Friday, June 29, 2012

Theme-a-licious Jumanji June Wrap-Up



So, remember these socks I had started?

I frogged 'em. ("Tinked" 'em, if you're entirely in the knitting world.) I was all ready to cast on for Hexagon socks, but I am nothing if not capricious, so I cast on these instead.

The back side of socks!

They still don't look like much, but I'm really happy with the way the colors are working now. The color name is "Arizona," and I feel like the color pooling and pattern are creating a "strata" vibe.

Wait...this is Jumanji June. What do these socks have to do with anything? Well, the yarn is "Possum Sock" from Cherry Tree Hill. Yarn named for an animal? Totally counts. =)

Next, I decided to finally stitch the cat on Random Thoughts. I was originally going to make it look like my cat I had growing up (kind of like I did with my loft), who was a Siamese. However, none of the colors in the sampler would have been appropriately "creamy/tan" for her fur (she was a seal point). The dark brown would have been fine for her points, which is probably why this happened....

The cat was charted as grey, but I stitched her brown! I had to frog her, because one of my cat's kittens (which we kept) was a gray with white point long-haired cat, just like this cat was supposed to be.

Much better. =)

And here's a shot of the whole thing, since I don't think I've shown it in a while.


Next up is...
Jolly July
It's a jolly holiday with your WIPs...you can concentrate on Christmas designs, ornaments, or even pick a different holiday to render in stitchy goodness.

I have more Christmasy WIPs than I care to count. Dancer is definitely going to get some time this month, since I didn't get around to her for Jumanji June. But I think I'm going to start things off with Long May She Wave for Independence Day. We'll see what happens from there! Remember, this doesn't have to be just "Christmas"...now might be a good time to start on some things for Halloween....



So how did your Jumanji June go? What are you planning for Jolly July? Please add your link below (to your check-in post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Our next post will be on the 15th, when we'll check in for Jolly July! And don't worry if you haven't posted before...just jump in whenever.




Monday, June 25, 2012

The Geekend That Was, 6/24

Click now for JiffNotes

Whoah.

What happened to the weekend??

Friday night we saw Brave (the new Pixar film), and it was fabulous. I managed to avoid too many spoilers, so I really enjoyed it. Honestly, when a new Pixar film comes out, I don't even really need a trailer...just tell me when to show up. So, I generally will watch the "teaser" trailer (the first one that comes out, that only tells you the concept..."Hey, this film's set in ancient Scotland!") Then I try to avoid any others, because they contain spoilers, no matter how subtle. I loved the short before the movie, too.

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of never-ending excitement encompassing laundry, errands, and general exhaustion. Also, I may have a slight "Scramble with Friends" addiction and need an intervention (I'm "lottloft" if you want to start a game with me =). I did manage to get some stitching in, including a start (finally!) on the "Waiting for Christmas" stitch-along designed by Manuela in Italy.

Now, my Italian is not very good (i.e., "nonexistent"), but I'm pretty sure that even if you miss the deadline for this first part (June 30th), you can still sign up for the remaining two parts. By the way, I don't think Google translate is really great at Italian, either....

I must say that this week is not off to a stellar start...I was an hour late for work (well, later would be more accurate) because the paramedics had to remove a woman from the MARTA tracks a station away from where I get off. I hope she's OK! I couldn't find any news articles about her condition!

Edited to add: I pushed the "publish" button too soon...I meant to link to Chiara's blog! She has helpfully commented below, and her blog is where I found out about the "Waiting for Christmas" SAL. You should check out her blog, anyway, because it's great. =)

JiffNotes
Let's hope the commute is better tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

TUSAL Tuesday

(What's a TUSAL?)

The tiny ort ball found a surprise!
 
The plumeria my parents brought me from Hawaii two years ago (three years ago??) is finally blooming! Let's all look at the pretty flower and ignore the small size of the ort ball, shall we? Excellent.

The Geekend That Was, 6/17

Click now for JiffNotes

Camnesia*: I've got it.

So, I will make this pictureless recap quick. Or as quick as I am genetically capable of making it.

Friday night we went to see Xanadu at Actor's Express with the Dunlaps. It. Was. AWESOME!! It's a loving "send up" of the 80s movie. It is absolutely cheesy, and knows it, and the cast flung themselves into the whirlpool of parody with complete abandon. This is the kind of show where the director says, "You can't go too far," and the cast takes that as a personal challenge. Fabulous!

Saturday after lunch at świt bakery and café ("Shveet"), we ran lots of errands, and spent hours going through pictures. We weeded things down from 1850 to about 500. After two presentations to the families on Sunday, I have concluded that THERE ARE STILL TOO MANY. I need to do further weeding before I start blogging.

