kmkat and her kneedles

Worm composting: apparently idiotproof.

My first step in this zero waste thing was (finally) to start worm composting, something I had contemplated numerous times in the past. Erika generously offered to send me some of her worms, and after having accepted her offer, I realized I had committed myself to actually using them.

Note: Everyone, do NOT email Erika to ask for more free worms! I took all her excess so she doesn't have any more to share. But they are inexpensive and easily obtainable here or here or from any of these places. Or elsewhere; Google is your friend in these matters.

I bought a book several years ago on vermicomposting. It is still available here, or here, or here, or new or used from Amazon.

Unfortunately, it seems to be packed away somewhere and I cannot find it. So I have been consulting the internets for my vermicomposting wisdom. Lots of good information here and here and here (prowl around that last site -- it was started by Mary Appelhof, the Worm Woman Extraordinaire who wrote that book above).

My worm bin:

It is a Sterilite® plastic bin from Wal*Mart (Plastic! Wal*Mart! Oh, the irony!), approximately 15" x 12" x 12" and with a lid. I also bought one that has the same footprint but is much shallower, thinking that I might have to put holes in the bottom of the large bin to let the compost tea, aka worm juice, drain out. So far, no compost tea, so no drainage holes.

Now, before you start thinking of questions to ask me about how to start your own worm compost bin, let me warn you: I am a rank amateur at this and am doing it with little or no knowledge other than that others somehow make it work. There will be no wisdom forthcoming from me.

If this actually works, I plan to move the bin to the under-sink cabinet in the kitchen where it will be handy. Right now it sits on in the middle of the floor in my office so that I can keep an eye on it. The office is not too far away from the kitchen; not as handy as under the sink, but close enough that I don't mind walking over there with a handful of lettuce leaves and tomato cores.

So far, I cannot see that the worms are doing anything but lying around filing their little nails and eating bonbons. The foods that I have put in there do not seem to be disappearing. It should be noted, however, that the whole apparatus has been *operational* for only a couple weeks. Perhaps that is not long enough to see results; more likely, I need to go slowly until my worms make more worms, enough to handle the amount of vegetable waste produced by a two-person household. At least the worms are still alive; I checked last week and they still wiggle.

Since I returned to work on Monday,  I haven't been able to monitor my little friends very closely. They should require far less maintenance than a dog or cat and so ::fingers crossed:: should survive a few weeks of benign neglect.

However, this is NOT what you want to see on the inside cover of your worm bin when you return to it after several days:

This condensation means that the bin was too wet. That happened because I had allowed it to get rather dry last week; before I left for Minneapolis on Monday morning I added about 3/4 cup of water and put the lid on tightly. So now I have the cover off to let it dry out a bit. Again.

I have done pretty much every wrong thing that one can do: let it get too dry, added too much vegetable matter and got a couple fruit flies as a result, added too much water. If My Little Preciouses survive all this worm abuse it will be a sign that this whole vermicomposting thing is largely idiot proof.

ETA: They survived!!! I just stirred up the whole thing and discovered wiggly worms. Yay! This idiot hasn't killed them yet!

As you can tell, I am going into this as low-tech as possible. Some people really get into it. Look at these photos that I found on Flickr of another person's set-up (used with permission):

"The Wriggly Wranch is a multi-tiered system. Once one bin gets full of worm castings, you put another bin on top (each bin has holes on the bottom). In theory, the worms migrate upward to the next level where the food and bedding is. Sometimes a bunch of them linger below munching on who knows what. You don't have to worry about losing any though, they're always multiplying.

"There is a spigot on the side where you can drain the lovely worm juice (that's what I call it anyway). You can dilute it with water and feed it to the plants & garden."

Go look at her whole Flickr set --she shows all the stages of composting and has good explanations. ETA: I just realized I didn't include a link, and now I cannot identify her photostream on Flickr. But search for "worm composting" there and you will find LOTS of photos and ideas for different, low-cost, low-tech, small-scale vermicomposting.

Now to go swat that pesky fly...

Friday chuckle.

Kudos to Chris for pointing this one out to me. Does this remind you of anyone you have seen here recently?

My world this week.

Hi! Didja miss me?

Didn't think so.

