FO Friday

Yes, I'm a pathological liar.



I actually finished something! It's about time, too. I was starting to think that I'd never finish anything and that all my WIPs were forever going to remain WIPs and that my plans were just never going to come to fruition (who knows, that could still happen).

Anyway, I have a lovely finished object for your viewing pleasure :)

On Monday night...well, Tuesday morning, actually........whatever. Anyway, I finished my Habitat Hat!

Look! It's a hat and it's blocking!

Pattern: Habitat by Jared Flood
Timeframe: started April 10, 2012; finished May 8, 2012
Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Nest
Needles: US #7 16" circular, US #8 16" circular, US #7 DPNs (I couldn't find my #8s)
Size: Small size in stitches but I did the larger size in charts (which makes sense if you have the pattern)
Modifications: Just what I said in the "size" section. I CO the # of stitches for the small size but I followed the directions for the larger size. The result was that I got a hat that covered my ears but wasn't so wide that it would blow off during Wisconsin winters.


I'm glad to have this hat finished. Not because it's cold or anything but because I've been in a major knitting slump where projects just seem to go on and on forever and nothing ever seems to get finished. Prior to finishing this hat on Tuesday, I hadn't finished a project since March 5, 2012. It was getting old and I wanted to knit less and less as a result.

The pattern was incredibly fiddly. I love how cables turn out and it's not that I mind doing them...but I'm terrible with chart reading and I had to keep checking the stitch key to make sure I didn't cross my cables the wrong way (I may have done a couple incorrectly here and there). I'm also a chicken about doing cables without cable needles. I'm not good at fixing mistakes so if one of those stitches decided to travel downwards, I would have frogged the whole thing and started over. However, I do love how this hat came out and it might be one that I make again.

The yarn, on the other hand, was very.......rustic. I don't know how else to explain it. It has the feel of handspun but the evenness that is commercially produced yarn. I kept finding little bits of debris in the yarn that had to be picked out (looked like hay, mostly). I wasn't sure about it, either. Shelter is kind of difficult to find around here and I won the skein at our last Knitters' Guild meeting of 2011 (Jared Flood was one of our speakers last year). With the modifications, I wasn't sure if I was going to have enough yarn. The pattern called for 120 yards of worsted weight. Shelter comes in skeins of 140 yards. As I started getting closer and closer to the top, I started having a minor panic attack because that yarn was running very low, very quickly and I was knitting faster and faster. When it was all said and done, I wound up having maybe 5 yards left...maybe. Talk about cutting it close. I do love how it turned out after blocking, by the way...

But, now that it's finished....well, I'm debating between trying to finish up the WIPs that I've had or if I want to start something new. Part of me wants to start something new immediately and part of me thinks I should spend some time finishing up at least one more WIP before I go starting something new. I'm kind of torn. The next closest-to-being-finished item is either my Pine Forest Baby Blanket or Little Man's Giraffe. Admittedly, the giraffe will probably take less time but it's more fiddly than the blanket. I have to make all the little "parts" and then sew them onto the toy. The big parts of the giraffe are done (head, body, and legs). All I have left to do are make the spots, tail, horns, and hair and attach all of them as well as the ears, which are finished, and then embroider the face. It honestly isn't hard...just fiddly. But, the blanket is on a schedule. I need that finished, washed, blocked, photographed, wrapped, and shipped off to Maryland before July 1st (so it has time to get there before the baby comes on July 9th - yes, she's having a scheduled c-section). So.........I think I should probably do the blanket first. Then there's my version of Hermione's Everyday Socks that I have going. I'm currently on the heel of the first sock. For some reason, my mind equates one sock with a finished object, even though the whole project is not actually finished. I keep wanting to work on those instead of either the blanket or the giraffe...

And then there's deciding what to make next. I'm thinking I should get a start on Sweet Girl's Hippo (I have all the yarn wound and ready to go; I even know where the pattern is located)...but there are so many tempting patterns in my Self-Imposed Year of Projects. Husband has also been kind of harping on me about the Hippo. Sweet Girl picked it out last summer and I haven't done it yet.......I should really probably do that.

Anyone have any thoughts about that?





