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20091209

Sorry For the Radio Silence

I'm sorry for the silence on the blog front, folks. Turns out that my son is having some health issues including.

WOAH!  Bison!


I've got to take care of that sweet little face first. I am blogging a bit over at Helen's food blog if you want to read some of my writing. I hope to post more before her Australia/Japan trip is over, but my son is, apparently, really anti-blogging.

20091127

Felting!

I have finally, finally finished a long-promised pair of slippers for bda, and learned to felt in the process! One of my knitters, upon hearing that I had pay machines in the building, advised that this was a project I probably wanted to do at my parents' house. So, I brought my supplies with me, and got to knitting once I put the turkey in the oven. And not a moment too soon...

leftover yarn

Good thing bda's feet aren't a size or two bigger! But I finished them, stitched them up, then had him try them on for size.

slippers, pre-felting

I thought about just stopping there, so he would have room to grow into them, but the felting bug got the better of me.

I'm glad I took Amy's advice and felted at the house. It ended up taking nearly 30 minutes in the hot water for the slippers to get their felt on, and I reset the washer's agitation cycle twice.

Post-felting, I stuck a pair of shoes in there to block them, then had people try them on for size.

I don't think these are my size.

They weren't quite the right size for Patrick, but they were a pretty close fit for bda.

majestic slippers

Overall, the felting process was pretty easy, and went pretty smoothly. I ended up turning the slippers inside out, because I thought the shape was a little smoother, and the felt a little less fuzzy. I see some errors in the shape caused by errors in the execution (I started the decreases on one side too soon, so there's a bulge at the top of one of them.) But bda seems pleased enough with his new foot covers, so we'll call this a successfully completed project!

slippers!

20091125

Actual Conversation Overheard

FLIP FLIP

At the Oxford Valley Mall, there is a play center which is great for toddlers and young ones. It's basically a tiny little area for parents to relax for a small bit. Today, we went in, and Nathan ran for a group of children. Two of the girls (one approximately 9 and the other approximately 7) in the group immediately ran towards him and started talking about how cute he was and they tickled him and petted his cheeks. One of the other boys, much younger, also started to tickle Nathan. Nathan laughed and laughed at everything that happened. The following conversation ensued.

9 year old girl: "What's his name?"
Me: "His name is Nathan."
9 year old girl: "Nathan, would you like to be my little brother?"
A little 4 year old boy: "I'm your little brother!"
9 year old girl (in a very irritated voice): "I know. Nathan, do you want to be my little brother?"

This girl followed Nathan the entire time she was there, helping him into and out of various cars and rocket ships. She would help him climb the slide stairs and then help him slide down. She would point out things and talk to him about them. Nathan responded by running and screaming like normal. Finally, her brother, angry about the whole situation, followed her around, trying to get her attention. He resorted to kicking her after she had slid down the slide herself. Which led to their mom coming over and saying, "If you're going to be jealous over a baby, we're leaving!"

The little girl pouted and asked Nathan for hugs goodbye. He would not humor her, but gave her a few farewell waves. After that little girl left, another three year old came in and promptly started to try to follow Nathan around. At one point, she was in a rocket ship and telling Nathan, "Come 'ere! Come 'ere!" He promptly ignored her too.

The ladies! They don't hold Nathan down. Not even the ones who dance with him at weddings.

20091124

Autumnal Anklets

Anklets

So, I've been wanting to post about these damned anklets for about a month or more now! I've been holding off to allow me time to go outside to photograph them against the beautiful backdrop of autumn leaves. Dudes, if I held off photographing them any longer, you were not going to see them until 2010 or later. So, tonight, I snapped snapped snapped some photos and came back to my computer and promptly uploaded them.

