Contest results

I loved all of the stories about how everyone celebrated some of their "Big Oh" birthdays, thank you for playing along with me. And the winners as determined by the random number gods are: Amy Brigitte Nicole Nessa - whom I don't have a blog link for Lorraine So what did you win??? It's a surprise! Send me an email to deeann AT feelingtangerine.com with your address and you'll get some surprise goodies in your mailbox. Pretty good deal to open the box and find something that isn't asking you for money :-) On the knitting front I finally finished the handspun superwash merino socks I had been working on. The funny thing about socks is I have no sense of urgency to finish them until I cast on for another pair. Since I started the Hosta socks I got motivated to wrap these up. The merino was not blended with nylon so I gave it a fairly tight plying and knit it rather snug in an effort to improve their longevity. After the first wash they got the faintest halo and are the softest socks I own. Happy happy feet! Thank you for all the kind words for Rocky, I really appreciate how compassionate fiber folks are.

A moment of silence

It has been a very stressful and sad time here at Feeling Tangerine. Rocky, the wonderful and sweet foster that lived with me for over six months and was just recently adopted by the best family I could have ever asked for, became very ill. Day after day we were all on pins and needles while the vets worked to figure out what was causing the problems. It was all too much for him and last weekend they had to say goodbye. It broke my heart. I loved that big guy and he touched us all deeply. His loss is no less than if it had been one of my girls. The only reason he was ever adopted was because they are outstanding people, they live down the street and me, the girls and my niece and nephew got to visit him. If it was not for them, I would have resigned from fostering and he would have stayed here. A moment of silence for you, my friend. Bless you Rocky!! ** I will return to fibery content tomorrow and post the contest winners. Thank you for your patience. - D

Apparently I have done something dumb

Does this surprise me? Not really. I was trying to update my blog sidebars today and I saved one thing, then changed another and Blogger didn't like it, so I chose to discard changes, and it didn't like that either. Not having made a backup, I had to start over with something. So this is the current something until I figure out some degree of xml, css, and php or whatever that is. I'm not a programmer, can you tell? I didn't really like my blog layout to start with so maybe my adversion triggered the change? So with way too much blogger frustration, I lost all semblance of what I had wanted to post. Can't remember a darn thing! Think maybe that 40th birthday zapped a few too many brain cells? Just maybe ;-) So it's my birthday week and while many people reflect at New Years, I don't usually reflect until my birthday month. This is the one time of the year nostalgia is the trend. I don't have children so my moments with my nieces and nephews are precious to me. I will share with you a few of those moments from my youngest nephews latest visit. A few of my favorite quotes and moments with Alec while spending the night: (Alec just turned 5 and this picture does not do him any justice - Brad Pitt wishes he was this cute at 5) When we get to my house and unpack his new play-dough. "Aunt DeeDee you come sit by me and play, ok?" he says. "Ok Alec, what are we going to play?" I answer. "We're going to make PaPa!" he declares. "Hmm, then we might need more play-dough..." I say. "Oh Aunt DeeDee!" he giggles with glee. (PaPa is my dad. Understanding sarcasm at 5 - he rocks!) While cuddling on the couch just before bed he drifts to a horizontal position next to me. "Aunt DeeDee, I'm going to put my feet on you and you can lay on me ok?" minutes later "Aunt DeeDee, why do you like me so much?" (Because I love you so much I can't even talk??) While being tucked in for the night one of the dogs jumps up and curls up next to him. "This is a good dog Aunt DeeDee. This dog can stay." as he wraps an arm around her and begins to twirl her fur as his eyes close. (he usually twirls his own hair as he falls asleep) In the morning after getting up for a few minutes, shouting at me at the top of his lungs while I'm in the bathroom "AUNT DEEDEE I NEED TO TAKE A SHOWER RIGHT NOW!!" and I respond "Hold your horses little man, what's your hurry?" Alec "Oh man! I have to take a shower right now Aunt DeeDee, these dogs just licked me ALL OVER!" (Can you see all of the contortions on my face while I desperately try not to crack up??) Getting ready to leave for lunch. "Aunt DeeDee are these dogs going to miss me when I go home?" "I'm sure they will Alec but they will be excited to see you next time" I respond. Pause. "Aunt DeeDee, you need to get a kid so your doggies won't cry." (Word for word, I swear! Slay me! I had tears in my eyes imagining the 'kid store' from his point of view where we could just go pick one of those out, you know, to help out the dogs!) Pausing at the windows in the tunnels of the play center at Burger King to blow me kisses and shout "I love you Aunt DeeDee!!". Then when he gets to the hard climb just before the tunnel to the slide informing me "This is the part where you have to cheer and say "Great job Alec, you are the best!", ok? You say that right here Aunt DeeDee cus I'm the winner, ok?" "Ok Alec, but there isn't anyone else here" I respond. "I made up some friends over there and they get to be the losers" he tells me. "Alec, everything isn't about winning and losing, sometimes it is just playing" I say. "It's ok Aunt DeeDee, it won't hurt their feelings, they aren't real." he says explaining everything. Packing to go home, I ask Alec "Alec are all of your toys in this bag?" "I don't want to go home right now Aunt DeeDee" he says. "I know Alec. Check this bag to see if all of your clothes are in here" I reply. "Aunt DeeDee, I don't want to go home right now!" he says a bit louder. "I know Alec. Did you get your underwear out of the bathroom?" I say. "Aunt DeeDee are you LISTENING to me??" he yells. "Yes Alec, that is why I am talking to you. But in this case, just wanting something doesn't make anything change" I tell him straightforwardly. He hangs his head and says "Oh maaan!" followed by a big sigh as he trudges off to get his underwear. A few minutes later he says "Aunt DeeDee is Madalynn going to spend the night tonight?" "No Alec, tonight is a school night" I answer. "But she HAS to Aunt DeeDee!" he declares. "Why does she HAVE to Alec?" I ask. "Because then it can be my turn again!" he informs me smiling victoriously at figuring out this solution. (Madalynn is his sister, as you may have guessed) "Aunt DeeDee, I think you wore me out." he says softly from the backseat on the way home. "Two points for Aunt DeeDee then!" I declare looking over my shoulder but he is already asleep by then. No one has ever struck me speechless so many times in so few hours! Hug your kids or dream of them - they are truly priceless :-)

