Blog Drought.

Well. Compared to how much I blogged a couple weeks ago, I've been in a blog drought! I've been knitting like a crazy person. Finally got started on Kamdyn's surprise something :D, and as of about an hour ago I have finished Billy's Baby Blanket! I even took pictures to upload... but the camera cord is MIA.

All things considered I think it looks okay for my very first blanket of all time. I originally started with a free Lion brand pattern. The blanket works on double point round needles and in the diagonal. It was a great pattern, nice and simple and I felt like it wasn't going to take WEEKS to complete. Well. I started out- and everything was fine. Then I ran out of yarn. Which normally wouldn't be a problem, however, I bought this particular yarn about 2 years ago at Wal-mart, on Oooober clearance. So I even tried finding it online and there was none. None on eBay, none on the brand website, none anywhere. So. I took the whole thing out (I was 1/2 way done), and decided to do squares just like the original pattern only mini-sized and then stitch them together like a knitted quilt. Great idea at first.

I knit one square and then was so excited, I forgot to count my stitches before I began the decrease. So on the next 4 or so I just counted what I thoughtit was. I was wrong. So I had some with 24-25 stitches at the widest point and some with 27. A couple stitches doesn't sound like a lot- but man. It ended up making a difference in inches! Not. Good. :(

So I just figured I'd do the rest at 27 and just hope that I could stretch the others out and it would just have to work. Well, it worked... except now it's kinda bunchy and ruffly where I wanted it to be flat. I tried doing a crochet border in 2 rounds to make the corners less curly. That helped the corners, but in the middle it's not flat like I was hoping it would be. Like I said before, it's not so bad for my first ever blanket- and Billy is only 3 weeks old so I know he won't judge as long as it's warm :) And warm it is! I don't think his mom and dad will mind too much either- home made gifts are always better, even if they are bumpy and rufflyish.

So I have pictures that I will just have to upload when I find our camera cord. :o|

I did get started on Kamdyn's gift too- hopefully now that I have Billy's blanket out of the way I can get rockin' on her gift :D

Then it's back to scarves for awhile. I've got 4 that I really need to get finished before the end of February. Or asap, rather. Chris' vest will have to be put on hold. :(

I did get a call back on a job though- It's for Enterprise. I have a friend who works there so hopefully she's pulling all the strings she can :) I'm waiting on another call either Wednesday or Thursday to let me know when the interviewing process can begin. So cross those fingers!

Also- we went to the Coliseum on Saturday to help pack up food to be sent to Haiti, and Chris ran into an old manager of his. He's now working at Koch Industries and is the Executive Chef and he offered Chris a job! So we are waiting to hear back on that as well. It would be during the days so he would have nights and weekends free! Finally- real jobs for the both of us! Pray everything works out for the best, I know I sure am!!

I think that's all the updating for now! Time for lunch and off to work...

N

Knitting group take 1. Epic Fail.

Welp. Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting of the knitting group I'm... starting. (I was going to put 'creating', but that just didn't sound right... hence the "..." for a 'pause'... :P) BUT- a few people cancelled... one is about to pop out a little cutie pa-tootie (code for baby), one is still in Florida, and a couple other misc. conflicts. I'm not mad or anything, but a tad sad**. (L.O.L- that rhymed! Wicked bad too... lol (again)). I was SO excited to get together with a few girlys that are actually good friends. Ones I talk to on a regular basis, and who have always and will always be there for me. And visa versa. I even asked Chris if he'd hang out in the bedroom with the puppies so the girls and I could confabulate and knit in the living room (it'd be a little silly- 6-8 girls in our bedroom trying to find a corner of the bed to sit on just comfortable enough to knit... and that's not even thinking of the ones who are trying to meander their way through the laundry (though it's all clean...) on the floor to pop a squat...), and he said that he'd even take a couple movies in the bedroom- just in case we got caught in conversation and went over the alloted time I had told him we'd be.

