yawn.... and I still have to go to yoga

Question for you: What's the weird thing you have in the shower?
I have to say the felted soap was awesome. Like a loofah, but super soft, and the soap came through nicely.

Weather outside: drizzly and cool, but fall is so pretty
What hurts: my back
What I want to eat: freebirds.
What I'm wearing: black lands end shoes, black old navy pants, green long sleeve shirt, red lands end fleece, Angee socks
What I'm crafting: Mystery sock, Daffodil design, Endpaper mitts, mockery socks on hiatus.
What I'm watching: not much this week. Stupid baseball.
Best thing that happened this weekend: Craft day!
Worst thing that happened this weekend: The yarn I dyed (not pictured) doesn't look good. Time to come up with a plan B.
What I'm most looking forward to this week: Trip this weekend!
What I'm least looking forward to this week: an adobe illustrator class at kirkwood. I'm nervous
Last thing I bought: A size 12 crochet hook- talk about small.
Something I want to buy: I want my BFL and cashmere yarn to come from pre-order, but really, I want beads!
A link to share: Gorgeous beads, great prices http://www.firemountaingems.com/

I'm not good at the things I'm not good at.

Suzy taught me how to make stitch markers today! It is HARD. The twisting at the end is really really difficult. We went to Michaels and I almost bought beads, but in the end I only got some for knitting onto a cowl. I love my stitch markers. (The one on the own is the one suzy made.)

Here's me holding the first one I made. (Note the short hair.)

The first craft of the day we took on was felted soap. I can't wait to use this. I'm trying to not use plastic bottles anymore, so I'm going to start using bar soap for the first time since I discovered body gel. I'm excited about the wool covering. Mine is the green one- I accidentally put the seam on the top. The felt should get tighter and more even with use.

We also dyed yarn. This is Suzy's first time dyeing, handpainting with Kool-Aid. I dyed some laceweight yarn for Christmas knitting, using a mixture of Jacquard and Wilton's. (AKA the wilton's didn't work and I threw different dye in).

Then we went on an unproductive hunt for DPNs for suzy- Michael's, Walmart, and then the yarn store- which was closed :( It did produce ice cream at Walmart though. And beads for my lace knitting (yet to be decided pattern)- though I still need a smaller crochet hook if I'm not going to thread them)

...a poodle massacre

What does it look like when you get curly hair cut very short? See above!

I got my hair cut very short today. It was a three or so inches past my shoulders. It is not anymore.

Hmmm... no pictures for you. Blogger won't let me load them.

I'm not even trying

Weather outside: Feels warmer than it has been- maybe in the high 40s.
What hurts: my hip/butt/calf still- maybe some sciatica, though it's getting much better.
What I want to eat: TONS, but I'm actively trying to lose weight again.
What I'm wearing: black lands end shoes, black old navy pants, purple long sleeve shirt, red lands end fleece, knee high black and white striped socks
What I'm crafting: Mystery sock, Daffodil design, Endpaper mitts, mockery socks on hiatus.
What I'm watching: Loving TAR
Best thing that happened this weekend: Finished a sock, washed my car
Worst thing that happened this weekend: Accidentally (really) sprayed Kevin with the hose, and I think he was really pissed off at me.
What I'm most looking forward to this week: Hoping to score some cashmere sock yarn for christmas presents
What I'm least looking forward to this week: sitting at work. Even with a pillow it's super painful.
Last thing I bought: Can't remember
Something I want to buy: yarn to dye
A link to share: My yarn supplier

Yesterday....

I finished this!

This is the "mystery sock" i've been talking about. It was designed for the solid sock group on ravelry and released in a series of 3 "clues"- hence the mystery. But it wasn't a mystery to me.

It's a little too big for me because I wanted to finish the design on the foot panel. It will still fit, but not as well as I'd like. The heel flap (which is shorter than normal) also seems a bit big. It's just an odd fit, i guess. I love the sock and the color is just brilliant. This sock weighs more than any sock I've knit - 51 grams. Thank goodness Wollmeise has super sized skein. I've never gone over 100 grams for a pair before. (I'm not sure I've gone over 80, actually).

