Cheer Up! Remember what the Monty Python boys use to say...

"Always look on the bright side of things?"
'No. Nobody expects a Spanish Inquisition.'"

One of my favorite lines from Sliding Doors. And almost pretty fitting for my May. Earlier this month, this happened:



I was parked at my lil punk's school dropping her off. I should go back and bold "parked". There, much better. I wanted to highlight that I wasn't moving at all. As I reached for the keys, I noticed a car to my left about to pull ahead of me. "She's awfully close to me," I thought. And sure enough, she hit my driver side bumper. Nothing major...but she was at fault and she left an ugly park on my little red V-Dub. I called my insurance company- who happens to be her insurance as well. And in less than a week, I got my car back all shiny and pretty. The best thing was, they washed AND vacuumed my V-Dub! Hmmm...maybe I should get into more accidents?! I kid! I kid!

The day I got my car back, I got pulled into Boss Man's office and was given this:


If you can't read it, it says that my position has been eliminated due to reduction in force. Meaning, I'm sacked, discharged, let go, relieved of duties, given my brown box...I'm trying to look at this as an opportunity for me to find something I really enjoy doing. Can I make a living knitting?? No? How about taking very amateurish pictures? Bummer...

On the happy side, or the bright side of this- I do receive a very generous severance package for three months after my last day- which is July 21st. I pretty much have the summer off with pay and benefits. Yeah, it sucks that I have to redo my resume- not my most favorite things to do...and its a pain to go on interviews which ranks with redoing my resume. But this will give me time to do all the things I've planned to do with the house...cleaning rooms and closets, the garage, the backyard. I'll also have time to do things I want to do like knit, go back to the gym, work on my brownness. Not really that last one, it's too stinking hot to lay out by the pool. Honestly, how can I be upset about this golden opportunity? Let's see how I feel about this reduction in force in October when my severance is gone.

I finally uploaded my pics of Ms. Marigold or what I like to call her, Ms. Barn Red. It looks a little big but when I go out to San Diego this weekend, I'll have cousin #2 try it on. She's cousin #2 because she's the second cousin I've knitted for- not because she's my second favorite cousin. No, really! Honest!



I'm also trying my hand- or should I say, my foot?? in making socks. Yes, socks. And I'm following the Universal Toe-Up Formula pattern from Knitty. Why knit socks when I can buy them for $5 for a pair of 3? Easy!

-Once I get good at making the toe part (you'll see what I mean when I get to post the pic) they'll be easy and fast to make.

-They're easy to carry around in my Knitting Bag of Goodness.

-They'll be a fab gift.

-They don't take much time to make. Not like clothes...I'll knit for weeks and try it on and I hear the 'you're a loser' music from the Price is Right.

So, if you receive a pair of knitted socks from me, know that they were knitted with absolute love.

Here's the beginning of my first pair. This one is an action shot.




My toe part isn't that great. It looks rather squarish on the sides instead of the nice rounded parts. Hopefully, its pair will look much better. Besides, they're only going to be inside of shoes. Who's going to see the toe?

Moving Right Along

The Dirty 30 Razor Cami was a hit! My cousin called and said it was very pretty and fit perfectly. I'm moving right along to my next project, Ms. Marigold- which I renamed Ms. Barn Red. This one's for another cousin who's birthday is this month. Yes, I have a plethora of cousins and they're all like sisters/brothers to me. Well, most of them are, anyway. ;o) This is knitting up super quickly and I may have it finished by the end of the weekend.



I'm thinking of making little gift tags with care instructions on them since I've been knitting up a storm. I've seen pre-cut tags at Target but I didn't like the colors. Maybe a trip to Joann's or Michael's is in order this weekend?!

Here's a pic of AJB's summer top. Its a great fit on her...not much room to grow into but the yarn was so inexpensive, it doesn't really matter. She loves it. :)

A couple FO's

My Dirty 30 razor cami is complete! Here she is, in all of her glory:
This is her back so you can see the criss crossed straps.

