I'm actually finishing things!

More than just the hat for Todd, I've finished the curtains for my kitchen windows too! They had been languishing for quite some time. I sewed one of them, just a simple, flat curtain, with two fabrics, and the other set was just hemming a cheap Target set.


Not much of anything else, just had to take some time off of biking because of the heat and my adventure with hives. Yeah, allergic to another antibiotic. That's two that I'm allergic to, as well as the one that I might be sensitive to. It's awesome being me.

I was taking pictures of the knitting projects I have in progress and Duke felt the need to help, but first the knits...
1. Bunny Nugget. Another long-standing project. It's been sitting on my desk for months, waiting for me to get some stuffing. Now that I have the stuffing, I'll be putting in the eyes and doing the finishing. It will be a cute addition to a baby gift, maybe with an attached i-cord to tie to attach to a pacifier or some velcro to wrap around the handle of the carrier.


2. Shadow Cable Hat from the Fall 2011 Interweave magazine. I had started the Yarn Harlot Unoriginal Hat pattern, but then I got the new IK in the mail. Frogged it and immediately started this hat. It's going super quick, but I'm not sure about the drape. I'm knitting this bulky yarn on 11s, but I think I'd be better off getting some 13s or 15s out and seeing how that looks. I'm concerned it's going to be too stiff. I've got time to think about it though.


3. Another Monster is soon to be made. I got the yarn today at a new yarn and fabric store in my town(!). It is right by Duke's vets office. I found it when I went by to pick up his special food.  It's a super cute shop, but I'm not sure what it is called. I just saw a hand-lettered sign that said "Fabric & Yarn; Knitting & Quilting" and had to find it.

And here's Duke, investigating my backdrop set-up.

My life is moving forward at an alarming rate.

It’s hard to believe that we’re already past the 4^th of July holiday and are steadily moving towards August. Good thing that despite my lack of posts I have been making progress.

Knitting: I finally finished Todd’s hat!!! Yay!!! I’ll have a Finished Object Post about it this weekend. I’ve cast on for another one of the Yarn Harlot’s Unoriginal Hats, but I haven’t gotten past the cast on yet. It’s been sooooo hot and humid here that I just haven’t wanted to get out the wool. I’ve got other things to work on anyway.

Sewing: I have not touched my sewing machine of late, but that’s going to change in a few minutes. I’m planning tonight to finish the curtain I started, hem the other curtains I bought, and hem the piece of fabric I am using as a backdrop in my knitting photos.Or maybe not. I just realized it's 8:30... crap. Oh well, maybe this weekend.

Photography: I've been messing around with my 60mm Macro lens and have been getting a better understanding of exposure. I'm just the kind of person that can read about it all day long, but it doesn't really make sense until I actually do it several times. I'm thinking that I might anoint a Saturday as "Photography Day" and everything I do try to take a good photo of whatever it is I'm doing... like laundry, yard work, or cycling.

Bicycling: We took this week off due to the excessive heat, we're expecting record temperatures in the Detroit area, potentially over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Blah. Thank goodness for central A/C!!! We will pick back up next week, and maybe have another 50 mile week now that Mr. TEK is done with classes for the semester.

Cooking: Thanks to the heat and our outside project (more about that in the next paragraph) I have been cooking the bare minimum to keep us fed. It's not good by any stretch, and it certainly doesn't help that I'm in a bit of a slump. After about a year of no eggs, no beef, no pork, or no dairy you tend to run out of ideas. I'm totally craving some home made stuffed shells pasta with 4 cheeses and italian sausage. yyyyyuuummmm...

Outside Project: The Patio. The concrete is in, the fence is up, the plants are in place. We still have a small pile of topsoil to disperse around the yard. I am so sick of yard work though! It is certainly worth it, as I love our "Beer Fridays" where we sit on the patio and have a beer and either chat or read or I knit.

I had an awesome thing happen to me last week.... I got a great haircut! I'll write a full post about that too.

(Mr. TEK might not be able to have butter, but Duke doesn't mind having his portion!)

Sunday night already

What a weekend!

