Happy Friday the 13th! :)

It's hard to be spooked by it though when it's so bright and sunny and warm though, right?

(I've come across this multiple times today on Facebook, etc. and, while it doesn't seem that fair, I have to say I've snorted  laughed at it every single time. Why? I don't know.)

Hard to believe another week has gone by!! Let's see, what did I get into to this week.......

I finished up all of my current sock projects!

Oh, don't be too impressed though - the "Wayward" (red) ones have been ongoing since the beginning of March. 

 I just had a bitty foot on the right one to do to put that project to bed. (And, because of the complementing wrap-a-round cables, these socks actually *DO* have a left and right to them. Thankfully, I paid attention to what chart was what, out of the stack that this pattern comes with, and ENDED UP with a right/left one vs. two lefts, etc. WHEW!) 

 The Dragonfly socks were a quick knit - easy, easy! Probably could have gone with another repeat for the leg so I'll remember that for next time. (I don't like my socks too long so it's no biggie either way.)

Also (semi) finished:

Stitched my flag stitchy again, this time on the 'proper' fabric so it will fit on top of the star box that came in the kit. Just need to find the time to do the finishing now. (I didn't improvise a little '2012' on the new one but now that I see them together, I kind of miss that? I might have to go back and put that in!)

Anyone else doing the L*K Mystery Sampler Club that was just released??? I started it and love the colors but the fabric is a little larger count (30 ct.) than I would prefer. It's not a deal-breaker though. I'm just a diva and will get over it. *cough* I think the transition from 40ct from the last project to 30ct was a little oogy for me, is all.

I know so many of you are BROILING out there, in the heat, but it's been phenomenally seasonal here the past week...........again. Much better than it usually is for this area! If this is the new 'face' of climate change for this area, I'll take it!!!! Got lots of biking in last week, picture is from one of the (many) bike bridges on the Blackstone River Trail in Lincoln/Cumberland, Rhode Island.

This last pic is from my Epic Kitchen DeClutter this morning. Does anyone else find the kitchen gets cluttered if you so much as take your eyes off of it for a second? I hadn't SERIOUSLY decluttered it in awhile so I went at it in a ruthless manner this morning and now it's all back down to clean surfaces everywhere you look. 

I had to laugh and stop to take a picture of this ridiculousness though:

I *might* have a packet problem. As in, drink packet?

Yeah, I gots it bad. REAL bad.

And I'm not sure the picture is *quite* capturing just how many are there. (And I'm not even getting into how many bottles of MiO are around. *ahem*)

In my defense, I do drink a lot of water. (I even have a water cooler in my kitchen to facilitate things.)

I don't have any defense, really, for ordering more though the other day. True Lemon has 50% off all the lemonade packets this month and I..........may have ordered some more? Less than a 100 packets but, uhhhhh, more than 50. Okay so it was 80. Crap. WHERE IS THE 12 STEP PROGRAM FOR PACKET ADDICTION????? o_0

(Not that anybody asked, but my favorite one is the stevia-sweetened Apple Pear ones from Target. If I could get that one on tap, that would be GLORIOUS.)

Yay!

 I got the tree up this year before Christmas Eve! A WEEK AND HALF before Christmas Eve, to be exact. I'm so proud of myself. *pats self* 

I'm not going to bother to try and take a 'picturesque' photo of it though because it's impossible. Large sunny window + killer huge tv that can be seen from space on one side = no good angles for proper photo taking. Plus, I'm not dedicated enough to have a theme tree so I'm not sure how photo worthy it is anyway. I pick up a few ornaments every year to add to the mess, take out a few as the years go on...........it's a mix of everything and nothing but I wouldn't have it any other way. lol

Here a few new ones for this year:

How cute is this? I got this off of an Etsy seller. Looks just like the  hubby in his moon suit bee keeper suit! Super adorbs!

Simple ones from Target but I love their knitty-ness. They look/feel like they were fashioned out of old Fair Isle sweaters or something. Now THAT I can get behind.

And here are my kitties, in clay form. Robyn did a post last week showcasing a whole bunch of crafty kitty ornaments made for her by people and it made me pouty not to have any crafty kitties too so I found a bunch on Etsy and................good god I don't have $15 each to spend on crafty kitties on Etsy! They are lovely but no. Sorry. I'll have to plan for that during the year, one at a time. So when I was at Michael's last week for something else, I hit up the clay aisle and got some supplies to make up my own gang of kitties. For less than $15, I made up a Meisha, Mooshie, and Maggie kitty plus something else that can't be shown because it's a gift. :)

Meisha says: Uhhhh, like, my nose isn't pink though? 

