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You know what I hate? Cancer. Who’s with me? Well, one person I can think of is my best bud, Charlene. (You remember Charlene, right? The one who’s always there when I need her and always makes me laugh?) That’s why she’s embarked on a Hike for Discovery. It’s an endurance training program that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She committed to nearly 5 months worth of progressively more difficult hikes in preparation for a weekend hike at Yosemite. She’s doing it in loving memory of our good friend’s mother, Carolyn. I wrote about her a little bit when I had made a sweater for her grandpup. She really was‚ an inspiration and dealt with her illness in such an amazing way. Once by scooting off to Paris with her friends for a week of fun!

Now, being the cream puff that I am, I can only watch in wonder as she shows me the various bruises and scratches she incurs in the name of medical research. Since I’m not so good with the sides of mountains, I decided that I’d donate to her cause instead. And you can, too!

Click this link to read her hiking blog (she promised she’d be updating soon with her latest photos).

Click here to go directly to her donation page.

Chuckles (it’s amazing‚ which nicknames really stick, isn’t it?)‚ has been working her bruised butt off doing all kinds of fund raising, including a weekly bake sale at her work. Can you stand it? She bakes every Sunday for her coworkers in exchange for donations!

If you’d like to reward Charlene’s efforts and do your part for cancer research, please donate whatever you can via her fundraising page. Every little bit helps, so if you want to spread some of that knitter love to a muggle (I know! I haven’t got her knitting yet.), I do believe that‚ we would all‚ benefit.

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The other day there was a knock at the door. I’m powerless against a well-executed diaper hat, so I let them in. But there’s something a little disconcerting about a baby in a pair of sunglasses. This one was a roughian, alright. Look at the knuckle sandwich she’s fixing to deliver. That baby means to kick my butt!

Clearly she’d been‚ drinking, so I thought it best not to upset her. In my haste to avoid a soft, tender beating, I offered her anything she wanted. Turns out she wanted a hug and for me to pretend to nibble on her toes. After she had her fill of giggling, she and her henchman left as mysteriously and abruptly as they had arrived.

Then I got back to the task at hand – admiring my new socks!

I haven’t shaved my legs since I got back from vacation in Florida*, and I was going to try to get rid of the stubble in Photoshop. But then I decided to embrace it instead. Enhance it. Accentuate the obvious, if not positive. Hawt!

The yarn is Spunky Eclectic Skinny Socks in Atomic Melon. One skein, size 2 Brittany Birch dpns (one of which is now broken because I hold them too tightly), Wendy’s Toe-Up Sock. All stockintte with a one inch ribbed edge. The foot has 60 stitches, but I increased them to 64 after doing the heel to avoid a lot of stretching where the top of my foot bends. That kind of hurts if it’s too tight, and socks shouldn’t hurt. I also like a little extra room for my cankles to move. I find that picking up a stitch at either side of the gusset when you finish the heel helps keep a huge hole from forming on the sides, then a couple of rows later, I add two more stitches. It seems to work well for my particular appendages.

I love them.

*Yep, we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago. I even have pictures. I came across a baby alligator that looks just like a reptilian version of Mike! I’m not crazy, you’ll see. He even has cute toes.
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Is there anything more pleasant than an afternoon in the crisp autumn air? It’s the perfect way to spend the day with your family. Nope, there’s nothing finer than enjoying nature’s bounty and bringing home . . .

A Bushel of the Damned!!!

Move over Johnny Appleseed, little Joanie Badseed is on the scene. Clearly, she’s just caused untold carnage in the orchard. In the movies, this is the part where the end credits would roll and we’d gesticulate wildly at the screen trying to warn her parents.

Can you hear the apples screaming, Clarice?

I see a lot of bad sequels in this girl’s future. Panic in the Pumpkin Patch. The Strawberry Field Massacre. Children of the Corn Maze. Pick a Peck of Pickled Death . . .