I'm also back and working on the daffodil design. My goodness what was I thinking starting that? The rounds are never ending now. I did 1.5 last night. I hope to do at least 2 today.

Wanida

Didn't get to skate tonight (leg still hurts) so here I am.

Finished my Wanida socks yesterday, and took (bad) photos today.
And the "Mary Poppins" pose

It's hard to think of Monday titles

Question for you: Where will you/did you/do you hope to go eat for your 5th anniversary dinner?
Kevin and I are going to have ours early (the actual one will be in an airport) and our going for French food- mmm escargot!

Weather outside: Inside it's 59 degrees, outside it's grey, dreary, and cold
What hurts: left calf, quad, and hip
What I want to eat: patacones- but I have to wait for tomorrow
What I'm wearing: Cotton hiking socks, black work pants, yellow mock turtle neck, white fleece.
What I'm crafting: Finished Wanida, cast on "Mystery Sock" except it's not a mystery, that's just it's name, Mockery socks on hiatus, Daffodil Design on hiatus
What I'm watching: Looking forward to big bang tonight
Best thing that happened this weekend: Papercrafting was fun
Worst thing that happened this weekend: Felt pretty sick all week
What I'm most looking forward to this week: Some good knitting time.
What I'm least looking forward to this week: skating, it hasn't been going well.
Last thing I bought: Groceries- including green plantains
Something I want to buy: yarn to dye
A link to share: A good food blog

Sneak Peak

Oh, I miss papercrafting so much. This was so much fun!

A little sneak peak, this is my favorite of 5 panels:


Because I'm not doing this anymore, I didn't feel the need to "save" the good stuff. So I broke out my favorite patterned papers, flowers, stickles (glitter glue), crystal effects (the clear epoxy), buttons, and rhinestones.

Another panel:

I still haven't put the finished product together (stuff is still drying), and then I need to reglitter and area I messed up, but I think this is going to look pretty cool!

Craft #2 is going to have to wait, I have more knitting to do.

What to do?

I am being crafty today- making my "chain letter" gifts. (I'm sad, only 2 people commented... but that's okay, because that way I don't have to make 5 things.)

Anyhow. I am being papercrafty, something I haven't done in a very long time (since knitting reclaimed it's rightful place) and I've pulled out tons of stuff. But I can't find my crop-a-dile. (I don't know anything about that store- just needed a picture). The crop-a-dile is one of the only ways to punch holes into chip board. (It also sets eyelets).

So what's a girl to do? Ask her husband for help.


The edges aren't quite as pretty as if I had punched them, but it works, and he drilled through all 5 layers of chipboard in one go.

I'll post a finished project a) after I finish it and b) after mystery recipient tells me she recieved it.

Elsa...

I think my dog is the cutest thing in the world. It is rare that she doesn't look adorable. (She's not so adorable when she is super hyper jumping on company- that kind of bothers me. But once she calms down, so cute.)

Elsa likes to burrow under covers. She also likes to ignore me completely. We sometimes think she might be a cat. We live to serve her, she is not required to provide companionship in return.

So all summer long, it's as if we have no pet. We feed her, let her in and out, sometimes get to play rope, but she keeps to herself, generally looking adorable while doing it. But once it gets cold, I have a best friend.

Here she is cuddleing with me while I knit. At night, she sleeps under our covers (until she gets too warm, then she goes to the couch, until she gets cold, then she comes back in. Thankfully I go back to sleep easily, otherwise this would be not cool.)


She's curled up under the blanket, head on my lap, just barely peaking out.

Also- that's my "not snuggie" it is the greatest blanket in the world. It has zippers so it zips up likes a sleeping bag, except it zips in 2 parts and then the top and bottom snap together to give you arm holes, but unlike the stupidity of the "wearing a robe backwards"-ness that the snuggy has, this gives you a back. And it's microfiber on one side so it is so so so warm.

