more than a thumbnail by Steve Kelley

more than a thumbnail, originally uploaded by mudpig.

Another AWESOME Flickr photo :) LOVE that place....

Night Falls by Rick Elkins

Night Falls, originally uploaded by Rick Elkins.

From my most favorite place to hang out lately! FLICKR :)

Dahlia Dahlia Everywhere ;)

big D, originally uploaded by franomilano.

This Dahlia is EIGHT AND ONE HALF INCHES across! DAMN! That's awesome, no? And it was posted by one of my VERY favorite flickr folks! He was also, my VERY first contact on flickr too :) If you have some time to spare, check out some of his other photos. They are GORGEOUS!

Sorry to any of you expecting to see knitting content here -- I have not been knitting very much lately :(

A LOVELY photo from one of my Plurk Friends

IMG_0836, originally uploaded by Glyphstone.

thehawke has some AWESOME photos if you'd care to check them out :)

Amazing finger-style guitarist Andy Mckee

This dude is AWESOME, check him out :)

CONTEST, CONTEST - Hurry! Ends soon :)

This sounds easy enough -- and there is FREE YARN AS A PRIZE how can you beat that? Please visit this site for details
and GOOD LUCK!

Iowa Flood HELP! Please donate if you are able!

PRIZES AVAILABLE! Check it out! Please give if you can! Click here, and thanks!!

Fourteen Eyes !

Fourteen Eyes !, originally uploaded by Sergio Parisi.

Fourteen Eyes !

Fourteen Eyes !, originally uploaded by Sergio Parisi.

48 Things -- About me....

I've been reading these around these past few days and it's been so interesting, I thought I would finally do one of my own ;) Here you go:

1. FIRST NAME?
Darlene

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
My middle name is after a Saint.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY?
Today.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
NO! Not at all.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT?
Hmmmmm, Roast Beef, I think...

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yeah, hopefully! On a good day anyway ;)

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL?
No.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
No.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
HELL NO!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Puffed Rice/Wheat (since I can't have sugared cereals any more -- Cap'n Crunch WAS my fave though)

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
I don't usually wear shoes that need to be tied -- but I doubt I would.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Physically, no. Emotionally, stronger than I sometimes think I am.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Vanilla (boring, right?)

14. SHOE SIZE?
Depends on the kind of shoe, but from a 9 to 11 (Mondo feet!)

15. RED OR PINK?
Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My weight.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My Father

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Only if they want to.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Pink nightgown (it's 1am!)

20. LAST THING YOU ATE?
Ice Cream

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Nada! Watching the boob tube...

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Blue

23. FAVORITE SMELL?
That's tough - I am chemically sensitive so it would have to be something I made...something with Sandalwood for sure though...

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My Mom.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO?
Smile, specifically teeth and eyes equally.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from?
Don't know them -- but chances are I may not - I am NOT a people person anymore. Don't have time for all the BS most people bring to the table.

27. FAVORITE DRINK?
Diet Mt. DEW!

28. FAVORITE SPORT?
Knitting ::gg::

29. EYE COLOR?
Blue.

30. HAT SIZE?
Large - HUGE heads run in this family!

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Yes, but only to change the color of my eyes -- I have VIBRANT blue and violet ones.

32. FAVORITE FOOD?
Pizza

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy Endings without a doubt!!

35. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Now that my DH has retired -- WINTER! I HATE being hot!

36. HUGS OR KISSES?
Yes, please :)

37. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Ice Cream

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?
Knitting -- about 10 of them at once!

41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Don't use one -- I have an optical mouse

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV?
Hell's Kitchen, Tori and Dean, Discovery Health.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS?
Silence

44. ROLLING STONEs OR BEATLES?
Stones

45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME?
Florida

46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT?
I have been told I am a great cook (well, I should be -- I was trained by some of the best chefs around way back when in Culinary School)

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Sleepy Hollow, NY (Yep, home of the Headless Horseman!)

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
I stole it and posted on my own.

Innerestin'

99 words

Speedtest

FAHGETABOUTIT! Recent post about Perwool

I apologize to anyone that contacted Total Vac about Perwool and were as disappointed as I was to get NO REPLY! PLEASE -- don't do business with a company that doesn't give a rats rump about customer service -- I am in the process of finding another source and will post when I have the product in hand!

It's gotta start somewhere! We don't deserve to be ignored by these companies that believe they have a monopoly!

On frogging....

I HATE having to frog things -- and I am in a place where I think there are THREE things that I have to rip :( I am not a happy camper!

The Wollmeise sock (below) isn't pooling like it's supposed to -- and Claudia said the only way to fix it would be to rip it out and begin again....I don't know what changes I have to make just yet -- but I am not happy! I am significantly farther ahead than I was in the photo below and I hate to even rip a couple of rows -- but less over 1/2 a stupid sock.....

Then, there's the Morning Surf Scarf that I'm attempting to do in STR Pirate's Booty that is also significantly further along than in the photo -- but I am just not feeling it....And I don't know why!? I LOVE the pattern -- but for some reason, the yarn isn't making me very happy in this project :(

The third pond project is one that I've been working on for a whole year -- endless ribbing on a leg warmer for my grandmother -- but it's just not looking the way I think it should -- I think will start again and make it stockinette stitch with just a bit of ribbing on the top and bottom...this ribbing is KILLING me, so I think that will greatly improve the time I spend on this project. I would rather be bored knitting ST ST than doing ribbing any day!

So, with all these things being ripped off the needles -- which one am I going to start on first?

Why, something TOTALLY new, of course! Like the good little (UN-medicated thanks to my insurance company's asinine decision NOT to cover my medication) ADHD knitter I am :-P~ Sure hope we can find a replacement they will cover that will work as well!

