Jadielady

Summer summary

2011-08-28T19:42:00.011-04:00

Well, the summer is drawing to a close, and I for one am thankful the cooler weather is coming.
A few weeks ago I went to North Carolina to visit my family, and mom & I escaped the heat in Maggie Valley, up in the mountains. I've posted some pictures here, but I do have a whole set of all the roses at Lake Junaluska & other pictures over here on my flickr.

On the way there we had a little yarn crawl at Black Mountain yarn shop which was a very lovely shop! We got some neat gadgets there and also at another shop, I apologize I don't remember their name....
these stitch markers all have words on them like center, decrease, increase etc, so you can place them to remind you of what to do when you get to them!

I also finally finished my Lanesplitter skirt! It's a little bit tight....

While I was gone, Tripsie went to the vet to get some treatment for her skin issues. Unfortunately she seemed to pick up a bit of a bug :( Poor little girl.

fortunately it passed quickly. They both went after I got back and now they're up to date on all their shots.

Kitty continues to get stronger and more active in the new house! I'm really happy that he's bounced back so much, though it makes me sad he was unhealthy for so long and now it seems the old townhouse was the cause of it.

We've been really enjoying our real sized kitchen & dining room, as well as the grill. I've made lasagna, and also like to make myself pasta for lunch.

No Tripsie, you cannot has.

Hanging out in the back yard while Sam grills burgers.

There's a baby explosion at work, so I've been making blankets and booties. These are for my co-worker Karen, or really for little Caledonia (Latin word for Scotland, I had to Wikipedia it). I didn't finish the 2nd bootie in time for the baby shower, so I wrapped the blanket, 1 bootie, and the yarn with needles stuck in. It's all finished now :)

I've also been working on a pair of socks, using some of my Yarn Pirate stash and this Mermaid's Lagoon pattern from Knitty

I also finally made good on my promise to a sweet little girl, this is Minnie, and I've been promising her a sweater for YEARS!

My other canine friends are Toulouse and Renior, the puppies of my D&D DM James. They like to hang out with all of us while we play and try to get some of our tasty treats.

Of course the big news this week has been the earthquake & hurricane Irene. The earthquake was scary, but only because it was my first one. It is very unsettling to have the ground under you move!! Everything is fine though. We barely had any effects from the storm, just a cloudy rainy weekend. But Mike & Janine came to see us for the weekend, and I'm hoping they return to Richmond with no bad surprises. One of their neighbors had a tree fall.

Next weekend my family will come up for the long weekend, and mom will see my house for the first time! I'm so excited :)

Been busy enjoying my new home!!

2011-07-24T14:51:00.007-04:00

Warning for friends with slower internet connections.... Picture heavy :)

There's been snuggles

Tripsie on her fort, which she hasn't gotten back on since... not sure why.

Tripsie in her favorite spot, the top of the stairs.

My shelves
Which I put together ALL BY MYSELF!

Nice and clean and organized (this was taken right after setting them up. You'll see them again later)

The kitties have been staying cool by laying on the tile floor in the kitchen. The air vent is in the floor right between them. They both love to walk up to it and hold their faces right in the stream of cold air.

The kitties inspect my knit nook/hobbit hole. (Yes, Kitty comes upstairs all by himself!)

Kitty watching TV
Kitchen again, that screen in the dining room will hide the litter boxes from guests.

Decorating with knitting. My blanket I knit last year on the sofa.

My wedding veil as a lace doily under my bouquet and a wedding photo.

A centerpiece from our reception next to our wedding album Janine made. The prior homeowner left these shelves up!

On the other shelf, a wedding gift from family, and our invitation in a photo frame one of my co-workers put together for me.

Back in my knit nook, the left side of my desk. In the white boxes are undyed yarn & lace. Blue boxes mostly contain notions, one brown box holds (most of) my WIP bags, and there's sock yarn and cotton in the others.

More yarn & more bags.

What's that annoying whiney sound? Oh.. Hi Tripsie. Ok fine, I'll take your picture too. Tripsie has not adjusted as well as Kitty has. But then again she's never moved before other than coming to live with us. She cried all night for 2 weeks, and has done it again a few nights when we've had storms. But she's getting better. Now if we can get her to stop licking til she gets scabs.

My (non-functional, decorative only) spinning wheel... i think some of the legs got mixed up, but it's too hot to mess with it right now.

The right side of my desk. As you can see it's a little more "lived in" now. More notions, yarn, and my knitting books. And of course SNACKS!

We've been enjoying our kitchen.

Nomnomnom Sam has been grilling! (Chicken, mashed taters, and home-made cheddah biscuits like you get at Red Lobster.)

Kitty has been very curious about the new surroundings.

I got some really cute new address notification postcards from Jack & Ella on Etsy

And she included some very cute little blank notecards

We love our new home SO MUCH. We didnt' have to do anything to it! Now to get back to knitting!

New House!!!!

2011-06-29T20:13:00.009-04:00

I didn't want to post this until everything was finalized, just in case :) but yesterday at about 4:30 pm we signed all the paperwork and handed over a check and bought our new home!!!

Unfortunately, as soon as we got back to our townhouse, a huge thunderstorm swooped in.

Fortunately, it only rained for about an hour and then it cleared up!

(by the way, that's my view on my drive home from work everynight from now on. Beautiful!)
The temperature dropped, but it got humid. Sam's head was even steaming! Between the two of us, we got almost all of our furniture on the truck.

Here's a few pictures of the new house with some of the furniture placed.

The seller left us the curtains and shelves.

Excellent yard sale find!

We went back for all our boxes and got them all on the truck. Around that time, Sam's brother got off work and offered (was enlisted) to help, which was VERY much appreciated. They unloaded the boxes as I moved the last of the little random things from upstairs. They came back with the truck and we prepared to leave.

Say good bye to the old house Tripsie!

Time to go Kitty!

The last step was to get the cats in the car. Driving through town with two cats loose in the car (they both love car rides and are very well behaved.. and we only have one carrier) at 2 am is pretty surreal :)

We pull up to the new house.

And let the kitties check it out.
Kitty says Hey what's in here?

Tripsie says Oooh look what's in here!!!

I relax after a very long day.

Bedtime

Today, Sam & his dad went back to get the last 2 pieces of furniture that were too big for the two of us, and I worked on unpacking the kitchen.

Kitty seems to feel so much better here, and his health had also seemed to improve as we kept the cats mostly upstairs the last few weeks.

Is this my room?

*sigh* I love my bathroom!!!! I'm sure you can't guess why

Tripsie had been very stressed out about all the packing. The only time she'd ever moved before was when her former owner brought her to us. She seems to be very grateful we brought her with us. As if we could leave her behind!
She was really happy when she found her sun puddle
No Tripsie, those horizontal stripes don't make you look fat.

"Wow, watching you guys unpack all that stuff sure was exhausting!!!"

And now, where am I? In what I had been calling my knitting nook, but Sam says I should call The Hobbit Hole! I think I'll have a sign made :)

So very excited for it all to be done. Now to unpack....

New house?

2011-05-20T22:59:00.010-04:00

So... Sam and I have been looking into buying a house. Last week we took our first trip with our realtor, and I fell IN LOVE.

With this house.

But Sam thought we should look at more before making a decision. He convinced me to come looking at more this week, and we did...

So we also looked at this house...

And now I can't decide which one I like better :(

The yellow house is a bit less expensive, and we could probably talk them down even more. But, there's going to be some work needed. It is move in ready and all recently painted, however there's a large tree in the front yard, and a small one in the back which would probably eventually need to come down.

It's a lovely big back yard! and the front yard is big too.

Here's the upstairs area (I have already called DIBS) it doesn't have heat or AC piped to it. Which I'm honestly ok with, the warm air will rise, and I am always cold! However, if we were to ever resell the house we would need to have that taken care of because technically we can't call that upstairs area a bedroom without it.

The kitchen is all brand new, and all appliances convey. However, the kitchen is the only room in the house with a ceiling fan.

I love the pantry, but had a hard time getting a good picture of it, this picture is taken from the den area - the stairs in the den go up to the knitting nook.

and I really love the bay window.

I can picture both kitties laying there soaking up the sun puddles. Not at the same time of course :(

There's lots of cats in the neighborhood... which may be a plus or a negative - I like cats, and Tripsie likes to see cats, but... Were I to come home from work and see one of them in the road, I'd be devastated.

Speaking of work, the yellow house is less than 5 miles away. I wouldn't even have to get on a main road. I consider that a big plus. And it's near another friends house where I go every week to play D&D! As little as I drive now, I'd be driving even less if we moved here - I could probably go a month on a tank of gas!

However, the heat & hot water heater run on gas, which is a concern for me.

There's a lovely porch on the side, perfect for a grill and patio table.

Nice bathroom.

Laundry area is on the outside of the kitchen.

Now... The white house, while it doesn't have a deck, does have a little area for sitting on the front porch, and we could easily add a deck on the back.

Also there's some pretty flowers.

The dining room is nice. I like the color, and I also like that it is more of a dining table nook than a real dining room - it isn't cut off from the other areas of the house, so it doesn't feel like it's wasted space.. if that makes sense..

The kitchen looks like it's been recently redone,

The stairs are actually inside that wall to the right, so they aren't visible until you get into that area. Sam really liked that they aren't in the way or out in the open.

and the upstairs is similar to the yellow house (but no windows face the street, which I don't like).

It does already have central heat & air piped in, so it's able to be a bedroom. Also the closet in this one is bigger than in the yellow house, as well as the area outside the room.

The current owner either crochets or is loved by someone who does,

There was another crocheted blanket on the bed.

Look, the bathroom is purple!!

and she made cookies for us!

I do like that the main bedroom has carpet instead of hardwood floors - much nicer on your toes when you get out of bed. I didn't take as many pictures because the current owner is still there, so her furniture and pictures are all there.

And I think I prefer that it has electric heat over the gas on the yellow house... The yard is much smaller, (which Sam likes, for maintenance) and there is a drive way (yellow house doesn't have one but could easily be added).

The white house isn't far from work, but not as convenient as the yellow one. And the seller is already selling for less than she paid, so she probably wont' budge much on the price.

HALP I can't decide!!!

What I've been up to

2011-04-17T13:38:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I went to the Old Liberty Fiber Faire held at the Lion's Club center in Bedford, VA. It was a lovely time, as is anything put together by the wonderful Dana and Dianne. Unfortunately, the weather didn't turn out :( It was rainy & windy and cold. I ended up staying only about an hour, and shortly after I left Tornado Warnings were sounded, so all the outside vendors packed up and went home.
**update**

They posted some pictures from the event on Facebook
Fortunately I'd gotten my shopping done already ;)

And yes, I am on a yarn diet, but I did have one project in mind to purchase yarn for, and I only made one extra yarn purchase! See! I was good.

First up is some lovely Alpaca from Taylored Fibers
I still am not sure what I will make with it, and as I told the vendor yesterday I might just leave it in the skein and pet it. It is SOOOO SOFT.

Next up is a little pouch from the lovely Sadie Rose. If you recall I already have a draw string bag in the same fabric. Love her bags, she does such good quality work, and so many of her fabrics are cat related!

While there were so many lovely yarns there, many of them were sock yarn or laceweight. Which of course I already have too much of. The one project I was allowing myself to buy yarn for calls for Aran Weight yarn. I want to knit the Lanesplitter skirt! So unfortunately, there wasn't much yarn of the right weight, and none in repeatable colorways and affordable to get enough for my project at the show.

So on my way home I stopped at Backstitches and picked up some Superwash Cascade (and a really pretty pen).

I'm also nearly done with my first April sock for the Year of Socks Stashdown. I'm really enjoying this pattern, and think the yarn & pattern are working really well together.

I'll have plenty of knitting time next weekend while we are visiting my family for Easter, so I feel confident I'll have the pair done by the end of the month.

not dead yet

2011-04-02T21:25:00.003-04:00

Oh boy it's been a heck of a 1st quarter. But I'm hanging in there.

I did finish my March socks a few weeks ago, and shared them on the Year of Stash Socks blog.

I've also already gotten started on my April socks.

I'm really pleased with how the pattern/yarn combo is turning out so far!

Definitely looks like leaves :) Seems a bit more fall-like than spring, but that's ok.

One of the things about hand-knit socks is hand- washing them. I washed most of my socks today by soaking them in the sink with some Soak, and then letting them air dry.

more are hanging in the bathroom.. I think I need a second thingy.
I still have not bought ANY yarn, except for one skein which I purchased with a Loopy Ewe gift certificate Sam gave me. I've gotten so good at avoiding temptation it took me several days to even pick out what I wanted!!!

I ended up picking out some Dream in color starry, in a really pretty burgundy shade.
I've heard that the electric conductivity in silver makes it so that cloth with silver in it will still allow you to use touch devices like iphones & ipads and whatnot. So we'll see!

Hope everyone is doing well :)

The cats are finally playing together

2011-02-27T11:13:00.003-05:00

but only because they don't realize it...

