I'm Biased...

I may be biased, but I think that this is one of the cutest ornaments I've stitched - maybe ever. Either that or I'm just crazy with otter euphoria.
I stitched him up very quick, I couldn't wait to finish him once I started. His name is Snowdon and he's by Jemini Designs in the 2008 JCS Christmas Ornament Issue. He is one of the kits I received in this year's ornament exchange.

He makes me want to go to the Ga Aquarium and see Oz and Gracie again...

So far I'm doing really good on my goals for August - I finished two ornaments (cuz I was woefully late on my surprise) and one medallion. I think that I'm going to stitch The Sunflower Seed ornament for Sept.

Recent Fluff?

Through T's blog, I found this Booking Through Thursday blog. I love books and reading and really wish that I had more time for it - if you check out my good reads list you will see that I'm quite optimistic in my book reading ability.

What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?


What is the definition of fluff? The strict definition (to me) means anything superficial, unneccessary, lacking substance. I generally don't read books that wouldn't have some kind of purpose to me. So for this question I'll consider any light, feel good, and more-humor-than-serious books.

After reviewing my recent reads, I realize that I haven't read much fluff this summer. Another indication that I need time at the beach.

I have to pick Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich. I really love these Stephanie Plum books, there is enough action to keep you interested and a whole lot of funny to make you feel good. I don't know a single person who read one of these and didn't like it.


So what's the lightest most "fluff" kind of book that you've read recently?

Finally!

I'd like to spin tales of exotic adventures and romance, but unfortunately I have not had any of that...I've just been stucking working and working. I'm happy to report that my project went to production last week and I'm in the process of rejoining the living.

I haven't been totally hobby free during my blogging sabbatical. I've knit on many Mmmal-abrigo Traveling Scarves. Most were late, but at least I did them. My own scarf is still out traveling the country. There's plenty of time before it is cold enough for scarf wearing - and you know that I'm not wishing that to come any faster.

I've also done a little stitching. I finished 1 ornament before our weekend gathering in July. I didn't get a chance to scan it before leaving it with Vicky to ornamentify so I'll post that later. Just recently, however, I finished my "surprise" ornament. He's so cute, I'm very happy with him.


DF's Heather, Andy and I are starting a new Stitch Along. It is Just Nan's Floral Fifteen biscornu. I started Medallion A1 in July at stitch weekend and just finished this week - it only took me 3 sittings to complete (everything but beads, saving those until I have 4 or so to do).

Only 14 more to do!

I'm in the process of determining my goals for the rest of 2009. I'd like to stitch an ornament a month and a medallion a month. Realistically I need to figure out what else I can fit in.

Roar!

Yes, she is in like a lion. There are many things that I need to catch everyone up on - but first...here's what it looks like outside this afternoon.
At this moment it's turned back to rain, but we are expecting a couple more inches throughout the rest of the day.

I'm happy to be inside catching up - or attempting to catch up - on some knitting and tv!

So Close

I had great intentions of finishing Danielle's Block Blanket this weekend. I knit feverishly late Saturday night - only to get to the end of my last skein with 3 more rows remaining! Gah. I hadn't checked gauge because it's a blanket, I had no idea that I was that I would come that close and actually run out of yarn.

So here it is...waiting for another skein so that it's last 2 borders rows and cast off can be done.

So we'll all have to wait for a picture of it keeping Danielle warm.

Back In The Driver's Seat

I don't know about the rest of you out there in the big world, but I feel like I totally lost control of things in December. And it's almost the end of January and I'm just getting things back in order. I can definitely live with a certain amount of chaos (and do on a regular basis), but it really bordered on the make-me-curl-up-into-a-ball-in-the-corner-of-the-room kind. So I'm very happy that it's behind me. And I won't list my 89 reasons for not blogging as the Yarn Harlot did, suffice it to say that I don't want to relive any of the chaos by listing it here. Now, please don't get me wrong. There were many fun avoidance techniques that I was able to invoke and I greatly enjoyed myself during those. But I'm not going to list those now either. It's onward and upward.

First to knitting...

I'm 3/4 finished with the Block Baby Blanket for Danielle. I hope to be finished by the weekend when I will see her again.


And I'm participating in the Malabrigo Swap "Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf". The idea here is that I start a scarf in Malabrigo worsted and a pattern of my choosing, knit 5-6" and then send it off to the next person in my group. She will knit another 5-6" in color and pattern of her choosing, and so on and so on until it has traveled through 12 hands and returns to me. It is up to each knitter how free or restricted to allow the scarf creation - mine is very open, inspiring me to call it "The Traveling Scarf of Chaos".

Here's my start which I completed last night.

The colorway is Bobbi Blue and the stitch is the Farrow Rib (k2, p1*). I knit a 3 row garter edge to prevent curling. The color is beautiful! And the pattern is very nice.

A journal (which I still have to write in) will accompany my scarf so that I can read about its journey.

Next, is stitching...

