Molly Bee's Attic

I finished my Koolhaas Hat for a friend's daughter who is undergoing the rigors of chemotherapy. Ben volunteered (uh...maybe volunteered isn't the correct choice of word. Barely tolerated might be more accurate) to model it, but since he apparently doesn't have a Koolhaas shaped head, I modeled it too. Didn't wantcha to think I knit it into that funny shape that you see in his picture. It's on accounta his big, lumpy, misshapen, empty head that it looks like that, see! I also made these little goomers. I tried the pattern once before and came out with a grossly exaggerated lobster claw mess. I guess I got so excited knitting the tiny little thumb that I couldn't stop! These came out better. I'm thinking they are just the ticket for little keepsakes next Christmas. It took me about an hour to knit each one, but I think once I get the hang of it, they'll go faster. Here are the socks I knit for Mum for Christmas. I didn't post the pics here before ...

I thought Chocolate Sheep was my friend...but she's not. Wouldja just look at the puzzle she gave me to put together! Nothin ' but little round dinguses ( dingi ?) all over it! But since Mum and I have been snowed in, we took an afternoon (yes and entire afternoon) to put it together. After the 37,000 shades of green fiasco of October I said that my next puzzle would be a little easier to put together. This was Beth's solution....37,000 little round dinguses.... Just kidding, Beth! It was fun to put together and all of the pieces are there, although there was a tense moment when Ben was chewing on an unknown object and I thought for sure....but it turned out to be some other unknown object. Never did find out what it was. Happy Holidays from Ice Station Zebra! Guess what? We are having a snowstorm. Again. They say today's storm is a different one than the one we had yesterday, but honestly, it looks the same to me. They are all starting to run together until it feels l...

It's been a whirlwind around Chez Bee lately. Mum, the Queen Bee, arrived in a wicked snowstorm the other night and we've been having a ball catching up. BubberKev ( kid brother Bee) and his fiance, whom we'd never met, arrived yesterday, in a snowstorm . I haven't seen old Kev in a while so it's been fun tormenting him again, if only for a day or two. His fiance, Sheila, is wonderful! She's got a great sense of humor and keeps BubberKev in line quite handily! She is a special ed teacher so she's perfect for him! We ventured out, in a snowstorm , to Olbrich Gardens yesterday to see the train exhibit and thaw out in the tropics of the conservatory. I think Sheila wondered if she was making the right decision to join this wacky crew when I scrambled under the kumquat tree, grabbed one that was on the ground and tasted it. I'm sure she thought she'd be spending the rest of her visit in the ER getting my stomach pumped, or trying to come up with bai...

I've been having a bit of a rough time of it of late. The holiday blues have been wreaking havok with me for a couple of weeks now. Today I finally caught a break. The weather was warm (well high 30°s anyway). I got a lot of errands done in the morning. I took Bentley down for his mani/pedi... and he didn't lock me out of the car. But best of all....as I was perusing in my latest time suck, Ravelry, I noticed that The Sow's Ear had sent out an invitation to Amy Detjen's birthday party this afternoon! So of course instead of doing any of the rest of things on my list, I packed up my knitting and was out the door before the page had fully loaded! So get this: I got to see Amy D. who I haven't seen in a month of Sunday's (and who's blog mysteriously up 'n' died...ummm let's see...was just about a year ago now, wasn't it Amy?) which is always delightful. She's one of those people who just cheers you up by existing on the planet. I don't...

OK. Those fish hats over at Knitty are the drop-dead funniest thing I've seen in a quite a while. And of course I want to knit a whole aquarium full in lots of tropical colors to match my many ensembles . Maybe some in Blackberry Ridge's Tropical Fish colorway . Seems apropos , no? I finished my truffles for the cookie swap tomorrow. They don't look like much but they'll be yum anyway. I needed to make 48. The recipe made somewhere in the neighborhood of a gigamultibazillion so I farmed the overage out to my neighbors. They put up with Ben and me as long as I keep the baked goods coming. Sugar soothes the savage natives and all that. I also made the cake for the Chili Cook Off lunch so my nest smells all warm and chocolate-y. Speaking of chocolate-y. I set out to send a friend's husband a small package of goodies for the holidays. He is stationed in Afghanistan right now. I thought maybe my coworkers might want to send wishes as well so I put out the word. Folks ...

Sure he can't seem to learn to walk on a leash. Sure he has trouble ignoring squirrlish taunts. Sure he occasionally locks me out of the car and sometimes drags me to my doom when we go walking. But on Tuesday, we found out that Mr. Ben has a genuine purpose! Search and Rescue Dog Extraordinaire ! I took him out in the rain, snow and gale force winds after supper. We walked a little ways until our mission was accomplished and then scurried back home to lay on the couch (with our head on the pillow of course) and warm up. I got to the door and was sliding it open when he bolted back the way we came about 12 feet and thrust his big goofy head into the snowbank way up past his ears. Then he ran back towards me and into the house. I thought that was weird but am used the odd shenanigans from the big galoot. As I was taking his bondage gear off, he spit something out on the carpet; a man's wristwatch! Treasure! I can't figure out how he knew it was there, but he found it. He p...

