Backstory: Around Easter, penny_karma had been grumbling about her inability to locate Cadbury Mini Eggs.  I happened to be in my local Target right after Easter, and found a crap-ton of them on uber-clearance.  So, I hooked her up.  In return, she promised me something very nifty that she had seen at the St. Louis Science Center.  Last Tuesday, that something arrived.  With friends.

The something cool (officially) are the shot glasses.  Yes, they have carabiners on the side.  We thought they’d be a complete hoot for EdFest.  However, she also sent me other goodies – 6 skeins of Moda Dea Eden in “Fig Leaf” (Anyone else find that combo amusing?  Eden… Fig leaf…), a set of Star Trek PEZ dispensers (which Kris has claimed and are now displayed on his desk), a set of yarn-pr0n-themed coasters, and some Sexy Motherpucker lip gloss.  (And we’ll not discuss the non-photographed item, k Sarah?)

Oh, and Sarah?  I have a Plan for the yarn, by the way.  I think you’ll approve.    You rock, woman, you really do.  One of these days, I swear!

ETA: OK, OK.  I should have known better than to mention it.  I was hoping to avoid scary search referrals.    The item not appearing in the photo is a certain feminine product with an “inspirational message” on the wrapper.  I believe PK has ranted about them in the past, but I can’t find the post.  Mine says “Practice your victory speech”.

Just me?  Oh, well.  Anyway, that was my intention.  This is just a quickie post to help out my dear friend Mindy.  She has just started selling Avon products.  What you may not realize (I didn’t, until recently) is that your Avon lady no longer needs to live in your neighborhood, near enough to drop off your purchases.  You can order from her website and have them shipped directly to you.

So, just in case any of you are looking for some goodies from Avon, I thought I’d pass along Mindy’s info.  You can order from her website here, and help out an awesome woman, a fantastic mom to two great kids, and a fellow knitter.

See that afghan on the cover?  That’s the one I did!  Well, I did the squares – MBT assembled it and did the border.  Can I tell you what a neat feeling that is?

It’s a great booklet – crocheted afghans based on quilt square patterns!  And lest you think all crocheted afghans are in acrylic, the one I worked on was done in Cascade 220.  It’s got to be awesomely snuggly now that it’s assembled.  The book has 8 different patterns, plus a bunch of stitch pattern and block ideas, and a cd so you can design your own.  Congrats, Mary Beth, on a great booklet!

Oh, and I decided to go with the two-ply, since that was pretty much the overwhelming response.  I plyed it up last night while Kris was stuck at work (until midnight – ugh) to a soundtrack ot two old favorite movies – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Girls Just Want to Have Fun.  (Why yes, I DO have a stash of “Movies for nights when Kris isn’t here”. )  I now have a very full bobbin.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, especially because I wasn’t paying attention when I started and was plying my two S-twist singles with MORE S-twist.  Not so good.

I hadn’t gotten TOO far when I caught that, so I pulled it back off the bobbin and respun it going the right way, so it’s all fixed.

And yeah, you guys are probably right about the pattern.  I’m going to work on getting the pictures done and writing it up.  Of course, the earliest I can submit it is for the winter issue, so it’s going to be quite a while before you see it.  Thanks for pushing me not to chicken out. 

And I didn’t even do the “pick a few favorite colors to use as a tiebreaker” at the end of the quiz, either.  Guess I come by my favorite color pretty honestly, eh?

I finished up the first Dragonfly mitten (take two), and this one fits perfectly.  I’m about halfway through the second now, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get it done in the next day or so.  One thing I’ve learned from it, though, is that superwash was NOT a wise choice for stranded knitting.  I couldn’t keep the tension as even as I’d have liked because the yarn was just a little too slippery.  I’m hoping I can even some of that out in the blocking, though.

Looking forward to this weekend – Mindy and Steve are coming down tomorrow because tomorrow night is an engagement party for JMac and Mary Beth, so we get to see them and go party.  Mindy’s one request was that we go to breakfast somewhere on Sunday that does NOT involve her sharing her food with a kid or cutting up someone else’s food.  I think someone is looking forward to a grown-ups weekend away from the kids, don’t you? 

Speaking of kids, if you don’t read Steve’s blog, you missed the news that N got his casts off on Monday!  It looks like the surgery worked, and his feet are able to stay perpendicular to his legs now.  He’s still got some physical therapy ahead of him, but yay!!

Candy sushi, with chocolate “soy” sauce:

(Fruit roll-ups, Rice Krispie treats, and Twizzlers)

More candy sushi, Swedish Fish variation:

(Just Swedish Fish and Rice Krispie Treats)

And the artsy-fartsy shot, just for fun:

And the costumes…

Irene, as a geisha:

Check out her face paint!  It was so gorgeous.  She’s starting a business doing facepainting, and she’s got a good shot at doing well with it, I think.

Jaime as (let me see if I get this right) “Daniel Jackson if he was a girl and stole Cameron’s hat and Shepard’s jacket” AKA random Stargate crew member. 

Kris as Captain Hammer, in the “These? Are not the hammer.” pose.