And here she is, folded up nicely to be put away in a package. I mailed her off to the ever deserving recipient yesterday. I'm hoping that she'll be able to take pictures so I can see how it looks on her. I'm hoping more that it fits her and not falling off her shoulders. She's a petite girl and I'm...well, not so much. It was a lot of guestimating on my part. We'll see I suppose!

Here's the FO that makes me want a baby.

It's the Berry Baby Hat...but I've renamed it the Eggplant Baby Hat since it looks more like it belongs in an eggplant parmesean (MMM) than in a berry cobbler. Its so stinking cute! I want to reproduce just to I can make more!

I'm finally getting around to making something for AJB. Hopefully, I won't leave it out with the loose threads hanging out. For the summer, AJB will be sporting a Fru-Fru Tank Top- because my daughter is very fru-fru. She is a girlie girl, alright! I just started it last night but the body is mind numbingly easy. I can knit it without thinking about it. As long as I don't get Knitter's ADHD, I should have this done by early next week.



I must tell you my new adventure! For my birthday, DH got an online photography course for me to take! I love this program- its so easy to do and you can do it on your own time. I receive feedback on the assignments I turn in from my tutor and get lots of advice on the forum. Its taking me a little slower because I've been finishing up some knitting things but on Saturday, I'm going to work on my next assignment- shutter speed! I'm planning on hanging out in Old Litchfield where there are tons of greenery, people, and cars. I hope people won't think I'm a perv taking pics on the street! I hope to share my accomplishments on this blog as well. I may have to change the title to "A Very Neglected Knitting and Photography Blog." :)

Yeah, I know...

I have to wipe the inches of dust off my neglected knitting blog. It seems as though I can't keep up with everything I want to do...I want to knit, blog, learn photography all while folding laundry (that's still not folded), organize yarn stash (that's still kind of crammed in a closet), take things to Goodwill (things still in the garage)...and tons of other things that still haven't been done. Oh well, one thing at a time, I suppose!

I've almost completed my Razor Cami:



I'm just working on I-cords for the sleeves, then off to the post office it goes to, hopefully, make a birthday girl very happy!

In a couple of weeks, a dear friend is having her baby shower. I wanted to have a little dress made for her but my knitting needles (or hands) don't come equipped with turbo. For now, I'll be making a berry baby hat for her.

Then, after THAT, there's another birthday pressy I want to knit up! Its the Ms. Marigold but it'll be in barn red. I guess it'll be called "Ms. Barn Red..."

Oh yeah! I've finished my 2nd Clappy! Just 3 more to go...
This one is going out to AJB's very special Kindergarten teacher.

That's it for the knitting! Hmmm...when am I going to be able to knit something for myself??

Ravioli Makin' and Other Adventures

Oh man, I think I gained about 10 pounds this weekend. We ate like kings! Saturday afternoon, AJB helped me make prosciutto ravioli. These little pockets were filled with yummy goodness- spinach, prosciutto, and ricotta cheese. We made about 48 of them and froze half to make next time. It was better the next day when I fried a couple of them and grated pecorino cheese on top. Great TV watching snack.

The Ravioli Maker:


You can't even tell which ones she made:


For breakfast today, we checked out a little breakfast place across town called Over Easy. Its an old school Taco Bell (you know the brick buildings with the arches) turned quaint little diner. The food was amazingly good and we'll be sure to be back to try some other dishes. I had the specialty of the house- The Over Easy. Brioche bread baked in the restaurant topped with spinach, an over easy egg and the piece de resistance...bacon sauce. In my best Homer impression, I said "Butter up that bacon, boy!" Because, basically, that's what it was- bacon gravy with butter. It was SO good but SO bad at the same time. Seriously, I need to make it back to the gym.