The Wanida socks (in picture) aren't done yet. I meant to knit more today but I ran tons of errands- got skates sharpened (YAY ~ YAY jumps for joy), stopped by to chat with Linda and get some fresh herbs before the winter took them away (yeah, it snowed today), and went to Hyvee to mail some packages and buy some bread for dinner (caprese salad)

Also- it is so cold in here: 61 degrees inside most of the day. But I refuse to turn the heater on before Oct 15, even if it is snowing. We'll see if I make it that far. It's really cold.

Sick Day

I came home sick from work today. My stomach has been bothering me all week, and I pulled a muscle on Wednesday at Synchro in my leg that hurts to much, whether I'm sitting still or standing/walking that it's making me nauseated. The nice thing about going into work at 7:30 is you can leave at 11:30 and have done a half day :)

I'm mostly sleeping, but I figured I'd post this picture of my endpaper mitts. I tried to take a picture of the Wanida sock, but I couldn't get a good one. I should be done with those by Sunday.

So here's the latest Work-in-Progress. I need motivation to go back to the Daffodil Design!

It took me a long time to decide if I should do it this way or reverse the colors. Now I wish I had done them reversed :( I'm trying to decide if I want to mismatch them, because that could be fun. Also- stranded knitting on DPNs is hard.

It's monday :)

Question for you: If you had to vacation in the midwest, where would you go?
We booked a hotel room for our mini-vacation (one night). We are no longer going to Madison (home football game) and instead going to a secret destination. (It's not really secret, but for a silly reason I'm not publishing it. I'll tell you when you ask me via private communication or we get back)

Weather outside: getting cold
What hurts: my butt from 3 hours in an unpadded canoe seat
What I want to eat: ice cream
What I'm wearing: Wool hiking socks, black land's end shoes, old navy black pants, green long sleeve shirt (first long sleeves to work this year), white land's end fleece
What I'm crafting: Finished a Wanida sock, about to do another, Mockery socks on hiatus, Daffodil Design on hiatus
What I'm watching: TAR- missed last night because we were out
Best thing that happened this weekend: Canoe trip!
Worst thing that happened this weekend: Found out american girl is retiring kirsten
What I'm most looking forward to this week: nothing in particular
What I'm least looking forward to this week: nothing here either- my camp skills training (i'm the trainer) got canceled so I have a free weekend.
Last thing I bought: Groceries- lots of them
Something I want to buy: Kirsten's Nightgown to complete my collection
A link to share: I linked to something yesterday, so I feel I'm off the hook.

Fall Paddle

We went on a 10.2 mile paddle of the Iowa River today. We started in Wapello and ended in Oakville. Then we had a nice cook out with hot dogs and s'mores. Thanks River Basin Canoe and Kayak for an excellent event.

There were 3 of us, 3 other people and 2 from the shop. It was supposed to be yesterday, but the weather was miserable, so it was put off one day. A gorgeous day with a cooperative river that cut the paddling time in half about!

Some pictures (be sure to scroll to the end!)

Kevin and I before the day started.
Kevin and I out on the river.

Amanda and I in our rental canoe.

Kevin and Amanda caught mid-laugh.
Possibly the best road sign in the history of the highway system:


In other news, the toe of my first Wanida sock is almost done.

October: National Candy Corn Month!

The best part of October, Candy Corns!

I picked up a Brach's mixed bag today. Ahh, so yummy. I really like the pumpkins, and while I don't love them enough to need a whole bag, I love to have the Indian corn mixed in. Also very good- mix candy corns with peanuts.

So, as a candy corn lover, you'll imagine my excitement when I saw this:

Yes, candy corn Hershey kisses. I really enjoy many of the Hershey kiss flavors. They have really branched out in the past few years. (Oh Peppermint, I shall write how I love thee nearer to Christmas). And the kiss, well it looks like a candy corn should:

Alas, it tastes not like colored chocolate, but like a wilton's candy melt. That is, not good. Too sweet, but without flavor. I am sad. I need to stop trying new products; Tofu Shirataki style disapppointment here.

However, Hyvee has a huge sale this morning and we got some more Newman's Own salsa: the Pineapple salsa and the Black Bean salsa are highly recommended, and I shall go console myself with a bowl of that, and my actual candy corns :)