Sometimes I come up with (what I think are) really funny or witty things to say on my blog. Like the other night, I was on the toilet (just keeping it real) and I thought of a funny way to begin this blog, and I thought to myself, "you better go and write this down so you don't forget about it tomorrow when you go to blog," and then of course I got caught up (not literally, thankfully) in whatever else I happened to be doing at that time (ahem), and I forgot. So here I am blogging and I have no idea what I was going to say that was going to be clever, and instead you're stuck reading about my Tuesday Toilet Adventures. I apologize.
I know I've been away for awhile. Truth is, I got an iPhone, and I said sayonara to the ol' computer. And also my friends. And I've kind of been slacking off at work too. The iPhone is AMAZING. And, ok, so I also have 2 jobs, which is totally kicking my ass. And, ok, so I am also literally getting my ass kicked at my first job, by children in crisis. It's been a very rough, busy, crazy couple of months. But I've missed you. Really, those aren't empty words. I've missed you. So here I am.
I wish I had something more exciting to write about. I've been busy knitting like crazy. I have orders for a bunch of random things for Christmas gifts, so when I'm not working, getting my butt kicked, thinking up blog ideas on the toilet, eating, sleeping, or playing with my phone, I'm knitting. Remember when I was rambling on about black people, and I said I was going to knit a beard as a joke for my friend's husband? Well......
Stupid sideways picture that I can't fix..... But check it out! I knit that! Me! With my hands! And some yarn! Weeeeeeeeee! I'm pretty damn proud of myself, so toot toot toot. Here's a picture of me modeling it.
I made it for a friend of a friend who found a picture on the innerwebs and asked if I could do it. After researching for a pattern, I told her that I would. Fast forward 3 months (it took me a REALLY long time....) and there you have it. The pattern wasn't even that difficult, it just took some figuring out, and this is definitely the most complicated thing I've ever knit. But it was fun! And I shed a tear when I had to mail it off to it's owner. I will definitely be making one of these for me in the future! I wore it to school and freaked out all the kids. Good times, good times.
I've also been busy working on a few baby knits. This is Bella.
Her chubby. Her like the hat I made.
And my friend Melissa asked if I could knit up some mini-scarves to adorn a bottle of wine as a gift. Does the Pope wear a funny hat?
Mmmm, wine. And also? How cute is that? Instead of a little gift bag, just fancify your wine with a scarf! Only $4! On sale now....
So you can see, I've been busy. But I've got a few Christmas posts up my sleeve. And soon I'll be off for 2 glorious weeks. So when I'm not busy sleeping, eating, drinking, sitting on the toilet or playing with my iPhone, I promise to write more.
I'm going to pretend like it hasn't been over a month since my last post. I'm going to pretend like I've been blogging this whole time, no one has missed me (which, let's face it, is probably the truth), and we will just all go on as usual. Ok? Thanks.
First, an update about my other blog that I told you about in my last post. If you're thinking that it is the reason I haven't been posting here, you're wrong. I've been totally neglecting that blog as well. In fact, I posted on it twice and then just sort of lost steam. See? It's a good thing I didn't tell anyone the address. Now I can just erase it and pretend it never happened. The blog, that is. The weight loss is going great! I'm down about 9 pounds last time I checked, and more importantly, I'm losing inches, so pants that haven't fit me in years are getting a second life! Yippee!!!!
Here is how my February went down.....
My Great Aunt Hazel celebrated her 87th birthday this month, and her children had a party for her up in Dallas. My mom, Betty Nuggs, came down for the festivities, as did several of her siblings. We had a great time eating, laughing, shopping and visiting. Here are some pics from the party.
Me and Nuggs at the party.
Me, mom, aunt, uncle, cousins and Great Aunt Hazel (center). Happy Birthday Aunt Hazel!
I bought some new fabulous cowboy boots while we were in Dallas. Actually, these are my first pair of cowboy boots. Shame on me, I've lived in Texas for nearly 4 years and have never owned a pair. I love these. They are cute and very comfortable.
The Cowboy bought me some beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day. My favorite - calla lilies.
Aggie took up residence in the laundry basket, after we had to throw away her dog bed because she chewed it up. Hopefully the laundry basket lasts a little longer.