Me: Sorry, bbs. I didn't buy any black so pink had to do. 

Meisha: Pfffftt!

Of course, now I have all this leftover clay because I only used up the ivory pack. What to do with it?!? lol My 'career' as a clay artist (sooooooooooooo kidding!!!) was short-lived because rolling out the clay balls DECIMATED my hands. My middle knuckle, palm side, was inflamed and owie for two days afterwards. No more clay crafts for me. It's now DAYS later and my inner palms, where the joints are, are STILL a little hurty if I press on it. :(

It's always fun to bring on the cross-stitch ornaments too, here are two are my favs, a JCS ornie and a L*K one:

I have so so so so many less than I would like to have though. I totally, miserably, horrendously FAILED on that front this year. Need to rethink crafty goals for next year. Hmm.........

And finally, look at this super great birthday gift that Cookie A. sent me. A loverly skein of cashmere infused yarn and an organic cotton sock drawstring bag. So very very thoughtful of her to think me of like that when she's so busy flitting around the world doing super-important knitting things and..............OK so this is really just the last installment of the 2011 Sock Club......that was sent out to hundreds of people, not just me. A girl can have her delusions, right? :)

Deep breath.

Definitely been a trying week, you know? But I felt much better today so moving on..

 I went back to the project that I tried to start on Thursday, gotta get back on that horse you know......

Oh............my......

Yes the project that started all this was Death. Black Death to be exact. How prophetic. Or ironic. Or........something. 

It's Death by Candy Corn and why didn't I notice those cutie candy corns were over one before I started this? Holy lot-of-teeny-tiny-stitching-for-one-stinking-corn Batman! To be fair, the pattern calls for a half stitch for these but I couldn't see the damn thread when I did it that way so a full cross stitch it is. Oh hello, instant doubling of the time/stitches. *mwah*

I finished my-not-quite-August/not-quite-September pair of socks a couple days ago and aren't these the most ridiculous pair of socks you've ever seen:

Yep. Candy corn socks. 

I'm totally going to wear them with some Mary Jane-style shoes too and not care one bit how many crazy looks it gets me. So there.

I will be offline tomorrow because, quite honestly, I just can't handle the 9/11 coverage. Just a handful of it on the tv or whatever and I start to feel panicky and overwhelmed by it like it's happening all over again, even to this day. :(

Oink oink.

In the process of replacing all the carpeting with wood floors this summer, I've done some MAJOR purging. I mean major: 7-8 bags of donated clothing, countless bags of trash, and at least two big bags of paper related materials from the filing cabinet/desk. Nothing escaped my wrath. I was ruthless and threw stuff away while cackling away with glee. (I do love a good purge.) It was good times, peoples, good times.

 In doing all that work in the office, I ended up with a half a drawer empty in the file cabinet. What to do with it...........hmm............HEY! I COULD ORGANIZE MY STITCH STASH. I had it all piled up willy-nilly in a wood 'cheese/shaker' box but I could be, like, all PROFRESHENUL and sort it and stuffs!

So I laid it all out and sorted it by designer....and..........HOLY CRAPBALLS I have a lot of stuff. Good lord! lol

THIS PHOTO DOES NOT DO MY STASH JUSTICE. 

IT'S BAD, PEOPLE.

It's enough to make one a little faint. (Or more than a little, to be honest.) Now, in my defense, I did 'work' as model stitcher for a local shop for 4-5 years in my spare time so, heavy discount and earned cash in hand, I happily worked on building my stash up during that period of time. But still. I really need not every buy anything EVER AGAIN EVER AND THAT WOULD STILL BE TOO SOON HONESTLY.  (Not that that has ever stopped me before. So don't hold your breathe or anything on it happening. lol) It's hard to say which pile makes me break out into a sweat more than the others. 

There is the huuuuuuuuge stack (20? 25?) of LHN/CCN patterns that I got in a series of wicked cheap eBay auctions last summer. Nope.......

Oh ho ho! There is the crazy amount of Shepherd's Bush kits at $30-$60 each. (95% of these were purchased during my stitching heydey, hence they were 'free'.) Close....very close...

Ahh. Here we go. A stack of Bent Creek patterns that all have a PIECE OF CUT LINEN in them, all ready to go. It's all that linen that makes me feel the most guilty, even if I did 'pay' for most of it with my time and expertise, because most of these are pieces that would require framing and, hello, I have a limited amount of wall space for those kinds of projects at this point. *gulp*

Anyhoo. It all fit quite nicely. So, uhh, that's good. Right?

