Saturday, January 27, 2007

SP9

I'm a little worried that my secret pal has forgotten about me. I was late responding to a couple of emails she sent me last month. I did respond eventually, and I haven't heard from her at all since the beginning of January.

So... Secret Pal: If you are out there and trying to contact me via email, please comment on my blog. I'll try to figure out if there's something wrong with the email.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

PICTURES!!!!

Yeah!!! A humongous post filled with lots and lots of pictures. For my deprived friends who are still suffering from dial-up, my condolences. Go fix yourself a cup of tea, bake some cookies, take a nap. I'll still be here. Probably still loading.

Back? OK... now on with the post.

I finally got around to getting batteries in my camera. I also finally got around to having some time off work. Both of these events occurred AT THE SAME TIME!!! I've been working mucho overtime, and haven't been getting much sleep the days that I work. It's been nuts. I have had to come home and sleep for about 4-6 hours every morning that I have come home. Hence, nothing gets done around here.

Why have I been working such crazy hours? Well, we are short-staffed. And, my dryer died. Not broken. Broken can be fixed. Technically, so could my dryer, but the guy from the appliance-fixing place says it won't do any good. It's 40-years-old and the motor is gone. So, we are taking the buy-out from the home-warranty (a measly $120). We are going to buy a new dryer. And hopefully a new washer. Might as well be a matched set. This is the one that I want. In red. Maybe blue. This is what gets me through the long hours at work. This is what keeps me awake at 4 in the morning while driving back from Chicago. I'm pathetic.

OK, so on to the more interesting stuff. You didn't wait all this time for these pictures to load so I could talk about how much I want a new washer, right? Right! (NOTE: I was going to divide this into a couple of separate posts so you aren't stuck reading for ages on end. But who knows when I will have the time or the inclination to actually get all this blogging done. So, you're stuck with the whole kit and caboodle... it's at the end.)

So, for Christmas/Yule, my parents got me a gift card for JoAnn's. I think I was supposed to use it to buy the swift that I have been wanting for oh-so-very-long. However, there are a lot of things in this world that I want, especially when I have a gift card and a 50%-off-one-item coupon. I did not get the swift. Instead I got these:



Yes, those are knitting needles. Clover bamboo needles in a variety of sizes. I figured they would be good to learn on. And if I don't like knitting, I'm pretty sure that Greg will be more than happy to take them off my hands. He was practically drooling over them. Not the ugly tapestry holder they came in. Definitely need to replace that. Got any ideas, Ms. Molly? :-)

I also bought a pattern for a Christening gown that I am going to look at modifying. Unfortunately, they did not put the pattern in any sort of graphic form, so I don't know how to change the filet crochet bits from hearts and roses to pentacles and runes. But it looks fairly straitforward, so it gives me something to start with.

And, I got an S hook. "S" is for speedy! :-) This thing is frickin' huge. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to make with it, but I had to have it anyway. Apparently, I can make a scarf in an hour with this thing. How cool is that? Never have to worry about last-minute gifts again!

Speaking of gifts... I have pictures of many of the presents that I made during my "down-time" at the end of last year. The first picture is stuff I made for Kris and Kid. The Pixie slippers I made by modifying this pattern. I'm not happy with the bells. I tried a gazillion times to get them in the center of the toe. But, for some reason, they didn't want to be there. The scarf came from my most favoritest crochet book. I used some of the alpaca I got from my SP9 pal. It was very soft and cuddly. I almost didn't want to give it away. I have enought left over to make another scarf, though. :-)



This is DEB! Half of Deb-and-Suzanne. She's the half that isn't addicted to yarn. And she is wearing the now-infamous cammo-hat. I think she looks adorable... kind of like she's hunting stuffed bunnies. What a sport!


Here is one potholder I have made for my friend Jen. Notice that you cannot click on her name. This is because she doesn't blog. She doesn't even have inner-webz. She is living in the dark ages. But she will be so very fashionable and hip if I ever get around to making the second potholder and gifting it to her.


And these are generic hats and a scarf I have made for my brother and sister-in-law. One of these days I will get around to making the scarf for my brother. I have too many other things to worry about right now. Of course, I could use my new S-hook and have one done in an hour...hmmmm....


Next, we have Morganna modeling a shawl I made for my mother. She recently went on a cruise and wanted me to make her a shawl that she could wear with a black dress. Well, the pattern that she picked was a pain-in-the-arse, and I had way too much trouble with it. Instead, she got a very larg half-granny-square made from the recycled sari yarn I bought on Ebay ages ago. See! I'm using some of this stash that I thought I would never use!


