Yarn Along & Schools
From small things:
Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?
Project I worked on this past week: Autumn.
Book just finished: Magnet Schools brochures
Currently reading: Daddy’s Little Girl
Currently listening: Narnia – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
I’m slowly knitting the hat. But I have a lot of knitting time coming up soon so I’m excited to get knitting more. And I decided that I need to frog anything that I haven’t finished by now. Especially if the item was for the Little Lady. I’m sure it won’t fit by now.
I still haven’t finish reading the first book of Narnia. I haven’t have a lot of time to just sit, knit and listen, so it is on the back burner. In the mean time, I listed a bunch of my books on paperbackswap.com . I decided before Christmas that I no longer need them, since I can easily borrow them from the library. I do have a few books that remains on my bookshelf. They either have the autographs to me or I especially like the books, such as my collection of Harry Potter series, Narnia series, Lord of the Rings series, along with a few books from my favorite authors. When I listed the books, I realized that some of them I bought when I was collecting the author, but never read! So I decided to pick one up to read it while someone haven’t requested it. ”Daddy’s Little Girl” by Mary Higgins Clark is very captivating. I had a hard time putting it down the first night I started reading. But now that I’m back to work, it’s a little tough to read a whole chapter before my eyes get tired. I’m hoping to finish it before Saturday though.
So, the Little Lady being 2 years and 2 months old, you would think that you still have time to think about schools, right? WRONG. Tonight, we went to the magnet schools fair, which you can see from the picture the massive amount of information we had to sort through tonight as open houses are coming real soon! One of them is this Saturday! And the application deadline is Feb. 17!!!!!
HOLY CRAP!
Sometimes, I wish my Little Lady stays little.
Resolutions… or not.
Looking back through my posts, it looked like I had reviewed my accomplishments each year, with the exception of 2011. I’m not sure why I didn’t, except that I was busy.
So this year, I’m debating if I should make resolutions or not. With starting of grad school and trying to figure out if The Little Lady is old enough to go to the magnet school so we don’t have to shell out close to $300/week for day care, I’m not sure I would be able to follow through any resolutions!
I did join a spinning and stash down group. I used the handy dandy export to excel function on Ravelry and calculated that I currently have 89 miles of yarn! HOLY CRAP! Although after checking out the forum, I guess I wasn’t that bad! 
SO I guess I do have “some” resolutions, at least goals to meet the stash down groups -
- spin 12 lbs of fiber in 12 months – I’m not even sure if I have that much fiber, but I figure I can at least spin up most of my fiber so I can get some more when MDS&W and NYS&W comes along.
- Have a negative yardage at the end of the year – this means that the total yarn spun up or knit up has to be more than the amount I purchased for the year. The idea is to encourage to use your stash more, but still lets you buy stuff, as oppose of the yarn diet, which is not buy any at all. I find the idea more appealing and better fit my overall goal, then completely cold turkey, which I believe I would no doubt fail.
While I’m not making any resolutions, I have some general goals that I would like to accomplish -
- Keep the house semi-orderly. David and I both had a couple of weeks off and we worked hard to clean up our house. The Little Lady’s room is completely reorganized and cleaned to the best of our ability. So are the living, the kitchen, the craft room and the dining room. We are going to get a few more organizational items for our bedroom and clean up the basement, but both requires some funds that we just can’t spare right now.
- Eat more veggies. We went grocery shopping today, and I bought a few veggies for myself to take for lunch. Of course, this was inspired from this picture I found on Pinterest. I didn’t get all the veggies shown in the picture, but I did cut up whatever I can and put them away, so it will be easy to assemble for lunch. I even cooked up some hard boiled eggs to have for breakfast and lunch!
- Get rid of cable – you already know that one. I won’t get into it again.
I think I’ll end it right here. I can’t think of anything else at the moment worth mentioning. So what are YOUR goals/resolutions… or not?
Welcome 2012!
It is very hard to believe that 2011 has gone by in a flash! I know that this past year has been really crazy and my blogging has suffered. And the jury is still out on how I will do for the new year.
I rang in the New Year by hosting a fast-pace swap online with my Ravelry friends and watched the ball drop on TV. It was quiet, but not, at the same time! When people learned that my birthday is on New Year’s Eve, they often made remarks like, oh you must have great parties! Truth be told, I’ve only really truly went out and celebrated once. And it wasn’t when I turned 21. The other time – for as long as I could remember, I’ve always celebrated at home, watch tv, and sitting in front of the computer/tv alone.