Knitting: Finished the knitting on Todd's hat. I wanted to get it done before the weekend so I could spend some time planning my next project and organizing my yarn stash so I could hopefully knit it without buying more yarn. I managed to get organized, but the stash isn't looking good for what I'm planning. I need to finish weaving in the ends on the hat, and then I'll post some ideas for the next project.
Here's the hat:



Here is the inside:



Photography: I'm getting better with the camera, I think, at least for these kinds of still-life shots. I really need some work in post processing, but it's hard to know what to learn when you don't really see what needs to be done. I tried taking a shot for this weeks Digital Photography School contest- the theme is "Independence". I was going to take a photo of my belly. Why my belly? Well, being able to pick and choose my childbearing gives me independence. It did not go well. Thankfully, the camera did not break.

Food: I just don't want to cook when it is so hot out! Must plan something new for next week!

Sewing: um. yeah. nope.

Biking: Now this is where the progress was made. Last week was a 30 mile week. We were just 5 miles short of our goal for the week, but we can make it up this week. We've already got 16 miles for this week, and we need to reach 35. It looks like we will be able to ride 10 miles on Tuesday, 10 on Thursday, and hopefully another 10 on Friday. Saturday we will be busy with yard work, putting up some fencing to give our patio some privacy.

Duke has been quite the jerk lately. I'm not sure if I am concerned or not.

Independence Weekend Wrap-Up

I love a summer long weekend, especially now that our patio has been completed and is set up with seating. We were pretty busy all weekend, but I had some time to do some “me” stuff. Did I work on all the crafting projects I wanted to? No, not really. But the housework was caught-up, yard work too. Here’s my recap:

Friday: 10 mile bike ride at Sterling State Park, then a trip to Lowe’s to see about getting the fencing to provide some privacy to our new outdoor space. We ended the evening with a couple of beers on the patio. (Bell’s Oberon and Paulaner Hefe-weizen)

Saturday: We started early with 15 miles on the bikes, then did a bunch of hard-labor yard work. We needed to fill in around the new cement, and prep the center area for landscaping; using the dirt they had taken out of the area- which was littered with sod, rocks, and plant roots. It was not easy, and we had to take several breaks, lest we get heatstroke. No heatstroke, but I tweaked my lower back. It’s still a little sore, so I’ve been taking it easy. The rest of the day was housework galore, but it got done. That’s all that really matters to me!

Sunday: I had a nice coupon in addition to the mega-sale going on at the Banana Republic Outlet, so I picked up my sister-in-law and we went shopping. The mall is over an hour away from where we live, so it was an all-day shopping trip. We both needed work clothes, so we stocked up at Banana Republic, and then I stocked up some more at the Ann Taylor Outlet Store. It was definitely worth the drive. In the evening I started the Black Forest Cupcakes again for the 4th of July party at my Grandma’s house on Monday.

Monday: Work holidays can’t really be bad, can they? Mine started with a cup of tea and my knitting out on the patio. I got to the point of decreasing on Todd’s hat, however when I looked at it, I didn’t start my decreases soon enough (le sigh). Before I could properly deal with that, there was housework to do, video games to play, and cupcakes to finish, and a party to attend! I had purchased the supplies to make this paper plate tiered dessert plate thingie, but I don’t own a hot glue gun, so I couldn’t make it before the party. But my Grandma has one- so I was able to throw two together with my cousin, Nicole. I did not have the presence of mind to take pictures, but it was super easy and looked super cute, so I’m sure I’ll make more. The party was fun and the cupcakes were delicious.

When I got home, I frogged several inches from the hat, and got the live stitches picked up onto a combination of thread and circular needles. I absolutely intend to finish the hat this weekend.Since I demolished any progress I had made on the hat, I did not take any pictures. That’s something else I have to get better about. I’m working on it though! 


Old photo of Duke "helping" me knit. He's keeping my pattern from floating away!

There's Nothing Like a Long Weekend

It's been a pretty crazy week for me leading into what is going to be a crazy weekend, but good things did happen. We now have a patio on the side of our house! Hooray for outdoor spaces! And just in time for 4th of July.

Unfortunately, due to the pouring of concrete, and the preparations for the great yard work weekend from hell, I did not do much with my hobbies. I'm hoping that despite all of the work that Mr. TEK has planned I'll be able to do some baking for a 4th of July party, finish Todd's hat, and maybe do a tiny bit of sewing I have piling up.

