A good Birthday extravaganza

Loops and I have very close birthdays.  His is March 27th, mine the 30th.  Most logical people would combine the celebration, but I am selfish and don't like to share so we end up with a pretty long week of celebrating.  Even though his birthday is first, I was the first to start the party.

On the 25th I spent the evening at a Don Williams concert.  He is a country singing god.  Even though he's now in his seventies, he sounds EXACTLY like he did on his albums from the 70's and 80's.  I would like to thank Granny and Grandaddy for liking him so I could be introduced to his music at a young age.  After Loops picked me up from the concert, we had to hit Applebee's for some yummy Maple Butter Blondie.

The next day we started Loopies' party with lunch at California Dreaming.  It was a nice place.  It looks a bit like a castle and it sits on the water.  I believe Loops enjoyed it.  I think there might have been some shopping that day too, but, as we will discuss later, there was a lot of shopping the past two weeks so it's hard to remember it all.

Sunday (LP's birthday), it was hockey day.  We went to watch the Stingrays play.  Everyone knows I am no fan of the game, but it was what Loopies wanted to do so I went along.  Loops also experienced his first funnel cake at the game.  Afterwards, we headed to Park Pizza for supper.

Monday and Tuesday are a bit of a blur.  I'm sure there was much shopping and eating out though.  Wednesday was my birthday and actually a day of rest.  I slept in (which is normal, actually) and received birthday calls from my family.  I had Loops go pick up supper from Pizza Hut.  We had boneless wings and cheesy breadsticks.  Yum!

We ended our week long extravaganza by heading up to Columbia early Saturday morning to check out the Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens.  It was really nice.  The weather cooperated and the place wasn't too crowded.  For lunch we went to Red Robin.  I think it's Loopas favorite place to eat ever.  They do make a good burger.

While all this stuff was happening, I was working hard to spend all my birthday money.  I would like to thank everyone for the gift of cash.  In the end, I guess I had about $700 to spend.  Here's a quick rundown on how my money was spent.

• Don Williams ticket


• 6 Tops


• 2 Vests


• 1 Dress


• 1 Pair of Pants


• 5 Pairs of Shoes


• 6 Books


• 3 Leather Cuff Bracelets


• Ring Flash Adapter


• UV Filter


• Mini Spin Dryer link

I actually bought a few other things I think.  It's just hard to remember everything.  I tried to make the money go as far as possible.  Loops, on the other hand, bought only 2 or 3 things.

Sadly, we forgot Bob's birthday (28th) with all of our self-involved celebrations.  Sorry Bob.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="348" caption="Happy Birthday, Bob!"][/caption]

It's been like forever

Loops started nagging me almost a month ago to make a blog post.  Obviously I don't really listen to him.  He should know by now I do things in my own time and cannot be rushed into anything.  Not to mention I had nothing to blog about.  I needed to finish a project or have something exciting happen before bothering to post anything.  Sadly, nothing exciting has happened, but I did finish something I've been working on for a bit. So...

At Christmas I promised my favorite sister I'd knit her a new scarf so she could keep warm and cozy while hiking and whatnot.  Soon after Christmas I purchased the yarn for her scarf (Loops picked the color.) and got to knitting.  I soon started regretting my choice of pattern because seed stitch is so tedious and boring, but I'm glad I stuck with it because this is one warm and cuddly scarf.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="378" caption="Look how soft and cuddly it looks!"][/caption]

Pattern: GAP-tastic Cowl by Jen Geigley

Yarn: Loops & Threads Charisma

Needles: US 13

More details… here (ravelry link)

I love infinity scarves.  They are very easy to wear either double wrapped as above or worn draped around the neck  like below.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="378" caption="The only thing better than the scarf? This shirt!"][/caption]

I hope Stacy likes it.  Now just to wash it and get it ready to send to her.

Lickety split

That's a funny saying, isn't it?  Lickety split.  It makes me laugh though and it describes how the knitting of my latest sweater went along.  In just over a week I knit the whole sweater.  Add in a few days for blocking and by today the sweater was ready to wear (and photograph, of course).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Thanks goes to Loops for the photo taking."][/caption]

Pattern: Cadence by Jordana Paige

Yarn: Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool Worsted

Needles: US 10

More details… here (ravelry link)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="391" caption="A closer look at the yoke detail"][/caption]

This is a very nice, easy to follow pattern.  To top off the greatness... it's FREE on Knitty.com.  I feel like it came out really well.  I think I'm starting to get the hang of this whole sizing thing finally.  I believe this was my best job with getting the thing knit to my size.  I had to adjust the length when knitting because I knew this thing would grow when I washed it.  In the end, I believe the sweater grew over 3 inches in length so I'm glad I knit it shorter than I wanted it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="331" caption="Yay for skirts with pockets!"][/caption]

What's on the needles now?  A vest.  It shouldn't take long to do so maybe there will be a new blog post before Turkey Day.

Torture and anything but.

Yesterday, I went and got a root canal I'd been putting off for awhile.  To say it was torture is really a terrible exaggeration.  I don't see what all the gloom and doom about root canals is.  I've had two and I have to say they are probably the easiest dental procedures I've had.  The worst part is having to go get a crown put on the tooth and the fact that our insurance will only cover 50% of the cost.  Ouch.   Now THAT is torture!

What is anything but torture?  The latest pattern I knit.  It was a whole lot of wonderful.  I learned a new increase that I LOVE.  I only had to pick up a total of 12 stitches for the whole sweater.  The only weaving in I had to do was at the neck, bottom, and under the arms. What's the best part?  It fits.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="353" caption="Isn't it wonderful?"][/caption]

Pattern: Idlewood by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca

Needles: US 10 and 10.5

More details… here (ravelry link)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="361" caption="Loops insisted on taking a pic of my butt."][/caption]

Continuing the love-fest.  I love this yarn.  Ok.  It's a smidge itchy and got fuzz all over me as I knit, but there's a lot of cool colors going on.  It's like a fall feast for the eyes.  Yellow, gold, brown, red, and even a little black.  I wasn't sure I liked it when I bought it, but now, you guessed it, I LOVE it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="361" caption="Anyone noticed how I always look drugged in pictures?"][/caption]

On a sad note, I'm seriously thinking of frogging the cardigan I'm knitting.  It pains me to undo all the work I've done, but it is just too big.  Right now, I'm not doing anything with it though.  I'm just not ready to make a move on it one way or the other.

On to happier things to look forward to for my next post. I'm about a third of the way through a new sweater and it may be ready in about a week. Stay tuned. :)