T-minus 15 months and counting...

The dates for Sock Summit 2011 were announced .... July 28-31, 2011. I will be there. I can NOT wait! I'm already starting to look at my $$ and save up as much as possible so I can go CRAZY in the marketplace again. And, rumor has it the same weekend in Portland, OR is a brewing festival, so Weston might come along to have some fun as well. Oh, and he's in charge of the kiddo. This was decided before we even knew we were having kids... I told him that no matter what was going on in our lives, I was going to make it to SS11 and that was that. :) He agreed that I should go and that he would take care of everything else. He is amazing.

I'm almost done with my shawl! I think I have about 20 rows left on the last chart and then it will be cast off time. I was hoping to have it done by the end of the week, but I'm not sure that is going to happen. After I knit the shawl, my plan is to knit a romper for the baby to come home in and then knit myself some mittens... probably the squirrel sampler mittens (Rav link), but I haven't decided quite yet. I need mittens for the fall and break up seasons as my winter mittens are just too hot to wear while dog walking. So I figure that will be my summer project. Then I should probably knit something for Weston. We were at pub quiz last night and one of our friends asked if I knit him anything (because I was knitting) and Weston threw a little fit about how NOOOO, Josh has a hat and socks, but he doesn't have anything. So I should probably remedy that. :)

Friday I am going garage sale-ing. The neighborhood my in-laws live in has a huge neighborhood wide garage sale every year, so I am looking forward to getting some baby stuff. Then I think Weston is going to build my raised bed in the front yard for my plants. They are growing like CRAZY! I think some of them might survive. :)

I hope everyone had/is having a nice week! It was like a summer day here yesterday.... all the snow in my yard is gone.... pretty excited!

Best Thursday Ever?!?

Thursday has been my favorite day of the week for a loooooong time. It is so full of hope and promise of the weekend. You can still make plans... only one more day left of work (if you have a normal job, not a crazy weekend one like me)... etc. etc. Plus, it is the one night that I actually watch TV. So what makes this Thursday so special? Well, for one, it is the first one in three weeks that has new comedy on. Awesome. Also, I don't have to cook tonight! Why? Well, because JOSH is back home(!!!) and he has offered to cook for me!!!

That's right. JB back in town! We picked him up at the airport last night and then went to Spenard Roadhouse for dinner. It was amazing. The bacon of the month is bacon mozzarella sticks and they are to DIE for! Sooooo yummy! We also had the super tots, which are my fav. And, of course, great conversation with Josh! I don't know how long he is going to be here, but I am going to enjoy every bit of it...

In knitting news, I am almost done with the first repeat of the second chart on my shawl. I would show you a picture, but lace doesn't really look like much until it's done and blocked... oh, and I'm lazy. But trust me when I say, it is awesome. I will have to take a picture of my stitch markers. They are from the Etsy shop Wee Ones and they are incredible. They are puffins, and the detail is just mind boggling. I kind of want some of every animal from the shop now! They are just so cute, like little jewelry for my knitting....

The one other thing I accomplished this week is starting some seeds for my veggie garden.  It is probably a little late, but I'm going to try anyway!! I'm going to try and grow a whole bunch of different stuff... peas, spinach, green onions, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots... it should be pretty amazing. If the summer is anything like it was last year, I think I might actually get some veggies to eat! *Fingers crossed*

I hope everyone has a nice weekend! And, if you live in Anchorage, Saturday is SALE day at Quilt Tree! All class fees, quilting supplies, and fabric are 20% off! I'll be there.... :)

Sunday Indulgences

I love Sundays. Next to Thursday, it is probably my favorite day of the week. It is almost always just a lazy, be around the house type of day. Today was not too much different... we slept in, ate breakfast, then I took Snickers out for a walk.  W and Frito went for a hike. Snickers gets a bit too excited and tends to run off too far when he isn't on a least. W is going to start taking him on small hikes after work when there are fewer people out to try and train him how to go dog hiking. Then I had to go teach my last sock class of the quarter. When I got home, I found that Snickers had decided to eat the blinds in the bedroom. He doesn't deal well with being left home alone (without Frito), but it hadn't been a problem for a while, so I was surprised.

