Sock Wars

Update: 1st May... I'm in... Now just need to wait for 9th May for my secret dossier and intended target to assasinate !

30th April...Yep I'm a real iPod freak now and just spend ages looking for either knitting or crochet related podcasts or videos, and audio books to download.

Today I found the 'Sock Wars' pod/video by CAT at 'Let's Knit2gether' and watched it during the afternoon prayer time at the Mall. I couldn't wait to get back and get onto the website to get involved in the latest sock war. I'm a little bit late as the deadline for registering is 1st May and I'm in the process (now) of sorting out how to make the $4 subscription payment. I may not be able to join in this time but will be keeping a good eye on the progress on the website and Ravelry forum.

Fingers crossed I'll get in on this one and be able to report my personal progress here.

Here's a little bit more information (source OregonLive.com):
"Billed as "the largest, bloodiest extreme knitting tournament in the world," Sock Wars is (are?) not for the faint of heart or the slow of needle. You sign up, you get a target's address in the mail, and you get to assassinate them. Via sock. Basically, you gotta outknit the competition. To win, you must complete a pair of socks (the Sock Wars folk supply the pattern) before your foe does. You mail them to him/her, and you score a kill. Your victim mails you his/her unfinished sock(s), plus the name of his/her target, and you continue knitting, and, presumably, killing. It's primal, it's brutal, it's kill or be killed, and if you're the last knitter standing? You score a sweet knitting gift certificate. (It's currently at $154, but it goes up as more troops enlist.) This year they're also taking team entries, so you don't have to be a mercenary acting alone -- you can be part of a squad of commandos taking out the enemy. Or something."

Here's the link to the Sock Wars Website if anyone else is interested in just a little bit of fun: http://www.sockwars.org/press.html

Spring is here !

Well that's what I've been told but when the temp hits 100oF then I call that just too hot and going to spend the summer hibernating with my new best friend, the 'air con'.

The humidity hit pretty hard yesterday and I am now realising that it ain't going to be a fun time in Saudi during the summer months right up until the end of September. That's when we originally arrived here last year and that was a pretty big shock for my delicate british constitution then. Me, having the true 'Jock' gene of fair skin, freckles, and red (well reddish,ok tinged) hair, just don't mix well with the heat and humidity and can't wait to get indoors and turn on the 'air con' and flop down until I've cooled off and returned to some kind of normality just to be able to get on with a busy mums duties.

I am told I should acclimatize but I'm not too sure about this as even the Saudi's days are back to front during these months. Day is for sleep and doing nothing much, lazing around, and then everying happens evening time, its off out shopping or whatever it is they want to do including taking the kids to play in the park at 10pm. Actually that's pretty much how it is all the time come to think of it.

P/Hop ... 'Pennies per Hour of Pleasure'

P/Hop is a charitable organisation raising funds for Medecins sans Frontieres and is the brainchild of Natalie at The Yarn Yard. Go to this link to see what she has to say: http://theyarnyard.typepad.com/

Designers from all over have pledged to donate patterns to MSF, which you can download for free! However, once you have your newly completed knitted/crocheted scarf/socks/sweater, they ask you to donate an amount that corresponds to the amount of pleasure you got from making it.

So far, there is a beanie pattern,donated by Terri Bate; a fabulous pair of 'Cranford Mittens' by Jane Lithgow; A scarf 'Flowers in the Rain' by Jacqui Walker; and the long awaited p/hop sock pattern by Debbie of 'Hue & Dye' blogspot.

Although P/Hop is still in the relatively early stages you can even join in the knit-along and the Ravelry group, link time: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/p-hop

Here's the P/Hop (MSF) site link: http://www.p-hop.co.uk/

WOW Check out the fab Freebies

WOW...These patterns are just fabulous...you've just got to go have a look !

Store Link:
http://mochimochiland.com/shop/

There is also a page with lots of freebie patterns too just to greece your pins so to speak before going off and just having to buy all those fabby patterns.

My favourites have got to be the toilet roll as I have a fasination with toilets which started (or rather I blame it on) a good 20 years ago when I was a secretary in a general hospital. The General Manager decided to do a 'toilet audit' and I had to type all the details, stick the photographs and generally compile this book on toilets within the hospital. I never seemed to be able to look at a toilet in the normal way ever again. I'm always thinking it could have improvements or how is that going to work when its been designed for someone who needs wheelchair access etc., etc.,...

