KellieBelle knits

Finally...a FINAL post!!

2009-08-06T20:47:00.002-04:00

So, with the whole Google update/upgrade thing...I have been able to log into my Google account but not my blog, since last week!!! Now, finally, after days of trying...I can access my blog to tell you..................................................I have MOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please find new fabulousness here.

And thanks for reading :)

Our Vacation-Part 1

2009-07-25T22:29:00.004-04:00

So.....we went on our vacation, and here we are two weeks later and I still haven't mentioned much about it. The problem is both my laptop and desktop and having issues and I can't download my pictures! ARG, driving me crazy!! But I'm determined to comandeer Terry's computer SOON to remedy this situation! In the meantime, I figured I can at least start to tell about where we went. We went to the fabulous southern region of the Kingdom of Spain!!

On this map of Andalucia, I've starred all the cities we visited while there. What prompted this trip?? Terry's mom is in the Navy Nurse Corp and was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Rota Spain. She is commanding officer there now, so we went for the ceremony where she assumes command. So, we stayed on-base in Rota, a fabulous little coastal town with a gorgeus beach!!!

It was my first trip to Europe and was quite the adventure. First we flew through London Heathrow. I've heard stories about Heathrow, but WOW are they true! It's an awful airport!! A maze to get through and (not kidding) every flight we connected through there was delayed. Anyway, we arrived safely and started our adventures!! I think I'll do a post about each day trip we took to the cities starred above, but here are a few things I learned while we were there:

-Sunflower farms! I never really thought about farming for seeds and oil, but WOW, how gorgeus to see miles of bright yellow sunflowers!

-Don't assume that someone will speak english. We are very spoiled as Americans and just assume that most of the world has accepted and learned our language. Not the case, but you can get by with some good basic spanish and lots of pointing!

-We are behind the 'green' curve. I was shocked at how earth-friendly Spain was. You see wind farms in the distance behind the sunflowers and I think it is a beautiful sight to see....all those windmills spinning. I heard from someone that 30% of the power in that region is wind-power. I think that is awesome. It's a quite rural and poor area of Spain, so if they can do it, why not here?? Oh right...I remember a debate about how the windmills would mess up the 'view' of some areas and affect tourism. I don't think so.

-Roundabouts. In New England they are called rotaries. In other areas they are traffic circles. They are scary and they are EVERYWHERE!!

-Siesta=good

-Extra long days. It was daylight....like the sun up and everything, until about 10pm every night. Now, of course that is seasonal. but WOW! It was great!! You could get off of work at 5 and still have time to hit the beach!!

So that was my initial thoughts. Look forward to hearing more and (hopefully) seeing some pictures.

Books 27 &28

2009-07-24T23:26:00.003-04:00

I think! I really have not been keeping up with my book list or my Goodreads account, so I've kinda lost track. But I know I read Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts right before vacation.
Then it took me a couple of weeks, but I read Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey. This is the start of a second trilogy and it was LONG!! But it was very good and I enjoyed it almost as much as the books of the first trilogy. I'm so busy that I'm not running out to get the next one, but I'll definitely finish this series at some point.

Puppy Momma, part deux

2009-07-23T22:13:00.001-04:00

So everyone knows we got our sweet puppy Jasper just a little over 2 months ago. I can't believe how much he has grown!!! He has more than doubled in size and weight....my little pup is growing up! Definitely, the hardest part about going on vacation was leaving him :( Fortunately we found a great doggy daycare with overnight sitting and our regular dogwalkers do overnight sitting, so we were covered, but we definitely missed our little dude. Jasper had a great time while we were away and made lots of new friends....it was like puppy summer camp! He did so well, we decided our little guy could do with some company at home. So...........::Drumroll please::.......................

We got Mickey!!!!

We got Mickey at the same place that we got Jasper. They are actually only a week apart in age and Mickey was there when we adopted Jasper, but amazingly was still looking for a home when we went back 2 months later!!! He is a pure-bred Yorkie, so I'm currently reading up on Yorkies. He is one tiny little brother with big attitude and personality!!

So far Jasper and Mickey are getting along well, especially considering they are both super excited little puppies!! They share toys pretty well and want to play with each other, but we have to be careful because of the size difference between them. As they get more used to each other and the excitement wears off, I think we'll be all set.

On another exciting puppy note, Jasper starts his first round of training classes this weekend! We are very much looking forward to this because while we have taught him 'sit' and 'down' he is still a crazy puppy and we have a hard time controlling him when he gets excited or need him to sit still (like, for grooming).

Oh that reminds me!! How does Mickey look? When we brought him home his hair was super long, having never been cut. I think the idea was to grow it out into the traditional Yorkie 'cut'....super long with a topknot/bow:

I personally think this looks silly. Before we could decide about grooming, our little Mick, who has no potty-training experience to speak of, pooped in his crate during the night, laid in it and woke up with matted poop hair!! So, we cleaned him up and whipped out the scissors!! For no experience and no guide, just clipping where we thought it made sense, I think we did good! I don't have any before pictures to compare to. But I think we're going to keep Mickey in the hipper 'modified' yorkie cut...more like this:It's so much more handsome!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Baaaackkkk!

2009-07-15T20:27:00.002-04:00

Yep, back from vacation and getting into the groove of things back home. I'll post more about vacation later, but WOW, I was shocked at how much Jasper grew while we were gone! He looks so tall and grown up now! He's definitely growing up fast....losing his baby teeth this week!! We'll be starting obedience training with him in a couple of weeks, so I'm sure that will be a whole new adventure for us!

Also, wanted to post that my LSU baby sweater/hat set I made for my cousin's baby shower is being featured on the designer's blog, YAY!! It was an honor to be asked to conribute to her site!

So that's it here for the moment. I'll be posting a lot in the near future to tell everyone about my fabulous vacation! Also, now with vacation over, we'll be getting back to our house projects!!

Book 26 & VACATION BABY!!!

2009-07-01T23:07:00.002-04:00

Book 26: High Noon by Nora RobertsA pretty typical Nora Roberts book. Definitely a good little read, this was a great way to start off my 'light' summer reading. Checking in on my "52 in 52" progress....the year is half over and I'm halfway through my 52, so I think I'm right on track :)

Now on to the good stuff!!!!

Baby, I'm LEAVING....ON A JET PLANE! That's right, July is vacation time for me!! This month hubby and I will be enjoying a very nice vacation. I'm super excited, but keeping the details to myself for now. This means of course that I will disappear from the blogosphere (though given the number of posts lately, you may not really realize it!) then hopefully reappear with fun stories and pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the knitting world, I've finished 2 big projects, FINALLY!! I finished the Cable Comfort Afghan and the triangle shawl I've been working on for a while now. Both of these projects were for gift packages that will be posted in the mail on Friday, WOO-HOO!! I can check those off my list on Friday!

Now is my big dilemma for this vacation, which is....what should I bring as my plane/travel knitting/crochet project(s)?? I'm working on a granny square baby blanket that I think will be coming along since the squares are very portable and don't get bulky as it progresses. I'm trying to decide if that is enough to keep me occupied, or if I want to bring something else in case I get bored to tears by the squares. I'm considering bringing sock yarn and a pattern for my first sock attempt, but a little intimidated by being stranded on a plane and not able to look up help on the internet if I have trouble. So, that remains to be decided.

A Quick Update!

2009-06-20T18:43:00.003-04:00

I'm still busy busy being a puppy-mama. I can't believe how FAST Jasper is growing!!! He already needs a haircut! He's getting much better with his biting, but still has a love of our socks and feet for whatever reason.