Also, we must not try to squeeze both sets of parents in on the same day again!

JiffNotes
Camnesia: Amnesia of the camera...i.e., forgetting to take your camera with you, even though you know there will be plenty of opportunity to use it.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Theme-a-licious Jumanji June Check-In



Well, I can't say that I have very much to show for this month, since I was gone for the first ten days of it! I did manage to get some time with my Lapland Santa, though:

That's starting to look like a deer!

I did take some animal-related knitting with me! Remember when I crafted my own sock club? Well, I picked the robot bag, and I was kind of hoping for one particular pair of socks to come out of the bag, and they did! So animal-related! See, I got some limited edition yarn at some point that is made from...possum (and wool)!

See, it's not like "normal" yarn, which is just made from wool! You know, 'cause that just comes from...uh...um...sheep.

Uh....

So I used this yarn which is made from TWO ANIMALS!!

I cast on these socks during our long layover in Washington, D.C., in the comfort of the Air France lounge. But I'm really not sure I like this yarn with this pattern (Rhodie Gus). I LOVE the colors of the yarn, I just don't like the way they're playing with this pattern. I think this pattern would be better off with a yarn with longer color runs, like a Noro sock yarn. I feel like the color changes are obscuring the pattern, which I also love.
The back side of yarn.

I think this yarn may actually want to become these socks instead. So much for my "careful" sock club "planning".



So how your is Jumanji June going? Are you taming some beasts or do they have you on the run? Please add your link below (to your check-in post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Our next post will be on the 30th, when we'll wrap up Jumanji June and talk about Jolly July! And don't worry if you haven't posted before...just jump in whenever.



Rooftop Garden

Click now for JiffNotes

Excuse the drive-by post...vacation photos are coming, but we still haven't gone through them! We'll have to do it this weekend since we'll see both families for Father's Day and they will demand photos. This post is actually more for my memory than anything else. =)

Here's what we planted on the deck this year...

In our two EarthBoxes:
(on the right, by my attractive hubby)
Juliet Tomato
Random Bell Pepper

(on the left)
Tuscan Blue Rosemary
Purple Sage
Italian Oregano
Curly Mint
Sweet Basil
Leeks
 
This picture was taken in mid-May. By the time I'm writing this, the "Random Bell Pepper" died off (I planted it while it was too small), and the tomato has grown to a gargantuan size. Last year's Juliet grew like crazy but the stems remained thin. This year's has really thick stems! A fat caterpillar attacked one tomato, but I flung him onto a nearby tree and there have been no more pest problems.

The basil, which last year grew like a weed, died out fairly quickly, and I have no idea why. =( I would like to plant some more. The sage, which last year died out, is growing like crazy! Such capricious herbs. I don't like the Curly Mint as well as the "regular" mint, but the "regular" is hard to find at garden stores...probably because "everyone" has it growing wild in their yards.

I have no idea when to harvest the leeks! Google tells me 1-2" in diameter...some may be ready by now...I need to check!

Flowers in pots...
Angelonia (my continual favorite!)
Pink Glow Purslane (peeking out to the right)
 
The Purslane is growing like crazy! I need to do some updated photos.

Sulphur Queen Hymenocallis (Peruvian Daffodil)
 
These guys were so cool!!! But they seem to be done now and not growing any more blooms. =( I've never seen a flower where the stamens grow directly from the petals like this!

"Tropical Vacation" Canna
 
There he is in back of the Spurge from last year (which is doing GREAT!! I love this guy!) No blooms...yet...we have several of these scattered around.

JiffNotes
Yeah, I really need to get updated deck pictures!!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

WIP Wednesday (KIP day results)

Click now for JiffNotes

It's been a while since I posted this project (Ravelry link). Thank you for your naming suggestions...I went with a combination of suggestions from Jenny and Minding My Own Stitches...so it's called "Grape Mullions". =) I had a little disaster with it and had to rip back like six rows. I was trying to drop down to fix one stitch, but I got confused about where I was, did too many decreases coming back up (they're only on RS rows, silly girl!) and then thought I had borked the whole thing. So I just ripped back and reknit.
 
This was what it looked like before I left on vacation.

And after a 10+ hour plane flight (with lots of movies), it looks like this!

Knitting on a plane counts as "in public," right??!?

I'm pretty sure I did the cable cast-on wrong...well, the cast-on was correct. But the directions say to do it at the end of a WS row...I ended up doing it at the beginning of a RS row instead. Then I had to purl that section rather than knit it. No idea how I was supposed to cable cast on at the end of the WS row...I did not check with the rest of the passengers. Can you imagine? "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a knitting emergency in 1G...if anyone knows how to cable cast-on, please press your flight attendant call button."