My newest knitting creation. It's a scarf made out of a bunch of leftover pieces of yarn from various projects. Thank goodness I hung on to all of them! I tried to make the "theme" of the scarf green, and then threw in some complimenting colors.
Rather than knit this scarf length-wise, as with most scarves, I knit it width-wise. I cast on 180(ish) stitches on size 11 circs and changed yarn every single row. I absolutely love the way this turned out. I have enough odds and ends to make at least one more, possibly two. What will I do with them you ask? Drum roll, please................ I am opening an Etsy store!!! I having been knitting and sewing like crazy lately, (hence no blogging) in an attempt to get a stockpile of things ready to sell in my Etsy store. I am hoping to have everything up and running over spring break - which is 2 weeks away. I will be sure to let you all know when it's open, and post a link. In the meantime, here's a sneak preview. It's my store banner.
Speaking of new exciting things, Lexey Rhea was born this past week!!
Congratulations to proud parents Johnny & Tiff, and big sister Sydney! I can't wait to meet little Lexey.
It snowed in Austin this past week. Like, a lot. Serious accumulation. It's the most snow I've seen down here since I've been here, and I heard it was the most snow that they've seen here since 1985. Here are some pictures, taken from school, where I was stuck all day because they didn't cancel school. Boo.
The kids had a blast, though. We took them outside in the morning and let them run around and play in it. Many of them had never seen actual snow before, so it was fun to watch them. Someone tried to make a snow angel, but there wasn't quite enough snow for that, and it ended up being a dirt angel.
Today, it's sunny and 65. I love this state!!
That's my February in a nutshell. I would promise to try and write more, but we both know I don't mean it. So in case I don't blog again until the end of March, I hope you all have a great month!
Here is a list (I love lists!) of the latest and greatest in my life. Because I know you've all been waiting with baited breath on tenterhooks on the edge of your seat for this.
Thanksgiving
My cousin Ang called me last weekend and asked if I wanted to drive up to Michigan for Thanksgiving with her. Um, does a bear shit in the woods? The answer is yes. I haven't been back to Michigan for Thanksgiving since I moved down here, so it will be my first "My Family Meal" since 2005. I am EXCITED. I mean no disrespect to The Cowboy or his people, but you know how Thanksgiving with anyone else's family just isn't quite the same. The food is always different. Not necessarily bad different, but different, and I look forward to eating familiar, wonderful, comforting food this year.
Because we're leaving in one week, I've been scrambling to get my Christmas shopping (for those in Michigan) done so I can bring it with me and save me an ass ton on shipping. Well, I haven't really been "scrambling", so much, as I've been loving every minute of it. It gave me an official excuse to get into the Christmas spirit. I try to show a normal amount of restraint when it comes to music, decorations and shopping, but my pending trip north allowed me to throw caution to the wind and dive nose first into Christmas Time. I'm a happy clam. Y'all know how I feelabout Christmas.
It's Back!
Hey speaking of Christmas, look what's back on the store shelves!!
I love this stuff. I bought 3 2-liters today, only to get home and discover that one of them is diet. DAMMIT. Oh well, that will be the stuff I use to mix with the vodker. That way I won't taste it as much. Speaking of drinks....
Box-o-Wine
I was leery of the wine in a box concept. Perhaps because my only experience with it was Franzia White Zinfandel. And that shit is nasty. But recently, I was at my friend Christy's house (mom of BSP) and she offered me a glass of wine, which of course I accepted, and it was a glass from a box-o-wine. And it was good. And I was shocked. And then I was happy. And I was all, "Mmm this is good." And she was all "Yeah it's from a box." And I was all "Shut up!" And she was all "No, it's true". And then she showed me, and it was true. The end.
Target has their Wine Cubes on sale this week - $15.99. And there is the equivalent of 4 bottles in one box. For SIXTEEN DOLLARS. That is $4 a bottle. I did the maths, you can trust me. And it stays good in your fridge for up to 4 weeks (if it lasts that long, which it won't at my house and if you need any help polishing your box off, please let me know). Now, it's not the best quality wine I've ever had. But it sure as shit ain't the worst either. It falls somewhere right in the middle. For $16, I will take it. I am enjoying a glass right now as I type this.
