LOOOOOONG blog post today. Lots of pictures. Better go get a cup of coffee or something Mama, this is not a dial up friendly post. lol Anyway, this weekend Dylan and I did about half of our Christmas shopping. Wanna see a picture of the haul? Of course you do!



I can show this here because the only gifts showing are the ones for Jean and Eric's kids and one of Olivia's presents. Hee hee. They're all in there. And yes, that's a big Buck or Two bag. I'm doing gift baskets this year and that place is good for cheapo gift basket fillers. There'll be some good stuff in there too. No worries.

We got some other stuff that's not Christmas related. Well, three of them are but...



Giving an advent calendar after the first of December sucks. lol We got these for Octavia, Josh, and Jordan.

And then we got the cutest thing for Olivia...

Isn't that adorable?? I love the little ribbon flowers on it.


This is it folded to where I think it would have to be for her to be able to wear it right now. And she'd be swimming in it any other way. Soon though it'll fit. And probably not for very long! lol

Let's see... Oh, knitting. Right. I have a FO for you. (Here's a special pic for you Mom. I'm in it. lol)



I love this hat. It's so comfy. Dylan loved it too. Too bad it's not for either of us. It's a Christmas present for someone.


Here's a pic of the top so you can see the swirly top. That's got to be my favorite part.

Pattern: Cashmere Ribbed Hat
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
Needles: Size 7 circular and dpns

Notes: To account for my gauge of 4 spi (in k2 p2 completely unstretched) I only cast on 80 stitches, which is the womens' medium size according to the pattern. It's super stretchy, though, so it is way bigger than 20 inches around.


MOM! If Dad's in the room DON'T SCROLL DOWN!!! lol




Ahem. Dad's Christmas hat. It's done in an acrylic/alpaca blend, but you'd never know there was acrylic in there. Sooo soft. And freaking warm. Which is why I did this...


A knitted in lining for a couple of inches in case his head should get too warm. I'm a little worried about this one being too small. I wonder if there's a sneaky way for Mom to measure Dad's head. lol

And finally...


Erin's hat. Yes, I know, totally not a hat right now. It might become a shedir. We're still negotiating. It's a worsted-ish fake suede that feels so cool. And at $1 a ball at the dollar store? Can't beat that! lol

Look!

I'm blogging. That's right. Better run outside and see if the sky is falling. lol This is going to be quick since I just don't feel like blogging still (Krystal, however, is a hobag and guilted me into it). Let's see, what's new in my life... Olivia came home last week. She and I spent some quality snuggle time on Saturday, after I got my flu shot. She's already learned that all she needs to do is cry and she has Auntie Angie just where she wants her. Crap! lol I re-read Mistral's Kiss and read A Lick of Frost... Umm... Dylan's birthday was a LOOOONG time ago, but a disagreement with blogger kept me from posting the pictures from it. So here they are, Dylan's cake and the dinner I made him.





And in knitting news... Still chugging along on my flower basket shawl. Here's a picture except... well.... it's the wrong side showing. Oops!



I'm working on socks out of my birthday STR




And finally, the current love of my life (knitting wise. No worries honey!)



Pattern: My own entrelac pattern cobbled together from several things on the internet
Yarn: Patons SWS in natural earth
Needles: Size 9

I dreamt about this scarf. I was in love with it before I even had the yarn. I wear it all the time. I'd wear it indoors if I could. lol There was some confusion about the color but it turns out that after some of the color bled in the soak before I blocked it. Now the red is the color I keep seeing online. Good lord I love this scarf. lol Ok I'll shut up about it now.

I'm toying with another lace idea but I can't show you because it's for a gift for someone who reads this blog. And I'm working on a scarf for Krystal for Christmas as part of her "Christma-birthday" package. lol There, I blogged. Now I'm done.

Jesus in a Mango!

Ha ha Krystal, I used it before you did... If you're not in on this particular little joke just... nevermind me. Really. I'm... I'm just not right. *grin* Moving on...

This post today is actually about Krystal. I was looking back through my blog archive and I found this post and and it got me thinking. I'm insanely proud of Krystal. She's doing things that I couldn't have done when I'd been knitting as long as she has. I think she's actually pretty much caught up to me in knitting skill. I'd still beat her in a knitting race, but she's starting to catch up to me on that one too. Which I think is pretty freaking awesome. Sometimes we get a little competitive (possibly why she caught up to me in skill so fast? lol) but that's all part of the fun. Plus I love her like the sister I never had and always wanted so it's great that she and I are into the same thing now. Well, that and Hanson. But we're not going there because then I'd have to tell you how jealous I am of the fact that she's going to a Hanson concert very very soon. Anyway, enough with the mush. I'm gonna go read a book and eat mac and cheese. lol

A is for....

