ETA:  Well, voting is over.  Thank all of you who voted for it – Kris got a huge kick out of that!  Now, we just wait to see if it makes it to the front page.

Anyway, remember this?  Kris decided that after the show, he was just going to shave his head totally and start fresh.  Somehow, this evolved into doing it AT the cast party, and letting everyone take a turn with the clippers.  Once we started, Rich decided he was up for it too, and Ron made the statement that if Rich did it, so would he.  Well, Rich went for it, and Ron was, um, convinced to keep his word. 

That’s Rich up there in the top row, starting things off.  Jeff is at the end of the first row.  The second row is Michelle, Ron, Roy, and Peyton (who Kris and I have totally adopted as a little brother – we just love him).  The third row is Mary, me, and Roy, who is using a shop-vac to clean him up.  The bottom row is more cleanup, Kris tackling Rich’s hair, the Three Bald Amigos, and Roy, Ron, Kris and Rich doing a celebratory shot.

Yeah… this is the sort of thing that happens at cast parties sometimes. 

My husband.

Kris, you are my best friend, the love of my life, the center of my universe.  You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me cry (mostly in a good way, I swear!).  You make me feel beautiful when the mirror doesn’t.  You make me feel special when the world doesn’t.

You make me find the joy in the simplest things, like spending all day playing a silly computer game (For the record, Lego Batman rocks).

You indulge my love for all things fiber-y, willingly going with me to yarn stores and fiber festivals without complaining or whining or anything.

Your photography amazes me.  You see beauty in the simplest things – things most people wouldn’t even notice – and you find ways to show that beauty to the world.

I love you so, so much, and I am so lucky to have you be a part of my life.  Words can’t even express how much you mean to me.

Happy birthday, sweetheart.

1)What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
Maybe two things: It makes you happy and it has introduced us to a remarkable group of new friends.

2)What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
What it does to your wrists.

3)What is something I have knitted, that you recall is good?
The Charlotte’s Web

4)Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
I am a gadget geek and a car guy, so no.

5)Do you have a stash of any kind?
Gadgets. Funny, he doesn’t mention the CAMERA EQUIPMENT…

6)Have I ever embarrased you, knitting in public?
Never!

7) Do you know my favorite kind of yarn?
Um… I actually don’t. Heh. I’m not sure I do!

Can you name another blog?
Besides mine? (Blatant plug!) (See where I get it from?) There are a few: Pocketsize Studios, Turtlegirl’s Blog, Huge Orange Enigma… many many MANY more.

9)Do you mind my wanting to stop at knit shops wherever we go?
Nope, just as long as I get my gadget store fix too.   And trust me, he does.  You know it’s bad when the people at Best Buy actually comment that it has been a while…

10) Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Yup. It allows you to determine what size a piece done with particular yarn on particular needles and a particular knitter’s tension will be.  Wow – he DOES pay attention!

11) Do you read my blog?
Irregularly, but I just added you to my reader, so that will change.

12) If I didn’t knit, what would be different?
Significantly fewer shawls would inhabit our house.

13) Anything you would like to add?
I love you and I love that you knit.  Awww….  I love you too, sweetie.

Hubby’s blogging again! Go leave him a comment! Keep him posting!

He’s so going to kill me for this…

One of the reasons we went up to see Kris’s Mom was so that he could deliver something to her. When his Dad passed away in April, Kris and I talked about buying the urn for his ashes, but I suggested to him that maybe he should make something. His Dad is the one who taught him woodworking, so we decided that would be a fitting tribute. Kris designed and built this:
The light wood is cherry, and the dark wood is wenge. I think it is absolutely stunning. Like I told Kris, I wish to hell he hadn’t had to make it, but I think he did a beautiful job on it.

While we were there, we took a walk with his Mom and Onyx (their black lab/Rottweiler mix) around the old farm. Kris took a bunch of pictures and posted some of the best ones on his flickr page.

We spent Saturday night at my folks’ and took Dad to lunch at the Olive Garden on Sunday. He claims never to have been to an Olive Garden, which just boggles my mind. We had a great lunch and a nice time just hanging out with them.

In the car on the way to and fro, I finally started my HushHush. I cast on and got through about half of the lace at the bottom. At the moment, it’s just kind of a pink pile, so I haven’t taken any pics just yet. That, and it’s been raining like mad here since yesterday (although it looks to be clearing up), so the light is less than ideal.

I did realize that between the HushHush, the Pomatomus socks (currently in time out due to some issues on my part. Trying to figure out how to fix them without ripping. Not sure it’s going to be possible. Sigh), and the Candleflame Shawl, I am using nothing bigger than a US2 needle right now. And it is killing my hands! So, the solution? Cast on something else, of course!

I recently swapped with chadzturtledove2 on the Knittyboards, and she sent me 8 skeins of the coveted and discontinued Lion Cotton-Ease in Ice Blue. She also sent me some really cute patterns for it from an issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting. I’m seriously considering a sleeveless turtleneck with some of it. For the time being, though, I started the Bombshell tee from Big Girl Knits. It is really a cute pattern, and I can’t wait to see how it comes out!

And how sad is it that I have gotten to the point where using US8′s is using “big” needles. What happened to the woman who feared anything smaller than a 9?

Oh, and just for massive amounts of temptation – check out this blog: Cupcake Bakeshop. I am totally drooling over some of her recipes and am absolutely going to try some of them. Eventually.