Super Bowl 2008

It's that time of the year again!

I'm actually a little sad about this year's Super Bowl. I'm not rooting for the Patriots because they are cheaters. If they win, I hope there's an asterisk by their title just like there's one for Barry Bonds' records (due to his steroid scandal).

I'm not rooting for the Giants because I just don't like them. I don't like the Mannings at all. As a Titans fan, I don't like Peyton because he's in our division and the Colts are such a big rival. I'm not quite sure why I hate the Giants so much, I just do.

It almost feels like election day - I'm choosing to root for the lesser of two evils. And I still haven't figured out who that is.

The saddest part of the Super Bowl is that it marks the end of the football season. After tonight, we have to wait until August to see anymore NFL. That sucks. I'll follow the off-season, the draft, and will start to get really excited when training camp kicks in again, but what will I do on Sundays until then? The Nashville Predators rock, but the games are only on cable tv, which I refuse to get.

Although I'm not rooting for anyone, I'm predicting that the Patriots will win, 27-21.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Super Bowl.

Making Plans

First, a fish picture. Just Fish is just pretty and he's the best roommate I've had since his predecessor went to fishy heaven. He was a Beta too, named Buju Banton, and that poor fish had to live in several apartments, with several roomies, until he died a couple years ago. The nephews are so excited because I'm going out of town for New Year's and Just Fish is living with them for a few days. Just Fish would probably be fine at my house, but it's an excuse for the nephews to have some fun.


I jumped on the Quant bandwagon yesterday and am loving it! This is yet another Christmas gift, and a very manageable one at that. I used a yarn called Teseo, by Dive. It's a soft, fluffy wool that stripes perfectly for this design.


In order to make it through the last week or so before Christmas, I've been daydreaming about my post-holiday plans. I bought some gorgeous yarn yesterday - Lana D'Oro in charcoal and teal for a New Year's present, the Teseo for Quant, and some sock yarn for me - Regia in Kaffe Fassett colors, and some Lana Grossa that I've been drooling over.


I am desperately waiting until I can make myself some socks. I finally bought plane tickets to Florida for New Year's, and then started to remember how much I hate flying. And I have 2 long plane trips planned in the next month. Ugh. So I'm stocking up on plane necessities, like audiobooks, Dramamine, and portable knitting. My idea of a perfect vacation definitely involves knitting, and I'll have plenty of time to relax, but also have to think about which projects will be suitable for planes and boats. Socks are perfect.

It's been over 3 years since I've had a vacation, and cannot freaking wait! It's hard to leave my job for more than a weekend without missing the store and everyone there (I know, it's strange, but I work at the best place in the world). But once I feel the warm sunshine and see the ocean again, I'll forget all about TN and will come home ready to start a new year.

I just have to get through the next couple weeks.

The Titans gave me some great knitting time today - we won!!!!! The final score was Titans 26- Chiefs 17. It was a great day for football. Brett Favre broke Dan Marino's record for all-time yardage, and the Dolphins got their first win of the year. Better late than never.

Next week we play the Jets, then finish out the season with the Colts. The only problem with the vacation is that I will be away from the tv, internet, and civilization in general (which is generally a good thing) but won't be able to watch the game. It'll be tough to stay away, but maybe I can call friends in Nashville to get a recap. Go Titans!

Just Fish

See what I've been up to? Having fun with scarves. I still have a whole lotta knitting to do before Christmas, but am making headway. The boys' hats still need to be blocked, the hat for my "niece" needs to be embroidered, Dad's socks are 75% done, but they're not due until January 2nd, Sassy's present is in the works, and I still have to start mom and Abbie's presents, and finish some knitting work for the store. OK, I don't have a handle on things, but look at the pretty scarves!

The one on the right is an entrelac scarf for me, just because. It's knitty's Danica scarf, and I completely stole the idea from Lauren. And she quoted me on her blog recently. I used K1Ctoo's Paintbox, and it was one of the most addictive patterns I've ever knitted.