Well, though I did better at this Knit Night than the one before, the jury's still out on whether Santa will be coming or not. There's the little matter of a drowning and a stabbing. Both were accidents but I'm not sure how Santa will judge them. I had no sooner sat down with my bowl o' latte when a rogue wave came from out of nowhere, sloshing half of it all over the table. As luck would have it, I missed the lady next to me but did managed to fill my knitting bag full and soak my left pant leg, which then proceeded to dry into a heavy crust . Then Kitty Mommy came and sat next to me and just being in that close a proximity to yours truly caused her to stab her finger with a big safety pin...hard. I exuded nothing if not bad mojo all evening. But not on purpose. Still, I think if Santa shows at all, he'll just be leaving Red Heart in my stocking. Me thinks I started this 'trying to be good crap' way too late in the year to rack up any 'all natural fi...

I went to friends' for supper the other night and was having a conversation with their 6-year-old. He was pondering about whether Santa Claus would bring him his heart's desire for Christmas this year. I told him that Santa only brought toys for good girls and boys, but from what I could tell, he seemed to be doing OK. He looked at me with a solemnity that only a 6-year-old whose Christmas gifts depend on it can have, and said, "I TRY to be good, but sometimes I'm SO BAD .... SOOO ... SOOO BAD ! " I know how he feels. I, Molly of the house of Bee, do solemnly swear, to behave myself at Knit Night. I won't mention exotic fruits and vegetables. I won't make up pimp names for Ben-the-Barista and then get the group to flash gang signs at him. I won't make 'Google' innuendos. I will be the picture of piety and politeness....to the best of my ability....if I can. Ok....er....well, I'll try. Don't expect miracles but if I don't at le...

I saw this over at Knitzu's place and thought it looked like fun. Then once I bolded all the things in the list that I had actually done, I realized how truly dull and empty my life has been so I reevaluated the questions and counted some of the ones I 'kinda' made. It's late. I'm very tired. I apologize in advance... Things I’ve done (in Bold)… *Started my own blog *Slept under the stars *Played in a band *Visited Hawaii (Used Hawaiian Tropics-counting it) *Watched a meteor shower *Given more than I can afford to charity *Been to Disneyland/world. (Have ridden on Madison's famous Beltline though...That's more of a thrill ride than Walt has to offer so I'm counting it.) *Climbed a mountain (fell off said mountain. Double word score.) *Held a praying mantis (and a frog, and raccoons and a boa constrictor and baby bear. Oh! And a rabid butterfly!) *Sung a solo (So low you can't hear me. Tenor. Tenor twelve miles away.Ar. Ar. Ar. Counting it. ) *Bungee...

White Wire Outdoor Christmas Tree-$10 Pine cone garland-$.50/yard sale Expression on my neighbor's faces when they look in and see my ' Frankentree '=Priceless Hey! I don't have much room to put a tree up or store it and us little Yankee girls are brought up to work with what we have..... It holds all of the ornaments that mean something to me and that's the most important thing. Thanks to the big breakfast bar in my nest, and my penchant for not eating breakfast there, I have room for one of my favorite Christmas decorations, Santa and assorted animal friends in a birch bark canoe too! I had a restful but productive weekend. I worked on some knitting but it can't be posted here yet so you'll have to check my unfinished projects on Ravelry . I've haven't utilized Ravelry as much as I should. This weekend I uploaded a bunch of finished projects. Of course they were finished so long ago that now I've forgotten what yarn it was and where the patte...

(La La La) 'One of these things is not like the others, One of these things is kinda the same....' (La La La) I've been kinda industrious this week. I got 4 more Connor Caps done, for a total of 8 and a 6# square for his blanket crocheted. (I gave one of the hats to Chocolate Sheep on Friday night so it didn't get it's picture taken...) And I'm working on a Christmas gift that I can't post a picture of and have that half way to done. I've also been experimenting with breakfast cookie recipes. I've been seeing them around in stores lately and though...'Huh, cookies for breakfast. Now there's an idea who's time has come'! So I poked around the net a bit and found a few I'd like to try. These are the best so far. I'll put the recipe on my recipe website if you're interested. I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning so this is the perfect pick up and go breakfast for me; no fat, lots of fiber and if you substitute Splen...

Settle in, it's been a while since I've been here and I have a lot to say. I apologize in advance. First of all, just talk amongst yourselves for a minute, this one is for my Mum. Visual Aid (The big green one is a PUMMELO . Go get 'em at the dinner party, Tiger! :-) ) OK, now that THAT'S out of the way, thanks for the nice comments on the last post, Sue! And welcome to my merry band of readers. I should get the four of you together sometime so you can get to know each other! How'd you like The Ear? Cool place, huh? It's my home away from home, if you haven't guessed. In fact it was Knit Night on Friday. They had a Pampered Knitter's sale going on with all kinds of roving, jewelry, baskets etc. All the vendors had little tables set up in the front room so it got a little cozy and I relocated to the back room. S.E Management frowns on me going back there after what happened last time... I would tell you but, what happens in the back room stays in the ...