But on to a few updates. First a couple of weeks ago my in-laws were visiting and they helped us out with cleaning up our quickly-becoming-out-of-control garden in the back yard. I can not believe how great it turned out!! We still have more plans for it in the near future, but here is what it looks like now:
Lastly, I have been seriously lacking in my knitting and crocheting time. Jasper just LOVES the yarn, and now that he can get on the couch by himself I just can't have it out unless he is asleep or in his crate, etc, etc, which means I haven't gotten much done! I did manage to whip up this little sweater and hat set for my cousins baby shower. This was kinda last minute, but I love how it came out. I'm definitely book-marking this pattern for future reference!!

Books 23-25

2009-06-16T22:10:00.002-04:00

OK, long overdue update here. I've been too busy to check my email regularly (sorry to everyone who has sent emails that I haven't replied to!), so the blog is WAY behind! Here is a super quickie book update:
#23 - The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux

#24 - 21: Bringing Down the House - this is the book that the movie 21 is based on. Took me a while to get into it, but SO COOL to think that these MIT students were able to make a 'business' out of blackjack. I really enjoyed this and it made me want to go to Vegas!

#25-Deception Point by Dan Brown - this was GREAT! It reminded me of a good old Michael Criton (sp?) book. I actually liked this BETTER than Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. I know, I know, but I'm a scientist.....sorry but this was just cool!

I tried to read The Light Fantastic, which is Book 1 of the Discworld Series by Terry Prachett. It's a totally famous serious, well known and loved by many (included many of my friends!) but.....it wasn't for me. I quit a little over halfway through. It's very humorous, but there's no goal or problem to solve, so I just couldn't stay into it. Before I quit reading it I was over 200 pages in, so I'm considering this book #25.5

May Goals-RESULTS!

2009-06-03T22:03:00.002-04:00

1-Finish Sonny's blanket. I did work on this but didn't finish.
2-Finish my "wrapped in hugs" shawl. I'm so close to finishing!
3-Organize home improvement receipts and documents. DONE!
4-Bathroom redo. DONE!! Just needs finishing touches and pictures!
5-Make shades & tie-backs for dining room windows. Did not get done!
6-Finish painting touchups and trimwork in hallway. Did not get done!
7-Finish painting touchups and trimwork in kitchen. Did not get done!
8-Start crocheting next baby gift. HA!! Made a whole baby gift set AND started yet another one!

Wow, I finished 3 of 8....not too good. But with the puppy distraction, not terrible either!

MIA in May

2009-06-03T21:24:00.003-04:00

Yep, I disappeared. I had a life altering weekend several weeks ago and have been busy being a puppy momma since! That's right, PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the story for my friends who haven't heard. My husband and I LOVE dogs! We have wanted one for years but couldn't get one because of school, then because we were in an apartment that didn't allow them, etc, etc. Since buying our house one of the HUGE topics of conversation has been getting a dog. We were serious too! We commute into Boston everyday for work, so we started researching dog walkers and doggie
daycares. We found a dog walker that was accepting new clients, we're now pretty settled into the house, so we knew the time was right! Our timing was strategic so that we would be able to spend our 4-day Memorial day weekend bonding. So, we went to the local shelter. This is where everything goes horribly wrong!!

I will give you the short version here. They were awful. Well, the 'adoption counselor' was awful anyway. After almost an hour walking around the puppy pens and stopping to play by the gate, we asked to visit in a play room with a puppy and had to talk to the counselor first. Well she started asking us questions and asked who would be home
with the puppy. We told her we both work, but had already contracted a dog walker. She was appalled! Here is our converstion...with mean lady:
You can't leave a puppy home alone for 10 hours a day!!!
Um, we're not, we have a dogwalker.
Well, even so, you can't leave a puppy home for 5 hours a day, you'll never get her housetrained. It will take upwards of 2 years!!
Well, our awesome dogwalker has a puppy program where they stop by 3 times a day.
That must be expensive. You don't want to pay for that.
::thinking to myself...how do you know how much $ I can afford to spend?!::
And you know some people get home after a long day at work and commuting and don't realize the puppy needs to go for a walk and to play....
::thinking to myself....are you telling me I wouldn't walk my dog?!::
No, absolutely no way we can adopt a puppy to you. You need a mature dog that is already house trained.
OK, anything come to mind.
Sure, let's walk around and see who we have.
Then mean lady proceeded to tell us all the reasons none of the adult dogs were a good fit for our schedule and how she wouldn't feel comfortable adopting any of them to us either. In the end, mean lady took all our contact info and said she would let us know when they had a dog that would 'fit our needs' like we're 'special' people or something.

I was in tears when we left the shelter. My husband and I have both had dogs and his last dog was rescued from an abusive home. We understand that shelter dogs often need a little more attention, etc. But this was ridiculous. We couldn't adopt a dog because we work?! When did that become a criteria? I guess she'll curse us the day we have a child/children and ::horrified gasp!:: PUT THEM IN DAYCARE!!!!!!!

We talked to the dogwalker and he was shocked at the way we were treated. He was great and made some suggestions. In the end, we ended up privately purchasing Jasper, a wirehaired fox terrier who has us wrapped around his little paw!
We are totally in love! He is better than an alarm clock at waking us up between 5 and 5:30am to go for his morning walk. So, we are a bit sleep deprived!! We are currently working on exercises to 'help' through the biting puppy phase. But....I'm happy to say his house training is going quite well! For the last 3-4 days we've only had 1-2 accidents per day. On days we work! Not bad!!! Eat that mean shelter lady....two years, come on!

I'm so grateful to have Jasper and how things worked out for us to get him, but I must say I am SO disappointed in the shelter. The counselor was plain rude and talked down to us the entire time. She made me feel like I was an awful person for wanting a dog....like I was certainly going to neglect any dog I got. I don't feel sorry for them anymore. I always thought....oh the poor doggies and no one wants them. Nope. Now I know people want them, but the fanatics running the place are ridiculous about their requirements for owners. They missed out on a great set of doggie parents here!

Books 21 & 22!

2009-05-16T22:37:00.002-04:00

#21: A Good Yarn by Debbie MacomberThis was a great book! I was prompted to get/read this book about a week or so ago when I got an update from Debbie Macomber in the mail about the release of the 4th and latest book in the Blossom Street series. I had read the first one, but that was all. It was a great 'feel good' book and this one lived up to that reputation. Again, the characters consist of women in all stages of their life. I think this is clever because then any woman can relate to at least one of characters, if not more! I enjoyed the sporadic 'appearances' of the other characters from the first book and knowing where they are and how their situations are turning out in the long term. I think I'll definitely be getting the 3rd book in this series and then continuing on to the 4th book!

Book #22: Portrait in Death by JD Robb

I think this is one of my favorites in this series!!! So, the formula still works here, as it has for the whole series: Eve consumed by murder investigation + hunky Irish husband Roarke (grr!) and their crazy insane love = DRAMA!!! But I think this is one of my favorites because we finally see Roarke lose it in this book. He deals with some surprise personal stuff that kinda crops up out of the blue and you really see that wild side of his not just peek through, but come all the way out! Fun read!

Weekend project - Shed

2009-05-12T22:16:00.005-04:00

Our shed entryway had these really cool pieces of slate forming a walking....like so:

While we loved the slate...we felt this curvy pathway was kinda like the road to nowhere. It so well defined but then it just stopped. There's also the messy grass growing up....which was actually covering a significant amount of some of the stones. We've wondered what to do about it.

Then this weekend while Terry was working in the yard and cutting grass, he peeked under one of the stones and discovered that underneath this beautiful slate, was one BIG MEGA ant nest. We're talking....a complex. Not just any complex, a complex complete with a roof deck (that would be the spillovers coming up between the slate pieces) and love den penthouses (that would be the rocks underneath which we found many many eggs, YUCK!).