There's my box-o-wine, nestled happily on the shelf in the fridge. What's that? You say that you see a six pack of beer, a bottle of champagne AND a bottle of vodka in the fridge? No, we do not have a problem. No, that orange juice was not purchased for the sole purpose of making mimosas. No, I do not need 12 steps. Let's move on.
Oranges!
The Cowboy bought some fruit trees this year. Apple, lemon, lime and orange. So far, we haven't produced any real quality fruit, but he tells me that it sometimes takes a full year for the trees to produce. However, when I took the dogs outside the other morning, I noticed this:
!!!!!! It looks almost ready to eat. Perhaps I'll cut it up and float it on top of my mimosas. I'm KIDDING. Geesh, lighten up.
Baby Hats
A girl I work with and her husband are adopting a little girl. The pick her up tomorrow, and we are having a baby shower for them at work on Monday. The little girl is 19 months old, and has Chromosome 18, which is a disorder I'm told is similar to Down Syndrome. She is the sweetest, cutest little thing (they've had her on weekends now for several months), and her name is Alyssa. I don't have any pictures, but if I get some I will post them. Natch, I made a hat for her.
And another for my friend Sarah's daughter, Elbow Macaroni.
I am loving these hats - they knit up in several hours and are so cute. Hats for everyone!
I was working with a first grader this morning on a math worksheet, and every time she got a problem correct, she would yell out "Nachos!!". She yelled it out such as one might yell out "Yes!" or "I got it!" or "Whooo-hooo!". But instead, it was "Nachos". Keep in mind that I work with the Special Ed kids, so while this made absolutely no sense to me, in her little mind I'm sure she was celebrating her victory over counting by 2s by crying out about her favorite snack. I don't know. I'm just guessing. And then every once in awhile she'd say "I'm the man of Nachos!", and hold her little fist up, victoriously. When she had completed the worksheet, she once again declared herself to be The Man of Nachos, and then did a little dance while chanting "nachosnachosnachosnachosnachos". There is never a dull moment with my job, and I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, and I love it. I absolutely love these kids. I've also decided that henceforth, I'm going to join her in the great cry of nachos, and will be proclaiming "Nachos!" whenever I do something fabulous or get excited about something.
Has anyone else noticed how I've gotten my Blog Groove back? This is like the 9th time this month I'm posting, which is more than the past 3 months put together. I don't know what it is,
but all of a sudden I'm finding things to write about again. Not necessarily interesting things, but they are things nonetheless, and about them I shall write.
For instance; of little importance and no interest whatsoever is my growing addiction to the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks. I anticipate its arrival every fall. As soon as it's back, I know that I may as well just fork over a cold hundy to my local Starbuckle, because at least once a week I am running up there in the morning (early, too, y'all, I have to be at work at 7:00), ordering a Venti and sucking it down before the first bell rings. One week I actually went three times. At $5 a pop, this gets expensive. And I am not a lady of many means. But they are Deeeeelicious.
Also of little to no importance, barely worth a mention, is that I've recently decided to try and take up crochet. Now, as a Bad Ass Knitter, I've been Judgy McJudgealot when it comes to the crochet. I look down my nose at it. It's a far inferior craft, in my humble but correct opinion. However there are a few knitting patterns that call for a crochet border. And it seems to go faster. And I've heard that it's easier than knitting. And I have a blanket that my friend Marcie (who is a crocheter but I love her anyway) made for me, and I love it and I sleep with it every night. (Hi, I'm Linus) So I thought, Ok, I will give this a go. I will learn to crochet. I mean, I already have yarn. I have 2 crochet hooks (used for picking up stitches when knitting socks), what more do I need? It can't be that hard.