... Just think how elated I was to find the toilets or rather holes in the ground when we arrived in Saudi Arabia. I was in my element. Don't worry, not all of the pictures are suitable for blogging and I have practically exhausted my facination with the loos out here now after 6 months.

KnitMinder & StitchMinder iPod Application...Free Download

As mentioned in a previous post, I received an iPod for Mother's Day this year and have been busy adding music, knitting, crochet and even exercise (spinning/bike) music poscasts.

Today I found these 2 application for a knitting and stitch minding programme developed by 'Quilt2Go'. These 2 applications have been around for a while and are free with an option to purchase the full Knit Minder at £2.99 at a later date. The Stitch Minder is 'free'. I downloaded both free versions today and have been busy playing.

Knit Minder, is a great record of projects you're working on, or completed with details of the pattern, needles and yarn used. However, I did find it a little limited when adding the colour of the yarns as I'm using a varigated coloured yarn and could only choose a solid colour for the project, but I'm sure this could be sorted at a later stage by the programmer, who incidentally is a Ravelry member.

Also you cannot actually upload pictures from the 'upload pic' icon, but I notice that this blip is to be rectified shortly.

Stitch Minder, is a great little gadget where you can do exactly as it says, keep a track of all your projects, with 'rows completed', pattern row, pattern repeats, increase and decrease row counters. All at the touch of the i-pad. This is great as I regularly take my knitting or crochet projects with me, especially on my little trips to Saad Hospital (dentist) where I always chuck in my iPod incase I want to listen to a knitting related iPod download. But now I can just use it to keep track of my progress as I invariably forget to take pencil and paper and then completely forget where I am in a pattern and spend ages trying to work it out.

I love these little applications and look forward to using them on a regular basis, and will probably download the £2.99 download version, but will continue with the KnitMinder Lite for the time being to get to grips with it.

If you're interested in giving them a go here are the links to copy and paste into your search engine:

http://www.quilt2go.com/

If you would like another review then go here:
http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2008/08/12/stitchminder-free-iphone-knitting-app/

Yarnbombing in the UK !

Source: Telegraph UK (21 Jan 2009) Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4305406/Knitters-turn-to-graffiti-artists-with-yarnbombing.html
Yarnbombing, is thought to have originated in the US but knitters are now beginning to cover British streets in woollen 'tags' and can come in the form of, cosies for trees, garden sheds in knitted squares and as you can see a double decker bus !

What a great idea to brighten up the UK especially during this current economic period.

I wonder if I can get some yarnbombing going on out here in Saudi...what do you think !

Advice Given on Pothos Laddering Problem

The girls over at the Six Sock KAL forum have been just so helpful on this problem I'd been having regarding the laddering effect when moving onto the new needle using dpn's.

I have copied the advice the girls have given below just incase it helps with any of you other sock knitters who may or may not have the same problem but its also a point of inspiration for me to see everytime I look at the pic of my pothos socks and to give it another go !

I haven't tried out any of the advice yet but will report back on how I get on and which method suited 'me' best as I'm sure different methods will suit different sock knitters.

Here goes:

1. Try to knit with 5 needles instead of 4. When you have the stitches on 4 needles
the angel between the needles doesn't get so sharp as when you have the stitches on 3dpn's. This makes it easier to avoid ladders.

Avoiding ladders IS harder when purling than when knitting as the yarn travel on the outside of the work (between the stitches). When you knit the yarn is on the inside between stitches (= inside lane).

2. One knitter suggested shifting your stitches by 1 on each round of the leg. You will not get a ladder because each row starts in a different place. Have you tried blocking the socks or even just washing them? Does that eliminate the ladder?

3. When I'm working on the cuff or the foot, I will move anywhere from one to three stitches from one needle to the next. This readjusts the tension of the stitches on that needle and helps reduce the laddering. One of my girlfriends also recommended that when you start the stitches on a new needle pull the first three stitches of that needle very tightly. I have tried both methods and seen some success.

4. My suggestion would be not to knit the very first stitch on the new needle
tightly...knit it normally, then when you knit the second stitch, snug it up, and maybe even snug up the third stitch a bit. Often when you snug up that first stitch it makes the ladder effect even worse. Hope this helps!