Washed the bedspread yesterday, and hung it up to dry. Tripsie decided it was a most awesome fort for her.

Well, this morning we came downstairs to see this.

Tripsie was inside,

Kitty was outside.

She was batting at the blanket from inside, and he was batting at the movement, because he didn't realize it was her.
hilarious.

Excited to start my March socks tomorrow. I've also started another in-between sock last week, but I don't think I will blog it because I'm considering giving it to someone for Christmas :)

Hope everyone is doing well.

January Recap

2011-02-01T20:03:00.004-05:00

So far my goals are going fairly well!

I did finish my January socks, with over a week to spare:

AND! I have not bought ANY YARN!

I also went to the gym twice. Now, twice in one month doesn't sound like a lot, but right now the only night I can really go is Wednesday, and last Wednesday we had snow and the gym closed, and another Wednesday I had to work overtime.

Work is a bit crazy... to put it lightly. but I'll get through it and things will get better!

Destash update

2011-01-05T21:52:00.002-05:00

Ok folks, so Jen is getting the Mochi, Nikki's getting the feltable yarn fish kit... Janice is getting the bag. Janice, I'm sorry I'm not 100% sure of who you are... can you please shoot me an email? jadielady at gmail.com
Jen & Nikki, I'll shoot you guys a message on facebook tomorrow :)

Wollmeise and everything else are still up for grabs, if there's no takers by Friday I'll just enter it all on Ravelry.

Thanks!

Destash

2011-01-02T15:32:00.007-05:00

Ok, here's how this will work. To be fair to everyone, and so that I only have to make one trip to the post office, if you are interested in something leave a comment saying which item(s) you want. Be sure you either leave your email address or log in to comment so that I can contact you. In the event multiple people are interested in one thing, I'll use the random number generator to choose who gets the item. I'll go through all comments on Wednesday, January 5th. I'll contact everyone to arrange payment (paypal). As long as I've received payment by 9 am EST Saturday morning, I'll take everything off to the post office and email the shipping confirmations that same day.

Prices include standard shipping to the continental United States. Anywhere else I'll estimate shipping and add to the price. The picture is first, then the description. I've also linked to the dyer's shops when possible.

Sanguine Gryphon Bugga - Colorway Marpesia Marcella. 412 yards 70% Superwash Merino 20% cashmere, 10% nylon. I am selling for retail price of $28

Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, Colorway "103" Violets Rainbow. 80% Merino Wool 20% Nylon. 195 yards per skein. Retail is $8.50 per skein. I'm selling for that for one skein, or $15 for 2, and $22 for 3. I've got a total of 6, will sell all 6 to one person for $40.

Yarn Pirate- Merino/Bamboo Nylon. Colorway Smoke Ring. this and the below were club colorways. This one is "Smoke Ring" 460 yards $18

Also Yarn Pirate - this colorway is "Hard Cider" and the yarn is Superwash merino. 480 yards. $18

String Theory - BlueStocking 420 yards of 80% BFL 20% Nylon. $22.

Knit Picks Sock Sampler. Set of Essential Yarn (no longer sold it appears 75% Superwash Merino and 25% nylon). Comes with 6 patterns. I've used 1 pair's worth of socks. Remaining colors are: Ivy, Jay, Wine, Auburn, and Oak. $30.

Cables & Lace (also known as KnittingDragon from Sweaters for Dragons Podcast) Club yarn from 2009. 460 yards 75% Superwash Merino 25% Nylon. $20

Lime & Violet Sasquatch Sock. Colorway is "A Cowboy's work is never done" 425 yards 75% wool 25% nylon. $18

Rock Creek Yarn 110 yards of 100% silk. Colorway Daffodil. Retail price was $26, asking $20.

Patternworks Felted Fish Kit, no longer sold, and I apologize I'm not sure what's happened to the pattern. Comes with 4 skeins of Nature Spun 100% wool, will felt. I used a small amount of the teal to make an icord for something. $10 for the set.

Mariah Amine Bag. Retail is $40. Beautiful light blue & brown pattern. 8” at base, 12.5” at Top, 7” tall, 5” deep

The inside is lined in brown and has 2 sets of ribbons to hold your needles. (Needles and sock in progress not included). Snap closure. Keeps your work secure, unless you own a cat like Tripsie.
$35.

Last, but not least. Wollmeise Lace. 525 meters, colorway Turkise Markise. 100% superwash wool. I am asking for retail price of $54.

As you all know, I live in a cat-friendly house, but the yarn is kept away from the cats as much as possible. Thanks for looking! Email me at jadielady at gmail dot com with any questions.

Organization

2011-01-01T18:59:00.004-05:00

I has it!!

This

and this

became this

and this

I don't have before pictures of downstairs, but here's how it looks now!

So much better. YAY!
Tomorrow I'll sort through my stash and pick things for destashing.. I know there will be some wollmeise and at least one Namaste bag. But I want to pick out a fair way to make sure everyone gets a chance to see it all. Maybe I'll have people leave comments of what they want and then do a random generator on a specific day later in the week?
anyways, I hope everyone had a happy New Year!!

I started my Year of stash socks for January right after midnight. I don't think it was rude to knit at the party since most everyone else was playing Rock Band.

New Year's 2011!

2010-12-30T22:10:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been a while again... this time I have a somewhat decent excuse, at least for the last week or so.
Our townhouse flooded *AGAIN* This time though, it was because a pipe next door burst. However, since those neighbors were in the midst of moving, and presumably were visiting family for the holidays, no one knew about it until it came to visit us.
Fortunately, thanks to Sam's mighty wet-vac purchase, and super-dry air (instead of muggy summer like last time) we've been able to stay home and we'll be moving things back downstairs tomorrow.
However, we have decided to start looking at houses, and we've also decided nothing goes downstairs unless it has a PLACE. Where it BELONGS. And if stuff doesn't get a place, then it's getting a place outside our house, either by being sold (first choice), donated(2nd choice), or thrown away (last resort).

These things tie in nicely to my goals for 2011, which is to spend less, save more, and declutter the house. If I can get some cash for some of my clutter that's an added bonus. Which yes, means some yarn & other goodies. So keep an eye out for a destashing post shortly.

My knitting goal for the year is to knit longer sock cuffs.
This might sound silly, but I have small feet and I always end up with nearly a half a skein of yarn after a pair of socks. So, I hope that by knitting longer cuffs, I'll use up more yarn!

I'd like to review my goals from 2010. I think I did pretty well...

1. I want to complete one project per month. This may sound super rediculously easy, but I am an ADD Knitter as in all things, and sometimes I get a bit of cast-on-itis. I also tend to get a case of "OMG this facebook game is awesome and I shall play it 5 hours a day." So sometimes I don't knit for fairly long stretches of time, or I'll swap back and forth so many projects that none of them see any drastic progress. I am going to partially achieve this by doing something I saw on Ravelry. I am printing off patterns, collecting all needed materials, and putting them in a plain paper bag. Put the bags in the closet - whenever I feel like starting something new I grab a bag and cast on!

I think stuck to this goal well. I'm almost positive I finished something every month, whether it was one sock or a pair, or even the hats I've been crocheting for co-workers' babies. I did not do the self-imposed yarn club though.. I just can't plan that far ahead.

2. Read. If you don't include Audio Books, I don't think I read any books in 2009. 0! So I want to keep a book on my nightstand, and read a few pages of that instead of catching up on twitter or looking at lolcat pictures on my phone every night before bed. I've already started reading Rowing The Atlantic by Roz Savage (pardon, can't find how to underline).

Well, I'm still doing audio books, and not much reading of traditional books.. however thanks to my Kindle I have finished visually reading 2 books, and am working on another. I've been keeping track on Goodreads. I'm Jadielady there too if you want to be friends :) I can't really read before bed, because with Sam going to work so much earlier than I do, he's usually already asleep when I come to bed. Maybe if someone bought me a kindle cover with a built in light *cough*

3. Continue to eat healthier! I've made some very good steps in the right direction. I just need to keep it up and get back to a good work-out routine.

Urm, nothing to see here ... move along. I have however, become much more organized, and that's good. Right? :) Seriously though... at work we now have an on-site gym. I have no excuse. I've got to get my butt over there... if it wasn't such a long walk across the parking lot ;)

I hope everyone had a happy holiday of whatever sort you celebrate, and Happy new Year!!!
Oh. And since you're probably hating this post for its lack of pictures, here's one of the babies.

Bad Blogger!

2010-11-26T14:17:00.003-05:00

But to heck with it, I'm eating a cookie anyways.

Last month I came to NC to visit my family, and finished zee blanket of DOOM!

It is comfy cozy and perfectly Jadie sized.

I also finished Sam's socks, which Tripsie helped with the photo shot as usual.

Now I'm mostly working on presents, so no pictures for you.

I've just joined the Year of Stash Socks which looks like lot of fun!

Oh! I am working on one project I can share, I've pulled my first lace shawl back out of hibernation. I am hoping to get to wear it to a cousin's wedding next month.

I hope everyone in the US is havning a safe Thanksgiving weekend!!

2 Reviews

2010-10-17T12:45:00.003-04:00

I actually have 2 awesome things I want to show you!

Firstly, a super awesome lady I've met through twitter.com makes beautiful jewelry! I don't wear much jewelry though, but I was delighted to find this bookmark on her website. (hopefully she won't mind me using her picture)

Here it is in one of my knitting books.

Honestly though I usually keep it in my Kindle as bling :)
It is absolutely lovely. Flourite is one of my favorite stones because it can be purple, green, white, or a combination!

Angela has many other pretty things for sale so check them out :)

Also, recently I saw this post over on Yarn A Go-Go. I love my purse, but all the stuff in it tends to jumble up in the bottom, making it often hard to find certain things. Like half the time I first reach for my phone i have a panic attack thinking I've left it somewhere.

So, I ordered one of the small purse organizers from Divide and Conquer and I just LOVE it. There's tons of color options so it is very easy to find one which will match your purse.

Now instead of everything being jumbled up in the bottom, it is all nicely organized and horizontal for easy reach. And the organizer itself comes out easily so you can switch your purses faster (assuming of course you don't have a skirt purse from My thirtyone)

A word of warning. if you have your purse around kittens or puppies, and you have a device with headphones (the little blue things coming out of my ipod in the picture) you may want to put them down in the pocket... In other news, I'm looking for new earbuds :P

Why hello there!

2010-10-16T20:01:00.003-04:00

As some of you have seen on Plurk and Facebook,or have guessed by my silence, I do have a new laptop. I did try to post about it the weekend I got it, but blogger was being a doofus.
Anyways,

Like my previous laptop, this is an Acer. I really think they're quality machines but not expensive. This one has a bit of a rubbery texture on top, which is nice.

Also, it has a number pad! I am so grateful to my tech-savvy Sam, who was able to restore all my information. When I first booted it up, and opened Firefox, it loaded all the same tabs I'd been looking at!

Even though my addiction to Facebook games has resumed, I have been staying busy knitting and such.

I have been steadily working on the blanket, which you may remember from the Olympic Knitting events last winter. I am finally close to being done! Just 12 more rows and then the bind off.

Wednesday nights I go to my friend's house and watch guys play D&D while I knit. One of the guys asked me to make him a scarf, so I crocheted this for him (in exchange for cookies!)

And keeping my promise to Sam, after finishing the pair of socks for me, I got started on a pair for him. I finished the first one this morning. The yarn is Zauberball, and I knit it on my brand new Signature needles, which I LURVE.

I like the color changes in the yarn, but there was one spot where I guess there had been a break and the manufacturer tied it. But it messed up the color change! I tried putting the heel there but it still drives me nuts. I figure mostly it'll be unseen though.

Tomorrow I will blog again, finally reviewing something I promised someone I would before my old laptop even died!
Until then, have a good night!

Busy times ish

2010-09-26T12:59:00.003-04:00

Hello friends. No, I still don't have a new laptop. Still, mostly enjoying small bursts of productivity. I do have a desktop computer, which is in our spare room with Sam's computer, so we've been spending more time together. Even if it is back-to-back heh.

Tripsie has been enjoying this and hanging out on her fort a LOT.

"I like when you're both in here to see how pretty I am. "

I had two pairs of socks, which only had one sock each, so I have finished the second sock of both of those.

I think I've shown these previously, I did finish the 2nd one. I still think the 2nd one ended up a little smaller, but it's ok. For some reason I can't find them right now and I apparently deleted the FO pic thinking I'd already uploaded it, so here's the same shot as before.

They ended up not matching exactly, which would have been nearly impossible, but they were surprisingly close.

I also finally started and finished the 2nd of this pair,

It took me less than a week! Very easy pattern. I kind of wish I'd thought to reverse the pattern on the second sock so that the lines pointed in towards each other. I hope that when Knitting Dragon is finished with college that he resumes dying yarn again!

True to my word, after knitting 2 socks for me (yes, so that gave me 2 new pairs but still, I only finished 2 new socks for me) I am now onto the next pair for Sam. Using Zauberball I got from the Loopy Ewe and my beautiful new Signature DPN's.

