9.26.2005

Back in the saddle...

Whew! I thought the past week was never going to end. Between chem homework, hurricanes (everybody's safe and accounted for! YAY!), and pets it was a little bonkers.

So about this puppy-- Atari came to live with us for two days last week. She's a wonderful dog. I walked her on the leash, she only had one accident because she wasn't sure at first which door to go to if she wanted out, and she's so lovey. It just turns out she's not a wonderful dog for us. Within the first 24 hours our cat went on a hunger strike, the bunny tore up her "house", Atari knocked me down and I sprained my ankle... it was bad news bears and it just kept getting worse. Dan and I decided it was best if we gave Atari back to Mark and Lisa. They really missed her and our little family doesn't seem to be able to handle a puppy right now. I'm pretty sad about it all, but I guess it worked out for the best. Or atleast I'll keep telling myself that so I don't pout about it.

In much, much happier news: I've started my elfing. Yes, that means purchasing loads of yarn on Ebay and figuring out what to make for everybody that gets a custom made yuletide goodie. I snagged TONS of beautiful recycled sari silk yarn. We're talking like 35 skeins for under $100, fellow yarn freaks. You can't beat that with a stick, lemme tell ya. Some of this will be knit up into throws (5 skeins per throw!), some will be woven into a shawl, and some will get knitted up as a scarf or bag. And I scored a great reclaimed turquoise angora/cashmere blend yarn. This will probably be woven, too. I have lots of ideas up my sleeve, I just need time to sit down and draft my plans.

Right now I have plain weave shawls on the loom - 8/4 rayon warp, chenille weft. I grabbed and end from every color of rayon I had on a cone to wind the warp, so it's super colorful. I wanted them to be really plush, but with the fat chenille you can't really see the colors in the warp, so I had to use skinny chenille. Half way done with one shawl, so hopefully by the end of the week I'll have something finished to show !

Also still plugging away at Gina's Vintage Velvet. Don't worry Gina, I didn't forget ya :) And I've been putting together my SP's goodies for BackTackII, just can't decide on a pattern to use for her bag. I'm leaning towards an Amy Butler pattern because it's big, but not too tote-ish. Suggestions welcome, seeing as I have 2 yds of outside fabric and liner that have yet to be ironed!

9.19.2005

Decision Day.

So Dan and I met this awesome couple this weekend - Lisa and Mark. Mark is in Dan's project group and is doing the music for the video game they're making. Mark and Lisa are looking for a home for their adorable puppy, Atari (yes--the guys Dan works with are that addicted to video games that they name their pets after them. Vic and Christy's dog is named Koopa after Super Mario Bros. I'm surprised our pets got normal names at this point.). Atari looks like a black lab, but she's tiny. Like up to my knees tiny. And she's got itty bitty little feets, so we don't think she's going to get much bigger. I really want a dog to go do outdoorsy things with, but at the same time I feel really worn out after school/work somedays. And Dan doesn't want to have anything to do with the dog care-wise... so it would be my dog. Lisa brought Atari over last night and she hung out with us for a bit. She's super quiet, loves people, knows 'sit' for the most part, is crate trained and Lisa got her housebroken in just a week! It's unbelievable how wonderful this dog is. I'm just torn because I don't want to be a bad puppy mommy and have poor little Atari pouting while I'm in class and I want to help Lisa and Mark out. If we take Atari then they can come and see her and Atari will still get to play with Koopa from across the street.

Any suggestions? I have to call Lisa tonight and let her know... :
This is for Lee Anne: more Jones Halloween sodas!

9.16.2005

Silence is Golden

Or just a sign of laziness, depends on how you look at it. ;) Three weeks of school down, something like 13 more weeks left to go.

My foray back into quilting started out very well. All of my fabric was ironed and pieces were cut. I even got a nicer sewing machine just for the purposes of making X-mas presents (it has ETS! no more threading by hand... YAY!). But alas, my machine piecing is gradually getting worse and worse. My quarter-inch seams are lovely, but somehow a bazillionth of an inch here and there made the middle rows of small blocks longer than the big blocks of the evil Zipper quilt. Don't get me wrong, I love the colors and everything. One day it will grow up to be a gorgeous quilt. But right now it's pushin' my buttons, damnit! Not cool. And I'm just anal enough to want to grab my stitch ripper and redo those little blocks. Think maybe I'll sleep on it and decide in the morning. But I don't see how else to be happy with it in the end if I don't. Ugh. Pictures tomorrow after I figure out what to do.

In the realm of too-bad-so-sad things: Spike bit the big fishhook in the sky this week. And Lucy is in mourning. She sits on top of the cabinets and looks where his bowl used to be. I think she thought he was a toy... she'd curl up around his bowl and poke at him. Never tried to eat him, just smush him through the glass. So now Lucy pouts on top of every piece of cardboard she can find. No joke. Cardboard box, cardboard thingy that came in the mail, box of food... just curls up and sticks her chin out like a little kid. Poor kitty.

9.09.2005

Mischief

This is what happens when you let me run wild in the clearance section at Target. I end up with a Dymo label maker.
And this is what happens when an organization freak gets a label maker.

9.08.2005

Lotsa Schtuff

So this one will be even more picture heavy than my last post... if that's possible.

This weekend Gina's Vintage Velvet scarf rocked out at the Rib America Fest in Indy! Check it out.


It jammed to Cowboy Mouth and Ted Nugent. And no, I didn't use it as a napkin. Really, I swear! I only got a few rows done before it got too dark to see anything, but it still made the voyage and hung out in Military Park downtown.

And my obsession with Halloween was only made more apparent when Dan caught me throwing this tasty treat into our cart at Target...
Yes, it does exist. Jones Soda in tiny cans with Halloween candy flavors. Like Candy Corn, Carmel Apple, Strawberry Slime, and Berry Scary Lemonade. How great is that, I ask you? If Dan and I could have tolerated having our wedding on a weekday, we so would have gotten married on Halloween this year instead of St. Patrick's Day. But who wants to party down on a Sunday or Monday and then have to go right back to class the next day? Not I.

Here is some more fiber arts goodness for ya.

I'm gonna make my very own quilt from Modern Quilting Workshop! Woo hoo! I've got enough pieces cut to make either a Zipper quilt in any size. Can I tell you how excited I am? My stash of batiks has a purpose now. I need to get atleast 2 more fabrics, if not more for a larger size quilt. Still haven't decided on that whole size thing yet.

More stuff, but that will have to wait until after a really LATE dinner.

9.01.2005

Knitting News

Finally, huh? Just wanted to post some knitting tidbits to reassure people that I do actually do crafty things... really! I don't just work and study. ;)

This is from my incredible Secret Pal (whom I hope to "meet" very soon in order to properly thank them). They sent me oodles of great knitting gadgets over the summer, including this cool needle case and lots of the goodies in it. I just wanted to post this so faboo SP knows I'm a grateful recipient and that thanks to them, now all my knitting duds are organized!

Here's the shawl from Weekend Knits that's been slowly growing since last year. I started it around midterms so that I wouldn't lose my mind and got it half way done. Since then progress has been super slow. And yes, that is Lion Brand yarn. It has pretty colors, people! Color pallet over yarn snobbery.

Lucy Goosey approves of its softness, but says mommy needs to finish it so those pokey needle things can go away. Mommy concurs.

And this is for my mom so that she knows I put up the cool hanging lamp she gave me. I almost knocked over the TV and Jason and Dan laughed their asses off, but it's up and running! Thankyou to my father-in-law for getting a job that taught me how to use power tools -- otherwise our whole apartment would be bare. And my momma wouldn't have any curtain rods up in her house, either. ;)