They say it's your birthday, gonna have a good time!!

Birthday Fun:Yep, it's my birthday, one of those "Big Oh" ones so I've been celebrating all weekend and plan to continue all week! :) As you may have guessed, as a result, I have no knitterly progress to show for myself whatsoever. So what is a blogger to do? I thought a contest may be nice? If you feel so inclined to leave me a birthday greeting with a thought or two on how you enjoyed some, or one, (I'm assuming you are all over 10 :), of your "Big Oh's", sometime between now and next Monday (the 9th), I will use a random number generator to select a few lucky folks for some nice gifts. I'm thinking some hand dyed fiber or yarn, some custom gemstone stitch markers, and maybe some hand made soaps. I'll post some examples during the week to actually put color back in the blog. Swatches: Many Thanks to everyone that expressed an opinion on the recent swatches for my next fair isle brainstorm. If you haven't expressed an opinion yet, please do. It is as nice to hear that it appeals to you as it is to hear that you think it is crazy. As I practice with design, feedback is crucial. I can come up with ideas, but if they have no appeal to others, then I know to just make them up for myself. But if they ever do seem to appeal, I will work on writing up actual patterns to share. So far the consensus is: 1. no one expressed that they detested it but maybe those that did were feeling that they shouldn't say so in the comments 2. some expressed that that the orange/yellow shades may be overwhelming but liked the more subdued bands of blue and green and deep orange that tempered them a bit in the larger swatch. 3. some expressed that the colors really jumped out and thought this was a good thing, more so after seeing the repeat that I cut and pasted together. 4. and yet others shared that the orange/yellows advance and the greens/blues recede, not necessarily a bad thing, but distinctive in this pattern Personally, I fell in love with the orangey/yellow shades and my goal was to find something that showcased them and made them stand out, without making them too dominant. I like the shades, but they aren't flattering to my complexion so some temperance was in the objective. I also find that the colorways A. St*rmore puts together are striking and unexpected, which appeals to me greatly. I find the "art" factor here, the distinctiveness that is expressed by the most talented of colorwork designers. The colorways I have done to date are more conservative and stretching into that realm is a personal goal and something I strive to achieve someday. So enough for text, express yourself and we can have a little fun! If you want to enter the drawing, state whether you spin or not and I will keep the fiber categories separate so you don't end up with something you have no use for. The goal is a little sharing of fun :) I'm really having a great birthday!