I'm voting for this guy

This guy is running for mayor in Austin.

His name is Brewster McCracken. Yes, that's right. Brewster. McCracken. I'm not making it up. Look.

This guy's got my vote. Anyone who's name is Brewster McCracken has my vote.

Nevermind that I don't know if he's a democrat, republican or satanist.

Nevermind that I don't live in Austin proper and therefor can't "technically" vote for him.

His name, is BREWSTER MCCRACKEN. And I love him.

Last call for entering my blogiversary contest. Post a comment here (click on the link) and I will enter you in a random drawing. Deadline is Friday. I will announce the winner this weekend and they can choose a hand knit item, or a bag.

Go McCracken!!!!!!!

Blogiversary!!!!!!

Happy Blogiversary to me!!!! It was a year ago today that I started this blog. I have to say, I wasn't sure I'd make it this long, and there have been more than a few times that I almost quit. But I'm here, for better and for worse.

I don't have anything profound to say, so it's not really different from any other blog, huh? But I did want to commemorate the occasion with a give-away. Nothing major, nothing fancy, but leave a comment on this post, and I will enter you in a contest to win one of my handmade goodies. I'll choose the winner using random.org, and the winner will have their choice of something knit, or one of my fabulous bags.

Thanks to everyone for reading for the past year, and for continuing to read.

Picture of the Day

I just thought this was too cute not to post.














Jacob, Sydney and Samantha, inspecting a net full of fish that were caught by their daddies. Taken this past weekend on our camping trip to the lake.

Y-Town

As you all know, I currently reside in a suburb north of Austin, TX. But this is not where I am from. Nossir. I was born and raised in a wee little town in Michigan called Ypsilanti. Or, as the natives call it, Ypsi or Y-town.














Ypsi is located just west of Detroit, and east of Ann Arbor which is of course home to the University of Michigan. There is a lesser known University in Y-town, Eastern Michigan University.














Near this great University is Ypsi's most well known attraction, The Water Tower. The Giant Phallic Shaped Water Tower. Paul Bunyan's Penis.















Ypsilanti is also well known from the smash 1983 hit song "Back to Ypsilanti" by native Lee Osler. You can download and listen to that song here. I love the dotcoms and the fact that you can find randy crappy music about obscure towns from 26 years ago.

And of course, Ypsi is also the birthplace of Domino's Pizza.



















A penis shaped water tower, a really bad 80's song, and the worst pizza I've ever tasted. These are all things to be proud of. Ah, who am I kidding? We got nothing. Ypsi's got nothing.

But there is hope on the horizon. For Ypsilanti, hope is currently residing in the one person who could potentially put us on the map. For good.












Matt Giraud, current contestant on season 8 of American Idol.

American Idol tells you he's from Kalamazoo (another Michigan town with a funny name), which is where he currently lives, but he was raised in Ypsilanti. My boy is representing Y-town every week, and, in my opinion, doing us proud.

He's had some off weeks, I will admit. He's not the strongest singer or performer on the stage. And I don't realistically expect him to win the whole competition (sorryMattifyou'rereadingthisIstillloveyoucallmeok?). But I do expect him to stick around for a few more weeks, and I'd like to see him get into the final 4. The judges used their save on him last night, so that must mean they see something in him that is worth keeping him around. If you haven't been watching Idol because you live under a rock, then I can tell you that he is soulful yet shy. Sweet yet sexy. Talented, cute, and has been compared the both Justin Timberlake and Michael Buble.

















He rocked out a Stevie Wonder song last week (Part Time Lover), and I am a Stevie purist, generally believing that people should leave his work alone, because no one can touch him (case and point, Megan Joy who did a Stevie song a few weeks prior and it was AWFUL). Matt was amazing.

He needs your votes to stay in the competition!! I would hate to see him go home next week after the judges saved him this week.

So, on behalf of the people of Ypsilanti, Michigan, I am asking you all to VOTE FOR MATT this week!!! Consider it a personal favor to me. Lee Osler and I thank you.

Also, Matt, we totally think that you should sing "Back to Ypsilanti" for your final Idol performance. Really seal the deal. Let 'em know. Loud and proud. Y-TOWN.










(PS for the record, I am very proud of my hometown and love Ypsilanti. There are a lot of great things about it, but for the purpose of blogging, Matt's success on the show, and good humor, I only wrote about what I felt like writing about, which is pretty much how I roll all the time)

Uh, amazing.

If you haven't seen this, heard about it, or yet watched the video of this, please see below.

This gave me goose bumps and brought tears to my eyes, which isn't something that happens often with me.

Just goes to show that you should never judge a book by its cover, which of course is something we all do from time to time. But this just blew me away. I can't stop watching it.














http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

I also can't figure out how to upload it so that all you have to do is click on it and it will play for you right there on the blog. But please take a moment to watch this. I promise, it's worth it.

Blogiversary!!!

I am 10 days and 6 posts away from both my 1 year Blogiversary AND my 100th post. So I'm going to try and post 6 times in the next 10 days so that both will fall on the same day. I figure that will make for some awesome poetic justice (Ok, so I don't know what that means but I like the sound of it) AND a blog give-away. Since I promised more of those way back when and never delivered. Add it to the list.

Oh, and just so you aren't anxiously checking back in here every other day hoping for some sort of great mind blowing earth shattering knee slapping news, I did not say, nor do I promise that these next 6 posts will be interesting. Probably the opposite, in fact. So you've been warned.

But, in a blog to come tomorrow (because I'm too busy drinking wine right now to do it), I will update you on my knitting status and many projects, including the sweater I swore up, down and sideways I was going to have done by St. Patrick's Day. I know you won't want to miss that!

Ta for now, hope you all had a delightful Easter!