I started back to work on Monday so have been a tad busy this week. Because of the economy (have you heard that phrase somewhere? it sounds vaguely familiar) my firm almost didn't hire me for this tax season; they finally settled on half time, 23 hr/wk, which actually works out quite nicely for me and my county board responsibilities. I wouldn't have asked for half time, but when it was offered, I smiled and accepted.

So. The week thus far.

Monday.
Report to work, am issued laptop, establish territory in assigned cube in brand new office. Cubes are now smaller, technology is now awesomer; new office layout encourages collaboration, entire office has actual windows and daylight and views.* This last was achieved by putting the kingpins, aka partners, into tiny interior offices.

Tuesday.
Finish establishing work environment and setting up computer. Perform actual productive work. Leave @ 6:30. Have dinner with family at favorite Greek restaurant, dinner improved by finding [free!] parking place right across the street from restaurant even though neighborhood is extremely deficient in such amenities. Eat Greek salad and gyros and three-layer chocolate pie. Burp. Drive back to Wisconsin.

Wednesday.
County meetings all day. High emotions, raised voices, Doberman-like territoriality observed in some attendees. All such silliness and childish behavior rolls off Kat™ back, as I am above it all. A good day. I spend the night in my own bed surrounded by dogs and cats.

Thursday.
Arise at body- and mind-friendly hour of 8:30; put dogs out, drink coffee, check e-mail, read a couple blogs, and discover that The Winter Storm Of The Century is predicted to hit within a couple hours, thereby disabling planned return to office in Minneapolis for more productive work. Employ audio telephonic communication device and innertubes to connect to office, thereby actually performing productive work. Such work proceeds at snail's pace when opening files on server that is 75 miles distant, but sock knitting fills the idle moments and calms the savage nerves.

I was attended in my spreadsheet gyrations by Hannibal and many, many birds.

Sometimes there were lots of birds for Hannibal to watch.

 

And sometimes the feeder was empty.

But the birds always returned.

 

There seemed to be some magic combination when X birds lingered for Y seconds at which Hannibal would fly into the air and attempt to leap through the glass. The birds would explode from the feeder and scatter across the lake. And I would be startled in my chair and swear at Hannibal.

Then Hannibal would settle back to wait for their return.

* My new cube is next to a wall of south-facing windows on the 29th floor. I think I am in heaven. Such nirvana-like feelings are tempered by sorrow that electronic objects with speakers are no longer allowed; headphones only. My iPod dock is sadly relegated to a drawer. I dislike using headphones but may have to overcome this resistance. Working in silence... sucks.

So this is my choice: work in a highly sophisticated office with all the latest technology at my fingertips, surrounded by the creme de la creme of accountancy, and with a stunning view of south Minneapolis at my right hand? Or work in my jammies with cats and dogs and birds and a view of the lake, filling in the occasional long moments of file downloading with sock knitting?

It's a tough choice, I tell ya.

The job. Kathy needs. Candy bars.

soxanne beat me to this. Yesterday.

* * * * *

I saw this over at Dr. Mel's blog, where it cracked me up. Go to Google, type in "[your name] needs" and see what you get. Here's what I need (my comments in red):

1. Kathy needs to give herself some credit. Okey-doke. "Yay, me!"
2. Kathy needs more attention. [/whine]
3. Kathy needs to be back on the red carpet. Yes! ::pumps fist::
4. Kathy doesn't NEED E! and their Red Carpet. Another country heard from.
5. Kathy needs love. We ALL need love.
6. Kathy needs a liver and miracle. Ruh-roh...
7. Kathy don't [sic] need to be with anyone who looks like he takes more time in a mirror than she does. Hear, hear.
8. Kathy needs a Komb. Huh?
9. Kathy needs your spooky stories. Hello, blog fodder?
10. Kathy needs a lobotomy and therapy. No comment.

Lisa beat me to this. Yesterday.

A day late and a dollar short. Story of my life. ;-)

* * * * *

However, I am (I think) the first to post this quiz.

Name that candybar. (Link fixed.)

I got 4 on the first page and 2 on the second, for a stunningly mediocre score of 25%.

Invasion of the alien kittehs. Sock saga continues.

So there was Hannibal, peacefully chattering at the finches on the feeder, when suddenly he noticed the alien kitteh in his yard!