Enter the pesticide. I'm all about being earth friendly, but I don't want to be chewed alive by ants. So after an hour reading the backs of pesticide bottles in the home improvement store, we opted for a pesticide which seems like it will work well enough to help out with the ants, but won't harm the grass or wildlife (i.e. cat that frequents our backyard). Terry also decided since we had to pull up all the slate, this was an excellent opportunity for a redesign!!!!

After my weeks of watching HGTV and DIY network, we have learned a few things. Thanks to some episodes of Yard Crashers and Desperate Landscapes, coupled with a little research, we had a strategy of resetting the stones in a way that will (hopefully) minimize grass regrowth and insect burrowing.

First we planned our new design...a little more symetrical and intentionally less defined:

Then we got to work!! Terry dug out the ground a few inches so we could lay drainage gravel, packing sand, and then mini marble chips (white top layer). This is kinda the technique you use when laying a paver walkway or driveway. Then we set the slate in the marble rock bed. After some jumping and wiggling the stones, and wetting them down a few times to help everything pack, we were done!!!
What do you think??

To all the Mom's out there....

2009-05-10T11:12:00.002-04:00

I will be honest, I am just really starting my day. At 11am. This is totally not normal for me, but I started taking Zyrtec last week and while it does my allergies good...it totally wipes me out!

I'm having a fun weekend, but today I'm trying to conquer 'my room' Ugh, you should see it! This is the tiny bedroom that is acting as my closet/office/craft space. I can barely walk or find anything. If you don't hear from me again it's because I've been swallowed by the stuff!! I'm trying to clean out and I'm going to try hard to follow these rules of disengagement from orgjunkie's latest post:

1. If it-the thing, the belief or conviction, the memory, the job, even the person-weighs you down, clogs you up, or just plain makes you feel bad about yourself, throw it out, give it away, sell it, let it go, move on.

2. If it (see above!) just sits there, taking up room and contributing nothing positive to your life, throw it out, give it away, sell it, let it go, move on. If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward. Thowing out what’s negative helps you rediscover what’s positive.

3. Don’t make the decision-whether to toss it or keep it-a hard one. If you have to weigh the pros and cons for too long or agonize about the right thing to do, throw it out.

4. Don’t be afraid. This is your life we’re talking about. The only one you’ve got for sure. You don’t have the time, energy, or room for physical or psychic waste.

Book 20: Divided in Death

2009-05-08T23:07:00.002-04:00

I got hooked on the "In Death" series several years ago and read about the first 15 books in order. After that I kinda dropped off it for a while, but reading Remember When last week reminded why I love this series. The main character is homocide cop/detective Eve Dallas. She kicks serious booty. She is married to super-hottie complete with Irish accent, Roarke. They have an interesting relationship, which often adds to the plot line. All of these books are set in the future in New York City, which is also a fun twist...to see how JD Robb (Nora Roberts) portrays the future.
Definitely a good read, and I plan to read a few more recent ones in this series!

May Goals

2009-05-06T19:57:00.002-04:00

I'm jumping on the goal-posting wagon. I figure this will not only help me remember to blog about things...but remember to do them as well. So here are my goals for this month:

1-Finish Sonny's blanket. This is for a care-package a group of on-line knitters is putting together for blues singer Sonny Rhodes, who is having some serious health issues lately. He is most widely-known for recording the theme song to "Firefly" aka the best show on earth that Fox ruined by screwing up their airing and then cancelled due to bad polling. Said show ironically went on to win awards for its one and only season DVD set and has the hugest cult following ever (really, I'm not bitter).
Sadly, this package has been held up by the recent move. The good news is that the panels for the blanket are all made and just have to be blocked and assembled.

2-Finish my "wrapped in hugs" shawl. Made for a wonderful friend...yet another care package I'll be working on.

3-Organize home improvement receipts and documents. I really want to make some kind of binder for this. Any suggestions for a template or example?

4-Bathroom redo. I need to order a new exhaust fan, otherwise we have everything we need for this and just have to get the time. Weekend Warriors are we!

5-Make shades & tie-backs for dining room windows.

6-Finish painting touchups and trimwork in hallway. Main walls and ceiling are done, just need to do trim and touchup around the ceiling.

7-Finish painting touchups and trimwork in kitchen. More extensive here because of louvered doors in front of laundry closet that need a fresh coat.

8-Start crocheting next baby gift.

I could SO keep going here, but really, who has this much time already?? We'll see at the end of the month how much gets done.

MIA!

2009-05-01T19:48:00.002-04:00

So sorry I have been MIA! I'm not only keeping SO busy with the house, not to mention work has been CRAZY, but my Mom and Uncle drove my husband's car up to Boston from Louisiana this week! They arrived last night and I had the day off today and again on Monday to visit. They love the house and the area so far and we are having a blast! I've hardly had time to check my email lately, so blogging has been a far reach, but I promise to return soon!

In the meantime:
Book 18: Remember When by Nora Roberts/JD Robb - GREAT book! So much fun to read! The first half is a typical Nora Roberts current-day intrigue/romance and the second half is a futuristic murder mystery by her other pen name, JD Robb. The cool thing is that the second book picks up way in the future but with a story that is kind of an extension of the first book. It was super fun to see her take one great plot and play it out multiple ways.

Book 19: Just One Look - another murder/mystery novel that was also very good, especially for a beginning author.

Oh! One more thing!! I got mail from Debbie Macomber's website yesterday! Her new Blossom Street book came out this week and she sent out a coupon, bookmark, calendar stickers, and my fav....a knitting pattern! More to come soon!

Finally, closet pics!!!

2009-04-22T20:15:00.004-04:00

OK, here they are as promised. I misplaced my camera Sunday while we were picking up and just found it today, so the pics are later then expected, but here nonetheless!!

Creepy Cat Closet - BEFORE:

This 'before' picture is actually 'after' we cleaned this under the stairs storage closet as best we could (vacuumed, disinfecting wipes, etc) so it doesn't really do justice to the true scariness we first found! But, check out that sad linoleum floor (yea, it's actual flooring looking that bad).

Despite our best cleaning efforts, the closet still smelled like cat pee. This is obviously where the previous owners kept the litter box for their 2 cats. As I started sniffing it out (admittedly gross, but hey, you have to investigate these things) I wasn't surprised to find the smell engrained in the flooring. So our super quick closet cleaning turned into a weekend project!!!

Before tackling the closet, I thought I would document some of the DIY brilliance (please detect major sarcasm here) we have found in various areas of our little house. For instance the shelves:

Obviously constructed with materials on-hand, which I'm totally cool with. But really, do you need that many screws on the makeshift brackets? And what you can't see is that the shelf is 2 piece of scrap wood being held together underneath with a metal light switch plate?

Next, check out this antique paneling, with the collection of nails randomly sticking out:

And honestly, I don't even want to think about what would make those stains on the walls!\

Here is a picture, post shelf removal and linoleum removal. That old glue from the flooring was a pain to get off!!

We used a planer, orbital sander, and chiseled the corners. Look, there's wood underneath!!!

And here is the same closet that night after affordable stick-on tiling!!!

My poor hubby asked me what I thought and I said something along the lines of...the floor looks AWESOME, and now the walls REALLY look crappy, LOL! Another project for another day.

We also got a new door for the closet, but I'm in the process of repainting the doorframe, so it's not hung yet. The walls here will have to wait a while...not high on the priority list. Next on our project list is to start our bathroom redo. We bought the hardware we needed at Lowe's this weekend, so hopefully we'll get started on that soon!

