Sticks and String

First Navajo plied yarn!

2010-07-21T18:31:00.003-05:00

I finished spinning the fiber I got for my birthday! Here is a picture of it before I plied it:

And a picture of the finished yarn, Navajo plied:

I'm still a novice at that type of plying so there are a few crazy spots, but I'm still pretty happy with the yarn. Practice makes perfect! And the most amazing part is that when I finished plying it, it hung in a perfectly open loop. That never happened before I took the plying class. I used to have to put weights on the fiber when it was drying to show that yarn who was boss. This is so much better!

I love the 80's!

2010-07-19T21:02:00.008-05:00

My 27th birthday was on Friday! And so was the Midwest Folk Art and Fiber Fair! I went out there to check out the vendors and to take a class on plying.

As I was wandering around the fair with my spinning wheel made out of PVC pipe people kept asking me if it was my first wheel and if I was new to spinning. I like my wheel and have never had any problems with it. I forgot that it's sort of ghetto and a lot of people look down on them. So I felt a little self-conscious when I pulled it out in the class. Everyone else had fancy wooden wheels. But once the class got underway it became apparent that your wheel doesn't matter. I was the star student! The teacher kept holding up my yarn to show everyone how it was hanging in a perfectly open loop, meaning that it was a balanced yarn. She said "It's always the quiet ones in the corner". She seemed amazed that I picked up Navajo plying so quickly and asked me after class how long I had been spinning. Here are the samples I made in class:

The first is two colors plied regularly. It was just to practice the new spinning technique she showed us (two treadles per draft). The second was plied by winding the yarn onto a ballwinder and then plying with the two ends. It's a good method for when you don't have much yarn and you want to ply without wasting any. The last three are Navajo plied, in the order that I did them. At first I got a jumbled mess but I figured it out by the end of the first skein. I did the other two to get a little more practice in before I used it on this amazing fiber I bought at the fair! It is about 4 oz. of BFL (75%) and Silk (25%). Not vegan, I know. But so beautiful and soft! I bought it from Wolf Creek Wools. They were my favorite vendor there. I was really impressed with their color combinations. This one is called Fire. It looks a little pink in the picture but its really red, orange, yellow and purple. I started spinning it up today.

The next day was 80's night! I dressed up and went out all 80's-fabulous all day.

I met up with Emily at her house around seven.

From there we went to Diedrich's Captain's Inc. in Pecatonica. Here is the whole crew:

(Megan and her boyfriend Brad, Me, Amanda, Emily and Kyle with Tim and Nathaniel in the back.)

There was supposed to be a prize for the best dressed but since we were the only ones really dressed up, we all got $20. Woo! I think we deserved it anyway, we did look pretty amazing!

I don't normally drink but in honor of my birthday and 80's night I had a few. They had 80's-inspired drinks like "MC Hammered" and "Weekend at Bernie's" as well as Rainbow Brite Jell-o shots. I had Sex on the Beach (the drink!), a few "Weekend at Bernie's"s and half of a Jell-o shot (that was a first for me - too boozy!). Megan, who works there, bought me a shot of some fruity thing and RedBull for my birthday. I spread it all out over 6 hours and it took me two hours to drink my first drink but I still got a little tipsy. Scandalous, I know!

We were practically the only ones in the bar so dancing and loud singing soon overcame us!

Kyle tried to sneak a peek under Emily's skirt...

And fake fighting broke out!

For some reason people started wearing sunglasses, even though it was one in the morning...

Myself included. It made sense at the time.

It was a fun and fabulous way to spend a birthday!

FABULOUS night out!

2010-07-12T19:21:00.002-05:00

Last night I got together a group of 11 people and we went to a show at the Baton in Chicago. It is the home of the most professional and glamorous female impersonators in the world! We met up at Maggiano's down the street.

After a drink bill of $209 we forgot to get a group picture. This is what we ended up with:

Next time there will be more pictures from the fabulous night!

Fourth of July Madness!

2010-07-07T11:47:00.006-05:00

Normally I don't do anything for the Fourth of July but this year I was invited out to Winnebago to spend the holiday with my favorite group of people. What follows is photo-documentation of the madness that ensued. It is not for the faint of heart.

Here is most of the crew sitting outside in the nasty humidity:

Emily and I looked fanTABulous, as usual!

After that we headed over to the carnival for some karaoke alfresco! We started off with Mama Mia:

And then It's the End of the World as We Know It!

Then we decided to do a song in Spanish, just for a little something different. I used to know the song and Emily had heard it before and her friend is a Spanish major so we thought with all that we could pull it off. It was a little harder than we thought. The only part we really knew was "bidi bidi bom bom!".

On our way back to the house Emily had to get a corn!

Back home jello shots ensued...

Best friends were made...

And love reigned supreme!

Emily won the paleness contest...

There was a Sarah Sandwich...

And Nathaniel fell down.

All in all, a success!

In Progress

2010-06-18T00:24:00.002-05:00

This is how I spent the last six hours:

The smell of oil paint = pure happiness :) But I could definitely use some ventilation now.

Thrifting and Crafting!

2010-06-09T17:12:00.003-05:00

Right before Milk Days my parents and I went to the antique store in Walworth. I found this awesome planter I just couldn't live without:

At that same store I also got some old photographs. I'm going to use them in a crafty project (coming soon!).

A few weeks ago, I found this super chicken at the Goodwill in Delavan.

And last night I made this beautiful flower pin from this website.

It was a little bit of a pain to make, but I think the next ones will be easier. I gave this one to my mom and I can't wait to have one of my own! I may just make one for everyone I know, so watch out!

Milk Days 2010!

2010-06-09T16:38:00.011-05:00

This past weekend was Milk Days, Illinois's longest running festival. I've been going for the past 20 years and if you've never been, you're missing out! It's held the first weekend in June (Friday-Sunday). This year I did the abbreviated version and only celebrated on Saturday, but my-oh-my! was it a full day!

I kicked it off by running the 10k at 8am (keep in mind I haven't run at ALL this summer). I definitely didn't win any awards, but the girls did. They ran in the kids' 50m dash. Isabelle won 2nd place...

And Olivia won 3rd!

After that it was time to eat! I had pasta salad, all sorts of fruits and veggies and crackers. Yum!

My dad kicked back with a Guinness after doing the 10k.

Then it was time for the parade.

Isabelle met Batman and a really tall guy.

They scored lots of candy!

They even shared some with me.

After that we watched a movie (I fell asleep) and then it was time for the nightlife!

It started off pretty slowly, but once the karaoke started it got AWESOME!

And Emily and I looked pretty fabulous!

There was lots of beer...

And dancing...

Even with random drunk strangers...

After hitting up every bar in town, 2 a.m. rolled around and it was time to wrap things up. Nathaniel crushed cans in his sadness that Milk Days was coming to an end.

But don't worry, there's always next year!

Hodge Podge of Early Summer

2010-06-03T17:37:00.005-05:00

I have been a bad blogger lately! This is going to be a little bit of a hodge podge of things from the past few months, but I promise to be more timely after this.

First off, we have my lovely swap package I received back in March. It was a cooking related swap and I got an awesome vegan cookbook, some local tea and jam, a pretty flower pin and sky blue yarn.
Next was Earth Day! I celebrated with my friend and the girls I used to babysit. We went to the park to enjoy nature and brought along our "Bag-O-Fun!": kites, chalk, bubbles, frisbees, everything necessary for a fun day in the sun. And a bag of jelly beans to fuel us! Weeeee!

We made chalk pictures of Earth and left some eco-oriented graffiti.
I taught my mom's cat how to walk on a leash. Mr. Scruffs loves his walkies!
Here is a picture of the garden path:
My dad replaced the tiles on the screened porch and ma got a new table, which the kitties love. My dad took off half his fingernail putting the floor down, but I won't put up a picture of that.
My dad knows a lady who raises alpacas and they have all this yarn piling up. They offered to pay me to knit things for them. I chose payment in yarn. The more I knit, the more I get! Here is a hat I made in a day.

