Watching TAR with Wannietta - part VIII

Sorry - Amanda & I went to The Royal last weekend and she was feeling oogy (yes, a technical term) and I was totally exhausted and then we had some hardware problems that required the services of a professional Nerd. But I'm back and completely gutted that I missed the straw rolling task!!!

Flight Time & Big Easy are out 1st at 2:23AM on their way to Estonia.
I'm seriously annoyed with our new virus software - it won't let me download my smiley faces!!!
Yes FT, 17:45 is a long time from the wee hours of the morning.
Meghan & Cheyne are next out at 4:12AM.
I'm not sure that cutting off a taxi is the best introduction to asking for his most accurate help.
Team Zebra is next out at 4:37AM.
I've got to agree with Brian - winning the battles are irrelevant if you can win the war.
Sam & Dan are next out at 5:04AM - they seem unreasonably excited about visiting Estonia, unless maybe while they're out of the closet they are still closet knitters!!
FT & BE are sleeping in their car - the other teams are blown away that the ferry isn't until 5PM.
Gary & Matt are out at 6:29AM & have a great shot at finishing their speed bump and still getting to the ferry with the rest of the racers.
Argh - the Speed Bump is after the ferry ride.
Meghan & Cheyne and Sam & Dan are the first in the house of the Brotherhood of Blackheads. They need to find a candelabra, pick a room number, find the room and uncover their next clue on a "blank" parchment.
Gary & Matt need to get on a Saunabuss and take a 5 minute sauna. That doesn't sound so horrible.
Erika is having a hard time getting the secret door open; the Globetrotters have caught up with them.
Erika & FT are doing this task.
Sam & Cheyne are still searching for their rooms.
FT found his room and is trying to find the clue on the scroll by rubbing a red "crayon" on it.
Cheyne right away starts rotating the scroll ofer the candle, as does Erika.
FT had it over the candle and the clue was on the paper but he didn't notice!!!
Cheyne has it - Pikk Hermann Tower Garden.
Erika as well. Why is she still carrying her candelabra?
Gary & Matt are done with their sauna and are back with the rest of 'em - Matt's doing the task, but he doesn't know what a candle-a-bra is!! D'oh!!!
Sam & Dan are off and FT finally sorted it out.
Poor Matt, but I guess there really isn't any call for high-falutin' candle-a-bras in Minnesota.

Ding, ding, ding!!! I guess the "candle" part finally twigged with Matt and he's off to find his scroll.
Serve or Sling
Mud volleyball or hitting a tiny Moose target with a slingshot.
Megahn & Cheyne are going with Serve as they have played volleyball in high school and on a beach.
Matt tries the rub technique but is now holding it over the candle.
Matt only got the Pik Herman Tower - I hope that the "Garden" part isn't too important.
Sam & Dan and the Globetrotters are looking for a taxi and end up sharing one.
Gary & Matt don't see the clue box and are trying to figure out how to get into the Tower - I guess the garden part was important.

They finally find the clue and are going to Sling it.
Brian & Erika are going to Serve.
I think that once the girls see the mud that they'll rethink playing in their underwear.
Meghan isn't certain that the mud is entirely mud. LOL
The 2 boys teams are going to play volleyball too but they and Team Zebra can't find the route markers.
Meghan & Cheyne have gotten their 5 points and are on their way further through the bog to Keava Rava Overlook Tower.
Brian & Erika are taking their "shot" at the Sling since Sam & Dan and Flight Time & Big Easy are using the 2 volleyball bogs.
BE is almost up to his waist in the bog and Sam & Dan are not having fun and are taking it out on each other with advice on how to play bog volleyball.

The Globetrotters have their 5 points and are on their way.
Sam & Dan are right behind them.
FT & BE have been running the wrong way and it's a real foot race - Flight Time fell on the wooden path and tripped up Dan a bit. Now there's a bit of a macho pissing contest between the boys.
Brian hits the target and brings down their clue just as Gary & Matt are arriving.