Omigod, what to do?

Follow the kitteh's advance around the house.

And then forget why he went to the other set of windows.

Please ignore the still-standing Christmas tree in the conservatory and the dead poinsettia at the top of the stairs, not to mention the, ahem, ubiquitous clutter. Thank you.

* * * * *

My own saga, that of the double-stranded socks, continues, as well. Both socks now have heels made with Opal instead of the rare and precious STR. Victory is possible, although far from a sure thing. Stay tuned.

One word. Frog.

Stolen from Facebook.

USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you. It's really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? Charger
2. Your significant other? Sleeping
3. Your hair? Graying
4. Your mother? Dead
5. Your father? ditto
6. Your favorite? Smokey
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Vino
9. Your dream/goal? Health
10. What room you are in? Office
11. Your hobby? Knitting
12. Your fear? Underwater
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. Where were you last night? Here
15. Something that you aren't? Barbie
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. Wish list item? Warmth
18. Where you grew up? Minnesota
19. Last thing you did? Blog
20. What are you wearing? Jeans
21. Your TV? Off
22. Your pets? Furry
23. Friends? Yep
24. Your life? Happy
25. Your mood? ditto
26. Missing someone? Nope
27. Car? Yellow
28. Something you're not wearing? Makeup
29. Your favorite store? Kowalski's (It's an upscale grocery store in the Twin Cities.)
30. Your favorite color? Red
33. When is the last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? September
35. Who will resend steal this? Helen
36. One place that I go to over and over? New York
37. One person who emails me regularly? Mickey
38. My favorite place to eat? Computer

* * * * *

Remember that double-stranded super warm sock I bragged about finishing? Yeah, I had to frog it back to just before the heel flap. I had gotten to the heel flap on the second sock when I realized that I was gonna run out of the STR right about when I finished that second heel flap.

Damn.

I dug around in my sock yarn stash and found some light green Opal that would also work in this sock. My plan is to use that, double-stranded with the tweedy Online yarn, for the heels and toes. If all goes well, I will then have enough of the STR for both feet.

Wish me luck.

Middle-aged woman. One year ago. Capchas.

* * * * *

I just checked to see what I was doing a year ago -- blogging about the World's Fastest Knitter competition at the Knit- and Crochet-Out at the Mall of America. (A review of this year's event at Born a Girl and photos elsewhere, but I do not remember where.) This year it was not convenient for me to go to the KnitOut, but #2 son and gf went; I am still waiting to hear what they saw and if they scored any freebies. Before they went I was coaching them via telephone and internet through what yarn and needles for her to get to knit herself a pair of legwarmers. Yay, another knitter!

* * * * *

   

Have you noticed that Blogger has gotten cute with its capchas in the past few months?

   

Instead of giving the commenter letter combinations like xlgug or sikeh, it gives combinations that are *almost* words.

        

Some of these capchas create their own definitions:

What should one do with a pint of    lager?

Why, it, of course!

My kids always wanted a   for a pet.

Now that they have grown up and left home, they have  instead.

I was always good at so I became an accountant.

The crafty among us are   interesting stuff out of using our . 

One way to find blog fodder is to le upon it.

And when I find something interesting, I   on it.

Knitting. Kittehs.

I have been seized by a bout of finish-itis, probably because I start back to work next Monday. I'm trying to tidy up loose ends here at home, and having at least five projects OTN was bothering me.

First, I decided to use up the rest of the superwash merino I bought for the co-worker's baby hat. Result: a head start on next year's preemie hat project.

The white one is extremely small. It would fit a tennis ball perfectly. Really, it would be best if it were never, ever needed. But it will be, and it will be ready.

A couple months ago I started a second pair of extra warm socks and got most of the leg done on the first one before my interest skedaddled on to something else. Last night I did the heel and gusset.*

Here it is posing with one of the socks from the first pair. Although you may not be able to tell from the photo, the one on the right is darker and more green.

Both pairs use one strand of Online Supersocke 100  from the Highland Color group (left) plus one strand of some other sock yarn. The one on the left pairs color #840 with a strand of MegaBoot stretch in an oatmeal color. The one in progress on the right pairs #838 with a strand of Socks That Rock in Falcon's Eye (right). The STR makes that right sock nice and soft. The Online yarn is sturdy, tightly twisted, and should hold up well, thereby compensating for the softness of the 100% merino in the STR.