Fun times!

Daily Dose of Fiber!

2010-03-19T18:33:00.004-05:00

I went to the Fold today to get more fiber for my Etsy shop and I couldn't help but pick up a little bit of yarn for myself. I got some lace weight for a shawl. I've never used lace weight or really knit lace so it should be fun! And I got some crazy sock yarn. Check it out!

Crazy Zauberball
Alpaca Lace

And I also got a new book on knitwear design. The Knitwear Design Workshop: A Comprehensive Guide to Handknits by Shirley Paden. It looks pretty good so far. Hopefully I can add some designs to my shop before too long!

And here is a picture of one of my mom's cats looking out my studio window. Hurray for Spring!

The Roving Ewe!

2010-03-18T19:38:00.003-05:00

Woo! I finally got my Etsy site up and running! I put a link to it on the side of my blog here. It's called The Roving Ewe!
I don't know if non-spinners will really get the name so I'll explain. Here is what the dictionary has to say:

roving adjective or noun

1 : not restricted as to location or area of concern

2 : inclined to ramble or stray

3: a slightly twisted roll or strand of textile fibers

And a Ewe is a sheep!

Roving is what I sell and sheep (well, wool really) is what it's made from! I thought it was clever and funny. It's even better with the mascot:

So tell all your fiber friends and watch out for updates! I'll be adding stitch markers soon and I'll be expanding into vegan roving as well as hand dyed yarns by the end of next month. Exciting!

Artsy Fartsy

2010-03-18T12:28:00.004-05:00

I've been working on my portfolio lately and trying to get it online. I don't have a website yet since I want to wait until I amass more work and can take it in to get professionally photographed. But I thought I'd stick some up just to show people. I took the photos myself so the quality isn't great, but you get the idea.

Gossip:Oil on canvas, 2010.

A Christmas (or birthday?) gift for my dad one year. They're tiny little drawings of his old velvetine rabbit.

Graphite on paper, 2008. 4"x4".

Eye Candy

2010-03-11T15:36:00.004-06:00

Here are a few projects I finished recently (or, as in the case of Ma's X-mas Mitts, not-so-recently). Enjoy!

Mama's X-Mas Mitts:
Bird embroidery I made during National Needlework Month (February). It's going to be a pillow for my bedroom:
I finished my Rivendell sock! Not the best picture, but it's the best I can do for now.
This is just a mindless project I'm working on now. I couldn't decide what else to knit. It's the Celtic Cable Neckwarmer.
And this is a sketch I drew last night. It's a French Bulldog my friend used to dog-sit. Meet Munchie!

Year to DAZZLE!

2010-03-09T15:49:00.003-06:00

My friend and I have been referring to this year as our year to DAZZLE! So I have decided to take a giant leap of faith.

As you may already know, my boyfriend and I broke up before Christmas, but due to our financial situation, we had continued to live together. It was confusing and weird to live like that, and so about a week ago I quit my job and made the temporary move to my parents' house. All I brought was about a week's worth of clothes and most of my art supplies. I've decided to dedicate the month of March (and maybe a little beyond) to making art and working on my portfolio. I'm signing up to be a substitute teacher to see how I like teaching. I'm just following my heart and doing what feels right from now on. This is going to be a time of self-discovery and renewal. My year to DAZZLE!

Here is a picture of my humble sunroom studio:

And totally unrelated is a yarn swap package I sent out to my lucky swap partner:

Complete with handmade sheep buttons:

And I hope my blogs to come are full of art and creations. :)

Poor sick kitty

2010-02-20T16:53:00.003-06:00

A few days ago my kitty was throwing up, or at least trying to. She just hid under the couch and wouldn't eat or drink anything. I took her to the vet and ran all sorts of tests. Nothing showed up so the vet gave her anti-nausea medication and sent her home. The next day she wasn't any better. I took her back to the vet, this time for x-rays and more extensive blood-work. Everything came back normal. She got an enema to get rid of backed up poop and had diarrhea for a while. Now poor May-may has a sore butt and stinks like poop. She ate a little bit today and I tried to wash the poop off her. Now she's just taking a nap on a heating pad. I didn't want her to get cold with a wet butt. Poor May-may :(

San Fran: Day 5 and beyond...

2010-02-16T13:43:00.007-06:00

Last day! Glenda and I were getting worn out by this point. We walked probably 7 miles a day, ate next to nothing and barely got any sleep. That City Pass keeps you busy! It was pretty much the backbone of the trip since we didn't plan anything out in advance.

The last day we woke up somewhat early and went to breakfast at Dottie's True Blue Cafe. It's a somewhat well-known restaurant in San Fran. It's a tiny place and we had to wait in a line that went out onto the sidewalk. The food was super amazing, though.

Here are some pretty houses:

And a little market thing going on sort of near where we stayed that last night:

The last day we did the Museum of Modern Art.

The picture of this isn't great, but this was pretty cool. And each individual picture was pretty nice:
RIP Michael Jackson:I don't normally like things like this, but this struck me. Again, the picture doesn't do it justice. It felt almost like a landscape.
So much cooler than an iPhone:

A Calder:

Amazing!! I *heart* Magritte:

Then Glenda and I pondered all the great art.

And found Waldo:

The rooftop sculpture garden had more of these fat-bottomed guys:

Then as our last hurrah in San Francisco, we walked the Golden Gate Bridge. The whole thing, out and back. It was raining a little and loud from the cars zooming by.

And there were lots of emergency crisis phone lines with little plaques saying something like "Jumping off the bridge is fatal and tragic. There is hope."

View from the bridge:

My shuttle came to pick me up at 8:30 to take me to the airport. I got to the airport to find out my flight was canceled due to bad weather. I ended up staying one more night at a Raddison, for $60. Super nice room, even though I didn't get much sleep.

I had to get up at 6am to get back to the airport. Got to Chicago for my change-over. Got delayed another hour when the plane was late getting in, and then two de-icings on our plane. Finally got to Minneapolis at about 9 pm. Waited around for the 9:45 shuttle back to Wisconsin. Got home about midnight. Loooooong day. Long weekend. Why aren't vacations relaxing? I had a lot of fun, but my next vacation is going to be sitting on a beach somewhere reading a book!

San Fran: Day 4

2010-02-16T13:12:00.011-06:00

Up early again, although more tired than the day before. Part of that was probably lack of proper nutrition. We tried to eat on the cheap by only eating one meal at a restaurant a day. The rest was english muffins and pbj's.

We started off by going through Golden Gate Park. There is a big list of things you shouldn't do there.With the most important, at the bottom:

I wandered around the Japanese Tea Garden for a while.

A pretty tree:A zen garden designed by some famous zen garden architect guy. That'd be a fun job.

Peace lantern:Some temples:

Bonzai trees hundreds of years old:

Some herons in the water:

Then off to the DeYoung Museum. Across from that was the Academy of Science, notice the grass roof:

And this neat outdoor theatre:

Inside the museum: Some art I liked:

My favorite was the room with all the "illusion" art in it. Lots of really nice little still-lives...

And this crazy thing...

Sort of grotesque, but from across the room, I thought it was real.

Here I am getting attacked by a giant safety pin. You gotta love Claes Oldenburg:

Apples...

And these guys, that I feel like I've seen somewhere before...

A tiny, tiny little hummingbird:

That night we stayed at Glenda's friend's apartment to save a little money (even though the hotel was only $45 a night. Thank you Priceline!) We went back there and watched 30 Rock online and played Quiddler (like scrabble played with cards) until late, late, late.

San Fran: Day 3

2010-02-16T12:32:00.009-06:00

We woke up early the next day after staying up late the night before. I was sore from walking so much in ballet flats and decided to look like a dorky tourist and wear my running shoes the rest of the time.