The gorgeous red one is for my sister. It's Alchemy's Silk Purse, a yarn that I am completely obsessed with, and the picture doesn't come near to giving it justice. It's the prettiest red I've ever seen in my life. I got all I could out of 163 yards, and it's a good length. The pattern is Fir Cone from one of my Barbara Walker Treasuries. I pinned it to my towel and grabbed my iron to steam it, but realized I made a big mistake by letting my neighbor borrow my iron and now it's broken and they're not home, so it's just chillin out waiting for blocking.


Nephew Hoss and I had a fun little adventure this week. We went to my dad's favorite store, Aquatic Critter, and had a ball checking out all of the funky reptiles and cool fish. I really liked the boas and caymans, but Hoss only wanted to look at the tarantula. He knows I'm terrified of spiders and I think he just wanted to torture me. We decided on a gorgeous orange Beta, picked out some blue marbles and a pretty little fishbowl, and went to Starbucks for a cookie (and Auntie needed caffeine).


We had a tough time picking out a name. I suggested all kinds of crazy names, from Elmo to Orangina to Bob Marley to Macchiato (we were at Starbucks and I was getting desperate). Hoss said "No!" to everything I said. I asked him, for the 100th time, "What should we name him?" and Hoss looked into my eyes and replied, "Just fish." I asked "Fish? Or Just Fish?". He replied again, "Just Fish." So say hello to my new pet, Just Fish. That's what I get for letting a 2-year-old name my pet.

Prime Time Monday Night

It's Monday Night Football time!!!!!

The Titans are playing the Broncos in Denver tonight, kickoff is in 3 minutes so I'd better hurry. It'll be a close game, and I'm so sad to hear that Albert Haynesworth is still too injured to play. Also, Travis Henry (an ex-Titan who now plays for Denver) is out of the game too, and I was really excited to see our defense give him a good challenge. Oh well. It'll still be a good game.

My pick: Titans 20, Broncos 14.

I've been knitting a lot lately, and have had a ball designing Christmas and Birthday presents. I'm also doing some knitting for hire at the moment, which is keeping me very very busy. I've got 2 scarves on the needles (actually, on the same needle). I fell in love with the design of my sis's Alchemy silk scarf, so I'm using the same pattern for mine, so why not knit them at once? Dad's socks are coming along well, but I'm really psyched about the boys' fair isle hats. I'm toying with double knitting earflaps and have had a lot of fun playing with that.

Here comes kickoff! Time for hot chocolate, knitting, and most important of all, FOOTBALL!!!!!

GO TITANS!!!

NFL Week 10

Guess where I went today? Here's a hint:


Carrie has season tickets, and took me to the game! Woo Hoo! But we lost and that sucked. My throat hurts from screaming and my hands hurt from clapping but it was a really fun time. Carrie rocks!

The only thing that really made me mad (besides the way we played) was Princess Frostilocks (he's the one on the right).


I love to play Mullet Watch. This is Music City where mullets are everywhere and you keep thinking that it couldn't get worse, but it does. I wish this picture showed the white blond frosted tips in their full glory. He had a bleach blond soul patch on his chin, and the wife-beater tank was hanging out of the neck of his shirt. He talked on his phone throughout the game and I was waiting for him to tell me to hush while I was screaming at our defense. It just made me scream louder.

This was the only second of the game that his arm was not around his woman (and her hair was almost as bad as his). When he put his arm around her he blocked access to my drink holder and I must have said "Excuse me" about a million times. If he messed with my hot chocolate one more time I would have gone on a frosted-mullet-bashing tirade, but kept my cool and was kinda worried that his girlfriend would scratch me to death with her scary press-on-nails.

I had to take a picture - that's for you, Sassy. She's my hairdresser/ best friend/ cousin/ knitting buddy and appreciates a bad mullet more than anyone I know. I normally don't make fun of people this much, but this guy needs to be in the Mullet Hall of Fame and he really pissed me off.

