What I've Learned in the past year...

Warning! The following represents Craftylilly not talking about yarn or beads. I've been doing that a lot lately, but it's about that time for my top 10-ish SAHM list. Read on to learn more... About a year ago, right after I delivered my daughter and quit work, I wrote a funny little top 10 list about all the things I'd learned from being a SAHM for the summer. I feel like I've learned so many more things a year later that I thought I'd do it again and share it on my blog as well! So here goes... 1) No matter how much time you leave yourself to get out the door, you will always be at least 5-10 minutes late because someone will need a diaper change, or refuse to put their shoes on, or you'll remember some last minute thing you need to get into the car before you go. 2) If you've got young children, some of your inside jokes will include lines from Spongebob Squarepants. You will also occasionally have conversations with your husband that will go something like this: "I actually like watching Spongebob." "Yeah, that show's pretty good. Jimmy Neutron's not bad either." 3) All movie watching will be done in the comfort of your own home, popcorn popped in the microwave. I haven't seen the inside of a movie theater in over a year. 4) The only thing more gross than cleaning a particularly smelly diaper, is cleaning up kid poop off of the ground because your kid didn't make it to the potty. 5) Since my son's started a coop preschool and also a special speech therapy preschool, his speech has greatly improved. I used to wonder about what he was thinking about and what he would say about a variety of situations and things. Now that I know, it's pretty much what I thought. It's all about food, superheroes, and how his sister should stop touching his toys. 6) My children's ability to make mischief has increased at the same rate as my loss of memory, grace, agility, and patience. 7) There's nothing cuter than seeing my children hug, or share, or play nicely together. These moments are fleeting, however. More than likely you will find the older one taking a toy from the younger one or bowling her over, or the younger one pulling on the older one's hair. 8) I haven't eaten an uninterrupted meal with the children in three years. As a corollary to that, I now eat my meals at the speed of light even when I'm not around the children. 9) I know myself well enough to know that having two children is managable, but three would make me insane. I bow down to those of you with more. I figure I can handle one child per hand. 10) Preschoolers like to repeat themselves a lot. Asking a preschooler not to repeat themselves will result in about 5 minutes of quiet. Your preschooler will then repeat themselves again, only in a whisper. 11) Nothing is more exhausting than 24 children from the ages of 3-5 in a classroom. I used to teach 5 classes of 30 teenagers a day, but all 150 of them didn't make me as tired as 24 preschoolers for 3 hours. Well there you have it! I've probably learned more, but it'll have to wait until next year.

Nederlass! You're it again!

Yep, SIL and I haven't written a book together although we've talked about it. She's a very talented artist, and I've been known to write a story or two. The rest are true!

The weekly Craftylilly Movie Review

In all my excitement over a sewing machine and finishing the Bulky Mini, I forgot to do my weekly movie review. Of course, the "so-so-ness" of the movies probably contributed to the memory loss. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that although the Mr. and I are avid film-philes, we will also subject ourselves to watching anything. This weekend was a real barn-burner with The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and The Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher. Let's start with the Longest Yard shall we? The original with Burt Reynolds in the main role is better in my opinion. This movie had a few laughs, and the Mr. enjoyed all the football scenes, but the movie as a whole isn't much to write home about. I thought the Butterfly Effect was about at the same level. The idea is very interesting, but I just don't buy Ashton Kutcher in his role. I think I've seen too many That 70's Shows. I also didn't buy the final scene where his character finally works out the problem he's in. In better entertainment news, HBO's Rome is fantastic! I love it! I eagerly await the next installment every week. The full frontal male nudity took me off guard but the actor who plays Mark Antony is attractive so it wasn't too shocking. Not as shocking as the time in high school when I went to see The Piano with a friend and got to see Harvey Keitel naked. Not a pretty sight... I also won the truth and lies blog game from Nederlass. So here are a few more. I'm realizing here that I'm letting you all in on some strange truths about me... 1) When I was little and playing stick ball with some kids on my court, I got nailed right in the noggin with a baseball bat because I was standing too close to home plate. 2) Upon graduation from college I won two departmental awards. The college president was still talking about it after I had left the stage with my diploma. 3) I went to college with one of the actors on the show The 4400. He wrote poetry and participated in many of the Poetry SLAMs on campus. He used a lot of profanity in his work. 4) My husband and I met when we were neighbors in some on campus housing for senior at our college. We shared a balcony. We actually almost met many times before in previous years as my best friend lived in his building the previous three years, and knew him pretty well. 5) My sister-in-law and I wrote a children's book about a dragon, but never got it published. So which one is the lie?