After filling up our stomachs, we decided to check out Star Nursery to walk off the calories and get some ideas for our backyard. Right now, we have dirt, rocks, and plastic toys in our yard. We've lived in this house for almost four years and we still haven't gotten around to landscaping the backyard. Its just bloody expensive to do. We've decided a few things- extend the patio, build a pergola, get a cottonwood, a fruit tree or two (we found some apple trees that will grow out here), some shading trees for the east side of the house, and some rose bushes. I never thought I would be into rose bushes. I like gerbera daisies, calla lillies, orchids...all of which probably wouldn't grow out in the AZ heat. And when DH suggested roses a few years ago, I wasn't happy. Roses?? No, thanks...not my fave. But then today, I realized that DH was Sean Thornton. He was excited about the plans for the roses, where to plant them, how to take care of them, which ones to get...and he was very adorable. Its moments like that I'm forever grateful that we're married.


Today, I finished up the anthropologie capelet. It's on the table as we speak being blocked. I just need to find a pin for it! WOO HOO!!




And I leave you with some pictures from the nursery...

My (Un)Finished Objects

Three years ago, when I first had the itch to start knitting, I didn't start off making scarves- it was smack dab the middle of Spring and if you've even been to Phoenix during Springtime, you know that it is not scarf weather! I took an hour long class at Michael's to learn the basics- casting on, knit, purl, binding off...I wanted to jump right in and start a project that would be wearable when complete- well, wearable on AJB, that is. I ended up picking Victoria, a free dress pattern from Berocco. It looked easy enough and it was! I picked out Berocco Cotton Twist in a variegated color- almost sherbert like in shades of magenta, orange, light pink...I even got fancy at the edge and knitted a lace edging along the bottom! AJB wore it all the time. Every time she wore it, she received compliments on it. I was so proud of it. So what happened to this sherbert dress you ask? Funny story...I noticed that one of the threads made itself loose. I placed it on the couch and thought to fix it later on that day. I never got around to it and I never put it away. It just laid there til Saturday morning. At that time, AJB was just about 2 1/2 years old. She was at the age where she was starting to get out of bed by herself. She usually crawls into bed with us but on this particular Saturday morning, she didn't. I, wanting to keep sleeping, didn't get out of bed to check up on her. About 10 minutes later, I heard her footsteps coming towards our bedroom. I pretended to be sleeping and I could feel her face close to mine and she said "Mama, I'm sorry!" I opened my eyes...and in her little hands was a HUGE pile of unraveled yarn!! I looked passed her and there was a trail- like she was leaving it behind to find her way back. I followed the trail to the dress that was still on the couch. I couldn't get mad at anyone but myself. Lessons learned- weave ends in!! and keep knitting away from curious little hands! Luckily, she just unraveled the edging. Unluckily, I have no idea where I got the pattern for the edging and it's been balled up in my closet. I'll have to see what I can do with it.






A more recent (un)finished object is my Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet by Julia Allen. Its been hanging in my closet for the past two months needing to be blocked and a decorative pin at the top. I just tried it on and I've decided to frog the ribbing and add more to the body. Its a little short- comes just below my boobs. It makes them look HUGE! And not in a good, babuh babuh way, either! So, that one is going back on the needles for a few more rows.






Really quickly, we saw Horton Hears a Who a couple weekends ago. AJB saw a commercial for IHOP's Who's at IHOP menu. Basically, pancakes with icing and candy on top. I'm surprised she's not bouncing off the walls right now!

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Happy Belated Easter, Meester!

The Easter Bunny came to visit...look what he left on our walk way:






Silly rabbit, didn't your mama ever teach you to wipe your feet??

Here is all the loot the Bunny left AJB:


Lucky girl! She received a 3-D flip flop towel, a new kitten shirt, a little pot to grow a plant in, new summer time flip flops, random goodies from Target (the Easter Bunny's favorite store) and plastic eggs with Littlest Pet Shop critters tucked inside!


Here are some other Easter picks on Flicker...


On the knitting front (since, technically, this is suppose to be a knitting blog) I've been working on a Clapotis for someone that may be moving out of AZ. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of May and I'm about 2/3 of the way complete. This is my second Clapotis. This time, I'm using Knitpicks Shimmer in Turquoise Splendor. Here are some pics I took playing around with my new camera:





And the details on my Ravelry page!

We took AJB bowling for the first time...I think we warped the lane after we were done playing: