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.

Freshness

Look! The first sign of spring has sprung at our house! I came home from work today and found not 1 but 2 daffodils had bloomed! So exciting. It was nearly 80 degrees today and beautiful. I'm sorry for you if you live in a cold climate. You should probably move to Texas, where the flowers bloom in February and people, such as myself, wear flip flops to work.

Now then, on to the important business. The reason I know you've all tuned in today.

I have lots to say. First, I'd like to preface all my Idol commentary by saying that I didn't watch ANY Hollywood week shows, and I only saw a few audition shows. So most of the people I saw last night, and presumably in future shows, are fresh to my eyes and ears. I don't know their sob stories. I don't know much about them. I know what I saw and heard last night. And let me tell you. In some cases, it was not good. Not good.

And so I will begin. I will take them in the order they came last night and I will give you my candid, unscripted thoughts. If you don't agree with me, I'm sorry. Start your own blog. Feel free to express any opinions in my comments section.

Jackie Tohn (A Little Less Conversation) - Her singing was not good, but that's beside the point as far as I'm concerned. Freddy Mercury called and wants those pants back. They were the worst things I've ever seen. I wish I had a picture to go along with this, but I couldn't find one, and I didn't look very hard. However in my notes from last night I have the following written next to her name: pants - NO NO NO. Someone needs to throw those pants away, and while they're a it, grab her dad's hat and toss it with them. Freddy and Elvis are turning over in their graves, I'm sure. Her performance was annoying, her dance moves were ridiculous, and her belt and shoes don't even deserve mention. In summary, I did not like this chick. At all.

Ricky Braady (A Song For You) - AKA "Ears". Listen, when Idol is young and there are still a lot on contestants, I need nicknames to help me remember who is who. This guy is Ears. And I'm pretty sure Ears won't be around after tonight, so I don't feel bad not remembering his name. Or his performance. During the replay of the evening (at the end of the show), I thought it didn't sound as bad as when I heard it the first time around, but still I thought he was forgettable. I don't think he stands out, vocally or personality-wise, and at this early stage, that's a lot of what gets you through to the next round. I did appreciate the fact that he was rocking the velvet jacket, though. Thumbs up for that, Ears.

Alexis Grace (Never Loved a Man) - For starters, I'm not a fan of the pink hair, generally speaking, but hey, it makes her stand out, and because of that I'm not going to comment on her outfit, which I also did not find appropriate, except for in the boudoir. Appearances aside, however, I am a big fat sucker for a bluesy, gritty, soulful white girl voice, and this chick had it. She is a little thing with a big voice, and I thought her singing was great. I will go ahead and say that I think she was the best female vocal of the evening and based strictly on that, she should advance. I'm not sure she will, though.

Brent Keith (Hicktown) - "Dimples". Hey, I want to live the country boy. I want to like the guy with the dimples and the cute smile. I want to like him, he seems like a nice guy. But is performance was just OK. Not bad, not at all. But not great either. Very unoriginal, very much like the radio version of that song. I'm not saying this guy wouldn't make a good artist, but for American Idol, he just doesn't stand out. Sorry Dimples. I tried.

Stevie Wright (You Belong With Me) - Going into Tuesday's performances, Stevie was one of the people I had seen in auditions, and knew that I liked. I like a young girl who isn't all made up and malllish and can sing. I like that she was named after Stevie Nicks. I like that she doesn't have a big head about her yet. I was really pulling for this girl. In my notes about her, I composed a little poem (unintentionally). It goes like this: bad bad bad, not good. so sad. Who the hell let her pick that song? Who heard her rehearsing that and let her get on stage with it? It didn't suit her, she couldn't sing it well, it was too young for her, I don't care how old she is. Her voice is better than that song. I am really disappointed by her performance. Syonara, Stevie.

Anoop Desai (Angel of Mine) - Noop Dog. I will level with you. If I had to pick an American Idol right now, based on whatever criteria I choose, I will choose the Noopster. I love him. And I think it's high time that he have an Indian American Idol. And that mangina Sanjaya doesn't count. Sure, his performance last night wasn't all that great. But it wasn't BAD. It just didn't show his vocal range and personality as good as some of his earlier songs had. Such as the 1989 Bobby Brown cult-classic "My Prerogative". But you know what? It was Noopy's prerogative to sing whatever he wanted to sing last night. He can live his life. No one can tell him what to do. Cause what he be doing, he's doing for you.

Casey Carlson (Every Little Thing She Does is Magic) - AKA "Amy Winehouse Hair". She's not sporting it in the above pic, but she was last night. You know what else she was sporting last night? Porn face. Seriously, did you see some of the looks on her face while she was singing? Painful. I didn't care for her performance, but I will say that at times, I could hear a bit of a good voice peeking through her shit bag of a song. No disrespect to Sir Sting and The Police.

Michael Sarver (I Don't Wanna Be) - Another early favorite of mine, and I don't feel like he fell flat on his ass like Stevie did. I thought some of the judges were a bit rough on him, and that he rocked the song out, he connected with it, and it was a solid, good performance. I think he's gotten enough air time, and has a certain like-ability about him, that he may be able to pull through a pass to the next round, but his vocals surely weren't the best of the evening. Also, he's from Texas. So I gotta root for the local boy.