In other news, I have finally joined the hexipuff craze. =)
 
I've had the pattern for a while, but just never sat down and read the directions. When I was away a couple weekends ago, I finally had a quite moment to do it. I just didn't have any stuffing with me! What is everyone using for stuffing? I don't know if I want to use just the polyester stuff.

JiffNotes
For more substantial WIPs, head to Tami's Amis!

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Geekend That Was, 6/10

Click now for JiffNotes

Did you miss me?

Most of you probably had no idea I was gone, but I just got back from two weeks in Europe! This trip was in celebration of our 15th anniversary (on June 7th). Our itinerary included Prague, Vienna and Venice. I took over 1800 pictures!!

Yeah. Haven't gone through all those yet. Don't worry; you'll only have to suffer through a fraction of them. =)

So! This weekend (along with today) can pretty much be summed up by two words: Jet Lag.

And on a completely unrelated note, who out there watches So You Think You Can Dance? We always have fun watching any show that films in Atlanta; Michael is able to identify which hotel the crew is staying in based on any skyline shots they do. This amuses me greatly. Anyway, if you watch the show, do you remember these guys?

Dragon House guys! Only, this is not being filmed behind their house...

IT'S FILMED BEHIND MINE!!!


I wish I had a picture of the amusing leaping up from the couch that occurred with Michael yelling, "THAT'S OUR HOUSE!!"

I wonder if I was home....

JiffNotes
Jet Lag. That is all.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

11 Things

I was tagged by Erin (let'snottalkabouthowlongago) with this cool meme:

The Rules:
  • Post these rules.
  • You must post 11 random things about yourself.
  • Answer the questions set for you in their post.
  • Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
  • Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.
11 Random Things About Me: Ugh, it seems like I just did five!! OK, these don't have to be things no one knows...
  • I applied to nine colleges at the insistence of my dad. I got into all nine (including MIT).
  • I desperately wish I could have a cat (or a bunny!) but the hubby is intensely allergic to cats. I'm a little allergic now, but I think I'd get used to it (I had a couple when I was a kid).
  • I used to collect Disney movie trading cards. I'd even buy whole boxes to get the lenticular hologram special cards, and then I'd spend an inordinate amount of time on newsgroups (retro, baby!) trying to sell/trade/complete sets.
  • If I had my way, I would live in a house with a pool. And a backyard.
  • I hate talking to people on the phone. I think at first it was just that I hated to call and interrupt (or be interrupted), but it's even worse now that a lot of people have cell phones. A lot of the time I can't really hear them!
  • My undergraduate degree is in Electrical Engineering. I probably would have done Computer Science if left to my own devices, but my dad only knew completely socially inept people who worked with computers, so he didn't want me to do that. I got my Master's in CS instead.
  • I have never gotten a speeding ticket. This is something of a minor miracle.
  • When I was young I lived on a lake and learned to water ski. I LOVED IT. I DO NOT like snow skiing.
  • I watch more sports than any of the guys I work with on a regular basis (and I don't watch that much!)
  • I have "technically" been a professional actress...I was paid to do a show in college because no one else could do it and I'd already bought tickets to see Phantom of the Opera that night. My "payment" was to make up for the tickets I suddenly couldn't use. =) I've also been paid to do mystery dinner theater, which is a TON of fun.
  • On a related note, most Mystery Dinner Theater attendees could care less about trying to figure out whodunnit. More like whosbringingmorewine. They also think they can "surprise" a confession out of you by suddenly and loudly asking, "YOU DID IT, DIDN'T YOU??" This isn't Perry Mason, people, and no one here really did anything. We don't have guilty consciences and are unlikely to "break down". However, you get a home school prom up in your MDT, and you are going to get GRILLED. You better have your story straight or you'll look suspicious even if you aren't meant to!
My Answers to the 11 questions from Erin:
What is your favorite movie?
IMPOSSIBLE! ONE favorite movie?? I would even have trouble with this question BY GENRE... OR BY GENRE AND STUDIO!!
Musical (MGM): Singin' in the Rain...wait, no: On the Town. NO, Singin' in the Rain. No, no, no...An American in Paris! (See, I can't even pick my favorite Gene Kelly MGM musical! Seriously, though, it's Singin' in the Rain. I think.)
Musical (RKO): The Gay Divorcee
Musical (Paramount): Holiday Inn
Other non-musical favorites: Star Wars (duh =), Galaxy Quest, The Princess Bride, Ever After, The Incredibles, Wall-E (and just about every other Pixar movie)

What is the first movie you remember seeing at the movie theater?
Star Wars, in 1977 (I WAS VERY YOUNG)

Is there a type of movie or an actor/director that you refuse to watch?
Ohhhhh yeah.
Movie: Horror and nearly all parody movies.
Actor: Russell Crowe (although I did see A Beautiful Mind) and Colin Farrell.
Director: Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarrantino. I probably misspelled all their names!! =D

What craft or hobby would you try if money and time were no obstacle?
Craft: Japanese Embroidery.
Hobby: Hammered Dulcimer.
Both of those on the "time" front.

