Desperation meets Tight Jeans

So, my favorite pair of jeans fell apart on my recent trip to the Midwest. I think the humidity combined with the heat from thigh friction killed them. I am tired of wearing skirts and I wanted to wear comfortable jeans again. In a fit of desperation and maybe a little insanity, I began rummaging through my fabric stash like a mad woman. Much to my dismay, the color scheme of my fabric remnants is decidedly monochromatic. Ok, not monochromatic, but definitely on the dark side of things. No reds, no vivid blues, no tans to be found. But, warrior woman that I am, I didn't let it stand in my way. No sir. I cut and sewed and swore and seamed and swore. After an hour, Miss Random Pants was born. The jeans went from being rather tight to WAY too big. I could take them in easily, but I'm tired so that'll wait for another day.

Wedding crafts? What wedding crafts? *hums innocently*

Random knitting

Here's an old photo. My friend was feeling really bummed, so I knitted him a Chicago Bears hat. It was my first intarsia project, and I have issues with keeping the tension just right. It's either way too lose, or it puckers. *le sigh*


In wedding news, there isn't any news. Shawl is still creeping along. I'm busy with school and job applications. Just got back from an out of state interview, and keeping my fingers crossed because I loved the company and the area. Um.... I keep changing my mind on things like wedding favors and attendant gifts and flowers. That's the source of most of my current stress.

Wedding Blues

Today I've been pretty cranky, as far as crankiness goes. I have been working like crazy on my wedding shawl, and apparently caused a lovely case of tendinitis in my right arm. I drank some Pain-Go-Bye-Bye Juice though, and I'm in the mood for blogging.

It's been awhile... much longer than I like to have in between posts. But there's a good reason. Several actually. After the last post, classes picked up a helluva lot and then of course finals hit. During all of this I'm planning a wedding, attempting to find a job, failing at keeping my home clean, and pretty much completely losing my mind. Immediately after finals were over, I started a Philosophy class entitled PHI 105: Introduction to Bullshit*. As of this writing, that class is over and I have survived. I start another class on Monday though, so the saga continues.

In wedding news, I managed to hand-make 50 invitations and send them out. That may not sound like much, but when you consider that, on the invitation inserts alone, I rubber-stamped a flower 250 times... well you get the idea. Here are a few lovely photos:

and

As for general crafting, I've done pretty much jack. Too stressed and too tired to really settle down to all the projects calling to me from the Unfinished Crafts Closet of Shame. Someday, my pretties. Someday.

And of course, for your random gratification, a cat photo:

*ok not really, but it sure felt like it

My New Love

Dear Dyson. Love ya, babe!

~ the Crafty Hobbit

The Shame

With every passing week, it has been harder and harder to write something. I think it's the constant buildup of shame that I have neglected the blog this long. There's a good reason, though, I promise. It's called "OMG there's so much stuff to do for classes and this wedding planning thing and OMG OMG I need to find a job." They are the unholy trinity of stressors that have converged on my life all at the same time.

I haven't worked on my wedding stole AT ALL which is worrisome given how slow I knit in general. I did some primary layout work for the invitations though. I swear, those $@&#ing invitations. I thought it'd be cheaper to do it myself, but it's expensive. True, they are cheaper than similar looking invites that are done professionally, but at this point all I want to do is buy some $25 invitation kit, print 'em up, and send 'em out. I keep telling myself that the invitations will be gorgeous. I've just sort of stumbled into an ennui about the whole planning process. Ok, that's not totally true. If someone were to come take over the planning, I'd probably kick them in the shins. But seriously, I just can't wait until the actual day... and mostly because I know all the planning and the tedious little details will be done by then.

On the other side of the issue, the wedding is going to be GORGEOUS, y'all. I'm going to the cake and catering meeting next week, so I'll actually know my menu. I already know about the cake: Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate! It's my wedding and I want a chocolate cake, dammit!

The kitties are all fine. Frodo is up to his old tricks of stepping on my ribs at 3am. Tweek still destroys things. Mia is still unbearably cuddly, and Evie is still silly. Maybe I will post a purely photographic entry sometime soon. Guess I will have to go out and take some more pics.

Sore Throat Blues

Yeah, I've been sick and at home for the last few days with a wicked bad sore throat. I don't have the fever officially, but there are chills. Chills people! We're keeping a wary eye out for strep throat. I hope it doesn't come down to it, but I suspect otherwise since swallowing burns like fire.

And now, general updates from my life...

Gladys has been joined by at least 10 more sisters! So happy. No photo, since the general grumpiness of sore throat has kept me from the downstairs area in general.

I finished my first project with intarsia, but as it is a gift for a friend I cannot post photos yet. He may see!

Wedding shawl has had no progress, because of crazed school schedule, the sickness, and the gift. However I'm hoping to pick it up this weekend and do at LEAST 2 more pattern repeats. Would like to get 5 done, but hey I get distracted.