Now we have come to the stuff I am sending to my secret pal in Germany. Because of my end-of-the-year drama, I didn't get a package sent to her in December. So, I am sending oodles of stuff out tomorrow. The picture shows the Pixie slippers I made her, along with 3 little cat toys (with catnip inside!) I made for her kitties.


The cat toys were a challenge. Not only did I have to figure out the pattern for a ball on my own, but I had to keep them away from my beasts. The first one that I made disappeared from my yarn tote in the middle of the night. I have since seen it in odd places, like under the bed, in-between couch cushions, near the food bowl. I figure they deserve to get the first toy their meowmie makes.

Here's most of the rest of the goodies (I'm also baking some homemade corn meal cookies):


The jar-thing that looks like a sugar server is a soy candle that smells like cinnamon buns... or some such baked good. In all honesty, all candles that smell like cookies or cakes or what-have-you smell the same to me. They smell like sugar, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon. Every one of them.

Here's a close-up of the yarn that's heading to Germany:

The pink Cherry Hill sock yarn is so soft and silky. Makes me wish I was making socks! The red, white, and bluse yarn is self-striping sock yarn that Greg had used to make me socks. I figured it would be something different that she wouldn't get in Germany. And it makes very pretty sock, too. See for yourself:

Those are the socks that Greg made for me for Yule. They are great. Warm and colorful, and I got so many compliments from people who saw them. Not bad for his first pair of sock, no?

And here is the last yarn-related picture, my yarn-tote WIP:


It looks huge, but it's going to be felted, so it will shrink. Hopefully. I have just a couple more rows of the heart left, then it's pretty much half-double crochets. 30 more for the front. I'm thinking maybe 5-8 for the bottom. Then a gazillion for the back. I'm making pocketed sides for holding needles and assorted tools. And a couple of straps. I might finish it before the end of February. My goal is Valentine's Day. I think it would be a nice gift... you know, with the heart and everything.

And because he insisted:

This is Zorro cuddling with his pretend girlfriend. It's a microfiber stuffed kitty that vibrates. My mother bought it for me thinking I could use it on my lower back. Zorro confiscated it.

I actually do have another cat. KC just never holds still long enough to have her picture taken. So Morganna and Zorro get all the online love.

And finally... for the couple of you out there who don't know what I look like... or those of you who have never seen me dressed up:


Occasionally, I do get out of jeans and t-shirts and spend the few minutes to do my make-up. This is me at my company's holiday party. Many people didn't recognize me out of my sexy uniform. I even had a few people tell me I looked cute. I was cheesing most of the night from it!

OK... all done. get up, move around. Get some circulation flowing back into your ass. I'll try to get some more posted early next week. I'm not sure what I will post, but I'm sure it will be interesting!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Ummmm.... yeah

So I never got around to posting the pics I have promised for so long. My batteries in my camera are dead and we haven't had the money to replace them. Yes, I know that batteries aren't that expensive, but I missed almost three weeks of work. It's on my mega-grocery list for tomorrow, so I will try to get them posted tomorrow night before I fall asleep.

I'm also going to take pictures of my current WIP. The yarn tote for Greg. I am so proud of myself for the way it is turning out. I'm almost finished with the lettering... then it will be a million rows of half-double crochets, a couple of straps, 2 sides, and some sewing. I'm almost done! :-)

I will also have some pics of some items I recently bought from JoAnn's with my Christmas gift card. I am very excited. One of my three readers has a clue as to what it is, but I'm keeping it a secret from all the rest of you. All two of you. :-)

OK, I need some sleep, and my carpal tunnel is flaring up. Take care!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Happy New Year!

OK... it's a few days into the new year. I've been busy.

I am waiting to post pictures because I need to get pics from the people I gifted the FOs to. Bad, bad hooker. Didn't take before pictures. Coming soon. I promise!

Right now I am working on a very ambitious project. I am making a project tote for the hubby, using this in the pattern. I've already frogged it a half dozen times. I might finish it in the coming year.

I also finally bought Stitch & Bitch. I'm thinking about learning to knit. It makes me feel like a lemming. I'm going to finish a couple of projects that are in the works before attempting a new hobby, though.

And finally, I thought I would share my new year's resolution. I've only made one. I plan on getting my stash organized this year. I'm honestly not even sure how much yarn I have or what kinds. It's getting out of control. KMart has a sale one plastic storage drawers. I'm getting a few this weekend and will start the organization process this weekend (or next).

OK... I have to get to bed. Later, everyone!