I decided my sister needed an apartment-warming gift since she is moving into her first apartment this fall. Obviously, I wanted it to be something small since she will most likely be moving after the fall semester is over and is taking as little as possible with her. I decided to get her my most favoritest kitchenest tool ever..est. I am not going to mention what it is since it's a secret, but those who know me may be able to guess. Anyway, while I was at the site I buy these things from I noticed they were having a sale. I couldn't resist checking it out. I know I don't have a job (yet, I hope that will change soon) after this Friday, but I saw the thing I have been in search of for months, a kitchen scale (ok, just to be pedantic it says "baker's scale").

I bought it, and I am ok with that. There have been so many times I skip over a recipe because the ingredients are listed by weight rather than volume. No more! I also want to be able to divide my sock yarn skeins so I can knit them two at a time because I feel so much more productive when I do it that way. It's a multi-tasker! It may become my new favoritest kitchenest tool ever.

I am a bit excited.

Josh and I went to his, possibly, last tae kwon do class with Hawkeye Tae Kwon Do. There weren't many people there, about 10 I think, and we didn't do anything terrible exciting though I was sweating like crazy due to the ~85F temp and Christy's leadership. I am pleasantly sore due to our somewhat forced hiatus from tae kwon do these past months and my run on Tuesday morning. I hope we can find a club or school in MN that we like. I have found one that intrigues me. They don't have tae kwon do, but a bunch of other things and you can take them all for about $100, which is a bit steep for me right now.

Josh starts his new job on Monday so we are moving most of our stuff this weekend. We are loading almost everything Friday afternoon and evening, which won't be fun with the predicted 100F heat index, though Saturday should be cooler. We are going to have quite the caravan head to our new place with Josh's parents and their truck and trailer as well as my mom joining us at Eldora, Josh's truck and my car. Josh's new employer has offered three times to send a guy or two over to help us unload. I think I like these people all ready.

I will be sticking around until the end of the month in my mostly empty apartment. At least I will be left with a TV, DVD player, laptop, yarn and an air mattress as well as my kitchen and a few essentials. The first thing I thought of besides missing Josh, was the food I would be able to make with out considering what Josh would eat. What does that say about me?

This moving to a different state has been a bit expensive. Luckily we have not had to add any hotel expenses (though, that would have been cheaper than paying two rents this month) since the gas for our trips north increased our credit card bill by almost $300 more than we usually spend. We also ate out more because we were out of town or just too busy/tired to grocery shop or cook. We put all our bills and other expenses on this card because we get a percentage back on whatever we spend. Everything is getting more expensive, and we are starting to feel it. I guess its good that only one of us will be coming back this weekend. Of course, I will be driving the vehicle that has a gas tank which holds about 8 more gallons and gets 50 miles less out of each tank of gas.

Groceries are more expensive, so I have tried to cut down on our expenses there as well. I started making granola for Josh because he eats so much of it. I should start making yogurt too since that is what he usually eats with his granola. I have also been purchasing more bone-in chicken because it is significantly cheaper and doesn't require much work if I want to remove the bone myself. I have made pizza instead of ordering it, but I am not so sure it is much cheaper than getting one from Papa Murphy's especially if you have a coupon. I plan to at least make some of our bread because I love baking bread, and I keep making cookie dough but not cookies. I figure I am saving on energy costs that way.

I also knit my own socks. Wait, I don't think that is saving me much money, but at least I am entertaining myself. Does saving $10 on two skeins of yarn for a sweater count? I decided I wanted to use nicer yarn for this sweater so I am slowly accumulating the yarn for it and hoping the dye lots are close enough that I can just alternate skeins. The yarn is the aran weight version of the yarn I used for the Poms. It's even the same color so I could have a matching sweater and sock set. Actually the socks may be going to my mom if she likes them and they fit her which means I would need to make another pair for myself. The sacrifices I make for my family...

My sister is in China for the next three weeks, and so far, it doesn't sound like she has lost any luggage or missed a connecting flight which is usually what happens to her when she travels. Let's hope this trend continues.

I think a three day weekend should be standard. Anyone with me?