Oooooo!!! New Toy!!! Look at all the stitch options. 

I'm calling it my big red sweater. The true color is kind of a dark wine. I like the mottled appearance of my contrasting yarn. 

My soon to be first cable project!! Mine's going to be red.... 

"I've got canned heat in my heels"

I had a very busy weekend knitting and was able to complete the new Bulky Mini-Cardi from Glampyre. I was one of the test knitters for the pattern and found it to be a very quick and relatively straight forward knit. I used Lionbrand Wool-ease Thick and Quick in Claret and Moda Dea Ricochet in Salsa. I had some trouble finding 2 inch buttons so went with 1.5 inch ones instead. I also picked up less stitches than called for in the pattern which turned out fine in the final product. I must be a very tight knitter as well as I had to go up to a size 19 needle to make gauge. The sweater is very warm and cuddly and will be great for this fall and winter. I also got a sewing machine from my parents this weekend! They found a Brother machine at Costco for a really good price and picked it up for me. This is going to make sewing linings into purses, and sewing clothes possible! I need to take a little time to familiarize myself with this machine as it has a lot of computer whatzits on it. The last machine I used was pretty self explanatory and non-computerized. I need to get started on one of my many cable projects for the Fall Cable KAL as well. I want to make Charlotte out of the latest Rowan mag first as it looks like a good intro to cables project. I'm using Ribbon Twist in Racy Red though, and I'm a bit "red'ed" out though. I did buy Bonne-Marie's new Twist pattern and want to make Blackberry from the latest Knitty as well. I've also got yarn for Kepler calling out from the stash... I think I'm going to concentrate on getting off of sleeve island with my friend's cardi and noodle around with one of my own patterns for a few days before breaking out the cable needle.

We have another winner!

Elisabeth guessed the lie! Yes, I have written a short film, but not it never was submitted to a film festival. I'm not that good. :) All the rest are true. For all of you who think I still like tequila, I'm sorry to disappoint. Isn't that strange that I'm still off the stuff over 13 years later? I will be finishing up the Glampyre bulky mini cardi tonight, so pics tomorrow!!

Ok, I'm it again...

Knottyknitpicks has bounced it back to me. Here are four more truths and one more lie... 1) When I turned 21, I got tipsy with my parents at a local art and wine festival. We were so gone, that we started pooling pocket change to buy more tickets. Our friends who came to meet us had to take care of us and get us all home. 2) I once had an unpleasant year with a guy who gave me unwanted attention in high school. Five years later, I ended up TA in a college course that included this person's little brother. It was a very uncomfortable semester. 3) The one and only time I've gotten sick on alcohol was on tequila shots I drank at a Greek initiation. I still can't drink or smell tequila without feeling ill. 4) I wrote a 15 minute short film that was considered for submission by a local film festival. 5) I come from a long line of crafters and have been taught to sew, do needlepoint, latch hook, embroidery, cross-stitch, bead weaving, beading, crochet, and knitting. So which one's a lie?

We have a winner!

Knottyknitpicks, you are up! Please everyone, I have never been written up for flatulence, but for those of you who think that could never happen... I friend of the Mr. and I did have that happen to him many years ago. The whole story is absolutely hilarious. Apparently his manager had a really hard time keeping a straight face during the meeting. All the rest of the statements are true!

Four Truths and a Lie

I won the last round of a blog game for the Knittyboards. I guessed correctly for the Domestic Overlord! Ok, so here are my four truths and a lie. Let's see if you can sniff out the untruth! 1) Even though my father is a registered pharmacist and always said "better living through chemistry", I opted to go through the entire 18 hour labor with my firstborn completely unmedicated. 2) I once got written up for "flatulence" at one of my first jobs. 3) I have horrible depth perception and have been hit in the face by flying objects at least 200 times in my life. 4) Even though I refused to state my ethnicity on my college application, my college for some reason marked me down as Asian pacific Islander, which is partly true. I raised holy heck about it and got it changed to "other." 5) When I started college I really wanted to be a criminal profiler for the FBI just like Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. I still like that character so much I named my daughter after her. So have at it people!

What does any sane person do when...

they've got four projects in the knitting queue? They sign up to test knit a sweater! Yes, I got accepted to test knit Stephanie's new super cute bulky mini-cardi! It's calling for superbulky yarn, so I'm using some Wool-ease Thick and Quick in Claret with a Moda Dea Ricochet edging. It should be pretty cute! I'm calling it Big Red. I've got the body of my friend's tie front cardi complete. I'm not quite ready to board the boat to sleeve island, so the test knit is a pleasant diversion. I also need to start cracking on my Rowan cable project and I've got a felted bag idea that's burning up my notebook. Some of you have wanted more pictures of Hopeful. Once I get the thing blocked, I'll take a few more. And yes, it was a very fun, relatively quick knit. I highly recommend it! I'll leave you all with a cute story gathered while working at the boy's preschool on Monday. I was overseeing the woodworking table where the children were working on hammering golf tees into styrofoam. All the children were wearing goggles and working away. One kid finished with her work, put her hammer and goggles away and said, "Whew! That's some hot work!" So cute...

"'Something else funny?' 'People, man... people' "

First up, here's the weekle movie review. If you like Viggo Mortenson, Hidalgo's a pretty good flick. It's a bit long, and could have used some more editing, but you can't beat Viggo. He's easy on the eyes, and the movie was entertaining enough. The horse, Hidalgo, is beautiful too. The real gem of the weekend was the movie Crash with Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Larenz Tate, Sandra Bullock, and others. I thought the the theme of racism and prejudice were dealt with very well. The acting was superb, and I really liked how all the stories interlocked. The Mr. thought it was super depressing, but I didn't. I think there was some hope interlaced with the sadness. Very good. Ok, in knitting news, I finished Hopeful last night during the movie watching. I haven't had a chance to block her yet, and don't plan to for a little while as I want to block another piece at the same time, thus the disheveled look of the sleeves. Here are the stats: The pattern is Hopeful by Jenna Adorno. I used just over 3 skeins of Wool-ease worsted weight in Oxford Grey. I knit the sleeves a little longer than the pattern requred, and modified the front tie like Marnie did. She figured out a way to make the ties look more like a bow by knitting a short piece of the collar and attaching it around the two ties instead of using the I-cord. I really like how it turned out and know some friends that would love this sweater. Maybe if they're good, they can expect one for a birthday! ;) I also posted a pic of all the lovely stitch markers I got for September in the Stitch Marker Swap. The ones on the bottom are from Angela. I love the Halloween themed ones. The top ones are from Sheryl Thanks ladies! I also posted a pic of some wire-wrapped stones that I scored in a swap on the knittyboards. I can't wait to start designing with them!

Look at all my lovely stitch markers from the Stitch marker swap! The bottom ones are from Angela, and the top are from Sheryl. I love them all! 

A new friend over at the knittyboard's wire-wrapped these stones for me as part of a swap. Aren't they pretty! I can't wait to design with them. 

My Hopeful's done!!! 

I think African Jade is just as lovely as Chinese Jade. It is also a fraction of the cost.  

Where do lost things go? I mean really...

Thank you for all the supportive comments on my article and commiseration about the insomnia. Luckily, the insomnia only lasted one night. I'm feeling much better today. Of course, I'm having another "What the..." moment today, however. I picked up the boy from one of his schools, and walked both my kids out to the car. I swear to you, little girl had on BOTH of her shoes. We had some shenanigans to get them both in the car, as someone was trying to get out of his car on little girl's side, so I had to try to carry her and get the boy into his seat. Somewhere between getting the boy into his seat and getting little girl into hers I lost her left shoe. I didn't notice that this happened until after I got home. I first assumed she had pried it off in the car, but I ransacked my car and it's not there. I called my mother, who lives closer to the school, and she went out there to check it out. No shoe in the parking lot where I was parked, no shoe in the lost and found, no shoe brought to the office. The shoe, my friends, has vanished. Now, you know how expensive shoes are. Guess what I'm going to be doing tomorrow while the boy is at school. That's right, there's a children's shoe store with my name all over it. Her left shoe is now laughing at me. On a positive note, I've received my September stitch markers from the stitch marker swap. They are very pretty and I'll be posting a pic soon. I will also be posting pics of the state of Hopeful and the Oh Sherri Cardi as well. I do have one picture for you today. Last week, or the week before that I was reading Wendy's blog about a bracelet she bought. I don't remember the online boutique that she bought it from, but I do remember it being a very pretty crackle glass bracelet. She said it was called the Gin and Tonic bracelet. I went browing on the boutique's website, I wish I could remember the name... Anyways, I saw my favorite drink, the Midori Sour. Well, being that I have a huge bead stash of my own, I figured I could make one of my own. I like how it turned out, and it is a bit different than the one made by the boutique. I used Afican Jade and Red Coral and a fun sterling silver toggle clasp.

I've got a wicked case of insomnia

It happens to me every once in a while. I had a late meeting at the boy's preschool. I always have trouble falling asleep after being out at night. I do have some good news for you all though! Recently, I submitted an article to the Muench yarns website about knitting for a cause. I learned of the opportunity through my Knit the Classics group. Well, I learned recently that they wanted to use my article right away! It's live on the website right now. Check it out here. It's under the 2005 knitting articles, the one about Knitting for a Cause. Pretty exciting, no? I guess I better go try to fall asleep or I'll be cursing myself tomorrow. Sweet dreams everybody!

Two planes and a boat

That's the story of my weekend. My Sis-in Law got married on Saturday in Newport Beach, so the Mr. and I flew down Saturday morning. She got married on a chartered yacht in the Balboa harbor. I was pretty worried about getting seasick, as I am prone to it, but the harbor was really calm, and the afternoon/evening was beautiful. The wedding went well, and the bracelets I designed were well received and looked great with the dresses. We flew back home Sunday afternoon, as the boy had to go to preschool today, and Mr. had to go back to work. I'm exhausted. I don't think I travel well. I did end up bringing sleeves to work on on the trip, but didn't get much done as I also hardly get any time to read, and chose to do that instead. I haven't got a lot of response for the Sparkle Swap, so I think I may table the idea for now. A bead swap was suggested, but I think that with school starting, other swaps in progress, people don't have the time, energy, or funds for it right now. Maybe this spring I'll bring it up again to see if anyone wants to give it a go. Right now, I've got a few things I'm trying to concentrate on knitting-wise. I was to finish up Hopeful, and my friend's shrug. I want to start a cabled capelet from the latest Rowan for the Fall Cable KAL. I also want to swatch for Kepler as my yarn came in. I've got a felted handbag design swimming around in my head that I want to work out as well. On the beading front, I have a necklace I need to make for a fundraiser for the last school I worked for. I also have another bracelet desin that I want to work out as well. I've got a full plate! I better get to it.

All that glitters....

Well, I've been cruising Crafter.org lately and have been really impressed and inspired by a lot of the creativity there as well as the fun swaps. I'm currently involved in two swaps: Stitch Marker Swap, and Knitty Secret Pal 5. I got an idea for another one though. I've been thinking of hosting a Sparke, Glitz, and Glamour Swap. It would work a lot like any other secret pal swap, only the gifts would be themed around knitting with beads and sequins and sparkly/glitzy yarn. It would run for 3 months starting in November with a $50 spending limit for the whole time to include time spent making something. Some ideas for gifts would be: Beads appropriate for knitting with beads (11/0, 5/0, 3/0, sequins, etc.) Yarn that could be used with knitting with beads (DMC perle cotton 8, laceweight up to worsted weight yarns) dental floss threaders to aid in threading beads patterns for knitting with beads knitting needles commonly used with beads (size 000, 0, 1, 2, 3) sparkly things that could be spun into yarn (for our spinners), knitting notions such as bead stitch markers, row counter bracelets, scissors fobs (beaded keychain like things that attach to scissors so that when they drop the points aren't damaged), Bead necklace leashes for eyeglasses or those thread cutter pendants, sparkly pencil cases for needle storage, sparkly totes for knitting other handmade creations such as little felted bags using beads, knit hats using sequins etc. books on knitting with beads or knitting with wire Wire for knitting There are probably other ideas out there, but this is what I came up with off the top of my head. Would anyone be interested? I brought up the idea on the Knittyboards and got about 8 people interested. I'm thinking I'd like to have 20-30 people to make it a nice manageable swap. Leave a comment if interested. I'll gauge interest over the next week to see if there in enough interest and then have a sign-up starting next weekend if it looks like enough people would like to do it. Oh, and by the way, the One Armed Bandit is one armed no longer! Pics later. I've got my SIL's wedding down in So. Cal this weekend, so the pics will have to wait until I get back. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Whatever happened to the original One Arm Bandits?