5. I usually use Magic Loops to knit socks so avoiding ladders is easy as you swap
the last 2 stitches on the needle to the other side. THat way you never leave a
ladder. When you're using dpns, you might want to try the same trick but you'll have to keep a marker so you can tell where needle 1 should be. From there, it's easy to transpose the pattern.

6. The best thing that works for me is to always be changing the place I change needles. I do not get ladders if I always work at least three (or more depending on patternings) from each needle before starting to use the one I just emptied.

It may take a bit of a while to relearn if you are used to beginnning with the emptied needle right away. But, I find it prevents ladders better FOR ME than the other ideas about tightening certain stitches and so on. All that seems to do is mess with the tension.

However, more often than not the ladders tend to disappear with the first wearing and washing.

7. I don't know if this will help--maybe you're doing this already--but when I start a needle with a purl stitch, I make sure the working needle (the one you're knitting on to) is over the old needle (or the cable,if doing magic loop) and the yarn is coming from under. Then I pull tight. (If I'm knitting, my working needle is under the old needle.) This way, there's nothing getting in the way of the yarn when you start a new needle.

I wish I'd seen no. 6 before I completely frogged my sock last night, I might have had the confidence to continue with it. Never mind I will try again incorporating the advice given by the girls at the forum. Thank you girls again !

Frogging !

I hate to frog another sock but again its needed as there is nothing I can do to sort it out.

I frogged the Pembrokeshire Patheways socks due to the unsuitable yarn I was using. It had too much of a pattern (Wendy,Zig Zag) and just didn't look right. I shall try again with a plain yarn.

I am now frogging the Pothos sock which I am knitting with the Six Sock KAL due to unsightly laddering which is occuring as I am moving from one dpn to the other during the purling rounds. I don't have a problem while knitting all rounds but do apparently have a problem with purling all rounds in this method. I really didn't want to be beaten but it really does look awful and even after the thrill of seeing the final pattern emerge, it just all has to be correct as you can see every detail in this fab pattern.Happier times Pothos knitting !

Looking at the pattern again it appears to be knitted on circular needles hence my 'surfing' for instructions on how to do the magic loop method (links posted in side bar). I am now looking for my circular needles which I brought out with me just in case I needed them, and am sure glad that I did as having to purchase them and wait for them to arrive would be a nightmare of a wait of up to 3 weeks !

Right, off to hunt down those circs !

Entrelac...Nicky Epstein

Yesterday I couldn't help myself and just had to buy 'On Top of the World' by Nicky Epstein from Amazon... a real bargain for £9.99 and free p&p. It'll take a good couple of weeks to get to me but I'm so looking forward to it.

I just love the projects and can't wait to get on with something a little different again from what I used to make. One of them is an entrelac number. I've mastered the entrelac skill when I made a little set for a baby about a year ago. This was in my previous life of a reborn and baby knitter, which I still do but not for profit due to the constrictions of being out here. I think I'm just about ready to endeavour on a new project involving entrelac as I found it pretty time consuming (tidying the ends up at the end of the item is a real pain !). Any way here's Nicky's and then mine:Might take a little longer than my set did.
If you're new to entrelac I'd suggest a small, simple project. Here's a link to a pretty comprehensive guide to entrelac by the blogger 'KnittyOtter'. I apologise for not using my pics but I didn't bring them all out with me ie., store on another computer in the UK !Here's the link:"http://knittyotter.typepad.com/otterknits/2007/03/entrelac_scarf_.html"
Here's another link to a basic handout on entrelac by Carol Wyche: "http://www.io.com/~cjwyche/Entrelac/Entrelac.html"

This one's just another I'm itching to get on with... saw it in a magazine ('Knitting') and been after it ever since.

Rocket

Meet Rocket the... bird... not sure what he is apart from very lucky.On Thursday my noticed some baby birds hopping around on the floor outside our villa, in the gutter, and under our car. Four of them had decided that it was time to stretch and test their wings. Unfortunately 2 got carried off my cats and we lost sight of the other one but managed to get Rocket safely into the tree. We realised that he probably wouldn't make it as the cats were very excited by this time so we took him under our wing.. or rather my son's as I was quite happy to let nature take its course. He however, was not and wanted to find worms and crush them for Rocket. Dad and I explained he was too old for that and that he was ready to go solo and look after himself as soon as he'd rested and could get exercising his wings again.Long, short... he was safety put outside onto the balcony where he flapped and then fell asleep all night on the chair outside. In the morning he had gone so I guess he managed to get some help from an adult bird as they were around, and took the plunge and went wild. My son says he saw him sitting on the balcony and then fly off again a bit later so I hope that's the case. He believes that Rocket came back to say 'bye bye'... how sweet !I'm so glad it had a happy ending, I was worried as my adopted sparrows never survived and I was very upset.