The news on Husband's job front is this: we won't know anything until probably next Friday (May 18, 2012). They have interviewed two more candidates this week (and maybe into early next week) and then they need to decide. Husband did talk to the recruiter on Wednesday afternoon and they said that he could fit in very well, he's a little short on knowledge of software development and some terminology, and that he's very humble about his abilities. The recruiter told him that many of the people they interview from the Midwest wind up having this superiority complex when they get hired. They didn't see that with Husband. This is a good thing. The recruiter went on to say that everyone he's talked to about Husband has said they should hire him. So.....keep the job mojo coming!

Another week of waiting on pins and needles. *sigh*

Here are some recent photos of Little Man....he's had another haircut, too.

Ima grab the phone, Mama!

I run around with a drum on my head. Running around with drums on your head is cool.

Handspun mohair? Ima wear it like a scarf.

I do like my hat, Mama.....just not all the time when you want me to!

For more FO Friday fun, visit Tami's Blog :)

Self-Imposed Year of Projects: Update #12

Apparently it's Sunday....again........and I've been neglecting my blog. That isn't to say I haven't been thinking about it because I have been. I just haven't had time to sit down and write anything of value. Oh well.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet (if that's even possible).

Basically, my 12th week of my Self-Imposed Year of Projects is exactly the same as last week's (go look) with one exception: I've decided to remove the Brooke Baby Afghan from the list and replace it with the Baby Chalice Blanket.

I think the Baby Chalice Blanket is a better fit than the Brooke Baby Afghan. That's not to say that I'll never make the Brooke Baby Afghan...I probably will at some point. I just think the other one will be a bit more fun for me.

I've made some progress on my Vanilla Socks and I might even photograph them this week as they're a bit longer than they were in the photo on my project page.

I've also made some more progress on my Pine Forest Baby Blanket. I'm still working on the pink middle section and I think I've figured out that I'm going to have to do somewhere between 12-18 repeats just to accommodate for the length that I want. The green part (the first three skeins) was approximately 12" long; in theory, that means the other side of the pink will also be approximately 12" long. If my blanket is approximately 34" wide, I'm going to want the blanket to be somewhere between 32"-36" long and that means I'm going to need at least 8" of pink, if not more, to make it so. I'll probably err on the side of making it a bit longer so it doesn't look wonky and unbalanced. It makes more sense for it to be longer in length than in width.

Hermione's Everyday Socks are coming along pretty well, too. I'm still in shock about the 20 rows of 1x1 ribbing...because of that, I'm going to have to do at least 10 repeats of the pattern (though I'll probably do at least 12 repeats) to accommodate for the length of the ribbing. This is all fine and well. I figure I could make the socks knee-high and it'd be fine because I have another skein of the same yarn...but I don't like to do math to account for my fat calves. So we'll just stick with mid-calf socks.

I'm wearin' my Mama's hat again!

I thought we could use a photo of Little Man to break up the babble about my Year of Projects. Besides, he's cute and he's wearing my Snail Hat.

In other random events, I've started work on my office (again). For those of you that are unaware, we live in what was my grandparents' house. They designed and built the house in 1992 and there are a few (okay, a lot) of idiosyncrasies about the house...and they were extremely clean hoarders. They kept everything and everything had a place. It was really weird. Anyway, when we moved in, the office became a dumping ground. I had made a lot of headway (seriously, the room was actually useable as an office/workspace) and then we got the rest of the stuff from the condo and Little Man was born and it became a dumping ground all over again. It has progressively gotten worse because we've removed things from other rooms so that Little Man doesn't break them. We have our coffee table on it's side, a large-scale printer, books upon books, breakable things, etc. It's awful.

With all this talk of possibly moving across the country (which isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility yet), I've decided that I need to get a handle on some things. So, the other day, I took some "before" photos of my office.

You'll notice the coffee table on the left (yes, it's octagonal - it's an awesome table that belonged to my grandparents) with my yarn swift attached, my spinning wheel, a computer tower (that belonged to my grandparents for their business), and lots of precariously stacked boxes and books and other things.

This is once you step into the room and look to the left. You can't see the closet in this photo but it's just out of the shot on the left. It's filled with stuff, mostly office supply type things. You'll also see the built-in cabinetry. It's full of stuff, mostly things that belonged to my grandparents but some things of mine have seeped in. The big blue rubbermaid bin in the corner on the right is my other grandmother's accordion (it's in it's own box, which is falling apart; hence the bin).

This is if I turn about 45° from the last shot. You might be able to see my ball winder (near my swift), a better view of my spinning wheel, a music stand, another cabinet, and piles and piles of stuff.