I knit these suckers using size zero needles. It was my first time knitting non-baby socks on such tiny needles and I found it to be slow going, but I ended up loving the look of the tiny knit stitches so much, I might be a size zero needle convert. The evenness of my stitches. The perfection of my stitches! It was amazing. If only I liked this colorway or yarn more. I ended up not loving Schaefer Anne yarn, sadly. I find it slightly scratchy while knitting and slightly fuzzy once knit up. You can see the halo of the yarn a little better in this picture.

Anklets


I'm quite happy that my remaining untouched sock yarns are all semi-solids as I've been unhappy with my variegated yarns recently. I will say this for Schaefer Anne yarn -- it goes through a washer and dryer beautifully. While sick, I decided to toss them into my wash to see what happened. They bled hideously and I now have a slightly pink (previously light blue) tee, but they held their shape perfectly and are now soft enough for wearing around the home comfortably. They are also one of the few sock yarns I've worked with that make gorgeously thin socks that fit perfectly into my shoes.

Anklets


As for the fact that they are anklets, as are most of the socks on my site? I have a horrible confession to make for a sock knitter. I hate socks. I only wear anklets at all (machine made or hand knit) and I mostly only wear them into bed. The anklet size allows me to kick them off once I get warm and sleepy enough. If you're wondering why I hate socks, it's all about constriction. I hate clothes that make me feel constricted. I also dislike tight clothing, shoes with backs, and turtlenecks. Dear God above, I really hate turtlenecks.

Saying all this, I'm still tempted to work some Cookie A socks next with my semi-solid yarn. That is, I'm tempted to do so if I ever get my scarf done. Chances of that? Slim to none.

Love you all and I hope to post soon. I am actually crafting once again!

Halloween 2009 -- The Yoda Year

I keep thinking to myself that I should write a post about Halloween this year before I forget what it was like, and I've finally decided to do it before the end of November since I was supposed to write fifty thousand words this month anyway!

This year, about one week prior to Halloween, we decided on the costume of Yoda for Nathan. I really held off on buying a costume this year, but, luckily for Nathan, it didn't hurt his Halloween enjoyment. I also bought him a little plastic pumpkin even though I believed we'd only go to one house to trick or treat since Nathan is still so small!

After Paul got home, we quickly got his dressed in his costume and we gathered all of our bags of candy and stuck the candy in the car. We also put a few of his Thomas the Tank Engine trains in his pumpkin to ensure that he would not drop the plastic pumpkin. Nathan went next door to our neighbors, Walt and Dot, and he successfully completed a trick or treat, though he was awfully shy about the whole thing and unappreciative of his Jedi sleeves.

Happiness Is Loot


To help him like the whole thing a lot more, we went back to their porch, sat down for a short bit (since it was still about four in the afternoon), and let him eat his treated goodies.

First Treat!


I later heard from Dot that her husband, Walt, told all the visiting parents about Nathan. They treat Nathaniel, as they call him, like an honorary grandchild. I should make them some baked goods for being sweet to him! I like people who like Nathan. After this, we packed the little man into the car and drove to his actual grandparents (ie, Paul's parents) for more tricking and treating. Nathan had kind of grabbed the idea of what was going on by now and was more confident in his tricking and treating.

Pumpkin Bucket and Costume, Check!


After a quick visit, we went back to the car to go to my mom's house. There, we took him up and down one street for more tricking and treating. He loved it! He got very excited and quickly realized that if he held out his pumpkin, people would drop items into it which he could then shake. At some houses, people would offer to let him pick up candy and put it in his pumpkin, which he happily did. Sometimes, he'd take a little too much candy and we'd have to put some back, but no one seemed to mind. (Not surprising since I let little toddlers rob me of candy mercilessly on Halloween. If you're a cute toddler dressed like a bumblebee, make sure to hit my house. If you took all of the candy I had, I'd probably just go 'AWWWW'.)

After returning to my mom's home, my mom and I gave out candy to the hordes of children that attacked her house. No lie, we gave out about five bags of candy and we closed out early. By the third bag of candy, Nathan had figured out what was going on with the knocking children, and he started to pick up candy and give it out! I had no idea he knew what was happening until I saw him drop a candy bar into a little girl's treat bag. It was the best. After that, he gave out candy instead of us, which elicited a lot of "How cute!"

After everything was done, we all relaxed with some burgers, and Nathan practiced his Jedi mind tricks on us.

More Obi-Wan Than Yoda Here!


"This is not the baby you're looking for!"

20091110

Finished Object, FINALLY

So, I know it's the usual cool thing to apologize for not writing, but... dudes. For the combined months of September and October, Nathan and I experienced about fifteen colds between us. We were like germ factories, constantly cuddling new colds onto each other. Paul managed to luckily avoid most of the bad, but the last cold I got was the worst. Remember when I was all, "I'll post when I get better"? Yeah, after that I got better for one week, during which I did things like clean our house and get laundry back into normal shape. Then, Nathan got another cold, and I got a killer cold/cough. It was hideous. Yesterday was the first day in roughly two or three weeks in which I don't sound like I just got home from a really smoke filled bar.

But, anyways. I told you I had two finished objects to tell you about, and, guess what?! I didn't take pictures of my anklets yet. That's okay -- they're boring anyway.

Isaac's Blanket (ravel it!)
Pattern: Sweet and Simple in Leisure Arts #3219
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton (?)


Isaac's Blanket

I did get pictures sent to me from my friends Tom and Paula! See, they used to live in Philly and it was awesome and we saw them all the time. Paul and I miss them horribly still, but they have moved on to bigger and better states, apparently. I hope to go visit them soon. Well, approximately early summer of 2007, Paula announced to us that she was pregnant. We, of course, got very excited, and I promised to make a blanket for the wee little one (code name Pom Pom at the time).

Since I did not sew at that time, and my crochet is crap, I decided to knit a blanket I've done once before. I ordered up some beautiful yarn, Rowan something or other, and it was machine washable, and peach. Why peach? I'm really not sure. I think I should have picked green, in retrospect, but, since I can't go back in time, let's appreciate its peachly majesty. I got the yarn, started on the blanket, and promptly got pregnant myself.

Unfortunately, my pregnancy was both mostly hidden and nauseating. You know how some women 'glow'? Yeah, not me. I was more of 'tired sick mess'. This left me little time to knit since I was still trying to keep our house perfectly clean and plan our babymoon!

This was a very simple simple pattern. The most complicated part of it was probably the fringe. I enjoyed knitting on it once I felt better, and while it looks pretty and lacy, it can be done (by a non-beginner) knitter in front of the television. It's also very fast, though I believe I did finish it post-baby delivery. I will state, the first time I knit this (half a year into casually knitting) the constant changing number of stitches threw me off so badly that I ended up with a gigantic knotted hole in the blanket, the memory of which embarrasses me to this day!

Isaac's Blanket


Here's the little baby (my Godson!) that got the blanket.

Isaac is Adorable


Yeah, he's cute enough to deserve a better blanket! Maybe I'll quilt you one, someday, kid!

Also, hope to talk to you all soon.

20091014

Setting my craft corner in order



When Jenn and I were hanging with Jared Flood, I told him (and everyone else there) that I knit in the winter, not in the summer. And it's not a lie! I even knit and finished something just last week! But I had to finish it in a hurry, so no pic. Sorry. But, if you looked at the state of my ravelry stash, you would be forgiven for calling me a liar.

But knitting or not, I do photograph all year round. So, in my blogtator's honor, I photographed all the hanks of yarn waiting to be knit, and stashed them (ravelry). And saved an extra delightful pic for y'all to open my post.

If you were bored and looking at dead stashes recently, you might also get the impression that I last knit when nubbins ruled the earth. I discovered in this cleanup that you must declare items in your stash all used up! They won't go away on their own by your careful calculations of yarn used to equal 100%! So, now my stash page looks a whole lot more like my yarn basket.



Time to get knitting!