Oh, Suzanne -- How I love thee!!!!

No, no...I have not left the DH ::gg:: Suzanne isn't a woman in this instance, it's the colorway of my latest yarn obsession, WOLLMEISE! (you can click here for the direct like to the yarn portion of this site if you don't want to go through the front of the site -- but I LOVE the intro page that Claudia and her DH (an EXTREMELY talented iron work artist) share and wanted to share it with you as well! You can also click here for more KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF photos of this GORGEOUS yarn!)

Claudia is an absolute color GENIUS and one of the most humble and kind people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Here, have a peek at what I have been working with today :) You can decide for yourself about the colors:





And the sock I've begun for the DH -- just plain old generic -- based on Silver's Sock Class (which is FANTASTIC if you're new to socks, BTW! This tutorial is how I learned how to knit a couple of years ago and I have never looked back!! Silver is a GREAT teacher!!)





I will warn you -- this yarn is incredibly popular right now and it's VERY hard to get your hands on. It sells out within minutes of being added to the site, so if you want to get your hands on some, you're going to have to be very quick in order to beat ME :) But it is so worth it!! I can't even begin to tell you how fantastic is feels!

Not only are the colors mind-blowing -- it's AWESOME yarn too! I almost don't want to give them away! I just may have to borrow them sometime ;)

A Rose is A Rose is an -- Anemone??

Anemone, originally uploaded by David Lev.

H A P P Y ♥ V A L E N T I N E S ♥ D A Y!

I recently read somewhere that the mere mention of ( chicken breasts was enough to drive hoards of folk to your blog -- wonder if that's true?

These......I LOVE!!

overspill, originally uploaded by franomilano.

Anyone that knows me, knows NOT to send me flowers. I HATE getting live flowers because I feel it's a waste of $! You enjoy them for such a short time -- it's money wasted!

A PHOTO, however, lasts forever! And I just LOVE THIS ONE! franomilano has some other truly AWESOME shots on his flickr site if you'd like to see more ;)

Isn't this AWESOME??

Awesome Sky, originally uploaded by Simutis.

Straight -- No Chaser -- WOW!!!

As first posted by Jess, the Shoelesswonder -- these guys are AWESOME -- Check them out! This first one is the one that made me smile the widest -- but I could NOT pick a fave, so I included a few :)

Three Irish Girls -- Need our help!

Hey there everyone!!

The first person that ever introduced me to Indie Dyers was Sharon from Three Irish Girls -- and since then, I have NEVER looked back :) I don't know if I should hug her or hate her for that ::gg:: (Just kidding, Sharon! I love ya!)

She sent a newsletter today about the re-opening of her shop (YEAH!!! Can't WAIT!!!!!!) and needs some help with some new products she is planning to add to her line-up......If you don't mind, can you please participate? That is one of her GORGEOUS yarns up top there -- and there's one in my stash on Ravelry too -- if you'd like to see the yarn that I had her create for MOI, it's called Delany :)

Lemon split

Tell me this isn't FREEKING AWESOME!! I would have died before I was able to snap this one -- for sure!

Lemon split, originally uploaded by WIlly Volk.

The Principals of Knitting - YEE HAW!

In some of the best news I have heard in a VERY long time -- I got a wild hair up my butt the other day when I saw was the most recent prices are for The Principals of Knitting and I decided to write to the publisher and see if there was any truth to the rumor that the book was going to be reprinted.

To my astonishment and DELIGHT!!!!! I got a response, from a REAL LIVE PERSON! And it's TRUE, it's REALLY TRUE!!! They ARE planning on doing a reprint based on its popularity and the number of requests they are getting for the book -- Isn't that GREAT NEWS? Here is the letter I got :)

Darlene,

Thank you for your email. Due to the high demand for this out of print
title, Simon & Schuster is planning a reproduction of THE PRINCIPLES OF
KNITTING by June Hemmons Hiatt. The release of this book is tentatively
scheduled for the summer or fall of 2009. This timeframe, of course, is
subject to change and/or postponement. Please refer to our website at
www.simonsays.com periodically for updates.

You may also wish to visit our SimonSays.com Discussion Boards to
discuss the book with other knitters here:

http://www.simonsays.com/content/feature.cfm?feature_id=468&tab=8

Sincerely,

Name removed for privacy
SimonSays.com

So if you've been hunting for the book and been to the point where I was and almost placed a bid on the OUTRAGEOUSLY priced old version -- go splurge on a bit of yarn, and wait for the new version to come out and still be ahead of the game!

I am FINALLY feeling well enough to try to begin knitting again -- keep your fingers crossed for me, please! I hope I remember how -- it's been a L O N G time and I am so ready :)

The Booze Test - I passed:)

Contrary to popular belief -- all those years as a bartender didn't ruin my mind! I remember about booze just fine, thank you very much! ::gg:: Too bad I am not permitted to partake any longer :( Or -- maybe it's a good thing -- the hangovers I can do without!!

100%ALCOHOLIC

Please don't forget about Phoebe!! Please do what you can for her :) I thank you!!!

URGENT -- PLEASE, PLEASE Help if you can!!

I am too upset to even think right now -- but you ALL know how I feel about my pets and hope that anyone that can afford to help -- will! ANYTHING you can afford -- PLEASE??

See this link to Scout's page for a great post about Phoebe....and she's also offering some swag for anyone that can help!

SCOUT'S POST ABOUT PHOEBE

And please, pray for the recovery of them both.....And that they find whomever did this and hang them by their private parts. A$$holes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

And the very. very best to all of you in 2008!