These will keep my tootsies nice and warm next winter. The first pair did great in that department this winter. These are the kind of socks sometimes referred to as boot socks, extra thick and cushy. An added bonus of double-stranding the yarn is that it goes approximately twice as far, which means I can make at least one more pair using the Online yarn with something else.

* * * * *

Today's kitteh photo. Hannibal is upstairs looking out the window. A strange black cat is outside the window downstairs.

 

Hannibal, you missed your visitor!

* Edited to add: I wrote this post on Tuesday morning. Finished the sock later that day and cast on for the second. Finishfinishfinish...

It's quiz day!

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 87% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test at HelloQuizzy

* * * * *

Your result for General Knowledge of History...

History Connoisseur

15 of 20! Not too shabby!

You enjoy history, and make a point to remember things that you find interesting. You knowledge is focused more on the western world, and upon major facts and events.

Take General Knowledge of History at HelloQuizzy

* * * * *

Your result for Can You Recognize Furry Animals?...

You scored 85% !

And here is a story for you:

An old Cherokee chief is teaching his grandson about life.

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."

"One is evil — he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego."

"The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

"This same fight is going on inside you — and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."

Take Can You Recognise Furry Animals? at HelloQuizzy

Bookin' through Monday.

 Found today at Cursing Mama's blog. Thank you, ma'm!

(Not my bookshelf.)

Key

• Bold the books you have already read
• Blue the books you have listened to in audiobook form. (I added this for myself.)
• Asterisk the ones that you read for book club. (I added this for myself.)
  
• Italicize the books you intend to read
• Notes in parentheses next to note-worthy titles.

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
   
2. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. The Bible (I'm working on it; bought a Bible in modernish English to help the effort)
   
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte*
   
8. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
   
9. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (just finished it last week)
    
11. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
    
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (I really need to *brush up on my Shakespeare* if I expect to do anything worthwhile on Jeopardy!)
15. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier*
16. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
17. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch by George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck*
29. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (read these alound to #1 son when he was about 7)
    
34. Emma by Jane Austen
35. Persuasion by Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
39. Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
41. Animal Farm by George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (what a stupid book)
    
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving (I have read and enjoyed all his other books. Don't know why I haven't read this one.)
    
45. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (started, didn't finish)
    
49. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
50. Atonement by Ian McEwan* (twice!)
    
51. Life of Pi by Yann Martel* (twice!)
    
52. Dune by Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Why is this book on the list? It's no classic nor even a best-seller.)
    
57. A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I cannot count the number of time I have started this one; never got past the first twenty or so pages. But I shall keep trying.)
    
61. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
62. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (recently, as you all know)
    
63. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold* (twice!)
    
65. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road by Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
69. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (tried several times, couldn't get into it)
    
70. Moby Dick by Herman Melville (audio version is on my iPod, it is my next listen)
    
71. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
72. Dracula by Bram Stoker
    
73. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses by James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal by Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession by AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (started, wasn't in the right mood)
    
83. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry*
87. Charlotte's Web by EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (multiple times in my youth)
    
90. The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
94. Watership Down by Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (stoopid book)
    
96. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

* * * * *

I am a dedicated reader, almost a literate good citizen, and also an obsessive-compulsive bookworm and book snob. But you already knew that.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

* * * * *

Well. That was fun.

Now for a dose of literary reality. The Ten Most Overrated Books of All Time. (link from soxanne's blog -- thank you, too, ma'm!)

10. The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.
9.  A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.
8. White Noise & Underworld by Dom DeLillo.
7. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marcia Marquez.
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
4. Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
3. Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
1. Emma by Jane Austen.

You can read the ranker's opinion on these ten books at the linked site.

Of course, I have read or listened to most of those. Too bad one cannot decide whether a book is worth the time and effort to read it... without actually spending the time and effort to read it.

Fetchings. Kittehs. Ice. Mutterings.

As soon as I finished the bright red Fetchings featured in yesterday's post, I cast on some for myself. The first one took about 20 seconds. Well, actually, it took one evening. The second took the rest of the week. Since these were knit from Plymouth Boku, a long-color-change yarn, I decided I wanted the stripes of the second one to match the first.