Well maybe it's not that hard, and maybe I'm an idiot. Probably both. So let me go ahead and make a long and uninteresting story short and uninteresting: I can't do it. I can do the very fist step required - the chain. I can chain my ass off. See here:
Chain-o-rama. But what the hell am I supposed to do after that? None of the instructions I've seen have been at all clear about that. I've consulted my little crochet booklet that I have. I've searched the innernets for clues. They all have instructions - and they all vary. Really, crocheters? Really? Can't you make it uniform? With knit and purl it's the same. You knit or you purl and when you get to the end of a row, you don't have to bend the yarn, you just turn the damn needle. I give up, crochet. I hate you. Cro-shit is more like it. I should also probably add this: Crocheters (namely Marcie and Charlene, who I am sure are Up In Arms about my proclamation) please do not attempt to help me figure out how to do it. I don't care. Knitting is better and this just proves it.
To make myself feel better, I bought a Pumpkin Spice Latte and knit up a little hat for The Cuteness.
Nachos!! Isn't it adorable? I hope it fits her. I shall see The Cuteness herself tomorrow (hopefully) on Halloween and will capture a picture to share. It's been a good while since I've posted a picture of her. I look forward to see her and BSP tomorrow night for the annual Halloween Party, for which I will be making Caps' Famous Cheese Ball. It's a great party recipe, if you happen to need something quick, cute and Halloweeny to make. I will also have pictures of myself and The Cowboy in our costumes - and believe me, you're not gonna want to miss this. Not so much me, as him.
Here is a cool word picture puzzle cloud thing called a Wordle that I made using wordle.net. There, you can go and type in a bunch of text (or just link it to your blog, like I did) and it will create them for you!
I thought it was cute. Although I can't figure out how to make it bigger....
Nothing fancy or extra cool to report today, but my cable knit scarf is coming along quite beautifully!
All this time I thought cables were hard. Silly rabbit. Cables are for kids.
In knitting news: yes, I still knit!! I've been dusting off the needles and have news on a few projects to share with you.
First, the "Sweater" I've been saying I was going to knit for almost a year now. You remember,
don't you? Yeah, me neither. Here's the link to refresh your memory. I am knitting #1 - Graceful Shell - but the problem I encountered, very early on, was that the yarn they call for is
discontinued, and the yarn that I fell in love with and want to use doesn't work with this pattern and the recommended needle size.
I am just not an experienced enough knitter to try and reconcile the difference on my own. I looked for other patterns, but I wasn't able to find any that had the one feature that I loved most about this pattern - the scoop neck. So I did what I always do when I get frustrated - I quit. I
shoved that yarn back in the bag and back in my stash trunk and called it a day. And knit up a
few more garter stitch scarves because let's face it, you don't have to gauge those and they
always turn out exactly how you want them to. But more on that later.
With the cold weather approaching, and with The Cowboy constantly asking me if I'm going to
ever knit that %#?@ing sweater (I view it as nagging, he views is as challenging me - potato, potahto), I have decided to give it another go. But here's the thing, I still want that yarn and I still want that pattern, so I am basically right back where I was before. I have thrown in the towel and admitted defeat. I need the help of someone who knows what the hell they are doing. So I did something I never, ever do (again, more on that later) - I knit up a swatch and checked for gauge.
It was, not at all surprisingly, way off. Ok, but I still don't know how to fix it. So I am sending it off to the Yarn Fairies. Yeah, I wish. How great would that be if there were little yarn fairies who fixed everything for you and you never had to think about stuff like gauge and swatches and needle size. But alas, my mom suggested the next best thing - her friend Nancy, who is quite a
good knitter and very skilled at the maths, (which I am not) and who is willing to help me for
free (I can do enough maths to know that that is good)! So I am sending off my little swatch and the pattern to Nancy (in Michigan) and she is going to try and fix it up so I can knit this sweater with this yarn. Happy happy. Hopefully.
As I mentioned, in lieu of not knitting a sweater, I have knit about a bajillion scarves.
Here they are all lined up on my stash chest.
Here they are close up, along with a nice shot of the scuff on our wall. Lovely.
To be fair, some of these scarves I knit well over a year ago, but the point is clear: I don't give them away, I knit them and keep them. There are 9 pictured here, but I know of at least 1 that is missing and I tore my closet apart trying to find it so it could be part of the family picture here. As if I needed that one particular scarf. As if I don't have another to replace it. However it is
green, which is my favorite color, and not represented here otherwise. Where is that damn scarf?