In other news, I started knitting a shawl! (Ravelry link to the pattern) I am almost done with the first chart and I am LOVING it! I'm mostly just really proud of myself for only making one mistake so far (and I was able to improvise and fix it...). My last foray into lace wasn't so successful. I'm using a skein of yarn that a friend gave me for Christmas. It is a blend of wool, bamboo, and silk and the prettiest shade of pink and orange.... like a sunset. I think it will turn out wonderful, and I'm really enjoying knitting it, so it might go pretty quickly!

Oh, but back to the title... here are some things I've indulged in today. W brought home donuts from Golden Donuts... oh man... AND, we are right now watching celebrity apprentice. It is a great show to make fun of together on the couch. Back to that and my shawl now...

News and a Rant

Alright, so I guess I haven't told everyone here yet, but I am expecting a baby. It's growing and supposedly this week developed reflexes, which is pretty amazing. Here is a run down of the typical things I'm getting asked:
* I'm due at the end of October (which is perfect, as Halloween is a big deal for our family)
* I'm NOT finding out the sex of the baby
* I'm planning on breast feeding and cloth diapering my child (because I am super hippy like that... and because I am also super frugal... I don't think I could afford to NOT do this)
* No, I don't think washing diapers will be gross. And, no, I'm not getting a separate washer for them. (Have you seen my house, where would it go? The baby is living in the corner of my room for goodness sakes!)
* I'm not painting any portion of my house for the baby. I hate painting. I also don't really get into "themes" for babies... my theme is handmade. :)
* I'm having my baby at a birthing center (if all goes well, and I really hope it does because I went on the tour the other day and it was AMAZING!) which means no drugs...
* No, I'm not concerned that a doctor will not be there... I actually kind of like that.

So, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

On to one of my rants... both are pretty short. I get weekly emails from babycenter.com about how my baby is growing and how I can prepare, etc... this week one of the emails talked about the 7 things that cost the most $$ with a baby and how to combat that. One of the 7 in the list was diapers... and the line said something to the effect of "besides cloth diapering.... you can buy diapers at Costco" BESIDES cloth diapering?!? Like it is the worst thing in the world. It's like they said "besides stabbing yourself in the eye...." I'm sure it wasn't meant in this manner, and I'm just being overly sensitive, but I think that people should really be more open to the idea... you don't wear paper underwear, that would be uncomfortable, so why should your baby? And there are a lot of pros (besides $$) to cloth diapering... but I won't get into that now. I'm sure I'll do a whole post on why I think it is a great idea later when I order my diapers.

The other one has to do with the way my city chooses to spend $$. If you are in debt, do you think you should spend $$ to find out why you are in debt? Or just look at how much money you have to spend, and make sure you only spend that much?? Hopefully, you picked the second option, because that is the one that makes sense. Maybe the Anchorage Assembly should take note....

I'm almost done knitting my felted bag. I should probably have it done by tonight. Just have to do the handles. :) I love a quick knit. Next up, a shawl for myself. I haven't decided on the pattern quite yet, but I have plenty of yarn to choose from...

Accomplishments...

Alright, so the other night, I kicked myself into gear and decided to get out of my "do nothing" funk. I was getting really upset with myself that I was being so lazy. Sure, I'm working a lot, but I still need to get stuff done. Working isn't a good excuse for why my dishes are piled in the sink and not in the dishwasher... nor is it an excuse for the fact that the fiber/yarn/etc that I have been getting in the mail is just sitting on the counter and not put away. So, I got up off the couch and I got to work. I put away all of the stuff on the counter, and that made a huge difference. I already felt like I had accomplished a lot. Then I decided that I needed to get started sewing the blocks for a block swap at work... so I went to clean up my sewing room a bit (which meant putting away all of the fiber, which led to me realizing I have WAY too much fiber, and that I am now doing a yarn challenge which I will discuss in a min...) and get to work. Sadly, I didn't have the ruler I needed, so I couldn't get started. But, not to be discouraged, I got to work on something else. I finished knitting my baby blanket (and blocked it last night. It is amazing. I will post pictures later. I am SO happy with how it turned out!), and did some spinning. I tried to finish up the spinning last night, but while plying the yarn it kept breaking and driving me NUTS, so I took a break and did something else. (Well, actually, I did nothing, but still, I had tried!)