After starting and frogging twice, I gave up on that idea. Apparently the stripe sequence is not consistent. Or is so long that it doesn't necessarily repeat within a skein. My efforts were complicated by the fact that I cannot count rounds nor remember exactly how I screwed up the pattern what I did on the first mitt.

Anyway, here they are in all their non-matchy-matchiness.

The yarn is rather scratchy, but that does not matter because I plan to wear these over my leather gloves for extra warmth when the temperatures once again dip into Cold-Depths-Of-Hell-range. With luck that may not happen again this winter, but I am oh-so-ready for it next year. My gloves are dark brown and my coat is brick red; I think these will look quite *fetching* with them. Yeah, I crack myself up.

Yarn: Plymouth Boku, 38g (~80 yds)
Needles: Knit Picks Options US#5 circ, Magic Loop.
Pattern: Fetching from Knitty.com.
Mods: I cast on 35 st instead of 45 and used a slightly smaller needle.

* * * * *

The kittehs have been staying close to my office window.

 

The birds have re-discovered the feeder that hangs on the deck railing in front of the window, and the felines have re-discovered the birds. Kittehs are looking mighty lazy here, but they are very, very alert when there are birds on the feeder. Hannibal can only stand it for a certain length of time; then he has to attack, forgetting every damned time that he cannot pounce through the window. Although he tries. And every time he tries, a pile of carefully sorted papers flies off the desk -- arrrggghhhh!

* * * * *

We had unseasonably warm weather earlier last week. Lots of melting occurred.

That's the platform in front of the garage. The first day after the melt, I attempted to walk from the front door (off to the left, out of the photo) to my yellow car. I made it around the blue car at the left of the photo. Then I had to cross four feet of slightly sloping driveway with nothing to hold on to.

I could not do it.

Every time I took a step, I would slide downhill. I tried several times, same result. Even when I stood perfectly still I slid downhill. So I gave up and walked -- very, very carefully -- back into the house. If I couldn't walk to the car, there was no way I could drive up the hill.

Such is life in the wild...

* * * * *

1. Be mine :: Valentine
2. Ecstatic :: happy
3. Orderly :: hospital
4. Sebastian :: teddy bear
5. Sore :: back
6. Don’t need :: no stinkin' badges
7. Rockstar :: Cathy-Cate
8. Tinfoil :: hat
9. Addiction :: coffee
10. Where? :: is my head?

The kitteh has taken over. And red.

Sometimes Hannibal *helps* when I want to photograph my knitting in the light box.

 

Sometimes the kitteh is IN.

 

Sometimes the kitteh is OUT.

 

Whenever I see this

outside the window, I see this inside.

Then the kitteh must go OUT again.

But not for long.

* * * * *

In honor of Valentine's Day, I give you these:

 

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted, redredRED. Red Pepper, actually.
Pattern: Fetching (duh).
Mods: I cast on 35 st instead of 45 and used a smaller needle; apparently both the intended recipient and I have smaller hands than the designer.
Needles: Knit Picks Options, US#5 circ, Magic Loop.

Made for my neighbor, who said she had been looking for fingerless mitts in stores without luck. I told her that was because no one makes them for sale and offered to make her a pair. They are so quick to make -- what an easy way to be a hero and make a friend happy!

Do one thing. For Valentine's Day.

From BAGnewsNotes, a statement by photographer Chris Stanfield:

As the wealthiest and most generous nation on the face of the earth, it is amazing to me that so many young people are living on our streets and while we spend trillions of dollars fighting wars and bailing out corporations, our children spend yet another night in shelters, alleyways or motel rooms across this country with nothing but hope to keep them alive. Contrary to public belief, most of them are not stupid, or lazy or unmotivated. For a number of different reasons, they have found themselves dependent on the good will of others, sometimes just to survive.

To those who read this, I say: Buy one less thing you don’t really need this month and take a homeless teen to lunch. Invest in their future. Be an example for your own children by teaching them to love your neighbor as yourself. Just for one day…let one single act of kindness turn into two and then three and then four. Volunteer at a shelter, become a big brother or big sister or donate that expensive meal you were going to share with your loved one on Valentine’s Day and help make dinner for the homeless teen you pulled off the street for that night. Whatever you do, do in honor of our nation and our reputation throughout history for lending a helping hand. I can think of no better place to start than in our own neighborhoods.

