The Tale of the Irresistable Critter Blanket

See Finished Critter Blanket
See Sally attack finished Critter Blanket.


Click to Enlarge this Picture!
Willow: I'm innocent - totally! It's the truth this time!

Sally has drug the blanket off the table three times now - I really shouldn't have used the girls' favourite knit mousie yarn for it! A coworker gave me a whole box of Dazzleaire yarn LAST Fourth of July and up until this blanket all I've used it for is a pink bunny toy and other kitty toys for the girls.

But - the blanket is finally done and ready to go in the mail. The amateur crochet edging was to add an extra inch to each side.

We're almost done with the cleaning at work, and now comes the really heavy moving - desks, computers, couches and tables etc etc. In any spare time (I still have to get my webpage work done each day too) I am totally and completely addicted to playing Cubis and Cubis 2 on Yahoo Games.

Well - not completely! But my arms and fingers aren't much into the detail work of knitting or sewing for hours. I added one row to my Theatre Shawl, total, this entire week. Last night I caught some great jazz music on the NPR station and filled page after page of typing paper with animal sketches and a bit of poetry.

contest winner

is Jennifer!
I had Mr.J draw it out of his baseball cap.

Jennifer said:

"All of this lounging around is giving me the vapors. I do believe I need a catnip julip." (photo)

She'll get the wool sock yarn (pictured) from Fearless Fibers.

And - because Obsidian Kitten's comment 'honey the cat broke again' made me nearly snort tea out of my nose - she is going to get a lavendar Alien Monster Doll :o) (to be made this weekend!) No one knew this, but Sally cat was twitching during her nap when I took the picture.. and boy did that fit ;o)

There were nine entries. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks everyone for playing along!

I have to go back to working my tail off now - if I make it through these next two weeks, sane and all in one piece, it just might be a miracle. Already my arms and legs are sore and I have been cleaning and moving stuff for three days in a row. I hope everyone else is having a great day!

contest details

I have lots of clean-up work to do at the office, big time moving stuff around, and an art meeting - but please put in your entries for the contest below! The prize is a large hank of blue and purple wool sock yarn!

I'll have Mr.J pick the winner out of a hat and announce on Wednesday!
We're sending our best wishes to Chris' SIL who was very very lucky this weekend! And for everyone else, have a great day, see you on Wednesday!

Browsing over morning tea

Browsing around to look at what other people are doing... but really I should be working on my own unfinished projects. Listening to Prarie Home Companion ( in Duluth MN - :o( I missed half of it!), drinking black tea and cooking several pounds of zucchini and onions. CarrieK - yes I want that recipe!!! Both of the girls are extremely lazy.. sleeping the whole day away. My NEW critter blanket is now 16" by 8" - I started over with a solid piece.

new critter blanket and a tomato that fell off the vine
I saw the combination on the table and had to photograph it.

Etsy stuff (warning - cute toys here!)

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Interesting Fish decorations from cornflakegirl

I love this artist's toy style.

And this is just plain cute with the chocolate chip cookie!

Cool picture of a diver in front of the sunset.

(Your Caption Here)
Contest: OK knitters, keep it clean and give me your best! - include your favourite colour and a link to your blog too (If I don't already have it).

Movie Reviews

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest : We were a little worried when Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 60% - but we went! It was entertaining - considering we had already watched our Netflix movies for the weekend.

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My review: It's a sequel - lacking the heart of the first one, and trying to cram way too much into an actually long movie, but not getting much of it done right.

First thing, they should NOT end a movie like that, even when you know there is a third one coming. I won't spoil it here - in case you do go to see it.

Secondly, not a movie for little kids - PG-13 all the way... just because of the undeadiness... *eww* There were LOTS of little kids in the theatre though, and that was weird considering the first five minutes had an eye being plucked out (that stuff grosses me out badly!)

Thirdly - Johnny Depp does lots of slapstick and funny walking, but somehow loses the reality of character he had in the first one. Most of this is because the movie takes on a LooneyTunes cartoon feeling about twelve minutes in - 'what are they going to do now that defies physics, attempts to be funny and quickly goes on to the next bit?' Way too many plot strings are started and very few (maybe one) are tied up at the end.

We probably will see the third one - but not in the theatre. My advice would be to wait for DVD unless you really want to see a movie and don't have other plans.

Personal bit: I hate it in a movie when there are accents so thick you can't understand them. During certain scenes there were lots of different accents being used for effect - with the actual effect being I heard lots of 'Did you catch that? What did he say? Was that English or something else?' - and not just from Mr.J, but further down in our row as well. I had no problem with the 'foreign' tribal language or the Italian? being spoken - but there were other minor characters that were almost impossible to translate their lines quickly in your head. Meanwhile, the movie just kept rolling along at 95 mph.

Two good reviews:

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Theatre:

We saw Superman Returns last weekend - and can reccommend that highly. I'd even take a kid to it - probably 6 or 7 years old and up. Very good story and adaptation, loved the actors. There was a neat link to interviews with the actors in my email that was interesting - especially the director's thoughts about why Kevin Spacey made a great Lex Luthor.

DVD Netflix:

Empire of the Sun (1987), directed by Steven Spielberg, based on a true story. Surreal movie about an English schoolboy lost from his parents during the Japanese takeover of Shanghai during WWII -- just.. surreal. It is well worth a detailed watch, just for the human condition of it all, beautiful scenery and strange tugging emotions. You just don't know what to feel for the kid - or anybody at certain times in the movie. And at the end - it is sort of a hollow, confused relief...almost a surrender - hard to explain. Not for kids - but not too much gore here either.

Saturday sky

Saturday Sky
power lines did not cooperate, but there are clouds this time!
Neighbor's flowers - no one lives there anymore.
A different, purple flower from the side yard we share with that house. The colour had a really strange effect on my camera. It almost glows!
Peppermint porch plant
We were tying up tomato plants out at the office, but I forgot the camera at home. We also harvested three banana peppers and some tiny round HOT peppers I forget the name of.
Miss Sallymander (attacking camera strap)
Did you call me a spider monkey yesterday? Did you?
Everyone knows I'm a lemur!

I have knitting, and toymaking.. none of which are currently photogenic. Mr.J says the aliens look tortured right now - as many of them have their eyes pinned on but not sewn.

We are planning on going to the Pirates of the Carribean movie tonight -- Mr.J is really excited about this one. We watched the original with fears it would be awful, and were extremely surprised by a great movie. Now - Mr.J can't wait to see the sequel (Quote: If it has Johnny Depp and is even at least as campy and fun as the original, it'll be great)