New Knitting!

I know, I know, I've broken my new-found rule (no more new projects until I finish some old ones), but I have been staring at some new yarn that Lara sent me and reeeeeeeally wanting to make something not meant for winter weather (my two "old projects" are a heavy cardigan and a pair of gloves).  I hate making things and then having to put them away for several months before I can wear them.

Lara's yarn has been staring at me and I have put off making anything with it because I have not found a pattern (that's not a scarf) that only needs around 500yds total.  But then, enter Classic Elite Yarn's Four Season Vine Lace Vest.  Light and summery, and exactly 500 hundred yards!  Yay!  Thus, new yarn plus finding a usable pattern equals Anne not being able to wait to start a new project.  I am so very weak-willed.  :(

         

Look! I can do a mattress stitch without it looking like total butt!  Woohoo!

      

I have now officially finished the sweater ("officially" means I actually have woven in all the ends.  Haha!). Go me!  I am excited about finally making something for me that I can wear.  :)  This sweater was pretty easy to make and I was able to whip it up fairly quickly without it having to be one of those "I need to work at least an hour every night or it will never be finished" projects.  I highly recommend the free pattern from Classic Elite.

Yarn:  Araucania "Ruca,"  100% sugar cane  (how cool is sugar yarn?!?!)
     263yds per 100g
     Colorway #6 (pale blue & grey mixed)


In the fairness of full disclosure:
- I used a DK yarn meant for US4-6 needles; the pattern called for US9.  I used US6 on the ribbing like I was told, but dropped to a US8 for the pattern and made the size 40inch to fit my ~37inch self.
- Pattern called for 515yds & I had 526yds.  I still have a handful left over; I haven't measured it yet, but I feel like it is more than 10yds.  But...
- None of the ribbing is as long as it "should" be.  The waist ribbing is shorter because I was worried about  running out of yarn, so it is only 3in long instead of 3.25in, and the neck ribbing is 2.75in rather than 4.25in.  I was planning on doing the neck ribbing until I just ran out of yarn, but John said I should stop there as it looked good.  Thus the left-over yarn, I guess.
- I was not expecting it to be a crop sweater (for some reason, I didn't notice that from the picture), but I really like it.  It hits me right where it should and makes my waist look tiny!  :)
- My sleeves are different lengths!  :(   One side is a row longer in the ribbed cuff than the other side.  I know about it and I was too lazy to fix it.  John promised me that no one would be able to tell while I was wearing it.  (What does Grandma say?  "It'll never be seen on a galloping horse!")

Fetch, Kitty, Fetch!

My kitty is better than all three Gallion dogs because he plays fetch and they don't!  HAHA! Take that, canines!

We probably played fetch last night for 15min before he got distracted.  John took a longer video of him, but since I was throwing the toy, I had a better angle of him holding mousie in his mouth.  Cats holding things in their mouth are super silly / cute!

This video was taken at the end of our session last night, so he was starting to get tired.  He was bringing mousie more towards the blanket rather than straight to me, but when we started, he brought mousie immediately back to my feet.

My cat plays fetch!!! ... Videos to come.
:)

H is for...

H is for Hammock Man!  Not very dear to my life, but funny nonetheless.  The story:  We had a few warm & gorgeous, picture-perfect spring days in a row and one of our back-door neighbors decided to hang out in the ditch between our streets... in his hammock.  John and I laughed at his enjoyment of the awesome weather when we saw him napping outside, and then, just like that, Hammock Man left our lives as suddenly as he had come.  We may never know more.... 

(dramatic and slightly sad violin music)

Me = Pickiness

Yay! John and I went engagement ring-shopping today to see how hard I am to shop for... or something like that.  Whatever.  Anyway, we found three so far that I like. 


At Kay:

Kay was a little hard to find something for me because I'm not totally sold on having diamonds down the sides of the band.  I like the plainer bands to accentuate the stones better, rather than hiding the main stone in the midst of the all this crap on the band.  Eh.  Personal preferences.

And at Zales, there were two that I liked:

 This is a solitaire with a wrap-around do-dah.  Just enough to be different from a regular solitaire.

 This is a three-stone that has swooshy thingies coming up from the band to form the setting.  Again, plainer (i.e. not tacky), but just a little unusual.  I find that I am walking the fine line between "plain and boring" and "god-awful tacky & decadent."  Sigh.  I want it to be unique but not horrific.  Is that too much to ask?

