.

And I began to get the urge to head up to Kathy's yarn shop. I hadn't been there in some 6 months, and what with us being off this week (both of us), it seemed like the perfect time to go.

First stop, the yarn shop. As I pulled off the highway into Hernando, I began to wonder if I'd remember how to get there. I knew you had to turn back under the highway, then turn left, then right and there would be the shop. I just couldn't remember where to turn left. "Hmmmm," I thought. "I'll turn here." And I picked out a street that felt right. And sure enough, there was the shop.

As soon as I got there, Kathy called MrsTommie, who'd said she wanted to meet me, being a martial artist and a knitter herself. We had a good visit, and I stayed about an hour. Cody played with the shop dog, Rex, but soon began to get restless. So we left.

While we were there, I was prying into Kathy's knitting projects and discovered a hat she was knitting out of this yarn she had there in the store. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have some. So, on the way out, I grabbed three balls, enough to make a nice scarf.

The yarn is Tonalita, by Trendsetter Yarns, color 2352. No name, just a number. Amazingly enough, I didn't buy any sock yarn. I think Cody slapping my hand every time I picked up a ball might have helped.

We left beautiful downtown Hernando and headed on up to Southaven. First stop was the Petco, to get Monty's new hide. Wouldn't you know it, they didn't have any big enough for him. They did have some baby snakes there--corns and ball pythons, plus a blood python and some red tail boas. I'd forgotten how tiny they were when they are babies. They were sooo cute, but I managed to resist and didn't get any.

Next stop, Walmart, where Cody managed to find a reasonably priced skateboard. Then we went on to a new yarn store that just opened up in Southaven. It's so new, in fact, that they haven't even had their grand opening yet. I picked up some wool there in almost Cowboy colors for another Chemo cap. I can probably get two out of this pretty easily. I'll make one blue with a silver stripe, and one silver with a blue stripe.

Again, I managed to make it out of that store without any sock yarn. Cody making "put it back" gestures every time I picked up a ball had a lot to do with that. I also picked up a new set of size 9 bamboo DPNs. I'm not that thrilled with bamboo needles, but I'm anxious to get my chemo caps cast on. Still, I am determined to finish my toe up socks, which seemed to have hit the neverending stage. They are almost finished, but though I knit furiously, the yarn balls never seem to get any smaller.

I'd say the day was mostly successful. We got everything we set out to get except for Monty's hide. I guess I'll have to order him one online.

Knit Along

If you've read my blog long enough--like say, the last two days--you know I love football. And if you've read my blog long enough--like say, the last two days--you also know that I am a huge Dallas Cowboys fan.

I'm also a member of Ravelry, an online fiber crafting community. It seems to be made up mostly of knitters, but there are plenty of crocheters, weavers, and spinners there as well. Not only can you keep track of your stash and projects, you can also queue patterns you like, buy sell or trade yarn, and connect with other people who have the same interests. Stay with me, this is going somewhere.

When I first joined Ravelry, I was a bit dismayed to find that there was no group for Cowboys fan knitters. I looked all over the site for several days, but came to the conclusion that there just wasn't one. So guess what I did. I started Fans of Da Boys: A Forum For Dallas Cowboys Fan Knitters and Crocheters.

I'd link the group, but if you aren't yet a Ravelry member, you wouldn't be able to access it at this time. Ravelry is still in beta, and as such, is only open to registered members. When the site is ready to go public, anyone will be able to access it, whether you register or not.

I opened up a suggestion box in my group, to kind of get ideas to increase group participation. The suggestion that came up the most was to have regular Knit Alongs. Still with me? This is going somewhere, I promise.

Tony Romo is the head hunk--er starting quarterback-- of the Dallas Cowboys. Recently his father was diagnosed with cancer. Latest reports say he is doing well, but cancer can be sneaky--especially the type he has. A former supervisor of mine had this same type of cancer. They thought he was doing well. He'd been cancer free for about 4 years, then one day he started bleeding out of his eyeballs. The cancer had spread to his brain, and he passed away less than a year later. An old family friend of B and J has the same type of cancer. He thought he was in remission until last month when he went back to his oncologist. That's when he found out he is stage 4.

It makes me fear for this young man--fear that he may lose his father.

And relate to him, as my own father died of cancer. Not the same type, but cancer nonetheless.

That's why I made the executive decision that our first KAL would be to knit chemo caps and donate them, in Tony's name, to a Dallas area cancer center.

I even found some yarn in Cowboys colors:

Anyone care to join us?