Visit and keep up with the Do1Thing website and blog,

From the website:

Tissues: the real story.

Awhile back one of my blog readers, Diane of Woolnspice.com, raised the question of what was the better way to dispose of used tissues -- trash or flush? Since I had never even considered that issue I had no idea. So I did what any self-respecting, i.e., lazy, blogger would do. I assigned her the task of researching the issue and reporting back.

Which she did! Way to go, Diane!

From her post today:

More Trash I’m overdue in reporting on my special investigation: Toilet or Trash for Used Tissues? This special assignment was Kmkat’s idea and I’m telling you I’ve never gone so deep into the field of trash in my life. Nor am I sure I ever want to walk this way again.

If I were CNN, I’d be announcing this special assignment with extravagant graphics, loud music and Wolf Blitzer pontificating in grim tones.

Since my name’s not Wolf, I’ll just tell you what I learned about the best way to dispose of used tissues.

Short answer: Nobody knows. There are more arguments about the right way to dispose of a dirty tissue than there is about whether a stimulus package is really a spending bill.

Read the results her entire research at her blog here. Although she says above that no one knows, she did uncover enough information that some of us may be able to make an informed decision given our own situation. We have a septic system, so given her findings that tissues do not break down as easily as toilet paper, we are better off throwing them into the trash. Or even better, into the compost pile.

Thanks again, Diane. I love it that you jumped on this assignment and gave us all the benefit of your research, and I love it even more that you jumped into the whole Zero Trash [Challenge] Month with such enthusiasm. My (handknit) hat is off to you!

Guess what I did today?

If you said, "Open a can of tuna," you would be right.

Some of my little fans are slightly more subtle in their approach.

 

Not that it did him any good. I ate the whole can myself. And let the dog lick the empty can. I am so cruel.

 

                                  

Made for you by kmkat.

When I do community knitting, I worry that the recipient may not know how to care for their hand knit item. Generally, if I am making something for a person Mongolia or Afghanistan I use regular wool; for someone in the US or Canada, superwash or acrylic. But how does the US person know that? I fret and I worry and toss and turn at night with the anxiety. What to do, what to do?

I made some care tags.

Now, most people would pop into Office Max or Target and pick up a package of these little tags, left, for $1.99. But I don't have one of those stores within 50 miles and needed the tags NOW. So I made my own.

I started with a box of these that I had on the shelf. No, I don't remember why I have these. I love office supplies; maybe I bought them just because I could.

Microsoft Word had exactly the template I needed. I wanted small tags, so it seemed that one business card-sized piece of card stock could make three tags.

I printed a test sheet on plain paper to be sure I had lined up the text correctly. Avery includes a grid sheet to use for checking the layout.
 

The card stock is micro-perforated so it breaks apart easily and neatly.
 

Next, the handy-dandy paper cutter to cut each card into three tags. Kids, have your mom or dad help you with this part.
 

 

Punch a hole in each one. If you are anal like me, put a reinforcement on the back. Try to center your hole better than I did.
 

Wait, what is she doing with the scissors?
 

Like I said, anal.
 

Really, really anal.
 

Or not.

Make a string from leftover yarn. Where ever will you find leftover yarn? I know not. You are on your own there.
 

Using a crochet hook, pull one end of the looped string through the item to be tagged. You won't be able to do this nearly as well as I did because you won't have a personalized hook from Ruth.

Neener, neener.

The finished product!

 

And somewhere in the process, you may find that you are not quite as good a knitter as you thought.

But the preemies won't care as long as their little heads are warm, and as long as the preemies are happy the mommies and daddies will be happy, too.

One word: plastics.

The world's oceans are drowning in plastics.

From boingboing.net:

 

In their continuing efforts to battle the ever growing mounds of garbage polluting our oceans and coastlines, Surfrider Foundation joined forces with Saatchi & Saatchi LA to sponsor the aptly titled Catch of the Day guerrilla ad campaign. Trash was collected from beaches across the US, then sorted, packaged like seafood, and strategically placed around local farmers’ markets. Directly targeting seafood consumers, this creative campaign draws attention to the gross debris littering our oceans and highlights how this pollution affects the consumer directly through the food they eat. Even if you’re not partial to seafood, its hard to miss the message!