Anywho- I was excited to work on knitting-ness. I shall, however, knit tonight in the wonderful company of my fiance and our 2 boogers of puppies. :D

On another note- we are pretty big fans of GSN (Game Show Network- for those who don't watch TV like us ;o) )... and in the afternoons they have GSN live- which basically consists of the hosts taking callers during the commercial breaks of the game shows and hosting games for them to play to win cash, prizes, trips, or this new thing- Oodles. Now. We had heard all about these afore mentioned "oodles", but weren't quite sure what they were or how they worked. So what did I do? Got online- naturally, of course. Well Oodles are kind of like fake money. They even have their own "dollar sign", (or Oodle sign, if you will) and you can use them to enter into sweepstakes or buy things from the Oodle store. We are trying to save up to get a Big Screen TV. Yes. One of the things in the Oodle store is a 52" Sony LCD Flat screen TV. I think this would look absolutely AMAZING hanging in our living room! :D

So they have trivia you can answer to earn Oodles and games you can play to earn Oodles and Oodles of Oodles stuff etc. Needless to say, we've only been playing for about the past 3 days and we already have about 1200 Oodles. The TV is 425,000 Oodles. So while we aren't all that close right now- we are well on our way!! :D


**This little rhyme reminds me of something funny I said the other day. (Well- I think it was FUNNNNY so I decided to share, since this is MY blog and all and I can write about whatever I want :P) We were at work and we had just finished closing and Chris and I were standing waiting for the other server and bartender. I was looking at him, and on the back/side of his ear was a little blonde hair. It was just above the lobe, and it was sticking out (kinda far, lol) and it looked kind of like a little wing!! I said, "Babe! You've got a little hair sticking out the backish/side of your ear! It looks like a little Wing!! You've got an EAR WING!! Get it!? Ear Wing.... Earring... Earwing... Earring!!! HAAAhhahahaa!" And I immediately started laughing! I don't think he thought it was all that funny- but I was cracking up!

Phew. Just thinking of it makes me giggle... :D Good stuff.

Ummmmmm I think that's it for today!

Off to knit...

:o)

Not 1, not 2, but SEVEN.

So I've realized, (much more this winter than before) that I tend to have several knitting projects going at once. I mean, having two or three at once isn't too bad- once you get tired of one you can switch to another. It makes the process a little easier. Well. as of now, I have 6 going. SIX. Soon to be 7. Good grief. I've got THE Vest for Chris. A baby blanket for Ashley, Sean and little Billy. A scarf for Meg and one for Chris (my boss, not my fiance :P). A scarf for Abbie. Matching arm warmers for Abbie. And a surprise something that I'm planning on starting this weekend for Kriska and B's new little baby girl (who will be here sometime between now and Wednesday!!! YAY!)

So three is acceptable... but SEVEN!? Haha... I suppose this isn't too unheard of knowing me. I get bored easily. Hehee. I suppose as long as everything actually gets FINISHED than it's not a big deal, huh?

On another note- I got a call back about a job! I sent my resume in for a job at the Family Life Counseling Center at Central Community Church because I know a woman who works there and she said there was an opening for the Office Administrative Assistant. So I got a call and of course missed it, but the woman left a message. The resume was sent to the Sr. pastor, and it was his assistant who called and said that the pastor wanted her to chat with me a bit and set up a time for me to go in and meet with them! So I returned her call and left her quite the long message lol. And as I was finishing the message I realized that when I get really excited, I start to talk pretty fast. LOL- so I hope she understood everything I was saying! I know she wasn't an old old lady, but she didn't exactly sound like she was still in her 20's either.... So fingers crossed she understood everything. I did leave my number at the end- just in case- and some how I managed to get that out at an easily audible pace. Pray for a phone call tomorrow! :)

Or Monday at the latest... (haha.. after thought there...)

Tomorrow *today- it's after 12 lol...- Mrs. Hutton is coming over to help me... to instruct me... to guide and lead me in de-cluttering our guest room. Praise God for brave souls like her! :D I just hope that I will be able to 'let go' of the crap we don't need... :o|

Welp- I think I'm going to try and get some knitting in before I hit the hay!

Goodnight moon, goodnight stars, goodnight city with sub zero temperatures....

The biggest loser?

The new season of the biggest loser began tonight. Last season was the first time I'd ever watched the entire season. I'd seen a show here or there before, but never saw the beginning all the way to the end. If you haven't watched it... it's a very intense reality show. At least I feel like it is. I don't know how many episodes we watched last season before I didn't cry at one! It's just so touching to me. And it kind of hits a nerve too. I don't think that I've necessarily been 'fat' or 'overweight' for my entire life, but I was never the 'skinny' one through middle school until now either. I've always been just a little bigger than I want to be. And it's not even a matter of being 'big' either. It's more like I just want to be more tone. I want my muscles back that I had while dancing in college. Just about the time that the dance team was taken away was when I finally started feeling comfortable in my own skin... well, and body too. Then, of course, there was no more dancing, which meant not really any working out either. But I didn't change any eating habits either. So I was eating the same and working out none. Lol. Sooo.... I really want to just get back into the swing. I have to- I really don't have a choice because if I don't I won't fit into my wedding dress! Ahh! And that would make me cry. A lot.