#1 - Meghan & Cheyne
#2 - Sam & Dan
#3 - Flight Time & Big Easy
#4 - Brian & Erika

Sayonara - Gary & Matt - you ran a good race and dodged a bullet last weekend and were a fun team to watch!

Watching TAR 15 with Wannietta - VI

Meghan & Cheyne are out of the gate at 8:17 AM and off to find the Dubai Yacht Club.
This Roadblock is for one of the team members rowing a dingy out to a yacht, receiving a watch, rowing back and then realizing that the code to open the briefcase that they chose at the beginning of this leg is the time on the watch - 8:35.
Brian & Erika are out at 9:59 followed by the Globetrotters at 10:42.
Big Easy has summed up the climate by repeating the word "Hot".
Matt & Gary are hot (no pun intended) on their heels at 10:45
Cheyne has his watch and has opened the the briefcase with no problem to get their next clue - off to the Abra Station - a water taxi port - for their next clue.
Brian is trying to get the hang of rowing a dingy.
Sam & Dan are off at 11:34.
Big Easy & Flight Time's cabbie have taken them to the wrong marina.
Brian and Erika have no trouble with the lock code.
Awwww - Brian has a blister!
Gary's off in his dingy and is laying on his stomach to row is canoe-style-ish.
Detour - Gold or Glass
Teams have to either weigh out exactly $500,000 worth of gold - based on a constantly changing gold exchange rate or assemble 12 hookahs from parts in a crate.
Maria & Tiffany are next to depart at 11:47 AM.
Mika & Canaan are the final team out at 11:54 - 3:37 after the lead team.
Big Easy is going to row for their team - definitely out of his element in the water!!
Meghan & Cheyne have chosen the hookahs - while I think that it would be easier than the gold weighing, it's not easy; all of the hookahs are different.
BE & Dan are rowing with his hands!!!
Meghan is losing her cool real fast on this task.
Brian & Erika have decided to go for the gold.
FT tells BE to "Do it for the 'hood!" so Sam tells Dan to "Do it for the suburbs!"
The are having a rough time figuring out the combo to the briefcase - Sam & Dan are out ahead of them.
Tiffany is rocking out that rowing!!
Canaan has his watch; Tiffany has figured out the combo and Big Easy is still trying - he's hung up on the hand being on the 7 rather than thinking of the "35".
Mika & Canaan have left the Globetrotters sitting on the dock.

He's finally got it and now the 'trotters have some time to make up.
Kerwyn would be totally awesome at the math for the weighing - Brian wants to switch tasks but Erika says that he can do it.
Gary & Matt are going to do the hookahs.
Meghan & Cheyne don't realize that they have some spare pieces on the edge of their carpet & Team is switching tasks.
Meghan & Cheyne have their hookas done and off the the Atlantis, The Palm to a massive water slide.
Sam & Dan and Maria & Tiffany are going to try the gold weighing.
Nice - Mika opens the envelope, drops the garbage and tells Canaan to "pick it up".
Brian & Erika are stuck on the hookahs.
Sam & Dan have a calculator but can't sort out the price/oz and it's relation to $500,000.
Maria helps them out with it but the price/oz keeps changing.
Mika & Canaan are working on the hookahs.
Sam & Dan and Maria & Tiffany are on to the water slide.
That water slide is killer scary - almost straight down and it passes under a live shark tank!!!
Meghan and Cheyne hold their lead and are the first to check in.
BE & FT have arrived to put together their hookas; Brian & Erika still can't sort out what little detail(s) are keeping them from being finished.

Brian & Erika are trying to step through what the problem is - they had the wrong hoses on a couple of the hookahs.
Matt is really feeling the heat.
Maria & Tiffany have taken their "leap of faith" and are off to the pit stop with Sam & Dan close behind.
Seeing how long it took Brian & Erika to do the hookahs, the have switched to the gold task.
Gary & Matt have assembled their hookahs.
Brian & Erika are down the chute.
Mika & Canaan are done the hookahs but remember that Mika is terrified of heights.
Gary & Matt did the slide with no problems.
Canaan is trying to bully poor Mika into going down.
Big Easy & Flight Time are done with the gold and are off to the water slide - will they make it before Canaan can get Mika to go down it?!?
OMG - I can't that he tried to push her down!!!