Two Finished Objects... SOON!

I'm sorry for the delay in posting, my small, but incredibly loyal, audience! I am sick with something or other. I generally feel like I've been run over by a very large truck and my remains have been thrown in icy water. The only part of me left whole is my throat which is all screwed up and pained.

Paul's been picking up a lot of the slack around the house with cleaning, and my mom (who can drive me crazy) is a saint when I'm not feeling well. If I told her I needed her here tomorrow morning at seven in the morning, she'd be waiting on my doorstep at six. I will probably go visit her tomorrow.

Unfortunately, between Nathan's odd allergic reaction to a virus (which made him break out into a very very spotty rash all over his whole body) and my need to sleep about 12 hours a day, I've not had time to post and process photos, including photos of my finished objects.

Normally when I'm not posting it's because I have nothing to say. Today? It's because I just want to watch some Glee and get some sleep.

Talk to you later. Also, if any of you have any advice on how to handle a baby that's starting to get opinionated and talk-backy (amazing, considering he can't talk), please let me know. Today, when I told Nathan not to touch the cat stratch toy, he looked at me deliberately, and ran his hands up and down it really fast. I managed not to laugh, but I was at a loss for what to do.

20091007

Nathan And The Shore

So, this post is only about four months too late. I know I should have posted this way earlier, but I think the appropriate phrase here is 'better late than never'. This year we decided to take Nathan to the shore. Ocean City, Maryland, more specifically. It was a fantastic time, even if Nathan wasn't able to walk. While at the shore he made a few pretenses at moving from butt bopping to crawling, but mostly he bopped around on his butt or rode his wheelie bug around the condo (which occasionally led to him falling backwards off of it when he tried to jump over the sliding door grooves).

The first day we were there, we forced him to the sandy beach even though it was slightly chilly. We allowed him to walk with the help of two people and he didn't seem overly fond of the sand or surf.

I'm Sure I Don't Like This

Incoming Waves


If you think he looks grumpy in these photos, you should see his face should you actually put him into the ocean water. We did so on our warmest day there, and he acted like we were inviting sharks to eat him simply because we put his toes in the water.

He wore a hat or sunglasses nearly the entire time we were at the shore, even while in the pool. This thrilled many people at the condo center or on the boardwalk. They'd all ooooh and aaaah at him, especially in the pool. We got several comments to the effect of, "Oh, your baby is the one that wears those cute shades!"

Baby

No Hands


We had great breakfasts, and then we went swimming EVERY morning for at least two hours, and most days Nathan would fall asleep in my arms as I walked around the pool with him. After he fell asleep or close enough, we'd bundle him up in the biggest, driest towel, shower him clean, and give him a bottle pre-nap, and then Paul, Nathan, and I would all nap together for several hours. Those were some of the best mornings of my entire life.

After nap, we'd wake up, have a small snack, and prepare to hit the beach again for kite flying, or go to the boardwalk, or go out for a nice dinner.

Mom and the Kite

The Juggler


We made Nathan go on baby friendly rides such as the Ferris Wheel, which my mom thought would lead to his death, or the puppy ride, or the Merry-Go-Round.

I Told You

Looking Out

Those rides did not thrill him nearly as much as the ice cream we let him sample did. Nathan was pro-ice cream, anti-rides.

It was a good time, and I wish I had blogged it a little more while I was there or right after, because I feel like I've forgotten some of the best moments, such as my mom's attempt to devour all of Ocean City's crab, or Nathan's ewok look, or the way Nathan loved to sit on our balcony and splash himself in the face.

Baby Nathan and Mommy's Hoodie

Nathan

20091005

Nathan At The Park

One of my favorite autumn activities with Nathan is the playground or park. We visited several times in the summer, but he still needed to be carried then since I didn't want him crawling on the dirt, and he enjoyed the swings, but swings would only provide him with a few minutes of happiness before he'd simply look bored. Combine that with the dislike I have of being super sweaty hot and my dislike of grass and dirt, we'd simply go home after a very short visit and our visits were few and far between.