And honestly, I am ok with that.
It was fun going out, don’t get me wrong, but I think I like the solitude. The whole house is quiet, and just me, the computer and the TV. I get to do whatever the heck I want!
So here is a toast to you -
May 2012 be a happy, healthy, safe and peaceful year to you all.
Happy New Year!
Happy 30… + 2.
Oreo Ice Cream Cake!
Yarn Along
From small things:
Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?
Project I worked on this past week: Oatmeal, Star Trek Shirty and Autumn.
Book just finished: Things I learned from Knitting and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Currently listening: Narnia – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
I have been inspired by my fellow knitters, and after a little encouragement, I decided to join in on the small thing bandwagon. You already know my rant on Comcast (which I have yet to call to discontinue it), and the fact that I can’t really read and knit at the same time as well as others that I know, so I decided that I need to listen to more audiobooks. Being the cheap ass frugal person that I am, I decided to look up free audiobooks online, since I wasn’t able to get to the library the day I wanted to start. I found this site with some really great books! Did you know F. Scott Fitgerald wrote The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? I’ve never watched the movie, but the story was really interesting and it was a very quick listen! Since it was so quick, I’ve decided to start listening to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I’ve seen the movie for this book, and also Prince Caspian. I do want to see the third movie, but I’m debating if I should listen to the book first then go see the movie.
On another note, I went into work today to cover. It was super quiet, so quiet I almost considered pulling out my knitting! But I didn’t. I’m off until next Tuesday, so I’m really looking forward to the next few days until the new year. I’ll be super busy the next few days – cleaning, knitting with the girls, have a party with my knitting girls, and hosting a swap on Rav and enjoying my birthday! New Year will be here before you know it!
So what are you doing to celebrate the arrival of 2012?
Christmas 2011
Merry Christmas! Dudes and Dudettes!
We had an awesome Christmas at la casa jennsquared. Although it didn’t go without its challenge. I had planned on having ham for dinner, but our freezer was full from a recent grocery sale, so the turkey was moved to the fridge. Well, on Christmas eve afternoon, I got everything ready to brine the bird, well, it was still frozen. I felt defeated. Really.
Earlier of the day, I had commented to David that the amount of things we want to do (mostly household related stuff that we couldn’t really do regularly, or just didn’t have time to do), vs. the time we actually have do not correlate! Both David and I were off since last Wednesday afternoon, and we will continue to have this week off*, however, we’ve only combated 3 things from the list! How many items are on the list? you ask. Well, let me go check… 31! Yes, you read that right! Although there are a few things that are David specific, such as striping the parts car for, well, parts.
So as you can see, I was feeling rather defeated when I realized the turkey wasn’t defrosted. I sat on the couch and goofed around on the internet to blow off steam, and while on Ravelry, a few of the ladies in one of the forum had mention making cinnamon rolls. Homemade cinnamon rolls. Hmm… My brain started reeling and after a few minutes, I declared that instead of a dinner, we will have Christmas brunch! David was fine with whatever I decided, so I got my lazy self up at 8:30pm and start the dough – AFTER we had decorated the gingerbread for Santa and babysquared had opened her Christmas eve gift – Christmas PJ.
She is still a little young to get the whole Santa thing, but it’s all good. Christmas came and we all got up super early, not because that we are in a hurry of opening presents (although that may change in a couple of year), but babysquared doesn’t sleep past 7am! I got going on the brunch making, and in between, took a break to open presents.
Lots of awesome presents! David and I got Paul and Robin a cookware set, and it came with a knife set. Part of the reason we got it so Paul can return my knife. In return, they got us a Samsung Smart Hub, just so we can give them back the PS3. When we saw each other’s gifts, we all laughed out loud on our thinking.
All funnies aside, with the smart hub along with our netflix subscription, we may just be able to get rid of Comcast all together! Currently we only have the basic cable for $18. It had all the basics we want, which is USA, Foodnetwork, HGTV, Comedy Central and ESPN. Well, that ended about a month ago when slowly all channels going to digital. We ordered the free digital box, and still no Foodnetwork and HGTV. On top of that, no more USA, ESPN and Comedy Central! I called Comcast and they told me that because I only have basics, they are not included. I argued that without the free digital box (our tv in the bedroom), I was able to watch USA, ESPN and Comedy Central still, but the one with (our tv in the living room), all the channels are gone! She politely told me that in order for me to get them all back, I have to get extended service, which is one level up. She then transferred me to a sales rep, who then gave me a load of crap, telling me that extended service is not available for my area and the only way to get the channels I wanted, I have to go to Digital Basics, which is $70!!!! Mmm… No? Granted, with the smart hub and netflix, I still won’t be able to watch foodnetwork and HGTV, but I’m willing to sacrifice them to save a boat load of $ and still watch most of the shows I like. Plus, I already lost those two channels now anyways. But I digress. Cable issue isn’t something I can solved in a blog post.