As I gaze upon my own garbage, I find that our bugaboo is (Surpise!) plastic and other such nonbiodegradable stuff. Behold, our kitchen wastebasket yesterday:

See that Styrofoam clamshell? We have been guilty of throwing away an astonishing number of those. Since the boys left home and we have become empty nesters, we tend to eat out more. And we tend not to clean our plates like we used to (that's A Good Thing), so we tend to have at least one of these take-home containers in the fridge at any given time.

How to change this? Well, we could share an entree and save money in the process, but that would mean we would have to agree on what to order. Hmmm. I'll work on that. In the meantime, Tupperware to the rescue!

I have a whole cabinet full of refrigerator dishes in various sizes and shapes. Look on that top shelf. There is no reason I cannot solve this Styrofoam clamshell problem forthwith.

Behold! I find that I have only one lid for the two plates; will have to be ingenious to solve that.

So these two plates and lid are now in my (massive) tote bag so that we will always have them with us.

One little trash problem reduced and, I hope, eliminated.

Whew. More recycling tips.

I was actually a little concerned about my advice to save up the Styrofoam meat trays and give them to a grade school or art teacher. My mother, a first grade teacher, saved all that stuff and claimed she used it in her classes, but Hey! That was 30-50 years ago! Maybe that kind of project is Just Not Done anymore.

Sheepish Annie, a teacher in the here-and-now, knows better:

"Most schools are constantly putting out the call for things like styrofoam trays, egg cartons, yogurt containers and the like. It is a great way to recycle items. I have about three billion of those plastic coffee "jars" for scissors and pencils in my classroom. Yarn is a biggie, too. It is a great way to find a home for all the acrylic stuff."

So save the egg cartons and the meat trays and the yogurt cups. Find yourself a school or teacher who wants 'em. Give 'em the #5 plastics and the Styrofoam.

Party on, dudes!

* * * * *

From Fake Plastic Fish, a site that Erika turned me on to, recycling toothpaste tubes:

Tom's of Maine SLS-Free toothpaste comes in a recyclable aluminum tube. Here are the recycling instructions, directly from the company's web site:

In order to recycle our toothpaste tubes, you must first remove the plastic cap and the plastic threaded covering on the neck of the tube. The tubes can then be tossed in with your aluminum cans for recycling. In case you're wondering, any toothpaste left in the tube and the food-grade plastic liner does not affect the tube's recyclability. When the aluminum is processed, any residual toothpaste as well as the food-grade liner melts away without contaminating the recycled product.

If your town does not accept our tubes, please feel free to save up a bunch and send them to us at Tom’s of Maine, Consumer Dialogue Team, 302 Lafayette Center, Kennebunk, ME 04043. We would be happy to recycle them for you.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with Tom's of Maine nor do I even use their toothpaste. Although that will change.

This post is brought to you by the letter Y.

Courtesy of Helen in the Shadows, who has given me the letter "Y" in new game. Accordingly, I shall come up with ten things I like that start with the letter "Y".  If you'd like to play along, let me know, and I'll give you a letter of your own.

1. Yarn. Duh.

 

2. The Yardbirds. Over, Under, Sideways, Down. For Your Love. Heart Full of Soul. But y'all are too young to remember Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page from those days.

3. Yellow daffodils.Yellow crocus. Yellow tulips. 

  

4. Yes. So much more fun than No.

 

5. Young adults, aka teenagers. I liked having teenagers in the house. When I worked at the library I liked having teenagers come in. They are funny, energetic, interesting. Thankfully, I have not had to deal with hormonal teenage girls; that might change my opinion.

6. Yarn Harlot.

7. Yuppies. Just kidding!

8. Yellow Submarine.

9. Yiddish, the source of so many useful words: bupkis, chutzpah, dybbuk, glitch, gollum, kibbutz, kvetch, maven, nebbish, nosh, oy veh, plotz, schmaltz, schmooze, spiel, tush.

10. Fresh coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. Hey, I ran out of Y things!