Tiff Crochets

I lost about two pounds only to find it running loose in my front yard.  I caught a photo before stuffing it carefully in an envelope and shipping it north to Nebraska.

For reference, watch Doctor Who Season Four, episode one, Partners in Crime, then remember to never, ever take those silly miracle diet pills.  You never know what that fat might turn into.

I also finished more tawashis, along with receiving another shipment of antibacterial acrylic and a book.  Laura is now determined to speak and read Japanese because she is so infatuated with the tawashi book.  I made another Linked Ring tawashi and a pear.

The girls are not in any mood for bed tonight in anticipation of heading to my grandparents for the weekend.  They still have two more days of school to get through, which kills them.

After saving up over the past several months with unused Christmas money, we finally managed to be at the right store at the right time and get a Nintendo Wii this past Saturday. I have never enjoyed playing so many hours on a video game system in my life. I am now paying for such frivolous fun. My joints ache. My right knee, hurt many years ago while in college and exacerbated from daily tennis playing with my roommates, hurts again for the first time in probably 6 years, which was the last time I attempted to play a decent game of tennis. This isn’t going to keep me from bowling at least three games tonight or doing more tennis training!

I took time off yesterday evening to start work on a spontaneous secret project for my wonderful cousin Mary. My arms were shaking at first, trying to work the tighter stitches required for this particular project. It was that evil Wii causing the muscle spasms. Evil, evil Wii.

The next four days I will be working at one of the high schools during their spring testing. I’m subbing for the assistant choir director. Andy keeps laughing every time he hears about it. I am so completely tone deaf. He seems to think that they are going to require me to sing. I keep reminding him that there will be little actual class time all week. He still laughs.  Boob.

I’ve been working on more tawashi too and, now that it’s warm outside, am three sections from completing my tassled afghan.  I’ve got to get this finished!  I want to drape it across the back of my couch and think about cooler weather this summer.  Or, just simply indulge myself one evening with the AC cranked low and cuddle underneath it while watching Pride and Prejudice.  Maybe not the A & E version.  It would kill my utility bill.

It’s bedtime for the girls and I’ve got six DVD’s from the library to get started watching this week, if I can turn off Alaska week on the Discovery Channel or drag myself away from the Wii.

I had a wonderful person help test out my pattern for the Swiffer Cardi. I was concerned about my wording on a section of the pattern, but it seemed to have passed through without any problems. You can either download via my Free Patterns page or through Ravelry. Enjoy!

Just as a side note: I didn’t want to open up another tab in Ravelry to get my page link. It only took me 30 minutes to browse around the FLOR forum before I remembered what I was there to retrieve!

Edited to add a photo of the project!

… on this heart of mine. Because you’re mine, I walk the line.

Although this beautiful yarn from Lone Star Arts has more of a deep green when you see it under the right lighting, it reminds me of the man in black, Johnny Cash. Plus, it’s named “Walk”. Now, every time I look at it or think about what to do with it, I sing “Walk the Line”. My attempts to do the knit thing with the socks just isn’t cutting it, so I’m thinking of ideas on how to use beautiful, handpainted fingering weight yarn in ways that show off the colors and portray crochet in a pleasing light.

Where did I get this beautiful yarn, along with an amazing laceweight yarn also from Lone Star Arts, MadelineTosh Frida, and so much more? At the DFW Fiber Fest back in April where I also found out that I do not spend enough time socializing in person with fellow fiber lovers. I need to get to all of the meetings that are close to me. Unfortunately, everything seems to fall when either I have a prior obligation, the girls have a prior obligation, or Andy has bowling. I do have Mondays free and I think there is a knitting group that meets at a local coffee shop. Just what I need - coffee and adults to hang out with. I’ll be a blabbering boob and they’ll cringe when they seem me walk through the door because I won’t stop talking!

I am also keeping a close watch on the skies tonight. Yet another storm system is moving through the DFW area, creeping me out with the tornado warnings. It’s at times like these that I miss hurricanes and the Gulf Coast.

My antibacterial acrylic yarn arrived today all the way from Japan, thus beginning what promises to be a great addiction. While I love the look of most amigurumi, it has a fatal Tiffany-flaw in being three dimensional and requiring tight stitches. It makes my hands hurt so much that I lose the joy in attempting anything ami. I’ve tried and I will not share the horrific aftermath of my work. Look at this gorgeous tawashi creature though!

I ordered the yarn on etsy, after reading about it in the Tawashi Town group on Ravelry.  There are two members who sell the antibacterial acrylic yarn, OkinawaOtterKnits and Ichigonopantsu.  I’ll be ordering more soon because I easily see me using up all of this yarn over the weekend.  If you are a family member reading this, I should warn you now that you’ll be getting a few of these on your next birthday.

I ended up having the server go down on me last night while in the midst of finishing this post, but alas!  That gives me the chance to post photos of two of the three tawashis I made today.  I gave the other one away to one of the kids in my class.

