JenLa

George Carlin: May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008

You gave us 3 decades of laughter

Thank you for that!

*Might be considered “Not Safe For Work”

Ready for the final set of clues? Now, because the DH and I are heading off shortly (Tuesday to be exact) Saber, Trixie and Sassy are all demanding more than their fair share of love and attention. So…they each insisted on giving the last set of clues. And who am I to stop them? Nobody, that’s who.

Saber’s Clue…
“Go to the country where the people say Blogodaria instead of Thank You…”

Trixie’s Clue…
“Once you’re there, find the town that is on the southernmost point of the river Strauss waltzed to.”

Sassy’s Clue…
“See how I’m sitting? Yeah, they don’t have indigenous ancient statues of cat-like creatures sitting in this position in this country. Oh, and, shhhhh! don’t tell anyone I told you, but September 9, 1944 is a red-letter day in this country….shhhh”

Email your entry to Jenla(dot)contest(at)gmail(dot)com by midnight Pacific time on July 4, 2008. Please include your Blog URL, Ravelry ID and your name in the body of the email. Please do not leave your contest entry in the comments section. Why would you want someone else to benefit from your cranial calisthenic? And again, only entry per person, please. Don’t forget to hit Fibercrack’d for the bonus clues, and check the contest page for the recap. Good luck!

eta…Andria just reminded me of something: The winner will be announced some time after July 4…duh. (Probably the 7th or 8th) And also, SOME of you have guessed spot-on correct, down to the city and the occasion. Others got the country right. Andria may or may not have been one of them.

Now the joke would totally be on me if the whole thing was canceled wouldn’t it? Well, we have still to receive final itineraries from the powers that be who are arranging the entire thing. And I’m all over here…I GET TO GO TO THIS FABULOUS DESTINATION AND I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT IT I’M HOLDING A CONTEST!!! And it would be just my luck, come Monday morning, to get a big old “sorry” in my inbox. So I guess we shall see what we shall see. Come Tuesday, if you see me logged in to Ravelry or online in Yahoo IM, you’ll know I’m hosed. Cross your fingers, will ya?

Thank you everyone, for your wonderful words of encouragement, your prayers, good vibes and super special healing mojo. Mama M underwent surgery Tuesday, was discharged from the hospital yesterday, and now is uncomfortably ensconced in a rehab facility, and will be there for the next 3-10 days. It seems like a lifetime has passed since she fell on Saturday…a rather stress-filled lifetime. Let me just say that the drama llamas in Raverlry and on the internets? Amateurs. It’s saying something when the DH is the most level-headed one out of them all, and what it’s saying is pretty sad. Of course, those of you who know me know, If La gets worried, La gets angry, then La gets busy taking charge…MUST HAVE CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL!

Of course, Mama M doesn’t like the rehab facility. Well, who would? “It smells bad, the food is awful, and the bed’s uncomfortable” are the most prevalent amongst her issues. Whew! If she’s feeling good enough to complain, then she’s definitely on the mend! Our response? “I guess that gives you even more incentive to work really hard at physical therapy so you can come home even sooner.”* I certainly hope she’ll be home soon. We all miss her terribly. SIL and hubby will be arriving Friday from Cocoa Beach, FL, so my workload should lessen then. I may actually be able to get to bed before 2 am. It’s been pretty much up to me and the DH to keep things up and running. Junior’s been no help whatsoever, but then again, that doesn’t surprise me.

eta - *OR she can just check herself out tonight without a single thought to her health…

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Also, Mama M won’t hear of us canceling our trip abroad, even though it’s less than 2 weeks away. She’ll be home by then, and we’ll get home care for her for the week we’re gone. So, to celebrate the fact that Mama M’s on the mend and the fact that we don’t have to cancel, here are the next clues!

9.

All of these pictures are of points interest in the mystery country, 2 of these are in the actual city.

10a. The country to which we are traveling has Europe’s second longest river as one of its borders.

10b. The city to which we are traveling is directly on the banks of that river.

Pretty certain you’ve got the right answer? Then email it me at JenLa(dot)contest(at)gmail(dot)com. If you’re not quite sure hold off guessing. You’ll have until July 4, and you only get to enter once, so make it count! Need more clues? Check out Fibercrack’d, my design/yarn blog for bonus clues, and visit the contest page for all the rules and clue recap.

In the meantime, I shall tease you with yarn…

Yesterday, while out shopping, my mother-by-marriage fell and broke both her arms. I’m guessing it’s pretty severe because she was hospitalized and will be undergoing surgery any moment now. The DH and his family are all on pins and needles about the surgery and about the long road to recovery. She’s a strong-willed woman, even if she’s of a bit fragile body.

I’m a bit overwhelmed, as I’m taking on the responsibility of inter-familial communcation, and have been up on the phone since 4 am. (Dang Floridians gotta be 3 hours ahead of us!) My knitting sure has proven its as the soothing and meditative reputation 10 times over this weekend, and has helped me be the calm in the storm, and able to be there for everyone to help hold it all together. The DH is holding in there, the Sister-By-Marriage will be on a plane tomorrow. It’s the Dh’s father that has me concerned. He’s putting on a brave front, but I know he’s severely rattled. They’ve been married over 55 years now, and ARE each other’s life.

Back in 2006 I got a wild hair up my ass to make socks for the DH that, through average wearing would self felt. It succeeded. In fact, it felted so well that, even though the foot of the sock became a perfect fit, the legs of the socks became too short.

Thank wool I was able to find more of the yarn here, because my LYS no longer carried it. And since my discovery of magic loop, I was able to whip these puppies out in record (well, record for me, that is) time.

Of course, I wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t La-ify them. You see, on close inspection, I knitted one of the socks in-side out. And when did I discover this oh-so-shining moment of brilliance? After I had cast off both socks and was weaving in the ends, of course. Not gonna tell the DH though. He’ll never notice, and after another year’s wearing during Roman reenactment, I won’t either. Can you say dumbass? Sheesh.

What’s next? Glad you asked. Remember that Mission Possible thing I signed up for, but haven’t posted about in a long time because I haven’t really done much of anything on it? Well, that’s because all the fast and easy shit is done. Well, almost. All I have left on #7 is the shaving, the setting the grommets, and the attaching of the handles. Then it’s getting shipped to it’s new home. But while I’m procrastinating on that, I’m going to start tackling the bigger stuff, starting with…

12. Use up, throw out, burn (with video footage) or otherwise cause the scrap heap unexist.

(crap, I’m still missing a pic of the leftover superwash sock yarn…oh well…note to self)

The top row is all feltable, therefore the sock yarn, doubled on 4s and the worsted on 8s should make for some rather quick knits in the form of bags and pouches of indeterminate ugliness…pouches and bags that would be used to hid modern-day necessities at, say…a Roman reenactment event…happening in a country other than the one in which we live and the heart of the current contest I’m running here.

CLUE BY FOUR Why, yes folks, that was indeed clue #7 to the contest.

Anyhow, I’m gonna start with these yarn cupcakes…a nice baker’s dozen, and see just how many I can turn out before we leave.

Here’s clue #8

The country to which we are traveling has it’s own currency.

Email your entry to Jenla(dot)contest(at)gmail(dot)com by midnight Pacific time on July 4, 2008. Please include your Blog URL, Ravelry ID and your name in the body of the email. Please do not leave your contest entry in the comments section. Why would you want someone else to benefit from your cranial calisthenic? Only one entry per person, so make it count. Don’t forget to visit Fibercrack’d for bonus clues and for contest clue recap.

Have a great weekend!