You know, the slot machines where you actually got to pull the lever to see the dial spin. The last time I was in Vegas (albeit a few years ago) they only had the kind where you press a button. I think something is lost... I'm currently calling my Hopeful the One Armed bandit, as I've only completed the one. It's my first experience with short-rows and I think it's going pretty well. I would have had the second arm done by today as well if it wasn't for looking at my calendar. Much to my horror, it is now September. I've got to get my friend's bridal shower gift done by the beginning of October. Now having a month wouldn't be too nervewracking in itself. Add in the boy's preschool starting up, my SIL's wedding this weekend, and a job interview with possible job coming from it, and panic is beginning to set in. Luckily I have settled on a pattern, "Oh, Sherri" from Hapagirl. It's a shrug/wrap cardi. I'm doing it in Venezia cotton yarn I got from a swap. I'm liking the drape of the fabric so far. I think she'll like it. Edited to add: If you haven't seen The Chorus (Les Choristes) you really must. It is an excellent movie. There's a scene involving paper airplanes that made me bawl. Also, if you are into watching TV series on DVD, watch La Femme Nikita with Peta Wilson. It is awesome! I think Alias totally ripped off this show. It is also based on the French Film of the same name which is a really good movie as well.

Here's Hopeful. I'm currently calling her the one-armed bandit. 

I've finally cast on for my friend's bridal shower gift. I've got a month to get it finished. 

These are my old frames. I really like them. They look brown but have a teal tint around the outside. 

Here are my new frames. They are rimless along the bottom and are a pretty mauve on top. 

Here is the necklace to become a prize for Give a Little. 

Geek Chic

I got a new pair of glasses a couple days ago. Now, glasses for me are like an extension of myself. I've had to wear glasses since I was 1 year old, and bifocals the entire time. I've had two eye surgeries, and basically had lots of eye problems my entire life. Glasses are important because they are a lot of who I am. I spend quite a lot on them. My favorite brand is Okio which is a Japanese company that handmakes each frame. My previous pair were Okios and so are these new ones. I like this pair, but I need to go back to the optometrist to adjust the ear piece. It's a bit too tight and giving me a headache. In other news, I've put together the prize I'm donating to Give a Little effort. I am donating a set of my handmade red wire hearts stitch markers, and a 17" necklace made of Rhodonite oval beads, multi-color agate, glass seed beads, and a silver toggle clasp. Give a little has already raised 45K towards Katrina Relief which is amazing and awe-inspiring! I also need some advice. This weekend I'm flying down to So.Cal for my sis-in-laws wedding (which I'm in). I need a good portable small knitting project to bring. I've never done a sock, but am thinking about it. Any suggestions for a simple pattern? Any other suggestions for a good traveling project?

Cables and Giving

Yep, I couldn't think of a witty title for this short post. I've got two bits of information for you! First up, news of the joint effort by Margene and Susan to raise money for the Red Cross to aid those affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. News of their efforts is all over knitblogville, so I won't go into it other than to say please give if you can, to the Red Cross or another charity. You can find the link to their effort on my sidebar. I donated to the Red Cross and my husband donated to another charity. I am also donating a prize to their efforts. One set of my red heart wire stitch markers and a beaded necklace that I'm working on right now will be one of the prizes made available. I'll post pics on my blog this weekend. Next up, Christie put together a blog for the Fall Cable KAL! You can also find this link on my sidebar. Those of you who commented yesterday will receive an email with info on the KAL. If you don't recieve an email, you can always visit the blog, and send an email to me at tabbytuxedo AT yahoo DOT com, and I'll send you an invite. We won't be officially starting the KAL until September 22. That gives us all plenty of time to prepare and clear our knitting plates so to speak. Oh, and if anyone is button gifted, we'd love to get a good button for our KAL! Here's hoping that you all have a safe and enjoyable long weekend.

I'm itching to start the Fall line-up

The weather is still hot, but I so want to start planning the fall knitting. I've got several things I want to start, the Kepler Sweater, Eris, a cabled capelet from the latest Rowan, the Asymmetrical sweater from Loop d Loop, A Banff in some yarn I got from Handpaintedyarns.com, my kidlets Christmas Stockings... I have a slight problem though. I've still got two projects on the needles and a third (final) summer knit that I want to do. What's still on the needles? I've got Hopeful, which is well on its way. I have the back to finish, then the sleeves and collar, but most of the body is done. I just cast on for a sweater I'm making for my friend which needs to be done my mid-October, and the project I want to start/complete is the Glampyre tubular camisole. Ack!!! Plus, all you sewing knitbloggers have been tempting me with your cute dresses, and fab purses. I've been struggling with the urge to go get a sewing machine for about a month now. Stop it, people! (Becky, Silvia, Little Purl!) Maybe you've noticed that three of my Fall knits feature cables. Christie and I have been discussing cables of late and were thinking of starting a Fall Cables KAL, hosted by ourselves. Anyone game? If you want to get on the Fall Cable action leave a comment or email me at tabbytuxedo AT yahoo DOT com. You can always visit Christie's fab blog as well and contact her. We'll see how much interest ther is and maybe get a KAL started!