100 pounds of lard on my ass, 100 pounds of lard …

… you take one down, pass it around – 99 pounds of lard on my ass!

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The excitement at Chez Swine is palpable. Not only did horsey-man shit again, today is the eve of my very first contest! Have you entered? So far I have 77 entries – I wonder if we can make it an even hundred for my Journey of 100 Steps contest?

Send me an email (purlingswine (at) yahoo (dot) com) by 5:00 p.m. EST on May 2nd (today!!) with your name/email/blog (if applicable) and the words “weigh to go” in the subject line. easy peesy!

What will you win? Trekking XXL – and let me remind you of my clever use of trekking (journey) and xxl (me at the moment) – and other assorted delights! You will also win the envy of everyone who did not win! now, how can you beat that combo??

How about a finished little something?

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duck feet booties
50 Baby Bootees to Knit
by Zoe Mellor

couldn’t ya just die?!

horseshit!

Girlfriends, your prayers were answered – we have achieved some poo. But not enough poo. Pray for more and bigger poo!

Thank you so much for all your supportive comments – these horses are a pack of delicate creatures (sissies, really) and it is a wonder they’ve managed to hang on throughout evolution. Anyway, Spencer did managed to get his bowels moving a bit yesterday, but not enough. and so we are still on shit watch. He is not out of the woods yet, but things are improving.

It seems that every year at this time, Spencer wants to see the vet. Last year he injured his eye. The year before that there was something going on with his hoof. And this year it is a colic. gah!

It was not all horseshit this weekend. I got a bunch of knitting books from the library (why does the library’s stash of knitting books always come as a surprise to me? I know they have knitting books and lots of them!) I spent a few hours on Friday afternoon sitting between the racks just reading through all the knitting books. One that I checked out was Zoe Mellor’s 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. I am whipping up a pair of the Duck Feet – I saw them on another blog, but can’t remember whose – and thought they were so cute. Even though I have no babies on the horizon (and it better stay that way for awhile!!) booties are a good thing to have on hand for a quick little baby gift. My grandmother always kept a couple pair wrapped in tissue. Anyway, this book has some very cute patterns and I am going to buy a copy of my own. I also checked out HandKnit Holiday and I think that one also will be purchased. The library, a great way to test drive books!

Now, before you think it was all horseshit and knitting around here ….. I also managed to power wash the upper level of our deck. Our deck is fairly gigantic as decks go (it’s as big as my first two bedroom apartment!) and to get the whole thing washed takes many days. So the powerwasher – that machine is a thing of beauty. Everytime I use it, I find myself wishing I could take it indoors ……..

Here are some pictures of the Diagonal Rib Socks I was working on during our weekend of driving. I am using StR in Petroglyphs. I like this pattern and I very much like how stretchy the rib stitch is. I am not sure I like how the colors are pooling, but everyone who sees them really likes what the colors are doing. It seems to be a fact of life with space dyed yarns that this is what happens. oh well, what can you do?

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Interesting how all the colors seem to pool on separate sides of the sock, no? I wonder if the same thing will happen on the 2nd sock. As I knit these things, I wonder about the mathematics involved the yarns, both self striping and space dyed. I mean, there has got to be math involved, right? Truly, math is involved in everything. But then I can feel my brain starting to fizzle. Then I quickly switch topics because I don’t want to hurt myself!

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I don’t think that the yarn is doing the pattern stitch justice. Here is a closer look. Another great pattern from Ann Budd ……

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On the homefront, there is not much news to report. D#1 has one more week of classes and then finals begin. It is hard to believe that her first year of college is almost over. gah! She is hoping to find a summer job on campus so the good times can keep rolling on. She says it’s not that she doesn’t love us, it’s just that she really loves college! D#2 is studying hard for upcoming AP exams – she is giving herself an ulcer! When Cara was here, she couldn’t believe the freakish amount of studying. Kids need to loaf around more!

This morning I am hosting a birthday brunch for a friend. Very poor planning since tonight is my WW weigh in. Or, maybe it was a stroke of genius ….. I am not sure what the scale will say tonight. This weekend, I got a tad carried away with snacking in the car and the street festival had fried dough, which my religion dictates I must always eat when available …… furthermore in the past I have been an every-other-week type of loser, so we shall see.

Just waiting for D#2 to come home from school and then we shall hit the road. First stop is in Brooklyn to pick up the Boar and then westward ho!

The car knitting is all set – another sock is being born. I am using StR in Petroglyphs to make an online Interweave pattern called Diagonal Rib by Ann Budd. It is looking pretty cool so far – I would show you, but the camera is already packed.

Our friend Nancy is here to babysit the dogs. Nancy loves the poochies and the poochies love her. It’s a real love fest. Around here they call her Full Scoop Nancy. (I have a measuring cup in the dog food bin to dole out their meals, Nancy disregards this entirely and just feeds them up) So they will be fat, spoiled and happy.

Have I told you that D#2 will be bunking with her sister this weekend? When the Boar and I arrive, we shall drop D#2 off at the school. We will meet up with them both tomorrow for a bit of family time and then the Boar and I are heading to Rochester to visit the relations. Yes, this means that my darling little soon-to-be-16 year old is spending a weekend at college. A party weekend.

Do you sense trouble?

I have informed D#1 that it is her job to keep her sister sober and pure.

: )