Also, I'd like to say in my defense that not all of these scarves are garter stitch. One of them was supposed to be the Sunday Market Shawl, but turned out less shawly and more scarfy. And
another is seed stitch - so there.
Now, I know what you're thinking. You are thinking that these scarves need hat friends. And you are right. I already admitted that until recently, I hadn't knit a hat properly. And my first one didn't turn out quite exactly how I would have liked. Or even remotely close to anything
resembling a hat, come to think of it. Someone asked me in my comments if I had done a swatch for the hat prior to knitting it. A ha. A hahahahaha. No, of course not. And I wonder why my projects continually come out all cattywumpus. But I regrouped. I frogged the hat and knit it again, on smaller needles (still not swatch though). Let's take a look at the before and the after pictures.
Before
After
A definite improvement, but I still don't think it looks quite right. I think it's just me though. I don't think I would have made a very good French person. I think it's the style of hat more than anything that isn't working for me. Oh well.
Feeling confident in my newly acquired hat making skillz, though, I attempted another hat, and (I think) achieved great success!
This is the Button-Tab Hat, a free Rav pattern, and it was very easy to knit. Seriously, why haven't I been knitting hats this whole time?
I knit this up to go with some fingerless gloves that my mom had made for me for Christmas.
She'd given me her leftover yarn to make a matching hat and scarf (!!!!!), and I still have enough left to do just that. Yay! Just what I need, another scarf. Actually, I think I might try cables with this scarf. I've never done cables, but shoot if I can do hats and socks, I can do cables.
I'm off to find a cute cable scarf pattern! I will have another blog later this week with a recipe that I promise you won't want to miss!
I've been gone for long, long times. I know this. And I am sorry. I've been busy. Working, and sleeping. Pretty much in that order, over and over again. The sad truth is that after 10 weeks off, it's taken me about 4 weeks to get back into the swing of things and not feel like I need a 40 minute nap every day when I get home from school. I mean, I still take one, but now I don't feel like I "need" it, you know?
So anyway, all that napping has given me lots of energy to do some knitting! I have found some cute little Christmas patterns to knit this year for gifts, and though I can't post pictures of them here (oh, who am I fooling? does anyone really read this blog anymore or am I just tooting my own horn?), I can assure you that they are super adorable and have been well received by both myself and Sam, who chewed up my prototype. Bad Sam!
Oh who the hell am I kidding? I can't even pretend to be mad at this dog.
I was stash diving the other day to see if I had any orange yarn (a hint!!! one of my Christmas crafts involves orange yarn!), which as it turns out I did not, but I found this bad boy in my stash and got all excited.
This, my friends, is my hank of Farmhouse Yarns I am Allergic to Wool. I have had this yarn in my stash for about a year and a half. Sometimes I would take it out and touch it or smell it. In a completely non-yarn-porn kind of way, of course. I bought it because I fell in love with it in the LYS, and I had no idea what I would do with it. I figured maybe a garter stitch scarf, since that's what becomes of 87% of my yarn.
Well, the other day I got this hank out and it spoke to me. It told me it wanted to be a hat. But not just any hat. No, it wanted to be a super-simple fast and easy chunky hand-knit beret, pattern courtesy of Crazy Aunt Purl. I've been wanting to try this pattern for awhile, and I reviewed it, decided I could do it (once I'd purchased size 13 DPNS), realized that this yarn was chunky (which the pattern calls for) and decided to go for it.
It's a really easy pattern, and it was (can you believe this?) my very first hat knit in the round. I've made plenty of hats on my Knifty Knitter, and I've even made a dozen or so baby hats on straights, but I have never knit a hat in the round. Socks? Yes. But for some reason I thought a hat would be hard. I was wrong. This pattern couldn't have been easier. I got it done in 2 days, and would have done it faster if I hadn't had to go buy new needles. The yarn is fabulous. Love love.
So why, in the name of all that is holy and woolen, did it turn out like this?
GINORMOUS. This picture doesn't even do the largeness of this hat justice. It's huge. It actually hangs down over my eyes. I just pushed it back for the picture. And let's not talk about my hair, ok? I am getting it done on Saturday and it can't come soon enough. It is out of control. My hair that is. AND the hat. There is nothing good on my head these days.