Work in progress!

2009-04-18T21:48:00.002-04:00

We are making some progress! Don't worry I'm taking pictures, so hopefully I can post them tomorrow evening. This weekend we are tackling the "CREEPY CAT CLOSET" This is the closet underneath the stairs where the previous owners kept their cats litter boxes, food bowls, etc. After the nice warm weather we had in Boston Friday, the cat smell was back in the house with a vengeance! But no more I say!! We are taking care of business!!

We also bought most of the hardware we need for our bathroom update. I still have to order a new exhaust fan online (we have a special size wall exhaust, so no one stocks it locally) but hopefully we can start the bathroom next weekend. Woo-Hoo! Stay tuned!

So, it begins.....

2009-04-16T21:22:00.002-04:00

The Hubs and I are now the proud parents of a 1947 Cape Cod home!!

Homeownership is already proving to be exciting and interesting! Nothing is quite what it seems and there is always a surprise around the corner!

View of house from the backyard with our awesome 2-level deck!

I've discovered that you can learn a lot of people by the state of their house when they move out. I've decided that our home's previous owner's were a bit on the lazy side (hope they are not reading this! Seems unlikely!). For instance, I spent 5 or 6 hours cleaning out the refrigerator! I shop-vac'ed the shelves before taking them out to scrub them, SERIOUSLY!! I mean, if you spill something, clean it up!!! While cleaning the fridge out, I started to have allergy issues and when I pulled the grill off the front of the fridge, I vacuumed out about 2 inches of cathair, EWWWW! But now my fridge looks brand-spanking new and I love it!

With continuous cleaning we are starting to get the cat smell out. We still have boxes everywhere because we are cleaning out the closets and attic space before utilizing any of them. We also have some weird furniture issues, like our bed didn't fit up the stairs to the master bedroom and our sofa/loveseat & ancient entertainment center don't really fit in the living room. So, since we're getting new, we haven't unpacked the boxes of DVDs and VHS tapes that go in the entertainment center.

Anyway, it will take a while, but I know it will be perfect and worth the work. When things are a bit more picked up and less embarrassing, I'll be sure to post more pics!

Book 17: Pandora

2009-04-16T20:57:00.002-04:00

Aaahhh, the vampires. I think I have loved vampire books my entire life, for whatever reason. Before Edward and Bella, before Anita Blake and Jean Claude, there was the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles. I read them forever ago and I was happy when the 'new' vampire chronicles were published...what 10-12 years ago now? I was always interested in some of the 'side' characters that made cameos in the Lestat stories, so I bought the Pandora hardback long ago from a discount rack and then it promptly moved into my bookshelf where it waited patiently for about 10 years. Finally, I grabbed it this week and finished it today!!

I've always liked Pandora because she was really the only 'old' and powerful female vampire and she just seemed spunky! I loved reading her history and I was totally riveted and gained a new respect for Marius, who she knew both before and after they became vampires. Really the book was overall quite good, but I wasn't too jazzed about the ending. The demise of Pandora and Marius' relationship is totally random and I hated it. Then, the book just kinda ends. So, the overall story was quite good, but the end was very anti-climactic.

Books 15 & 16!

2009-04-10T19:55:00.002-04:00

Book numero 15 was Kushiel's Avatar, the last of this trilogy. I really sad to see this series end, so I may have to read the other followup trilogy. I must say that I think this book was my favorite of this set. It takes place 10 years after the 2nd book and I LOVED discovering the changes in the characters and their relationships. Joscelin really became the 'perfect companion' for Phedre, but kept enough of his 'fire' to keep things interesting. I loved seeing their interactions with Imriel which was unexpected and dynamic. Of course their adventures were non-stop as usual. I think I may have to keep these books for a while so I can reread from time to time.

Book number 16 was The Last of the Honky-Tonk Angels and I loved this one also! Quite a change after Phedre's story!! This one is about a Southern widow named Lucy who is dating/living with a local country singer. One day after sleeping in a strange woman knocks on their door and leaves his mysterious daughter there and takes off. The rest of the book is about relationships and how they all go about discovering each other and themselves along the way. It's what I would classify a 'feel good' book but with enough heartbreak and intrigue to keep you turning pages.

So, what's next? I have no idea. But, I'm on my way to a relaxing hot bath, which will only be complete with a book to read. My strategy will be to randomly pick one off my shelf and see what happens!!

Moving on up!

2009-04-08T20:50:00.004-04:00

Ah, moving. The big adventure. That is where I have been for the last week, in 'move-land' that place where your sanity gets tossed out the window, you get to touch every piece of anything you've ever owned and forgot about and toss it into a box, and then wonder how you ever accumulated so much stuff to begin with.
So where does this leave us? Well, we are totally moved into our little house. For days I have walked around with the old country song in my head "Love grows best in little houses, with just a few walls to separate where you, eat and sleep so much together, you can't help but communicate..." Yep, that's us, me and hubs. Good thing we love each other so much (only married a year, so as newlyweds we can still be gooey).

Anyway, so, the big question...how did it go? The closing was fine. A few hours with the lawyer going over paperwork and signing papers and that was that. Since then we have done some painting, just a fresh couple of coats in the hallway, living room and kitchen. We wanted to paint the bathroom as well, but that's a whole 'nother story/blog post that I'm sure you'll get to read in the near future. So, once the painting was done, we could move. We took Friday off of work and rented a UHaul for the weekend. Thank goodness for my husband's friend, who helped us without a single complaint and served as entertainment all weekend. I really don't think there is any way we would have finished without him.

So we're moved but no way near organized. Unfortunately we have hit several snags that will require new furniture. We wanted to start getting some new furniture anyway, so not a big deal, but I didn't think we'd have to right away. The biggest thing is that our bed can't get to our bedroom. While we got the mattress up there, the box spring couldn't make it up the stairs and into the room, so we are downstairs for now. Since our queen size bed is in the guestroom, I couldn't put our love seat in there as I had planned, because our sofa/loveseat doesn't quite fit into our living room....not really due to size limitations, but the layout of the living/dining space.

Anyways, cable got connected yesterday, so we're back online! Now you'll get to hear all about our home adventures! Aren't you excited?! I am!

You spin me

2009-03-29T16:29:00.003-04:00

You spin me right round, baby

right round like a record, baby

Right round round round!

HA!! Now you can have song stuck in your head with me! Why? Cuz I've been spinning and I have pictures to prove it! I've just started spinning but I can see how it can become addictive very quickly. I think I'm getting better, but I still have a long way to go. But anyways, let me show you my progress!

So, I decided to start with my sunset meadow wool that I dyed last weekend. I'm going to describe the process here for non-fiber addicted friends. You can see the dyed wool on the top of this picture:

In the middle is a piece of that wool peeled off (think of string cheese...how you pull off chunks of it) and then drafted. Drafting is when you take the wool and gently pull it to make a longer but thinner piece. You can tell by how it's all curled up that it's much longer after it's drafted. You have to be careful when drafting that you don't just pull it apart. The thinner you draft it, the thinner your yarn will be when you spin. This is where I still need work. My yarn tends to vary quite a bit in size with a few really skinny spots where I overdrafted. Once I spin it and realize
'Darn, that's too thin' I don't know that you can really fix it, so I just keep going and figure I'll just use this yarn for something where gauge is not too critical. In the bottom of the picture is some of the spun wool on my spindle, but you can see more of that below:

I've spun a bit more since this picture and I was doing better with being consistent with size there than the 2nd night I worked on it. I think part of it is that I get into a groove...so different day = different groove. I maybe would do better if I sat and spun it all at one time.

That's all for now!!

And I thought dying Easter eggs was fun!!!