Basic sock, it's just 2X2 ribbing alternating with plain stockinette. I hate purling the first stitch on a needle, so there's 4 columns of 4 knit stitches in a row. I'll call it a design element.
The Zauberball reminds me a lot of Mini Mochi, but doesn't seem to be as splitty. Then again that might be those stiletto points on the needles :D

The furbabies are continuing to ... co-exist.. This picture was taken about 5 minutes after Tripsie bit Kitty so hard she had fur in her mouth.
Tripsie: "Whatever, I was trying to give him a kiss."
Kitty: "I hate you."

Silly critters.

Post 300! Good News/Bad News

2010-09-12T16:06:00.004-04:00

Well, I kept waiting on the perfect thing to post about because this is Post 300!! For my plurk friends, imagine the little happy dance smiley face.

I considered posting about how happy I still am being married to Sam, which seemed timely because my cousin got married last weekend. We had a blast hanging out with my family at our river cabin, as we always do!

I could post about my nearly finished socks, which I cast on the first one in July of 2009! I'm working on finishing up some old projects, and this is an important lesson on either finishing quickly or taking good notes. I couldn't remember for sure how many stitches I used, or even which needles. If you look carefully, I think you can see the difference in the stitch size. But, the socks themselves are almost the exact same size, and that's all that really matters ;) Hoping to finish up the toe on the second one tonight.

Or, I could talk about how silly Tripsie is, hanging out on her fort. I think she's a little too heavy for it, it rocks all over the place as she jumps up or down. Kitty's been getting around a little better lately, he comes upstairs every once in a while!

But then.. . Friday night, my beloved laptop died. Which, wasn't completely unexpected. It was over 4 years old after all, and considering how hard I've been on it...
I used it to play World of Warcraft for over 2 years, as well as some other games. It only had one cooling fan and one vent, which was on the bottom, so it has always had heat problems. I have used it almost every single day for four years, many times leaving it on for days at a time.
It really was a great machine, and I'm definitely going to get the same brand if possible (Acer).

However, this may have been a bit of a blessing in disguise, as I've had to find other ways to occupy my time all weekend. Yes, I do have the desktop computer, which Sam built for me to play games on, but it just isn't the same as sitting at my laptop while watching TV or movies.

So, yesterday afternoon I started to tear things out of the closet in our bedroom. This closet started out as "my" closet, but over the years a lot of STUFF has been put in the bottom of it. Empty boxes, all the linens, suitcases, you name it. In addition, we had pretty much ignored our hallway closet aside from the top shelf ever since our apartment flooded 2 years ago.

So, I also emptied out the hall closet. Wooboy did I find some treasures. Including a whole pound of Lion's Brand Homespun, aren't I lucky?

Anyways. Here it is all nice and empty and clean. (I wont' mention that apparently the previous tenants kept a litter box in the closet, so when the carpet was ripped up there was cat litter all around the edges)

The bags are some of the treasures I found in the bottom of it, the shoes were some of the things I wanted to get into it and out of the bedroom floor.

And I wanted the linens out of the floor of my closet.

I'm actually pretty proud of myself..

I got a hanging organizer to hold the shoes, and as an added bonus it had 3 little partitions which I've used to organize our hats, scarves, and gloves/mittens. (I also feel very bad because while I have 2 handknit hats, 3 sets of gloves/mittens, and 5 scarves/shawls, I have absolutely nothing handmade for Sam. I need to get on that!) I also hung up all our winter coats, and got them off the stair railing.

I found the perfect sized storage container for the linens, which fit everything but one bedspread, and it had just enough room to the side for my big boots.

Horray!!! Maybe I'll wait a little while to get a new laptop. *ponder*

Hello new friend!

2010-08-22T20:00:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I got a new friend.

He's based on this drawing from my good friend Bret. (Check out his book! I'm excited for a collection of his car paintings, they're gorgeous!)

I love him! I think he's so cute. Debating whether or not I should name him.

I've also been crocheting. Kitty has been my unfortunate quality tester for baby hats.

"I'm Link. And I hate you."

Ooooh apparently, this is my 299th post. I think I should do something special for 300! Hmm maybe a contest. We'll have to see :) Oh! And I put up a post about Afterthought heels over on TWIK.

Goodbye, old friend

2010-08-10T18:29:00.004-04:00

About 9 years ago, I bought myself an ergonomic keyboard for work. Everyone else hated it, and supervisors would refuse to take escalated calls at my desk unless I typed for them. But I loved it.
Sadly, today as I was having a conversation on our internal message service, suddenly the f, h, k, o, 7,8,9 and left shift & control stopped working.
I tried cleaning it out, and rebooting but nothing worked. Sadly, my keyboard is dead.

(check out the adapter so I could use a USB port)
Fortunately my boss had a newer model ergonomic keyboard in one of her cabinet drawers she let me have, so I wasn't down for long. But it's not the same :(

In other news, certain someones seem to be getting along better. Or at least tolerating eachother.

This weekend.

Last night.

And today when I got home: Mutual Sniffage!

I hope everyone is well. I hope to have something neat to show off pretty soon!

TWIK Update

2010-08-01T13:41:00.002-04:00

Just a little note to say I've posted a bag review over on The Week in Knit. I hope everyone's having a good summer. It's almost over!

My new shoes

2010-07-29T18:08:00.003-04:00

While we were on vacation, I picked up some new shoes!

The ones on the left were really nice, but once I purchased the ones on the right - it was all over. I haven't worn another pair of shoes since then, except when wearing my black or gray pants.

For some reason, this last week at work EVERYONE has been commenting on them!

"Those are so cute! But are they comfortable?"
"Yes, they're the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned"
"Wait... are those... Crocs?!"
Yes folks, they're crocs. Not those cloggy ones that make your feet stink (no offense to anyone who loves them). High heels but comfy!

I liked them so much I ordered the exact same style in black.

Don't even ask how I took that picture.

So, as a PSA, here is where you can order them, or you can check Amazon or Zappos

Posting this to facebook so all my coworkers can see ;)
Other than wearing cute shoes, I've been playing with crocheting. Doing a scarf and some washcloths.

Right... sorry

2010-07-18T22:40:00.002-04:00

I've been a bit distracted. And Sue - YES! I have been making some progress on my Chorwars! I've behaved with my yarn diet, only buying 1 skein of yarn while I was on Vacation!

Speaking of Vacation, that's where I was for a week. I went to visit my parents, and then for 3 lovely days my mom, my sister and I went to the beach.

We stayed in a beautiful home belonging to one of mom's co-workers.

I've also picked up crocheting! Mom taught me while we were at the beach. I've got my first FO.

A bullet-proof wonky Kitty bed. But I've gotten better with my edges and also did a washcloth.
It's for my cousin who is getting married! I love how well the colors match the RSVP card (you'll have to trust me).

After my vacation I haven't been on the computer as much. I've even blocked some of my facebook games! Sam and I are focusing on eating better and working out some. I'm excited because where I work is building an on-site gym!! Woohoo!

Accountability

2010-06-10T13:47:00.002-04:00

I've posted before about wanting to lose weight, save money, buy less yarn, get organized etc. Well, I think I've thought of a way to do it. But, since my employer blocks the ChoreWars site and not blogger - I figured I'd make my idea public, and that way you, my dear readers, can help keep me accountable.

If you've never been to Chorewars, it's a pretty neat little idea. You creat your own "quests" and assign a reward value.
I'm going to use it to help me save money, do things I need to do, and reward myself accordingly.
I will set up chores for Working Out, Meeting Calorie Goals, Throwing Things Away, Not falling into temptation when I get email updates from yarnshops, finishing a knitting project or using up/destashing yarn, and moving money into my savings account.

For each of my good deeds, I will assign an appropriate point value (daily things will probably be 1 point each) and each point will represent $1 I can spend.

So for example, I want to limit the amount of yarn I buy before I use up any more - So I'll probably say for every pair of socks I knit I can get 5 points - then I have to knit 4-5 pairs of socks before I can afford more sock yarn.

If I want to buy more clothes, I first have to get rid of stuff I don't wear and get it to all fit in my closet and dresser.
Hopefully this will help keep me honest. And you will too!

Eco-Hero

2010-05-29T13:33:00.002-04:00

I've never considered myself to be a granola-crunching, tree-hugging, hippie, but recent events have caused me to take a look at what I can do to be a little bit of a better resident of our planet.

I think I've mentioned Roz Savage before.. She is on her 3rd and final leg of her row across the Pacific Ocean. I've really enjoyed listening to her podcast and reading her blog. She has partnered with the folks over at Eco-Heroes to help people realize all the little ways we can do great things for the environment. You don't have to go vegetarian or eat only locally produced foods or reusable wipes instead of toilet paper (yeah, that one seems a bit extreme for me). Some of the ideas are also great ways of improving your own life!

Do you receive tons of annoying junk mail? Multiple catalogs from the same place? Phone books? (who uses phone books anymore!!) Go to this link for lots of easy ways to stop the junk mail.

Take a cup or mug to work and drink from that. Most coffee places are happy to fill your mug instead of giving you those paper cups. Drink water from a reusable container - it's better for you and free, vs buying that $1 soda. Even if you don't cut soda out completely (I sure can't) I have saved $2 per day and lost some weight by replacing 2 of the sodas I used to get daily with about a 32 oz of ice water in my reusable cup.

We've finally started recycling soda cans and cardboard (yarn buyers build up lots of boxes *ahem*) and the amount of trash we (Sam) have to carry to the curb has gone WAY down.

So take a look around, think of a few little things you can do, and feel rightfully smug :)

Whew, busy times!

2010-05-16T20:13:00.003-04:00

Sorry I have not posted here in a while. Make sure to follow my other blog. I've already talked about the Sedalia Fiber Festival there, so I won't repeat it here. Although I didn't want to say ther, but YAAAAAAAAAAAY I WON I WON I WON my yarn won best in show!!!
My ribbon, my yarn, and my prize: 10 skeins of undyed yarn!! To be fair, there were only 3 people entered. I also won 1st in several categories by default, and 2nd in one where there were only 2 people entered (not everyone entered every category). So I ended up bringing home 14 skeins of undyed yarn. Now all I need is my business license and I'm set!

So I've been busy preparing for Sedalia, and also for the cultural celebration we had at work. I represented Scotland!

I wore my Stewart tartan kilt.
I shared some super-awesome fun facts about Scotland, like the fact that 14,000 of its residents are huge enough nerds (I say that in the most loving way possible) that they put their religion on the census as Jedi.

And I did a wee bit of Faire Isle knitting.

It has been a very busy and tiring weekend, but also very fun. I'm looking forward to relaxing tomorrow. Whew!

Sedalia Celtic Festival

2010-04-24T20:48:00.003-04:00

We had a blast at the Sedalia Celtic Festival. I took tons of pictures, and I've uploaded my first video to youtube!

Here's a brooch I bought, it'll look perfect with my next shawl project.

I also got a beautiful Thistle ring. I wore my Claddagh ring too.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Funnel cake!
One thing I love about Sedalia is you really feel like you're out in the Highlands. Beautiful mountains!

Pretty trees!
Look! A knitter! In a Jayne Hat!!!
Ye Olde Beer truck... at least they had Guinness.

Bagpiper!
He was part of a group called the Virginia Highlands Pipes & Drums. I took a video, see below!

Richmond Funtimes

2010-04-24T12:20:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we went to Richmond to see our friends Mike & Janine.
Saturday night we went to Dave and Busters. It was lots of fun! I've seen commercials for the place, but none of us have ever been. It's like a Showbiz for grown-ups (though there were still tons of kids around playing). Better food though, and beer! Janine and I earned about 50 tickets, but inflation has apparently also hit the ticket market, and we wouldn't have been able to get anything more than a small yo-yo or some candy, so we gave them to a little kid.

Sunday we lazed around (except for our wonderful hosts who made us breakfast!), and then went to Carytown.
There were tons of chalk drawings all over the sidewalks, including Pedobear!

What are you doing on the ground Pedobear??

There's also a VERY nice yarn shop, and I was very good and just got needles for my huge blanket of doom (thank you Kyle for the suggestion of using multiple sets of circulars as DPNs).

Then we went to a super-yummy pizza place downtown and then to the National to see Mastodon.

The National is a historic building, they used to be a traditional theater (for operas and plays and stuff).

Ceiling.

Pictures are kind of hard to see what's going on, they have a huge LED display behind them which they show a video on.

It was easily the 2nd loudest show I've been to, and my ears were still ringing Tuesday morning.

Monday I got up early and went in to work! My boss had asked if I could go to the Richmond office to do some training, and it just worked out well timing-wise so that I didn't have to make two trips :)

Maude was my Tripsie-substitute.

I love her tail!

Today we're planning on going to the Celtic Festival at Sedalia. Hopefully the weather will hold out.

Not much new knitting yet, I do have some plans for a shawl but I want to finish Sam's socks first.

YAY Easter!

