Monday, September 11, 2006

The Princess and the Pea...and the CAT!

The Princess and the Pea...and the CAT!
I'm sure that most of you know the Hans Christian Andersen story The Princess and the Pea. You know, this princely fellow wants a real princess and the way in which one discerned if a girl were truly a princess (you know, instead of any chick who pops up and says, "Choose ME, Choose ME, I'm really a princess!" All the while she's got 27 kids in tow, all with different dads [not that there's anything wrong with that!] and is just looking for a daddy for the kiddies.) was to place a pea , one tiny pea under a stack of 37 or so mattresses and the "real princess" can't sleep because of the annoying lump in her bed which is caused by this small pea.
Okay, now that I've recapped Hans' story, allow me to tell mine!
I often consider myself a princess for one reason and one reason only and that is because my darling, sweet husband treats me as if I were one. Now, about that pea. Well, allow me to preface with this tidbit, this little "story" is about my inability to sleep, too. Okay, another tidbit, I've been trying to loose weight recently and in doing so I've amped up the drinking of beverages, said beverages being good ole' H2O and diet green tea (which is a natural diuretic, or so I found out the hard way!). Okay, now, the pea...in my story the pea refers to the size of my bladder. Yep, I do honestly believe that it's the size of a pea because I have to go tinkle (I was going to say 'pee' but my mother would spin in her grave because I was taught not to be so "vulger" as to speak to others about peeing. Although, she would also find it quite odd that I spill my inner most thoughts to people that I don't know online, so, perhaps I will say "pee!") about every 17 minutes! Especially at night!
Now, since I've shared that part of the story, allow me to get on the the "Cat" portion. As any of you who have read my blog in the past know, I have a huge, beautiful white cat by the name of Moshi. Mo has a tough life, he spends his days in his favorite place....any box that he has claimed when we come home from SAMS club (you know, they don't have grocery bags so you have to dig through huge vats of boxes so you can find boxes to put your 10 gallon jar of olives and such). Well, Mo spends his nights running up and down the hallway sounding like the proverbial herd of elephants (No, I've never heard the sound of a herd of elephants, I rather think that it would sound lots louder than Mo, but, it is the phrase I've heard all of my life when referring to loud running!). Then, after he's run a while, he parks it right outside of the bathroom door and there he sits, and sits. Why?! You might ask, does Mo sit outside of the bathroom in between the running the hallway times?! I'll tell you why, so he can torture me when I have to go pee and I go a LOT since I amped up the water/green tea intake, remember?! You know, right when I hit the
rem cycle of sleep and am really getting into the dream I'm having about me having tea with a knitting panda bear and 2 western bank robbers (who also knit)...I am then awakened by the ...PEA SIZED bladder as it is screaming "GET UP, GET UP NOW" and I get up, grab my crutches (yeah, the hip has me back on crutches) and try to head to the bathroom, but have to maneuver around Moshi (remember, he's sitting by the bathroom!), who, as soon as I sit on the pot is rubbing all over my legs to get me to scratch his head. I mean, I'm still asleep, all I want to do is tinkle, I have no desire to scratch the cat!! But...alas, I do because I'm a good pet parent. So, there you have it, my story of the Princess and the Pea/Pee...and the CAT.
On the knitting front. I have finished the Flower Power hand towels, the link to the patterns is on the sidebar. They were fun to knit. I designed these to go with our fiestaware. Lonnie surprised me with this yarn (told ya he treated me like a princess!) and I immediately thought that I had to knit something to complement the fiesta!

I think that they could actually be used as placemats, too. For us, they will be hand towels.
I do believe that I am finally about to finish the lace scarf that I've had on the needles for a couple of months. It's lovely, I think, knit with one of my faves, SWTC bamboo yarn in the parrot colorway.
This is another reason that I don't like having several projects OTN, I enjoy finishing a project not too terribly long after I begin it! Had I stuck with this project I would have finished rather quickly, instead, I decided to try my hand at this multiple project knitting that so many of you do! Can't do it! I will finish this scarf and the socks that I have OTN and go back to my lovely world of monogamous knitting....ahhh, yes.
Please keep your contest ideas coming! I want to host a contest on my blog, as I mentioned in my previous post. I think that I will pop all of the ideas in a hat (actually, I'll use a bag.) and the one that I pick from the hat (bag) will be the contest that I implement.

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT
Well, shoot me in the butt and sit me down!
I am about to have a healty heeping of MY WORDS! As I eat away on my words, I would like to show you a picture of what I just got off my doorstep (my mailman is so nice. He's knows I'm often on crutches, so he brings my packages to the door, I must knit him something special!)!
JUST LOOK...



Yeah, baby, what you see is a my very 1st (certainly won't be my last) hank of yummy malabrigo yarn in the sealing wax colorway. I have read about how much my KH friends love this yarn and decided that I had to try it out. Well, my yarn shops don't carry it so I had to order mine. My friend Cheryl (DivaKnitting) recommended her lys (she can't carry it in her online store), Lambikins, so I ordered from them...I ordered it on Friday and it arrived today, Monday...can't beat that!! And it is very, very yummy, as my friends have said.
Okay the reason that I am dining on my words...I'm afraid that before I pick up the 2nd sock, I am going to have to knit a quick scarf with this yummy yarn, I can't help myself! So, my knitting monogamy will have to wait a bit, but...IT WILL RETURN!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would definitely use those flowers as placemats--so pretty! And I love that scarf's colors.

I say "pee" all the time, shame on me! LOL.

