Easter Fun and Other Stuff

We dyed eggs on Easter, but didn't hide them. It's kind of funny - we discussed hiding them, but decided not to because they don't all ever get found, and the smell lasts for weeks - only I was thinking that they make the yard stink, and my husband was thinking that the house would stink. See, he's from South Dakota where it is below zero half of the year, so they used to hide the eggs in the house. Which I have never done in my life, being from New Mexico.


We only dyed about 10, then the whole process lost its glamour and became tedious. So we called it quits. It's sort of amazing that things I thought were big fun when I was ten now bore me.

I am done with the first crossover rib sock, just need to graft the toe. I was way too into an episode of Waiting for God that I didn't want to pay enough attention to graft the toe, so I just started the second sock.


Ginger decided she wanted to wear a tissue paper tutu. Well, until she decided than it tasted better than it looks.

Happy Easter!

Image from icanhascheezburger.com

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

I FOUND A NEW YARN STORE!!!
I FOUND A NEW YARN STORE!!!!!!

It is in Corrales, and called the Lavender Lamb. Here I am in front of the sign:


I am SO excited!!!!! I didn't buy anything, because of a self-imposed yarn diet in an effort to save money for other things we need right now, but, I FOUND A NEW YARN STORE!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, the lamb on the sign is knitting with yarn coming off of her own leg. That's funny!!

The best part is, the owner and employees are SO NICE!!! Super friendly, and helpful. I need to get my Stitch 'n Bitch homies together for a field trip one of these Saturdays. The yarn selection is kind of small, but it is a nice shop and carries a good variety, and a good range of prices! Lots of patterns, needles and notions, and books too. It reminds me a lot of the Edelweiss Needlework Chalet in Pagosa Springs that I love so much.

Did I mention that the people at this store are actually NICE????? Unlike the other LYS in town, which shall remain unnamed, where they act like you are supposed to feel honored to shop there because they are THE LYS in town. Ahem. NOT ANYMORE!!!! I am more than happy to shop locally for such a friendly business. Did I mention how nice everyone there is?

The Lavender Lamb is only 2 years old. I love it.

Today we played hookey (well, I did, Justin is on spring break). We started with a drive through the valley and stopped at the Casa Rodena Winery tasting room. What a beautiful place! I would love to go back when the grounds are in bloom. We spent the day in Corrales window shopping, eating, molesting yarn (that was mostly me), and hanging out in a part of town, well, a separate village, really, that we rarely drive through, much less stop in. We ended the day with a hike out in the Petroglyph National Monument.

Hiking with my purse. How suburban.

Justin looking more prepared for the experience than I.

This one technically isn't a petroglyph, but I like it:



I love that we live in a city that is literally right next to such awesome outdoors activities and beautiful hiking.


In other news, I just turned the heel on my new sock last night. I love this yarn!


Ginger had to go to the vet yesterday. She has an infection on her lip, so I had to leave her there in case they had to put her under in order to drain the nasty thing on her lip. I picked her up on my way to a job site meeting, and she was hiding under the towel in her kennel and all you could see was her tail. She is usually really social and happy to be anywhere, but I don't think she was too happy at the vet's yesterday. She is chomping her little antibiotic pills right down, though, so that is good.

I have been waiting FOREVER to post this!!!

My dear friend had her second baby girl recently, and I knit this for her:


It's a pinwheel baby blanket. I knit it in Cotton Tots, and added a picot bind-off to the pattern. A close-up of the bind-off:



I think Cotton Tots is my new favorite, second to Patons Merino. CT is super-soft, and truly machine washable AND dryable, which I did not find was the case with most cottons from the LYS. Plus, they all cost a buttload, and homie don't play that. They actually sell Cotton Tots at the LYS, but for a ton more than at Michael's. Yeah, I know, I don't need the "shop locally" lecture. They are so mean and unhelpful at the LYS here, I'd rather give my money to Michael's anyday. I won't shop locally if it means keeping businesses with bad customer service alive.

In other news, I am taking tomorrow off of work to spend the day with my hubbie, as it is his spring break. I have a ton of personal leave saved up, and have been working my arse off, @ work and studying for the ARE, with no break. So, it's about time for a mini-vacation. We spent the evening searching the MLS. Man! Houses are getting cheap here! And in good areas, too! SO exciting! We're saving up for a down payment, but I think the dream may become a reality sooner than we think!

You knit WTF?

I saw this story on the Drudge Report today. Wow. That is so messed up. Knitting with dog fur? I don't even want to know what the sweater smells like when these old people work up a sweat.

When we were on our honeymoon last summer, I stopped in a little yarn shop in Colorado one morning. The owner also ran a dog grooming business out of the old house, and she was grooming some big fluffy dog when I came in to browse around. I joked that she could harvest her wool in one business and sell it in the other. Her eyes lit up, and she pointed with her brush to a fluffy white knitted hat, and said, "See that hat over there? It's Samoyed! I got it from my dog!". I thought knitting with dog fur was limited to one eccentric old lady in rural Colorado, but apparently, I was wrong.

Stashbusting

In an effort to save some dough, I am doing some knitting from my stash. I typically don't stock up on yarn without a project in mind, but this sock yarn was on sale a few years ago online ($4.50 a ball!!!!), but it had not yet decided what it wanted to be until recently.