So I'm stealing a blog idea from PoMo Golightly, whose blog I found through Yarn-A-Go-Go, since I've been a little light on the blog content lately. In an attempt at posting every day or nearly every day...

A is for

Angora. Softest fiber I've ever touched. Also the most expensive. $15 a ball at my lys and it's a small ball

Autumn. My favorite season. Absolute favorite. Seriously. I wish it could be autumn all year long.

Angelina Jolie. Nuff said.

The Ex

Taking inspiration from Stephanie (see her post from the 6th), today's post will be "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" Saskatoon Ex style.

The Good:

-Dog shows. Seriously, those Superdogs were pretty cool. Especially Pot Roast (the "watermelon with legs" or bulldog lol) (To see Pot Roast go to the page I linked to and look at the third dog down)

-Petting zoos. Got to touch a sheep and an alpaca. Yeah baby.

-Funnel cakes

-Bus drivers with cool Aussie accents (see the bus thing under "The Bad")



The Bad:

-The crowds once the sun went down. Good Lord.

-My aching feet

-Free Ex shuttle buses that were packed so full of people that they were standing in the aisles

-Getting to the Confederation bus terminal and finding out there is ONE bus left to catch (Scary!)

-Being so tired that I can't even bring myself to get up out of this chair to go to the bathroom and make myself something to eat lol


The Ugly

-People who smoke in public places. Really. Just because you want to coat your lungs in tar doesn't mean you have to come sit down beside me on a public bench and light one up. And you got smoke on my yarn. It's rude.

-Rude carnies.

-Heavy backpacks that make it so even wearing a BRA hurts the next day

The things that happen at this place after midnight....

May I present....


Thumb-ledor. Yes, that's Dylan's thumb. Yes, that's a wilton cake tip and half a coupler. Yes, he came up with that on his own. Man I love my husband. lol

Huge... Massive... PHOTOBLOG!!

Birthday post!! Yay! First up, the wooly goodness Krystal bought me


It's "Fire on the Mountain" Socks that Rock lightweight by Blue Moon Fiber arts.

Next, what Mom bought me...


New jeans, folded up so that the entire internet can't tell how much junk is in my trunk. *cracks up*

Now the rest of my birthday goodies...

The straightening iron and pretty ribbon that came with it that Krystal bought me. Oh and the bumper sticker that came with my yarn. Then there's the perfume oil (???) Dylan's Mum bought me, as well as the pretty lacy pink box and the Harry Potter dvd. And then the cute duckie soaps Dylan got me (he bought me other things but I didn't take any pictures. This includes this cd. I'm missing the three bonus songs. I'm pissed.)


Next, I have birthday party pictures for you. We went over to Jean and Eric's house on the 21st. We brought booze and cake. More about the booze later. lol

First, this is Octavia wearing the princess hat and wings we got her for her birthday.


And this is Jean's stepson Josh. This was the first time we met Josh and Jordan and I loved both of them immediately. Josh posed for the camera all nice, but I had to chase Jordan down.





Jordan thought hiding under the bed would keep me from taking her picture. *evil laugh* Nothing will stop me from taking pictures... Oh God, I've been around Dylan's family too much. I've become just as snap happy as they are!

The kids played in the pool while we all sat around and talked around the bbq.



And then a big kid decided to play with the hose


Here's one of Dylan eating with the kids.


And then after the cake... then came the booze...



I can't remember exactly what she was saying (I'd had 2 or 3 by then and I was feeling WAY too good lol) but I know it was hilarious. Probably made more hilarious by how very near wasted I was. lol

And here's one to show how wasted Jean was...


Good times... And here's one more kokanee endorsement photo for you. lol


Oh, wait, here's a photo of my Mystery Stole 3 stole...


Do you see the dragon too? Dylan saw it before I did. I... well, I thought it was a goat. lol

Bleh....

I'm sick. I'm so sick. Viral gastroenteritis. Or "the stomach FUCKING flu". I'm so sick that other bacteria and viruses look at me and say "Whoa, leave that lady alone dude. That's one scary virus. There'll be nothing left for us!" Bleh...

Happy Tuesday!

Hello! I don't know what to blog about today. I mean, I have some pictures to show you, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what to say. I guess I'd better explain the picture that's only being shown in a link....
Saturday night I was in the shower and I fell. Here's a picture of what resulted. Yes I'm ok. I hit my head in three places and I was hurting all over but I still managed to finish my shower. lol It doesn't even hurt that much today, but damn I was not pleased. I'm so glad we got a new mat for in the tub. I don't wanna repeat that one. (As a hint to it's size let's just say it's EXACTLY the same size as the top of my shaving cream can. Imagine that.)