Gratuitous Cute Dog Shot.

Sam's face always looks like this when we take her in the car. We haven't quite figured out if she loves it or is terrified of it.

Sew What?

Here is a (relatively) recent picture of Baby Stinky Pants.

The reason I post this is 3 fold.

1) I haven't posted a picture of her in a long time, and I thought you all might be curious to see how frick fracking cute she's getting (and crawling!)....

2) It's my blog and I'll post whatever the hell I want...

3) Baby Stinky Pants' mom (Christy) and I took a sewing class last month, and the fruits of that class will be the subject of my blog today. But I thought I'd start it off with a cute baby picture. Also, I have not forgotten about The Cuteness, and I will make sure to post a recent picture of her in an upcoming blog. You will all crap your pants when you see how big she's gotten.

Sew anyway.....(wakka wakka) Christy and I took a sewing class a few weeks back. The Cowboy bought me a sewing machine for Christmas (bless his little heart, he didn't get me jewelry or a nice Caribbean vacation, he bought me a sewing machine), and I figure I'd better learn to use the darn thing. Actually, I was pretty excited. And actually, he did buy me an iPod touch for Christmas as well. And actually, he also bought me the laptop I am using to write this blog as we speak for no apparent reason a few weeks ago. So really I guess I should shut up. Besides, I love the sewing machine.

The sewing class itself was marginally informational. The instructor was a little crazy, and I feel like she rushed through a lot of things that may be important later on. We had to buy all these extra feet for our machine, and we didn't end up using 2 or 3 of them. And some of them were on the pricey side. And when I say pricey, I mean upwards of $4.00. But listen, I'm not made of money. And while I do feel like I have a better understanding of my machine and what to do with it in certain situations, you will see later in this blog that she did not teach me all that I feel I need to know to move forward. Not to mention the fact that the finished product of that class is a giant piece of crap.

Exhibits A and B.

It's supposed to be a "cosmetic bag". I wish you could see this thing in person. These pictures make it look cute. I assure you, it's not.

But I would not be deterred. My Lady (who doesn't blog any more either, but I still linked her, just for shits and gigs) gave me a very easy pattern for a bag, made by sewing 2 dish towels (yes, dish towels!) together. I made one last weekend and fell in love with it. Since then I've dropped nearly $50 on dishtowels, and that is not an exaggeration. I've made 5 total, and have enough towels to make about 5 more. Check em out.

The Purple One. The first one I made. It's nice, but they get better. For one, I lengthened the handles on all the other ones. And my seams got straighter too. The bottom part of the bag (in this case, the stripey part) is pockets. There are 4 pockets total. 2 in front, 2 in back.

The Green One. You can see the longer straps. Now, hold onto your pants because they are about to start getting REALLY cute.

The Multi Colored One. I KNOW. Believe me. My arm was sore after I made this one from patting myself on the back.

The Blue and Brown Ones. I'm out of words for my craftiness.

I'm telling you, after I made these bags, I was on top of the world. Sew, I decided that I wanted to tackle another project. Something bigger. Something more difficult. I knew I could do it. Hell, I can put 2 dish clothes together and sew them up in a few places. What can't I do?

Sew, apparently.

My next project? An apron. Simple, cute, right? The pattern even promised to be easy.

"Simplicity". Simple my ass.

I bought the cutest fabric.

Don't you love the apple and pear fabric? Wouldn't I look adorable in a apron made out of it? Well it ain't gonna happen unless I take that piece of material and belt it around myself. I am completely lost. Why? Because, oh yeah, we didn't actually learn how to READ A PATTERN in my sewing class. Sew how am I actually supposed to sew anything? It's like some sort of special magical language they speak in these patterns. I got this far only because the nice girl at JoAnn Etc. explained to me how to tell how much fabric was needed, and how to lay it out. Sew I was able to lay it out,

and cut it.

But from here I really have no idea what to do next. I read and re-read the pattern and I am at a total and complete loss. So please, if anyone has any idea what to do next, please help me. Please. I want an apron so bad.

I have nothing to sew now. So I guess I'll enjoy the roses. Straight from our garden. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Dear Bloggy Friends and Neighbors....

Hey it's me, your long lost friend Caps. I've pretty much jumped ship and let you all hanging in the lurch. I'm sure you've all managed to survive just fine without me. But since I've received some comments and emails regarding my whereabouts, I thought I'd give a brief update.

I'm still alive and well and living in Austin, Texas. I've been busy these past few months with a new job, and honestly haven't been knitting much. I recently picked up the needles again, and I also took a sewing class. I've been crafting it up quite a bit lately, but of course I haven't documented any of this on my blog.

I am contemplating the direction I want to take this blog. I have some ideas, and I've even reserved another domain (aside from blogspot) at http://www.kibblesandknits.net/ (ch-ch-ch-check it out), which is still under construction, but at least I have it and can do whatever I want with it.

I'll be honest and admit that I've considered quitting the blog altogether. I don't think anyone would miss me too terribly, and I'm not looking for sympathy "Oh please don't quit blogging"s when I say that. But to be honest, I'm too self preoccupied to quit writing about myself for good. So blog I will continue to do, it just might be awhile before I get the new site up and running. In the meantime, you might see some changes here as I play around with format and stuff to try and see what I like and what I don't.

I won't promise timely updates or American Idol recaps. We both know those would be empty words, and you deserve better than that my friends. I will say, however, that I was more than a little happy to see this flake go home last night.

Uh buh bye.

But I digress. That's all I have for now, for the 3 people that might actually still be reading this here little blog. I've missed writing, I've missed reading all your blogs (yes, I've slacked off on that too), and I hope that I can find my mo-jo and return to you.

But for now, I will leave you with a picture of my feet.

Because you know that's how I roll.