The Wedding Scrapbook is coming along nicely. After staring at the 12x12 album and feeling incredibly overwhelmed, I opted for a smaller 8x8 scrapbook and creativity was born. I will take pictures tonight if I think of it. So far, the title page, the "bride" and "groom" pages (which are mostly blank until we get photos of us from the wedding), and The Boy's "The Early Years" page is complete. Since most of our relatives will be meeting us for the first time at the wedding, I thought a few mini-biography pages would be a good idea. I'm going to include a few blank, black pages for guests to sign instead of a guestbook. I thought it would be more meaningful this way, although I am not sure how I want to do them. I don't like the idea of signatures all over the place (too high school scrapbook for my taste), but I'm not sure about how to draw the writing lines. Mom suggested finding a black pen or marker that would show up, since the guests will be signing the page with silver ink. I don't know though, so I'm considering very fine lines drawn in white pencil. Whatevs. I got ... 4 months. Holy shit, only 4 months!? Crap.

And a gratuitous cat photo:

Flowers

So about a year ago I bought a gorgeous bridal bouquet hanging plant from the local nursery. It has been hanging in my kitchen since then, barely clinging onto life. The soil it was originally planted in was very very bad at holding any moisture and the thing would dry into styrofoam consistency between waterings. I don't know why it took so long, but about a week ago I repotted the damn thing in a last ditch effort to save it. Well, that was a great idea because now it's bounced back and is more beautiful than before! Within a week it's put out a lot of growth, about 25 flower buds, and one lovely lone white flower. I call her Gladys. Every time I walk by the plant, I have to smile and say hi to her. I don't know if that makes me really weird, but I know I'm not the only one who talks to their plants.

Here's a closeup of Gladys in all her glory:

Speaking of flowers, when he came home my boyfriend presented me with these!
... which is good because earlier in the day I dropped my laptop on its wireless card, which resulted in this:

Wedding Progress

Well, I'm zeroing in on a centerpiece design for our wedding. I wanted to do something clear with candles, but not flowery or prissy. Then I thought of using coffee beans. They are such a gorgeous color, and aesthetically interesting to boot. There was some debate on how to do the candles, but I found some really cheap votive glasses at IKEA and they fit perfectly. Now the only task is to figure out a way to decorate the glass with our names and the wedding date. I was thinking of etching it onto the glass but I'm not sure. My other idea is to tie a silver ribbon around the bottom and put a tag with our names on it. After the wedding, guests are welcome to take these home. The glass is actually a compote glass, so it can be used for desserts and things. I'm all for double tasking objects.

Knitting!

I finally have some knitting progress to show off. I've been working on Eunny Jang's print o' the wave stole to wear during my wedding. So far I've only done a few pattern repeats. Screwed up a whole lot at the beginning so some of that part looks a little wonky. Still, it's coming along a lot nicer now that I'm getting the hang of this lace thing. The color is slightly more ivory than the pic shows, and it's just lovely. Kidsilk Haze in color Pearl.

Wedding Shawl

I finally started Eunny Jang's Print o' the Wave shawl to wear with my wedding dress. I'm knitting it with Rowan Kidsilk Haze in color Pearl. So far I've gotten 2 pattern repeats done. 20 to go (I think). I'm not going to knit it symmetrically, I'm just going to knit the shawl until I think it's long enough. I had a lot of problems when I had stitch markers at the beginning of each line repeat. Eventually, after consultation with another knitter, I removed the markers and haven't had any more problems. I guess there were some k2tog's and such that spanned a marker, and I just wasn't realizing this. So yeah, hooray for shawlness. Can't wait to see it blocked when it's finished.

Abcessed with a mother's intuition

Two nights ago, I was frantically studying for a test and preparing for two job interviews (nailed one of them, by the way). Frodo, as usual, was in my way wanting to be petted. I was scratching his neck when I felt a huge bump. It was the size of a large olive (oh, by the way I'm not eating olives anymore) and kind of soft. It was about 1am, so I decided to get to bed and call the vet in the morning.

So after an insane day of feeling like a dumbass and taking that damned test, I hurried Frodo off to the vet. By this time he was starting to act lethargic, and you could feel he was running a temperature. We waited a short time at the vet, while Frodo became angry at being cooped up in his carrier. But he seemed to forget his anger when the vet tech took him out and patted on him. Little did he know. I don't think the hissing started until he had the thermometer shoved up his bum. That made him mad, as would I have been in his situation. He got so angry in fact, the vet tech couldn't finish the temp reading. However his temp was already 105 so she knew he had a fever. The vet comes in, and, within seconds of feeling the bump, diagnosed it as an abscess most likely the result of rough cat-on-cat play fighting (fuckin' Tweek). Frodo must be drained. They tried to give him local, but apparently he disagreed with that idea so the vet had to fully put him under. When it was done, I was given medicine and a very angry cat to take home.

However, the good news is that Frodo is doing fine. In fact, as soon as I got him home and out of the carrier, he began ceremoniously licking his butt. His fever is gone now, and he's been eating and drinking just fine. This morning he's still a little lazy, but can you blame him? Dude had stuff shoved up his ass and drained outta his neck. But the upside is that I get extra cuddles from him during this convalescing period. A mother's intuition, I tell ya. Glad I took him to the vet.

