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.

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….

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This post is a post-in-progress. I want to show off Laura’s hat, completed many months ago, modeled by me here, along with Maddie’s hat yet-to-be published, but I also wanted to show off the first stage of a felted bowl that I’m making for my stepmother. The problem is that the felted bowl, stage one, is sitting in front of me, almost, but not quite finished. I’m listening to Marly’s latest podcast, typing a few lines, and then crocheting a row on the bowl.

I published Laura’s Brownie hat on Crochet me, but if you are on Ravelry, you can also download it in pdf form here.

Just because she has a cute smile in this one, here’s another view.

This is my third version.  I made the first out of Lion Brand Wool Ease on a whim, not thinking about writing anything down.  The second one I made with notes, also out of Wool Ease, and subsequently gave it to my sister where I think Laura’s hat is currently residing also.  Either there or the Cheesecake Factory after an afternoon of ice skating.  This third one, I could not resist trying out the Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends, thus the pattern is officially in this yarn.  I need to write down the instructions for the fingering weight version, which Maddie wears, then hides from me when I get out paper and pencil.

Granny Square Felted Bowl phase one is complete.  I was distracted by a little girl who thinks that naming every sight word “here” is funny.  We have sight word flash cards, which we practice with daily.  Today, while letting her Barbie fairies play AC/DC on her Hello Kitty Fender, every answer is, “Here!” followed by a snicker before the “fairy” (high pitched Maddie voice) starts humming “Back in Black” again while strumming something vaguely familiar.

I’m off to cut out nine pink boots for the kindergarten rodeo for Friday, then start to work on a secret project. Thank goodness for mother-in-law’s buying you fancy left-handed scissors.  Yeehaw!