I have done a little stitching on Donner (way less than I wanted). I started him after Christmas but didn't get very far before going back to knitting. I want to get re-inspired on the YSP Stitch Along as I haven't completed our December goal - or maybe it was even November! I also have been working on a belated birthday gift, I'll have pictures as soon as it's done and in the recipient's hands.

What's next? Scrapbooking...

I went to a crop at our local Archiver's this past weekend from 2:30pm to 11:00pm. I couldn't see by the last hour, but I had a very good time and managed to get a good amount of scrapbooking done. Pictures coming soon on that...

That pretty much brings us up to date. I hope that I will have substantial progress to show on something soon!

Welcome Danielle Jeanne Entinger!

My niece, Danielle Jeanne, was born on Sunday December 7 at 9:23am. She was 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long. She's a little bitty thing but sweet and adorable.

Congrats to Myron Rolle!

Congratulations to Myron Rolle - a Florida State student and prominent football player - who won the Rhodes Scholarship yesterday. He's the first football player in 25 years to be awarded the scholarship and the Seminole Nation is very proud of him.

Friday Fill-In

1. The last band I saw live was The Police.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is the parade and all-I-can-eat mashed potatoes.
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is behind schedule.
4. Thoughts of sleeping in fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear sandals.
6. Bagpipes should be played by hot Scottish men with nice legs.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to peace and quiet, tomorrow my plans include lunch with Vicki and dinner with Nicholas and Sunday, I want to see a movie!

Where In The World Is Jill?

It was a whirlwind week!

Tuesday, Veteran's Day, started very early for a trip to Philadelphia, PA. It was very appropriate to be in the city where the birth of our country took place.

We saw Independence Hall

The Liberty Bell
The Korean Memorial
The Vietnam Memorial
And we enjoyed Martha's Ale at The City Tavern (established in 1773)

A little work was even accomplished before the sightseeing.

Wednesday was a little more work and flight back to Atlanta.

Thursday night DF Heather, her DH Michael, and I went to the So You Think You Can Dance Tour Show. It was fantastic!
Our seats were great

The dancing was fabulous!

Heather and I did a lot of screaming. We hung out after the show for 45 minutes hoping to see the dancers - Heather was waiting to see Gev and I was waiting to see Joshua and get a picture with him. Tiredness (and age?) eventually won out and we headed home before they came out. The crowd waiting was still large. I'm very jealous of those young and rested enough to stick it out.

Friday I headed to Tallahassee for Homecoming. I was barely functioning by the time I arrived.

Saturday DF Teresa and I went to Wooly Bully and Really Knit Stuff. We managed to help out the local economy with a few purchases. Then we met up with Selena and her DH Kevin to go to the football game.

Teresa and I stopped by to say hello to Renegade and Renegade-in-training

Aren't they beautiful?! Teresa and I were even in the tunnel when the team came off the field from warm ups and Renegade and Chief Osceola went on to the field. We were definitely in the spirit!

It was a black out game.
The Marching Chiefs don't have black uniforms
The game did not go the way that we wanted, but we had fun.

Sunday it was back to Atlanta to start this week - and catch up on some sleep.

Happy Veterans Day

I'd like to thank all those who have served and are serving. I know many veterans and appreciate the time that they gave to protect the country and the rights that I enjoy everyday.

Ye Shall Prosper - October Goal

The October goal for our Ye Shall Prosper Stitch Along was to complete the front of the needlebook. A little late for me, but I did manage to finish it. Technically the design part was completed on time and then I started the chain stitch border which took longer than I planned.


One day this may be an actual functioning needlebook. I love this fabric, it is subtly overdyed and it really adds a nice texture to the piece.

It's already November 10, so I need to start on the November goal quickly.

I'm off to Philly early in the am, so early that it's really part of the night not the morning!

We Have A Winner

Thank you for participating in Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And the winner is.....Jennie! Jennie was a faithful clicker on the breast cancer site and was also faithful about commenting and blogging.

Jennie send your snail mail address to me at jillnoleatgmaildotcom.

There is a new goal for November at thebreastcancersite, so I hope that everyone continues to click.

Halloween Treats

DF Heather took this test and it's very enjoyable...

Your result for How Long Would you Survive in a Horror Film?...

The Black Guy

Look, I think the whole "the black guy always dies first" stereotype in horror films is just awful. In fact, the black guy usually dies second. So cheer up. The black guy is the one who always wants to turn back; who thinks that what the rest of the gang is doing is crazy. In other words, he's the sane guy. It's always a shame to see the black guy get cut down, because he's almost always right and you know that the group's going to just go charging right in without him.

If you're ready for a lead role check out: Danny Glover, Predator 2; Laurence Fishburne, Event Horizon; Calvin Lockhart, The Beast Must Die; Taye Diggs, House on Haunted Hill; Sanaa Lathan, Alien vs. Predator; Tory Kittles, Frankenfish; Carla Greene, Shadow: Dead Riot; Teresa Farley, Breeders; and Alex Datcher, Body Bags.

All possible results:

Jock/Cheerleader

The Black Guy

The Horror Aficionado

The Hero/Heroine

The Killer

Please remember to rate, but more importantly, please message me if you've found any blatant errors (especially with the results page and links). Thanks!