I've been spinning lately. It's organically raised shetland wool from a farm here in Saskatchewan. This stuff is incredible. Here's a (blurry) picture:


That's the thickness I'm getting with my white trash drop spindle. (It's still thick-and-thin but I think I'm getting more consistent. Except when I'm on the phone with Krystal. lol) I forgot to take a picture of the spindle, I'll have to do that next time. I made it myself because my spindle is too heavy and I couldn't get a lighter one at my LYS.

And here is one sock of two for Dad for a (belated) Father's Day present.

My dad is a hard guy to shop for, so I hope he likes these socks. They're for him to wear when he goes hunting to keep his feet toasty warm, even when he gets his feet wet. Yes that's the top of a trash can. I had to take the picture in the backyard because it was too dark in the house and that was the only flat surface I had available. lol

Pattern: My own, a modified version of Stephanie's basic sock
Yarn: Phildar Preface in "Flanelle"
Needles: "Unique" US size 1's

If I were going to do these again I'd... what the hell am I saying? I'm probably not going to do these again. I was insane to think I could handle this much 2x2 rib. I'm an inch into the second sock and I'm dying. lol But I love my dad and I want him to have warm feet. And when you're a knitter, storebought socks just don't say "I love you and I miss you cause I'm far far away" like handknit (stitch by torturous stitch...) ones do.

Hair!!

Ok, quick blog cause I've gotta be out the door in literally 12 minutes....

New haricut. It's not right cause my hair is misbehaving today, but there it is.

Guilt Trip

Alright, alright Krystal. Knitting content. Ready for it??


More socks. Yeah. I know. These ones don't even have a pattern. Just... you know, basic socks. Stephanie's pattern. For Dylan. Blah blah blah.

What I'm spinning:


What I'm reading:



Bonus Mother's Day content:




Mum and her flowers.

No knitting today...

I'm knitting things, but I don't have pictures of them because 1)Dylan's sweater is a big rectangle of black knitted not interesting-ness 2) The thing I'm making for Krystal is a suprise, so I'm not showing it. I mean, she knows about it but she doesn't get to see it and 3) I feel too lazy to take a picture of my sws hat that is also a rectangle of not interesting-ness. I seem to be knitting lots of rectangles of not interesting-ness. I think I may nickname Dylan's sweater "The Rectangle of not interesting-ness of Doom!" 10 inches down, 5 to go before anything interesting happens. I'll blog then. Maybe.

On Sunday I made cookies:



Dylan's skully guy

Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies

2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of peanut butter

Mix all together, bake at 350 until the edges are firm but the centers are still squishy
Paint on faces with melted chocolate and a toothpick
Eat

And on Saturday I planted sweet peas (the flowers, not the veggies) so I'm starting something I'm calling "Sweet Pea Watch"

Sweet Peas Week One:



Obviously they haven't come up yet. lol


And just in case you're curious....


The front of the house. The row of bricks there is where I'm thinking of planting more flowers.


The neighborhood, also in case you wondered.

And finally...

The cookies in the teddy bear cookie jar we kept the cookies in.

Go Out With Me

So today's Dylan's day off and you're going to come with us downtown. Just down the block from the blood draw place they're tearing down an old movie theater. Kinda makes me sad because that's such a waste of resources. Rumor is it's going to be a Marriott hotel. Keep your fingers crossed, maybe Dylan and I will be able to take the associate rate and get a night out at a hotel once in awhile.

Ok, now we're going to walk to the police station to get my background check started... Look, Pic Man Tattoo! Let's stop and get a tattoo...
Or not. No money for tattoos right now. Maybe next time ;) Just down the street is something that always makes me think of Dad.
Here's the downtown library. I love to go here but I always come home from there with entirely too many books. Good thing I take the bus now. Walking home from the library was pure hell. The police station is just across the street from here.
Ok, we're all done, now we need to get this to the post office. Look, there go my immigration papers. My heart is all poundy. lol

Well, we went shopping at Preston Crossing Mall, but we were having so much fun we didn't take any pictures (besides, Walmart, Michael's, and Futureshop aren't blogworthy). There's the bus as it pulls away.
I need to stop in here for some bread.


Look, the Stokes seed catalogue came while we were gone.
Come see me tomorrow when we walk to the library and I show you around my neighborhood. :)

(P.S. Here's an "in action" pic of Dylan's socks...)