Flight Time & Big Easy have arrived - Mika has 2 minutes to summon up the courage to just go down.
FT & BE are trash talking her which Canaan is totally pissed about.
She couldn't do it - my heart breaks for her because she's really scared that Canaan is going to hate her for not being able to go down the slide.
Of course he doesn't hate her - I can't imagine being that crippled by a phobia.


#1 - Meghan & Cheyne
#2 - Maria & Tiffany
#3 - Sam & Dan
#4 - Brian & Erika
#5 - Gary & Matt
#6 - Flight Time & Big Easy

Mika & Canaan

And the Winners Are ...

Because I've made y'all wait so long - I was driving a couple of nights, then there was knit night in Barrie, then the Knitty yarn tasting at the Purl then I was completely knackered then I worked at Knit & Quilt and then today I've been diligently hard at it with China Clouds - I've decided to draw 3 additional names for individual skeins of 3 Irish Girls yarn. With no further ado, the winners are:

Grand Prize - 3 skeins of 3 Irish Girls: Mary H.
Runners- up - 1 skein each of 3IG: Aunt Rhodie, Alynxia & Chris O'Neil (musta been the luck 'o the Irish !!!) Let me know if you have a colour preference & I'll hope that y'all don't pick the same one.

Please contact me at: kwpATsympaticoDOTca with your addresses & I'll post the yarn next week.

Thanks to everyone for your comments - I wish that I had enough for you all!
China Clouds will look totally better once the ends are done in & it's blocked, but I'm very happy with my progress. I've also tucked in quite nicely with Olivia - a Noro Kureyon vest from Jenny Watson's Catwalk book.

Watching TAR 15 with Wannietta - V

And they're off to the Persian Gulf to find the Burj Dubai. Here's Liz's recipe for this leg of the Race.
Erika knows that the tallest building in Dubai straight up!
Sam & Dan are trying to book tickets to "the Persian Gulf"!!
So Lance is going to marry Keri because they have "a lot of non-refundable deposits on stuff". How very romantic.
And Lance knows about booking flights because he's a lawyer and he works out.
Team Zebra is rockin' it out in first place.
It's so hot there when they land (at night!!) that the cameras are steaming up.
And the random idiot cabbie strikes again - Mika and Canaan were apparently at the hotel where the water fountain (and the sign up) was and then the cabbie kept driving and they are in the 2^nd tour group to go up the tower.
Yeah Lance - making jokes about planes and towers is quite past funny.
Mika is struggling with a fear of heights and she's still on the ground.
Awesome - the Fast Forward.
The teams who want to complete this task needs to find the Dubai Autodrome, complete a lap in under 45 seconds in the race car. Kerwyn would totally rock it out!!!
Lance is such a jackass - "Try and keep pace baby, it won't kill ya". And when Keri tells him that all of the other teams went the other way he doesn't even give it a thought.

FT & BE are turning right and Mika & Canaan are going to turn left - who's correct???
Lance & Keri are finally in their car - Lance doesn't want Keri asking for directions and Keri is not opening up the map and tells Lance that he's on his own.
Cheyne & Meghan are at the Fast Forward and, no surprise, Cheyne is driving.
Sam & Dan, Brian & Erika and Maria & Tiffany are in 4x4 jeeps heading across the desert.
Mika & Canaan are still on the highway; Lance is not listening to Keri's navigation directions.
The Road Block is for one of the team members to take a traditional water bag, and head off in the desert in search of clay urns with water buried in the desert.
Apparently "chocolate melts" so Brian is doing the task along with Tiffany and Dan.
Big Easy & Matt have joined the water hunt.
"My judgment sucks." Lance has probably never uttered truer words.
I don't understand why Meghan is crying - sure, Cheyne is driving very fast but he's the only car on the track!
And he totally does it in 40 seconds and they are off in a Maserati to the pit stop.
Brian has found water!!
This is the Fire & Ice leg of the race - from the heat of the desert, Brian & Erika are now off to Ski Dubai for their next clue.
Matt totally rocked it out with no help from anyone and he & Gary right behind the other 3 teams.
That totally sounded not good! Maria drove over a metal stake or something and has totally punctured their radiator.