This is the Ohina Tawashi (Rav link).  Now that I have the knot placement down, this is getting easier and easier.  This poor person is headless until after our trip to the school book fair as soon as I publish this post.

This is the Linked Ring Tawashi (Rav link) (direct link to PDF here), and I am proud to say I interpreted the Japanese pattern all by myself!  I wish I had done the outer edging in the black.  Of course, I can always make more!

Off to the book fair!

Introduction (Look at the length of this post! You need section titles!)

Just as a side note before I begin because my brain never stays on one topic for too long. It’s noon and I’m feeling green from not eating! What am I doing instead of eating? Let’s show you a screen shot of what’s on my “screen plate”.

As of 12:09 pm, CST, I have four tabs open in Firefox. That may change at any time, should I suddenly receive note of a new mail message or be struck by a whim to search for Lord of the Rings fanfic (related to watching Doom the other night when bored, following links to IMDB and YouTube, and other general nonsense related to the strange progression of my brain). First, I have Ravelry open, which typically remains open any time that I am sitting at the computer. Today, I acted on a whim to remove myself from a few groups that I’ve never posted in, not really interested in at this time, or just felt a whim to remove myself from. Now, I’m browsing groups sorted by number of members for new groups to join. It’s an addiction. There are 177 pages of groups. This could take me awhile.

Second, I have open a tab for my Google Reader subscriptions. I love handy dandy “next..” bookmarklet. I was a loyal Bloglines subscriber since I first heard of RSS feeds and the like, but I love my bookmarklet more, so it’s with Google Reader I stay. Should Bloglines ever gain such a handy bookmarklet, I may return. Right now, I think I’m on one of Kari’s posts.

In the third tab, we have instructions from Lily on how to make their String Bag. I planned on starting it this afternoon while browsing through Ravelry and my feeds, but had to deal with the distraction of feeling the need to post to my own blog. I will probably start this after lunch, posting, and finishing up item number five (not on a tab!).

In the fourth tab, we have this window in which I’m posting to my wonderful Wordpress blog. I’ve come to love WP 2.5. Anyone else feel the same way? Thanks to the upgrade, I’ve finally discovered how to incorporate the Wordpress stats plugin to work for my non-wordpress.com blog. Whew. Feeling like a techie while I know whole-heartedly that I am not a tech in any sense of the word.

And finally, I will briefly mention the fifth thing I am currently working on. You will learn more about this in the true post that will begin below my amazingly long tangent. Influenced by the Crochet Biffer Shrug (Rav link), and this knit version (Rav link), I made the Swiffer Cardi last night and am working on the pattern in Word at the moment. Please see my note at the end of this post if you would like to test this pattern for me before I upload it to Ravelry.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming after I eat lunch. If you are so inclined and suddenly think I’m nutty (if you’ve ever met me, you know that I am very inclined to be this nutty and wordy if given the time and opportunity to be myself), you can blame this pre-post entirely on a small bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats (with almonds!), one cup of coffee with some kind of hazelnut sugary syrup, and a large glass of sugar-laced iced tea.

Ah, one tasty Lean Cuisine, one load of laundry, one load of dishes, and 40 minutes later….

Continue Reading »

I feel like the week should be over, but we’re barely halfway through. Both of the girls had their class field trips this week, and I went on both. For Laura, we went downtown to the Ft. Worth Stockyards, which I always enjoy. Maddie’s class went to the zoo, another personal favorite in our new city. I’ll post photos at the end of our trips.

On Sunday, we went to the Texas Rangers game for Girl Scout Day. All of the Girl Scouts and their families could walk around the field during the pre-game ceremonies. The stadium looked empty, but I think there were a lot of us on the field to make up for the lack of people sitting in the stands. It was exciting to see so many girls, large and small, dressed up in their uniforms and enjoying being with the friends at the game.  We had to leave early to drop off my mom at the airport after a weekend visit and the Rangers eventually lost the game in the 10th inning.  I loved getting to see the new Cowboys stadium going up next door. It’s going to be huge and very beautiful once finished.

I do have photos from the DFW Fiber Fest, but I will save them for the next time. I am in a horrible slump with my crocheting. I have all of this beautiful yarn and no idea what to make with it. I will find a new project that I cannot live without soon!

I’m too excited to go to bed to catch up on the hours I missed this week because of my other obsession (yay!  The ‘Stros beat the Cubs today!).  Tomorrow I am heading to the DFW Fiber Fest, held in some place called Addison.  I know approximately where it is and recognize the main highways, but it’s not in my lovely new home of Ft. Worth but somewhere in between here and that other city known as Dallas so I know the chances of me getting lost are rather high.  It is, thankfully, in the opposite direction of Texas Motor Speedway, which is on my major road of choice (and most familiar) in the Westoplex, and hosting some crazy race this weekend.  I am so giving away the fact that the only car racing I know involves Tom Cruise driving in a Chevy Lumina.  I am hopelessly tempted to drive north a few miles and at least see if I could hear Big & Rich playing tonight at the Speedway.