In the last months, things have vastly changed. The weather has cooled remarkably, but is still within the 'nice' range. Paul has started to come home earlier due to a change in work location. Nathan's started walking and climbing around the playground sets.

Now, when he sees a tunnel, he's the first to try and crawl through it.

Nathan Loves Crawling

Or he'll rush up the nearest set of stairs, without looking to see if I'm behind him until he's more than halfway up.

More Stairs

That's given me several heart attacks, I assure you. He enjoys playing on the playground stuff like slides and stairs most, and he's figured out how to slide on his own. ("Sit down near the slide and SCOOT SCOOT!" His dad taught him the scoot and he's mastered it well.)

But, where I enjoy him most is the swings.
Autumn Day At the Park

Ready For Autumnal Fun!


Sometimes when he swings, he laughs every single time he is heading for me. Today, he kicked his feet all over the place when I went to push him because he was laughing hard. I laughed just as hard, which is pretty hard. Both Nathan and I have loud voices and laughs. I'm lucky, though. Now that I got him with me, the rest of the world seems to love to hear us laugh.

Going Around The Playground

20091004

Met Jared Flood And All I Got Was Yarn!

This post goes to out to making Sophy envious! As I had not seen Helen in about a week and a half, I contacted her to make plans to eat and knit and pet kittens. She suggested that we attend Jared Flood's meet and greet at Loop, and, after a quick discussion of feasibility with Paul and Nathan, it was decided.

We were very late getting there, which was all my fault due to a combination of Nathan and traffic, but it turns out that this was for the best. By the time we got there, no one was around! There were about five other knitters there besides Helen and me. We spent several minutes browsing the store and talking about visiting Spool before Helen tried to egg me into meeting Jared on the basis that I was the 'better' knitter. This is a complete lie as Helen has probably knit more than me by now and she's actually knit some of Jared's designs. I hesitated on sitting near Jared and lingered over at the sock yarn area and tried to push her to sit first, but Helen kept going on about buying yarn for another knitting venture.

After a while, the owner of Loop noticed our odd behavior and tried to push us both into sitting at the table. I ended up grabbing some Madelinetosh Tosh Sock to avoid sitting.

Madeline Tosh

I mean, it's super pretty and I love me some semisolid sock yarns (colorway Clover), but at least fifty percent of that sock yarn purchase was bashfulness at meeting people.

See, here's the thing you need to know about me. I hate meeting people. I'm not sociable in person and I have few social skills. I tend to alienate people I've just met by being standoffish or super opinionated or shallow. I make jokes that are offensively cold. A lot of people dislike me upon first meeting me, and I've had this verified by people who have later become my friends!

Knowing all this about myself has made meeting people even worse. I just hate being in group situations with people I don't know. I am always sure that the second I sit down, there's something about my face or voice that makes people dislike me.

I did not want to sit anywhere near Jared Flood or the other knitters or the owner. However, after a few more minutes, I realized I couldn't avoid sitting at the edge of the table, so I did. I talked with a nice guy named Alex about where we both lived. I forgot to tell him that I really liked his t-shirt. Helen joined me shortly after, but I needed to buy my sock yarn then. When I got back, she was in the middle of the table discussing her food blog with everyone. (Helen's a serious Philadelphia food blogger. She's got mad Twitter followers and she meets with all kinds of other food bloggers.) I finally sat down at the table again and started talking with people. No one seemed to hate me, and everyone was interesting, and we stayed until closing. This meant no Spool for me, but I hope to go back down on another Friday.

I did forget to tell Jared Flood (who is kind of a cutie and I'd probably die of embarrassment if he saw that, but he will never see that I said that because no one besides ten people read this blog) that I want to knit Girasole. That would be such an awesome blanket to pull over oneself in the middle of winter, as one lounged in front of a roaring fire with a bagful of hot chestnuts. Don't you love how I create these picturesque scenes in my head?