2009-03-22T15:34:00.004-04:00

Dying wool!!! Along with my fabulous spindle order that came in Friday, I got an extra goodie, dye tablets and 2 samples of undyed wool as a Thank You for being patient while my spindle was make (it took longer than usual because of a bad batch of paint). Oh my gosh, this was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is my sopping wet 'artistic' shot:

Here is my finished products:
Like every good 'fiber artist' I'm naming my colorways here. On the left is Cottoncandy Dreams, a combo of blue, purple and various shades of pink!! On the right is Meadow Sunset, for obvious reasons, bright greens, yellw and orange.

This was loads of fun! I can't wait to spin them up and see what my yarn looks like!!!!!!!

St. Pat's Cookies!

2009-03-22T15:29:00.004-04:00

I finally posting the cookies I made last weekend to celebrate St. Patrick's day!! I used my Pampered Chef cookie press to make shamrock shaped butter spritz cookies (yes, they ARE as evil as the sound!) and covered them with green sprinkles!!

Oh, the yarny goodness....

2009-03-20T21:13:00.002-04:00

I am supposed to pack for the upcoming move this weekend, clean, pay bills, work on setting up the utility transfers, grocery shop, work on the charity blanket I really need to finish, make the last hat for my coworkers order, etc etc etc. Anyone want to take dibs on what in that list is NOT getting done because of this:

My very own custom-ordered drop spindle:

SOLI sock yarn (this pic is not my actual yarn, but mine looks the same but with a few hints of purple blended in):

SOLI Sock is a luxurious merino/silk blend sock yarn, dyed in unique water-inspired colourways. One skein is 440 yards (402 metres)....more than enough for a pair of socks (even for those of us with "well endowed" feet).50% of the proceeds of SOLI sock sales go to Streams of Life International (SOLI), a non-profit which brings hope to communities in Africa by partnering with community leaders to build wells and sanitation facilities, refurbish local hospitals and provide essential medical equipment, supplies and health education. For more information on SOLI, visit www.estreams.org

I got all this fabulousness from The Cupcake Factory (one of the fabulous Phat Fiber vendors!).

Also, taking mercy on my new spinner-ness and in appreciation of my patience while she made my spindle, she also sent me some undyed wool samples and dye tablets to play with. YAY!!!!!!! I know what I'm doing tomorrow! Or, maybe tonight, hmmmm...gotta run!

Book 14: Kushiel's Chosen

2009-03-19T19:49:00.002-04:00

AAAaaaaaaaahhhhhh, the saga continues!! If it's possible, I may love this one even more than the first book of this series! Phedre's adventures continue and her nerve and intellect are put to the test once more. Being the sappy romantic who LOVES troubled boys (not for real, but fun in fictional setting) I was happy with the traumatic progress of the Phedre-Joscelin relationship. (That sounds pretty sick, but the people who have read this book KNOW what I mean and I don't want to post details that will ruin it for anyone who wants to read it!) I really love the few times that Phedre says, "really with some things he is an idiot." Ah, the "Perfect Companion" so innocent...but not really :) There were shocking moments in this one and I'll admit....I flipped through later pages in the book to see if the names popped up again so I would have a clue as to the resolution. I know, I'm terrible, but I hate waiting!

I've already started the last book of this trilogy, so you can expect to hear about that one in the next week or so.

Sending hugs & prayers to TN!

2009-03-17T21:36:00.002-04:00

So, I don't have much on the knitting/crafting front to update on at the moment. But, I did want to post a shoutout to one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met online, my good friend Dolli:

That is Dolli and her gorgeus hubby Ken on their wedding day, just over a year ago. They have always been to me a true picture of happiness in all facets of life, optimistic, soulful, just beautiful to witness, even in the face of adversity. You would never know by that picture that Ken was fighting a life-threatening disease the last few years. It saddens me say, that all signs indicate that Ken lost his battle with colon cancer yesterday. Our close group of online friends are still waiting patiently for more information. I'm sure Dolli knows that our prayers are with her and their families, but please take a moment to send some happy thoughts up to the Big Guy for this fabulous lady. I know she could use them.

My crafty update, finally!!

2009-03-08T18:45:00.004-04:00

OK, I got off my lazy bum and downloaded these pictures!! These are the things I've worked on the last week or so!!

First up is this little bonnet that I made to match the LSU-colored zigzag baby blankie. When I started the blanket we didn't know if the baby would be a boy or a girl, but now we know it will be a girl. While the blankie is pretty ambiguous, I wanted something girlie! So I took a bit of the leftover yarn and set out to make the bonnet. I added a shell edge and flower to make it extra girlie. VOILA!!!!!

Next I got started on some roving I bought from Giffordables online. I discovered this group from the Phat Fiber Ravelry group. I've toyed with the idea of spinning but was like, Who has the time?! That excuse got old really fast when I saw all the pretty fibers and that little nagging voice in my head started chanting, WANT! WANT! WANT! WANT! I'm weak. So I ordered this floofy fabulousness:

I even got extra floofy fabulousness in the form of 2 sampler mini-batts, that I spun up right away!! I made a homemade top-whorl drop spindle (not pretty, hence, no picture) but I'm holding out on spinning the mega-batt up there until my custom made spindle come in from Cupcake Factory. Anyway, here is my first attempt:

The yarn is quite schlubby (technical term). It's fat in some places, skinny in others, but I love it. I crocheted the little birdie there from the brooch pattern in the Happy Hooker book. The mauvey feather parts are Patons Soy Wool Stripes scraps from another project; eye is an old-as-dirt pearl button. It is SO CUTE!! I have since felted it a bit because it was a little floppy. I think I have enough yarn left to make another one, YIPPEE!!

And last, but certainly not least, I have been practicing my sewing! Below is what I made last weekend with some purple twill fabric I had left over from another project and a patterned 'fat quarter' I bought a while back for no reason other than it looked cool. (Like I said before, weak). I am SO EXCITED that these came out good! I think I can almost say now that I can sew!!

OK, here they are. On the left is a Kleenex tissue holder (I'm sick of the stupid plastic wrapper things that come on the purse packs getting torn up in my purse). On the right is what was supposed to be a passport wallet. I actually made the seam like 1 or 2 mm bigger than it was supposed to be and the passport didn't quite fit. So I got creative with it (explained below)!! At the moment the buttons are purely visual, I don't have a loop sewed on yet for the closure. I have to buy some pretty ribbon or something for that, don't have any on hand.

Opened: So the would-be passport wallet is now a teabag and sugar packet wallet! I love it!! I have 4 teabags on one side (2 per pocket), 4 artificial sweetner packet on the other side (1 pocket) and a Shout wipe in the last pocket (for those 'graceful' moments).

So that's it, you're all caught up now. On the reading front I've moved on to Kushiel's Chosen (Book 2 of that trilogy). It's another long one so it will probably take a couple of weeks to read. I'm expecting the knitting/crafting and reading to slow down a bit due to the upcoming move into the new house, Woo-Hoo!! We move the first week of April, so the countdown is on!!

Books 12 & 13: The Hollow & The Pagan Stone

2009-03-07T17:34:00.003-05:00

So, I blazed through these books and I'm posting about them together. I love Nora Robert's trilogies and this one was good. It was a little different than most of hers I've read in that one book led straight into another time-wise, so it really could have all been one book to me. It was quite a bit predictable plotwise, but the details were fun to read and I was just as engrossed as usual. I got through these extra fast due to my Jeep acting wacky yesterday, making me late for work after 2 hours at the mechanic's shop.