The Great Crouton Adventure

It was a rushed morning where both the boyfriend and I were running late. As always, he was ready first and flew down the stairs to grab some breakfast and head to work. I'm pulling on my jeans when he leaves and, as he is walking out the door, I hear "Sorry I didn't clean up the mess." "Oh god, what mess?" I thought. Standing at the top of the stairs, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. At the bottom of the stairs, same thing. However when I got to the living room I saw croutons scattered everywhere. My immediate thought was WTF? Then I found the empty crouton bag, with its telltale holes and bite marks. Then I knew. Tweek. Tweek the destroyer. Apparently the crouton bag is made from the same type of material as the Temptation's cat treats bags. The Destroyer has a history of ripping into those as well. I sighed, and stooped to clean up the mess. A few days later, I am still finding errant croutons in odd places in the house. Damn cat.

The Fug Monster

Went with my man to meet his family down in Phoenix this weekend. I had a great time, and his family is wonderful. One of his aunts took the following photo of us, and I would normally say it is very cute... of him anyway. I look like a total fug monster, and it depressed me greatly. Can't I take one attractive picture? Just one? What will happen with the wedding? Am I going to feel like a fug monster in all those photos too? *le sigh*. :(

click to see scary, unedited version

Bento, no Knitto

So, busy with life = not knitting. And not knitting = not blogging. Or apparently that's the equation that I've inadvertently proven. I haven't done much knitting since finishing Calorimetry. I really want to get back to working on the Sandy Cardigan from Big Girl Knits. I keep seeing everyone else's sweaters and I'm getting jealous.

I did get back to making bento lately. I don't have a photo of my latest creation, but here is a particularly tasty, recent one.

Top is leftover cajun chicken pasta from a recent Red Lobster trip, along with sesame green beans and cucumber flowers. Bottom is spinach, tomato, cucumber salad with piggie of dressing, cheese stars, and some Koala cookies, strawberry gummies, and a few apple wafers. Yum!

And it's finished.

This pattern was a bit annoying in that it came out huge. I actually went a needle size below my gauge so that I could avoid that. Oh well. Nothing a little thin elastic can't fix. I could always button the button in the next rib or so up to tighten. Either way it's a great looking pattern, mega warm, and I'm in love with the color. It took one skein plus a few yards of Patons Rumor in Hibiscus Heather colorway.

Calorimetry

Well, it's just about finished. I still have to weave in the ends and sew on a button, but the knitting is complete. I will be posting a pic of it tomrrow, when I can get outside to take a good photo.

Not much else is going on around here. Cats are their usual selves, house is still needing a good scrubbing, and I still haven't gotten around to making more bread.

Squeee!

It's being sized! It's being sized! It's being sized! It's being sized!

I will be receiving it on Valentine's Day.

So excited.

Soft and Pricky

I got a lot more done on Calorimetry. I think it will be finished by the end of the weekend. I'm in love with Paton's Rumor. It's just sooooo soft and lovely and wonderful. I don't remember the name of the colorway at the moment, but it's a gorgeous dark rose heather.

And also, The Boy brought me 12 long stem roses today! He came home from work carrying a huge white box, and there they were. I love him so much, he's so sweet. No special occasion today. I had him take my photo with them, even though I looked like crap. He says "I bring you flowers all the time because you never look like crap to me." *swoon*

Dum Bells...

"Dum dum da dum" that is. I haven't posted in awhile because I am planning my wedding! August 12, 2007 baby. It's been crazy nuts over here, getting the major things booked and planned. Now that we have a venue, a caterer, and a baker I feel like I have time to breathe. And knit. I'm working on a Calorimetry for myself out of Paton's Rumor. Soooooooooo soft but kind of a bitch to knit with. I hope it doesn't come out ginormous. I am using relatively small needles because a lot of people I know have had trouble with the finished garment being way too big even though they got gauge. I have a huge dome, so I don't really foresee a problem, but I want it snug so it doesn't fall off. I'll probably finish it this week.

Also, I'm now working just a few hours a week as a teaching assistant for my advisor in his first level programming class. After feeling like a moron in my other classes, it's nice to show up and actually know what I'm doing. Plus the silent looks of awe and worship from the kids who are totally confused is great fodder for the ego.

School and snow hit all at once

Well, the first week of school is done. I only fell once, and thank goodness it was into soft snow. The only thing I hurt was my pride. Seeing as I fall once a winter at a minimum, I'm glad it was into snow and left me completely unbruised. We're all cozy and settled in here for the night. There is a big winter storm moving in and is supposed to snow all weekend. Good news for the skiers I guess, since this is opening weekend for the Arizona Snowbowl. I am happy too, because the weather is a valid excuse to stay inside, bake bread, and play World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade all day. I mean, I do that anyway, but y'know... nice to have a valid excuse.

Oh, and check out this boss mouse pad my grandma sent me. I seriously dig this.