The second day we went to Alcatraz.

There's a cardboard cut-out of a guard in the lookout tower.

The laundry room:

Showers:

Recreation yard:

Barred windows:

Solitary: (I went in there and it was super creepy. The other cells didn't bother me, but there was bad mojo in these. I just wanted to get out.)

Some upper-level cells:

The library: Totally the nicest place there. The sun was coming in. I wouldn't have minded having a cell across from the library. Apparently neither did anyone else. They were considered some of the best cells in the whole place.

A typical cell layout: Notice the crochet!

Accordion!

This would be my cell, yay art! I don't know.. books, crochet, free meals, accordion, painting... this prison sounds like my kinda place. Of course, the toilet is preeeety close to the bed...

Breakroom for the guards:

An Alcatraz rainbow!

View from outside: nice..

Breakout attempt! Heads made from soap, chisel of spoons, up a shaft and out.. Never heard from again...

The kitchen: silhouettes of knives so they'd know if one was missing...

And outside again.. some plant-life:

Back to Fisherman's Wharf. It wouldn't be San Francisco without a trolley!

Next stop: Aquarium of the Bay. My favorites: the jellyfish!

Another tunnel under water:

Me in a bubble:

Later that night we went to walk the Golden Gate Bridge but it was after dark and it was closed. But here is the nastiest bathroom in San Francisco:

San Fran: Days 1 & 2

2010-02-16T11:53:00.008-06:00

I took a mini vacation last week to see my friend in San Francisco. I almost canceled the trip when the weatherman said it was going to rain the whole week. But, it was sunny almost every day! Yay! I *heart* California. We bought this thing called a City Pass. It got us admission to five attractions and free Muni transportation.

I left my house at 2:30 am to catch the shuttle to the Minneapolis airport. Got to the hotel in San Fran at about 10:30, California time. Glenda showed up at about 11:30. It was gloomy that first day and I was super cranky from lack of sleep. But I felt better once we started sightseeing. We started off at the California Academy of Sciences. They have an indoor rain forest.

And there was a red parrot that I kept looking at me and saying hi.

And when you leave, you have to check yourself for butterflies, since everything is just flying around in this dome.

Then we got to walk through a tube under the rain forest.

Can you find the seahorse?

Later we went to the Castro to buy some groceries and met up with Glenda's friends at a wine bar.

Day 2:

We went down to Fisherman's Wharf.

That seemed to be the place where all tourists hung out. And this guy:

It felt like spring there and all the flowers were blooming. It was a nice change from the winter weather at home.

We had our fortunes read by Zoltar. But I didn't wake up the next morning to get an awesome job at a toy company.

We took our Blue and Gold Adventure Cruise off Pier 39. It went around Alcatraz...

And under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Glenda ate too much taffy before the boat ride and this is how she felt afterwards:

We had dinner that night at a 50's diner. We were the only people in there.

Loooong day!

Fun with Fiber!

2010-01-28T16:36:00.005-06:00

When I was in Illinois, I went to my favorite yarn shop - The Fold. They sell yarn and TONS of spinning supplies, including every type of fiber you can think of. I bought 3 new sock yarns and a pound of superwash merino to dye and sell on Etsy (more on that when I get the shop going).

And now for the yarns!
I'm still fairly new to using expensive yarns, so I always try new things. I got some Fiber Optics Foot Notes yarn in a really nice gold color. I might make the Moonlight Sonata Shawl with it.

Some Kraemer Sterling Silk and Silver, with actual silver threads in it. The picture doesn't really show it, but it SPARKLES!! I'm thinking of making a shawl or something so I can really show this yarn off.

And some Malabrigo sock yarn that I've been wanting to try FOREVER since everyone seems to like it. And it is majorly soft! I loooove the color! I'm making the Rivendell sock from the book, The Eclectic Sole, that Howie got me for Christmas.

I got this yarn a few weeks ago at Goodwill for $3! It's 50% super fine alpaca, 50% wool. 4oz. My guess is fingering weight and probably about 400+ yards. Should be enough to make socks, but my other alpaca socks are kinda saggy after a day of wear. Of course, those are 100% alpaca, so this might hold its shape better. We'll see. I can't decide what to do with it yet.

And a few days ago I got a package from one of my Ravelry friends. It came after a really bad day at work and really brightened up my night. :)

I got some super soft vegan sock yarn made from bamboo, dark chocolate, teas, stitch markers and vegan lip balm and perfume. Yay! I love it!

Yesterday I went to Natalie's house and we dyed fiber. I made them all to sell on my Etsy site, and it's kind of hard for me to give them up. They're SO soft and I really want to see how they look spun up. Maybe whoever buys them will send me pictures. :) The first four are 4oz. superwash merino, the next one is about 4.5oz BFL, the last is the 1.5oz leftover superwash merino that I'm keeping for myself. All tentatively named.

Professor Plum:
Beachy Keen:
Autumn in New York:
London Fog:

Robin's Nest:

Painted Hussy:

Home for the weekend

2010-01-28T15:35:00.005-06:00

Last week I went to see my folks for a few days. They got some serious frost there. It was all over everything and was soooo pretty. Pictures can't really do it justice.

It's always super busy when I go down there. Everyone wants a piece of me. I went to breakfast with my dad (didn't go for a run, though. I was all stuffed up and sick feeling. Maybe from the cats??), hung out with Emily, and went shopping with ma. I got a new bed set. Yay!

You can't really tell but it's a really nice light blue under the white blanket. I want to make a little accent pillow for a pop of color. It's super relaxing, but OH SO warm. I apparently can't sleep in flannel like I'm used to. Anyway, in honor of my nice new bed, I organized my closet. I wish I'd taken a before picture, but it was really too shocking. I would have been afraid for my readers, so maybe it's better this way. Look how organized!

It's even arranged chromatically. Anal retentive anyone?

Christmas, haircuts and the Louvre

2010-01-10T13:16:00.008-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while. Christmas was rough this year. My boyfriend of almost 8 years broke up with me right before Christmas. I went home for a few days and got really sick on Christmas eve, which just ruined it all that much more. Yup, good times.

I didn't take many pictures from the holidays, being sick and all, but here is one of the fam:

Here are the Christmas cards I sent out this year. I'm really into making cards with fabric and paper and my sewing machine.

Oh yeah, and I made a baby blanket for my nephew. I'd originally planned to knit it, but ran out of time. It's the first quilt I've ever made. I made it based on one I had (and still have) when I was a little girl.
One of my Christmas presents was a garmin, so I took a little solo roadtrip to Minneapolis a few days ago. Remember that terrible haircut I had in August? Well, it was time for another haircut and I made a promise to myself that I would never get my hair cut in Wisconsin again. So I went to Moxie in Minneapolis. I'm pretty happy with it. Hurray for asymmetrical bangs!

But I didn't just go there for a haircut. The Institute of Art had some stuff on loan from the Louvre. The show ended yesterday and it was the last chance I had of seeing it. So I went to that. It was pretty awesome. They had some just beautiful paintings. Some of them I could have just stood in front of all day. They had The Astronomer by Vermeer, a cloth study by Da Vinci, an Ingre portrait and a religious painting by Lorenzo Lotto. Those were my favorites. And these drawings by Pisanello that were just so, so amazing. The museum itself had some really nice regular pieces, too. They had a Van Gogh I'd never seen before with a sun and it was just radiant. And a lot of Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, who I'm just really drawn to for some reason.

I didn't take any pictures, just this one on the way home of the skyline. I was at the museum from 11-5 and got to drive home in lovely rush hour traffic on a Friday. Thank God for Garmin, which diverted me to side roads to avoid it. I love that thing!!

New car!

