Somebody stop me.

Imagine Jim Carrey

I'm not sure if I am delirious from the stress of moving, going through knitting withdrawal because my yarn is too deep into one of the piles, or secretly picked up a new hobby- sniffing glue, but someone needs to have a serious sit down with me.

Cruising around the internets, I came across swap-bot on someone's blog. Wow, that looks like fun. I made my way over there and before long I was signing up for a FREE account. Normal people would then pick out one swap they were interested in, complete it, see how it turned out and then proceed with caution.

Yeah, you guessed it, I'm not normal. I went racing past one swap and signed up for THREE. That is three times the cautious one swap. They look like fun though, hopefully everything works out!

Hotsocks! was the first one I was sucked into. I like socks, I wear socks, I make socks.


Warm Hands, Warm Hearts is the second. Knitting fingerless mitts will be a breeze. Considering I have already completed Fetching twice. I love that pattern.

Last, but not least, I will be participating in Let's swap Beanies! . This is the swap that will actually happen first, but I listed them in the order that I signed up for them. There isn't much time between when you find out your partner and when you ship out the package, so we will see how this swap goes.

All three swaps are still open. Feel free to join in. This should be a lot of fun!

* I have a couple of pictures to post, but it won't be until I get home- This computer doesn't like me*

So Proud!

RT is a graduate! I love this picture so much because every time I look at it, I can feel how happy he was. These last two quarters have been hard because he has been taking a FULL course load (18 credit hours each) plus working full time. He is a trooper though and deserves some vacation!

On a different topic, I gave the plastic bag purse con straps and a pocket to my friend. She loved it! So far today, she has stopped every person that has come into the office to show them the bag and make them guess what it is made out of. It absolutely tickles me pink to know that I made her day! Of course now everyone here thinks I should produce them to sell. There have also been ideas for different products to make using the bags. Don't worry; when I make my first million, I will be sure to remember the little people... :-P. (Pictures to come when I load them onto the computer!)

One giant leap....

...Out of my old apartment.

I live at that place two whole years, which around campus area is a big deal. In that time I accumulated WAY too much stuff. It is now in RT's "storage facility" I mean apartment until Friday when we move again. This time we will have help and we will be moving into a much bigger place that will be OUR apartment.

Until then though, RT's apartment looks like this:

This is the kitchen where the bulk of my stuff is. Good thing none of us do serious amounts of cooking. If we take a closer look though....

See that orange topped box, at the bottom, in the corner? What was I thinking to put my knitting there? I might have to go to the Yarn Store to hold me over... hehe.

Then there is the living room. Mostly in here there is a small stack, my desk, and the sofa. I love that sofa!

Then there is the closet. It had mostly empty boxes of RT's roommates. I took everything out, and fit a WHOLE ton of stuff in there, plus what was in there to begin with. I rock.

Unfortunately, I forgot that I was storing a container full of cat nip in there until it was too late. Liberace did not forget. Punk.

(Pictures of a cat-nip-covered, stoned Liberace to come when Blogger isn't being such a butt)

There are some boxes in RT's bedroom, the mattress is in his roommate's room and there are a few boxes in the other closets... I told you I have way too much room.

Well, anyway, I've gotta go find a WIP that is tucked away some where. RT is graduating today! and I need something to keep my hands busy through the whole ceremony. Way too many people graduate from The Ohio State University.

Yes, I would like some cheese with my Whine

I have been having fun creating lately as you can see by the pictures.

My friend at work admired my grocery bag purse (something similar here) so much that I decided to make her one. Hers is in the "almost done" phase. I just need to make a pocket and some straps, but I took a picture anyway when I was waiting for the bus the other day.



I have also finished all the pieces to the baby sweater! It is turning out so very cute. All that is left is seaming and finishing (I have to pick up about a gazillion stitches for the collar and button band). Several people have mentioned that I should embroider a "Block O" on the front in gray because we already have the Scarlet going on. I am seriously considering it, but I haven't made up my mind yet...

But it doesn't look like I will be able to fit much knitting time in for the next couple of weeks. This is my schedule for a while...