It was an awful mess. I spent about 3 or 4 hours in there last week. I went through a lot of stuff, moved some stuff around, did some sorting, photographed some things, threw some other things out...the usual stuff.

Yes, I realize that the room doesn't look any better. But, I had some things sorted out for Freecycle, Craigslist, the local Buy & Sell shop, items to be kept, other donations, and garbage.

I actually made a walkable path through the room. It's hard to see but I swear, it's there.

This was one of my problems. I have two big boxes of sheep's wool that I purchased from a local lady (I say "lady" but she's probably not much older than I am). I'm not quite sure what to do with them. They're not heavy...just awkward. So, right now, they're by the door.

Since then, a lot of things have left the room. I took a huge box of teachery magazines up to Madison for a UW student via Freecycle. She's currently student teaching, set to graduate in May...she can use them and they're just collecting dust around here. I also gave a bunch of office supplies to one of my friends for her business. Between those two alone, that was three of those large boxes of stuff that went away. I have some items up for sale on Craigslist and a few more on Freecycle that haven't been claimed yet.

As long as I get some time in there, it'll get done.

Yesterday, Husband and I worked on the outside of the house. Husband mowed the lawn (it needed it as it hadn't been done since September) and did some tree & bush trimming. I weed whacked and did some raking. I cleaned out along the house where last year's Hosta remnants were (and dead leaves and grass clippings). It actually looks like someone lives here. It's not great by any means but it was some progress.

Tomorrow we're going to tackle the garage while one of my friends watches Little Man. It's the last garbage pickup of the month so they do the "big" stuff......hence why we're going after the garage.

Anyway, another photo of Little Man...

Look at all my teeth! Ima bite you!

Perhaps I'll have a WIP Wednesday this week. Don't count on a FO Friday though...

Self-Imposed Year of Projects: Update #11

I'm a little slow-going on this Self-Imposed Year of Projects update. Normally, I work on them on Friday and/or Saturday and set them to publish at midnight on Sunday.

Now, with the craziness that has been my house the last week and a half and the fact that Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and we had another friend over on Sunday...I just didn't get around to it. So, you're getting it a day late (and probably a dollar short, too).

First of all, in case you're wondering (and you might actually be wondering), Husband did not get the job in San Francisco. Seriously, he had four phone interviews and they flew him out there....and they decided to go with someone else. Translation: they went with someone they wouldn't have to move across the country. Kind of a bummer but it means we're probably not moving anytime soon...which means I'm not under severe pressure to get the house cleaned out. Granted, I still have to get the house cleaned out but it's not like, "OMGIhavetodoitinsixweeks!" So....onward.

Secondly, Husband has several other local things cooking. Hopefully something pans out. As much as I like having him at home, it'd be nice to have health insurance again...for all of us.

Thirdly, I've applied for Badger Care insurance for Little Man and also for the Food Share program. I'm not happy about having to do either one but I'm damn thankful that those programs exist, especially when we're in this conundrum. Unfortunately, we probably won't qualify for Food Share because of the income from the condo being rented out...but I'm pretty sure Little Man will have health insurance, at the very least and that's the most important thing right now.

But, onward to my Year of Projects Update (#11).

Finished Objects 
1. Claudia: started January 3, 2012; finished January 10, 2012
2. Mama's Simple Skyp Socks: started May 22, 2011; finished January 19, 2012
3. Little Man's Cobblestone Baby Blanket: started July 2010; finished February 2, 2012
4. Dalek Dishcloth: started February 6, 2012; finished February 8, 2012
5. Baby Traveling Vines Socks: started September 18, 2010; finished February 17, 2012
6. Snail Hat: started February 18, 2012; finished February 19, 2012
7. Lothlorien Hat: started January 25, 2012; finished March 5, 2012

WIPs
1. Mama's Vanilla Socks: (started December 6, 2011) - I have worked on these...but they basically look the same, just longer.
2. Little Man's Giraffe: (started May 11, 2011) - Yeah, haven't worked on this. Oops.
3. Icarus Shawl: (March 15, 2010) - Yeah, haven't worked on this one either...
4. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit Socks: (started January 23, 2012) - Nope. Not this one either.
5. Pine Forest Baby Blanket: (started February 21, 2012) - This is where my focus has been. I'm in the midst of the pink but I hope to be done with that soon enough...I really don't like pink.
6. Hermione's Everyday Socks: (started March 6, 2012) - These are going much better now that they're on two circulars.