I had ideas of going through this to cull stuff for a giveaway but, honestly, that's going to have to wait until I catch my breathe again and feel less overwhelmed. I feel like I would get rid of TOO much at this point in a frenzy to make it more 'manageable' (if that is even possible) and then maybe end up regretting it. lol

I will do it one day though. :)

Everybody warm enough yet? :)

What's up with that, right? 

It's down to a positively 'chilly' 85 degrees here today. *snort* (I'll take that over the 100+ of yesterday!)

Thankfully, I have lots of 'indoor' hobbies to keep me busy (and in the blessedly cool a/c). I feel bad for everyone who has to work outside though - my husband included. :(

Anyhoozle doozle. Being indoors so much, I caught up on a couple projects this week. I think I mentioned my mad love for Franken Frames about a month or so ago? Carol posted that link for them and I was all over it like white on rice. Three custom made/cut frames for less than $30...........total? OH YES PLEASE I WILL. 

I dug waaaaaaaaaaaaay deep into my box of finished pieces and pulled out a few to see how the whole thingamabob thing would work. (I've never ordered custom frames online before and, well, to say I'm not good with the 'rithmetic' and fraction-figuring would be an understatement. I measured not twice, but thrice but I hit the order button, ya dig?) But it all worked out well and everything fit like a dream. (WHEW.) 

 This one, A Drawn Thread pattern I believe, was stitched in 1999 and it's much too nice to be languishing in a deep, dark Rubbermaid drawer forever and ever, don't you think?  I can't wait to hang it up!

This one is older still.........I think? And I have no idea of the designer. A quick Google search of that term came up with nothing and it was so long ago that I can't possibly remember who it is. I don't like this frame choice quite as much as the first one for some reason. I think maybe the color wasn't quite what I thought it would be? (But I don't think it looks BAD either.)

 

Ewe and Friends (I think?) from a few years ago, though the pattern itself goes back a looooooong time. (I have many, many things in my stash going back a long, long time. lol) Simple black frame, not much to say about it. I picked this one because it was small and will fit in very easily on my sampler wall.

Considering I was just 'experimenting' with older pieces, it went rather well. No money was wasted but now, of course, this has set a dangerous precedent. You can see that, right? Custom frames. Any time I want. For cheap. OH BOY HOWDY. Very very dangerous indeed!! :)

And now I have a date with a sock. Or a pair of socks to be more accurate. I just realized I only have a week left if I'm to keep up with my 'pair of socks a month' plan for this year. Eep. I've done so well so far with this plan I CAN'T GIVE IT UP NOW!!!!!!! Must_get_knitting!!

You can't keep me down for long.

Back in February I lost a beloved member of my sock family. The King Sock, if you will. I loved them too much, for too long, and blew a huge hole in the heel. *sniff*

(Mr. Chicken was in charge of the inspection process.)

There was only one thing to do, of course........

KNIT ANOTHER PAIR EXACTLY LIKE THE FIRST.

Same yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Socks that Rock.

Same pattern: Crusoe (free Knitty pattern)

AND I SHALL LOVE THEM UNTIL THEY FALL APART.

 

(Mr.Chicken approves.)

Stashing and stashing.

I should be and AM working on some new beads to post but it's going slower than molasses this week. So, in the meantime, let's post some stashing pics. :)

I got a few cross stitch patterns from this site here: Violarium. They specialize in French designs but are located in Finland. I *literally* got my package from them 4 mailing days after I placed my order so I can not recommend them enough. Four days! FROM FINLAND. 0_o 

I ordered a brass bead press from the same area that's still sitting in customs after three weeks, with no end in sight yet, so I was pretty jazzed about that. (I'm having bad luck with customs in general this year though. I think THS is going through things with a fine-toothed comb because of the Middle East stuff or something because it's been IMPOSSIBLE to deal with them lately. Grrr.)

How much do I love Tralala designs? I couldn't resist the lambs (with the tiny beehive!) and a snowman pattern. 

(Click for the bigger pic because this was too wide for my blog. lol)

It was HARD picking out just three. lol

More yarn. UGH. 

I KNOW, I KNOW!! !@!@#!@#

Ok but firstly, I did not pick out the green one - it was picked out for me as part of a sock club. I hemmed and hawed and dithered about joining another yarn club this year but the one by Cookie A ended up being too shiny and precious to ignore. She's my favorite designer and she's designing TWO patterns for each club package so...................yeah. Couldn't resist. :( 

The yarn is by String Theory and very pretty - I approve. 