Today: Work 9-3, Work 4-9, go home and pack a couple boxes.
Thursday: Work 9-3, Work 4-9, go home and pack some more boxes, then celebration of RT's graduation (it might involve drinking).
Friday: Work 9-when I decide I absolutely have to leave, go home and finish moving out and cleaning my apartment, then attend party for friend I hardly ever see.
Saturday: Organize stuff in RT's apartment while he is at work (ah!) because his parents are coming for graduation on...
Sunday: RT's GRADU-Muther f'ing-ATION, hehe. It won't involve a lot of sitting around RT's place because there could quite possibly be no where to sit.
Monday: Work 9-3, Work 4-9, go home and help RT pack his stuff.
Tuesday: Work 9-3, Work 4-9, go home and help RT pack his stuff.
Wednesday: Work 9-3, Work 4-9, go home and help RT pack his stuff.
Thursday: Rinse, repeat.
Friday: Move RT's stuff and my stuff into OUR (first) apartment (aw!)
Saturday: Continue moving while RT works 8-8.
Sunday: Work 9-12, Finish up moving while RT works 8-8.
Monday: Get up early to leave for VACATION. I think I might need it by then, what do you think?

For anyone that is counting, that's about 70 hours of working, plus two moves, company and a graduation. There may be a partridge in a pear tree, but I haven't heard about that yet...

Please keep me in your thoughts for the next week and a half. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I make it...
I leave you with the kind, kold, knitter-buddy sheep I saw at the Ohio State Fair (boy did I have fun). Really, I crack myself up.

Guess what...

I've been knitting (and crocheting!).

Puppy-sitting gave me some cash that was just burning a hole in my pocket. So I took that money up to the KM (link on right), and treated myself. I bought:

- Two patterns, both for baby sweaters
- Yarn enough for one baby sweater
- Needles needed to make said baby sweater
- Bamboo dpn's (Is it bad that instead of finishing a pair of socks, I just buy new needles to start the next project? Gromit has nothing on me... lol)
- I wanted to buy a ball winder, but they were out of stock, alas.

Anyway, the pups and I did a lot of sitting and watching tv. That means a lot of knitting time, woot woot! I have finished knitting the back of the sweater. I have also done the left front, half of the right front (then I realized I was doing it wrong and frogged), then the whole right front over, one sleeve and I have just the sleeve cap on the other side. Still to do is the left front over again- darn, and some edging, namely the collar and button bands (eek).

That project was put on hold to create a plastic bag purse for a friend. She just loves mine so much that I couldn't refuse her. I got the directions off the DIY network (if I can find them again, I will link later). It only took one day to do the main purse, but I will put on handles and a front pocket later. Pictures to come...

That's all now, I will leave you with puppy pictures for today's "Aw" factor. Have a great one!

Wow

How does time go so fast between posts? I have a bunch of pictures to show but my camera/connection to the computer isn't working very well lately. I guess you will just have to settle for my rambling.

I did get to go to the fair. It was so great, I miss that about New York because here I don't have friends that will just walk around for hours at the fair with me.

We got there around 2 and had lunch with RT's parentals. It was BBQ chicken, and delicious.

Next was the dairy barn. Here, there was the Butter Sculpture. This year it was sponsored by the NFL so it was almost entertaining for RT and his father...Almost. Luckily, we were in the DAIRY barn, and who doesn't like that ice cream?

After that, we stood and watched a guy perform with his little Jack Russell. It was a cute performance that ended in the dog jumping over 6 crouching children, through a hoop. That's talent people. It was fun.

Next, we were on to the animal exhibits. This is what I like, but the boys don't much appreciate it. Luckily, the horse judging that was going on was rather entertaining and they could speculate about who was going to win the class. It was almost as entertaining for me to listen to their commentary, especially when the class riding English came out, posting as their horses trotted around the ring.... "What is wrong with them?!" lol.

More fair food was next on the agenda. While we all had vinegar covered French fries- something I only enjoy on an occasional basis- RT got a cheeseburger- hehe. Then it was time to say goodbye to the parents. They were headed back up to Amish country so that they could go shopping on Saturday.

Dave and I took a walk around the sheep barn, and I pointed out that he would have to one day buy me a wheel. I'm not sure whether I should be proud to say that the two pictures I managed to take at the fair are both of sheep- hehe.

Last on the agenda was the Purina Incredible Dog Show. (Can we tell yet that I love animals?) All the dogs featured in the show are rescues/adopted animals. They have all been trained to do Frisbee tricks and acrobatics. It was thoroughly entertaining and makes me wish I had a dog to train.

Anyway, that is all for now. Today was supposed to be The Day, but it didn't pan out. Unfortunately, I am disappointed, but it'll all work out in the end. Also- since I didn't let the cat out of the bag, no one knows what I am missing, and I can spring it on people later! (sorry, I'm not sure that made any sense, but I'm tired- I'll try harder next time).