Name your favorite kitchen tool.
My KitchenAid stand mixer! For non-electric, my Henckels chef's knife.

What is your favorite type of trip/vacation? Active (like hiking), museums/history, beach, mountains, theme park, etc.
Hmmm, I like them all! In February, we did a relatively active one, but I love museums, I adore the beach, mountains are great, and if you substitute "Disney" for "theme park"...well, I think you know that's a good thing!! I'd add in "cruise" here because almost all the cruises we've been on have been GREAT!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Australia or New Zealand. Or I'd go back to Japan.

Would you ever seriously consider living abroad? If the answer is no because you now have a family, do you think you would have considered it when you were "young and single"?
I would consider it if a sponsored opportunity dropped into my lap. However, because I can't even imagine the logistics, I'd probably never pursue it!

If you could choose any profession other than your current one, what would it be?
Movie star. LOL!! No, seriously, if money and opportunity weren't factors, I would be on stage. But realistically, I have no idea. With the way work has been going, being a greeter at Wal-Mart is looking awfully good.

What is the hardest thing you've ever done?
Kept going on a hike in 105 degree weather. We were told the hike would be about 25 minutes up an easy slope. It turned out to be NINETY minutes up a steep, narrow trail. We had no water and no money (we were on our way to meet people with a car...long story). And we were in Germany. There were a couple times where the only thing that kept me from giving up and lying down was worry about what Michael would do if I passed out.

When is the last time you felt really free (whatever that means to you)?
Probably when I was a kid during the Summer and had nothing to do but swim all day.

Consider yourself tagged:
Teresa at Girl with Needles
Jean at Baa Baa Knit Stitch
Tracey at Mostly Nerdy Crochet (You can answer at your other blog if you want. =)
Jo at Serendipitous Stitching
Jackie at Jackie Casts On
Melanie at Moonraker Lampwerks
Sharon at It's Daffycat
Carrie at Such Is Life. (my adorable blogging niece =)
Parsley at Seasons of My Mind
Susan at Afford Your Passions
Mel at Wooley Thoughts

Of course, none of you are obligated, and I fully realize some of you may not be "in" to this kind of thing. No worries, I am not offended (in advance). And if you're reading this and think it sounds like fun, I'll add you to the tag list so you'll be all official...just leave a comment. =) And since I'm on vacation AT THIS VERY MOMENT, I'll have to tag you all on your blogs when I return. Sounds like a good thing to do in my imminent jet-laggy stupor.

My questions for my taggees (I'm totally copying some of Erin's because they're good =):
If you could choose any profession other than your current one, what would it be?

What craft or hobby would you try if money and time were no obstacle?

What is the first movie you remember seeing at the movie theater?

What was the last video game you played?

What are you good at? In other words, what makes you unashamedly yell, "I can do that!"

What is your favorite vacation that you've ever taken?

If you could have unlimited money to spend at one store, where would it be?

What's the best book you've read recently? (For Jean, nonfiction. =)

Star Wars or Star Trek? Why? (NOTE: You must pick one. Flip a coin if you have to, and I will be appropriately dismayed. ;)

What's the best Halloween costume you ever wore? Or, if nothing sticks out...the best one you ever saw.

If you had to leave your home quickly what 2 items (besides family, pets, and necessities) would you take with you?

Monday, June 4, 2012

WIPocalypse in Absentia

Click now for JiffNotes

WIPocalypse

Not too much happened in the past month, between work and travel, but I got at least a little something done...

Tiny stitcher has some feet now!  She looks a lot calmer, doesn't she? =)
I got a teensy bit done on the border as well (please to not go look at the previous WIP picture to see just HOW little...).

I made a new start with DF Teresa (we no longer pretend to have stitch-a-longs...instead we just have "start-a-longs" =)
There are five garden gates in this series (four seasons and Millennium). I have Winter and Millennium done, and I know Teresa has at least one more (Summer) done.

This wee squirrel got a few more letters.
He'll get a friend next month. =)

JiffNotes
Visit Measi's blog to see more earth-shaking WIPocalypse posts by clicking the graphic at the top of this post!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

A Theme-a-licious Survey

We're about halfway though our themeing, so I have a couple questions I want to ask you all. Be honest; all the answers are anonymous, anyway. =) I want to make Theme-a-licious as fun as possible for you all! If you have any other comments on improvement, please don't hesitate to add them. Thanks for your input!

Old Geek-outs