Distract with Cuteness?

Work right now sucks BIG TIME. I just found out through other people on my shift (READ: haven't heard it from my boss, who never talks to me!) that we are completely changing our schedules as of June 9 (READ: only a little more than a week away). Instead of working 7 12 hour shifts in 2 weeks (with a 2 on 2 off-esque schedule), we are switching to 4 10 hour shifts Monday-Thursday. And my shift is going to be later (10pm-8:30am instead of 6pm-6:30am). Now work-wise this is not wholey and entirely bad. I will finally have someone in my department on my shift. And not working 12 hours days is a definite plus. I also will be getting 4 vacation days back that I was using in July for weekend weddings and family functions. Life-wise though this is terrible. It means that C and I who were on essentially the exact same schedule are now on only slightly overlapping schedules. Our non-sleeping face time will be cut practically in half. The only time we see each other when neither of us work will be 3 day weekends ever other week (which this summer will be filled with travelling to above mentioned weddings and family events). I cannot do this for 7 months. I don't know what we're going to do. (Also means a rather hefty pay cut... which isn't horrible... but definitely sucks. Especially with the rise of gas prices and all the travelling we're going to be doing.)

Now for the distraction. A coworker is having a baby boy the end of June! So I knit a cute little blueberry hat for him (note: I don't really know the coworker, but how often do I get to knit cute baby things!):



I (and apparently everyone else.. I couldn't make the shower) thought it turned out rather cute! (Oh, this also counts towards one of my 101 in 1001 items. Horray!)

I also have decided on a pattern for my friend's wedding shawl and am about 25% done with it. Didn't get a picture of it yet though. Maybe next time, if I need to be distracted more.

101 in 1001

Hi All,

So sorry it's been such a long time! I've been somewhat busy with doing life things and not having a lot to blog about really. Also, I have been drawn in by a project that has been circulating around the web lately. Well, I'm kind of hitting the end of its popularity, but it sounded so cool that I couldn't help but do it! What am I referring to? 101 in 1001 of course! It's a project in which you write down a list of 101 things you want to do in 1001 days (that's about 2.75 years) and keep track of their completion, etc. Some of the things are "Do x once a week" things, while other are "Do this really exciting thing!" or "Do this thing that REALLY needs to get done even though you don't want to do it." Anyways, without further ado, my list:

Knitting and Spinning
1. Knit 5 things for myself to wear (0/5)
2. Spin enough yarn for a sweater
3. Knit myself a sweater out of my handspun
4. Knit an item from every book and magazine I own (0/20)
5. Blog once a week (0/143)
6. Write 101 comments on other blogs (0/101)
7. Don't knit or go on Ravelry one (non-work) day/month (0/33)
8. Design a sock pattern and post it for free on Ravelry
9. Dye self-striping sock yarn
10. Organize my knitting patterns
11. Knit everything required to decorate a small Christmas tree
12. Update the sidebar on my knitting blog
13. Be an Angel in a swap
14. Knit 5 things in the recommended yarn (0/5)
15. Learn to knit continental
16. Finish my current WIPs (as of 5/29/08) (0/13 )
17. Make 20 items as gifts (ones currently started count) (0/20)
18. Finish the Rambling Rows afghan ( /30 squares)

Creativity
19. Do something creative (not knit or spin) 1 hour/month (0/33)
20. Learn to crochet
21. Cook something from every cookbook I own (0/ )
22. Make a fun scrapbook for me
23. Finish the scrapbooks from Europe
24. Make a t-shirt quilt
25. Bake a cheesecake
26. Buy a coloring book and finish every page
27. Buy something on Etsy
28. Take photos of 3 recipes for Family Cookbook
29. Complete a 1000+ piece puzzle
30. Buy the Green Grocer (or one of the other 2) Lego/complete it
31. Use the 2 canvases I bought

Health
32. Lose 35 pounds (0/35)
33. Go to gym once a week (0/143)
34. Don't eat out for 2 weeks (0/14)
35. Use stairs at work (if I don't, I get a strike)
36. Drink a glass of water a day (0/1001)
37. Whiten my teeth
38. Go to dentist
39. Run a mile in less than 10 minutes without stopping
40. Shave every 3 days for 3 months (0/30)
41. Eat breakfast at least once a week (0/143)