This weekend, though busy, was good. Josh did really well at his testing. His techniques and forms looked really good, and he broke both of his boards on the first attempt while thoroughly impressing everyone with his board breaking prowess. I admit, he was rather impressive, and he didn't kick me. I held the board for his jump spin hook kick (not Josh, just a video). I failed to fall correctly when he threw me during his one steps and my head bounced against the mat, which led to a headache for the rest of the night.

I worked on my second attempt at Ornette. I switched to some Fearless Fibers from my stash which shows the cables much better.

I am actually a bit farther (further?) than in this picture. I also worked on a super secret knitting knitting project which I can't share at all until much, much later, but I will tell you they are socks. There were perfect for entertaining me during my sister's graduation.

I need some coffee.

We had some gorgeous weather yesterday. It was close to 70 and sunny. Josh and I took a walk across the river in an area I have always meant to explore. There is a dog park, but I could never figure out how people got to the dog park. Now I do and I also learned of a new housing development I didn't know existed. it's actually a bit creepy and seems almost like it should be in a movie. I think that's partly due to it's newness and lack of people at this time. It is eerily quiet and empty.

We watched the latest UFC on Saturday night. It was a great event with several good fights including the main event. We got some Pokey Stix, which I haven't had since I was a student. I think I am going to snack on some before I go teach at the GymNest tonight.

In other news, my sister and her boyfriend are now engaged. I of course knew before she did, which makes me inordinately happy. Congrats!

Let's see, I finished my Jaywalkers (Ravelry).
Yarn: Zitron Trekking colorway #155
Needles: 2.75mm Knit Picks dpns
Started: July 2007
Finished: April 18, 2008
Mods: Unintentional ones only. I did the toe on the second one differently because I decided I didn't need to read the directions. Barely noticeable, so not getting fixed.

I started two more small projects this weekend, well yesterday. Both are more for Josh than me. I started Sausage Dogs and Trogdor (more info on Trogdor). More toys, I know. I can't stop myself. I also made flat chocolate chip cookies because I decided to follow the recipe instead of what I thought and caramel chex mix.

I also got some new shoes! They were $10 and my size and have owls on them.

Ack! I am pathetic. Josh is out of town, and I have no idea what to do with myself. I can't decide if I want to knit, read, play a video game, watch a movie, play on the computer... Currently watching something about how the Earth was made and playing on the compy, but I am not quite satisfied with this activity. Why am I so restless?

I spent today with my mom and grandma. I brought the Snickery Bars and Granny loved them then asked for the recipe. We ate lunch at the new Maid Rite in town, but Granny said it didn't taste like she remembered. We stopped at the new Wal-Mart and I picked up Muppets in Space and The Muppets Take Manhatten. I wish I felt like watching them.

Mom, Granny and me

I think knitting and video games may be out due to the tendinitis plaguing my left wrist. I don't think I feel like reading or watching TV. What am I going to do?


ETA: Don't forget DST!

I forgot!

I can't believe I forgot to post about a couple of FOs. They are part of a very belated Christmas/birthday gift for some relatives of mine, that I hope to get to the post office today.

Pattern: Zeebee
Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool #8049
Needles: US7 4.5mm

These are for my cousin and uncle. I hope they fit! I had to guess on size and didn't have anyone with a similar sized head to try them on.

Pattern: Linen Stitch Scarflet
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza #6003
Needles: US7 4.5mm

This is for my other cousin to go with her hat and mittens. Again, I hope they fit!

Inga is going well. I had to frog the first third when i realized it was way too small because I forgot to switch to larger needles. Doh! At least I enjoy the pattern so reknitting isn't horrible at all.

Hello 2008

Happy New Year! I hope you did something exciting last night. I was in bed by 9:00 and asleep by 10:30, but I am not complaining.

I got back from Chicago late Sunday night. It was almost Monday actually. We had a great time. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum and a performance of Wicked. You can see pics from the museums here.

I didn't finish Wicked for Wicked due to some sleeve issues. They were huge, well they were when I followed the pattern. Just a few inches on one sleeve and it should be done.

I think I may bake some bread today. Maybe that will help me decide what I want for dinner. I took some more pics of the ring in natural light.