Ann Marie Boskovich (Natural Woman) - I liked this girl from the auditions. I think she's really beautiful, and though I'm not a lesbian, I would like to kiss her a little bit. I'm only half joking. I was disappointed in her performance, mostly because I felt like that song was way too big for her voice. She has a nice voice. She should have picked a song that suited it better. Ann Marie, if things don't work out, call me.

Stephen Fowler (Rock With You) - A brother can't get a break. I thought the judges were way too hard on him. Ok I will admit that his song choice had a lot to do with why I loved it so much. Ok I will admit that while he was singing, I was waving my hands in the air, a la Paula Abdul. I am a sucker for some old school Michael Jackson. But also I didn't think his performance was "corny" as Simon said. I do think this guy is a soulful singer, and hope in the future he chooses better songs that showcase that. But I was a fan of this performance.

Tatiana Del Toro (Saving All My Love For You) - Does anyone actually like this girl? I mean seriously. Besides her parents and those two yahoos she paid to pretend to be her friends last night. Does anyone in America really like her? Will anyone vote for her? It matters not whether she can sing (which she both can and can't, she's inconsistent), because she's totally completely over the top annoying and obnoxious. Haven't we all, as a people, learned our lessons about picking Whitney Houston songs? You don't do it. You leave well enough alone. I can't imagine anyone will vote for her. I really can't.

Danny Gokey (Hero) - Is this the guy whose wife died? Is this the guy I'm supposed to feel sorry for? Really, if his wife did die, I do feel bad for him. I'm honestly wondering. Is this him? I don't know. I thought he was the best male vocal of the evening, and I hate that song. HATE IT. But he broke it down. This kid can sing.

So, my picks to advance would be (based on performances and best vocals): Pink Hair, Dead Wife and Noop Dog. I wish I could pick more, but if I have to choose 3, I choose them.

I'd like to add at this point, that I wrote all of the above earlier in the day and didn't get a chance to post. Idol has since aired. I have not seen it, and do not know the results. I will go review the DVR as soon as I hit publish.

Until next week.....

Who, me?

I know, I know. I haven't been here for you. And you're upset. You're sad. You're feeling empty. Alone. Disappointed. Well, you shouldn't rely on a blog to give you so much reassurance for crying out loud. Ok really, I'm sorry. I know I've been MIA, and the truth is that I don't even have a good excuse. I've just been....BLAH. Truth is, I think I've come down with a bad case of the S.A.D. You know, the Seasonal Affective Disorder. And even that, though honest, is not a good excuse because the weather here hasn't been awful. It's been OK. A little chilly, a few days with some ice on my car, but let's face it. I don't have it bad compared to those poor bastards I call "family" who live in Michigan and have to deal with snow every other day and temperatures that drop below 0 and stay there for a few days in a row.



So really, what I'm trying to say is, I'm lazy. I didn't have anything to blog about and even if I did, I didn't feel like blogging. But just so you don't feel left out of the loop of my life, here is a quick run-down of the goings-on for the past few weeks. This is in no particular order.



- signed up for a sewing class


- signed up for a book club


- got my hair done (and my hairdresser did NOT talk to me about politics this time, thank you very much)


- bought some clearance shoes at Target for $6.00


- had a huge, painful zit on my chin and asked God why the zits couldn't end when my adolescence did


- ate an ice cream sandwich for breakfast


- tried a new dinner at Taco Night (Enchiladas Blancas) and regretted it.....for a long time.....later that evening.....


- knitted the same scarf for the past 4 weeks; seriously, a simple garter stitch scarf; am totally burnt out on knitting


- went to a wine store/tasting with a friend and her 6 month old baby; got looked at funny.


- ate at the new Carl's Jr. restaurant by our house 3 times


- fell out of a folding chair while cleaning a book shelf; bruise leg bad; hurt to walk for several days

So as you can see, you haven't missed much.

Now here's the good news. I always start my new year's resolutions on February 1st. I don't really feel like explaining WHY right now, but it has to do with the fact that January 1st is when everyone else does it, and there's so much pressure on that date, and I just don't like it. So....... that means several things. First, my sweater, obviously. I made a trip to the yarn store today, and it was not very productive. Details to follow in another blog.

Second, a new weekly feature I will have on my blog pertaining to......drum roll please.....American Idol!!!! I'm not ashamed. I love it. And Hollywood week is upon us, and then the finals, which I love. So every week I will give my Weekly Recap of All Things Idol. This is a carry over from an Idol e-mail group that I started several years ago that consists of some friends and family members who all enjoy the Idol. This way, I figure, everyone can enjoy my witty observations.

I have to go now. Writing this blog has really taken it out of me. But I promise to be here more for you now, in the days ahead.

Knitting Help!

I had about 3 more "Michigan" blogs in my head that I intended to write, but I will be honest with you. I'm lazy. I got sick. I started a new job. And I just don't feel like it. I realized I needed to blog, and this is what I wanted to blog about, so here it is.