2009-12-17T13:14:00.003-06:00

Yay! I bought a new car today! Merry Christmas to me! It's a 2004 Subaru Legacy SE. It's their 35th anniversary edition Legacy. Pretty fancy. It almost feels TOO nice. My last car was a 1984 Volvo (RIP Old Blue) with 215000 miles.Faux woodgrain. OoOOOooO.
Power Moonroof. *little hearts*

Yay! So happy! There's a cd player but no aux jack for my iPod so I might go see about getting a new stereo installed sometime this week. I don't want to drive to Illinois and back without my iPod. Time to go for a drive!

Buttons, candy and snow!

2009-12-13T18:17:00.010-06:00

This was a busy "makin' stuff weekend". Of course, none of the stuff I made was for Christmas presents. I'm still only half-way through making my Christmas cards... finishing those is on the agenda for tonight. Unless I get distracted making Dorset buttons! I just found out about these yesterday and they're totally addictive! I want to make buttons, pins, earrings, everything! out of them. Here are the four I made since last night.

So watch out, they might be coming your way this Christmas because I can't stop making them.

And I made this painting of a brick wall. I can't say more about that just yet.

Last night Howie and I got a gingerbread house. It was the messiest thing ever. The frosting came dry in a bag and had to be mixed. Well, I don't have an electric mixer and it felt too thick doing it by hand so I added a little extra water. Yeah.. it pretty much melted everywhere. Baubles slid down window panes, the doorknob fell to the ground and the door tried to melt off the face of the house. I'm not even going to mention the avalanche of roof "snow"... yeah. It was everywhere. But I think it turned out pretty decent. I just had to keep pushing things back into place until the frosting hardened. But, trust me, you don't want to see the back of the house. I had a lot of extra candy bits and just stuck them all back there. It looks like a candy monster threw up all over. I'm totally looking forward to eating it, though.

Speaking of snow, we had a HUGE snowstorm here about a week ago. Here is a picture of our neighbor's car, just to give you a little taste of Wisconsin in December.

Tour of Altoona (and Beyond!)

2009-12-06T18:53:00.018-06:00

I've been wanting to go around and take pictures of town, but it's been cloudy for 2 months. The sun actually can out today so here you go. This is for everyone who hasn't been up here yet. First I had to bundle up against the cold, Wisconsin weather. Hurray for knitwear!
Here is the ever popular Altoona Family Restaurant. Even the seagulls have to wait in line.Then there is the Just Local Foods Co-op:And Tangled Up in Hue (they sell art and handmade stuff, yay!) and Yellow Dog Knitting.

The antique shop and the budget theater.

The bookstore, which has a really nice little sitting area upstairs, and Infinitea Teahouse.

The river and some randomness:Then we went to Chippewa Falls to see the Christmas lights. It was pretty cool. The pictures didn't really work. You'd have to see for yourself. Come visit! You know you want to!

Festivize!

2009-12-06T18:29:00.012-06:00

It does not feel like Christmastime. The stores have had the Christmas decorations out since before Thanksgiving (so wrong!) but it just doesn't feel right. Maybe it's the lack of snow or because they just don't really know how to decorate up here, I don't know. I put the Christmas XM station on tv and dug my decorations out of the stinky basement.
Since we've moved to a bigger apartment, it seems like I have a totally inadequate amount of decorations. And I'm too cheap to buy more. Mostly I just put up my tree. It's barely over 6 feet, but I put 1250 lights on it. I think it could still use more near the top but ma says it's a fire hazard.

My tree isn't exactly uh... traditional... Here are some ornament highlights:

And then there's the tree-topper, which is a dog angel wearing red velvet and leopard. Oh yeah!

Alpaca Hat!!

2009-11-05T19:46:00.006-06:00

I'm finally done with the alpaca hat (Andean Chullo)! I'm so excited! Crazily enough it didn't take me any longer than knitting a pair of socks. Three weeks start to finish and that was with a little hiatus (didn't want to do the i-cord edging and tassels. Tassels are a hassle. Not really. But they aren't as fun as knitting.) So here it is, in all it's alpacay glory. I'm so in love with this hat. It's my favorite thing I've ever knit. (Don't tell the socks!)

Monster Dash!

2009-11-02T22:52:00.003-06:00

I did a little something different for Halloween this year. My dad and I ran the Monster Dash Half Marathon in Minneapolis, MN. I was a little worried about this run since I had been sick for about two weeks and hadn't run. And I still had a nasty cough. But mostly it was because I hadn't run, and my longest training run was about 4.5 miles.

Sound familiar? I did the same thing a few months ago when we did the Ohio Half. I messed my foot up that time and could barely walk for a week. I could feel (and hear) the tendons in my feet moving. So I really didn't want that to happen again.

But I had a pretty good run. It was FREEZING at the start. I couldn't feel my fingers at all until mile two. My legs never warmed up. (Note to self: probably not a good idea to wear shorts in Minnesota at the end of October when you plan on being outside for over 3 hours.) I started to drag a little at mile 5, but kept a fairly steady pace. At mile 8, I broke out the iPod and some caffeinated "goo". After that I felt pretty good. Music really helps.

Until mile 12 when nothing helps but being finished and sitting down to a huge french toast breakfast with hashbrowns and fruit. But I finished. My time was 2:47. Not great, but better than the last one. I wish I'd trained better. I passed my dad right near the end. He was having trouble with calf cramps, probably from cold legs (stupid shorts!), but finished just a minute behind me.

It was pretty fun though. The goody bag had a really nice long-sleeved running shirt that I actually wore (first time wearing a long-sleeved running shirt for a whole race). And the medal is pretty awesome. It doesn't say Minnesota so I'll have to remember, just like I have to remember I did Iowa even though I got NOTHING for finishing that. Grr. Stupid Iowa. Anywho, here is the medal. It's also a belt buckle. Neato.

Disney World Marathon in January is next, right? :)

What to do, what to do...

2009-10-27T22:00:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to post some things I made. They were surprises for my folks so I had to wait until they got them to post this. Here they are:
That's a little button drawing I made for my dad to take to work. It's my first "artist trading card".
"SMILE! It's Halloween!" Halloween card for ma. I like making these a lot, even though it takes forever to cut all those little peices.

On an unrelated note, I'm trying to figure out what direction to take my future/career in. Here are my ideas:
-Start my own yarn/fiber shop like the Fold in Marengo. (Buy a farm with some land, get sheep and alpacas, run the store out of my house. Spend all day knitting and kibitzing with the customers.)
- Return to school to be a dietician (specializing in whole foods wellness/weight loss/veganism). Looked for jobs related to that, didn't have much luck. Possible waste of money?
- Return to school to be an art teacher. Pros: Summers off and somewhat creative environment. Con: Purple hair not an option.
- Try to get a job as a freelance children's book illustrator. No experience or ideas on how that actually works.
- Write a graphic novel about my adventures as a cynical retail clerk. Probably going to do that one anyway.
- Write trashy romance novels. Pro: easiest genre to get published in. Con: I would have to tell people I write romance novels for a living.
- Get a real job. Pros: money. Cons: eternal misery/sold soul for money.

Ideas, comments, donations welcome.

Newness!

2009-10-26T18:43:00.011-05:00

Halloween is almost here! The weather was so warm for so long that I waited to decorate and then it got really cold and felt more like winter. It's like we skipped right over Fall altogether. So I don't feel that Halloweenie this year.

But I did get my Halloween Swap package in the mail today! Super exciting! Check out all the goodies.

Did I mention it snowed again?

"It's not normally like this." It's a good thing Howie and I got some stay-at-home essentials like this awesome chair from Goodwill for $7. It's actually a nice poopy green, but looks brown in all the pictures. It's also the cats' new favorite scratching post.

And we bought a Wii! And Wii Fit! Woo! It's super fun. We rented Super Mario Galaxy, Ghostbusters and Animal Crossing:City Folk from Blockbuster and that's all we've been doing for a week. Here is Howie going for a nice island jog.

Here is me in Animalia. And here is my knitting project that I work on when Howie is playing. It's Knit Picks' Andean Chullo. That's the bottom half of some alpacas.