Planned Hats
1. Odessa
2. Hermione Hearts Ron
3. Habitat
4. Ogre Babies!
5. NIN Hat
6. Pup Tent
7. Godric's Hollow Hat
8. Brandon Ribbed Beanie
9. Raglan Hat
10. Bergen Street Tuque
11. Nolan
12. London Beanie
13. Grumpus
14. Simple Baby Cap #1
15. Candy Cane
16. Little Pumpkin Hat

Other Planned Items
1. Freeport Vest
2. Hippo
3. My Little Slug (still need to purchase)
4. Brooke Baby Afghan
5. Mossy Jacket

With all that said, my Self-Imposed Year of Projects stands thus:

FOs: 7
WIPs: 6
Planned: 21

Total: 34 projects

WIP Wednesday :)

Given that it's Wednesday morning, I feel that I should show y'all something that I've been doing. I mean, I've been saying that I've been working on this and that but I haven't actually shown you anything.

And that makes me feel guilty.

But only a little.

Anyway, here's what I've been working on:
1. Mama's Vanilla Socks: (started December 6, 2011) - I've worked a couple rows of this but I'm still working on the leg portion. It's nothing fancy and I haven't photographed it.
2. Little Man's Giraffe: (started May 11, 2011) - I think once I get the blanket finished (mentioned below), I might pull this out and finish it. There really isn't a lot left...I just need to sit and finish. I'd like to finish this before I start working on Sweet Girl's Hippo (this takes you to the pattern page, not the one I've made)...the only reason I mention the Hippo is that they're from the same book.
3. Icarus Shawl: (started March 15, 2010) - I'm sad to say that this has been on the needles for two years. TWO years. I'm nowhere near finished with this. Part of me keeps thinking that I should frog it and release the yarn to a better home...but I really like the shawl and the yarn is very fitting for it. Anyone have any thoughts about this?
4. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit Socks: (started January 23, 2012) - I haven't worked on these. I had every intention of working on them this past Saturday at Knit-In but, silly me, I left the pattern in the car. Oops.
5. Pine Forest Baby Blanket: (started February 21, 2012) - This one has made some progress. I started out with six skeins of Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Dublin colorway (for a total of 660 yds). Once I got going, I realized there was a possibility that I was going to have to either buy more and pray that they were in the same dyelot or I was going to have to find a contrasting color. And then Husband lost his job...so an order from Knit Picks was out of the question. On to a contrasting color, I guess.

Originally, I had thought of white but after some thought, I decided that might not be such a good idea on several levels (starting with the fact that it was for a baby who was going to do every manner of bodily function on it at least once, but probably several times, over the course of it's life). While I was working on this blanket and getting closer and closer to the end of the third skein, one of the ladies I was knitting with suggested that maybe I should use a pink for the contrast instead of white...but it would have to be the "right" kind of pink. Unfortunately, I don't own pink except for already mapped out projects (like the aforementioned Hippo)...so that meant a trip to the store. Because it's for a baby, it was going to have to be something that was either superwash wool or some other machine washable item. The Swish is 100% superwash merino.

I wound up choosing Loops & Threads Impeccable Solids in Soft Rose.

Impeccable Solids in Soft Rose

This photo is a bit......well, it's too dark, for one thing. But, there you have it. They come in 268 yards/skein. I only bought one because I figured that I'd only need about 220 or so to make the blanket look balanced (if that makes any sense?).

Anyway, I finished up the repeat I was doing and figured that I would be unable to make another full four-row repeat with what I had left of the third skein. So......I started with the pink.

The colors together

I don't think it looks too horrible...I mean, I'm not a fan of pink but it could be worse.

Extreme close-up!

Neither color is turning out correctly in these photos but it was the best I could do. Sorry.

What do you think about the color combination?

6. Hermione's Everyday Socks: (started March 6, 2012) - I spent a good portion of Saturday at Knit-In working on these. I wasn't exactly happy with my needles, however. They're metal so they're not snapping but they are warping like crazy and I can't have that either. So, after working on them on Saturday (and getting through the tedious 20 rounds of 1x1 ribbing), I switched to two circulars. I had purchased them for this purpose and I'm quite pleased with how things are going.

