Less than a year later…

I am mainly posting to see what it is like to post with my new phone.

A year later….

So I just got back (yesterday) from a cruise to Mexico with KANG (the knit at night guild) where I got to meet a ton of awesome knitters and Nicky Epstein! I then realized that I exchanged information with people, including my ravelry name, and from there they could possibly wander to my blog that has nothing on it. So, here is something! Once I’m done working this week I will work on putting up pictures, making copies of pictures for people, etc.  

As for the trip, it was amazingly fun on so many levels! My roommate was very cool and talented (she had all handknit socks with her and made this totally cool bag which I didn’t get pictures of.) I didn’t go outside for the majority of the cruise (my family was not surprised) and I learned quite a few new tricks (very cool). And I got a free book for being the youngest! The only problen is that I now I have the urge to knit up a bunch of random flowers despite the fact I don’t really have a purpose for them…(Anyone want any flowers?) Although I’m contemplating pulling out the crochet thread and making some jewelry since I do wear that…and I’ve also decided I’m going to spin up some yarn to make the Tuscan Scarf made out of the circle thingies (I forgot the name of it) and make my own beaded or sequin yarn since I’m too cheap right now to buy it. Plus, if I spin the yarn up, it is cooler and will definitely have personality. I just need to figure out if I want to do 100% tencel, silk, bamboo, or some other shiny fiber, or if I want to do a mixture of merino with the shiny… or if I want to do just merino… Or I could use my faux cashmere and dye it… It is so soft and wonderful… I wish I had bought more.

So till next time! Ciao!

Dumb cat…

So, my cat likes to eat live plants…totally fine by me,  I’ve totally given up trying to protect her from eating this she shouldn’t. I find she learns if she eats something nasty once, she usually doesn’t do it again. Well, my mom recently decided to retire and her work gave her a bunch of flowers. Our house now has flowers in every room (kitty heaven). Each must be a different flavor because she is trying them all. Anyways, one is this huge bunch that is tall in a large vase. She obviously wanted to eat the flower at the top that looked different so she decided to climb on the vase to reach it and knocked it over. There was this huge downpour of water and we have a hardwood floor that is old and doesn’t like getting wet so I’m in this panic cleaning up this mess.

My cat was a bad kitty and I told myself the next time she was bad, I was going to force her to wear an outfit… Hehe, so I bought this adorable dog dress that is like a ballerina outfit. It is pink with a heart, it is sparkly, and has tulle! Needless to say, I thought it was so cute and worst case, the dog could wear it since they are the same size and the dog loves wearing clothes.

So, I got to the cat, and she knew something was up…so I tried to sneak it on her but I could never get her paws through…apparently dressing my cat is a two person job. But she didn’t attack or bite me which is a plus..apparently, I’m allowed to do anything to her, anyone else would have gotten bit. Heck, I was expecting a nice chomp out of my hand… It looked adorable what I did get on her but I couldn’t get a picture. I think if I had help to hold her while I got her paws through I could have done that so when the family gets back I’m so doing that.

The dog on the other hand loved the outfit! I put it on her and she pranced around the house like the girly girl she is… she was running and jumping and trying to attack the tulle which made her look like she was dancing. Then, when I go to take the picture she acts like a total tom boy and is attacking a bone without mercy and won’t drop the dang thing…so my pictures of her stink but still make me giggle. The best part though was the cat saw the dog with the outfit on and almost attacked her because she didn’t want the dog wearing her outfit, even if she couldn’t stand it. My cat is odd…but I love her.

Hmm…I should post

My brother was recently making fun of my night life style… he called me a stoner because I’m always sleeping during the day and when I’m awake (while he is awake) I’m still drowsy…etc. Well, last night totally justified this when I made my dinner…the best freaking macaroni and cheese in the world. I used bits of what my mom and grandma do and then added my own creative twists and holy cow, I’m awesome. There is a reason why I’m overweight hehe…I might just like this cooking thing I’ve always hated. This stuff was so heavy I could barely eat a small portion…then I fell asleep. It was nice. Granted I have a huge dish of it left over because I always cook too much and no one is home to eat it… oh well!

Now, what I was really going to post about was I must have been really stressed at work lately because I just spent way too much money on yarn/fibery goodness I don’t need but I’m uber excited about anyways! I bought from sheep shed studios, webs, 5 etsy people, and Eat Sleep Knits…also, I get paid today and I’m about to sign up for another swap tonight! Hurray! It is a good couple of days off XD

And last totally not related thing, I get to see Eddie Izzard live on Tuesday! And since my brother and I are no longer cheap, we got good tickets!

I gots a package!!!!!

I love swaps… they are awesome ways to meet new people and the Malabrigo swap by far has to be my favorite one…. everyone is so nice and we all spoil each other so well!! This package was made lovingly by one of the best stalkers of all time, Jacqui722on Ravelry.