Anywho.

Ironically- I made two dinners tonight (while watching The Biggest Loser...). One is for Sean and Ash- they just had their precious baby boy early early Saturday morning, so I offered to bring some dinner over so they don't have to worry about cooking. Then I also made Enchiladas! Every year on Christmas eve at my Grandma and Grandpa's house, we have home made enchiladas. They are SO GOOD. Like amazing good. Sooo- I called my Grandma today and got the 'secret' recipe. Needless to say they were a success!! They weren't quite as good as Grandma's... (it never is :D).. but I will say it was like a Fiesta in my mouth! Yum!

I also planned to do some de-cluttering tonight. Guh. I just feel like I don't know where to start! Thankfully Kristabaker Hutton is coming over on Friday to help me with our guest room. It needs to be totally gone through and it just needs a fresh start. I've also got a piano in there that I MUST sell because I need to get a desk. That way the space will actually be functioning, instead of a dumping zone for everything we don't want to deal with/ don't have a place for. It doesn't help that we don't even have a linen closet, coat closet, or basically any storage at all. Sheesh. I like our little house, but I'm dyin' here! I need organization, no clutter, and most of all I need what space we have to be functional- especially since we are quite limited to space in general.

I also didn't finish the dishes... Obviously I'm blogging instead.

Well. I should get off my butt and turn on some wonderful music and find some clothes to fold, put away, dishes to wash, or kitchen junk drawers to clean out.... ;)

Oh- and on another note- I've discovered that I'm growing quite fond of typing my thoughts into the grand internet abyss.

Ah- and I like watching our pups sleep- so peaceful and snuggly and just darn adorable! :)

Would you like fries for your side?

Back to business. After 5 BEAUTIFUL days off work, getting to spend actual quality time with my wonderful fiance, today we went back to work. Bleh. Don't get me wrong- some days you can make really good money in the restaurant business, but all in all I'm ready for a quote unquote 'real' job. I'm ready for a steady paycheck. I'm ready to have my nights and weekends back. And I'm ready to not have to deal with crappy tippers, rolling silverware, and kissing butt to try and earn an extra $1 or so onto my tip.

Now Brian, I know you LOVE Bww... but I think I've had my fair share. :o| I'm on the job hunt! I've got a couple options that I hope at least turn into interviews, and if that doesn't work.... well I'll just have to figure something else out. Say goodbye to $2.13 an hour and hello to full time employment! :)

Now the vest update... I'm actually getting somewhere with this one and I must say that I THINK it looks great! I'm about 10 inches or so into it and I'm very excited to see it 'unfold' (a little ironic, huh? hehe...) even more! I will be posting pics tomorrow as I'm off work, so I'll actually have the time to get new pics taken and all of them posted.

Wish me luck as I also plan to do some cleaning and de-cluttering as well!

Happy Tuesday!

-Nicole

THE Vest... post numero uno.

Well today I did it. I started the argyle vest for Chris. I was really nervous to get started- I was afraid I'd mess something up or that I wouldn't be a talented enough knitter to even complete the project. But, alas, my lovely Fiance gave me comforting words of wisdom... "If you mess up you can always just take it out and restart!" With that I began my cast on.

:)

I'm using a free pattern from knitty.... here it is if you are interested... Mangyle Vest

I am modifying the pattern just a bit to fit Chris' personality a little more. For example- On the bottom I chose to do the traditional K5 P5 to get a ribbing. I did, however, still alternate the colors to get the stripe feel. Also, we changed the colors.

I'll post pics soon- hopefully sometime either Sunday or Monday.

This pattern is knit as two separate panels. One for the front, and one as the back. I figured it would be much easier to start out with a pattern like this as I'm an argyle virgin :)

I will say that I am quite proud of how it looks so far! I've got about 4 1/2 inches from bottom up done as of now. And I would guess I've put about 2 hours into it. Thanks to the Advanced Knitting Help website I've managed to begin the battle with Intarsia and Fair Isle. I think Intarsia is my favorite. :)

Anywho- as I said before-- Pics to come soon!

-Nicole