Picnics05y4

When i ask my nieces what they would like for lunch, instead of "sandwiches" or "pizza", WeeWee will usually look at me with a lightbulb expression and say, "Oh! I know! We could have a picnic!"

Yes. We could.

But that doesn't answer my question.

On the 20th, the first day of summer, i was lucky enough to be watching to be hanging out with WeeWee. She had an "aha" moment and suggested a picnic. Luckily, it was the perfect summer day, and we headed out to the driveway for a picnic. (We had just laid grass seed in the front yard, and i just couldn't be bothered to take everything aaaallll the way to the backyard.)

But we had sandwiches, popcorn, and lemonade, so all was well.

When i asked Poopy and WeeWee what we should eat for lunch today, WeeWee had another "aha" moment, and we planned for another picnic. We decided on sandwiches and applesauce, but when i remembered we had leftover homemade pizza from last night (bbq chicken, nice), we decided on small pieces of pizza and half sandwiches.

And lemonade. Doi.



This was a super boring post, huh? Sorry about that. But here's WeeWee to make things more interesting.



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And now a collage.

Okay, now i'm done.

A Sweater for Angie

I need to start by telling you how difficult this post has been. First, i tried blogging from my phone yesterday. That i even thought that was doable is just hi-larious. And today, Firefox is being the biggest b ever and crashing every two seconds. So now i'm on Internet Explorer, which has been fine... except when i click on the "insert image" icon, none of the folders show up. It's like my computer is empty. So. Just. I apologize if none of this ends up making sense.

I've been knitting myself a sweater. It's sage green and cotton. I've knit this pattern ($5 in Paris from ...Knitting Up A Storm) twice before. The first time, I forgot to increase on my sleeves, oops. They were too tight around my arm for me to continue knitting, so i just bound off immediately. Also, the shaping i did on the side was a little too high... And it ended up shorter than I'd wanted. But still it was my first-ever sweater, and i love it.

The second, I knit for my sister. I finished at 3 in the morning before my flight home last October. I did remember to increase on the sleeves that time, and it looks way better than the first one. Though, because i didn't finish until 3 in the morning, i didn't have time to work on the sleeves, so her sleeves were also bound off before becoming actual sleeves.


This time, for the raglan sleeve increases, I used YOs. I think it's pretty.

I made up my own shaping using some 1x1 ribbing.

And I made sure not to make it too short.

Since taking these photos yesterday, i have just about finished the body. I've got a few more rows of ribbing to do before i bind off. And then i will finally tackle some sleeves.

Texas, Spring/Summer 2012

Hello, friends. I'm sure you've missed me so these past weeks.

I'm typing this on my sister's couch in Fort Hood, TX. The past couple days have been in the mid to upper 70s... and that's cold. Compared to the usual 90s, "feels like" 100s. Thank God for air conditioning, am i right?

I've been crocheting every day. I spent most of my flights crocheting. I spend most of my days crocheting. I only have cotton yarn with me, and every ball just keeps getting smaller as i churn out cozies. I'm pretty sure i won't run out, though. Why would i say that, you don't ask? Because i've definitely been overworking my thumb. If you were to look at my hands, you would gasp and ask what's wrong with the freak right hand. The muscles around my thumb are ridiculous.

One of my favorite things about Texas, is how often the sky looks like it's on fire. The sky here is beautiful. There are no mountains to get in the way of the clouds, so they're always fluffy and happy (except days like today when the entire sky is grey). But the storms do add extra fire looks to the sky. Did that even make sense? Probably not.

Oh, and Draw Something. Lots of Draw Something.

They're not amazing, but they get the job done.

We were at Walmart last week, when the Auntie Anne's girl stopped to give me a sample. She saw my cozy and asked if i sell them. I said yes. She asked for a card. Blargh! I have cards for the old etsy, but i still don't have a logo, so i do not have any for the new shop. I had to give her an old one and hoped she would email me. She hasn't.

I decided to go ahead and make my own cards. Super professional like.

When i'm in the mood to keep an eye on a pathetic, furry pup, i let Stryker inside to hang out with me. This morning, he was outside in the rain, so i grabbed a towel and picked him up. I tried to put him in his cage just to dry off before i let him wander around the house. He bent himself in half and got away. I chased the wet dog for about 5 minutes before i tricked him into believing i wasn't annoyed and he rolled over so i could pick him up like a baby. He's seriously so pathetic.

Pathetic Stryker cowering from the mean lady.

But the most exciting thing of this whole trip? Finally feeling my future nephew move. Baby Dunkaroo Big Bird Nitro Jack Bowtie Shlomo Ephraim.

I'm trying to help them pick a name, but i'm sure they won't choose any of my suggestions.


I need to stop taking such long blog breaks so i don't end up posting novels each time i log on...

Pages, Cozies, and a Phone

In an effort to move forward with this blog, i've added pages to the top. Ooh... All the cool blogs do it.

I have crocheted a bunch of colorful cozies in the past week and just had a photo shoot with them. Will be adding them to the ol' Etsy soon!

Doesn't the green and purple one look like a flower? Even if it doesn't, just tell me it does.

Oh, and i got a new phone! It's a Samsung Galaxy S Blaze, which is funny because the phone i had before Lefou, the Blackberry, was named Blaze. He's a touch screen, and he's very handsome. I can finally play Scramble with Friends and Draw Something on my own phone!

Now i need to name him. Since the last phone was named Lefou, my iPod is named Lumiere, i may go with that theme (Beauty and the Beast, if you're lame and didn't know). Mayhaps Gaston or Philippe? I'd love to hear ideas, anyway.

In his new jacket.