After all this was done, Helen and I got some Indian pizza (DELISH!) Then, we went to pet the kittens and knit and watch Glee. Are you watching Glee? If not, what is wrong with you? Do you not like fun and music and dancing and joy? Helen also presented me with a belated birthday present. I took it outside and cuddled it today.

Mmmmmalabrigo!

Is that Malabrigo you see before you? Yes, it is three skeins of Merino Worsted in Sapphire Green and it's for Shalom. I do dislike the name of the colorway because sapphires are most commonly blue. Here you can see a real sapphire and the yarn. Are they the same color?
Are my ring and yarn the same color?


I had a fun Friday night, got some great yarn, and tried to blog about my latest pair of knit anklets. Unfortunately, every series of photos I've taken has come out blurry, so that'll have to wait. But, please note that I'm back down to one WIP! So exciting a life!

20090928

First Hair Cut

Earlier this month, I had decided that Nathan's wispy bangs were getting to me and had to go. Unfortunately, and I knew this, his lovely curls were probably going with the bangs. Knowing this, I kept putting off the cut, but finally forced myself to go with Nathan and Paul to the child's salon at the King of Prussia mall. They had a Thomas the Tank Engine¹ area set up, which Nathan flipped about.

Last Time With Cute Curls


Ironically, the slogan of Rollercoaster Cuts is "Haircuts kids will scream for!" This is not an inaccurate slogan. I would go so far as to say that Rollercoaster Cuts uses truth in advertising, and they might like to use this photo underneath that phrase.

Oh No!


Our hairstylist would not let me give Nathan a pacifier, telling me I was coddling him. Nathan did not want to watch the Teletubbies or whatever other crap was playing on the television to entertain him. He did not want to be amused. He did not want his hair cut. He wanted me to take him out of that chair and move him back to Thomas the Tank Engine. I thanked God we had gone at night and no one else was in the place.

Sad Face


After a while, Nathan calmed to merely sobbing hysterically rather than screaming outright. Finally, everything was done, locks of hair were put away, Frank was thanked and tipped, and our boy photographed. Having already gone through anger and depression phases of hair cutting, he finally moved to quiet resigned acceptance.

Sullen Acceptance


He's still ridiculously cute with his haircut, but I miss his sweet little curls so much. This is a bit like when he first got his teeth in for his smile. They were adorable, but I missed his gummy smile. Well, I'll get used to this less curly hair. He still has his chubby cheeks, after all.

Chubby Cheeks


1. Woe betide you if you call him Thomas the Tank or Thomas the Train. Children between the ages of three to six will look upon you as if you were the most stupid individual on the face of Earth. I one time called Percy "the green train" and a little girl of about five said to me, "That's Percy" in the same way I might state "That ball of light in the sky is 'the sun'."

I Love Getting Stuff

I'm a fairly greedy person, in case you are not aware. I love to receive gifts and I love to win prizes. This is why this will be one of my favorite recent posts! It's about things I've both received and won!

Quite recently, I began to follow the blog Knitter in the Kitchen, mostly for her beautiful photography. She's not a frequent blogger, but then... neither am I. I must forgive this fault, or I am simply the pot to her kettle. Really, if you go to her site, you'll see that her photography more than makes up for her infrequent posts. However, I tend to follow craft blogs for their photography. A bit after I subscribed to her feed, she ran a nice post about her craft room that included a giveaway at the very end!

I have recently stopped trying to win giveaways because they are often swamped with comments and I don't want to win something unless I really want it. I couldn't ignore this, however. First was the fact that her sewing area is the most gorgeously coordinated sewing area I've ever seen. I'd weep with joy to sew in her room every day. (Seriously, check her ironing board out. My own ironing board is a mini version with a stained white cloth cover.) Second was the fact that she decorated the room in orange, brown, and white with a lot of linen. I love a color combined with brown and white. If you know me in real life, you'll know that Nathan's room is primarily done in green, brown, and white, and my own bedroom is Tiffany blue, brown, and white. Lastly, she was giving away two Amy Butler patterns and she hadn't advertised the post as a giveaway, meaning it looked like I had a shot in hell of winning. So, I took a chance. AND WON!