They're not as bright as this photograph is making them out to be but with the chocolate brown background, the only way they would show up at all was with the flash on...and then they turned out way too bright. *sigh* They are, however, very blue...there's a good hint of green (which is good since the color is called Emerald), but they really are more blue than green.

I'm probably going to do some alterations to this pattern because it calls for 18 four-row repeats (which is 72 rows)...plus the 20 rows of ribbing. I'm not sure I need socks that long. I'll probably do 12 or 14 repeats (either 48 or 56 rows)...maybe. Who knows. We'll see when I get that far. I may also alter how I do the gusset decreases. I'm toying with doing a double gusset heel or single gusset heel decrease on these. Or maybe I'll do a band heel. I haven't decided yet.

Anyway, those are my WIPs for this week. Aren't they lovely?



Husband should be back soon from his trip to San Francisco. He's been gone since Saturday afternoon. His face-to-face interview was Monday morning. He *should* hear something later today. I asked how his interview went and he said it was okay...the manager is hard to read. I don't know what that means. Part of me really wants him to get this job.......and then there's the part of me that doesn't want to spend the next two months packing up the house. I'm not averse to moving across the country or starting a life in a completely new place but I'm not crazy about packing up the house.

I'll try to keep you all updated :)

And, for your viewing pleasure: Little Man wearing my Snail Hat.

Look at all my teeth!

Do you like my mama's hat?

For more WIP Wednesday fun, visit Tami's blog.

FO Friday :)

It's that time again: FRIDAY!

In the world of knitting, it means it's FO Friday. Now, I do have something to show you but I want you to know that I have not had clearance to actually show you. I don't really think she's going to mind; after all, it was a test knit so I would have to show it off eventually, right?

So, onward.......

I have finished the Lothlorien Hat! I actually finished it earlier this week but, of course, I couldn't show you then!

Yes, I am wearing this on my head...

First of all, trying to take a picture of a hat on your own head is incredibly difficult. I'm amazed that I was able to get any sort of a decent shot. It's a crappy iPhone photo but it, at the very least, gives the color some justice. This is pretty close to the actual color.

Anyway, specifics...

Timeframe: started January 25, 2012; finished March 5, 2012
Pattern: Lothlorien Hat by Katarzyna Fiszer (here is her blog, in English and Polish, and here she is on Ravelry)
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Babyboo in Olive
Needles: US #4 - 16" circular & DPNs
Size: Um.....adult? It fits me and that is what is important.
Modifications: Since the original is written to be knit flat and seamed, I guess the biggest modification I did was converting it into the round. However, doing that required some extra brain power. Working from the original chart gave me a fake seam up the hat and I wound up frogging it and sort of re-writing the pattern to be worked in the round...everything from the number of stitches to be CO to where the increases would be to where in the chart you start the pattern. It wasn't as difficult as it sounds because I already had the original chart to work from. I also changed how the crown decreased because it looked a little strange to go from the pattern to plain stockinette at the decrease so I gave it a little pizazz (translation: I did kind of a "fade out" with the pattern).
Overall: This pattern was lovely to begin with and now that it has been converted to being worked in the round, it's even better (in my "totally non-biased" opinion......okay, I'm biased. Sue me!). I think that when I do it again (because I probably will), I'll need to make it longer...but not a full pattern repeat longer (which might not make any sense until you see the actual pattern). I sent Kasia my recommendation of where to add length without doing a whole pattern repeat and making it too long. I think I might also change the number of stitches I CO with because it's a little too big for me...and then I would increase accordingly. Otherwise, it was fabulous! It shouldn't have taken me as long as it did but I kept switching to other projects in between......but it's done now and that's important :)

Look Ma! I'm blocking...sort of.

Extreme Close-Up!

The first photograph probably has the "true" color...these two are a bit too green. It's definitely an olive color, not grass...

Anyway, that's it for FO Friday. For more FO Friday fun, visit Tami's blog....





And now for something completely different (with reference to Husband's job hunt and other things).

Husband had a face-to-face interview this week in Chicago. It didn't go as well as he'd hoped but it could have been worse. We're expecting that he's probably not going to be offered that job. Whether they have something else that would fit him better is another story (and a story we don't know yet).