Boring auto shop waiting room + 7:15am +coffee (to make the brain work)=quality reading

In other news, I have been crafty. No really, I haven't just read this week. I even have pictures. But, they're on my camera. I have to get out my laptop to download the pics, so I just haven't yet. Lazy, I know. But tomorrow is Sunday, so there should be ample time for a nice big update. I would have done it today, but I had a great day out and about with my hubby in celebration of the temps reaching 60, OH YEA! We went to the bank, to the craft store so I could get yarn for an upcoming project, to the book store where we went a little nuts, and then we took an afternoon scenic drive and ate out for lunch. Great way to spend an afternoon.

Book #11: Blood Brothers

2009-03-03T21:22:00.002-05:00

Wow, what a quick read! I have yet to read a bad Nora Roberts, so she's kinda my 'go to' author. I got the Sign of Seven trilogy a couple of weeks ago from Paperbackswap. I devoured this book in 2 days on the train. YIPPEE! Now I can move on to book #2 of the series. I'm holding out on Kushiel's Chosen until the weekend when I can get to the bookstore. At this rate, I think I can finish this trilogy by then.

So....my basic formula continues: gooey romance + supernatural 'stuff' = good for me. Do you think I'm stuck in a rut? I just can't stand the thought of reading something 'serious.'

Book #10: Kushiel's Dart

2009-02-27T22:51:00.002-05:00

Oh my, how I love this book!! You may recall that I got this book as part of my V-day swap gift! A long 901 pages, but I can't believe how fast I read it. So this book is a winner in so many ways. As I've mentioned numerous times, I love fantasy novels and even sci-fi ones. I've heard from so many people that Dune is the ultimate and I must read it. Well, I tried and it is not for me. Why? Politics....boring! I couldn't get through the politics! Oddly enough, Kushiel's Dart is all kinds of politics, constantly! But it is handled so well, with just enough intrigue to keep you guessing and wanting to know what's next! Add in there a few star-crossed lovers and some mythos...VOILA, success!! I <3>

And, this totally will not ruin anything for anyone that would be interested in this book. But, Abby, I almost died when Joscelin was going to perform the 'terminus' AGH! Thanks again for the book!!!!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

2009-02-24T22:21:00.002-05:00

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!!

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I'm from the Deep South and grew up in the New Orleans area. So, even though I'm in Beantown now, I think today should be a holiday! Mardi gras is best spent with friend, family, a good drink, and lots of good food! Combine all that with a lawn chair on a parade route, and WOW, what a great time you can have!!

But alas, in New England today is just another day. Fortunately my in-laws surprised my husband and I was a surprise delivery of a King Cake from Diane Randazzo's bakery which is located in my hometown!! Combined with a cup (or two, but who's counting?) of my New Orleans blend coffee and chickory, I'm a happy girl. Really stuffed from eating WAY too much King Cake, but happy :)

it is timely I guess that I debut my completed LSU colored snuggle blanket for my cousin's baby shower. We now know this baby will be a girl, so I'm thinking of making a cute bonnet and/or booties in the purple and gold also. She will be decked out on gamedays!!

As, a special note for Abby, thank you for the new obsession. I'm on page 599, I want a tattoo of my own design inspired by Phedre's marque, and I 'in love' with Joscelin, in a way that I have not appreciated pale skin and pure blondie hair since......hmmm................

Gorgeus bookmark!!

2009-02-22T12:35:00.003-05:00

This week I got another present in the mail, this one from Nicolle, aka kikibowns on Ravelry. This was part of a bookmark swap on Ravelry for the 52 Books in 52 Weeks group. She made me a beautiful felted bookmark titled "Fire Flowers"

This bookmark really is a work of art and I am just blown away to receive such a gorgeus token of literary love! This spunky lady rocks it and I've long admired her fiberart work. I'm so thrilled she was my partner in this swap that I'm giving her a shout-out! First off, you should definitely visit her blog, which like every good blog, chronicles her adventures in knitting and life. I have to just say that generally I have come to love blogs. I always get inspiration for different projects (crafty and otherwise) from my bloggy friends, and her blog is no different.

Second, you must check out her Etsy store. When I first saw her store a month or so ago was when I decided that she is truly a fiber artist in my eyes. Felting is somewhat intimidating, at least to me. I worry about the size and how much will this fiber felt, etc etc and shy away from lots of felting projects because they are just plain daunting. But I LOVE her felted & appliqued handbags! These rock and I plan to own one someday.

So, all that being said, I'm showing off the bookmarks I made for my partner (below; still a secret because I don't think she's gotten them yet). I made a few because I was just having fun playing. The two left ones are made from card stock, with rub-on graphics and yarny tassels. The right one is a fabric tab I found and sewed to a piece of felt for backing. Then, again, a yarn tassel. I hope my partner likes them and enjoys using them this year for her reading challenge!

Help me resist!

2009-02-16T22:20:00.002-05:00

This is all about convincing myself....I don't need more yarn. I may want more yarn, but I don't need it. And when the Phat Fiber sample box of the month goes on sale in 6 minutes, I don't need any of those bunches of samples of luxury yarns, hand lotion, patterns, etc for $33 (including shipping!). And I certainly don't need the batts of roving since I don't spin....though I'd love to try spinning. But with a new house and move so near in my future who has the time. There will be other months with awesome sample boxes. I don't need to order this one. Besides I ordered yummy bamboo yarn on Ebay yesterday so that is my splurge of the week. If I type for 5 more minutes, the sale will be on and well on its way to over.
My new commuter bag came in today. It's awesome! I put all my stuff in it and there's still so much room. I think I'm in love with it!! That was another splurge, although one that was very much needed. Unlike the yarn, which I don't need. Cause I have lots of yarn.
Ok, 2 more minutes. I mean, I can watch right? Just cuz I watch the Etsy shop, doesn't mean I'm going to buy anything. It's like window shopping. I'm good at that.

I think the crisis has been averted. I have talked myself out of it. I'll look, but no buying. I already have yummy yarn waiting to become beautiful things. I'm good. Thanks for listening.

The recent source of my excitement and insanity!!

2009-02-15T20:45:00.002-05:00

We are buying a house! I haven't announced this yet because I was waiting for all the logistics to play out. Getting the home loan was even more fun and exciting than I expected it to be (detect major sarcasm, please!), but we finally got approved last week. The home inspection went well and the sellers agreed to all the maintenance requests we had, so I just couldn't be happier. So here she is, our 1.5 story 1947 Cape Cod style 1192 sq ft home-to-be:

We took this picture at the open house:

And this is the picture from the weblisting of the house minus snow:

Obviously we could use some curb appeal, so I've already bought a landscaping book. The monster bushes hiding the house have to go!

So, consider yourself forewarned! There will likely be many home decor and renovation blog posts in my future! We close on March 31, so you have until then to prepare yourself! But not really, since I'm already obsessing about paint colors, furniture placement.....I'm ready to move now.

The Bag Tag

2009-02-14T17:47:00.002-05:00

So.........my good friend Kim tagged me in her "Bag Tag" so here goes:

Here are the rules for the tag:
1. Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house. No cheating!

2. I want to know how much it costs =). And this is not to judge. It is for entertainment purposes only. So, spill it. And, if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I'd love to hear it.

3. Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know what the heck you're showing everyone your bag.

KellieBelle's Bag:

Well, not surprising to those who know me, I'm just flat out breaking the rules on this. I can't find the cord to my camera, so no picture downloads for the time being. But, I will tell you about my bag and then show you the fab new bag that will be delievered to me any day now.

First, I have always carried a purse, like since Jr. High. I have lots of bags because I like to have options, but tend to stick with one for a while, then change out. Lately, instead of a 'purse' I have what I like to call, the "everything commuter bag" because, let's face it, if you commute to work and are gone 12 hours a day like me, you need a drug store, grocery store, and recreational material all in your bag!! So, right now the commuter bag is a zipper top tote bag. It was a gift, so it was FREE! Right now in it is:

bag of meds: pepto-bismol tablets, ibuprophen, Kleenex, Emergen-C Immune Defense drink mix, nail file, allergy meds, contact lens drops, Shout wipe, band-aids, chapstick, and what I like to call my "girly stuff" for that time of the month

small cosmetic bag with powder, blush, & a couple lipsticks

Moleskine city book of Boston-complete with maps, bus and train schedules

my gloves

cell phone

keys

mega-wallet: my large wallet, which can double as a wristlet purse if I go our for lunch

book and magazine

notes from work (cause I'm doing some work from home this weekend)

Work ID and key

bottle of water

and usually during the week I have a lunch bag and south beach snack bar for the train ride home

Now I am constantly on the hunt for the perfect everything commuter bag, because while the size of the tote bag is perfect, the organiztions is a mess. I mean, think of all that stuff up there being in a tote bag when I need my keys....which inevitably fall to the bottom everytime. It drives me crazy! So last week I ordered this little beauty (in eggplant, cause I'm on a purple kick!) from eBags. To appreciate, you really have to click on the link and check out the pictures of the inside!!

Book 9

2009-02-12T20:03:00.002-05:00

Another one bites the dust!

A super quick and fun read!! Book 9 was:

What a great story about a cancer survivor who opens her own yarn shop in an effort to 'reaffirm' her life and do something she loves. The story revolves around her, her relationship with her sister, and her growing friendship with the 3 women who join her knitting class. All the women are wildly different, but become friends anyway.

I love reading. I love knitting. It's not a big surprise that I love this heartwarming book.

I also love that the author has her own website including an online knitting club. COOL!

Caffeine Addicts V-day swap!!

2009-02-10T22:08:00.002-05:00

So, on Ravelery and the Knot/Nest and other such groups we occasionally do gift swaps. It's all about the joy of giving and the surprise of receiving a thoughtful gift and making new friends. I love swapping because I learn something new or discover new obsessions everytime. Well this swap is no let down! The Caffeine Addicts group on Ravelry did a Valentine's themed swap. After filling out a brief survey our names got thrown in a hat and randomly distributed. The secret of not knowing who has your name is half the fun! Well my surprise gift arrived last night and I wasted no time digging in to discover the goodies! And let me just say, my swapper did such a great job putting together this package for me and included little notes with everything!! Here is a run down of the goodies:

the coffee: well, can't have a caffeine swap without the coffee! I received some illy espresso coffe and some Caribou Decaf blend (because my sneaky swapper noticed in another post that I've been looking for a 'good' decaf. Due to health issues, I'm supposed to limit my caffeine intake)
Chocolate: awesome good dark chocolate. One bar is half gone....in fact I'm munching on it now and it's SO GOOD! I love that for V-day the wrappers have a love poem printed inside them, so cute.
Yarn: sigh, oh the soft squishiness. I got a skein of hand-dyed Plymouth Baby Alpaca in a gorgeus colorway, full of jeweltones! My partner also spied on Ravelry that I have not yet attempted a lace project, but want to really badly, so she sent me a hank of Malabrigo lace weight in Holly Hock, a gorgeus purple! I love it! My first Malabrigo!! I have the yarn sitting on my desk while I peruse patterns online looking for 'the one' for each yarn, then I pet the yarn, then I hold it to my cheek. We're bonding, this yarn and I. Yea, my husband thinks I'm nuts, but the yarn-o-holics out there understand.
Kushiel's Dart: YAY for a new book! This will definitely be on my reading list for my 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. It's a fantasy novel, so it's right up my alley!
Apple body cream and Vanilla lip balm: Yum, no further explanation needed.

Thank you SO MUCH to my swap partner! You're the best! I absolutely love everything :) and if this really is a package of all your favorite things....well we're bound to be great friends!

Book #8

2009-02-09T21:30:00.002-05:00

Wow, now this was a COOL book! What an unexpected find. I got this book on a whim one night in Barnes and Noble as my hubby was adding to his Terry Pratchett collection. I was perusing the fantasy books and picked this one up. It's another of my favorite type that combines a little fantasy and a little romance to give you a great novel. However, this one was quite unexpected because it actually has some great historical references too! The basic synopsis is that two Guardians (basically a Scottish witch and a mage of varied descent) have intertwined destinies that revolve around their role in abolition. That's where the historical part comes in. They time travel, combining their magical powers with those of others to protect those involved in the anti-slavery movement in London during critical times of abolition. Many of the people they encounter along the way are historical figures, so I was definitely exposed to some aspects of history that I hadn't known of. I think this is FABULOUS!! Maybe it's because I'm a scientist and between 4 years of college and 6 years of grad school....I had 10 long years of serious reading. Now I hate to read anything serious. So, not to look anti-intellectual (yea, I just made up that word) or anything, but I will grab a smutty romance or a fantasy novel light years before I'll grab a biography or historical account. Sorry, just the way I am.

But this little beauty brought me some education while entertaining me, I like it!

Recipe Card Resource

2009-02-07T19:43:00.006-05:00

I love to look on-line for great recipes! I am also in a recipe swap group on Ravelry, where we swap recipes every month and each month the theme changes. I quickly decided that writing our recipes......well, it's tiring. Yep, I'm a wimp. Trying to fit my fluffy bubbly writing on a 3 x 5 recipe card with tiny lines, it's just plain HARD! So I've been looking online for templates that are free, can be filled in and printed. I just have to share the COOLEST little website I have come across!! It's an online demo of a program that you can subscribe to. Now, if I was a pro, I might actually cough up the bucks and do that, but being my amateur and too busy to cook more than once or twice a week self, the freebie version is just fine! Here's a couple of cards I just made. Once you make enter them in, you just print, cut and voila, recipe card! I didn't think of it this time, but next time I'll definitely print on cardstock!!

mmmm, hot pretzels....

I love honey, so I HAVE to try this recipe from my friend Ashley's blog:

Perhaps sad, but this is the biggest excitement of my Saturday! Enjoy and let me know if you know of other templates out there!

Book #7

2009-02-03T19:30:00.002-05:00

So...I joined a reading group of the goal of reading "52 Books in 52 Weeks." Now, I may eat these words later, but I don't think this will be a big deal for me. I read everyday during my commute to work, so that's 1-1.5 hours reading time automatically built into my day! So, I just finished Book #7, Hot Stuff!

WARNING! I like to post the cover of the books I write about. It kinda helps me keep it all straight because I'm a very visual person. So, be forewarned, if you Google Image search for 'hot stuff'.......well, you're going to see some......interesting stuff. Lesson learned, include the author name in the search.

So this was a super quick read and was a fun little book. I want to bump into "Mr. Yummy" myself (read and you'll find out why!). And while I want a puppy SO badly, I don't think I want a 'Beast!'

Blog Revamp....

2009-02-01T16:56:00.002-05:00

I'm consolidating....simplifying...whatever you want to call it. I love projects, I'm a self-proclaimed project-o-holic. I started a 2nd blog for a reading group I'm participating in (yep, there's a new project for you), but, let's be real. I have a hard time keeping up with one blog, myspace and facebook. Why on earth did I think a 2nd blog was a good idea?! So I'm revamping 'KellieBelle Knits' to the new KellieBelle Karma. The address will stay the same, but the new title reflects my state of mind....my life should be simple, uncomplicated, then maybe I can keep up with it. Of course I'll still have lots of knitting news (let's hope!), but also book updates, cooking, other crafting, etc. It should be exciting!