"... gave the tummy of our car a little tickle and now it's bleeding radiator fluid."
Same and Dan are hanging around to make sure that the are set because Tiffany shared her ladle.
BE has water, Sam & Dan and Maria & Tiffany are under way, Canaan is going to be the Water Whisperer and Lance and Keri are still on the highway.
Meghan & Cheyne have checked in - they are going to have a massive head start on the next leg of the race!
Lance and Keri are on their way out to the water search and now Lance and Canaan are wandering the desert sands.
Gary & Matt are the 1^st team to Ski Dubai
Build a Snowman or Find a Snowman
I'm with Matt - toboganning down a hill then digging through snow to find a tiny snowman figurine would be easier than taking snow outside to the sweltering heat and building one (complete with traditional accoutrements) before it melts.
Typical Lance - can't find water in any of the urns so he breaks urns.
Sam & Dan, Maria & Tiffany and Brian & Erika arrive at Ski Dubai at the same time.
Lance may be getting delirious - he's rambling away to himself and in a show of bravado declares that he totally could have done another lap (of the desert) but he has to get to the next clue.
All of the teams are looking for a snowman.
Erika has found the first snowman and now she & Brian are off to the pit stop.
Geez!!! When Lance, in all sincerity, asks Keri which way she would like to go, she can't make a freakin' decision!!
FT & BE are going to look for a snowman, Maria & Tiffany and Matt & Gary are switching and going to build a .
Sam & Dan are sticking with the search.

Lance & Keri have decided that they are "directionally challenged".
Brian & Erika check in.
Sam & Dan switch tasks at the same time that the Globetrotters find their little snowman.
They gave Mika & Canaan a heads up about the snow and suggest that they get some jackets.
Gary & Matt have finished building their snowman; Mika & Canaan decide to build a snowman.
Maria & Tiffany have finished their snowman.
Sam & Dan are quick on their heels.
Mika & Canaan seem a bit defeated but they have no idea how far behind Lance & Keri are.
Lance & Keri are arriving as Mika & Canaan head out.
What a freakin' idiot! Lance wants to kick the snowman - I think that if Keri wouldn't have talked him out of it he would have forgone the clue to do it.
Merciful Lord!! It's not a non-elimination leg!!!

#1 - Meghan & Cheyne
#2 - Brian & Erika
#3 - Flight Time & Big Easy
#4 - Gary & Matt
#5 - Sam & Dan
#6 - Maria & Tiffany
#7 - Mika & Cannan
Lance & Keri

Sweet!

I have finished the Leaf Motif Jacket from the Fall '09 VK & it's blocking. I really hate blocking rib - it never seems to be straight. I'm sure that it will look wonderful on a live model; I'll try to get a pic while I'm up Knitting Camp this weekend.

I've started a K1b scarf using Cascade 220 & Naturally Vero to use as a sample in my class this weekend. I'm not normally a brown kinda gal but I'm really loving this look - I can't wait to get into the red in the Vero!! After this one I'm going to knit up a purple/purple, pink, green one!!

As a belated celebration of my SweetSpot pattern in Knitty I'm going to give away 3 skeins of Three Irish Girls Adorn to a lucky commenter. It's wonderful yarn and the colours are gorgeous - Sharon was very generous when she sent the yarn for the afghan so I'm going to spread the 3IG love around!!
Leave a comment to this post until 5pm on Friday, October 16 and you'll be in the draw!