Sometimes I love getting the mail.

Usually I don’t get anything fun in the mail unless it’s something I ordered or already know is on its way. Bills and junk mail are the norm. A few days ago I brought the mail in here at work and there was a bulky package wrapped up with the rest, but that isn’t unusual.

It was for me. And look what I got!!!

Briar Rose Yarn!
This is Grandma’s Blessing. 100% Superwash Merino. Ummmmmmm.

The cool thing about the colors in this skein is that they are very much like the afghan that I helped create for The Hope Lodge.

This was a Thank You Gift from Kim (Kniterella) thanking me for participating in the creation of the afghan. I want to make something with it RIGHT NOW.

I don’t have a problem with startitis. Why would you think that? ;-)

Which reminds me. I never posted a photo of the finished afghan. Kim let me snitch as many pictures as I wanted from her Flickr set. Thanks again Kim!
Isn’t it yummy? All you need to do for a chance to win this beauty is make a donation to The Hope Lodge. Just click on the link and it will take you to the donation site.

You’re automatically entered for a chance to win the afghan.

It is also on tour with Chris from Briar Rose till the drawing the end of next month. Check here to see where the afghan and Chris will be in the coming weeks.

So pretty!

The mystery of the moving bowls

Every time I’ve walked into my kitchen the past few weeks, I’ve discovered one or both of the cat food bowls moved. Not just moved like Katie and Noel were eating and pushed them with the force of their chowing down, but moved half way across the kitchen like this:

Some times I walk in there and the bowl is empty.

Or moved right into the middle of the doorway

It can be either bowl, or both, and may or may not include the water dish (which is hardly ever filled because they both drink from the bathroom sink).

Then one day I was doing the dishes (this totally says something about how much I love that chore) and a dark shadow moved ever so stealthily toward the food bowls. A little black paw reached out and into the bowl. The bowl moved forward. Then it happened again but this time one kernel of food plopped to the floor. Noel (you knew it had to be her right?) batted at the food and chased it around the kitchen. When she’d had enough she ate the little bit, went back to the bowl and got herself another kernel of kibble and did the same thing.

Now my problem is how to tell Noel not to play with her food. Heh

Show and Tell

I’m a bit embarrassed to show you my WIPs this week because I started two new projects. I wouldn’t have started them if I hadn’t realized last weekend that I had only a couple of weeks to make my father socks for Father’s Day and a friend and his wife are having a baby that is due July 3rd and I needed to get that project going.

I wanted to make a sweater with the Koigu mill ends I got at Rosie’s before we boarded the bus to MD S&W. I loved the colors in the hanks, but when I wound them up it didn’t work. I even knit it a little bit and it really didn’t blend that well. I’m sure I’ll find a use for those mill ends.

I wanted to make a cardigan for the new little girl and found a pattern I like in Stitch n Bitch Nation, Baby’s First Tattoo. I’m not going to put the designs on it, but I liked the shape and the fact that you snap the front up instead of dealing with buttons. I picked out some Baby Boo by Numma Numma (color Strawberry, Bananna, Kiwi) and started over. So far I’m happy with it. I’m following the six month size since I don’t think that baby will need a sweater till the fall and winter anyway.

I bet Bezzie and Jen are wondering what happened to the Baby Kimono I was going to make in the Tess Ribbon I bought. I’m wondering the same thing too. As I thought about it, the pattern and ribbon weren’t right for the parents. It seemed too fussy. A sturdy wool cardigan seemed right to me.

So there’s that.

Then there’s the other project on a deadline. If you remember last year I was knitting forever on my Dad’s socks. This year I knew if I didn’t at least try to knit the two socks at the same time I’d never make the deadline.