I got so much awesome stuff!!! I got 4, yes FOUR skeins of aquarella minas which is gorgeous and chunky and so lovely! I have no clue what to make with it at the moment but for now I’m content staring and petting it! Edible wise, I got lindor truffles (Yum!!! I love those things! So rich, so creamy, so good), pop rocks (Another fun treat I love… I’m so going to share with my neices since they’ve never experienced the crackling goodness!), tea in those to go water bottle packets which is awesome because those are all I take with me to work and I’ve never seen this kind and they look so good! Bookwise I got a hilarious and lovely book by the Yarn Harlot! I love this book, just glancing at it so far I’ve already giggled quite a few times! There is a really cool circle notebook, Kookaburra Woolwash (which I’ve always wanted to try!!), awesome soap that smells so good (It is Kiss my Face olive and honey soap), a lovely smelling cucumber melon candle (which is now lit in my room XD), some Burt’s Bees Hand Salve (which I so needed because I’ve been spinning silk lately and my hands are so dry (because I wash my hands all the freaking time (nursing habit)) and the fibers stick…I used some and it totally helped!!!) Lastly, but definitely not leastly are my needles. (Aside: is leastly a word?) I got a set of 16 inch 10.5 circular needles from knitpicks!!!! I love their needles and I have only like one other set of 16 inch needles so these will definitely be used in the next couple of weeks!!! Thanks so much! And finally, she made me a home made set of knitting needles that are about a size 8 she said. They have a pretty polymer clay top that is blue with sparkles! They are sooooooo pretty and thoughtful and I’m definitely going to use them and add them to my new pretty knitting needle collection! Thank you so much for the awesome package!!!  

Now for the photos….first the whole package:

Just the yarn:

Everything but the yarn (I took this because in the other picture you can’t see my uber awesome new homemade knitting needles!):

Irony…

I made a post how I never win things and then one day I win something and within a week I win a blog contest. How ironic! I won a neat contest over at FineMartialFiber’s blog…Since I came from Ravelry though I had an option of getting yarn for a prize and she sent me some gorgeous yarn that my cat loves as much as I do! Thanks so much!!! Oogle at the goodness:

Malabrigo Swap part one…

This is my package I got from the last swap!!! I totally never posted the pictures and didn’t even post for three months! How not cool is that! It was lovingly given to me by IdaW from Ravelry…. and here is my original post about it:

Ok, so here’s what I got: two gorgeous things of malabrigo worsted one in Polygala (I’ve never seen this color ever and it is so perfect! It is a pinker purple and the variations in the skein are lovely and sigh so nice) and another in Purple mystery! (They go together so perfect and I love purple mystery! This purple mystery is a darker one than the ones I have a home…uber rich and so great next to the polygala!) I got bubble wrap! (Ok…so she used it to wrap and pack but still… I love bubble wrap and that in and of itself is great at relieving my stress right now XD). There is a magnetic notepad with and adorable sheep on it that I’m so going to use for planning my fiber things! This huge bag of cranberry black loose leaf tea that I’m so excited about! I love iced tea and love trying new types so this is great! It smells good too! There is a super cute mug that has a cool design like engraved on it. It feels really neat (I’m such a tactile person!) and lastly but not least, the most gorgeous knitting needles I own and love! They are in a lovely cotton case that is really cool because it has a little hanger on the back so until I get my knitting stuff completely moved in and organized in my room they are hanging up in my bedroom on my wall so I can show them off and gaze at them and then when I have time to knit in about a week, I’m so busting out a project to use them! They are 10.00mm and a lovely dark wood (I don’t know wood names but they are gorgeous). They have owls carved in the top which is like, the coolest thing ever! The owls are about an inch tall and they have such great details in the feathers, the claws, the face, etc. Truley an amazing piece of artistry! What a great one of a kind pair of knitting needles!! Plus, they are a great size for me… So pretty!

Ida, Thank you so much for the lovely present that came at the best time! I really needed something to get my mind off of my test for a while!

My I am a wordy gal! And now the long awaited pictures:

And a close up of the knitting needles:

Ida, thanks again so much!! By the way, I’ve been using the needles to make a blanket out of bulky scraps! It is so much fun!!

Its a good bad day…

Today was the last day of my three days off before the schedule from hell… which is why it was a bad day. I’m quite depressed that for the next few days, my life will be sucked away by work…Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday I have 12 hour shifts and lately none of us have been leaving till about 9:00 in the morning making it 14 hour shifts… so sad. But lets not dwell on this… instead, let us bask in lovely pictures that I promised I’d put up… I think I’ll split this post as well to make it not as long.

Here are some batts I made… now, I’m quite proud of myself for actually making these and I’ve actually spun up the crazy weird one this morning really fast…it came out cool! It is screaming to be a scarf…but I don’t have pictures of the yarn since it is drying right now so the colors are off…

This first one was an accident…that ended up pretty. I passed it through the drum carders 4 times in the end. The first pass I loved but I thought I should blend it more….then the second pass I didn’t like as much so I figured, heh lets blend some more! The third pass was a lovely silvery blue mass but the batts weren’t quite the same shade so the fourth pass blended them all together to get equal colors… The have silk, bamboo, wool (merino and mystery, mainly merino), glitz, shimmery nylon stuff, alpaca, llama, tencel… Some was hand dyed by me, others commercial dyed, others were handdyed from others…. I can’t wait to spin it. It is 4.5 oz of shimmery goodness…the pictures really don’t show the colors well, but what do you expect from a non picture taker like me?