So, on to this yarn challenge. I have four baskets of fiber in my craft closet. (And 6 of yarn, but who is counting...) They are stuffed full. It is out of control. And I know that I already have more coming in the mail (a SAL that I signed up for a while back that hasn't shipped yet, along with some other fiber that I earned with a free points program one of my favorite shops does...) so I need to get it in check, stat. SO, I have decided to do a 10 yarn challenge. I need to spin 10 yarns before I buy any more fiber. Seriously. I have spun 1 (the plying still needs to be finished...) and I'm half way through yarn 2. So, really if I keep up with this, it shouldn't take too long. And then I will have lots of fun hand spun yarn to knit. :) I will try to keep you updated on my progress and take pictures along the way... but you know how I am with pictures...

Alright, back to knitting my felted project bag I started yesterday. I'm about half way through, and then it will be another item to check off of my list! :)

Finally Friday!

I have had a busy week! I subbed every day except for yesterday, which means I'm tired and haven't gotten much done. Yesterday when I was trying to eat breakfast a million things kept happening... the dogs wanted in, the dogs wanted out, my phone was ringing... it was crazy. BUT with the phone call came some exciting news... my parents are buying us a new dishwasher!!!! I was SO excited about this. Our dishwasher is pretty lame. It is really inconsistent with how clean it will get the dishes... some days it works awesome, sometimes even after running it twice only half of them are clean.  Lately, it has been getting worse. The other day, I had to pull FIVE glasses out to find a clean one to use. That about drove me over the edge. I had told my parents about the woes of our dishwasher, mostly because it is a topic of conversation, something that is going on in my life.  Never did I think they would get us a new one! So, I'm pretty stoked.

I went in for my facial on Wednesday after school... it was not relaxing... not that I thought it was going to be, but it was seriously painful. I looked like I had the chicken pox when I left. But, this is supposed to help, so I endured it. I think in the next few days I'm supposed to see a difference, but it is so hard to tell... reversing what has been going on with your skin for 13 years takes some time. I would just love to be able to wake up, wash my face, and go. We'll see....

I have the whole weekend off! I'm hoping to get a lot of sewing done, but I really need to buckle down and do it. I have been really lazy lately... I need to kick it into gear and get some stuff DONE! I hope everyone had a good week and enjoys the weekend! :)

Nothing Interesting

Just wanted to check in. Nothing is really going on. I am subbing all week (except for Thursday) which means I have to get up early... boo. I'm not a fan of waking up with an alarm, especially when the alarm is at 6:20. I don't know how people get up earlier than that. I mean, I have before, but to do it on a regular basis would be hard. I need at least 8 hrs of sleep a night. So, if I have to get up at 6, I need to go to bed by 10 (which is actually about normal, but I like to sleep until 8... call me lazy). I know a lot of people who get up earlier and stay up later which is mind boggling to me.

I am a little more than 50% done with my blanket I'm knitting. I would be further, but I ran out of yarn this morning while at school... doh! As soon as I am done here, I am off to wind my yarn for that and another project (what, me start something new?!? never....) that came in the mail today.  It is another KAL with Desert Garden Farms... this time a felted bag. I'm not a super huge felted bag fan, BUT I love to have things in my stash to give as gifts or donate, and felted things are quick and quite popular.

In other news, I went to see a skin specialist the other day. Not a dermatologist, but more of a cosmetologist. I have had acne since oh, 13, so I decided 13 years is enough... I have seen dermatologists and been on a bunch of different meds and nothing has really helped. SO, I decided to go into a salon-type place (they do a lot of laser treatments and hair removal... not really cutting hair and stuff) and see what they had to say.  It sounds promising. I am going in on Wed for a facial that sounds intense... they told me I probably shouldn't go anywhere the rest of the night because I will be red and swollen. Hopefully, I will have to only do this a few times and then I will be able to control my skin at home. I'm hopeful, but we will see. I'm not too uptight about my skin, but some days it drives me CRAZY! I wish I could just wake up and go somewhere without feeling like I was 17 and everyone is staring at me.

I think that is really all. I hope everyone had a great Easter (if you celebrate Easter). We went to both my inlaws and my parents house. It was quite the adventure. Now I'm off to wind yarn! Have a great week.