I have much more exciting links to share with you:

Did you see the CRAFT video podcast with Jess and Casey from Ravelry??  I am definitely wearing my Rav button tomorrow and Saturday at the Fest.

My sewing skills are limited (but growing!  I’m trying!), but I definitely want to make a few of Elizabeth’s bags in the future.

I thought I could find more exciting links to share, but I was distracted by thoughts of what the heck to bring with me tomorrow to work on!  I think I’ll bring Something Red and the Seija blanket so that I can show off my wicked multi-fiber craftiness while doing some volunteer work at the yarn/raffle table.  I’ve packed my camera so hopefully I will remember to take photos.

I apologize for keeping you up so late this week. It’s really not my fault. Really. You can blame Major League Baseball. It’s not fair to start the Astros season on the West Coast. They have forgotten that you no longer live in Las Vegas in that wonderful Pacific Standard Time. Even now, you should be in bed instead of starting your future nephew’s blanket, having made the right decision of putting the hairpin lace aside until tomorrow when you are more cognizant, but needing something to work on while listening to the game since for some reason MLB.com thinks that Astros games are shown in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and has blacked out the game on your subscription.

Oh, you have a Brownie troop meeting tomorrow night? And you’ve decided to do the GirlSports try-it so that the girls can run off all of their excess energy? Okay, perhaps you won’t be able to look at the hairpin lace again until Friday evening. It would be exciting to take your coaster-in-progress to the DFW Fiber Fest over the weekend to show off your newly learned skill, but I know you’ll really just be too busy drooling over all of the yarn in the vendor area and won’t even think about that dainty little coaster again until Sunday evening. It understands. It’s not the first project to be started and cast aside when something else strikes your fancy. It has heard talk of mutiny among the discarded projects in your closet. They would prefer to be rewound into beautiful yarn cakes with hopes of one day becoming a new project than to waste away unloved, especially now that you picked up that new sock knitting book.

Just to remind you of that beautiful hairpin lace, here is a photo. It does not want to be forgotten.

I will go ahead and show off your knitting book impulse purchase at Hobby Lobby too. You were shopping for sewing materials and just couldn’t keep yourself out of the yarn. You addict, you.

Look at that new crochet hook too! Let me know how it works some time soon.

Go to bed!

p.s. The Astros are about to lose their third game in a row. Aren’t you glad you wasted three good nights of sleep? I know, you’re excited about the new team, Michael Bourn’s start so far this year, Berkman’s three doubles in the series, and Backe having a decent start. You can always sleep in on Saturday.

p.p.s.  Ack!  They’ve tied the game in the top of the 9th.  Curses!

Just for the record, it took me much longer to write and upload this pattern than it did to make the shrug.  I’m still not happy with the html version of the pattern, but it’s staying the way it is for now.  Should you know a little girl who would love a vintage look shrug for their doll, enjoy!

You can access the pattern via my Free Patterns page or here are the links:

pdf download

html file

The girls and I were in the library this afternoon for our weekly visit when I heard sirens in the distance.  Having grown up in Houston near the refineries, a siren to me means that there was an unexpected release of a chemical from one of the plants.  A siren in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area signifies severe weather and sometimes, if the weather is just right, a tornado.  I knew that we were under a tornado watch thanks to hearing the latest weather on the radio before entering the library, so I calmly returned to browsing our library’s amazing DVD collection.  A few minutes later, all of the library employees were gathered around the TV set watching the radar.  I was doing my best to stay calm to finish our library trip without stampeding for the door with freaked out little girls, but no, everyone had to start talking about tornadoes, which made the girls start talking about tornadoes.  After I reminded them that we would be just fine and would head home in five minutes, they returned to hanging out in the children’s section.

We all finished picking up our weekly goodies, checked out, and made it home almost a minute before the rain hit.  It was nasty.  The weather in Houston can be nasty, but this was nasty.  Then, after about five minutes, the rain ended.  Andy arrived home from work about 30 minutes later and said he had sunny skies the entire drive.  Boob.  So not fair.

I am so awesome!  The dishwasher was clogged yesterday and after a quick Google search, I found out how to fix it.  I didn’t attempt anything until today because I couldn’t find our allen wrenches, but after a few cranks, I completely cleared the clog.  Ha!  Andy came home and laughed at my celebrations, saying that I could do all of the handyman fixes now.  He thinks he’s funny.  I am not handy.  This was a wonderful fluke.

Maddie has lost both of her front teeth in the past week.  There goes her speech therapy for the rest of the school year.  Her therapist is going to have to be creative for the next two months.

I finished a quick shrug for Laura’s Molly doll last night.  I’m going to write up a quick pattern and post it on here and Ravelry.  Here are a few photos, along with photos of Maddie’s empty spaces.