So with all the fun toys, we enjoyed the yummy food and good company, all while watching the Indiana Jones on USA.
Cinnamon Roll, Gluten Free Corn Muffin, Bacon, Eggs with Cheese, Sopapilla Cheesecake, Pumpkin Pull-apart Bread and Hot Cocoa with Peppermint Marshmallow. I didn’t quite follow the Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe linked. The crescent roll I had were garlic butter, not plain, so I had to improvise, since I’m not quite sure how garlic and cinnamon will taste together. Instead, I mixed the cream cheese with a bit of my Maple Sugar Rub from River Rat, and brush the top with melted butter with a sprinkle of sea salt. Oh, and I only have one can of the roll, so used the 8 by 8 dish instead of 9 by 13. When I get the regular plain one the next time, I’m definitely going to try the recipe listed!
So how was your Christmas? What are some of the yumminess you had during your family get together? What are some of the goodies you received?
A Swap Package
In mid-September, I signed up for a Treat-or-Trick swap from one of the Ravelry groups I belong to. Today, I got my super awesome package:
- A bag of strawberry filled marshmallow – YUM!
- A bag of chocolate drizzled marshmallow – Double YUM!
- A box of cappuccino drink mix – How did you know that I don’t like to break out my coffee machine but loves coffee!
- A bag of mix flavor Lindt’s chocolate – Love Lindt’s chocolate!
- Some twix, smarties and sugar stix – My favorites!
- A tube of body cream – perfect size for the purse and perfect for winter!
- 2 bottles of anti-bacterial gel from Bath and Body Works – Always need more anti-bacterial gels with the little one running around
- A bar of sheep soap – baaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh
- A notebook with a small pen – perfect for those notes on the go!
- A package of Sharpie pens – I heart sharpie pens.
- A peppermint candy shaped reusable bag – so cute!
- 2 pairs of KnitPicks Harmony needle tips on size 6 and 7 – Now I can cast on more projects!
- A KnitPicks Emergency Fix keychain – This is so awesome.
- 9 knitting yarn bobbins – I’ve been eyeing them for a long time! Totally perfect for my color work!
- A blue chibi – my daughter broke my chibi two days ago! This cannot come in the better time!
- A row counter – who doesn’t need more!
- A large Niddy Noddy – I’m so excited to try this out!
- A skein of Malabrigo Sock in Stonechat
- A ball of Noro Kureyon in 188 – I am one skein closer to my lizard ridge blanket!
- An few skeins of minis for my beekeeper’s quilt
Two Years Old
The Little Lady officially turned 2 today.
Happy Birthday Babe!
She’s such a cutie pie! Can’t believe she’s two already!
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On Monday, daycare had a little Halloween parade around the building. Originally, she was going to be Jackie O, but somehow she got paint all over the sweater and hat I made, so instead, she was a little tiger.
Cutest tiger. Ever.
Birthday Party
I’m always wondered what you would do for a two year old for his/her birthday. They are not quite old enough to pick their friends to come over, but then they are not as little anymore to just have a party for the mom, you know what I mean?
Well, in the end, I pick the “having a party for mom” side, and invited a few of my friends to come over – knitting/stitching required, but gifts are optional. In the end, due to the super early snowstorm we got and the virus going around, only WifeMomKnitter and Crystal were able to come. Of course, Grandma too! We have so much food left I think I’ll be eating them for the rest of the week!
Look at the pumpkin cupcakes in the back (regular and mini size)! With the maple buttercream!
Little Lady’s new friend!
mmm… food!
Thanks ladies for making the Little Lady’s day.
RHINEBECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AKA New York Sheep & Wool Festival!
I know, that was SOOOOOOOOOOOO last week! But when I got no time to blog, I’ll take what I can get.
CostumeChick, WifeMomKnitter, backstageknits, hedwigbc, lisau99, jessilyn28, nutmegknitter, little nutmeg and I all met up at a commuter lot Friday at noon, and caravan up to the Secret Bat Cave, aka our retreat house. We picked up fakeknitter midway and met Anphoe, Anphoe’s DH and Little V at the our regular stopping point – Harney & Sons Tea Shop. We sampled quite a few tea and I settled on these:
Photos from Harney & Sons website.