Travel
42. Go to Wisconsin Dells (not for Noah's Ark)
43. Visit the Grand Canyon
44. Visit England
45. Revisit 5 places I've been but C hasn't (with him) (0/5)
46. Ride on Amtrack
47. Go to 3 states I've never been (0/3)
48. Visit my grandparents (not for a holiday) 5 times (0/5)
49. Visit Canada
50. Go on a cruise
51. See a Frank Lloyd Wright house

For Others
52. Earn 1,000,001 grains of rice on freerice.org (0/1000001)
53. Send 20 unprovoked letters to family/friends (0/20)
54. Do something nice for C once a month (0/33)
55. Donate clothes I don't wear
56. Send Christmas cards (on time!) each year (0/3)
57. Put flowers on a grave that doesn't have any
58. Host a dinner party

Learning
59. Learn to identify 10 birds/trees/plants around my house (0/30)
60. Learn basic French
61. Read 10 books I own and haven't read (0/10)
62. Read 10 "Must Read" books (0/10)
63. Get good at HTML
64. Try a new drink/month (must drink entire thing!) (0/33)
65. Subscribe to the newspaper/read front section once/week (0/143)

Financial
66. Save $100/paycheck (0/71) and $5/task completed (0/101)
67. Pay off car

Sports/Entertainment
68. Catch up on 10 podcasts (0/10)
69. Go on a picnic
70. Go camping with C
71. Go skiing with C
72. Go golfing with C
73. Score 150+ on a round of bowling
74. Watch 1 movie/month from IMDB's top 250 (0/33)

Work
75. Get back on day shift
76. Find a project to do without being asked
77. Get out on time everyday for 2 weeks, 3 times (0/7; 0/3)
78. Use a vacation day as a "mental health" day

Organization
79. Have a garage sale
80. Get all of my stuff from my parents' house
81. Purge/organize my old papers
82. Purge/organize all emails
83. Sort the boxes in the basement

Me
84. Get Married
85. Get a massage
87. Spend one entire day/night in house naked
88. Run around the outside of house naked
89. Get 10 pieces of clothing tailored to fit ME (0/10)

Miscellaneous To Do's
90. Get a Wisconsin driver's license
91. Make bed (without telling C what's going on) for 2 weeks (0/14)
92. Call home once a week (0/143)
93. Go to the Farmer's market once a month while it's outside (0/16)
94. Go a day without yelling at people in the car
95. Go a week without speeding (0/7)
96. Replace the couch cushions and/or couch
97. Renew Norton Anti-Virus
98. Get up when alarm goes off everyday for 2 weeks (0/14)

The List
99. Update progress website once a week (0/143)
100. Don't get more than 3 strikes/month (0/33)
101. When complete, start a new list!

Alternates
A1. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast with C
A2. Get a new mattress
A3. Knit one pair of socks from each "sockitecture" in Cat Bohrdi's book
A4. Edit mom's photos from Europe
A5. Go to 5 concerts
A6. Knit 5 items for charity
A7. Vacuum car every other month
A8. Organize photos and music on hard drive
A9. Do Project 365
A10. Try 10 new restaurants
A11. Get a library card
A12. Go to 5 new museums
A13. Take one day to get to know downtown Madison
A14. Go to a wine tasting
A15. Keep track of daily spending for 2 months
A16. Limit soda to 1/day for a month
A17. Get off my parent's cell phone plan
A18. Don't buy anything from the vending machine for a month
A19. Get eyebrows done
A20. Get a new coffee table
A21. If I don't like my job -- get a new one!
A22. Try Letterboxing and find 3 boxes
A23. Complete 101 (*** or harder) sudoku puzzles
A24. Have all groceries be on sale and/or have a coupon 5 times
A25. Set up Digital Frame
A26. Test drive a SMART car
A27. Get a professional bra fitting done and buy one (not at V.S.)
A28. Eat all the chocolate I'm hoarding from Germany
A29. Get up to date on all shots
A30. Help someone complete one of their 101 in 1001

Now don't worry, I won't be posting about the progress of all of these on here (unless I get truly desperate for blog content!). I have a website for that! I will probably add the knitting and maybe creativity sections to my sidebar here and update you all on them, since that falls within the blog theme :o). My 1001 days will begin today (May 29, 2008) and end on February 24, 2011... my 27th birthday. Feel free to make a list of your own if this is your type of thing and comment to tell me you started it. I would love to set up a little group of knitters to support each other in the completion of our goals!