I really had a hard time trying to figure out how to cast on. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it. I wasted a week trying it out and being frustrated and ignoring the yarn pointedly. Then on Saturday I went to Jen’s, and since she always helps me figure things out, I brought yarn and circs with me. True to form, she led me to a cast on victory and I’ve got about an inch or so knitted on his socks. I’ll be working on them pretty exclusively till they’re done.*

I’m going to go with ankle socks again, since that’s what my folk’s wear 70% of the year, but I want the cuff part to be a little longer. So the cuff will be 2” and then I’ll be whipping through the heel and gussets and the 11 inches of foot. Sheesh.

You lookin' for to use more stringies?!?!?!?!?! Lemme help. I attack them. More is good!**

The Lace Ribbon scarf is longer. The Cammo afghan and Haps 2 haven’t been touched since last week. So everything else is pretty much the same. I should have been working on my Bombshell tank top because it’s the perfect weather to wear it, but all I did was pull it out of the bag in the closet. Sad isn’t it?

*Check out the advanced photo shoot technique using the crossed leg as a background for the knitting. Egads!
** Thanks Amy for giving me the thumbs up on the knitty.com image in this photo.

Getting back on a blog roll

I know. Worst Pun EVER.

I know I’m a day late, but here are my WIPs, or should I say, the ones I felt like showing you because I have way too many to put in one post.

Here are the Big Boy Blankets I’m making for my nephews. The first is the camouflage blanket. It’s actually coming out really nice I think. The black isn’t this prominent as it shows in this picture, but it blends.

And here is Haps’ Little Brother who will happen to be bigger than Haps (link to come when I get home). If I didn’t love those boys so much I wouldn’t be working on them so often. The lime green gives me a headache and although the cammo blanket is coming out nice, the colors… Blech!
And here is another finish. My three Hats for Alex for this month. I’ll be mailing them on Saturday to make sure they get there by the end of the month. These will make 18 total hats I’ve knitted for the charity. I’m really happy that I’m keeping to my goal of three or more hats per month.
Unlike the last few weeks, I don’t have much to do tonight after I get home from my Gyno appointment, so the chances of taking some YPF shots are pretty good! I know you’re excited to see the deal of the century I got at MD S&W.

Bonus Post!

I forgot my Fitness-a-long info in the last post!

Although I've not been very good about what I've been eating and drinking the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to stick to my plan. Being a stress eater and having the amount of stress I've been under lately has really put me to the test, which I kind of failed. No fast food has been eaten since I started, which is great and an accomplishment for me, but I did eat junk. Devil dogs. A couple pints of ice cream. Then this weekend with the family was pizza, Chinese, Italian buffet (for the 1st Communion party) and lots of alcohol. Not to mention cake and cookies. I'm back to the plan today and will try to be good when I get to the ball park tonight for the Somerset Patriot game. It's Little League night for us an my nephews and brother (he coaches both teams) will be marching in the pre-game parade. It's tradition.

Here are my numbers:

Hips: 57.5 - stayed the same as last time I measured
Waist: 44 - down 3/4 of an inch
Bust: 51 - went up an inch

The only measurement that keeps going in the right direction is my waist. The others need to fall in line. I do think I'll start adding my weight loss. I have my Cooter Rootin' this week and since I have a new doctor, I'm sure I'll be finding out how much I weigh (and promptly passing out), so I'll be able to get a baseline measurement. Now to get a scale that I can actually see the numbers on.

Yes, I will be entering the K.A.Y.E. monthly drawing. You should too!

Catching up

Sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. Jen called on Sunday and was worried because she hadn't heard from me but also because I didn't blog.

The Monday after MD S&W was the beginning of the Vortex of Suckage at work. It's preoccupied my time at the office and when not there I'm too exhausted to do anything but either stare at the TV or knit or crochet a little.

Then this past weekend my family was up from NC for DN#2's First Communion. I spend as much time as possible with them since I only get to see them a couple times a year.

So one big post - with a couple pictures for you.

MD S&W was wonderful. It was so much fun to surprise everyone with Bezzie's attendance. We'd been planning that for 6 weeks or so. You can read all about it in detail from Bezzie, Trillian42 and Turtlegirl. Go read their recaps if you haven't yet for the full story. Also, if you want to see a photo of Jen, Bezzie and I making our first purchase of the day (or at lease rifling through the yarn) go to Wendy's blog. This was well before 7AM, so I think that qualifies us as hardcore.