(The patterns rock too but I don't think we are supposed to share them? I'm not clear if that means don't share them at ALL, even in passing on your blog, or means, like, don't pass the pattern onto someone else?)

The other two skeins are ONline Supersocke which is a 'budget' sock yarn that I'm planning to use for a pair of Obliviate mitts. I can't find a pattern link off Ravelry but they are done up like the ones Hermione wears in The Deathly Hallows movie.

The general consensus on the Ravelry HP board is that those are woven sideways, not knit at all actually, and then seamed up the side but, you know, we're not going for perfection here. Any slouchy, colorful type mitt that approximates it will do. :)

I couldn't tell which one of the color blends would work better so I, uhhh, ordered both. 

I like this one with orange in it better though so that is the one I'm going to use. :)

And finally, here is my sweater after working on it all week long:

I actually had a few more inches done than this, had even started the woven part for the chest area, but it kept seeming to be too short, though I didn't let that STOP ME FROM GOING ON... AND ON (!!!).........and then finally I realized OH HAI IT'S TOO SHORT. So I ripped it back a few inches to do some more plain stockinette. (Ripping it back was easy though - just had to thread a cable needle through the line of stitches right before I started the woven part, unwind the knitting and VOILA! It catches up to the new needle and you're off and running again. Probably took no more than 5 minutes. You don't get back the time you put into originally knitting it, of course, but that's better than ripping out cross stitch!) I worked back up to the woven part last night so I should be making my way through the arm hole shaping tonight. :)

Best. Weekend. EVAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

 Firstly, I won Sonda's LHN chart giveaway. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet! 

Seriously excited over this!! I've never won a blog giveaway so excuse me while I do a happy dance. *dance* (Which isn't to say that I don't like HOSTING giveaways, because I honestly do get a kick out of that too.) Thanks so much Sonda! YOU ROCK. :)

Secondly, who is Edward James Olmos' new bestie? OH THAT WOULD BE ME, THX.

He added me to his Twitter feed *AND* sent me a private message that ended with SO SAY WE ALL. *sqeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

Frakity frak frakking frak, the Old Man added me back. Do I care if he possibly does that with all BSG-tweet friendly fans? NOPE. When ADMIRAL FRAKKING ADAMA gives you a direct SO SAY WE ALL, you die and go immediately to sci-fi fan girl heaven. The details are IRRELEVANT, ok? 

Now excuse while I go enjoy my BSG contact high and my chart win for awhile. :)

It's official: I'm NUTS

Officially, I seem to have come to this official conclusion many times before but it never seems to stick and needs to be, uhhhh, reconcluded every so often. Or maybe frequently. Which I suppose just reinforces the fact that I'm nuts. lol

The scarf is long enough, says the hubby, and he thinks I'm insane to think otherwise. And I have to say...............the math is working out in his favor as blocked and unpinned it measures out to be 82 inches in length........keeping in mind that *I* am a Shorty McShorterson person of 61 inches in height. So, uh. I guess I've made my peace with it and the scarf is done. HALLELUJAH and all that jazz. Details are on Ravelry if you like. Onward to eye candy pics. :)

There is no doubt I love the color changes in this. I need to get a couple more balls of this to do a pair of socks at some point because the amount of color from the same skein of yarn is ridiculous.

God, here's something I haven't thought about in FOREVERRRRRR.

Loop loom potholders!

I loved making these sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much when I was a kid. Totally forgot about them until I saw the latest post by The Felt Mouse which had a picture of some of them. I probably made well over a hundred of these suckers during the course of my childhood. lol (The nylon loops were 10 times better than the cotton ones too. Those cotton ones could be tricky at the end to bind off!)



I need another hobby like I need ANOTHER HOLE IN MY HEAD or I totally would get into weaving. On a 'real' loom. POTHOLDERS FOR GROWNUPS, ONLY IN THE SIZE OF SCARVES AND TABLE RUNNERS, OMG WANT WANT WANT. Gah!

In other news, no one is going to wrestle my World's Klutziest Woman crown from me anytime soon as I managed to pull a muscle in my back this morning by doing the incredibly difficult act of..................walking through my kitchen to get from one side of the room to the other.  WTF? Why do I always get hurt doing NOTHING? lol Something seized up like OW and now I have a ball of evil in the middle of my back, taunting me and poking me. Stoopid back!