And I gave Howie a haircut and he made some yummy vegan stew, served with the bread I made earlier. Now it's time to settle in for some knitting and Super Mario!

Happy Birthday Howie! Goodbye Metrodome!

2009-10-26T18:28:00.007-05:00

This is a little late, but here it is none-the-less. October 12th was Howie's birthday. The big Three-Oh. Since we moved up here we talked about going to see a Twins game at the Metrodome. They built a new stadium so this was our last chance to see them play there. We never really got our act together and missed the last game. But we got a second chance when the Twins went into the post-season. So I got tickets for Howie's birthday to see the Twins play the Yankees. It ended up being the Twins last game ever at the Metrodome.

Howie got stuck sitting next to Yankee fans (BOO!) so I couldn't help asking this kid to stop so I could take his picture as he walked by:

The Twins lost pretty horribly, but it was a fun night anyway. We did the wave, ate cracker jack and there was even a crazy fan who ran out onto the field. He actually made it to the fence on the other side, but he couldn't get over before the guards got there.

Oh yeah, and did I mention it SNOWED on Howie's birthday? Everyone assures me it "isn't normally like this" up here. I've been hearing an awful lot of that.

I can knit again!!

2009-10-10T20:54:00.003-05:00

I can finally knit again! I read some stuff online about omega-3, so I've been taking my flax seed oil and eating lots of ginger and my tennis elbow is all better! Yay! Here is what I made today. It's half of the Brea Bag by Norah Gaughan. I have one of her books and her patterns are seriously amazing. Maybe in a day or two I'll have a finished bag to post. I was too excited to wait on this one. I'm going to go get started on the other half. Yay knitting!! Just in time for the long trip to Minneapolis tomorrow for the Twins playoff game.

Timm's Hill and Chequamegon

2009-10-10T14:34:00.012-05:00

Yesterday Howie and I went on a mini-roadtrip to Timm's Hill, the highest natural point in Wisconsin, and Chequamegon National Forest. The colors are starting to change, even though it feels more like winter than Fall. I saw ice hanging from the bottoms of cars this morning.

We drove along a narrow path to get to the tower at the highest point.

Then there was a pretty big hill and we had to climb this...

And then we were at the top. Yay! So pretty! Pictures don't really do it justice.

We were going to carve our initials up there, but besides having no knife, there wasn't a whole lot of space that wasn't already taken.

Somehow I feel like that last one used to say something else...

Then we went through Chequamegon National Forest. There wasn't much to it that we could see. There were camp grounds but not too much in the way of scenery. We did stop at this little lake. Apparently they have man-made osprey nests but we didn't go on the trail since it was starting to get late.

Then we headed home. Fun day!

Chair Barf and Mustard

2009-10-09T11:45:00.007-05:00

I haven't been able to knit in a week. I think it's tennis elbow. Everything hurts it. I got a strap that's supposed to help, but it doesn't really. Yesterday I had to go to the yarn shop to get some yarn for a yarn swap I'm doing. Some mustard-colored yarn lured me into buying it, knowing perfectly well I wouldn't be able to make anything right away and it would just be sitting there taunting me. It's torture.

So instead of knitting, I've been reading books on knitting and working on some designs, which can't go very far without being able to knit swatches for them. Grrr.

To try to take my mind of knitting completely, I decided to finally recover my kitchen chairs. Every time you'd sit on them it would barf out some stuffing. It was definitely time. Blaaarrrggg...

I bought the fabric forever ago on *clearance!* Yay! I even ripped one of the chairs apart about a year ago and had the new padding all cut and sitting on top of the board. We don't get many visitors (maybe because our chairs barf on them?) so it was easy to just leave them like that. But enough was enough! I'm self-taught with a sewing machine and I didn't feel like pinning lots of stuff so I did it my way, but I think it came out pretty decent. I still don't understand how people can sew something straight to something curved and have it not come out a little bumpy, but whatever. Here it is, in it's slightly bumpy glory:

And it's mustard yellow! Hurray!

I also made these earrings while watching tv last night. I can only watch so much tv without some sort of project... usually knitting. Grrr.

Happy Owl-oween!

2009-10-02T16:58:00.003-05:00

Everyone is getting handmade cards this year. I made this one today...

Fall is here!

2009-10-01T15:04:00.009-05:00

Today is a yucky, rainy day and it's COLD! And since it's Thursday, I met up with Natalie at the coffeehouse for some knitting. She was on her laptop working on her roller derby team she's starting, but I got some serious knitting done. We were there for four hours. I knit almost the whole foot of my sock and finished the pair. Yay! I'm so ready to start something else. This pattern was pretty boring and there were lots of purls, which hurt my fingers.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, although I should have done an afterthought heel or something. I don't like the harsh line that was formed from doing the heel flap and I totally knew it was going to do that going in. Oh well. They're still super bright and happy!

So I'm going to do some sewing today or decorate for HALLOWEEN or maybe work in my "studio". It's a stay-at-home kinda day. I should probably finish this painting I started last year. I've been working on it and there isn't too much left. I'm hoping to sell it when I'm done. If anyone will have it.

Last time I was working on it, I left the door open while I rinsed out a jar and when I went back in my cat (May-May, of course) was up on the table. I freaked out when she jumped down thinking she'd have paint on her paws and would track it all over the apartment. I picked her up to check her paws and didn't see anything and then she turns her face to me and it's covered in orange paint. She'd licked it and then licked her face and it was just all over. I was freaking out, trying to wash it off, which wasn't working because it's oil paint. Meanwhile I'm yelling at Howie to call the vet, thinking she's going to start foaming at the mouth or something. She didn't eat much, just a little lick, and they told me to watch her for two days and to wash the paint off with Dawn soap. They use it on ducklings from oil spills so I guess it's ok. She hated me for a while after that, I can tell ya.

And on a totally unrelated note, I was looking in my fridge for a lemon and I checked the "dairy" bin, which we never use, and I found a little surprise:

That's where the garlic went. So I planted it and it's grown like 5 inches in a week. Crazy stuff. I guess I'm going to get a whole bulb for each little sproutling I planted. Yay!

Remembering Grandma

2009-09-29T21:57:00.006-05:00

I don't have a whole lot of memories of my grandma, but the ones I have are good. Every summer when I was a kid my parents and I would take our summer "vacation" road-trip to Michigan to see the family. The car ride was seriously endless. Memories are weird and all I have are vibrant little snippets, but here they are:

I remember grandma's house was all white and fluffy and smelled nice. My feet would sink into the carpet as I walked. She always had soft, fresh caramels in a glass dish that I would eat one by one. And mementos from her cruises that I wasn't supposed to play with. She always had pop for us kids in a fridge in the basement. We would stay at her house sometimes and in the morning she would make the best blueberry waffles ever. One time I slept on the couch next to the big grandfather clock and listened to it tick all night long. I slept funny and couldn't move my head the next day. She never forgot my birthday and would send me cards with checks every year. I remember one had a cat on it and said something about "knits and purrrrrls". She knit her own washcloths. She used to send them to my mom by the boatload. We had more washcloths than we knew what to do with.

She liked to bowl, I have pins from when she bowled a perfect game. She liked birds and crossword puzzles and taking walks. She liked to travel and had a map on her wall with pins of places she'd been and a star where she threw my grandpa's ashes from a cruiseship. She liked Big Boy restuarants and we went there for her 80-somethingth birthday and she got a free, little chocolate cake.

She gave me a necklace when I was a little girl with some sort of Chinese symbol on it. It came in a little pink, silk bag. She had the same necklace, only bigger. I still have the necklace and I still don't know what it means. But I remember she wore hers all the time.

