Duck Exploration

So, a couple of weeks ago (yes, I realize how behind I am), Bryan and I decided to go on a walk. Now, despite the fact that it is ridiculously hot outside, we had a really great time. I thought this called for sharing. Due to lack of time (read: tests coming out my ears...Why do I find it a good idea to go to summer school), I have been unable to tell the tale of the Ducks. That sounds rather ominous. It's actually kinda funny.

While walking past Mirror Lake (a funny name for a man-made water hole smaller than the pond I grew up with in my side yard), we happened upon some ducks. It was a mother and her cute little ducklings sitting on the concrete edge. As soon as we got closer, they gave an annoyed "quack" and slid into the water, wagging their tails all cute-like. Since this amused Bryan, we decided to seek out more ducks.

Aw, they're baby ducks!

It was then mine turn to be amused. We found these guys standing further down the edge of the "lake." All I could think of was that we were about to witness some hilarious ducky martial arts. Although I wasn't disappointed to find that they were just resting, I can't help but think of scenes like out of the old batman cartoons where they would cover up the fighting sequences with big words like "BOW", "KABOOM" and "ZAP." hehe.

It also kind of reminds me of the part in Karate Kid where he stands on the pole with the one foot up and his arms in the air, do you know what I'm talking about?

Then, the best part. We walk just a little further and see these guys. Obviously, there has been a little bit of a mix up. Where did those white feathers come from? My guess is that some student around campus let a pet duck (of the Peking variety) free on the lake. This led to some duck mucks (hehe), which you see here. Again I was reminded of a TV show, but this time it was sesame Street. Sing it with me... "One of these things, doesn't belong here..." hehe. Oh goodness.

There are actually two ducks with the white feathers, see?

Well, then this last picture is of my friend Bryan. It was taken in front of the "Cat Fish Biff's" pizza place. This place was a major staple of my freshman year diet. They have the best pizza around, mmm. Yes, overall we had a really good time on our little walk.

(Don't be scared, he is just trying to look tough. He actually hobbled to this location due to a "thigh contusion," a.k.a. a really big bruise.) P.S. Ladies, Bryan is single. Just to let you know. hehe.

This will be one happy baby

While visiting my home town, I found out that one of my old coworkers was expecting. Naturally, I thought of making the little stranger something. Well, I had been looking around and found a cute baby's blanket that several other bloggers have made. The pattern is here online. And it was super easy to make. It took me less than a week, and I even took several days completely off of crocheting/knitting.


I didn't realize the quality of the picture was so poor until I brought it up, but you get the idea. It is really beautiful, acrylic yarn with pinks, purples, yellows, and oranges, along with some white spots. This is a picture of it blocking because my crocheting seems to do a lot of unwanted curling.






This is a close up of the stiches. Again, the the one color is not nearly as neon in real life. The whole piece is done in double crochets and shells (3 dc, ch2, 3 dc). As I said, it was a fast project, but my mother also says that I crochet faster than anyone she knows. Hope the mom-to-be thinks it's special enough for her little one.




Lastly, I thought I would share a picture of a scarf that I completed a while ago. The scarf is a really easy pattern (sc,dc every row), but it turns out quiet beautiful. It was a little bland when I finished though, so I added the detail of the snowflake just to break it up. There is a snowflake at each end.

Hats galore

As I said in one of the first posts, I have been making a lot of hats as side projects. They are really my go-to project when my current adventure isn't going so well, or basically when I am bored. I thought (being the modest person that I am, ahem) I would show them off.


This is one of the first hats I made. It is made with some 100% acrylic yarn (yeah, I am too poor to be a yarn snob). The color combination makes me think it should be part of wardrobe on The Grinch. The size is almost perfect, although the ribbing makes it want to slip off your head. It would be better fitted to a child size head, slightly smaller than my own.



This is a later hat that I made earlier this year. The yarn, yet another acrylic was purchased by my boyfriend, Dave. He is so amazing that he goes, on a semi-regular basis to the local Yarn Shop (http://www.yarnshop.net/). The owners know him, and he did a great job picking out this colorway. The pattern, although it is hard to see in this picture, is a mock cable/lace pattern out of Creative Knitting. The pattern in the magazine was for socks, but I'm still not good at making socks yet. I get done with the first one, and don't want to move on to the second one. Oh, and this hat is perfectly sized! I love it. Although the curling at the lower edge was accidental, I think it looks cute when you put it on. I have since then learned how to prevent curling, but sometimes it is still nice to have a curled edge.



This is a later hat. I bet you can't guess what the yarn is, it starts with an a and rhymes with, well...hmm, yeah- nothing, but you get the idea. The pattern was supposed to be vertical stripes with yarn overs in between. Apparently, as you can see, I counted wrong, but I liked the effect so much that I kept it. The purple stripe is the result of worrying about running out of yellow. I think it adds a lot to the piece, though, and I'm glad I included it. The size is slightly big on me, but I have a small-ish head.

So, this is part of my stash of hats. As I've said before I plan to donate a bunch to either the Cancer hospital here, or a group that provides for underprivileged families here in the city. I have wondered, however, if selling them and giving the money to charity would be more beneficial. Let me know what you think...

Leg Warmers

Lately I've been doing a lot of knitting. You see, it was recently my mother's birthday. She had requested some legwarmers. But I forgot about it until the last minute (sorry mom). So I spent a large portion of the week before her birthday knitting her leg warmers. They came out pretty cute though...

They turned out to be just the length of my legs (good thing mom has short legs like me), and very soft. It was my first attempt at cables, so I am very pleased with my work. My mother must have liked them as well because she has already "ordered" her next pair. Man... I should start charging. Hehe.

Adios for now. More to come now that I have this picture thing figured out.

Pictures!

Hey there. I have figured out how to put photos into my blog.

Liberace is my cat. I use the term "cat" very loosely however.
He comes when called (most of the time-I guess that is where the cat part comes in). He knows "sit" and "beg" pretty well. Most recently we are working on "down." He loves to play in water, whether it is the water left in the tub after I shower, his water bowl, or any in a glass that I am trying to drink. He also loves to rough house. I think this comes from his treatment as a kitten. He grew up with my brother and his j.d. friends. They would play "bowling with kitty" where he was used as the bowling ball. That is why he now lives with me, but he didn't seem to mind because he loves to play rough.

The one thing that does save him as a kitty-cat in my mind. Almost EVERY picture of him, there is yarn somewhere in the picture. It might be due to my billowing collection of yet-to-be-used yarn, or I could blame it on his catness. I choose the latter.... hehe. Well, that's it for today, I will leave you with a beautiful picture of my mother's lilacs from our visit in May.