2010-04-02T12:55:00.003-04:00

I love Easter, it's one of my favorite holidays as far as it's religious meaning, but also because it signifies spring and warmth and sunshine!
I'm going to visit my parents for the weekend, and am looking forward to going to church Sunday. If I had a TARDIS I would totally go every Sunday.

Before I go, I wanted to share that on my other blog I'm having an online party for a friend of mine. If you love purses and bags (let's be honest, who doesn't) go check it out :)

The best kind of baby shower

2010-03-30T20:26:00.005-04:00

Is a knit- night baby shower!
Why? Because knitters make AWESOME STUFF

Check out this beautiful woven blanket.

Sorry Stephanie, it's not the cutest picture of you - but you're so in awe of the blanket!

Awww its the wee little baby booties!!!!
These were a big hit. YAY!

And look at the cute little cocoony thing!

Also - we knitters take care of our own. Beautiful yarn for mommy!
I've decided to knit some more baby booties - these are for a co-worker who is about to become a grandmother.

Make sure to subscribe to my new website. My 2nd post was a very exciting interview with the founder of Soak!

A conundrum

2010-03-21T17:18:00.002-04:00

This is the blanket/shawl thing I was hoping to finish for the Knitting Olympics. As you can see, several weeks later I'm still nowhere near finishing. However, I do need to start thinking ahead to the next section.

As you can see, I already have quite a bit of the stitches all bunched up to make enough room to work. However, once I finish the remaining 15 rounds, I have another increase section and then 50 rows of lace.

Is the set of needles I'm working on long enough? The only solution I can think of is to get an Addi Click system, which allows me to combine 2 cords to make one super-long-mega cord.

What do you think?

*this is totally not just me trying to validate the purchase honest*

Tripsie says it's plenty big enough and I should just give it to her now.

New Project!

2010-03-19T22:17:00.002-04:00

No, this isn't a new pair of socks or a shawl. This is a new blog! I've decided to do more reviews and also start doing interviews and they will be posted with weekly features over on The Week in Knit.
So check it out and let me know what you think :)

I will try to get back to posting more regularly about normal everyday life stuff- just hasn't been a lot going on.

Kitty wants me to tell you he is down to 1 pill per day.

Happy Anniversary To me!

2010-03-14T21:54:00.003-04:00

10 years ago, giver or take a few days, I was putting in my notice at J Crew, and starting my first REAL job, at the company where I still work to this day.

So, a week or two ago I received an email with the like to my choices of anniversary gifts! I decided against jewelry, and also a bicycle. We don't need any more luggage, and I was certain a wine glass/decanter set would be a nightmare to ship.
So, I chose pots and pans, since Sam had just mentioned that we needed new ones.

I was very impressed at how quickly they arrived, and they're very shiny!

In other news, the warm weather is bringing out all kinds of animal visitors. Our neighbors have gotten a second dog, I'm pretty sure it's a boxer puppy (we've been calling it that anyways). There it is with Bark-bark.

We also had these two little black kitties come by yesterday.

Not much else going on. Kitty' medications seem to be helping. YAY!
He's modeling a baby bootie I've knit for a friend (who I hope doesn't read this blog...)
I think he wants some Kitten Mittens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47D9-U8hn5I

And the voting is closed!

2010-03-01T19:31:00.004-05:00

The most votes went to the dark Wollmeise, so I've wound it onto a ball and I'm about to cast on!

This weekend while I was waiting to start, I decided to organize my patterns.

Before:

My patterns were all scattered in several places, so I got them all together in a pile.

My assistants helped me to sort them, and get them all together. Some patterns I'd printed from sources like Knitty, and the charts were separate from the instructions etc. Thank goodness Kitty and Tripsie helped out!

I put them each in a page protector, and put them in a binder. Now they're all together and I can put them on the bookshelf.

YAY!
Added bonus, I found the instructions for a VERY old WIP and now I can get back on track on it.

Olympic Failure

2010-02-27T17:46:00.003-05:00

Sadly, I had to bow out of the Olympic Knitting race. I was knitting so much that my fingers went tingly and numb. So, the blanket is at work in hide-out. But I did get about 23 rows of the red done.

So I've been taking a break and playing Plants Vs. Zombies on my phone. Very addictive and fun game!

Monday, my Plurky knitter friends and I are doing a knit-a-long of a pattern called Brandywine.
(rav link).

If you can help me pick out which yarn to use, I sure would appreciate it! (points to poll over there)

Option A. Unique Sheep sock yarn, I was originally hoping to use this for my Olympic socks :(

Option B. Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! The picture doesn't do it justice. It's a beautiful black with red undertones.

Option C or D. Wollmeise! I've got one dark green, and one is more of a varigated medium/light green.

Hopefully my fingers will co-operate and I can cast on and knit along with my friends.

After that, I've got more sock yarn for Sam Socks!

Speaking of Sam, I am very lucky to have someone who cooks for us most nights. Lately though, he's gotten a little burned out on the chore, so I have decided to cook for us two nights a week.
Last night, I surprised Sam with a yummy restaurant recreation!

Red Lobster style Cheddah Biscuits. Cheesey Chicken ala TGIFridays and mashed potatoes. Nom!!!

The biscuits are actually pretty easy. Take your standard baking mix (Bisquick or whatever), shredded cheese, and milk. mix it up, bake it, pour on some garlic butter and parsley. NOM!

In my last post I said I'd put up a picture of me in my beret. I've got quite a few but this one's cute, it's me and Sam at Buffalo Wild Wings.
I think I was in the middle of taking off my fingerless gloves.

And, last but not least, the obligatory cat picture.

Knitting Olympics!

2010-02-15T15:30:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure how long the Knitting Olympics have been going on, but basically each Olympic Year, knitters watch as the Opening Ceremonies begin - and cast on for their own challenges!

This year, I had planned to write my own sock pattern.. but sadly... it has defeated me.
So instead, I am going to wrestle with this old Work In Progress.

It's a Pi Shawl blanket I cast on back in September!

While I was wondering what to do instead of my sock I finished my Raspberry Beret. I love it!!
I'll have to get Sam to take a good picture of it on me later.

An open letter to Knitting Dragon

2010-02-04T21:44:00.002-05:00

Dear Knitting Dragon,
Around Christmas time, mama used some of your yarn to knit her friend a little Christmas Stocking. I got a taste of it, and knew I had to have more. Today, while the staff was at work, I had my chance.

Mama left some of your beer-colored goodness on the coffee table (she's got big plans for it), and I made my move. Nomnomnomnomnom!
Your yarn is so delicious! Please make more!

Sincerely,
Tripsie

Arctic Lace - Blog tour!

2010-02-03T23:08:00.002-05:00

If you are a super-duper loyal reader, you might remember that I did a blog post for a virtual book tour nearly two years ago! So when Donna sent another email about her new book on lace, I was very excited to take part again.

Arctic Lace is a very beautiful looking book, which focuses on lace patterns inspired by native Alaskan knitters. If you watch the LetsKnit2Gether podcast you might remember that Cat had several recent episodes about traveling to Alaska, and purchasing Quivit, which is one of THE most expensive (and soft, and warm, and OMG did I mention soft?) luxury yarns ever. This book is all about knitting with that wonderful fiber.

This year I took my first dive into lace knitting when I decided to make my own wedding veil. I had to keep it hush-hush because I didn't want Sam to know about it (which was very tough, considering we live together).

But I was pleasantly surprised. Honestly, there's a lot of lace patterns out there that you can knit if you're able to knit a washcloth. It's just yarovers, knit 2 togethers, and slip slip knits :)

So check out Arctic Lace (There's an Audio book version too!) See below for details:

Successful Lace Knitting by Donna Druchunas will be released in May on the Musk Ox & Glaciers Knitting Cruise, where Donna will be teaching along with Lucy Neatby. The audio book edition of Arctic Lace http://sheeptoshawl.com/arcticlace.html will also be published at the same time, so cruise participants will be among the first to have
a chance to see (and hear!) these two new releases.

To enter to win 2 balls of laceweight qiviut yarn, sign up for the
cruise mailing list here: http://tinyurl.com/ybv6jqm

(ps. I've repurposed my veil to be a lovely centerpiece on my table, under a yarn bowl!)

I love heels!!!

2010-02-01T18:23:00.003-05:00

Ok, so yeah this is a bit silly, but I just love sock heels.
You start off with your round tube of fabric.

Then you knit a nice heel flap. (By the way, the below picture is the most accurate as far as color is concerned)

Do some magic short rows and voila you have a triangle!

Pick up all the side bits and you're one piece of fabric again.

And like MAGIC! You've got the better part of a sock!

This sock (and its future mate) are for Sam. I'm using the Lorien colorway from the Unique Sheep LOTR Club. He said he wanted bright yellow socks, and when I saw the Charlie Brown cables I just had to put them together ;)

In other news, I got a package from Germany today :D Extra love to my mail lady for braving the weather to deliver it by hand.

IT'S WOLLMEISE!!!!!

I somehow just managed to be in the right place at the right time and caught an update.

I just keep thinking some kind of awesome green lantern shawl. Also, the yarn came with a really pretty glove pattern, and I might use the cable motif on something else.

Cat-astrophe

2010-01-23T15:44:00.002-05:00

Well, its been quite a week for everyone. Globally, there were the devastating earthquakes in Haiti. Closer to home there was a horrible shooting in Appomattox which has torn several families to pieces.

While this isn't anywhere near as devastating, its what's been weighing on our minds. At home, miss Tripsie had a bit of a problem too.
As you know, Kitty has been battling ear mites for the last year or so. The medicine our vet had given us made him very sick, so we've been fighting them as well as we could with vinegar and q-tips.

Recently, Kitty and Tripsie had been getting along better. Which while it was good they were getting closer, it meant Tripsie finally caught Kitty's ear mites.

Look, actual physical contact!

We noticed early this past week that her right ear appeared swollen. When it didn't seem to get better, we googled "swollen cat ear" and realized she may have shaken her ears so hard she burst a blood vessel. We were right.
Thursday she went to the vet, and was sedated and put under so that her ear could be shaved and operated on. She came home Thursday night and was a hissyfitty mess.
We were heartbroken, thinking all her recent progress of being more friendly was lost.

Luckily, Friday morning she seemed to be more herself.

And today her ear seems to be standing up more normally.

She has 4-5 small stitches throughout her ear, and she'll have to go back in about 2 weeks to have them removed. It's actually quite good that she doesn't have her right hind leg, she can't tear the stitches out!

So please, pet owners! If your pet is shaking its head, please try to find the root cause and fix it as soon as possible.

In other news, I have been knitting more.
I've got a monkey and a half.

And I'm to the row before the last set of increases on my Shalom Cardigan. Next I'll separate out for the arms !
And, so that he doesn't feel left out, here's Kitty!! Kitty is actually doing much better. We found an ear mite medication which has the same stuff as what the vet gave us, but weaker doses, so it doesn't make him sick. His ears look so CLEAN!!!

"Why you wake me?!"

Looking back/looking Forward

2009-12-31T17:43:00.003-05:00

Being the end of the year, it seems natural to look back at what we were doing at this time last year. Since I shared my goals with you all last year, I thought I should own up to what I did and did not manage to do!

1. Lose weight. Well, while I definitely failed in this area (I think I've actually gained some) I am not upset because I know that I am a much healthier person. I eat salads fairly often now, and they include more than just lettuce, carrots, and ranch dressing. I'm more physically fit, I drink water on occasion, and I have a lot more energy.
2. Yarn Diet. Um, ok so I have way more yarn now than I did last year BUT my spending habits are better under control. I owe a big part of this success to Mint.com which ROCKS. It showed me how much I was spending and helped me to put a limit on myself, with a Digital Wristslap if I went over. So while I spent more wisely, thanks to being in multiple yarn clubs, I just accumulated way more than I could knit.

Which brings me to my goals for this year.
1. I want to complete one project per month. This may sound super rediculously easy, but I am an ADD Knitter as in all things, and sometimes I get a bit of cast-on-itis. I also tend to get a case of "OMG this facebook game is awesome and I shall play it 5 hours a day." So sometimes I don't knit for fairly long stretches of time, or I'll swap back and forth so many projects that none of them see any drastic progress. I am going to partially achieve this by doing something I saw on Ravelry. I am printing off patterns, collecting all needed materials, and putting them in a plain paper bag. Put the bags in the closet - whenever I feel like starting something new I grab a bag and cast on!
2. Read. If you don't include Audio Books, I don't think I read any books in 2009. 0! So I want to keep a book on my nightstand, and read a few pages of that instead of catching up on twitter or looking at lolcat pictures on my phone every night before bed. I've already started reading Rowing The Atlantic by Roz Savage (pardon, can't find how to underline).
3. Continue to eat healthier! I've made some very good steps in the right direction. I just need to keep it up and get back to a good work-out routine.

We're heading out to party with our nerds. Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Merry Christmas to me!

2009-12-28T21:40:00.002-05:00

Actually, I did have a very awesome Christmas. But a week or so before Christmas, I was very naughty and bought myself a yarn bowl. Then I forgot all about it until I went to check my mail today!!!

We made our home presentable because my grandmother came over with my dad and sister after dinner. So I decided to put my veil on the table! I think it looks nice, but keeping Tripsie off is a challenge.

However, if Tripsie does knock over the bowl, it won't break!! That's right! It's made of aluminum so it won't break! Finally, a cat-proof yarn bowl!

My camera doesn't quite capture the colors very well... but it goes well with the table cloth!

Definitely check out Kyle's etsy shop! There's only one yarn bowl left as of right now, and its a beautiful bronzey orange!! *Paging Turtlegirl76!!*
He also has some yarn and very cute note cards.

Good mor.. er Afternoon Sunshine!

2009-12-20T13:11:00.002-05:00

Kitty was excited that the sun came out!

So was I, I wanted to get some pictures of my latest finished object! Its a sock for Sam. I've realized how spoiled I am as a sock knitter to have little feet!

But then Tripsie saw that I was taking pictures and had to come over.

She's always got to be the center of attention!

"I'm pretty!"

Oh the weather outside is weather...

2009-12-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

Egads

2009-12-06T14:01:00.002-05:00

Dang Facebook, eating my brain.
I could have sworn I'd posted more recently than this! Oh well.

We've been up to lots of stuff. We rearranged some.

Before:

After:

I finally photographed my SAFF Haul

(Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!)
Knit Witch Celestial Cloud in Taurus.

There's been snuggles
Cuddles

New Socks!

Thrills
Spills
and
Naps

If you are doing any gift knittig, I wish you well! I'm not knitting any presents, though I am working on a baby blanket as a request of a friend, and also knitting Sam some socks.
Happy Holidays!

Jadie's Christmas List

2009-11-21T21:36:00.003-05:00

Well, some people are starting to ask what I want for the holdays.. so... here goes :)
And who knows, maybe some of you will see things you decide you'd like too!

For people who really really love me lots! (Sam look here)
Retro Video Game Sock Club 2010 I've really enjoyed this club and I hope to stay in it. I will buy it myself after the holidays if I don't get it by then :)
Loopy Ewe Gift Card my very favorite online shop :)
Just about any of these rings Except the spider.. and the skull.. and anything gold. Oh you know what I like :)
Interesting necklace/bracelet thingy

Less expensive wanty thigs

OMG Drool *sings these are some of my favorite things*

Yarn bowl made by my fried Kyle
2010 Cute Overload Calendar Squee!

Pretty Shawl Pin
New Drive band for my new Charkha! (I'll blog about it once I figure it out)

Things I don't need any more of, but wanted to feature :)
My friend Brooklynne Michelle has opened a yarn shop!! Clicky here The colorways she's put up so far are beautiful!
Aimee's shopFunFairieGirl has awesome project bags, Coffee (or soda) cozees, and great smelling Sachets.

Well, that's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

Plague

2009-11-15T20:24:00.002-05:00

You know its been too long since your last blog when you have to look to see what you last talked about.
I got either a really nasty cold, or possibly even the flu about a week and a half ago. I'm still battling some evil sinus pressure monster, but much better other than that.

Not a whole lot going on... I've got some yarn and knifty Knitter looms up on my destash page on Ravelry.
Tripsie and Kitty helped with the photoshoot.

My next blog post will be for family mostly, I'll be collecting some links for people who want to know what to get me for Christmas :) But hey, if any links to certain awesome dyers convinces you to make a purchase from them, then that's cool too.

Extravaganza stuff part 2 aka mom don't kill me.

2009-11-01T14:40:00.003-05:00

So as you all know, yesterday was Halloween, but since I look forward to this particular holiday as an excuse to show off my geekiness at work, I dressed up on Friday.

I'm a Hobbit!! (Or as one of my facebook friends said, I'm dressed up for Firefly of the Rings)

Here's my fuzzy feet. I knit them with Red Heart and fun fur!

As I posted yesterday, that night we went to see Rocky Horror, and I went to bed with the music stuck in my head! I like the music, but when you're exausted its a bit annoying and I didn't sleep well.
But when you wake up with this face looking at you, its hard to be grumpy.

Poor Tripsie is in the background sneezing (I think her misery is part of why Kitty seems so content).

After I got ready, I headed out and then stared at this for about 2 hours.

Everyone, meet Aaron.
Aaron is my Tattoo guy! His wife is one of my friends from work, and he's done all my ink.

This picture was taken right after we finished. I emailed it to Sam, and then when I showed it to him in person he was overcome with relief. Apparently, it doesn't look so great (and looks huge) in that picture, so hopefully
is a better one (despite the shine). My dragon is about 3 inches long in the face. I think it only looks big because I have tiny arms.

the wings go all the way around my arm :)

If you're in the area and are at all interested in a tattoo please check them out. Aaron has opened his own store!

Infinity Ink Location:: 2611 Wards Rd
Lynchburg, VA, 24502
Phone:: 434-237-TATZ (8289)
Tues - Thurs:: 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Fri - Sat:: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

His prices are great and he does awesome work. The shop is very clean and is GORGEOUS (I may be swayed by the purple wall and big screen tv...)

This afternoon we're going to our nephew's 1st birthday party. I feel kind of bad I didn't knit him anything, but I spent most of the last 2 weeks working on those hobbit feet and now I'm getting back onto my mini mochi socks :)
I hope everyone enjoys their extra hour today. Later!

SAFFRockyExtravaganza! part one

2009-10-31T18:11:00.006-04:00

What happens when I don't blog for two whole weeks? Lots of stuff!
Last weekend was SAFF. I went down to NC and stayed at my parents' house Friday night, and then Saturday morning Mom and I headed down to Asheville.
I was a bad blogger and pretty much only took pictures of the super cute critters.

This is a picture from Painty's photostream I will take it down if she says she minds :)

Painty is one of the brilliant minds behind the online shop The Unique Sheep. They are who run the Lord of the Strings (rings) yarn club.
I also bumped into TurtleGirl76 who was helping out at the KnitWitch's shop. Both mom and I bought yarn there, I need to get it photographed.
We also bumped into Gnat from "Barknknit" podcast!
Here's the rest of my SAFF pics

I just love that face!!!!

This sheep was so eager for love she put her hooves up on the fence to get closer!

Beautiful drive. I think Rivendell must be just over that mountain.

One of the things I set out to buy was a darning egg, so that I can hopefully fix some of my socks. Normally, I think I'd use the Yarn Harlott's method "Say 'darn' and throw them away" but two of my holey socks are ones that are very special to me.

Tuesday night, when I got home from work I opened the back door to change the litter boxes. I didn't realize my neighbor's new puppy was outside (unleashed as usual) and he decided to come in for a visit.

I didn't stop to take any pictures while he was in the house, for obvious reasons, but here he is safely outside again.

Kitty and Tripsie weren't quite sure what to make of him.
After a while, puppy found a leaf to play with and darted off.

"And STAY out!"

To close out this post... last night a few of my friends and I went to see a production of the Rocky Horror show. Not the Rocky Horror PICTURE show mind you, but the actual play.

Frankenfurter was a blast. My friend James and I insisted someone get our picture with him.

Well... we're turning the lights off now to hide from trick or treaters. I'll post more either later or tomorrow :)

METALLICA!!!

2009-10-17T12:38:00.003-04:00

Tonight me, Sam, and at least half my facebook friends are all going to see Metallica, LOG, and um.. oh yeah Gojira!
Very excited :)
Also, I ended up not going to Richmond for training. They sent my trainees to me instead! I was kind of sad though, I haven't seen Mikey & Janine in a few months.

I have finished my shawl. I kept hoping for a sunny day for a nice photoshoot but stupid clouds just keep hanging around.
So, this is as good as it'll get for now.

I also have finished a sock and a half from my first shipment of the Retro Video Game sock club.
I'm amazed at how much yarn is still left. I think I can get 2 pairs out of this skein!

I'm also excited because next weekend is SAFF! YAY!

Pretty pictures

2009-10-08T23:10:00.002-04:00

We were driving on the mountain right at sunset, and figuring they probably wouldn't turn out very good, I snapped some pictures with my phone from a MOVING CAR but they turned out great!!
The bright lights are Liberty University's football field.

Lazy Saturday

2009-10-03T12:09:00.003-04:00

So I know I've promised pictures from NOSoKnit but I'm gonna be lazy and just tell you to look here. That's Dana's report of the day :) If you go one post up she's also got a video of one of the merchants giving a dyeing presentation which was pretty cool!

Kitty had a cricket friend. They were just hanging out so I let the cricket stay until Tripsie saw it. She likes to pull their legs off :(

Speaking of Tripsie, I think she's got some dry skin issues. She's had this rash on her tummy for a while, and now she's got a bald spot on her tail and itchy bumps on her neck. The poor girl, the rash is on the right side of her face (the side with no hind leg for itching!)

If you'll recall the shawl I was working on last weekend... it was for an October Knit-Along with the Let's Knit2Gether podcast group on Ravelry, and I think Karma punished me for starting early. When I started the lace part I found I was off by 4 stitches, and all my efforts to regain them resulted in a bigger and bigger mess. So I ripped it out and have started again AFTER October 1.

I've just got 2 more rows before I start the lace part, and I'm right on track with my number of stitches so YAY!
The way the colors go make me think of the seasons. With beautiful fall represented at the top with browns and greens. Then grey and ice blue of winter, and just barely starting to come in with the purple of pretty spring flowers.

For any of my local friends, today there is a fundraising event in Appomattox VA for a 3 year old girl who has cancer. JessiFest will have some great music as well, organized by a good friend of ours so please show up! Attending is free, there is a yard sale and silent auction and food which will help raise funds, and donations are welcome.

Wuv, twue wuv

2009-09-29T23:28:00.003-04:00

As many of my readers know, I got married this past summer :)
Several things which kept running through my mind were how grateful I was that we have friends and family who supported us, and offered their time and financial assistance as well as their talents to help us pull it off.

One of my dear sweet knitting friends and I were frequently chatting with eachother on plurk about the ups and downs of wedding planning. Brooklyn Michelle has had quite a few downs. As a resident of New Zealand their marriage license (which I think was maybe $25 here?) is $120!!! And now, someone she paid to do custom work has left her high and dry with nothing to wear!! With just 2 weeks until the wedding its quite a hustle to find something you like, that fits, but also something affordable too!

How can you help? Its easy. If you click the link up there *points at her name which I am hoping is a different color and underlined* it will take you to her blog where you can send a donation via paypal. Just a few bucks will help so much! If you don't feel overly charitable, you can buy her sock pattern Around the World and support her creativity and get a great pattern!

Thank you in advance. Tomorrow (I think) I will post about the Roanoke NoSoKnit. Cheers.

Roll Call

2009-09-27T15:20:00.004-04:00

I've been suffering from a bit of cast-on-itis.
Figured today while the sun was out was a good opportunity to show off some of what I've been working on.
Special thanks to Tripsie for sharing (sort of) the one spot of natural light in the apartment.

"Huh wha?"

That's my Mario Socks.

The yarn is from my Retro Video Game sock club 1st shipment and it represents one of my first video games ever, Super Mario Brothers from the NES. The pattern, is called PoppyCock Socks and came from the Loopy Ewe.

"Looks tasty Mama!"

I've also been working on a Pi blanket/shawl thingy. Its my "sims" knitting because its just knitknitknitknitknit so I work on it while I play sims.

"I like to sit under the desk and wait for the yarn to dangle down. NOMNOMNOM"

I nearly ran out of the purple, and I have 1 more set of increases, then 48 rows and THEN the lace border, so I ordered more....

Yesterday I went to Roanoke NoSoKnit with my friends! This was our second year and I think I had even more fun than last year. I was a bad blogger and didn't take ANY Pictures so I will wait and steal others ;)
While I was there I bought me some Noro, and last night I cast on for a "Traveling Woman" shawl.
I can't wait to see how the colors come through :) I have a bit of a wonky bump on my cast on edge becuase I didn't understand the instructions quite right, but since that's at the top I figure most people won't even see it.

Traveling woman is VERY Appropriate for this month, because:
Yesterday I went to Roanoke.
Next week I am traveling to Richmond for work.
The 17th we are going to Charlottesville to see Metallica!!!!
The weekend of the 23rd I will be going to North Carolina to attend SAFF Again with Mom.
And now Sam is talking about seeing Mastodon the first week of November. *falls over*

I wish I had a chauffeur who could drive me everywhere, so that I could knit in the car!

Happy (belated early) Birthday Sam!

2009-09-17T19:55:00.004-04:00

Sam's birthday was yesterday, but we did everything on Tuesday, but I'm just now blogging about it :)

Here's his present all pretty and wrapped. Sam was quite confused because he was only expecting a receipt for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, which he'd asked me to reserve for him.

This is a look of happy surprise.

Its a ROBE!!!!

Looks pretty good right?

And as usual, Tripsie likes the plastic bag it came in.