The pattern is Crossover Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. It is hard to find interesting patterns for such a variegated yarn that doesn't really have stripey repeats.

In other news, Hugo is recovering from us having people over last night. He had a hard time. He was really crabby, but he refused to leave the room, like he wanted to hang out, but doesn't yet know how to not freak out.


And a funny picture of Ginger. This is how she spends most of her time - flopped out in whatever sunny patch she can find.

Saturday Night's Alright for Knitting

I FINALLY finished the socks in Tofutsies that I started many moons ago. I finished them up last night while we were watching The Searchers, a great movie. I love old westerns, and I especially love that there are so many you can watch on-demand from Netflix. And what I love most is that I have such a nerdy husband that he hooked our boob tube up to a computer and we can watch the movies in our living room and not in office chairs around the monitor in his office. He's my modern caveman.

Back to the socks. I was a little wary, as the yarn did not knit up incredibly soft, but after a trip through the washer and dryer, they are nice and soft. I will never buy sock yarn that can't be thrown in the washing machine. These socks are definitely not as warm as wool ones, these are for warmer days.




Ginger needed to inspect them. They do meet her exacting standards. Despite the gusset on one being longer than the other. Which doesn't bother me like different lengths of the cuff would. And apparently doesn't bother her either.




And then she needed to inspect the camera. Good thing we have her to keep an eye on things.



In other news, I HATE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!!!!!!!! HATE it! It is the stupidest, most antiquated idea, and I have yet to see any hard, scientific proof that in the sunlight-drenched state of New Mexico, it actually saves any energy. If someone can show me proof, I will eat my words. Except for the vowels. Arizona knows what's up. They don't change their clocks twice a year like us idiots next door. I hate losing an hour of my day every spring. And no, gaining an hour in the fall does not make up for it, especially considering I spent my extra hour this past year waiting on the side of the road for a tow truck to come pick us up and didn't get home that night until 1:00 AM. Grr.

What's next on the needles? Well, I still have that giant piece of stockinette to finish up that will soon become a shibori felted pillow cover, but that is really boring knitting. So, I am starting another pair of socks, this time in Regia bamboo. I'm excited to do more summer knitting, and I need to knit from my stash to save some money, so more socks it is!

Knitting Update and Christmas Flashback

I have been working on the Tofutsies socks I started a hundred years ago. I was to the toe of the second one, when I realized the first one was a good half-inch shorter than the second. Duh. I have a lot of this yarn left (had I known how much I would have made the first sock significantly longer!), and I want longer cuffs, so.... I FROGGED THE FIRST SOCK back up to the cuff. The girls at Stitch 'n Bitch thought I was insane, but they were also understanding. I am now already down the gusset on the sock, and it won't drive me crazy to have one sock shorter than the other.


Unloading the pictures of the socks from my camera, I realized I had a bunch of pictures on it I had yet to unload. So, here is a Christmas Flashback for this Sunday of crappy weather (what happened?).

Here is the hubbie and I in Old Town on Christmas Eve. The lights look like that because of the camera's night setting. It looks way more exciting than it actually was. I did knit that hat and scarf! The scarf is the Irish Hiking Scarf from Hello Yarn, and the hat is the same pattern, I just interpreted it and sized it for my head, with a long brim of ribbing to fold up.



I made my first Christmas Turkey ever, this past year, for our first Christmas as a married couple. It was easy, actually, and tasted damn good.


Hugo is still in love with his cigar, and likes to take it up on the condo and roll around:


Ginger, the little heliotrope that she is, has really enjoyed all the fires we have made this season:



She does rotate when one side gets too hot. I guess there are some wonderful things about winter, but damn, I still have spring fever!

Four things

Today the weather is BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am so glad I got out for a run AND a bike ride. I can't sit still when it is so awesome out.

I finished the knitting project I have been working on, but am waiting to post it after the recipient has, well, received it. I am totally fried after studying for the AREs (Architectural Registration Exams) for the past 3.5 hours with a friend of mine, so I am going to post this meme that Nichole has posted on her blog.

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Knife Salesperson
2. Coffee jockey
3. Muralist
4. Intern Architect

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
2. The Ten Commandments
3. The Wizard of Oz
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Four places I have lived:
1. Espanola, NM
2. Santa Fe, NM
4. Albuquerque, NM
5. San Francisco, CA

Four T.V. shows that I watch:
1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Heroes (before it got all fruity)
3. Trashy daytime TV when I am home sick
4. Honest to God, I don't watch much TV

Four places that I have been:
1. India
2. France
3. The UK
4. Germany

4 People who e-mail me:
1. Justin
2. Dad
3. Jodi
4. Many many other friends whom I would love to list here and don't want to leave out!

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Sushi
2. Spaghetti alla pomodoro at Vivace
3. Creme brulee
4. Enchiladas

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In the middle of summer
2. On vacation
3. Out on a patio
4. Drinking a really good margarita

Things I am looking forward to this year (2008):
1. Our first wedding anniversary
2. Conquering the ARE
3. Vacationing this summer
4. Dyeing my own yarn and designing more knitting patterns