Innovative Knitting For Bald Chickens & Sand Roses

Internet has been down all day... loading pics is taking a long time so will upload them tomorrow but in the meantime here are my ramblings tonight:

Well its another weekend over and kids back to school tomorrow (Saturday) after 2 weeks on holiday and I've been to the gym and started knitting a new sock project. I've given up on the Pembrokeshire Pathways as it, well to be honest, bored me silly, but maybe it was the colour choice that was wrong. In any case it was taking me weeks to only get 25% finished on one sock only so it has now gone into hibernation. I may go back to it, I may not.

I am now knitting the Pathos sock with the Six Sox Knitalong group and finding this one very interesting so hopefully will have it finished in a few days rather than weeks !

Thursday we went out on a trip to find sand roses in the desert and to have a BBQ. It was just too too hot but we managed it amidst the sand storm (okay sand blowing about) eating our sand accompanied prawns, salad with sprinkled sand and melon and grape fruit salad with sand sprinkles... mmm yum ! We also ran into a huge herd/caravan ? of camels which were incredibly friendly ie., came up to us for a pat and no spit or froth or bite in evidence. It was a real treat to chance across them and their owner who came to greet us. We took some sand roses, and a leg bone from the pretty fresh'ish camel skeleton home with us, along with most of the food that we'd given up trying to eat.

Innovative Knitting For Bald Chickens
Decided to flick thru one of my mags (Knitting) whilst the kids and hubby went off to play bowling this afternoon and came across an article (which I thought was a joke at first) about knitting jumpers for chickens! Well it turns out that these battery hens need little tops to keep them warm after being rescued as they had lost most of their feathers due to stress of their previous battery farming life. I went onto look at one of the many websites where you can download a pattern to knit for one of these poor little chux and here is a little piece taken from one of them taken from www.eveningnews24.co.uk website:

..."Many of us groan about the prospect of another knitted jumper from a distant relative at Christmas, but for featherless hens who have escaped a life of battery farming they are delighted by the festive offering.

The chickens, at Little Hen Rescue in Newton Flotman, have been taken in by Jo Eglan and her family in the hope of finding new homes in the New Year.

Mrs Eglan, 29, who is married to Steve, 30, and has two children, Jay, five, and Bobby, three, has been a vegetarian since her childhood and has dedicated her life to helping rescue the battery laying chickens who would otherwise be killed and turned into pet food.

But because the bald birds lose their feathers from stress and the cramped cages they are forced to live in while laying eggs, they are too cold to cope in winter - so Mrs Eglan has been encouraging anyone who can knit to make jumpers for the hens.

Mrs Eglan, who keeps the chickens at a farm in Greenways, Newton Flotman, said: “We have about 35 jumpers now. Evening News readers saw previous stories about the hens and started knitting jumpers for them.

“We had a nursing home ring us and all the old ladies are now knitting. Other people have sent the jumpers in too.”

The chickens were rescued by the Eglan family after 60 weeks of laying eggs, but Mrs Eglan said they will all go on for many months continuing to lay - although the number of eggs produced no longer meets the demand needed by farmers.

Kind Evening News readers have been knitting jumpers for rescued chickens. Photo: Simon Finlay.
The chickens will grow back their feathers after a few months but the jumpers, which have room for the chickens to move their wings, allow them the warmth to do so.

The mother-of-two, who also works as a teaching assistant for Harford Manor Special School, said: “We have about 400 chickens at the moment but they are ex-free range birds. We are expecting up to 4,000 battery farmed ones in the New Year - and they will really need the jumpers.

“When we re-home them they go with the jumpers until they have re-grown their feathers - and then ask for the owners to give them back.”

Mrs Eglan said as well as more knitting nanas they still need homes for the birds they currently have, many of which are ex-free range Amber-Link hens.

She said: “Re-homing is a constant issue, even for the ex-free range.”