Kitty says HI PEOPLE!

Random weekend stuff.

2009-09-13T17:18:00.002-04:00

Friday night Sam went to watch his nephew play football and stopped off to pick up some clothes his sister gave us!

He's been losing quite a bit of weight, so he's actually getting his nephew's clothes. And MAN does he look awesome!

His sister also lost a bit of weight, so she gave me quite a few clothes as well (pictured above).
I've no idea where we'll put it all but we're grateful for it! And I've never owned one of those velour track suits before, but now i have 2 and man are they comfy!

One small problem though, the clothes were quite fragrant. Pleasantly fragrant mind you, but we're allergic to Fabreeze and heavily perfumed stuff. Yes, all of us are. Even the cats. Poor Tripise has been sneezing all weekend.
Here she is chilling on her fort with her flea.

Sam and I have both been working out using our Wii Fit. I need to get my butt in gear! Sam only weighs about 40 lbs more than I do and he's 9 inches taller!!!

I am working on some knitting projects, but I can't seem to get the color to come out right so I will keep working at that before sharing. I hope everyone's got new shows coming on this week to look forward to :)

River picture time

2009-09-08T20:20:00.003-04:00

Don't these show up so nice and neat against the white background in the middle?

This is a painting of the old cabin. A few years ago some bunghole set it, and the 3 around it on fire.

But we've finished rebuilding!

This is my happy place. There is no stress, there is no work, there are no deadlines - we barely keep track of the time. This is my heaven on earth!

Attention!

2009-09-07T20:11:00.002-04:00

If you read my blog through google reader or another feed service (Mom, this means you) please click over and look at my blog page in its new beautiful glory!

My friend Mikey found a great new layout for me, and its much cleaner and better organized.

Later this week I will post some pictures from the weekend, or in the meantime you can check most of them out on my flickr stream :)

For now, I am working on a pi blanket/shawl and need to finish tinking back the row I messed up by not reading directions.

Destash time!!!

2009-08-22T21:44:00.006-04:00

YAY! The lid closes on my yarn bin again!! And all the drawers on my other yarn bin shut!! And the lid on the other yarn bin closes too!!!!

Destash time. Ok, so here's how I'd like to do this. I honestly don't remember what I spent for most of this. I know the Yarn Pirate club was $80 for 3 months, so a bit over $20 a skein? Probably the same for most of the independent dyers. Anyways, if you see something you want, please email me jadielady at gmail dot com. Or you can message me on Ravelry. I'm Jadielady there too :)

Please let me know which you want and what you feel is a fair price.

Also if you have any specific questions like you want to know a dye lot or anything.

I'll do this just on my blog for now. Maybe when I get home from work Monday I'll put what's left up on Ravelry.

First up, we have Berrocco Comfort in a lovely shade of yellow. I had bought two skeins and ended up using only half of one to make baby booties.

Next up, a random assortment of Knifty Knitter Looms. I don't have the boxes or any instructions, but you can find lots of information online. Comes with 1 hook (unless I find more)
The red ones are good for kids hats.

1 Skein of Cascade Fixation. The color didn't turn out so great in the picture, but its a really pretty shade of peach.

1 skein Opal sock yarn. 1 Skein will do a pair of socks.

Ignore the stuff in the upper left hand corner ;) This picture is for the mixed lot of Bernat Felting. I only have one ball band. There's 2 shades of pink that match exactly, then one sort of tequilla surise pink, and a lighter pink. The two blues don't quite match. Sold separately or all together, whatever you want!
One skein of mystery sock yarn. Its 55 grams. I'm sorry, I have no idea where the ball band is :( Its sort of a peachy color with a light green. I can try to take a better picture tomorrow in natural light if the weather holds.

1 Skein of Trekking XXL. will make a great pair of socks to go with jeans! That's what I'd bought it for, but its just too fine. Really needs size 1 needles with how tight I knit.

1 Skein Cables & Lace. Was February's club shipment. It knits up very cute, I just don't wear pink very much.

2 Skeins of Moda Dea Sassy Stripes. Please note each skein is a different colorway. Unfortunately, you need 2 skeins to make a pair of socks. But you could probably knit some fingerless gloves, or stripe them with another color!

1.5 skeins of TLC Cotton. Very pretty colors, they don't show well in this picture. There's purple ad teal and a light green.
1 Skein Lime & Violet Intentions in Connection. This stuff sells out quick on Loopy Ewe so get it while you can!

1 Skein ATH Yarns in Margaret. Never heard of them before. Yarn is nice and squishy, but I already have so much teal and purple.

3 Yarn Pirate Skeins from 2008-2009 Yarn Club. Sold separately or all together!
Colorways: Hope - yellow, brown, and purple. Zinia - Pink, Orange and purple. Daffodilly - green, teal and white. Daffodilly came untwisted when I went to pick it up 'cause someone was poking me in the butt!

Well that's it!!! Like I said, let me know if you have any questions.

Sorry for the silence...

2009-08-22T15:52:00.003-04:00

Its an odd experience, when you're too busy to blog, but dont have really much to say :) I blame twitter.
If you're on there i'm Jadielady there as well.

Today, I've been VERY BUSY.

Wrangled 3-legged cat with a dingleberry problem. 3-legged long haired cat with dingleberry problem. All by myself. *gives self gold star of cat wrangling* (if you ever find yourself in a similar position, grab a blanket. Throw it over the cat, straddle the cat with the tangle facing towards you and cut).
pulled all my shoes out of my closet. Pulled out about 5 pairs I forgot I even had and put with clothes to go to Goodwill. Reorganized the rest by what I actually wear most often.
Took 2 bags of stuff to Goodwill. Also dropped off prescription and a mystery camera at CVS
Went to Kohl's. Pretty much epic fail there, ended up with just a pair of jeans and a sweater.
Picked up camera. Prescription will have to wait til the pharmacy, the doctor, and my insurance company work out what kind of nasal spray I'm allowed to have *eye roll* $120 to keep me from sneezing?
Brought down dirty clothes from the week, and raided my old acrylic yarn stash in the tiny closet in the computer room.
Yarn stash is next. Gonna sort out acrylic to donate to the charity knitters at work, then sort out other yarn to de-stash fo cash!. Photos and info will be placed here first, then I'll post to twitter/plurk then Ravelry.

Phew! No wonder I need a nap! Feels good to be able to get to my clothes though.

20 days

2009-07-27T22:44:00.005-04:00

BAD BLOGGER NO COOKIE! (to heck with the cookie though, I has ice cream)
I thought maybe it'd been a week since I blogged but dang 20 days?!
I blame the iphone. I tweet more but blog less. Oh well. There's also Sims to blame.. dang hippies.
Look, pictures!

2nd pair of socks in magic loop
I have been ignoring them ever since we saw Harry Potter though. The very next day I bought yarn and cast on for Hermione's gorgeous hat. I'm almost done!
(a wacky knitter wrote the pattnern after seeing this still from publicity info last year)

http://jlyarnworks.blogspot.com/2009/07/harry-potter-and-half-blood-prince.html

Went to a pool party/BBQ Saturday
I knit :) Oh, and for bag lovers like me - the leatherish clutch is from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5772675
And the cat on brown tote is from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5705006 who also does really awesome little Kits (I bought James one, he lurves it). I've also got a new bag from my sweet friend Aimee, but I think she's had enough free publicity for the week and I'll pimp her next time :P (she was guest hostess on the most recent Lime & Violet podcast episode)

Red Rocket's water pump siezed, causing the serpentine belt to tighten causing the power steering to die

Never fear! James' dad rocks socks at car repair. He even cleaned the engine! And for less than half than my original estimate from my previously-loyalicious folks at Monro. Bye bye Monro!

So I'm making an effort to make her other insides look as good. This was before:

the After shot is still pending some mold removal. *ew*

Tour De Fleece

2009-07-06T21:57:00.002-04:00

For the interim of the Tour De France, I will be *except for the 1st day* spinning every day. Or at least that's my hope. Ravelry has a Tour de Fleece where spinners all spin and vote on their favorite yarn pictures each day! There's fabulous prizes which I will not win 'cause OMG some people make pretty yarn!

Here's what I've got done so far. I'm hoping to spin enough so that my friend James can knit and felt a dice bag.

Also, I'm renewing the Yarn Diet. With a twist. Anytime I make a purchase I have to eat either something I don't like, or something I've never tried before.

I recently discovered a wonderful shop called Lush. I won't link there because I don't want you to fall into the evil trap that I did. But oh my... my face feels better and looks better than it has in years, and I smell awesome!
Anyways...
I made a 2nd order in the span of just about as many weeks so therefore :
Brocoli.

However I am excited to be almost done with my 2nd sock of this pair. Knitting in magic loop definitely seems to be faster especially when you're not doing any pattern stuff. I think I'll do my next pair in plain stockinette using one of my self-patterning yarns.

I'm always amused when someone at work sees me knitting and tells me I should sell socks on the side. "You'll make a killing" they say. I smile, and ask how much they would pay for a pair of hand knit socks. The answer is usually between $5 and $12.
I smile again, tell them how much the yarn costs, and how long it takes me to knit them. That usually either shuts them up or they say "Oh.. so they're really only for you or people you REALLY like huh?"

I'm still here!

2009-06-26T22:59:00.003-04:00

Just been unwinding and whatnot. Its been a long week at work, and a bad week in general for the whole world!

I do have some good news though. Remember that shawl I was running out of yarn for? (slaps self for using a preposition at the end of a sentence)
I think I solved my problem!

Original yarn - Mmmmmmmalabrigo in my hand-dyed color
New yarn - Mmmmmmalabrigo in Cypress.

I know its an icky cell phone picture (apparently we're out of AA batteries. Durn Wiimotes) but if you look at the 3 top rows... The 3rd and top row are both in the new yarn. The middle row is in the old yarn. The darkest shades of green of the old yarn PERFECTLY match the new yarn!
Hooray!!
I think the darker part at the bottom will really make those evergreen spots POP when its done.

Speaking of Mmmmmmmalabrigo (once you pop you really can't stop) I found another perfect match for the other skein of handdyed that I had made.
(the color on the right is called "Stonechat")
This set will be a Vortex Shawl for my aunt. While she was in town for my wedding she mentioned that she keeps her house very cold because she is so hot-natured, but that her shoulders get cold.

I think these colors will suit her nicely :)
Also, I think from now on I will only knit circular shawls. I HATE PURLING!

Anywho... I took care of name change stuff today. Once my drivers license and new bank stuff comes in the mail I'll be 100% Officially Mrs. S!

Just a few pictures ;)

2009-06-16T10:17:00.003-04:00

I don't have the ones from my Official Photographer yet except for the 10 that she put on Facebook (I love the internet). But here's a few highlights:

And of course, my super duper secret knitting project:

Its almost time!

2009-06-11T23:20:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow we go to my grandmother's house to set up the chairs and get everything ready, then do a run-through and have dinner.
Saturday I become Mrs. S!

Thanks to helpful knitter friends, I have enough wedding favors!

Also, I was sad to notice that my LAST post was #250.. but oh well.
I'll see you guys on the flipside!

Busy busy busy

2009-06-02T22:06:00.004-04:00

As I'm sure you know, its starting to get down to the wire! Just 11 days until the wedding *happy dance*
I'm pleased to announce that I"m only waiting on one last package which will ensure the wedding in my head will be what happens ;)
Today I received my bouquet and the mom/grandmom corsages.

Nope, no peeking. No worries though, I'll do a full review of etsy stores that helped me accomplish my goals after the magical day :)

Between other things I've been enjoying spinning on my Mayan Spindle that I got at Sedalia.

This is some lovely roving that Dana sent me! I really like how its turning out. I've got it stretched out on my niddy noddy until I have enough to ply.
I hope everyone is doing well! I'm just getting too excited for words :D

Wonderful friends and good times!

2009-05-26T21:57:00.003-04:00

Tonight was our knit night and my gals (and guy) surprised me AGAIN!!!!
They threw me a bridal shower!!!!
I got a very lovely box STUFFED FULL! Of yarny wonderfulness

Same box, just a different view. I'll need to get individual shots of everything soon to post to Ravelry ;)
There was some handmade soap, which Kitty thought smelled pretty (truthfully he just wanted to chew on the plastic)
Tripsie was more interested in other aromas. :P

And a beautiful floral arrangement which was in the center of the table. I at first thought the flowers were artificial but they aren't! I love them so much!
Thank you everyone!!!!

Knitting knitting I love knitting

2009-05-23T13:21:00.003-04:00

I've been working on a shawl, but I need halp!

Ok, so here's the shawl. As you can see its a lovely shade of green with browns and brighter green bits in it.
Unfortunately, I'm only 4 repeats into the main pattern but I've already used half the yarn.. SO! Do you think it would look alright to finish it with the red?
Otherwise, it could just be a shawlette, or I can buy more yarn and try to dye it to match not too horribly.

I've also been learning how to knit socks with Magic Loop. Its pretty cool! Less poking than dpn's though I'm having issues with laddering.
This is my new socks that rock which Dana and Dianne gave me for my birthday!

One side is pretty purple, lovely blueish tealish color,

The other has pinks and lavender!

Just 3 weeks to the wedding! *happy dance*

Happy Birfday to me!! (lotsa pictures)

2009-05-17T16:22:00.010-04:00

This weekend has been SUCH A BLAST!!! My parents came up Friday, and we all went out with Sam's parents for dinner.

Sam gave me my birthday present on the way there, a gift card to Michaels! He knows me so well ;)
After dinner, my parents and I went to Michaels because Sam also gave me a coupon which was only good through Saturday. I bought myself the One Skein Wonder book!
It has some beautiful lace shawl and scarf projects.

Saturday morning, I headed to meet up with my parents and we went to the Sedalia Fiber Festival!! I won't describe each and every picture, you can probably figure out mostly what's going on.

When we first arrived, we saw NAMASTE BAGS!!

Mom bought me a beautiful bag, which is very awesome and I will use it for my work laptop. She bought herself the pink one, and the blue one for me ;) (That's my mom holding them, isn't she pretty? Way too pretty to have a 30 year old daughter right?)

It was cloudy, I thought the mountains looked beautiful half-hidden by the clouds.

"HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" I love Alpacas!
Woman plucks a bunny.
I was very good. I only bought 2 skeins of yarn.
Pretty silk yarn. I'm debating between a hat and a scarf... its 110 yards.Skein of pretty sock yarn!

My super awesome Knitting Group friends had a big surprise for me! When I first got there, Dianne sang Happy Birthday to me over the loudspeaker! Then, later on they called me over and wished me Happy Birthday again, and gave me a beautiful gift.

Knowing that I'd hoped to buy some Socks that Rock at the festival, but that no vendor was going to have some, they ordered me a skein!! They also had Nana Sadie Rose custom make me this beautiful WIP Bag.
AND to top all that off, Dana made cupcakes!!!

AND!!! Then they made me wear a tiara!!!

Then I made my sister wear it, but then she didn't take it off the rest of the afternoon :)

OH! And Dianne was wearing her socks that she knit with the yarn I dyed and gave her for Christmas :)

And then Claudette brought me a lovely washcloth! Which was very nice of her :)

I bought myself a really neat Mayan Spinner, which is kind of like a drop spindle, except instead of dropping it you hold it in your had and whirl it around like a noisemaker. This makes it much easier to use with cats around, or even in the car! I can't wait to try it.
Afterwards, Mom and I went to the Yellow Submarine for lunch while my Dad, sister, and grandmother went to the Monacan Pow-Wow.

Then after dinner, we had cake!!!

So whew, what a day! I'm still pooped.

And YAY! Took me so long to type this that the video I took of the Alpacas finished processing.

Hibedibedibe that's shawl folks!

2009-05-13T20:05:00.003-04:00

*groan* I know, but "Shawl that jazz" is the name of an actual pattern, so my pun options were limited :P

I decided to go ahead and block my shawl that I knit to wear to Sedalia and my goodness it grew!!!
Sorry about the blurry picture, I had to hold the camera above my head to get it all.

Here it is drying on a full-sized beach towel! Oh! And I got the yarn from the Loopy Ewe which now I wonder why I didn't get Black Magic, or Victorian Parlor. Next time maybe ;)

And, I've gotten on a shawl/lace bender now.. here's my next project:
Blech, that color is NOT right at all... its actually very deep brown with beautiful greens (if I may say so myself). I called the color Mirkwood. 10 points if you know what that's from!
Its Malabrigo lace which I bought undyed and then practiced on. I have a 2nd color which I may add on if this isn't enough yarn.

Also, today I cleaned off my desk! Thomas says its still messy, well he should have seen it before! Its much better. (photos of friends and family are flipped up to protect the innocent) And yes, I have a picture of a cat doing the pee-pee dance. Its a cat litter ad, and one of my co-workers thought of me when she saw it.

I hope everyone is well. I'll probably be pretty scarce this weekend. My family is coming into town and Friday night we are all going out to dinner so that my folks can meet Sam's folks! Then Saturday is the Fiber Festival and we might possibly go to the Monacan Pow-Wow which isn't far away

And of course I'll be busy turning 30 :P

My bed, let me show you it

2009-05-10T22:40:00.005-04:00

When I showed off the beautiful afghan/bedspread that one of Mom's friends crocheted for us, I know it was kind of hard to see how big it was.
Well...

Its really big :)

This is our full-size bed, with ample room on either side.

Also, we've been doing laundry all weekend and I wanted to show off a relatively clean room. And no worries mom, I have thank you notes all ready to go out... as soon as I can find the pens I got..

Also, today I finished my quick-knit sock yarn shawl! Need to weave in the *ahem* ends TRIPSIE and give it a good soak and stretch, but I'm fairly pleased.

Its made from this yarn

Which is from the Schafer Company and is named after and inspired by Indira Gandhi!

Sorry...

2009-05-09T16:12:00.003-04:00

I just haven't been around much. In fact, I hadn't even opened my google reader in 3 days so I'm trying to get caught up with that now :(

But.. I just don't feel like I have much to blog about at the moment. Thanks to my iPhone I'm twittering a lot more (and including pictures) so if you're on there make sure to follow me, I'm Jadielady.
Also, my big project I can't talk about yet, so ...

Its just a little over a month to the wedding. I'm so excited! We've gotten a lot accomplished so I don't feel stressed at all. Ok, maybe a LITTLE. But not much.

My 30th birthday is next Saturday, I certainly did not lose the 30 lbs I wanted to, but I'm definitely healthier and happier and that's really all that matters :)

I hope everyone is well, if you're anywhere near the Central Virginia area come check out the Sedalia Fiber Festival next Saturday
http://www.sedaliafiber.com/

Ooh I do have one knitting thing I can show you, I'm knitting a shawl. I decided I wanted something to wear to the festival so I just whipped up something quick and easy. Plus, this yarn is just too pretty to put on your feet.

Tripsie liked the yarn too, so I have some extra ends to weave in. BAD TRIPSIE!
Well, see y'all later!

How I love thee, let me count the ways

2009-04-29T20:41:00.003-04:00

1. New second brain. 2nd brain is the term I use for my organizational system. Used to be a digital organizer, then a Palm Pilot (which died). For a few months its been an old school paper calendar and my hand. But no more!!! Let's start with the Calendar:
I can enter all my wonky schedule things, and meetings, and reminders, and its got a fun little scrolly wheel to set the time.
Then there's the memos. No more writing things down on my hand!
Instead of making notes to myself to email someone, I can just do it!!! In fact on Saturday, I emailed mom while we were on the way to reserve our cake!
2. Twitter. I can twitter at WORK! On breaks only of course. Plurk too. Or update my facebook status.
3. Youtube. I can watch youtube videos! Which means whenever there's one I want to show a co-worker but they're on dial up at home, I just load it up on my phone :)
4. My pretty pretty background. Its one of the default ones, but I just think its lovely!

5. The camera. I can take pictures and either send them directly to flickr from my phone, or I can start a tweet and it automatically uploads to tweetpic and puts a link in my tweet for me!
6. Music. I don't even need to put music on it, though it would hold 8 gigs of it. I can stream Pandora or LastFM. Well, Pandora works great, but LastFm's music is a little cloggy on our slower network.
7. Applications. I can instantly find things local to me. Ever have one of those "I don't care, what do you want to eat?" conversations? UrbanSpoon will solve your problems. I also have one that brings up a video of a dog licking glass...

I really do love my phone :) Though I rarely talk on the phone, but basically its a great little pocket PC I can carry around with me anywhere.

Tomorrow, Sam and I are going to get our marriage license!! Just 45 days to go!

And its knit one purl two

2009-04-25T12:01:00.001-04:00

Super-duper day!

2009-04-24T22:52:00.002-04:00

Today has been fantastic!

We bought Sam's wedding ring.
He showed me the suit colors he picked and they're perfect!
We picked out and put a deposit down on our wedding cake!
I got mail (see below)
I GOT AN Iphone!!!!

Thanks to Uncle Sam giving me some of my money back, and Fiance Sam picking an awesome ring that turned out to be less expensive but more unique than the one we originally looked at, I had some leftover $$ *happy dance* I've already got it set for twitter, plurk, facebook, and to upload my pics to flickr. YAY!

Here's my mail:

This is another bag from Slipped Stitch Studios, who I've ordered from before. I also got some super cute magnets. They say "I knit because I'm smarter than you." I got a boy and a girl, the boy is for my friend James!
I don't think I could have picked out a more perfect bag for myself if I had ordered it custom. Blue and brown and KITTIES!

I also received the 2nd shipment in the Poe series. I will definitely take a better picture of this yarn tomorrow... the iphone's camera doesn't do it justice by a long shot.

Tomorrow is the Sedalia Celtic Festival.. haven't decided for sure if we're going to go or not. Big thing on the list is to check out places to rent chairs. We've gotten so much done, but still so much to do!
No worries though MOM! I have it under control :D

Wait a minute Mr. Postman! (spoilers for Yarn Pirate)

2009-04-20T18:31:00.003-04:00

Don't you think that in the midst of a rainy day and a tornado warning, that maybe you should have left my packages in the mailbox? And not on the welcome mat in front of our door?

Oh well. Luckily the rain didn't soak through to the yarn.

Here is some yarn from Knitting Dragon. I really love how fast he gets everything together and shipped out, and he even offers to wind the yarn for you (which I opted to do this time, since I knew I would not get to this project until later)

The color way is not very accurately represented in this picture, here a much better one from his shop :)

Also, I received my monthly shipment from the Yarn Pirate. If you don't want any spoilers, look away!

I love that this colorway is called Sweet Pea. That was Tripsie's name before her previous owner started calling her Tripod.

Well, that's about all that I can talk about :P Secret projects continue. Those who know what they are keep your mouths shut! :P

Yarn diet going better

2009-04-13T20:40:00.004-04:00

I haven't bought yarn in a while!

Stitch Markers and a little surprise for someone from Lizard Toes

And last week I picked up some neat little cases, a pattern, and a water bottle from The Loopy Ewe.

What I didn't realize, is this order put me into the Loopy Groupies! HOORAY!!!

She sent me a sock pattern, some yarn, a calendar, and a awesome tote bag! And of course some Kisses.

At Gate City Yarn this weekend I got some buttons and a Knit Kit!

Here's the Knit Kit with its gadgets out. And a paw for reference... its a lot bigger than I thought.

On a separate note, my sister is growing up TOO FAST!!! This is her prom dress.

*sigh*

Wow!

2009-04-12T13:14:00.003-04:00

I consider myself a very lucky woman to have such wonderful friends. My mom is also a very very lucky woman.

Her friends at church are all in a knitting/crochet group together, and everytime theres a wedding one of them makes an afghan for the bride.

Today after Easter Service, they came up to me and gave me this.
(for scale, that white bit in the upper left corner is a door, and the brown thing to the right is the leg of a chair)

It is so beautiful, I immediately burst into tears. As a knitter, I know how much work and love was put into this beautiful (and enormous) blanket, and to have done it for lil ole me, who only comes to the church about 5 times a year (when I'm visiting my parents).

Fiber people are truly the most generous in the world.

Pease Halp

2009-04-08T18:55:00.002-04:00

A Place to Bark.

This is a wonderful no-kill animal shelter who has over the last few months that I've been following them, helped to take in animals from multiple puppy mill raids, disaster relief, and really anyone who needs help.

Its time for her annual fundraising drive and times are tough on everyone, so if you have a few extra $$ please send it their way. They also will gladly take donations of toys, blankets, collars, towels, food etc. The whole list is on the site linked above.

Thankee!

Warm pretty hands

2009-04-06T22:33:00.003-04:00

At work, the warmer it is outside the colder it is inside. The way it was explained to me is that the AC is actually on year round. They simply turn the heat on if its cold out.

As of tomorrow my hands will no longer ache from the bitter chill.

As I mentioned the other day, the yarn is from the Unique Sheep. I had a marathon knitting session yesterday while I watched the Return of the King (extended edition).

As my first major cable project, I'm pretty durn proud of myself. Although I did notice when I was almost finished with the 2nd one that I was doing one kind of cable wrong, but I think it looks alright.

Knit night is tomorrow, so I'll likely work on my Poe socks there :)

RSVP

2009-04-06T17:27:00.004-04:00

We have our first one!! ! Wow, someone is on the ball! I'm waiting for Sam to get home to open it :)

Tripsie doesn't care, since she can't go.
(that's her Woe is me pose)

Knitting a literary Hodgepodge

2009-04-05T11:50:00.003-04:00

My knitting recently has taken on a fun literary theme.

As you've seen already, I have my Hobbity Elven mitts (2nd one is in progress)
Hehe hello Kitty head shadow!
Pattern is Evenstar Gloves and yarn is the Hobbiton Colorway of the Unique Sheep's 1st LOTR yarn club shipment.