(Doesn’t he look adorable? I mean, I know I’m biased, but come on!)

Me, as a Captain Hammer groupie:

The nametag says “Captain Hammer – *I* do the weird stuff!”  And I think I’ve got the “scary groupie facial expression down pretty well in that one…

Captain Hammer with his groupie:

Carrie as Columbina:

And yes, she made that costume.  Not the mask, but the blouse, corset, AND skirt.

Alex as Billy, with Kris as Captain Hammer:

The original plan was for Alex to be Dr. Horrible, but he and Carrie had trouble finding the right kind of lab coat, so he went for the secret identity version instead.

Marc, as a stereotypical Frenchman.

Funnier because Marc is, in fact French.  And way fun.

And finally, Matt as the Nile river turning to blood.

Very cool costume idea, I must say. (And there are non-cropped pictures in my Flickr set. I couldn’t get them centered better with the mosaic maker)

So, yes, Halloween was lots of fun.  And now, it’s November, which means one thing:

NaKniSweMo.

Heaven help me.

The first half of the game was AWESOME.  It was 27-0 Navy at the end of the half.  I was looking forward to seeing the Drum and Bugle Corps march, so when it started POURING a few minutes before the end of the first half, I asked Carrie if she minded staying to watch.  We headed out to the car when they were done, and helped with the last little bit of breaking down the tent and stuff from the tailgate.  We all kind of looked at each other and decided that it was just raining TOO hard, so we bailed on the rest of the game.  We had been invited to the house of one of C’s dad’s classmates, so we headed there and listened to the end of the game on the radio.  SMU did eventually score, but since it still ended up 34-7 Navy, I think I’m allowed back.  I figured if they had lost, I might have been banned.  We’ve even been invited to the Army-Navy party, which is quite the event from what I’ve heard. 

I got back to the house just in time for Kirsten, Lionel, and Caleb to get here.  They left home Friday night, and stopped in Fredericksburg before coming here to sleep.  We spent yesterday just hanging out and relaxing – I think they probably needed a day off from the road.  Right now, Kir is helping Caleb with his homework, and Lionel is going through some pictures on his computer.  (Yes, Kir and I both married photographers.  They bond over camera gadgets the way a lot of us knitters bond over Malabrigo and Manos.)  I believe they are headed up to Mark’s house today to spend the day with the family, doing what they can to help.  It’s been rough, but so far Kir seems to be holding up pretty well.  Thank you all for the kind thoughts and prayers you have sent for them.  I really do think it has helped.  (Oh, and Nikk?  I passed on the hug, and yes, it’s the same Amy you think it is.  I’ll make sure Kir lets her know we are both thinking of her as well.)

As for me, I’ll probably have an exciting day of grocery shopping and laundry before Kris and I head to rehearsal tonight.  Did I mention that he’s going to be doing an Irish accent for the show?  He was a little reluctant at first, because he thought he sounded like a bad version of Lucky, but it’s actually really good.  When Mary heard it, she decided he should keep it.    Personally, I’m a fan.  I think he should practice it at home.    Oh, and the Mystery Stole is still progressing, as is the EOP shawl.  I’ll get pictures again one of these days.

She was calling to tell me that her cousin Mark, a police officer in Frederick, MD, had been killed in a car accident Wednesday night while trying to stop a suspected drunk driver.  The guy apparently refused to stop, and so Mark had to chase him.  They are still reconstructing what happened, but dispatch lost contact with him, and a few minutes later the backup officers found his car in a wooded area.

Mark’s younger sister is the same age as Kir and I, and is how we originally met.  Amy and I had known each other from fourth grade on, and I met Kir at Amy’s birthday party in 6th grade.

Kir and her husband and son (Alex’s older brother) are driving out here tomorrow and will be staying with us for a couple of days, doing what they can to help his family.

Please, take a few minutes today to say a prayer for Mark’s wife and three kids and the rest of his family as they try to deal with this tragedy.

*Kirsten as in Alex‘s mother, my best friend for rapidly approaching 25 years now.

In other news, this morning I used my brand-new goLITE, purchased based on a recommendation from Amyknitty. We’ll see how it goes -I’m optimistic.  I think I can handle 15 minutes each morning. 

Other than that, not much going on here.  I’ve gotten through clue 4 on one end of the Mystery Stole, and started clue 4 on the other end.  I’m hopeful that I will finish it relatively soon.  And then, I have Plans.  Plans for a sweater for Kris that I’ve been thinking about (and have had the yarn for) for quite a while now.

Speaking of yarn, don’t forget about the destash!  There’s a good amount of stuff up there, and if I can get organized, there will be more soon.

So, if you could spare a good thought for a very sweet seven-year-old and his awesome parents, that would be very cool.

Thanks.

ETA:  I heard from Steve this afternoon, but I haven’t been home until now to update.  As you can see on his post here, N is home and doing just fine.  I’ll keep you updated as I hear from Steve.  Or you can freak him out and start reading his blog regularly for the updates. 

The scarves need to be sent to the Special Olympics by January 15th, 2009 – the address and other information are at the link above.

So, I know I’ll be picking up some yarn to make some scarves.  Who’s with me?