For Christmas, The Cowboy bought me a $50 gift certificate to my LYS, and it's been burning a hole in my pocket. I've had it for about 3 weeks now and that's the longest any gift certificate (yarn or otherwise) has gone without being spent. I can't take it any more!!!

The reason for my restraint is a good one, though. One of my new year's resolutions (ok, really, my only new year's resolution) is to.........drum roll please......knit...........myself..........a.......... sweater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Given the number of (!) exclamation points above, I'm sure you can sense my enthusiasm, and realize that this will in fact be my first sweater, and really my first "big" project (unless you count socks, which of course are not big in size, but are no small feat to knit).

And so, with my yarn store gift certificate, my resolve to knit a sweater, AND the fact that my mom bought me a box of sweater patterns for Christmas, the deed is upon me, and I need your help.

I've narrowed down the sweaters in the pattern box (which included one heinous Cosby-esque sweater that I kind of want to knit for fun out of Red Heart or something) to 5, which I will now present to you via photograph, and I will ask that you, oh faithful and loyal readers of my blog, help me decide which sweater to knit. For actual knitters, I ask that you take into consideration the fact that I've never knit a sweater (seems), and my budget when buying yarn (the gift certificate, plus I can throw in maybe $30 of my own money). For all you non-knitters, you can use any criteria you want when judging. I don't care.

Just weigh in, let me know which one you think I should do and why, and then I will decide, buy the yarn, and be on my way.

Let's meet the contestants. (and yes I know the picture quality isn't the greatest, just roll with me people)

The "Graceful Shell". A bit dressy, looks like a shimmery sort of yarn. No cables or anything too difficult looking, and a nice scoop neck.

The "Braided Shell" with a big cable in the front, ribbing at the sleeves and a turtle neck.
The "Grape Seed Jacket" which, were I to make it, would be another color besides grape. With a pointed color, seed stitch pattern and pockets. Also, is this a little teacher/spinster librarian/old ladyish? Or does anyone else love it like I do?

The "Summer Sun Tank". Pretty basic, very simple, and honestly, probably would be the easiest one for me to knit. But do I love it? I don't know.

The "Pockets and Ribs" - hey the name says it all here, eh? Except that I would definitely use another color. Pink and I do not see eye to eye.

So there you have them. Which one do you like? Once I make my decision I will let you guys know, and post my progress on the blog so you can all share in my victory, or defeat, of my First Sweater! Thanks for your input!

Winter Wonderland

Yes, I realize it's long past Christmas. And technically, here in Austin, today it's 75 degrees. But since a week ago I was freezing my butt off in Michigan, and I haven't blogged in nearly 2 weeks, I reserve the right to use the above title.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that jazz. I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Mine was great. I feel like I don't even know where to begin to blog in order to try and catch everyone up with what's been going on. And then I decided I don't really care, I'm just gonna go for it. So up first is all the winter fun The Cowboy and I had in Michigan.

Let me begin by saying that we drove up in 1 day - 22 hours to be exact - only stopping to eat, pee, and get gas. Sometimes all in one stop. The Cowboy, God Bless him, drove all but 5 hours of that journey, and those 5 hours really wiped me out. I'm a wimp. Anyway, we didn't have ANY inclement weather or bad weather on the journey up (or home, for that matter). It was a completely uneventful trip, except that I was actually able to knit for quite sometime and ordinarily, I can't knit (or read) in a moving vehicle. So that was quite an accomplishment for me.

I digress. We didn't hit snow until about Toledo, which is about 40 minutes from my mom's house. Now let me tell you that the way my mom, my aunts, cousins and friends were talking, I was expecting to hit blizzards in Kentucky. Not so much. A little dusting of snow in Dayton, OH, but otherwise no snow until we hit Michigan for the most part.

But then, when we hit Michigan,.....oh boy.

Snow galore. Inches and inches of it.

Here's Lloyd, atop a mound of snow on a table on my mom's deck.

And it continued to snow the day we got there. The roads were awful. Snow was everywhere. What do you do when you're from Texas and you go up to Michigan and you are surrounded by more snow than you've ever seen before?

Why, you build a snowman. Of course.

I've never seen The Cowboy so excited. Me? Eh. I could take it or leave it. It was fun for 10 minutes. But The Cowboy, being from Texas, had to have a BIG GIANT Snowman. Because everything is bigger in Texas, and he wanted that rule to apply to his snowman. I got bored. Fast. And cold.

So I took lots of breaks.

But The Cowboy's snowman-shaping technique was sloppy, so I had to step in and assist.

Lloyd, I'd like to mention, was no help whatsoever. He was busy making snow-gnome-angels.

We both look like idiots in this one.

Our efforts paid off. Introducing......

Arnold. I don't know why we named him that, but we did, and it stuck. Arnold and Lloyd.

The whole fam.

I loved Arnold. He was a great and loyal snowman. For 3 days. And then, tragedy struck.

Ah, what are you gonna do?