Take How Long Would you Survive in a Horror Film? at HelloQuizzy

There will be more updates from ASG2008 coming, but here's a pic of Heather and I dressed up as String1 and String2 (our needlework versions of Thing1 and Thing2 from The Cat in the Hat).


Happy Halloween Everyone!

Keep Clicking

Thank you to everyone who clicked and helped thebreastcancersite meet their goal for the month. Keep clicking every day to keep providing free mammograms.

Reminder: You have until midnight tomorrow night (October 31) to send me entries for the blog candy. I have to apologize because the month has flown by and I haven't been tempting you as much to enter. Check out Breast Cancer Awareness Month if you want to refresh on the rules. Thanks to everyone spreading the word!

Gone Stitching

I'm on my way to Hilton Head, SC today for A Stitcher's Gathering. I'm very excited that it is back in Hilton Head and I get one more trip to the beach before the cold and wind descends. DF's Jean, Heather, Ann and I are traveling down in what Jean has dubbed The Party Van. Teresa, Angela, Joy, Vicky, and Debbie are meeting us there. It's going to be a great weekend filled with lots of laughter and probably some stitching will sneak in too. I'll have pics when I get back.

Keep clicking - The Breast Cancer Site is getting close to reaching its goal but every click counts!

Breast Cancer Fundraiser

On Sunday, DF Andy and I went to one of our LYS The Whole Nine Yarns in Woodstock for a Breast Cancer Fundraiser. All of the proceeds went to a local support group Sisters of Support. There was a small fee to attend and we got to choose a ball of pink yarn at the door. The purpose of the yarn was for all of us to work on afghan squares that will be joined and create afghans that will be auctioned or raffled off to raise more money.

The Whole Nine Yarns did a really great job and it was well attended. There was also a silent auction and many vendors donated wonderful items. I bid on and won a package that included a subscription to Vogue Knitting Magazine, 2 skeins of purple Lorna's Laces yarn, Nicky Epstein's Knitting On The Edge and a shiny pink bag for everything to go into.

The attendees were divided up into several teams and we "competed" in several activities throughout the afternoon - in between knitting on our squares. The "event" that I competed in required moving a rubber band stretched across my face and around my head (just above my upper lip) to below my lower lip without using my hands. If you find yourself with 10 or 15 minutes of free time and wonder what you should do, try this out. It's bizarre and I don't think that I moved my rubber band one millimeter before one of the gentleman of the crowd won the contest.


Keep clicking on The Breast Cancer Site for free mammograms. If they reach the goal of giving away 500 free mammograms this month, Bare Necessities is going to give away another 200 free mammograms so every click counts! You can see that we are at 52% of the goal and it's mid-month.

Ye Shall Prosper - September Goal

Some good friends (Heather, Teresa, Jean, Judy, Ann) and I decided to start a stitch along for Moss Creek Designs' Ye Shall Prosper. We took this class from Rae Iverson last fall at ASG.


The initial goal (targeted to be completed in September) was to complete the back of the needlebook which we started in class.

I completed mine tonight, late as usual...but I'll try to do better in October.

Pink Inspiration

I found the Stitch Pink blog today and I wanted to share it with everyone. This blog is dedicated to stitching (and crafting) for and about the cause. It's a great place to find charts and projects for you to stitch and also for people to share what they have stitched. Check out the beautiful biscornus! I have a serious attraction to biscornus right now.

I also joined the When Pink Matters challenge today. The challenge is for anyone who has been touched by Breast Cancer to stitch at least one pink item by October 31, 2009. Yes, 2009! A whole year away. Maybe with my current biscornu obsession I need to find a pink one. If you have or find a suggestion, please let me know.

Save the Ta-tas!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I'd like to challenge everyone to wear pink this month. Let's heighten awareness!

In case anyone needs incentive, I'm going to give away my first Blog Candy. I will have a drawing on Nov 1. The prize package will be knitting related and I'll be dropping some hints throughout the month regarding its content.

So how do you enter the drawing, you ask? There are sooo many ways! I will enter your name every time you do one of the following:

1. Post a comment on my blog anytime in October and mention Breast Cancer Awareness or Going Pink.
2. Post to your own blog and mention Breast Cancer Awareness, ETA: and send me an email referencing the post.
3. Wear pink, take a picture and email it to me.
4. If you've had your mammogram this year (2008), send me an email and tell me. If you haven't had your mammogram, schedule it, do it and then email me. Note: this qualifies for a single entry.
5. If you get someone else to have a mammogram this month, email me.
6. If you make a donation to any Breast Cancer organization (Susan G Komen, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, etc), email me (you don't have to tell me the amount just that you did it).
7. Knit something pink, take a picture and email it to me.

See how easy it is to rack (no pun intended) up those entries! It's so important to get the word out and I know that you smart women can help. My email address is jillnoleatgmaildotcom.

If you'd like additional information on Breast Cancer Awareness Month check out the website.

One more thing...

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' -- for free (pink window in the middle). This does not cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate a mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Please ask 10 friends to tell 10 friends.