For my purse project, I am working on my Poe socks.
Oh hello Kitty paw :P
For the pattern, I am using Eleanor (Ravelry link) I figure its close enough to Eleanora. The yarn is Night's Plutonian Shore colorway from Cables & Lace's first Edgar Allan Poe yarn club shipment. The colorway was inspired by The Raven :) This club is special in that Eric has partnered with the Lime & Violet empire to also include a themed sniffy. I'm looking forward to the next batch!

And, once I finish these.. I can begin working on *drooly happy dance* Oh, if you're in the Unique Sheep club, and don't want to be spoiled, then look away!

Legolas socks!!!!

This was the 2nd Unique Sheep LOTR Yarn shipment. It also came with a very lovely clay leaf pendant, which is upstairs because I wore it yesterday.

I've linked to each yarn shop's webpage so if you like what you see please make sure to let them know :)

MORE PAINTBALL!!

2009-04-04T18:09:00.005-04:00

Yes my friends, we did it again! And this time I brought the camera.

James poses :P

Kevin reloads

l-r Tyler, Chris, and Gabe get ready for the next round.

Here's my gear. Yes, my gloves are pink (until I dye them)

Once again we had beautiful weather. Perfect even. Warm temperatures with a nice cool breeze.

On the way home. Someone shot me in the crotch!

Also got shot twice in the same spot on my arm (separate rounds) Looks like a hicky hehee

I'm feeling dumb now 'cause the sunshine was beautiful and I did have my sock project with me but I didn't take a picture of it. I think the colors will only show in bright sunlight because the yarn is black with royal blue and purple! So pretty though :)

Well I'll show off some more knitting soon enough. Later!

Good Eats

2009-03-29T18:06:00.005-04:00

I am a seriously very lucky lady. My honey cooks!!

Yesterday we had a pot roast, complete with carrots and taters. Nom nom! (however, make sure you let things cool properly before eating. A scalding hot tater gave me a blister on the roof of my mouth. Ow!)
This is from before cooking. It didn't stick around long enough when it was ready for a photo shoot.

At Christmas, my parents had given us a really cute package of noodles. All the noodles were shaped either as kitty faces or paws!
We had them today with some alfredo sauce and chicken.

After finishing my socks the other day, I've been trying to re-create the pattern, only with enough stitches to be knee socks. However, having been born and raised in a hilly city, I have what we like to call "Burg Calves." They're just too shapely to be covered by yarn, or any sane number of stitches, so I've put that off for now.

Instead, I'm working now on some fingerless gloves. "But Jadie! Its springtime!" Yes I know, and the warmer it is outside, the colder they keep it in my office.

Enter: Evanstar Gloves I've had this pattern in my que for a while, and this month's Knit-a-long with Let's Knit Together is fingerless gloves. So.. I figured I'd give cables another go.

I'm using the yarn that came in my 1st Lord of the Rings sock yarn club shipment. Can't wait to see what the next round is :)

I hope everyone's had a good weekend. More paintball next Saturday for anyone in the area who wants to go!!!

Also, Kitty is getting better and better! Seems to me it was definitely the medication making him wonky. He's walking less silly, and taking steps normally.

Tripsie better look out! She's not been the nicest to him....

New socks!

2009-03-26T21:51:00.003-04:00

Fastest knit ever!!! Just under 2 weeks which is how long it usually takes me to finish a sock. I attribute this to the lacy design, plus bigger needles, and fewer stitches. The yarn is my first time using some of my Yarn Pirate club yarn. I still have exactly half a skein left!

I'm gonna try the same idea only with knee socks!!

I got this yarn from a de-stash of another Raveler :) I really like de-stashes, I save money, a fellow yarnie gets money, and yarn goes to a new home :)

I has an important announcement!

2009-03-24T22:43:00.001-04:00

TRIPSIE BUTT!!!!
Nothing really going on, I'm just easily amused. Sorry for the litter box shot.

Sunny day, chasing the clouds away (warning, lots of pics)

2009-03-22T14:00:00.006-04:00

Its beautiful out!!! Though I'm glad it wasn't this warm yesteray, or we'd have all melted.

I took my camera and some knitting over to my grandmother's house, to scope out where we'll do what for the wedding, and took advantage of the pretty day to get good pics of my knitting stuff.

The boxwood was an unwilling model of some of my finished objects.

Weee socks

More socks

More socks!

I also took the opportunity to take better pictures of some of my yarn that I've dyed.

Mirkwood and Columbia chillin in the ivy. You can barely see Mirkwood, but that's kind of the point isn't it? :)

Haven't named this one yet, but the cherub says its heavy!

More unnamed yarn, with pretty periwinkle.

The reason I went (partially) was to take pictures and plan out where stuff would go for the wedding. Maybe we'll stand here
or maybe here

As I came in and walked under the dogwood, I thought I heard a distant motorcycle. However, as I was leaving I realized it was bees. Hundreds of bees working diligently to gather flowery bits.

So pretty

I think this one's my favorite.

Oh hai!

Paintball!!!!!

2009-03-21T17:20:00.002-04:00

Sorry for anyone who gets fed the blank post... my hands are a little shaky. I went to play paintball today with some of my friends!!!

Important things learned.
Always bring snacks and plenty of fluids (not too many though, the portapotty scares boys away!)

Always wear clothes you don't care too much about. Sure, the paint washes out, but what about the mud?

(Paint. I used my sleeves to wipe the paint off my mask)

(mud. except on the hat)
Always always wear protective coverings. Especially if you love and value any part of your body more than others. Like, your hand.

hard to see, but I got dinged at close range. Doesn't hurt too bad, but its gonna be bruised and sore for a bit.
Still, I had a blast! And we're planning on going back once or twice a month. I'll probably stick to once a month, I already have an expensive habit.

Speaking of which. SOCK LOVE
Finished it Thursday night.. I'll probably wait a few days to cast on the second one.

Kitty is still walking funny, but he's definitely feeling better! Check out this video of him playing fetch. Music was added by Idiotboy (I feel like a jerk but its SOOO FUNNY). Friends on dialup, its only about 15 seconds long so it shouldn't take forever to load.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlxTJ6-ExXk
I hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Midnight, 2nd day.

2009-03-16T00:10:00.003-04:00

This is insane.
Here's the sock yesterday.

Here it is right now. I'm at the heel! How crazy is that?

And check this out.
The back lines up so well, and if I got really daring, I could knit these again as knee socks and just put all the increases right there! Or .. .decreases, since I knit cuff down.

Ok, I promise not to bore you with these socks anymore til they're done. Which at this rate could be Friday! Depending on how much I can do at work and after :P

No worries newly finished socks. I still love you. See? I wore you today!

To my grandmother's house, where I picked up what may possibly become my wedding dress. Wee!

You vote I listen

2009-03-15T00:27:00.003-04:00

And I'm so glad I asked you!!

The yarn and pattern are working out beautifully. I had to do a little fiddling with the math, and after 3 false starts and a few curse words I got underway.

I think this pattern will go by fairly quickly. That's quite a bit of sock for only 2 pattern repeats.

I figured, since Kitty's been such a good boy lately, especially at the vet (he sat perfectly still, and only cried when she looked in his ears) that he deserved a photo shoot of his very own.

Here he is napping.

Awake now

Getting head scritchins.

Sock Survey

2009-03-14T15:19:00.006-04:00

So now that I'm (nearly) finished with this pair of socks:

Tripsie!!! MOVE!

*sigh* Much better.

What to do next??

I went to my stash and dove for inspiration.

I've had a pattern idea in my head for a while. Its the same stitch pattern as the scarf I knit for Mikey's ladyfriend.
I think were I to try it, I'd use this yarn

But I also recently got this pattern, which I think would look good in either of these yarns

Or, I can do just a plain ole stockinette in this yarn, which does self striping/patterning. Since I have my yarn scale now, I could divide it into 50/50 and make sure to get matching pair!

So... what to do? You tell me! Tripsie says she will guard my stash until we decide.

Productivity: I can has!

2009-03-14T15:03:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I took a half day to take Kitty to the vet. Long story short, the vet said "Hmm I have no idea why he's walking funny." But, he seems to be healthy otherwise so we're not going to worry! Ear mites are 100% gone which is also good news. Could be that the meds were messing with his brain, or he just got used to walking weird to manage his dizziness.

Anywho, then I went to work, then we podcasted. I worked on my socks during the show :)

Then we got home and went on a house-cleaning rampage. Serious cleaning, like pulling the toaster apart and scrubbing the melted cheese from the bottom.

This morning we got up early, took my car to get the part it needed to pass inspection (engine mount) and then to Sam's folks to print out our wedding invitations! YAAAAAAY.

While they printed, I finished my sock other than doing up the heel(see next blog post)!

Also... I recently made another order through the Loopy Ewe. it was someone on Plurk's fault. They had just re-stocked a limited edition of Namaste Bags.

Sam says I should put a bowling ball in it. Funny thing is, it would fit!

*love*
2 knitting projects!
I used to carry 3 bags to work. My totebag, containing knitting bags, a book, my snacks & lunch, and various other stuff. My purse, with my wallet, cell phone, ipod, lip gloss collection etc. And of course my laptop bag.
Now I just have the Namaste bag and the laptop bag.

I love it, it holds EVERYTHING.

And of course its purple.

Book to read (in those rare, rare instances I can't knit and have spare time) calendar, pen, checkbook, hair brush, everything!. The little grey thing is my Namaste buddy. they are so awesome, it has some stitchmarkers, my sewing needles, and my fold up scissors. Oooh I'll have to do another post later on knitters' tools.

How you know you're a "sock knitter"

2009-03-12T19:54:00.004-04:00

Sam: "Babe, are you wearing my socks?"
Me: "Only one...."

Sam "Why? Are you out of socks?"
me "No, my others are still wet from when I hand-washed them"

Sam "Do you want me to buy you some socks?"
me *holds up my work in progress - mid row* "No! I'm almost done with these! Then I'll have a pair for every day of the week (meaning the work-week)."

Christmas in March!

2009-03-11T20:19:00.006-04:00

I forgot to mention, another reason we went to see Lewis & his Lady is because we hadn't seen them since before Christmas!! So it was gift giving time.

I was finally able to give her the scarf I worked on, as well as some earings made by the yarn dyer.

I hope Tyler doesn't mind that I used his picture from the shop.
She really liked them :) Wore them the whole weekend!

I gave Mikey his fingerless gloves... and a watch, so that the difference in length is a design feature.

They gave Sam a Best Buy gift card, which he has already used. And, being people who know me very well gave me

Yarn, beads, and a Michael's Gift card.

Check out the bag!!!

Kitty says, "What, no present for me? Dude."

Weekend n stuff

2009-03-10T21:52:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we went to visit The Lewis Show for his 35th birthday (which was actually yesterday) and for all of us to go see Watchmen together.
We had a really good time, and got to finally meet the younger of their brood.

This is Luci. As in Lucifer.

This is a long-distance shot of Maude, who's a real cutie pie up close. She's like a mini-Tripsie (only with 4 legs). She's got a super poofy tail, which this weekend seemed to get a bit of tree sap on it.

This is their older cat Topaz.
She doesn't like anyone :P

As for this week I could give a #$#!% and am just about ready to call the men in the white hats to come get me. So long as I can have my pointy sticks and yarn.
So, I'm going to work on the heel of my 2nd pretty sock.

Gnight all.

Yet another reason to love Lime & Violet

2009-03-05T22:26:00.001-05:00

Because they showed me this

(for those who may be on slower connections, that's a youtube video showing how to purl in contenental .. meaning without moving your working yarn back to the other hand, or to the front even. Its awesome!!!)

Why do they lick?

2009-03-05T18:41:00.003-05:00

Both of my cats are big into licking. In fact, last week Kitty licked me so rough that it gave me a little hicky/bruise/scar thingy!

Tripsie loves to lick too, here she is on Sam's lap.

No idea why, I guess we has a flavor?

I always have a pretty flavor thanks to my monthly shipment of Sniffies from Lime n Violet. I love my sniffies.

giggle Crafty, get it?

2009-03-03T23:45:00.000-05:00

You Would Be a Crafty Superhero

You are naturally curious and even a bit of a snoop. You like to have dirt on everyone - both enemies and friends.

You need a lot of freedom in your life. You like to do your own thing, and you don't fit into any normal mold.

Through lots of life experience, you understand the world well. You can often predict what people will do before they even think of doing it.

You are a shapeshifter who fits in with almost any group. You can get along with anyone. You're quite flexible.

You are a true intellectual. You are thirsty for knowledge, and you are curious about the world.

What Kind of Superhero Would You Be?

Snow: the delicious treat!

2009-03-02T10:28:00.001-05:00

nomnomnomnomnom.

sings Let it snow let it snow let it snow

2009-03-01T17:04:00.003-05:00

I finished Sam's 1st iphone Mitt. Since its March now, I figured it wasn't a big deal that I didn't get the other one done, he'll have it by wintertime next year.

Yeah....

Tripsie's enthralled.