Josh's sister invited us to stay for a weekend at her and her boyfriend's place. I don't think I have talked to his sister in over a year and he hasn't talked to her much more than that. We had a little bit of a falling out about 2 years ago when she decided that we were getting in her way which ended with Josh practically moving in with me almost two months before we moved to our current place and pretty much ended all personal contact with her. She has barely looked at me when we have spent time together usually in the company of their parents. We are thinking about spending one night there, but not the whole weekend. I still feel so angry towards her sometimes and Josh hasn't been happy with her lately either mostly due to how she has spent the holidays away from their parents. I don't usually feel this much resentment towards a person for so long, but I can't seem to get past it this time.

If, for whatever reason, I am not regularly going to work, I tend to completely lose track of the days. I was completely convinced that I would be leaving for Chicago today until I woke up this morning and realized that is not the case at all. I really thought today was going to be Friday until I realized that is not possible. Oh well, extra day for me! I guess I can get the cleaning and knitting done that hasn't yet, or I could just play my new video games.

Ok, so my goals today are to finish the sleeves of Wicked and block it so I can wear it to Wicked. I also want to get my cousin's and uncle's hats done, which wouldn't be a problem if I could just seam them correctly. I had to rip both of them out already. I also need to clean the kitchen, living room, and bathroom, which shouldn't be too bad, so Josh doesn't get stuck with a dirty apartment and company coming over. OUr place has been a mess the last couple of weeks and we have been lazy. Not a good combination.

Just so you aren't completely without pictures of my holidays.


I took this picture after we had a laughing fit while my mom was trying to take a picture of us to send to my aunt. She's making a calendar of the grandkids for my grandma. This was the best pic we got. According to my mom we kept making weird faces.

Five days of no-work makes me lazy! I wish I could stay at home and spend my days cooking, baking, knitting, and playing video games all the time!

Thanksgiving was nice. I didn't enjoy driving through the snow on Wednesday night, but the picturesque snow that fell most of Thursday was kinda fun. The big fluffy snowflakes drifting lazily to the ground were very holiday-ish. All but one of my extended family members made it. He's currently in Africa, so I suppose I can forgive him. All the food turned out well, and I didn't overeat!!! That's an accomplishment. I made the flourless chocolate cake for my uncle's b-day celebration and everyone loved it, which made me happy.

We put our Christmas tree up last night. That was of course after re-arranging the kitchen and playing Zelda for most of the day. I also started a Zeebee and Wicked just needs another 2" or so on the bottom edge and the sleeves, which are going to be 3/4 length. It will definitely be ready for Wicked.

Hee! I just thought of something that is probably only amusing to me. My sister and I are giving my mom and ourselves tickets to Wicked in Chicago for her birthday and taking care of all the trip expenses for her Christmas gift i.e. hotel, food, anywhere else she wants to go. Of course I am also making her socks. But anyway, I am going to make Wicked for myself, which I can then wear to Wicked.

Ok, so it's not really that amusing, is it? Sorry.

In other news, I am in charge of the stuffing, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, a veggie side-dish, maybe some mashed potatoes and possibly a turkey, for my family's Thanksgiving dinner. We need a large turkey, i.e. 20lbs, to feed all of us and have leftovers for supper and the next day. I made all the side dishes last year, but not the turkey, so i am a little nervous about that. I have successfully roasted a chicken and it's essentially the same idea, it just takes longer. Maybe I will roast a smaller one for practice and use it in soups and other stuff. I also don't have a roasting pan, but my mom as two, for some odd reason, so I will probably just borrow one or buy it off her. Everyone really liked what I made last year, so I am not worried about that stuff. A 20lb turkey is a little daunting though. It's a good thing I like cooking for people.

A couple Charades

A Christmas gift finished in September! I hope I can wait to give them to her. I love how they turned out.



Pattern: Charade
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Marrakesh
Needles: 2.75mm
Mods: eye-of-partridge heel

I dont' have any socks on the needles. It's a little odd, so I will decide what to start soon. For Sockdown: Ravelry the criteria are a Grumperina pattern or toe-up. I have a toe-up pattern I want to try and I have one Jaywalker to go, but that feels like cheating since I started them in June or July. As usual, I will probably start another pair as well, so I don't get bored with one.