The sewing is nothing fancy or special, just repairing a couple of pairs of pants, but it's something.

There is nothing like writing a blog post from your backyard on a beautiful day, unless concrete sealant fumes drive you back inside. 

Weekend Update

It's Sunday evening at the end of a busy weekend. Windows are open, sun is setting, and we're winding down, getting ready for another busy week.

I spent some time on Saturday working on Todd's hat. The colorwork is finally done.



I've got to take some measurements to see if I'm ready to start decreasing for the crown.

We biked 25 miles today! It was good, and my legs are still a little tight. I'm getting to the point  where I just feel overall better. I've also started doing "wall push-ups" as well. My boss recommended them-- you stand an arm length away from a wall, and place your palms against the wall. Then you slowly lean your upper body to the wall, and then slowly push back, just like doing a push-up. It's less difficult than doing regular push-ups but is still going for the upper arms and chest. I'm just doing a couple 10 rep sets each day, but I'll work my way up.

Yesterday I baked these cupcakes, which I consider to be EPIC. I didn't take any photos, as I didn't finish baking them until 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night. I saw the photo in my google reader, and printed it, but if I hadn't seen the photo every time I looked at my pinterest board I doubt I would have made them so soon. I will advise, these cupcakes dirty a LOT of dishes. If you don't want to worry about clean-up I don't think this recipe would be advisable. I will make them again and again though; they were that worth it to me. Also, I have some of the cherry filling left over that I stuck in the freezer, so one less step to worry about next time!

I'm also experimenting with smoothies. I made strawberry yogurt ones tonight. Pretty good, but they need something. Maybe a slug of chocolate sauce? Chocolate makes everything better!

The best part of my weekend? The concrete guys came out and framed in our soon to be patio! I cannot wait to sit out there with a cold Oberon (or Paulaner Hefe! found at Costco!) and just enjoy being outside.

Progress on Todd’s Hat

Finished the ribbing and have started on the colorwork portion of the hat. I never realized what a pain it is to work with black yarn. It makes it difficult to count rows, and photography is difficult against a white background. I’m going to have to play with using different colors of fabric (Jo Ann’s and Hobby Lobby here I come!) to see what gives the best contrast and lighting. In my picture in the last post, the white in the image appears to be exposed properly; however you can’t really see the detail of the black yarn. It’s just a black blob when I look at it.  I’m going to have to work with the mister to create a backdrop “holder”.

My current set up is a full magazine storage box (Flyt from Ikea) with some fabric draped over, a tripod for my camera, and a white plastic lid clamped to the side of my table. I’ll have to try to take a picture of it the next time I set it up. It’s in this style from Photojojo. My table has fold-down leaves on the sides, so I fold down the one side and use one of Mr. TEK’s woodworking clamps to hold my makeshift reflector in place. Granted it was a first try, and since I took the photo with sunlight streaming in the window I had to use another piece of white fabric, held to the existing window shade with binder clips to further diffuse the light. But I think it worked out fairly well. It’s something I am definitely going to play with as I work on my object photography.

The most difficult part of object photography is keeping The Baron out of the way so I can get my photos. Sometimes you just have to give up and use him as your subject. (this is my old set up, it didn’t work quite the way I wanted it to.

WIP Report

Knitting: I just started back up Saturday, by just casting on 100 stitches in black yarn for Todd's Hat. I didn't touch it on Sunday, but knit 4 or 5 rows of the 2x2 ribbing on Monday, and I got another row or two done today at lunch time.



Sewing: I'm working on some curtains for my kitchen, as well as having a set of curtains that need to be shortened. I probably won't get to finish these projects for a couple of weeks anyway.

Biking: DH and I have set a goal of 850 miles to bike this season. We've been working at it since March, and we've got nearly 250 miles down. We would have had more, however the early rains kept us inside. This week, we've ridden 35 miles, and should ride another 20 before the week is out.

Photography: Downloaded GIMP on my laptop, as well as the desktop, and now I'm learning how to convert RAW files (.nef since I'm on Nikon) to jpeg. Hopefully I can learn this quickly!

The Baron approves.