Depending on the farmer Little Hen Rescue offers about 30p for each bird but needs £1.50 to cover costs.

To see video footage of the hens in jumpers go to www.eveningnews24.co.uk

To offer a home to the chickens call Jo on 07717 757596 or go to www.littlehenrescue.co.uk

SOURCE: www.eveningnews24.co.uk

Here's another website I found on these chickens: http://littlehenrescue.co.uk/jumpers.aspx

Scavenge Hunt & A Real Easter Bunny

This morning the kids had a scavenger hunt arranged by the compound which I thought would keep them out of trouble for a couple of hours... however, I think they've taken it a little too seriously.

First off, they did well at the scavenge by finding all the items on the list given to them which included pencils, books, safety pins etc., but this afternoon my daughter came home with......a Rabbit ! She was wondering around the park on her own so obviously either lost or been kicked out by someone possibly leaving the compound without having found a new home for her. The girls managed to get a walking strap on her as she's just so tame and used to be being handled and were taking her out for a walk along with the other girls pet rabbit which she got because she thought he could keep her company. Then Heather thought it would be even better if she met Bandit the Hamster which is why they ended up here, but Bandit was sleeping and missed his new friend. I'd love to have her but we have so many animals at the moment that I think I'll have to draw the line somewhere.Just had the gang report back that the owner has been found ! Phew ! She escaped when they were trying to give her a bath.Well it was fun, I'm sure, while it lasted.

Al Musmak Castle, Riyadh

Musmak Castle was built in 1865 and lies in the heart of old Riyadh. In the center of the castle there is a diwan (or sitting room); there is also a courtyard with a well.The castle is amazing and made only of mud and straw. Its beautiful inside and really cool... so good to get inside out of the heat. Just across the way is 'chop chop square' which was really weird to walk across knowing that it's where they chop heads off... only on a Friday after prayer time ! We were okay ...we were there on a Saturday.
A little more information:
"The castle is next door to the National Museum so worth a visit in conjunction with the museum. The castle is representative of the march and battles which led to the formation of Saudi Arabia as it is known today. The castle is well preservered and provides authentic glimpses into the life and history at the beginning of Saudi Arabia. Again, like the National Museum one should check on the hours due to the differing visiting times for men, woman and families. Admission to the castle is free of charge." Source: American Bedu blog

A Taste of Taif

TAIF Intercontinental Hotel, you may find the room service menu interesting!mmmm...think I'll give this one a miss !

Camels, camels & more camels

I love this one... A real pre/post modern Saudi image
This is where it can get real dangerous.. when camels wonder off onto the Riyadh road...not a safe road at the best of times, let alone hitting a camel on your way as well.
This baby tried to make a run for it...
... back with mummy !
You could buy your very own camel for as little as £17,000 !




Well we are in Saudi ... I mean 'Camel Land' !

EASTER

Its so easy to forget what's going on outside our little bubble but we were reminded of Easter by the kids .. well they're idea of Easter is a little different ie., chocolate eggs !The compound laid on some lovely events for the kids and they really enjoyed the Easter Egg hunt and painting the boiled eggs. The Easter bunny did come this morning but how much he had to pay for them I'd hate to think as there were rumours of eggs costing as much as £60 for around 8 ! He made a mess much to Heather's delight by leaving carrot tops around and taking her painted boiled egg she made specially for him/her/whatever !


EASTER COFFEE MORNING
The Easter Coffee Morning was as fun as usual with some real effort put in for the Easter Bonnet Parade... I didn't get round to making mine ... time just ran away and all those visits to the dentist just didn't help. I had intended to make up something quick yesterday but after another 2 hours 'root canal' filling I just couldn't face it. So this morning grabbed some bunny ears won at the Easter Hunt and stuck some flowers on them.... Forgot to take a pic... might do this later, but honestly you're not missing out.
CHARITY QUILT RAFFLEJust had to show you this ... Quilt... I'm definitely going to have to get involved in making one of these before I leave the Kingdom.

Happy Easter !

Riyadh, Socks, & Dishcloths

Hi ya, sorry not been able to get online for a bit and been to Riyadh for a few days as well and didn’t take the laptop.