Tomorrow, he's headed back to Chicago...but not to stay in Chicago. The company he's had several interviews with in San Francisco is having him come out for a face-to-face interview on Monday morning. So, he's driving down to Chicago, staying in a hotel, flying out Sunday morning (very early), having the interview on Monday, flying back to Chicago on Tuesday, and driving home Wednesday morning. It's going to be a rough couple of days around here but we'll be fine. The reason he's doing it on such a timeframe is because it was cheaper to do it that way. They're reimbursing him $400 for flights and $100 for hotels and paying for the taxi from the airport to the hotel to the interview to the hotel to the airport. Woo.

Here's a montage of things I've put up on Craigslist recently.........just to get them out of my house.

A "Maryland" glass - probably from the 1960s

An "Ohio" glass, also same era

Cold War Era Emergency Drinking Water - military issued, probably in the 1950s

A bull beer mug...with a bell for service :)

Like Soda......anyone remember this?

I have a bunch more stuff up on Craigslist besides these...actually, I haven't put the soda up yet but I'm sure I will soon enough.

And, for your viewing pleasure........

Look Mama! I'm in the toybox!

I jump up like a Jack-in-the-Box!

Hope you're all having lovely Friday adventures!

Brief #132

So.....this is my 132nd post. I somehow managed to miss my 100th post, my 1 year anniversary, and I'll probably forget my 2 year anniversary on August 17th...12 days before my 2 year anniversary of marriage.

Hmmm....

So, what's going on in my world?

Well, this, for starters:

We had nasty wicked storms go through early on Monday morning...70+ MPH winds, lots of rain, the whole thing. Luckily, not tornado weather. But, it was still a nasty storm. I didn't even notice my little tree had fallen over until I got back from a trip to Wal*Mart. I was sitting on the couch, looking out the porch windows when it occurred to me that "something" wasn't right with my view. I could see my tree but it wasn't in the right place. So, I picked up Little Man and we went to investigate.

Turns out that the pussywillow tree was rotting from the inside out and it was bound to break in high winds...which is exactly what happened.

So, no more pussywillow tree in my backyard. At least it was far enough away from the house, even if it was only 7' high...and at least it wasn't the weeping willow. I think I would have cried if that one had come down.

Weeping willows were my grandmother's favorite trees. At every house they owned here in town, my grandfather planted one for her. The one in the backyard (which you can see along the fence line in the above photograph) has something wrong with it...it's dying very slowly. I'm not sure it can be saved or not and I don't have the money (yet) to have someone investigate it. If it dies, I'm going to plant another one in a better location because this was their house and she loved weeping willows.

The pussywillow, on the other hand.....well, let's just say I'm not sorry it's gone. It was kind of a PITA to deal with every year with the trimming of the branches and the endless little seedlings on the ground.

In other random news, Husband seems to be doing okay after his surgery. He still has trouble bending over to do anything, which means that Little Man can't be on the floor or in the pack-n-play with him because he won't be able to pick him up. It also means he has difficulty emptying and filling the bottom rack of the dishwasher. Other than that, he's pretty much back to normal.

Little Man is teething horribly. He's got a total of 7 anywhere from poked through to fully in and I think he's got a couple more coming. Seriously, he gets his teeth in, at least, pairs...but lately in 3s and 4s. Poor kid. He's so cranky. He doesn't want to jump, he doesn't want to swing, he doesn't want to play in the pack-n-play, he doesn't want to be held, he doesn't want to roll around on the floor, he doesn't want to eat, he doesn't want his bottle, his diapers are dry, he doesn't want to nap, he doesn't want to play in his crib.....it seems like there's nothing I can do to soothe him. I kept hearing about Hyland's Teething Tablets but they were taken off the market...something about rat poison. Tylenol only works so well and for so long.

*sigh*

It's going to be a long couple of days (weeks?) with him teething.

Oh, and on the knitting front......well, the giraffe has a head, body, and legs all attached. The ears are done but not attached. Other than that, I have to make the tail, horns, "hair" (poms), and spots and he'll be done. I haven't photographed it but I should get on that...

Other than the giraffe, I have swap stuff that I should be doing but, well, my blog was feeling neglected. Oh, and I'm plotting a large-scale blanket for Project Linus but that probably won't happen for quite awhile. I have so many other things to finish before then...

And I have cast-on-itis again. I want to make something small and quick...

Hrm.

Someone cute :) And yes, this was taken today.