Random & Geeky

Ok, if you haven't noticed yet, I am a super-dork.  (Gasp!)  I know, I know, I hide it well.  But there it is. 


ANYway, in random perusing of the internet, I found another super-dork like me, but she has artistic talent!  If you have any interest in brain chemistry / chemistry / psychology / neurobiology, check out Made with Molecules.  Raven Hanna, PhD is a "Yale-educated scientist turned artist" who lives out in sunny California and makes chemistry-inspired jewelry and things.  My favorites would have to include:

Neurotransmitter Charm Bracelet

Neurotransmitter Earrings

Ethanol Champagne Glasses

And for when I win the lottery (it IS hand-made jewelry), the Endorphin Choker.  It is made of the 31 amino acids in beta-endorphin!  How cool is this?!?!!

She also makes t-shirt designs, baby onesies (glucose for sweet), greeting cards, and more!  When you get a minute, check out her store!

FINALLY!!!

A day I thought would never arrive is finally here!  We received our IRS New Home-Buyer Credit today!!!  WOO HOOO!!! It only took 270 days!  (I submitted my 2008 Tax Return Amendment on July 7, 2009.  8-12 weeks, my ass!)

I guess what makes it all worthwhile (besides finally getting the government to do what they said they were going to do) is the fact that we got about $300 interest as well.  Almost as if the IRS admits that it took them a long-ass time to get a check mailed out to us.  And it pays for the new tires I've been needing for several months!

:D

G is for...

G is for Great Ideas (said sarcastically) !  Recently we have had a spate of great ideas ... and I am at a loss for a "G" item, so this post might seem a little weak.  I apologize.  Moving on.

John and I have had two Great Ideas recently, and they are both coming back to bite us in the butt.  A few weeks ago, we looked up and said, "Why are we both paying for personal training sessions with the same trainer on the same day?  Why don't we go for a partner session, which is cheaper (per hour) than the individual sessions?"  Well, Fletcher said he would do a partner session with us, but he'd want to bump it up to a full hour.  We've been at our full-hour sessions for a week now, truthfully, the thrill has worn off!  Monday was a leg day, so I easily outpaced John in endurance (he felt bad and wondered why we signed up for a full hour).  Wednesday was arms & abs, and I hated every minute of it because I admittedly have no ab strength and the upper body power of a hamster.  Then, with my triceps still in searing pain from Wednesday ("It burns & stretches!"), we moved right into dead-lift Fridays.... with the added bonus of Fletcher purposefully trying to hurt us because he will be out of town on Easter Monday and we will not have a session.  Take it from me, you do NOT want your trainer to go out of town; he will only hurt you!!!  So, I sit here on Sunday, back in pain & arms still hurting, wondering who's crack-headed idea was it to move up to a full hour work-out session!

The other Great Idea we've had was John's, and I have no idea what prompted it.  Anyway, John went out and got us a chin-up bar.  Having a chin-up bar in your house means you have to use it!  ... 'Nuff said.

And if that doesn't cut it for you, G can also be for gray face.  A sleepy gray face.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

What? Does it really matter who brings us the chocolate?

F is for...

F is for FATTY! and FELINE FETCH!

So I took Mr Winks to the vet today for his "new kitty" checkup to make sure he's healthy and all that.  The vet confirmed that he is a heifer, but not by much.  She says that he's not too fat, since he is larger-framed cat; but since he is a young kitty still, it's best that he lose a little bit of weight.  If he's a fat kid, he'll be a fat adult. (THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC ACROSS AMERICA IS SPREADING TO THE KITTIES!!! EEK!!)

The vet said to cut back his food a little bit and to make sure he gets his exercise.  She suggested that I take his dinner portion and toss it across the room .... kibble by kibble.  She said that her kitties like to do that every once in a while for dinner.  Kitty gets his exercise and eats slower, so it diminishes the chunk-belly in two ways!  (Now, I just need someone to do this for me!  Toss bites of steak across the room and make me chase it.  Haha)



We've been doing this most of the evening, and I can assuredly say that the kitty knows when the camera is out & running.  He's quite boring when I am filming him, and AS SOON as I put the camera away (LITERALLY the next throw) he will do something crazy and spastic.  Boooooo!

Above: The perils of the bouncing kibbles.