Then I got older and didn't want to go to Michigan anymore. And the birthday cards started to skip years and then stopped altogether. She was getting more forgetful. The neverending washcloths started to fall apart until there was only one left, and then none. She started to have trouble driving and they took her car away. We went to see her and she had a huge black eye from falling down her front steps. We took her to the doctor and they thought we did it. There was talk of putting her in a nursing home. She walked out at dinner when she heard. She wanted her independence. She hated the nursing home at first but then said she loved it and always had. She had a friend there, also named Betty, and they would wander off and get in trouble sometimes.

They told us she had alzheimers and she started to forget who we were. I didn't see her for years. Then my dad and I went up there last year to do a half marathon and we went to see her. She was trying to talk to us but was frustrated that she couldn't find the words. Her nursing home had a glass birdhouse so she could watch the birds. We sat with her a while and then it was time to go. They wheeled her out to sit in the hallway with some other old people. I don't know if she knew who we were or why we were hugging her but when it was my turn she didn't hug me like a stranger. She hugged me like grandma. And I'll never forget it.

Hookie

2009-09-23T22:24:00.007-05:00

I played hookie from work on Monday and it was totally worth it. Lately that place has really been getting to me. It's one thing to hate your job and it's another to cry on your way to work everyday. So I called in sick and went for a four mile run (it was supposed to be three... I got lost). After that I worked on a picture I'm doing for the Art with Heart charity auction for the local humane society. It's pastel, which is something I'm pretty inexperienced at. I don't really like it but I think I was starting to get the hang of it in the end. The next one will be better. Howie dropped it off for me yesterday when I was at work and the lady there said it was "Beauuuutiful!". We're getting complimentary tickets to go to the auction/dinner. I hope it makes some money for them.

Then Howie had his piano lesson and I decided to go with him since the Borders is right next store. I hung out there for an hour looking at art books. After his lesson, we split a peice of carrot cake, then we went downtown to check out the art store. It just reopened after being remodeled and they didn't have much there. It still looked like a battlezone inside. It's the weirdest place, though. It's a combination art store/cupcake shop. Weird.

Next we swung over to the used bookstore. That place was crazy. It must have just opened because they're in the process of painting the outside with famous authors. A lady showed up to work on Shakespeare while we were there. And the guy who owns it is this crazy hippie-type old dude with a big beard. There were bad oil paintings hanging around (one was, I think, John Lennon) and it smelled like oil paint and old books. Such a good combo. The books were just everywhere with no order I could tell. I got a book on Surrealism/Dada, the James Beard Bread book and the most awesome find of the year:

The Mime Book!! It's the "definitive" guide to becoming a mime. I'm totally going to learn some stuff and be a Mime for Halloween. Maybe someday I can move to Disneyland and be a mime full-time. There are worse things I can think of.

To top off my day of not working, Howie and I went to Olive Garden and then to see Inglorious Bastards. It was actually really good. There was some nasty blood stuff in there, but not as much as you'd think. We went to a late show so we didn't get home until almost 11 and it was time for bed because I had to work the next day. But now it's my weekend. Yay!

Did you think I forgot to put some knitting in here? Never! I finished the Frankensocks! I love them and wore them to the Saturday morning knitting. It warmed up as the day went on and I had to take them off. I can't wait for it to get cold enough to wear wool socks. (Crazy, I know):

And started a new sock right away with my new Mini Mochi yarn. I've finished one sock already but all I have is a little teaser picture. It'll have to do until I finish the other...

...which might be pretty soon since I'm meeting up with Natalie at the coffehouse to knit tomorrow. Last Saturday's knit was really fun. Howie and I had breakfast there with the Wheelers and then Howie went off with them and I knit. Natalie got a little puppy (!) and they let you bring dogs in there (totally awesome). Then we went to the International Festival downtown, where all the venders were out and about and we wandered around a bit. And she was also able to bring her puppy into the yarn shop and the artist's co-op shop two doors down. Totally animal friendly. I'm going to train my cat to walk on a leash and bring him next time. In a fashionable handknit argyle vest. We'll be the talk of the town.

Mini Minnie Roadtrip

2009-09-17T19:29:00.004-05:00

Howie and I have been looking for a new car for a while. He got his current car back in 2002 (used) and it has a ton of miles, is leaking transmission fluid and oil and the serpentine belt is cracked. So today we rented a car and drove to Farmington, MN to look at this Subaru he's had his eye on. It has 105,000 miles, which is just a baby in Subaru years and it looked pretty good. The price was right, so he got it! Yay! I got to drive it home. All 2 hours of it. Kinda scary in a new car, but I totally feel comfortable in it now. Then we stopped at Red Robin and ate 2000 calories worth of food, but who wants to cook after 4 hours in the car all day? I'll just have to run 20 miles tomorrow to make up for it.

It's a hatchback with fold-down seats for the bikes. Yay! I think we're going to drive up to a state park tomorrow and go biking if the weather is as nice as it was today.

Frankensock!

2009-09-10T18:51:00.006-05:00

Natalie and I met up at the coffeehouse this morning to do a little knitting. I finished one of my Frankensocks!

I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's probably the best fitting sock I've made yet. I don't know if it was the pattern or the fact that I was using 1.5 size needles instead of my usual 2s. Who knows, but I love this sock and I can't wait to make it's *sorta* twin. Well, I'm not actually looking forward to doing more of those zig-zagging twisted cables but it's worth it in the end.

Howie and I went to the resale shop and I got some cool fabric so I'm thinking I might sew up some things tonight. I need to put something on my sad, empty etsy site! We stopped at the Farmer's Market, too. We got some leeks, basil, raspberries and zucchini. And I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers for $3! Woo!

Hopefully the cats won't eat it like usual...

Flea Flowers

2009-09-08T18:28:00.007-05:00

My foot is almost all better but I tried to stay off it this weekend. Driving around to garage sales didn't seem like it would do any harm and I got some awesome stuff. The flea market in town was supposed to be having a big sale but it mostly sucked. I did get this, though:

I don't know what it is about these old metal enameled flower pins but I love them. And they're usually super cheap, which is a plus. The fabric backdrop is actually a score from another garage sale. It looked like all clothes from the road but I felt called to stop at it. The table was full of fabric! Yay! Cheap 75-cents-a-piece fabric! I got a big ol' stack.

And I got some cool old wooden spools at the flea market...

And I made this little guy with my leftover handspun and sock yarn. Every time I see him sitting there knitting, it makes me so happy :) It's really hard for me not to just make a thousand of them. Maybe just one more...

The Spirit of Columbus

2009-09-04T17:59:00.013-05:00

I thought I would split my blogs into two today since it's been forever since I've written. I was getting lazy about uploading pictures but here it is, in backwards chronological order :)

I just got back from a mini-roadtrip to Columbus, Ohio. My dad and I went out there to run the Spirit of Columbus Half Marathon. I was not prepared for the run. My longest training run was just under 4 miles and my total for the month was 9 miles. Not the best. I tried not to think about it.

My dad picked me up Thursday and we drove back to Illinois. The next morning we left. I made sure to bring lots of knitting with me. I finished my bamboo scarf before we even got to Illinois.

On the way through Chicago at 5am, we were hit by a drunk driver. I was sleeping and woke up to the crunching noise of the cars bumping up against each other. The traffic was crazy so we didn't stop and neither did the drunk. He continued to weave in and out of his lane. We tried to see the license plate but it was too dark. At the next rest stop we got out to check the damage, imagining a huge dent in the rental car. It was just a little scratch. Barely noticeable. Could have been worse. A lot worse.