So we're 6 -3, still have a good chance at the playoffs, but the Titans had better get their %#*! together if they're going to win any more games. I still love you, Vince, and I really do believe in you, but right now my favorites are Keith Bullock and Kyle Vanden Bosch. I really like the way Keith sports the bright red gloves. The man's got style. And Vanden Bosch had a few really nice plays today.

Next week we're playing the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football! I do love Jay Cutler, but we'll be kickin some Bronco butt.

And Betty S. - thank you so much - I had the BEST coffee this morning and am enjoying another wonderful cup right now!

Why I Love Tennessee, Round 2

I left work early yesterday (sorry Alicia!) to head out with some friends for a tiny weekend getaway to Monteagle (A sleepy little mountaintop retreat with amazing views, as you can see). Sometimes all you need is to drive for an hour and a half and feel (mentally) halfway around the world. It was a beautiful mini-vacation!


Today we went on a hike in Fiery Gizzard (great name!) I went there with my family many many years ago, and remember the sheer cliffs, up and down trail, intense rocky overhangs and water everywhere. So today we brought swimsuits and were expecting to hear the powerful waterfalls, but there was hardly any water. Tennessee (and much of the south) has been dealing with a tough drought for what seems like forever, and it was so sad to see a rushing creek turn into a standstill. One member of our group trekked around a slick waterfall and jumped in where the water was deeper, but after putting my feet in, I decided to stay dry. It was cold!


I snapped some great pictures, wish I could show them all. Below is an enormous old hemlock tree that must have been 12 feet in diameter.


I did bring knitting, of course, and wanted to knit on the porch last night after dinner, but there was too much wine around and it's hard to knit while looking at the stars - there were a bunch of shooting stars. Sometimes you have to get out of the city to see just how much light pollution effects the starlight.


Here is a current sock while driving down the highway. I got a lot done, but didn't count my stitches until about a half inch past where this picture was taken, and I have 28 sts on one side (how it should be) and 30 on the other (whoops). I have no idea when or how this happened, and am too tired to figure it out tonight. It's late, I just now ate dinner, and my legs are killing me. It's time to settle down with a certain project (felted clogs) for a certain good friend (who took me to Monteagle).

And I almost forgot - the Titans played the Falcons today, and it took all of the patience I could muster to wait until the hike was over to call friends in Nashville and find out that WE WON 20-13! Haven't found out the details yet, but apparently our offense was off but our defense saved the day. We're 3-1!

Why I Love Tennessee, and Other Random Fun

This is why I love Tennessee. It's just plain beautiful. It's a gorgeous sunny Sunday, not a cloud in the sky, and there's always a nice view. (Pretend that there is no glare)

Now that the camera has batteries again, here is my sparkling shower:

I tried to get better pictures by standing on the toilet but I bumped my head on the ceiling and gave up.

And I've gotten a lot of work done on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I've finished the front/back up to the armhole and one sleeve. This picture doesn't quite show the beautiful green celery color.


I'm taking a slight break from this to work on presents. There are 3 birthday gifts to be completed in the next month - one on October 16, one October 19, and one October 24th. Before I show pictures, I need to figure out if these people read my blog or not. My wonderful and amazing sister-in-law Jaime might read it, not sure. One is for baby Buddha's first birthday (he's my younger nephew. Did you know that he and his big brother hung the moon? Fun fact. They are also perfect in every way. Isn't that amazing?). I haven't started his gift yet but I'm thinking cashmere sweater out of either Cascade's Cash Vero or Rowan's Cashsoft DK. Cash Vero is softer, but Cashsoft is washable. We'll see. I get to see both nephews tomorrow so I'm bringing my measuring tape because while he might be almost 1, I think he wears a size 2 or 3.