I have been cranking out the Connor Caps in anticipation of being able to pass them off to Beth of Chocolate Sheep fame at Knit Night on Friday. I used some acrylic yarn for them from Michael's. It's called Vanna's Choice ( V_nn_ White...I'd like to buy an 'A', Alex.). It's very soft and wasn't too bad to work with despite my dislike for fake yarn. It knits up into a nice warm cap and is washable so it's all good. I have one more on the needles. It's grey with blue stripes rather than blue with grey because I'm running out of the blue. Hope it still passes muster. After I'm done, I will knit any leftovers into 6 inch squares for an afghan Beth is putting together for Connor's family. And this is a BIG finished object for me! I know, it's just a jigsaw puzzle, but it's the first one that I've put together almost entirely by myself....( I did get some assistance from Friend-Donna one evening while we visited) and on purp...

Bentley had an appointment for his monthly mani - pedi downtown this morning. Lord, he loves to dish with the girls down there at the 'salon'. It starts out innocently enough with topics like fashion. Collars? Leather or nylon? Colored? Rhinestones or metal spikes? Commando?...(giggle, blush). Then it quickly degrades into bawdy jokes and sideways whispers about who's pups came home from Obedience Class with worms, and who's Mister will be getting snipped for sneaking over the fence and getting the next door neighbor in the family way. That Samoyed was always trouble...shaking out her long blond hair and batting those long eyelashes. Her and that 'husky' voice...always luring him to 'come over and see her sometime'. Bitch. All too soon it's over. A bowl of complimentary beverage and a cookie or two and he's done. Then it's off to Culver's so Mommy can pick up lunch as a reward for wrangling him down there and back. This works out r...

There has been knitting...poor quality knitting in most cases, but knitting none-the-less. I told you that I was unable to knit a simple sock at Knit Night. Getaloada the turkey dish cloth I knit on Tuesday Dish Cloth Night: Yes there is a glaring error in the turkey's butt area. Looks like his tail is molting. Since it's a dishcloth and it's just for me, I'm not too concerned. And good news! I have enough of the God-awful circus peanut pink/orange cotton to make another one! Try try again...practice makes perfect and all that. And I kind of like the pattern with the K2togs and YO's in the tail. Here's one that actually went right! It's my first Conner Cap : It was fun to knit and I have enough yarn in the correct colors to make a couple more. It only takes an evening or so to whip one up. It's Sharlene Schurch's Straight Stitch Watch hat pattern with a ribbed cuff from her 'Hat's On' book. And here is a gratuitous Bentley shot.... ...

Been keeping myself pretty busy and relatively out of trouble for the last week. I say relatively out of trouble because the doc told me to keep my UAS on for 2 weeks and I ditched it after 6 days. In attention to instructional detail or defiance? I'm not telling. Suffice to say I've suffered not ill effects and am even back to walking the dog in the freezing temps of ' bumhole of the morning o'clock'. I finished a baby blanket that I found almost finished when I moved....(Nice sneakers, I know. ) It's crocheted and I really like the pattern a lot. It looks, at first glance, to be rows of squared sewn together but is in fact, all crocheted in one piece . The webs are made with triple crochets. I went to Knit Night at The Sow's Ear on Friday night. It was a hoot as usual. An this week was special because it was a hoot with CAKE . Doesn't get any better than that! It was a "Melissa's Birthday and Yay Barack Won" cake. Cool cake even tho...

The Halloween party at work was a success. There was even one treat grosser than my Halloween fingers and that was this jello brain. I know... EWWWWW ! But oddly tasty none the less! Would have gone great with fava beans and a nice chianti. And this was my costume. Simple but effective. A tiara and a half full specimen cup tied around my neck. Know what I was? See bottom of post for answer... I had to have blood drawn on Monday so I asked the lab tech if I could have a specimen cup and she gave me one and asked me what it was for. I told her what I was thinking and that I would fill the cup with apple juice for effect. She got all excited and told me to go with Juicy Juice Tropical Blend for more realism. I'll be darned if she wasn't right! Tastier too! You could tell she had thought about this before. I didn't ask for details as to why... I didn't win the costume contest (even thought I volunteered to drink my own 'urine' if it would bump me up in the stand...

Why I haven't been knitting! My newest addiction! When I'm not showing off my hand knit socks that it! Or making these! (Biggify! You know you wanna!) Yep! It's that time of year! Time for Halloween finger food! This year I threw in some toes for good measure! Halloween party at work tomorrow. This is an integral part of my costume! Heh Heh Heh! Details on THAT later!