I couldn't sleep after that and so I started to knit. I finished the hat before we hit Ohio. I'm sure glad I brought sock yarn, too.
When we got to Ohio, we checked into the hotel and picked up our race gear for Sunday. We had a day and a half to kill. Most of it we spent driving around lost. Apparently they're really anti-signs in Dublin, Ohio, where we were staying. We went to some fun shops and I got some ceramic beads at a cool beadshop with flamingo statues all over and fat, friendly cat. We asked about a yarn shop and headed off to find A Tangled Tale. Awesome yarn shop! The ladies were super nice and friendly. They were having their knit night and about to watch A Christmas Story on tv. The shop had all these yarns I've been lusting after on Ravelry. I spent way more than I should have. I got two balls of Mini Mochi, a Zauberball and some Ty-Dy sock yarn. I also got some 1.5 double pointed needles for the Frankensocks I started using 2s that were coming out a little big. And my dad bought me an Addi Turbo circular needle so I could finally start a sweater I've been sitting on forever.

That night we had pizza and ran through the pouring rain back to the car. The next day we ate at a sushi place, where I had to pick fish flakes (gross) off of my tofu, and saw the Time Traveller's Wife. Good but not as good as the book. Are they ever?

Sunday we got up at 5:30 (4:30 our time) to get ready for the run. Eat breakfast, take a shower and a dump, drink water. The weather was perfect and chilly. There was another runner stretching outside her room as we were leaving. We got there with lots of time to wait in line for the port-o-potty and walk around. The run started a little late but went pretty well. There was no water at a few stops and no oranges and candy bars like promised. I'm just glad I always bring my own stuff. I was having an awesome time, though. No problems with the lack of training. Why train ever? I'm going to do this for all my marathons! At around mile 8, I think, my dad went ahead. I always slow down at 8. At mile 9 I broke out my iPod for moral support. The tendon in my foot started to bother me at mile 10 but I wasn't about to stop. I ran past the finish line in 2:51. Not a terrible time, but my worst yet. I got passed right at the end but I couldn't move any faster, I wanted to walk so bad. I got my medal and finisher shirt (out of smalls... and hats, which were also promised). There were no oranges at the end. Or water. Just vitamin water. At least there was watermelon and pretzels. I couldn't stomach much, though.
My foot hurt and it was hard to walk on it. I iced it on the way home. It's 100% now but the other foot is messed up. Go figure.

We stayed the night in Bloomington to avoid Chicago and got horribly lost because of construction. The next day we drove the last 6 hours to Wisconsin. I finished reading a book on knitting and worked on my sock more. We had Red Robin boca burgers for dinner and hung out looking at old running bibs and relaxing. It was a fun week! And I got a lot of knitting done. Here is what I had on the sock by the time I got back home:

Needless to say, I took a little break from knitting for a few days when I got back.

I've been drawing a lot and yesterday Howie and I went to Borders so I could use my 40% off coupon and $5 in Borders Bucks. I got an awesome cookbook for $12...

I've heard good things about it. So last night I made the "lazy" Indian dinner. There was nothing lazy about it. I was in the kitchen for probably 2 hours. It's always good to read the instructions fully before starting. I did lots of chopping but ended up with some yummy food.. even though we didn't eat until 9:30.

Samosa stuffed baked potatoes with mango chutney, sauteed spinach and tomatoes and jasmine rice.

Our potatoes were smaller than what was called for so I foolishly made more. I ended up having to scoop out the insides of 12 potato halves. I had leftovers today. And probably will tomorrow and possibly at work on Sunday, too. Yeah, it made a lot.

Well I'm off to knit now. I'm making a little creature from my leftover handspun. :)

Sheep fleece and metal fish

2009-09-04T17:21:00.011-05:00

About two weeks ago I was feeling super crafty so I made some stitch markers to (hopefully) sell on etsy. For those of you who don't know what stitch markers are, they're used in knitting to keep track of stitches during lacework or whatever else.

Later Natalie took me to the Mill Ends Fabric store. It was awesome. Here's what I got there:

My parents came out to visit Howie and me and we took them around to all the coolest places. We had tea at a shop with 168 different types of teas, hit the resale shops, ate good food. Good times. I got some cute little sheep at the huge antique store downtown. I couldn't resist. I also found out I'm going to be an auntie soon. My mom is ridiculously excited about it. So I better get started knitting baby things and finding #1 grandpa shirts.

We were going to take my parents to Harmony Fest but they had to leave. Howie and I went and it was pretty lame. They advertised ethnic and vegetarian food. It smelled good but the vegetarian food was egg rolls. I did get some handmade metal fish earrings and some squirrel beads, though, so it wasn't a total bust.

Bad hair, yarn and buttons, Oh my!

2009-08-07T23:47:00.011-05:00

I've had a lot going on lately. First off, I got a horrible haircut. The salon I went to was recommended by a friend who had heard good things about it. It's a really cute little place, all funky with artwork everywhere. I totally thought I'd found the perfect salon. My hairdresser was supposed to be the person for funky, asymmetrical cuts so I more or less gave her free reign. I told her I wanted some light bangs, emphasis on light. What did I get? Well, see for yourself...
Indeed I am all bang. And as you can see they are crooked. This was supposed to be on purpose although it's not quite asymmetrical enough to make it look like anything less than an accident. I should have known when she brought out the hairdryer after about 15 minutes. It usually takes 45 to cut my hair. She didn't even touch the top or sides, I had to do those myself when I got home. This picture is after I cut about 2 inches from my scraggly sideburns. There were lots of tears involved but I've managed to part the bangs to the side and they don't look too bad. The real problem now is that it has no body because the haircut was so incomplete. Oh well. I'm still deciding if I can live with it or if I want to spend another $40 (yes, this monster cost $40) to get it fixed. All I can tell you is that I will never, ever get my hair cut in Wisconsin again.

So on to happy, fun stuff!!

I finished spinning the 8 ounces of alpaca I got at the Alpaca Festival. It's all plied and washed and delicious. It's the softest stuff ever. I think I have about 200 yards and I want to find the prettiest scarf to make out of it. I'm thinking something lacy since cables don't show up too well on fuzzy yarn.

Or maybe a nice hat...

It makes my haircut more tolerable at the very least.

It was rainy all day today so Howie and I went shopping! First stop was the library, which I guess isn't really shopping. I got a few knitting books (of course) and then off to Borders to use my 40% off coupon where I got... more knitting books! Ok, actually I got a book on color in spinning and another about Van Gogh and Gauguin.

And what shopping trip would be complete without hitting a resale shop or two? We went to Hope Gospel, which is totally my favorite of the bunch. I found an awesome wire basket (half off!), some buttons, and a jar to put them in.

Here is a selection of my favorite buttons of the day:

I'm using the basket to hold yarn, in the hopes that seeing it everyday with inspire me to use that up before I buy more.

I think it may be working because I've started working on a scarf made from some bamboo/silk yarn I've had for at least a year.

Oh yeah, and there is this awesome owl Howie found for me a few days ago, with a necklace I made.

Who says rainy days can't be fun?

Drumroll please...

2009-07-24T11:21:00.004-05:00

Introducing! My first cardigan:

Knitting!

2009-07-23T17:00:00.010-05:00

For my birthday I told my mom I wanted to take The Master Knitting Program offered by the Knitting Guild of America. There are three levels and when you finish all three you are proclaimed a Master Knitter! I signed up on my birthday and just got the packet in the mail the other day. I'm ridiculously excited about it. I went out today to get a fun, happy binder to put it in and some plain light yarn for the swatches I have to make.

Of course, while at the yarn shop, I had to pick up some baby alpaca from the 60% off wall for a sweater and some other yarny goodness. And then off to JoAnns Fabrics to get some buttons and wouldn't ya know it, buttons were on sale too! Like my mama always says "Never pay full price!"

I finished another project with my handpainted, handspun yarn. This time it's the Seafoam colorway. I'm also putting the finishing touches on my first cardigan (pictures as soon as it's done).

Complete with a happy, new button:

Another interesting thing happened recently in my little knitting world. I was asked to have one of my projects featured on a knitting site: America's Knitting . Check it out! Yay!

Apricots and Sunshine

2009-07-17T19:52:00.003-05:00

Well there it is... the first thing I've ever made with yarn I spun and dyed myself. I'm super happy with how it came out. I love the color and it even stripes a little bit.