Knitting content

***For those not knitterly inclined, avert your eyes. ***

I am currently making the loverly Saturday Market Bag. I choose a yarn from stash! This particular yarn is a cotton/nylon/silk blend. Fun, but not super functional for any sort of garment. It was part of a lot at an auction (I love auctions!). Anyway, I started it on Saturday because I needed some time to rest after doing Habitat. If I don't find something to keep my hands busy, I won't sit down and watch a whole movie. For some reason lately, I feel so frantic that I absolutely need to get up and do something. On Sunday, I continued to work and finished the bag part. I modified the pattern to be one long rectangle instead of two squares that you sew together. This meant only seaming up the sides which is good for me because I do not pretend to be a seamstress. I picked up about a million stitches (I did a lot more than the pattern called for because my gauge was way different) and knit/purled the rings around the top that the pattern called for, but I felt that the opening was too big. To fix this, I did about a million feet of I-cord and strung it around the top. This creates a way to draw the bag closed, but if I don't want it completely closed it could look cute just as a bow. That was all I got to Sunday night and when I took it to work with me today, it looked like this:

What a mess, hehe. I do promise though, that is a bag when held up. I'm now working on the handle and thinking about all those messy ends I have to get sewn in. The pen is for scale.

Lastly, the aw factor for today. To Conan, I say your Evil Puppy has nothing on the Gato Diablo, hehe. The flash plays evil tricks on poor "Echo."

Holy Bananas

Does anybody else have to think of that Gwen Stefani song in order to spell that word?

B-A-N-A-N-A-S... hehe

I have a lot going on right now, so I thought I would kick it bullet style:

-RT and I had a wonderful date night Friday. We went to BD's for dinner, and went to see Talladega Nights at the movie theater. I would recommend both.

-My landlord, starting today, is re-doing my entire bathroom. This means for three or so days I will have to shower at RT's place (ew). BTW-why couldn't he have done this last year, so that I could have enjoyed it-punk.

-I would say that my place is about half packed. I am so ready to move already.

-August 16th, here I come...

-I just took on another pet-sitting job. This one I will actually get paid for!

-Being so busy lends itself to wanting to do only one of two things: Sleep more or knit more. I don't have time for either.

-Disrespect is something that I feel I shouldn't have to tolerate, but I do on a daily basis.

-Yesterday was Habitat day. I met some AWESOME people, and we installed a garage door, dismantled temporary porch supports, installed roofing, and worked on a porch.

-Don't kill the f'ing messenger- I'm pretty close to going postal.

-K.J. and Liberace are cute, but they are getting everything SO hairy. Any suggestions on shaving cats? (I am totally just kidding).

-Would anybody like to go to the fair today? I really want to.

-I also need to do laundry, any takers?

-Last night was not very good in the sleeping department. This means I also need to take some sort of nap today. Boy do I have a full schedule.

-September is coming fast, and I have a WHOLE WEEK OF VACATION.

-Lately, I've had that disoriented feeling associated with having so many things to do that you can't decide what to do next, thus you get nothing done- ugh.

-Oh, I coveted the book shelf advertised on the Big Lots commercial for 4 whole days before I finally broke down and bought it. No one should be this excited about a plain piece of furniture, seriously.

-I was a good sam today. I got a dog back to its rightful owner after she had gotten out of her yard. Beautiful husky, mm.

That's it for now, but as you see I don't really have my shtuff together right now. Think organized thoughts for me, maybe it'll help.

Pet-sitting

Animals in general are therapeutic to me. Spending time throwing a ball for a dog, or watching a turtle swim around calms me like nothing else (except knitting). It is with this in mind that I recently took on two no-pay pet sitting opportunities. I told both places that I "work for food." Meaning that I would be more than willing to care for their pet in their absence, as long as they don't mind my snackaholic ways.

The first job was July 23 and 24. I watched Nips and Chai (the dogs), and Andy and Charlie (the cats). Not only did I get to eat some great food, but Chai would cuddle, and Nips would play and I was just generally entertained!

The second job was Fender. He is an intimidating ~100 lb German Shepard. I have never been so impressed with an animal. He did not act up a single time while his owner was away. He got to go for several long walks, play with a friend's dogs and chill off leash in the lawn while we had a cookout. We also spent some wonderful time in the sun. I have never been around a dog that inspired so many people to "oo" and "ah." And yes, he does know just how handsome he is!