What I've Been Up to

In two weeks, i will be headed to Texas for 3 weeks of hot, hot heat with my pregnant sister. Let's just say, i am not shorts weather ready... So, today i had a date with Tony Horton and Robert Jones. And now i'm "treating" myself to this beautiful-looking protein shake:

Don't get me wrong. I love a good protein smoothie. My mouth waters when my fitness blogger heroes post their green monsters and tropical smoothies. I just do not have the right powder. Or the money to buy the right stuff. So, i'm stuck with this.

While i've been away from blogger, feeling uninspired, i did quite a lot of baking. Which is probably why Tony and Robert were so angry with me today and thoroughly kicked my butt.

I made some chocolate chip cookies for my brother, who just came home from college for the summer. They've got vanilla pudding in the dough. So good, y'all.

With all the baking, i've neglected the apples. They always look so good in the store, and i know they are my favorite fruit... but when i'm home, and there are cookies... why would i go to the trouble of washing and cutting an apple when i could just pull out a cookie? Instant snackification.

I put the neglected apples out of their misery and made the most delicious apple crisp ever.

Oh, and then that wasn't enough. So, i made my grandma's molasses krinkles. I never know what to answer when people ask what my favorite cookies are, but secretly, i think i've always known it's them.

I haven't only been baking. I've been reading.

Yesterday, it was so sunny and beautiful, i was forced to spend time outside. I read a book called The Siren by Kiera Cass, which is so interesting.

And then i checked out my itchy, splotchy sunburn. Because that's what happens when i spend any amount of time outside.

Thank you, necklace. That was super cool of you.

I read the Hunger Games trilogy. And now i can't stop doodling bread and tridents. Even on myself.

Honestly considering this as a possible tattoo...

And i've spent the last few nights, staying up for hours, googling Josh Hutcherson on my phone and sending pictures of him back and forth with my friend. Because we're adults, and we can.

So, that's what i've been up to.

Silver, Blue, Orange

I've been 25 for 7 days now.

Guess what i found 2 days ago.

A grey hair.

I was getting ready to head to my brother's house when i looked in the mirror and saw this shiny, silver string on my head. Except i knew it wasn't string. It was a hair.

Which is fine. I think silver hair is beautiful. But right after my birthday? I mean... the timing...

Anyway...

I went to a birthday party on Sunday for one of my favorite little girls, Miss P. She loves me, but she'll never admit it out loud. She shows her love through the stink eye and pushing me away.

A while back, i made P's mom a huge bag out of some really cool shark flannel i'd found.

When she asked me to make P a matching purse, i checked my stash to see if i had any left. Lo and behold, i had a small piece. Perfect for a P-sized purse.

I love mixing colors, and right away i wanted to line the purse with hot pink. It was for a little girl, after all.

Then i was thinking about what i could do for the straps. I didn't have enough of the shark material, so i went back to my flannel, and the orange just jumped out at me. I don't know if i've mentioned my current obsession with blue and orange together (it reminds me of String Thing)... but i had to do it. I could not get it out of my mind.

Luckily, P's mom is super cool and loved the idea.

I'd never put a zipper on a purse before, only on small pouches... which i'd sewn all by hand. My bags are usually kind of just tote bags... so putting the zipper in was a bit of a challenge, but i'm glad she asked for a zipper. Because now i can't stop.

It's my birthday, and WeeWee will cry if she wants to.

That was not originally going to be the title of my birthday blog post.

I was going to start with a picture of a quarter because i am now a quarter of a century.

I know. Super clever, right?

We were having such a good morning. Kalia woke me up with a card she'd made for me. We went downstairs and had breakfast. She ate Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and i made some maple brown sugar oatmeal with cinnamon. We love our cinnamon.

We went upstairs and finished a fairy tale movie we'd started yesterday. She pulled out Pay Day, and we played for three months.
I no joke, landed on every single mailbox in the second month. And got bills every single time.

Merry freakin' birthday.

When we finished, she said she was hungry for applesauce. "Can i have cinnamon?" Yes. Of course i will put cinnamon on your applesauce. I realized it was lunchtime, so i asked her what she wanted for lunch.

Then the pouting started. She didn't want lunch. She wanted applesauce. And it just went downhill from there. She started crying. I couldn't calm her down.

That's when i heard, "I'm sad because i ruined your birthday!"

You hadn't, but that little outburst almost did it. Thank goodness for nap time.
I took some time to exercise a little bit (i love the fitness section ondemand. I think i'd like to marry Robert Jones.)... which is when i realized how matchy matchy i am right now. Matching stresses me out.

This was a mistake.

After my date with Robert Jones, i sat down to watch a little Doctor Who...

Did you know today is also David Tennant's birthday?
We were meant for each other. <3

Guess who else also shares our birthday... That's right. Conan O'Brien. The true love of my life.

Maybe you'll remember a few posts back, i mentioned having something to share, but i was saving it for our birthday? Well, here we are.

I was invited to swap with the super cool hgddm over on Craftster, and we share a love of things yarn and Conan-related.

Specifically, Ice Cream Conan.

I'm by no means a master crocheter. But i do kind of know my way around a hook. So, i set out to figure out how to make an Ice Cream Conan.

Not terrible.

Let's just say a lot of trial and error went into this little guy, but i'm pleased with the results.

Oh, and here he is with his best friend, Fat Yeti.

Ice Cream Conan + Fat Yeti = BFF

Time to make some birthday cake! If all goes well, birthday cake will be purple with marshmallow filling and maple brown sugar meringue buttercream. Good thing i worked out. Kind of.

Happy birthday, Conan O'Brien.
Happy birthday, David Tennant.
Happy birthday, me!