AR said...

haha. I always tell my cat, "I can't see in the dark, so move if I'm going to step on you", then she makes this weird little noise, that's not a meow. She runs around like a herd of elephants at night, too. Silly cat.
I love fiestaware. Yours is really nice, being orange. I think the cloths and your lace look great, too!

Contest, still no idea, but you could still just send me a prize, haha I'm just joking. lol!

earthchick said...

Love, love, LOVE the flower power towels/placemats. Sooooo cute. And the Malabrigo looks totally scrumptuous, of course.

Okay, so apparently my last contest suggestion was not a winner. How about "If your name is Stacey and you have curly red hair and live in Ann Arbor and have twin sons and knit, you win." Whatcha think?

Sharon said...

I was wondering where on earth you were going with the princess and the pea thing, oh dear I hate going to the loo in the middle of the night :(

Now as for the contest, you could always fill a crate or basket full of yarn and get everyone to guess how many balls of yarn there are!!

I like the above comment but how about "if your name is Sharon with dark blonde hair...."

Anonymous said...

Love the look of the fiesta ware with the dishtowel/placemats!

LOL on the Princess and the Pea story.

Wait until you have about 4 projects on the needles, all close to being finished and then finish them all in one day! Then you just might be hooked!

Malabrigo is on my list of must try yarns.

Mama Bear

Dorothy said...

So the trip down the long slippery slope to a basket filled with ancient UFO's begins. Wonder how long the denial will last! ;D

Cute hand towels. They would look pretty hung on the wall in a little girl's room too.

roxtarc said...

oh i've heard whisperings singing the praises of malabrigo... pls let me knit vicariously thru you...

how about a poetry contest...
everyone hasta write a verse about a subject of YOUR CHOOSING and then everyone can vote... BUT you getta do the rockstar supernova thing & pick the one you like the best..
ie:
there once a whimisal knitter, whose big white cat slept near the sh!tter...
in a big comfotable box,
where she couldnt get lost &
at least she's close to the cat litter...

(sry i cursed, but pee didnt fit)hahahah

AR said...

Cheating on your sock like that!! Shame. LOL. Your new yarn looks yummy! I left my hubby a comment about a certain word he used on his last post. He's going to call me a blog censor. Oh well!

earthchick said...

Okay, I'm back, but this time with an honest-to-goodness real knitting contest idea. I was thinking about cool things that other people do to support their spouses/friends/whoevers' knitterly habits. Like when My Old Man pulled over into the emergency lane of the highway so that I could get my live stitches back on my size 0 dpns. And I was thinking about how Lonnie is all the time doing sweet stuff to support your habit. So I thought maybe in honor of him you could solicit Knitterly Support stories from your readers. Wouldn't it be fun to read about all the things husbands/fiances/boyfriends/friends do for the knitters they love?

Then you could either choose the best one or draw from a hat or whatever. And the person who submitted the story would get a prize, and the person they wrote about would maybe get some kind of "Lonnie Award" certificate or something. (though I have a story in mind of someone I overheard in an LYS so it's not like I could ever hunt him down and give him a certificate). Or maybe everyone who had a story written about them would get a certificate.

Okay, it's kinda goofy. Maybe it really makes more sense to go with the "If you're name is Stacey/earthchick, then you win" idea.

earthchick said...

Okay, I'm back, but this time with an honest-to-goodness real knitting contest idea. I was thinking about cool things that other people do to support their spouses/friends/whoevers' knitterly habits. Like when My Old Man pulled over into the emergency lane of the highway so that I could get my live stitches back on my size 0 dpns. And I was thinking about how Lonnie is all the time doing sweet stuff to support your habit. So I thought maybe in honor of him you could solicit Knitterly Support stories from your readers. Wouldn't it be fun to read about all the things husbands/fiances/boyfriends/friends do for the knitters they love?

Then you could either choose the best one or draw from a hat or whatever. And the person who submitted the story would get a prize, and the person they wrote about would maybe get some kind of "Lonnie Award" certificate or something. (though I have a story in mind of someone I overheard in an LYS so it's not like I could ever hunt him down and give him a certificate). Or maybe everyone who had a story written about them would get a certificate.

Okay, it's kinda goofy. Maybe it really makes more sense to go with the "If you're name is Stacey/earthchick, then you win" idea.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to let you know that I'm drooling, literally, over the Malabrigo. It's my all-time favorite yarn to knit with, and I'm SO jealous! And now wiping drool from my keyboard. Thanks. :)

Becka said...

OMGoodness, you all are hilarious! I am seriously loving all of the contest ideas that are coming in...I'm giving it another week, maybe, then I've got to pick one out of the hat and begin! It will be such fun...now, the knitty goodies, I'm thinking.........

essjay said...

I love your story, Becka! Poor Mo always needs attention doesn't he? I always have to get up during the night and my DH makes fun of me and how often I have to pee - like every 10 minutes! I hope your hip starts to get better soon - I'll be thinking about you!

The scarf is wonderful - I love the colors. I agree that those flowers should be used as placemats - so pretty! And I'm glad you finally were bit by the Malabrigo bug - it is WONDERFUL!

calicokitty6 said...

I say "pee" too. I am on diaretics also and completely understand the nighttime tinkle issue. I have several cats, one really big one who has to park his butt outside my bedroom door. I'm trying to get out into the hall and he's trying to get into the bedroom where he is not allowed. lol

I also have Moshi's twin, named Rosebud. Sweet cat lives in her own room and is no trouble. She was a rescue several years ago and is still very timid. Barely has a meow to be heard.

I love the scarfs, both the green and the red one. Definitely use the flowers as placemats. Is the pattern available for them?