After almost 10 hours in the car on Saturday I arrived at my apartment. It's nice to be back. I love being at the cabin, but there is only so much I can do to occupy myself. I brought a lot of books and knitting a long, which helped. A trip to Rainy Lake and a few trips to Target in Bemidji broke up what could have turned into monotony.

I read The Naming while knitting this pair of socks.



I read The Deathly Hallows while knitting this sock.



My copy was at home, as it arrived the day after I left, but my sister brought hers so I started The Deathly Hallows when I had finished my other book which nicely coincided with her finishing it.

I pretty much spent my week driving and listening to audiobooks(Break No Bones and Twilight) or reading while knitting socks. I got antsy one day and went for a short run. It was too hot and muggy to run for longer so I jumped in the lake to cool off. It was in the mid-90's for about 4 days and humid on top of that. It rarely gets above 90 in that area. We only had one fan and there was little wind. It finally cooled off on Thursday after a nice storm but it was so windy we couldn't get a fire started in our fire pit on the beach. It smoldered enough to give us decent coals for roasting marshmallows



which quickly turned into s'mores.



ETA:

I put a bunch of my cabin pictures on my Flickr page if you are really interested.

I am supposed to be leaving today, but have yet to pack a thing. Josh took his truck to work, which I think means he is making me leave after he's done with work, which was my plan anyway. I am at work right now, but intend to go home so I can finish winding my sock yarn into cakes for easy knitting a transporting while in MN.

Next stop is the library and maybe the Java House. I still have to stop at Target and Sam's, but they are both on the way out of town.

Have a good week!

I am a sock knitter

I am admitting it. I have knit toe-up, baby size, cuff-down and am working on some sideways socks. It's not a lot of socks by any means (7 total socks), but other things don't scream at me to be knitted right away. Sock yarns suck me in and I can't help but stare at them. when I get bored or have extra time at work I stare at sock yarn on Etsy or at all the sock patterns on Ravelry and the Sockapalooza socks. I have never knit a sweater or gloves or mittens or... Ok, so there are a lot of things I have never knit.

I am currently working on two pairs of socks, both of which have been frogged at one point. I joined a sock club at my LYS and just joined another sock club from a favorite Etsy seller because her yarns are gorgeous and so soft. I plan to make socks for Christmas gifts this year, therefor I am not buying sock yarn and knitting for myself all the time.

I am leaving for a week long vacation to my family's cabin (I will get outside pics when I am there)in northern MN in one week. I am planning which sock yarn and patterns I will bring a long and lining up audiobooks to put on my iPod so I can spend my days on the dock knitting socks and listening to books. I am also bringing regular books, a couple swim suits and some running shoes so I have something to do when my wrists and hands get sore. I also must have my camera so I can take some pictures of the sunset on the lake and any sock progress.

My mom and Lex are leaving tomorrow for the cabin and I really wish I was going with them. It is best for me to wait until next weekend to leave due to current work obligations, but I want to get out of here. Sadly, Josh isn't coming with me since he needs to stay to teach tkd since I am leaving. He is being too nice to me.

I will miss the arrival of my new HP book and the opening of The Simpson's Movie but I can always catch up when I get back. I don't think Josh will wait to go to the movie with me though. He called me today and sang a song from the trailer and I think that was pretty much the only reason he called me.

This weekend wore me out. Friday night we played paddle hockey at tkd. Basically you use the paddles we normally kick and use them to hit a racquet ball between a couple of bags used as the goal posts. I am not sure why but my lower back muscles were incredible sore and tight after a little less than an hour of paddle hockey. On Saturday I could hardly move without it hurting. Driving for almost 5 hours on Saturday didn't help.

Saturday I planned to take my dad and grandpa to lunch for a belated Fathers' Day. Coincidentally, my aunt and uncle were purchasing a new car that happened to be in Ames where my dad and grandpa live. I received a call from my mom at 7:30am on Saturday asking if I was on the road yet because my aunt and uncle were just over an hour drive away from Ames! I had assumed they were going to be there around lunch time since they were driving from Wisconsin. I showered and was on the road 20 minutes later and arrived in Ames shortly after they did. I listened to a HP and the Half Blood Prince on the way so the 2+hour drive both ways wasn't too bad. I met my mom and cousins at Borders in Ames and we wandered around there and Target for about an hour. I took my dad and grandpa to lunch then we went back to my dad's to look at pictures from his trip to China. I re-started the Cable Twist socks while looking at the pictures, but of course, I made a mistake that required frogging most of what I had done.

Saturday night Amanda, Josh, Randal and I watched the UFC fight night and ate beer cheese dip and fruit pizza. I could have fallen asleep before it even started at 8:00. I brought the sock to knit to help me stay awake.

After frogging the Sidewinders a couple times, I finally finished Act I last night and started Act II this morning. At least it looks like it might fit on a foot now.


I am almost done with the cuff on the second attempt at my Sockapalooza socks, but I noticed a mistake a few rows back when I was on the bus this morning.

I went to my sister's concert last night at UNI. I was expecting a long, drawn-out affair, since this is what my mom told me it would be, so I decided I needed to take something with me to keep my hands busy. I was thinking about bringing a sock to work on,(I am starting my Jaywalkers with a new yarn since the one I started with isn't doing the pattern justice), but I would have had to do a gauge swatch with the new yarn and didn't want to be messing with that in the dark. I have decided to make some washcloths, booties, and a hat for a friend of mine who is having a baby in May. I wanted to test out a washcloth pattern for softness and size before I made her baby some. I settled on this one since it was simple and I could knit it up in the dark. I used a nice bright green colorway I had in my stash because it looked spring-like. I finished about 3/4 of it during the 1 1/2 hour long concert. The concert was pretty good. My sister stood next to some rather tall guys so it was easy to find her. Corey, his fiancee, his grandmas, my mom and I went out to eat before and then went to Cold Stone with Lex and Jeph after the concert. My dad and grandpa were also in attendance. I am glad I was finally able to go to one of her concerts and still get home at a pretty decent time. I had to leave work early, but that was not too horrible of a sacrifice.

Last weekend during my grandma's birthday blowout, I was knitting my socks. I completely impressed much of my family with my multi-colored and patterned socks. that was, of course, until I explained that it was the yarn making that pattern, not me. They were still impressed, but it was the yarn that impressed them, not my new sock knitting skills.

I ended up frogging it and starting over because the stitches between my needles were really loose and I had some loose stitches at the toe. I have now started over and am almost as far as i was before I frogged. I actually un-knitted some of the heel turn this morning since I knitted the wraps incorrectly and left holes. I know what to do now, so I should have a problem. Once I get past the heel flap I can relax with some plain stockinette. I quite enjoy stockinette.

These are toe-up socks, so i think my next ones will be cuff down. i have some sock yarn coming soon and I have a good stash I intended to crochet with, but my leetle hook was splitting in a lot, so I am going to try knitting it instead and save the crocheted socks for some different yarn.

I have picks of the progress and the cupcakes, including the failed ones, but I have yet to download them. I am sure I will get that done this weekend, not that anyone cares.

My dad is flying back from China tomorrow night. My sister is supposed to pick him up from the Des Moines airport. This wouldn't be such a big deal if she didn't live about 130 miles away from Des Moines and there wasn't huge storm coming. Also, we have my grandma's 80th birthday party Saturday evening. I am about 20 miles closer than she is, but I would still have the weather to contend with, and I am providing the birthday cupcakes. My mom is already freaking out because of the weather and the fact my sister's car is a piece of crap.

I bought more shoes. They were the last pair on Zappos.com in my size and the color I want. They also had free overnight shipping. I probably shouldn't have, but oh well. I got paid today!

On Friday night my mom, Lex and I went to a Joan Baez concert at UNI. It was a great concert and my mom loved it! The only thing is my dad went, too. Actually that's how we found out about it. My mom was jealous that he was going so she decided the three of us should go as well and we would just avoid him. Well...hiding didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped, but I don't think we were discovered. Lexsea ate dinner with him before and that took a lot longer than expected. Then we ended up parked in the same row as him and sat about five rows back and just to his left. It ended up being a little crazy. At least the snow ended before I got there and the roads were fine.

Oh yeah...apparently my dad is going to China for the month of February to visit a woman he met on the internet. He told Lex at dinner. Now I just am waiting to see when he will mention it to me. I am guessing it will be my Christmas surprise along with a hundred bucks from him.