First off, we went for our first visit to Riyadh and stayed on a lovely compound (BAE) which is apparently going to be the blueprint of the one we’re moving to next year. A bit Strepford Wives but I’m not going to complain too much lol. There are mini pools jotted around the villas with a huge lagoon style pool for all to use. The compound we’re on at the moment is well established and has its own character so will certainly miss it along with the people. There are a multitude of nationalities on our current compound which has been wonderful for the kids to mix with all the children and me of course. On the new one we'll be more isolated with just the Brit/American mix I assume.

Went to the Kingdom Tower and almost had a fit when saw how high we were…hubby was a real scaredy cat and took an age before actually stepping out to have a look. The Sky Bridge is 99 floors high at 310 metres. Here is a link to the official website:
http://www.kingdomcentre.com.sa/

Must admit he wasn't the only scared one... a Saudi guy was petrified and he had to have his friend hold his hand the whole time, coaxing him to walk a few paces at a time.Doesn't look scary I hear you say, but believe me it was. I took this pic using a zoom lense.
On the way down in the lift which was super speedy 99 floors in 30 secs !!!, we witnessed the way saudi boys meet saudi girls... with 'Bluetooth'... the girls huddled together so the lift attendant didn't see them and the boys did the same. At a guess they swapped id's. The lift attendant did a great job of separating the boys from the family and girls and even refused to let the girls off the lift until he was sure the boys had gone... however, they hadn't gone too far and were sitting 'in wait' a few yards away. I'm sure they have a lot of fun getting to meet each other but the consequences must be pretty harsh if caught. I used to think how awful this culture was but being here you soon adjust and find it pretty normal after a while.

Went to have afternoon tea at Faisal Tower but was told they wern’t doing it except on the weekend which we had just missed so will have to go back again for this one. A real dissapointment but as I say will go back. The restaurant is in the globe at the top incase you were wondering.

Took some great pics of … camels ! Hundreds of them all in a caravan walking along a bridge with cars and lorries running thru underneath.. a great shot of pre & post modern Saudi.

SOCKSWell I have finished another pair but just not got round to taking a picture but when I do I will add it here. Its another alpaca select pattern using 4 ply alpaca mixed.

CROCHET DISHCLOTHS
mmm... why dishcloths I hear you ask... well I made (crocheted) my first one last year after thinking exactly the same and wanted to see what all the rave was about homemade cotton dishcloths. I havn't looked back since... they're far superior to the shop brands and last for ages... well they used to until the house helper got hold of them but they still last longer than the bought ones. I buy a ball at £1.99 and can make 3 out of a ball in about 40 mins ! I even made one for my MIL and even she prefers them and has knitted her own since.

I Luv Snail Mail

I am so pleased ... I got a postal delivery yesterday and after weeks of 'nothing' not even a 'bill' from the UK, I got my long awaited subscription mag, 'Simply Knitting' and some others that I'd either won on ebay or asked relatives to buy and send on.

The mag only took about 2 weeks to arrive so that's not too bad. Have also subscribed to 'Knitting' mag as well so I've got 2 things to look forward to the snail mail bringing once a month.

Waiting for another delivery of wool to keep the sock supplies up !

New Cat on the Block

One of the families on the compound is leaving this week and has had Lexie for a couple of years. Lexy didn't have a good start in life as she got trapped in the compound security gates and lost half her tail and toes on one paw a couple of years ago. She's a bit of a freaky cat as she hisses, spits and makes an odd noise and walks with a tic, usually with her right front leg flicking. Anyway it was thought that she would be far too stressed (as she has psycological problems too) to make it to the new compound in Abu Dabi so I offered to give her a home.

Lexy came to stay this morning and has spent most of her time in the downstairs toilet. She came out for an hour and was happy enough, mewing and coming over for a bit of a stroke. Then all of a sudden she went off on one. She's back in the toilet after a bit of a struggle getting her into her cage. Didn't want to let the kids come home to the scene nor want them trying to catch her and being ripped to shreds. Not too sure that Lexy likes being here just yet, but we'll see how she gets on. Trouble is Scamp has to come home too yet, so after her performance this morning I'm sure she's not going to like him very much either.

Anyway, here's Lexy.. hopefully she'll be a little more relaxed in the next picture.

Toooo Cute !

Just had to snag this off 'Ten Thousand Dancing Stars' blogger, just far to cute not to. He's also my screen saver this week.

Now why can't Lexy learn from this one.