I really liked the Chocolate Mint, but I have a lot of mint tea leaves at home, so I decided to blend my own with the Chocolate tea.
When we finally arrive at the secret bat cave, we enjoyed some yummy lagsana (Contributed by WifeMomKintter’s DH), garlic pull apart bread (contributed by fakeknitter), and some really good salad (contributed by lisau99). We sat around and planned out our plan of attack for the next day, and did some knitting/hanging out.
We got up bright and early, but still didn’t beat the crazy traffic going into the fairgrounds. Immediately going into the fairgrounds, we were interviewed by Knit 1, heart 2 podcast for our crazy looking hats! And here is a group shot of everyone:
We ARE missing one hat – Archiknist. She was called away by the yummy goodness of artichoke.
Last year, after CostumeChick finished one of the fat hats, we all decided that we all need to make the same hat, so we can easily find each other. And this was us last year:
Well, SheShoopSheep took some picture of us last year, and guess what!? We ended up in her book: Craft Activism.
We are in the front holding the ravelry sign! And we did again this year as well!
We had a ton of fun, got home exhausted, but had a party of our own – Anphoe’s birthday! We had a Thanksgiving style feast and cupcakes, with blueberry wine and tea! (Big thanks to CostumeChick who coordinate and made dinner for both nights!)
Sunday we said goodbye to hedwigbc (she had to take the train home to Virginia!) and went back to the fairgrounds. Well, you’ll see that the hat in the above was red, but then I had a yellow hat on Sunday:
Photo curtesy of WifeMomKnitter.
I originally was making it for babysquared, even though she didn’t come up this year, and stayed home with daddy and grandma (they had their own fun with the Renaissance’s Fair, but of course, leave it to daddy with no photo evidence!). But while CostumeChick and I were at the Skaska booth to figure out the yarn we need to make our crazy wedding ring shawl, the owner/designer Galina took interest of my hat, and wanted to trade the yarn for it! I didn’t go for it then, since I apparently wasn’t thinking, so I finished the yellow hat Sunday morning in the parking lot while waiting for the fairgrounds to open, so I can barter with Galina A. Khmeleva on her books! (and may I add that I was successful!!!!)
Here is a picture of us in our hats! 
Photo cutesy of WifeMomKnitter. For the hat, I received two signed books by Galina and also a copy of the PieceWork magazine where an article on repairing the Orenburg Lace Shawl. A side note: She is going to have a lace knitting retreat in Colorado and I REALLY want to go! But I don’t think I can do it this coming year due to budget constraint. We’ll see.
Another author I took photo with is Anna Dalvi. I first started following her on her mystic serious mystery shawls on yahoo group. It was super awesome to finally meet her, since I love all of her designs.
I of course had to purchase her new book… Shaping Shawls. And here are my other loot from the weekend:
In addition to the books mentioned, I also bought the Complete Book of Drafting by Madelyn Van der Hoogt, 2.8 oz of purple/green roving (I think it’s BFL) from briar rose fibers, 4 oz of organic cotton roving, 6 skeins of Plymouth Mira Mira (wool and metal!), a skein of four play by Brooks Farm, and 1/2 cone of cobweb weight wool by Jagger (photo shows the whole cone, but CostumeChick and I are splitting that!). I also got babysquared a lamb book that has wheels. That book has already been played quite a few times and babysquared won’t let me take it away from her to photograph.
Oh, one more thing I did on Sunday – I went to the Hansen miniSpinner booth. I have a miniSpinner for almost a year now, but I had yet to figure out how to spin lace weight on it. I had a little chat with Mr. Hansen (Kevin) himself, and in a few minutes, he had me spinning this:
See that blue yarn? yup, that’s a 2-ply lace from me! For comparison, I put a dime underneath, and the pink is JaggerSpun Zypher, the orange is Schaefer Yarn Andrea, and the bottom white is the Jagger cobweb that was in the picture above (in the cone, there were 55,000 yards in that thing!). The trick I learnt was slower speed and lots of twist! I can’t wait to get on my wheel next time. I thinking to spin the purple roving into lace weight since I only have 2.8 oz of it.
I’m sad that the weekend was over so soon, but it only means one thing: Looking forward to Rhinebeck 2012!
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You can see some other photos from WifeMomKnitter, NutmegKnitter, and My Grandmother’s Knitting.