I now have my very first Amy Butler pattern and it's sitting on my pattern shelf silently intimidating me.

A Prize


See? There it is, going, "I need interfacing to work, Kitten." I have tried to shush it with the fact that I want to do eighteen hundred other projects first, and I don't have any fabric worthy of it, but it makes chicken sounds at me.

Thank you, Knitter in the Kitchen. I hope I make something gorgeous.

Next up? My birthday presents from Paul's parents. I say parents, but let's get real on who picked out these gifts. Thanks, mom!

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts


What you see there are Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson, a cute circular knitting needle holding case from Della Q, a tiny ladybug tape measure from Lantern Moon, and a gift certificate to Knitting to Know Ewe.

My mother-in-law was super cute when she gave it to me and told me that she was now obsessed with Lantern Moon. A long time lover of their rosewood and ebony needles, I understood where she was coming from. She told me we would have to go together to spend the gift certificate, and I am happy to do so. I love going yarn shopping with people, and I imagine it'll be fun shopping with her for yarn. I would say that we would likely have nothing in common yarn-wise, but I have looked askance at Helen's purple yarn purchases, and Christy has called some of my yarn loves "unicorn puke colored", I believe. Just because you have a lot in common with someone doesn't mean that you'll have similar yarn colorway tastes!

Someone help! My tape measure is attacking me!

Ladybug Tape Measure


I love getting cute tape measures!

How are all my readers doing? I see you all blogging about your crazy knitting, so I assume well. I'm still chugging along myself, and I expect I'll have some anklets to model for you all soon, as well as the start of Shalom. Helen, when do we get together?

20090922

Darlings, I've Missed Sewing. And You.

Let's not speak of the week we were separated, let's talk about our future together. Wait, let's talk about the last week. After all, it affected my blogging. First, Paul had off all week, so we took one of those fancy Staycations! A year and a half ago we did the Babymoon. I love these trendy new terms so much that I must do them. We celebrated my birthday with dinner, a gift, and a cold. (Nathan provided the illness, screaming, general lack of sleep, and bad temper. I provided the cuddles. Paul provided the gift and dinner.) I then spent several nights playing on my new Xbox 360. It's even dragged me off the internet prior to midnight. It was a miracle and it has helped ween me, slightly, off the need to hang on my computer to all hours. Says the girl blogging at one in the morning.

Either way, after several days of devouring Fable II, I came up for air yesterday and decided to start crafting again. I finally cracked down on that make-up bag I've been wanting to make, and I started to actually sew. You can see my awesome sewing area here.

What A Mess


Do you see that fancy zipper? That's nearly as far as I got before I realized I needed Elastic Thread. Damn you, Heather Ross! I've never worked with this stuff before and now I'm all nervous about it. In fact, I think most of the reason I haven't been working on this make-up bag before is that I'm terrified I'm going to screw it up. It looks so complicated. The zipper part of this bag took me roughly an hour. I had to figure out how to use my zipper foot, figure out where to sew on the zipper, figure out how to pin three layers of fabric evenly.

The pattern called for me to pink some of my fabric at one point, so I pulled out my mom-mom's awesome pinking shears. She was born in 1901, I believe, and as you can see, she paid a high price for these shears!

Mom-mom's Pinking Shears


Today, I went to Jo-ann Fabrics to grab the thread I needed, but also to pick up some fabric for a button down shirt for Nathan. It's some awesome train fabric, which I got two yards of. I should have enough to make him both a shirt and some PJ pants.

New Train Fabric


I will now end this horribly written post. I'm clearly too tired to blog.