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!

Watching TAR 15 with Wannietta - IV

FT & BE are out first at 18:53 on their way to Cambodia to make contact spy style for their next clue.
Once again the airport is the big equalizer - no flight out until 12:25 the next day.
Zev has nicknamed Phonm Pehn "Sean Penn".
I hate Lance more every time that he opens his pompous mouth. "We just wanted to beat you guys here - now you're in last place." Pride goes before the crash - Lance & Keri are on the 2^nd flight out 1.5 hours later along with Zev & Justin.

And they both made it on stand by.
Zev & Justin are off the plane and into their cab in 1^st place.
I can't believe that Lance is the first one to recognize Jackie Kennedy!! I totally knew it right off.
Cover or Wrap
I'd totally pick wrap - finding a family of 4 who a) need helmets & b) want to pay $10 for them seems like a more challenging task.
Matching scarves seems like more fun too!
Everyone is choosing Wrap so far.
Hmmm - Lance & Keri are doing Cover - let's see if Lance can put on some charm.
Zev & Justin are done their scarf challenge & on foot to find their next clue.
OMG - those monkey actors are awesome - like totally out of Planet of the Apes.
Brian & Erika matched up their scarf almost immediately!
Zev is looking right exhausted; being a is harder than it might seem - maybe it's dehydration?

Dan's done his monkeying around - he & Sam are off to Wat Phnom - the pit stop for this leg of the race.
Zev finished his task.
Erika is Team Jungle Fever/Zebra's monkey.
Meghan & Cheyne, Gary & Matt are done the scarf challenge.
Lance & Keri have finally sold their helmets.
Flight Time took to that monkey business like a fish to water.
Meghan & Gary are going to be their teams' monkeys.
They got to keep their monkey masks - I'd totally ditch a t-shirt to find room to pack that.
The have their scarf matched as well as Mika & Canaan in last place.
Zev & Justin are first!!
OMG - Zev & Justin have lost Zev's passport!!!
They need to find it before the last team checks in or they're out of the race.

They're back-tracking.
I'm going to DIE of not surprised - Lance is yelling at Keri.
Canaan sure is channeling his inner simian!
All of the teams are done the challenge - Zev & Justin are still looking for Zev's passport.
Awwww - they couldn't find it. I agree with Zev - they ran an awesome race and it's a sucky way to have to exit it.
I wonder how long it will take to get it sorted so that they can leave the country?


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

Watching TAR 15 with Wannietta - III

Gary just did one of my pet peeves - asking a question then 2^nd guessing the answer. If you didn't want to pick the way that Matt chose, why ask the question?
Yeah - let's see how long Lance lets Keri lead.
Geez, Keri caved on that pretty fast.
Only 45 minutes between the 1^st & last place teams depart times, let's see how that plays out.
Those dragons are crazy quick - it's going to be tricky and a matter of timing/luck to snatch a clue out of their mouths!
Flight Time & Big Easy are out quick followed by Gary & Matt.
Beautiful post office!!
Justin & Zev are next.
Matt decides that they should just leg the 1 km to the Post Office.
Childs Play or Word Play
Dragging a clumsy concrete animal around a park collecting balloons or going to a high vantage point, finding 6 Vietnamese letters on cyclists hats or carts the getting help to unscramble them.
I'm with FT & BE on the Child's Play - and they picked the !
OMG - Lance & Keri are the only ones who don't realize that they're supposed to unscrew the bullet for the clue.

And Keri finally thinks to look inside!
Are Mika & Canaan trying to dance/charm the clue out of the dragon's mouth?
Marcy & Ron are the first team to choose word play.
FT & BE have finished their Detour and are on their way to the busiest intersection at Dien Co 008 for their next clue.
Lance & Keri have totally missed the clue box outside and have slipped to last place. Lance of course blames Keri.
Maria & Tiffany's dolly has broken and they have to go back for another one - Sam & Dan tried to help them but it was irreparable.
Justin & Zev chose a - even Amanda saw the flaws in that strategy and sure enough it was top heavy and tipped.

Meghan & Cheyne are done & in 2^nd place.
Marcy & Ron have all of their letters on the 2^nd try.
Lance let go of the red balloon and then leaves their animal in traffic to go back for another one.
Ron's sight seeing while March is trying to work on the clue.
Tiffany is panting and feeling the burn of pulling their animal because Maria is strolling up ahead scoping for balloons.
Lance is yelling and manhandling their animal - that guy does not deal with stress very well.
In this Road Block one member of the team needs to break down 2 VCR's and separate the different parts for recycling of some sort.
Marcy and Ron are trying to make up the Vietnamese word DOCLAP on their own - they are finally asking for help!
FT & BE are the first out on their way to the pitstop at the Reunification Palace.
Marcy & Ron are in 4^th place.
Team Zebra (Brian & Erika) are out in 5^th.
It's a foot race between FT & BE and Meghan & Cheyne.
Flight Time & Big Easy are there first by seconds!!
Lance & Keri are coming apart.

Brian & Erika made amazing time and have hit the mat in 4^th place.
Marcy says the most random things - "If you don't have patience with the opposite sex you shouldn't live on planet Earth." WTF?
Lance goes with his strength and just bashes the shit out of the VCRs and rips them apart with his hands - apparently it's the "man" thing to do. His hands are going to be cut up I'm sure.
Amanda & I can't stand the sound of Keri's voice - totally screechy!
Justin & Zev are done and on their way.
I think that Ron is the first guy that I've seen wearing gloves to do this task - maybe not as "manly" as Lance but much smarter.
Lance is a wreck in his cab & Zev is totally zen.
Zev & Justin beat out Lance & Keri in a foot race for the mat!!!
Awww - Marcy & Ron are done.

1 - Flight Time & Big Easy
2 - Meghan & Cheyne
3 - Gary & Matt
4 - Brian & Erika
5 - Sam & Dan
6 - Tiffany & Maria
7 - Mika & Canaan
8 - Justin & Zev
9 - Lance & Keri
- Marcy & Ron