The third gift is for by "brotha from anotha motha", Benji. Soon after I started to really get into knitting, Benji and I were roommates. He put up with yarn stuffed under the couch, and I put up with loud late-night poker games and lots of Steely Dan. He asked me to make him a fair isle Nordic snowflake hat, with earflaps. I tried and tried and my tension was all over the place. I finally gave up and bought him a polarfleece hat. To this day, he still reminds me that the hat I bought him sucks, and I'm sick of hearing about it. I've been swatching and found a great pattern, and am ready to cast on. I finally figured out how to make the tension even - holding both yarns in my left hand using a yarn guide. Pictures to come.

Time to knit and watch football. The Titans have a well deserved bye week, and we play the Atlanta Falcons next week here in NashVegas.

NFL Week 3

It's time for some Monday Night Football! For the Titans it's a chance to show the entire country that we're back, and we're powerful. For the Saints it's a chance to win their first game of the season. During the pre-season there were a lot of people picking the Saints to go to the Super Bowl, but they have lost their first 2 games. With a national stage, both teams will bring out the big guns.

My pick: The Saints really want this one, but the Titans will win 17-10.

UPDATE:

Wow! TN won 31-14. Keith Bullock had 3 interceptions. That was really fun to watch! And I got a lot of work done on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan.

Christmas in September

Sometimes it's hard to exchange gifts with your friends during the holidays. Everyone is busy running around and going to parties and traveling and hanging out with family, so it can be difficult to exchange gifts with friends. Such was the case with my my dear friend Carrie. We've known each other forever, live 2 blocks away from each other, and hang out a whole lot. To make a long story short, we exchanged our 2006 Christmas presents today (please don't judge - we both may enjoy procrastination and might be a tad absent-minded, but there are valid reasons that it took months. I think.) Her gift has been hanging out in my closet for the last 9 months, while my gift has been sitting in her office. So here goes...

My gift to her: felted clogs out of Cascade 220 and (not pictured) the new Feist CD - the Reminder. That gift was added last week. If you haven't heard it, check it out. It's very very good. Carrie LOVES the clogs, and they fit perfectly. I did offer to put some puff paint on the soles for traction, but she would rather risk injury and slide around on her wood floors. I'll keep the paint handy just in case she changes her mind.


Her gift to me: A nice assortment. Some Miso Pretty products (not pictured) and they smell heavenly. Here's a picture of the only bumper sticker on my new-ish car. In case you're not a football maniac like me, the "V" stands for Vince Young, quarterback for the Tennessee Titans.
It rocks!


Also, I receved "the Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook". I've already flagged most of the pages and am looking forward to trying everything! I think the first dish will be the red pepper risotto.


While I'm not a vegetarian anymore (I eat turkey and fish), I still would rather cook vegetarian meals, and this cookbook is awesome.

Thanks Carrie! And Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

NFL Week 2

This is my favorite game of the entire football season - we're playing the Colts at home. You never know what will happen. I don't care if the Colts won the Superbowl. I don't care that we're a major underdog. When we play our #1 rival, all bets are off.

Flashback to last season, Colts at Titans. I was there in Adelphia Coliseum, screaming my lungs out. We came back and tied the game in the 4th quarter, and with 7 seconds left, Rob Bironas kicked a 60 yard field goal to win. I must have jumped 10 feet in the air when he made that.

Yet again, all of the experts on all of the major sports sites have picked the Colts, (except Chris Mortensen on espn - you're a smart man, Chris). This is an easy pick for me. I've seen it happen before many times, and after the way we rushed last week, the Titans will win 20-17, just like last year.

Go Titans!

NFL Week 1

It's football season!!!!!!!!!

Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars, noon today. I love the first game of the season. There's so much anticipation and excitement! You never know what to expect. We've got an amazing leader in Vince Young, but it's always exciting to see how the new guys fit in.

My pick: this is going to be a close one, and a fight to the finish. If we can stop the Jaguars' running game, the Titans will win, 27-24.

GO TITANS!!!!!

Update: WE WON 13-10! It looked a little rough in the first half, but we pulled through. Chris Brown ran for 172 yards and our defense kept the Jags at bay. Nice work boys! Next week: Indy.