 

The next is an eclectic 4.25 oz lovely crazy batt… I just picked random bits of junk from my stash…probably the same ingredients as the one above but didn’t pay attention to colors nearly as much…it was either going to be a disaster or lovely. As of this evening I decided it is lovely. On my wheel, I spun 130 yards of a single thick and thin that is sparkly, shimmery fun and the colors are just woah… so out there! I love it!

 

This one is a baby batt from the leftovers of that carding session…and look, I can spin on a spindle still! I split the baby batt into thirds and partnered it with some complementary scraps from Funky Carolina I got off etsy… (I totally thought I forgot how… ignore the randomness of the yarn on the spindle, I ended up making it two ply and it is an even worsted that is soft fluffy and twisted evenly…although I do need to spin the rest of it…)

                               

Lastly is this colorful beast… it was another experiment but this one is actually getting mailed to someone else (sending as a part of the swap)… It is chock full of merino, alpaca, wool (of the mystery variety), multiple colors of glitz (hehe), that shimmery nylon stuff, tencel, silk, bamboo… And once again it is a mixture of hand dyed by me and other artists and some commercial dyed stuff… it is quite interesting and at 3 oz, it should be a nice addition to the package!

 

Haha! I’ve officially made a post with pictures related to knitting so yeah!

Who really needs a paycheck?

So… I think I should just have part of my paycheck instantaneously go to etsy when I get it. There is something evil about that site! I go there just browsing and I end up buying things for myself and others that I don’t need but they are soooooo cool! Then I decide that I’m supporting independent artists so really, I’m doing a good deed and buying one more thing won’t hurt…it is a vicious cycle! I also bought some Craftyalien kits….the fox and the lobster. I’m knitting both, one will be a gift the other is for me.

The below is completely irrelevant to anything and may be boring: (I did warn you)

Ok so last night I was working and I have a new co-worker… I’ve worked with him about three shifts and he didn’t really have a personality (in my opinion, but then again, those days were really busy and we didn’t have time to talk let alone eat lunch). So, I went to the breakroom to have my lunch, as I try to do, and he is sitting at the table watching sports. I don’t care because there is nothing on at 3:30 in the morning and I usually zone out thinking while I eat. He then mentioned something about football and I told him I had no clue about anything football related and he choked on his meal. He couldn’t believe a Texan didn’t know about football and I told him it was because it bored me and I was never able to watch a game. Suddenly, he spent then next 30 minutes telling me everything about football he could and made it sound tolerable (I now know what the entire offensive team does…apparently next time he’ll teach me defense). It was amazing how animated this guy became and he just went on and on (like I am now) about stuff that I didn’t care about (like I am now again XD!) but it was refreshing. And finally I saw a spark of life and I think his entire world does revolve around football because he always says when he gets stressed he asks, “What would Tom Brady do?” I really can’t mock him though because I have the same problem with knitting/spinning. And when I get frustrated at work, usually because when getting or moving patients around they get all the cords and wires tangled (how, I’ll never know) I view it as untangling my yarn and pts are amazed at how patient I am and that I can get everything completely detangled. I just grin and tell them it is easier than untangling my lace yarn. Which then opens a discussion about how I knit and having a spinning wheel and a cat. So many people know way too much about me… I really should talk less.

Later this evening I shall be posting some pictures of batts I’ve made and the package I received from my last malabrigo swap! (Yay to getting my camera functioning…granted, I’m still a bad picture taker but that can’t be fixed as easily!)

I actually won something!

Lovingly made by Lasdcm (that is her etsy shop which is the only link of hers I have. Warning: you may click and feel the sudden urge to buy….it happened to me) of ravelry, lovingly stolen with permission by me:

I’m one of those happy pessimistic people…. I’m always smiling, but on the inside the glass is half empty. I talk things down so as to not build too much excitement so that when the inevitable loss happens, it was expected. (Note: this is all on the inside, on the outside I still seem all SQUEE!) Now, when I started hat attack, I was excited. I figured I’d kill someone, be killed in turn and call it a day! When a month had passed and I was still in I figured, huh…I’ll be damned. Then, when the final 7 were posted and I was on the list, I went, “Holy crap!” Then, I started to let myself get a little excited… that maybe I could possibly win (Out of sheer luck).   Then there were 5, 4, 3, and finally 2. It was between me and VeryBadDogs. I was at a point where I could do nothing but wait and it was all based on the postal system… I allowed the smallest shred of hope and then VeryBadDogs announced her hat came and I allowed myself the whoop of joy! I don’t think I’ve ever won anything this cool in my life and I was just as proud to be in the final 7!

The next day I got my hat and was declared dead to end the war… and as a treat I have pictures of the hat that killed me:

First the package…yes, is it not totally awesome!!! Thanks VeryBadDogs!!! The pom pom is removable and I’m so wearing it both ways!!

Now Me wearing the hat…and one with the snout (I had one with the snout, hat, and eyes but it was downright creepy and slightly blurry so I deleted that one)