I am a knitter, but also somewhat of a perfectionist. A wee bit anal, if you will. I have, however, somewhat, on some level, come to terms with the fact that knitting is an art, not a science, and it's not always going to turn out exactly how you had planned it, or how you'd hoped it would. This isn't the first time I've knit something that didn't turn out. See: Sunday Market Shawl.
So no big deal, right? Wrong. This yarn was $30. Yes, that's right. $30. For one hank of it. That is not a small amount. I am a cheap, cheap lady. And I want to get my money's worth out of this yarn. This hat will not do.
If you click on the link to CAP's pattern above, you can see pictures of her hats that turned out super cute, and what it's supposed to look like. Mine looks like a giant mushroom cap. What went wrong? Who knows. I used the correct needle size, so I know it can't be that. Possibly the yarn was TOO chunky. Perhaps I am too "loose" a knitter. I don't know. But here is what I do know. I am knitting this hat over again. I am going to frog it and re-do with smaller needles. I will not rest until my super simple fast and easy chunky hand knit beret (anyone else think that's too long a name for a pattern? love you, CAP, but it's too long. too long.) is perfect. Just to clarify, though, when I say I won't rest, what I mean is that I won't rest ABOVE and BEYOND my 9 hours of sleep a night and daily 40 minute after school nap.
The Cowboy, upon seeing my hat and choosing to always look on the bright side, pointed out to me that all I needed were some fake dreads and a Bob Marley CD and Poof! I have a Halloween costume. That is why I love him.
It's been 3 weeks since my last post, and I have been in 1 giant funk lately. You know, the kind of funk where you put on Iron & Wine and listen to it on repeat like 3,478 times.
I love me some I&W, but it's not exactly feel good music, you know?
I don't have any reason to be in the funk, I've been off work for 7 weeks, and have 3 more to go before I have to go back. I have 2 vacations coming up. Michigan next week, and PaloDuroCanyon the week after that. But you may have noticed that I've been noticeably absent from my blog. I've been doing plenty of reading, but 0 knitting this summer.
Needing to snap out of it, I've come up with a guaranteed mathematical equation that is fail proof and will work every time. Feel free to apply this formula to your own life, should you find that you need a little defunkifying. And you're welcome.
1 Girls Night Out with my friend Megan. Dinner, margaritas, a movie and numerous laughs. Works every time. (You'll need to find your own friend, though. Megan is not for rent.)
2 viewings of The Hangover. Once was funny, twice was more funnier. If this movie doesn't make you laugh, probably you are dead inside and should go listen to your Iron & Wine and wallow in your tiny black hole and lay on your pile of dirty clothes.
3 books purchased. Hey, you all know my motto. It's "You can never have enough wine". That doesn't pertain to this, but I stand by it all the same. If I could have another motto, it would be something about buying books when you're down. I've really cut back on my book buying the past year or so, but sometimes desperate times call for desperate book buying.
3 viewings of Twilight in as many days. I might be slightly obsessed. But Lord help me, Edward cheers me up. One of these days I'm going to learn how to use PhotoShop (right after I finish that Time Machine, find the cure for Aids, and win the lottery) and figure out how to super impose my face over Kristen Stewart's. I would smile a lot more than she does too. I mean, hello? What on earth do you have to be so damn glum and gloomy about, Bella? Do you not see the fine specimen standing next to you? Show some respect.
1 baby calf (is that redundant?) fed. Hey, if feeding a baby farm animal doesn't cheer you up, I don't know what will. And ok, the truth is that I was terrified of the cow (whose name, coincidentally, is Bella), and spent most of my time feeding her backing away and crying for my mommy, but in the picture I look like I know what I'm doing, so that's the official story.
Also, do we like my new dress? Or do we think it makes me look slightly like a baby cow? Jury is still out.
1FO! What? A FO? Yes! A FO! I actually knit for the first time all summer yesterday, and managed to finish this scarf. Never you mind that I started it 6 months ago and it was almost finished. Never you mind that it's garter stitch and required no thought whatsoever. Never you mind that it's 105 degrees outside and I have no need for a scarf. Small victories, ok? I'm taking them where I can get them. It felt so good to feel the yarn in my fingers again. I'd forgotten how therapeutic knitting can be.