Now if you don't mind, I've got some stuff to do... :o)

So much to do....

... so much time spent on Ravelry. Agh.

I have so much knitting that I need/want to do.. and I always seem to be on Ravelry instead of doing it. Sigh. Here are a few FO pictures though:


Started: October 2007
Finished: May 11, 2008
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino
Needles: HiyaHiya 2.5mm circs (2)
Notes: They were a 2 at a time toe-ups class that I took at a LYS. They were my first toe-ups, and first socks not on dpns (I think I'll stick to the dpns). I was supposed to finish them for my mom for Christmas, but other projects got in the way. She loves them though and wore them all day Mother's Day! I wanted them a bit taller, but time ran out on me. My mom said that was OK though because she likes shorter socks.

My second FO is something that was finished a while ago, but I finally was able to get a picture of it!


Started: December 2007
Finished: December 2007 (the night before I gave it to her..seems to be a pattern here)
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in varying colors
Needle: US 10.5
Notes: I modified another scarf pattern because she said she wanted vertical stripes. It turned out super long (it's wrapped around her neck twice in the photo). She appreciates my handknits, so I keep making them for her!

Hopefully I'll have some lace WIP pictures soon... I need to have a shawl done for my friend's wedding by June 7 (and I haven't started)!

Coffee Swap Topic #6

We'll go free form this week - Post about your WIPs, post about your package, post about the weather where you are - just be sure to include that the post is for the Spring Fling Weekly Topic somewhere inside it when you tell us it's there! I'd love to hear how folks are enjoying the goodies they received, if they have, or how much fun you had shopping for your pal!

Well, I think I might just be squeaking in on the deadline for this one. It's been a pretty crazy week. My parents are visiting right now, so there was lots of cleaning and such to do before they arrived. It just barely got done :o).

My package has already been sent (and my pal should get it in the next day or so!! I can't wait to see her reaction!). I can post a couple pictures here about what was in it. I made some felted Gerber Daisies:


As you can see in the second picture though, the wire I chose wasn't heavy duty enough and the flowers just "wilt". I also made a coffee cozy (that ended up too big for the mug I got her) and baked some almond biscotti (which turned out really tiny). Ha. Nothing turned out quite as I imagined. But the biscotti still tasted good, and hopefully she has a mug that the cozy will fit!

I have to go quick bind off the socks I'm giving to my mom tomorrow, so I have to cut this post short. I hope to find more blogging time soon! I never did tell you guys about my adventures in dyeing...

And the Winner is....

Yay! Congratulations! I received the email with your address and will be mailing the yarn to you on Monday!

(And in case you all were wondering, your names were all written on a piece of paper and put in my Lebkuchen tin and C drew the name for me! See...)


I promise a big post about knitting and my adventures in Koolaid dyeing is in the works (maybe even another post tonight!). Thanks again to all of you who entered the contest. Stick around because I think there will be another contest in the next month or so!

Can I have some Cheese?

... with my w(h)ine?

Ugh. So sorry about that last post. I had seen a bunch of contests lately where (not famous/extremely popular) people were getting more than 100 entries (not that I was expecting that many) and I only had 7 entries with less than 24 hours to go in a 2 week contest. Not that that's an excuse for me to be bitchy. And sorry to those of you (Omly and Fairytale Frogs) that felt you didn't qualify. It really wasn't meant to be that specific (and thus exclude people). Sigh. It all came off kind of wrong, huh. Well maybe I'll have to have another contest soon and plan it better :o). The winner has been picked, and contacted, and I'll write another post to announce that so it doesn't have to be mixed in this negativity.