A Life Less (Lifeless?) Ordinary

Husband's gallbladder surgery went fine. He was extremely nervous and worried but everything turned out fine. He'll be getting his gallstone at his appointment in a couple of weeks. Yes, he's going to keep his gallstone. Apparently, he thinks this is acceptable as he grew it all by himself.

As long as I don't have to look at it. Ew.

Other than that, things are going along just the same as they ever were. I'm working on the Giraffe for Little Man (the head, body, and two of the four legs are done...just need to finish the other two legs, ears, spots, and poms...and put it all together). I'm hoping to have it done in a few weeks. Things take much longer when you have small children around...or big children, as the case may be.

My house looks like a couple of hurricanes went through...I know, it's nothing to joke about. But there is crap *everywhere* around here. I picked up the living room on Tuesday as best as I could...and then my friend's daughter came over and basically took out every toy of Little Man's and was refusing to put them back. I was going to get the kitchen cleaned up but that didn't happen. I'm hoping to do that today.

So, aside from Husband's surgery and the house being a mess and knitting not getting done...we bought new fish for the freshwater tank. Our tank was looking a little sad so on Sunday, we went to Aqua Terra in Wauwatosa (Milwaukee) and got fish for the tank. We had five left...and now there are more. Of all the fish we got (and we got maybe fifteen or so), only one has died...a yellow Molly. I'm not tall enough to get it out of the tank without standing on a stool (and I don't know where the stool is). We also purchased a 55-gallon tank with stand (and the glass topper, lamp, filters, and heater) off of Craigslist for $200 (keep in mind that just the tank and stand would normally be anywhere from $800-$1000...and then you add in all the other stuff). It's not doing anything (yet). I'm hoping to clean it one of these days. We're planning to do a saltwater tank with it...

Oh, and this Saturday, we're going to pick up a 29-gallon tank and stand for $25 (something that would normally cost $150-$300). We really only want the stand because our stand, although sturdy, is easily grabable and we have a Little Man that likes to explore and grab everything and anything. I really don't fancy him pulling down a 30-gallon tank, full, plus the stand...it would literally kill him. The tank, plus water, fish, gravel, and other amenities, weighs at least 275 lbs, if not more...probably more. We're going to switch out the stands and re-sell the tank and stand on the aforementioned Craigslist.

Anyway, here's someone cute to get you through the week...

Pi Day Swap 2011

I received my package from Heather on Saturday. I was hoping to be able to hold on until next week Monday to open it.....but, but, but.......it was a package and it was for me and I couldn't hold out. I opened it last night and photographed it this morning.

Here's what Heather sent me :)

This is the whole group....but there are come close-ups coming.

First of all, yarn :) Mini Mochi goodness in blue/green/purple. Yes. LOVE IT.

And a pattern to go with the aforementioned yarn. The Demiluna Shawl...this should be interesting.

It's a Pi Day Swap. A pie tin is perfect. To be honest, I was in need of a new one...I just hope I can convince my husband that we don't need to cut it with a metal knife lest we damage the finish.

And some eggs to make my pie. Okay, not really. But I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs and I'm jealous that we can only get them during the spring.

Jelly Bellies. These are my favorite jelly beans. I have always had a love for them...and these have flavors that you can put in a pie...but I don't recommend putting them in an actual pie. Just sayin'....

And now we have some handmade stitch markers. I know, the picture is blurry but it was difficult to get a non-blurry picture of these. My camera isn't good enough. But, they're little pieces of pie. From the looks of it, lemon meringue and apple. They're cute :)

I can't show you pictures of the box I'm sending as...I haven't sent it yet and I don't want to post until I know she's received it and opened it. So, maybe in a week or so :)

In other news, things are getting crazier around here. My husband's job may be on the line thanks to the Dictator that was somehow elected to the governor's office. He works for a school district but is non-union and a recent hire (he works in IT) and with the almost $900 million cuts coming to education for the state of Wisconsin, the district he works for is going to have a $16 million shortfall for next year, and more than that for the following year. It looks like he's probably going to have a 12% pay cut, which isn't horrible and we'll be okay...but it's still a 12% pay cut.

We're not exactly sure what's going to happen. He has a meeting at 3pm and he'll probably be in a horrible mood when he gets home. I'm hoping to make dinner...and maybe a pie.

I think that's about all I can discuss at this point...more later when I can post pictures of what I sent :)