Also, I'd like to formally apologize to DaisyMum, winner of my blogiversary contest, who has yet to receive her socks. I have no excuse for my laziness. The first sock is done, and the second one is the next project I'm going to CO for.
105 hugs given to Sam. This number is an approximation, as I was not keeping a tally. This dog is good for very few things. She eats trash, and spills her water all over the place, and chases the cats, not to mention eats the cat poop, and she barks in the middle of the night sometimes for no reason, and she licks the pillows on the bed so when we get in bed at night our pillows are soaking wet, and she smells, and she stands RIGHT BEHIND you when you're cooking to try and catch any spare bit of food that may go flying (even cabbage) causing you to step on her almost constantly, and she hogs the bed, and she leaves her toys everywhere so that you are always tripping or rolling over them, and she follows you into the bathroom so that you can't even get a moment of privacy to do your business. I'm telling you, this dog isn't winning any awards or contests. But, the one thing this dog is good for is squeezing, hugging, snuggling and kissing. She will curl up right on top of you, spooning up next to you and just lay there and let you pet her. It's one of the only times she is calm, and also one of the only times she's not getting on my last good nerve.
Don't let this picture fool you. She cute, but she naughty.
And finally, if all else should fail, I've got the piece de resistance (and if I knew how to type accents, that would have them, so please just imagine them there)....
7, the number of times I watched this video (no joke, I really watched it that many times), although it sufficiently cheered me up after only 1 viewing. If you haven't seen this video yet - what, do you live under a rock? - you should take the 5 minutes and watch it. It's awesome. It gave me chills and brought a happy tear to my eye.
That concludes my defunkifying formula, but I have some more numbers to throw atcha. 3 - number of blogs I have pre-written and floating around in my head. I will try to get them down and out sooner rather than later. 4 - number of days until I leave for Dallas for a few days to hang with my cousins before departing for Michigan. 6 - number of days until I see the "new" Harry Potter movie with my girl Chicken. It's been torture waiting this long, but I know it will all be worth it! 47 - my excitement level, on a scale of 1-10, about the movie. 19 - the number of pretzels I ate while composing this blog.
I've been busy being the crafty bitch that I am. Christy and I are taking another sewing class, and we are for sure getting our money's worth this time around. The instructor is nicer, more organized and less crazy. Things I look for in a teacher. We're making pajama pants, and I don't have a picture to show you just yet, but they will be done next week and I will post one then.
In the meantime, I've really gotten a lot more comfortable with my sewing machine. I made another bag:
I finally figured out that apron pattern:
And then I really outdid myself. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this idea, and I know my sewing leaves a lot to be desired, but I made some of these fabulous burp cloths for a friend of mine who needed a baby gift:
How cute are those?? I am telling you, my arm is sore from patting myself on the back.
I've also been knitting. Not a sweater, if that's what you're thinking. I know I keep promising and saying I'm going to knit that damn sweater, and I did cast on for it, but it's quite a conundrum and I just can't motivate myself to knit it. It doesn't help that it's already hotter than balls down here in Texas and it seems wrong to knit a sweater.
So instead I've been knitting socks. Naturally. Because that makes perfect sense!
The pattern has little holes in the leg (you can see them in the picture below), and when I showed them to The Cowboy, he said "wow you sure made a lot of mistakes on those". I had to explain that sometimes holes are part of the design. It goes against his beliefs to have holes in his socks.
Anyway the holes are pretty small, and the pattern was easy to work (I bought it at Bluebonnet) and I would for sure make them again, but I'd make them longer next time.
I'll be keeping those socks, but the pair I'm currently working on are for my blog contest winner, Daisy Mum! Here's a sneak preview (and I actually have a lot more done now, but don't have a picture to show):
I am really digging the way the yarn is knitting up into cool little stripes and stuff. I'm using Knit Picks Essential Multi Sock Yarn in Meadow, and I will for sure make myself a pair with this yarn after I finish this pair. I hope Daisy Mum likes them!
Speaking of blog contests, I will be hosting another one this week for my upcoming birthday! So stay tuned for a good contest and a GREAT story. You're not gonna want to miss it!