Ever since Jen and I went to our "practice" S&W fest (NJ S&W) a couple years ago, we've had this kind of running gag about Jen bringing home some Alpacas to raise in her yard. She's been teasing her hubby about it ever since. So this is for Jen's Hubby:

Jen has changed her mind and wants to raise anorga goats in the yard instead. Start pricing fencing. ;-)

I still hadn't finished the socks for my Mom for Mother's Day, but I did have a couple days to get the last sock knitted before they arrived last week. Here is the finished pair.

I've been working on the Lace Ribbon scarf as my lunch/purse knitting. It's much longer now than in the picture, but you get the idea.


I'm home from work today, working on the job hunt. I've had 3 head hunters call since Friday and I needed to get back to them. Doing that from the office is never a good idea, not to mention really hard to pull off. Besides, it's a gray cold day and I need a nap.

Fitness-a-Long Week 1

I did better than I thought I would. I was able to stick to my planned diet changes fairly well. I did have some slip ups, but I didn't beat myself up over them, which is what I would have done in the past. I was better able to pick myself up and get back to the plan. I'm proud of myself for that. Now I need to start walking and I'll be well on my way.

The measurements did change a little and I'm encouraged to keep going for another week.

Bust -1 inch
Waist -1/4 inch
Hips +1 inch

It seems my excess weight is moving south. But I'll take it. Seeing the difference in the measurements is really fascinating. It's going to be interesting to see how my measurements change from week to week and what the pattern is with my eating/exercising.

The other good news is that my heel is much better. It hardly hurts today, and that was after being on my feet all day yesterday at MD S&W! YEEHAW!

I'll update about that tomorrow, and have stash photos for you on Fridays for a couple of weeks. I did buy, and more than I need, but it wasn't as bad as I've been in the past. It was a great, fun day!

That 7 things thing...

OK Eryn. I'll play.

The rules:
Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they are tagged by leaving comments on their blogs.

1. I am the daughter of a Guinness World Record Holder. Mom was entered into the record books in 2006.

2. I make beaded jewelry and rented a table at some craft fairs a couple years back. That was a miserable failure. I make more money selling bracelets and earrings to my Mom's Mah Jongg friends & people at work than I did at either craft fair. Now I use all my stuff to make stitch markers and row counters.

3. My father has called me a "Left wing, hippy, pinko, freak", which flipped me out because if you knew me, that's the furthest away from what I am and where I stand on things. I think he thought he was kidding, but we both know he meant it more than not. I love my Dad, but we have a very weird relationship.

4. I love the beach. I could sit by the ocean every day it's warm enough. The smell of the sand, surf and suntan lotion calms me. Yankee Candle just came out with a scent called Sun and Sand which is exactly that summer beach smell. I spend as much time in my car at lunch to calm me as possible. Plus I can knit and feel like I'm at the beach without the hazards of ick getting on my knitting.

5. Although I had two cats that lived past 19 years, my nephews think I don't take care of my cats very well. My cats died before their cat died which is why they think that. Their cat was also 19 when he passed away.

6. I've spent the last two days printing out pictures of "test pits". Looking at holes dug in NYC streets is not the most thrilling thing in the world. (Not to mention I had to print them one page at a time because they weren’t put in the original document correctly and they were HUGE.) After a while it got to be funny. Test Pit! What if I put a pic of my arm pit in there? Would anyone notice? Do they actually LOOK at these bagillion page binders or is it a cruel test for admins?

7. I don’t suffer fools. My Mom said this to me a few years ago and it is so true. I have no patience for people who are stupid, loud, obnoxious or otherwise, icky.

I think I'm one of the last people tagged for this meme, so I won't tag anyone. Unless you want to play along, then leave a link in the comments for me!

Happy Friday!!!