Thank you to everyone who entered the blog contest.  The readers of this blog are some incredibly creative people.

Random Thoughts

It’s fascinating what goes through the minds of blog readers…I honestly had no idea what kind of window I was going to be looking through when I posted this blog contest.

Below is a sampling of what came in…I only responded to the first one listed because there’s an expert on the subject sitting right next to me.

• I wondered why tires are black.  Isn’t the rubber plant green?  And if so, is the rubber dyed black. And if so, why black?
  • Not all rubber is black…rubber bands, for instance, aren’t typically black. For tires, carbon-black is added to rubber to give it strength and it’s black color.  As it turns out, when I first met Thaddeus, he was working in a rubber mill, where they milled various rubber compounds and extruded some of them into various products for other companies.  Thaddeus tells me that carbon-black was originally made by burning petroleum in an enclosed furnace and scraping the walls.  Using the residue of burnt petroleum added the strength to rubber that products like tires needed.
• Why do stores only send me coupons for things I don’t want to buy, instead of the things I do want to buy?
• No matter how awesome it looks, I cannot bring myself to use Manos del Uruguay yarn because of the movie “Manos: Hands of Fate.”
  The random thoughts come only when I’m showering.  Alexa needed.
• Why did they build double-decker train cars only to use them OFF PEAK hours?
• Never trust a man who says “trust me.”
• How does one tiny cat take up 3/4 of the bed?
• How exactly can one ‘Wang Chung’ tonight?
• Can a life of abnegation and self-sacrifice be faulted as leading to  an unhealthy pattern of “micro-suicides”, or is it the natural expression of a generous and spiritual life?
• One of my random thoughts relates to yours regarding cleaning your teeth vigorously before going to the dentist. I have wondered why I do the same thing, yet I have the completely opposite approach before going to the hair salon. I never bother to wash my hair first, because they will wash it anyway. However, I would never think of going to the dentist without thoroughly brushing, flossing, and rinsing with Listerine! 
• Do most people take off the toilet seat cover to clean the hinges?  How often?
• How do cats always find the warmest spot?
• Mind full vs. Mindful.  Are you not being mindful when your head is spinning with all the things around you; say at a carnival or concert.
• I read some books because the cover has a good font on it. 
• I always loved that the “paperless office” generated so many copies of whatever was sent as a computer file.
• Every time I make a random thoughts list, I feel like Larry King.

 Thank you everyone for participating in the blog contest.

Here are the two scarf kits that will be sent to the randomly selected winners of the contest.

I love both versions, but I’ll let the first-chosen have their preferred colorway and send the other one to the second-chosen.

The winners are:

Amy B.
Helen M.

Please join me in congratulating the winners.  I’m still looking at getting coupons for MJ Yarns as runner-up prizes…I’ll keep you all updated.

Current Knitting

The fifth of six panels was started on the Easton Mountain logo blanket.

I haven’t worked so much plain stockinette with some intarsia for a while and I’m enjoying the easiness of it.

I’ve also started a sock KAL as part of a Facebook group I’m on with Hayes.

I chose Noro Kureyon Sock, US1 needles and 68 stitches.  The KAL calls for an after-thought heel, which I’ve never done before, but I imagine it won’t be too difficult.