:)

A Very Merry Unbirthday

2009-07-16T16:40:00.008-05:00

Today is my birthday.

It doesn't really feel like it, though. I didn't get any birthday cards and have no presents to unwrap. Howie got me something that was "too big to wrap". I don't know what it is yet. And it's been in the low 70s all day so it feels more like fall than July. We went to a few garage sales and I got some cool knitting books super cheap.

On the plus side, I signed up for the Knitting Guild of America's Master Handknitting course. That was my present from my ma. I've been super excited about it for months. It takes 4-6 weeks to get my stuff for it, though. AHH!!! I can't wait! I should have ordered it 4-6 weeks ago so it would get here on my birthday and I'd at least have something to open. Howie and I are going to go out to eat tonight. At first I wanted to go somewhere fancy but now I'm thinking I'll go to Red Robin just so the waiters will sing Happy Birthday to me. That and the bottomless fries. That won't make me bottomless, unfortunately.

Last night I made bread from scratch and today I'm feeling it. Those chicks back in the day must have been buff. My shoulders and abs hurt. Kneading dough is hard. I'm glad Howie got a bread machine at a garage sale. We're going to try making all our own bread and see if it saves us any money. I eat a ridiculous amount of bread.

I spent most of today making myself a birthday present. It's a little mini-scarf neckwarmer from the handspun I made. I'm super happy with how it's coming out. I can't wait to get buttons for it!

Howie just got home with my present. He wrapped it and all I saw were the little legs sticking out the bottom. Yay!!

It's the sewing table I saw at Goodwill and really, really wanted until they told me it was $50. I've been looking for one for a while and this one is so pretty and awesome.

Check out the drawers inside. That's what I really fell in love with.

Yay! Now I have a nice spot for my Pfaff and I can finally finish the chair covers in the kitchen. I dunno though, I was getting kind of used to having stuffing falling out all over the floor...

Lost and Found

2009-07-14T22:43:00.013-05:00

I finally found my camera cord to upload pictures to the computer! Yay! I can finally post about my move to Eau Claire and other neat stuff.

First off, here is the new apartment. It's still a bit of a work in progress. Some pictures need frames and books need shelves, but we're getting there. I even found some cool stuff outside the dumpster across the street.

I've been spending most of my free time spinning. I went to Natalie's house and dyed fiber for the first time. Super fun (and smelly!). I'm really happy with how it turned out. I had to spin it right away. I made a nice orangey color and a teal one that was supposed to be more green. Oh well, I still really like them and I think my spinning is definitely improving.

I'm going to go to the midnight showing of the Harry Potter movie in an hour. Super exciting! And then my birthday on Thursday. I'm hoping to go tubing, have a picnic and explore more of downtown Eau Claire. Oh and I hope there's cake.

Lame.

2009-06-24T15:47:00.003-05:00

Ugh.

So, I'm moving to Eau Claire, Wi in a week and I'm trying to pack everything I won't absolutely need in the next week. I'm super stressed with the packing and transferring at work... nothing sounds like fun. All I want to do right now is spin. My fiber, however, is in one of these boxes...So lame.

Automaton

2009-06-23T16:53:00.002-05:00

I just finished reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but there is a little mechanical man involved called an automaton. I'm really excited about it and want to build one now. Check out this video. It's so amazing to me that they built these things so long ago. It would be easy to do with a little computerized man but these were all made with cogs and gears like a clock. Awesome-ness.

Milk Days, Monkeys and Weddings

2009-06-11T19:10:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was my town's annual festival, Milk Days, and Saturday my old college roommate got married. It was a crazy weekend.

Friday night I went to the carnival with my boyfriend (Howie), my mom and her friend's two kids. Howie won a goldfish for the kids (which, five days later, is already dead) and I won a big Wicked Witch at Whack-a-Mole. I gave that to the kids, too. The next morning I got up early to run the Milk Days 10k with my dad. He walks but he's almost as fast as I am running. It took me an hour and 11 minutes; enough to win me a 7th from last place. Then out to breakfast with my dad (french toast, hashbrowns and fruit, oh my!) and home to quickly shower and get ready for the wedding. I had one hour. We had a hotel room all lined up for after the wedding and I totally forgot to pack. So I threw some stuff in a bag, freaked out a little and we were off.

We had to stop to duct tape the windshield wiper and then we were off... again. An unexpected detour added half an hour to our time and I was seriously wondering if we were going to make it before the "I do"s. We had left an hour later than I'd anticipated, after all.

The wedding was set to start at 1:30 and we made it by 1. It was at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. It would have been nice if we'd had time to wander around but it was starting to rain. And we left the umbrella in the car. I also hadn't anticipated my feet being swollen from the 10k when I picked out shoes for this shin-dig. My pinky toes started to go numb. I made Howie go to the car for the umbrella. My other two old roomies, Christine and Bre, were supposed to meet us. They said they were on their way but 1:30 rolled around and people were getting seated. They showed up fashionably late.
The wedding was nice and short and the rain held out for the most part. Sandra looked awesome and her dress was super pretty.

At the reception, we were seated at a table with a horrible guy who worked in advertising and talked nonstop the whole time. I made Howie and Christine dance with me. And I dragged Christine up during the throwing of the bouquet. She didn't want to go and stood in the back. The bouquet bounced off my hands and landed right in hers. Hee hee.

It was good to see my old roomies again. We hung out and ate good food. Good times.

The next day Howie and I drove home and went to a Banana Derby, where monkeys ride on dogs.. beyond cute! We got our picture with a monkey, a lynx and one of those old timey things. It was super fun! Yay!

Goodies!

2009-06-11T18:40:00.006-05:00

I love Ravelry.

I spend a sick amount of time on there and I love to do yarn swaps. My favorite is the Vegan for Every Season group swaps. This swap's theme was "Love Veggies/Mother Earth" so I was super excited. Of course I had to work yesterday when my package came and had to go to the post office after work to pick it up. On my way there I noticed a garage sale with a certain awesome thing out front that I had to own. So I bought it. Yay!!! She's super old and crusty and has nails sticking out of her head. I love it. And I found a snake charmer flute. It needs a reed but she threw it in free when I bought the mannequin.

And then I get my awesome package. There were so many goodies in there, it made me feel bad for the package I sent her.

And also, because I never got off my lazy butt to write a blog about it, I wanted to show off my ball winder and swift I got from Howie for our 7 year anniversary. I promise my blogs will be more timely and cohesive from now on. :p

A Memorial Day to remember!

2009-06-11T18:16:00.006-05:00

Yeah, I know it's June and Memorial Day was last month, but I like to procrastinate. I actually had to work on Memorial Day (double-time, woo!) but this is how I spent my weekend. I got that awesome spinning wheel from a Ravelry friend, Natalie. It's made from PVC pipe but it does the job. It's the first wheel I've ever used. I spent the whole day spinning from a bag of alpaca fleece I got from the Midwest Alpaca Fest. It was nice to actually meet the animal your fiber is coming from (a sweetie named Ashley). I also met up with my dad's friend who had alpacas in the show. I was supposed to go help out on the farm sometime but I'm moving to Eau Claire in two weeks. Natalie lives there so it's going to be nice to have a fellow knitter to obsess about yarn with. I actually spent Saturday spinning up a batt she handmade for me on her new drum carder. Super exciting! It was my first time plying yarn, too. I think I could have added more twist plying, but I'm still learning. The yarn still came out pretty awesome, by far the best I've made yet. You can't tell in the picture, but it has some sparkle to it. I call it Mermaid. The pink was my first attempt at spinning on a wheel. That fiber was also given to me by Natalie.

So yeah, I'm totally addicted to spinning and all things fibery. I must have spent 8 hours outside spinning and listening to Harry Potter books on tape. You can keep your days at the spa, I was SO relaxed after that. Best day EVER!