Sew, knit & Crochet!!

2009-01-25T17:23:00.002-05:00

That's right folks! These days I am doing it all!!

First off is a gift I have yet to stick in the mail: a toddler sized, LSU themed fair isle baby hat. This is my first attempt at fair isle knitting and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I really need to go ahead and put this in the mail!!

Ta-Da! Here's it is:

Next up is a retro pattern apron that I sewed. This is my first 'real' sewing project. By 'real' I mean: not a big rectangle curtain, from a pattern, and something I will actually allow to be seen in public because it doesn't look like a 10-yr old went nuts on a sewing machine. This is for a piratey-themed swap that I'm in so hopefully the lucky recipient will like it!

Last is a work-in-progress. This is an LSU theme/colored wavy baby blanket that I am crocheting. Everyone in my family is still insisting on popping out little babies like it's going out of style, so I think like last year, I will have a steady stream of baby gifts in my project list.
OK, that about catches everyone up. I have one more finished project, but no pictures to share. It is my cavern cardi, which 'hibernated' for many months before I finally finished up the sleeves. I think it came out great for a first sweater and I've already worn it a couple of times.

Finally...starting this new year....

2009-01-24T21:03:00.004-05:00

OK, I got my camera back and have lots to update!! So, this might go in stages!! My friends on Ravelry have probably already seen these, but that's OK, appreciate my FO's again!

First is the Isabella hat that I test-knit for my Rav-friend Rilana. It was a super quick, easy and fun knit! I love the texture, it really comes out GREAT for how easy it is.....makes me look like a pro. I LOVE IT!! It is Twilight inspired so I used some sparkly white yarn I had left over from another project....reminds me of our fav sparkly vampire!!

Next is a Speedy Cable Cowl I made quite quickly to help with the cold New England winds!! It's very soft and squishy and I love it:

That's all I'll post for now, but look forward to another post soon....like tomorrow!!

I'm a bad girl.

2008-12-29T20:35:00.005-05:00

I have not posted in over a month, sad.....

The problem is that I went home to the Deep South for 10 days to visit my family or an early Christmas, and forgot my camera :( It makes me sad to post without pictures, so I just haven't posted. But it's driving me crazy, so here is a creatively done update:

(1) Went home for cousin's wedding, YAY! Here's me and the hubbie all dolled up and ready to party:

(2) It snowed in the South! Yep, you heard that right, my parent's in South Louisiana (not too far from New Orleans!) got 6 inches!! Here's my cutie nephew and his best friend, the snowman:

(3) We celebrated our 1st anniversary, YAY!!!!!

And of course, we had Christmas!! And during all the while I have been knitting. I am very close to finishing my cavern cardi, and I made the Isabella hat as a test-knitter for fellow crafter and Twilight fan, Rilana. I hope to get my grubby hands on a camera and post pictures soon!!

Oh happy day, Twilight!

2008-11-22T22:29:00.004-05:00

Saturday was a great day for several reasons!! First I got to spend a day with the girls. I headed over to my friend Mel's house for a 'nestie' get-together. These are wonderful ladies I met on the December 2007 board on the knot while I was planning my wedding. After I moved to Boston for my new job, we were able to all meet and have been having fun since then. There we are today at our November get-together!

We are teaching Marilyn how to crochet, so look for some crochet scarves in the coming months!

After the get-together Mel and I had lunch and then went to see the Twilight movie!!

I LOVE the Twilight series of books and couldn't wait for the movie. I was not happy with the casting, but wanted to see it anyway and WOW, the actors did their homework. They may not have looked like I pictured the characters, but the personalities were definitely right. I know there are a lot of critics out there that are hating on the movie for various reasons. All I can say is, I didn't expect to like it, I am very pleased and I think I will definitely own and love this movie, although not for the same reasons as the book. That being said, there really was not a lot of time for character development, so for non-readers a lot of the little things may not have made as much sense.

My first potholders!

2008-11-16T21:34:00.003-05:00

So, I've heard from a lot of people that once you try hand-knitted/crocheted potholders and dishcloths, you'll never go back to the storebought ones. Only one way to find out, right?

So here they are, made in 100% cotton yarn so they are super washer friendly and can handle the heat! First is a doubled over square potholder.

Front:
Back:

Second is what I have dubbed, "Mr. Turtle" His tail makes the loop so you can hang him. I think his feet are a little tiny, but hey, my feet are a little big, so who am I to complain. I think he's a cutie! I'm tempted to sew on googly eyes!

My name is Kellie.....

2008-11-09T16:10:00.002-05:00

and I'm a YARNOHOLIC!!!!

It's official. I decided to spent a significant part of my Sunday organizing the 'craft area' of my closet. Oh my gosh....I didn't realize how much yarn I had collected since I started knitting!!! There's the leftovers from finished projects, the stash of yarn for the inevitable baby gifts, the bought specifically for a project that I haven't started yet yarn, and the what can I make with this it's the coolest ever yarn group!

What prompted all this? I ran to the craft store to buy thread to sew a button. It sounds so harmless!! But I can't go to the store and NOT go to the knitting section. So there I was, perusing the usual suspects, when BAM!! Glaring at me & calling my name was a sign for a sale. Only $1.49 a ball for 100% squishy wool in the coolest happiest colors ever!! I had to get some!! (I bought nearly all they had out, 8 balls....it's usually $5.99 each!)

So, I organized the closet. I pulled everything out, sorted, packed, etc...you know, cleaned it the 'right way.' Here's my handiwork. Don't judge me by my yarn gluttony. I am officially now on a yarn "diet" until I clear out some of this stash!!

Warm & Woolie Hat!!

2008-11-04T20:47:00.002-05:00

It is getting cold pretty quickly in Mass!! So, I had to knit a new warm cap. I especially needed one that would cover my ears because....well, BRR!

So, this is the hat I decided on. It was a SUPER easy cable pattern, 18 seconds to sunrise. I used Moda Dea's Tweedle Dee yarn, which is a 'shaded' yarn. I modified the pattern as follows:

I purled one row on each earflap before the “row 1:knit” I used the Patons wool in complementing colors together (1 strand of each) and did one round of half double crochet with size J hook. Finally I braided the ties instead of i-cord.

I love it!!

Can the girl cook?

2008-10-27T22:42:00.003-04:00

We got a big surprise in the mail this week.....a belated wedding gift!! WOW, I am so excited!! First because it's a great gift. Second because I was looking at the Better Home and Gardens New cookbook pink edition in the bookstore the night before the package arrived. No joke!!! And Third, a taste of home sweet home Louisiana! Hopefully this will lead to more future cooking posts!

YeeHaw, ride 'em cowgirl!!

2008-10-26T22:41:00.002-04:00

Here it is, my latest and greatest of the baby presents!! These are for my cousin's baby girl who is scheduled to make her debut in December. I think these came out pretty good for my first attempt at them!!

Ah, autumn!

2008-10-25T07:45:00.003-04:00

Well I have fallen sorely behind with blogging, but for good reason! Last weekend my husband and I went hiking in New Hampshire!! I must say it is SO NICE to both be out of school and have real jobs and plan weekend getaways like this. We left on Saturday morning and drove up, which was not bad at all, about 2-2.5hr drive. We got off the interstate and went through Bristol, NH. It's a small town, but so cute and we stopped at a local diner for lunch, but they serve breakfast all day! Oh my YUM! It was so good and I got a cup of locally brewed White Mountain coffee to boot!

We went to the scultured rocks geologic site to 'play' for a couple of hours. It's a gorgeus are, literally steps off the road and we climbed down some of the rocks for close to the cold water!

Then we drove to the AMC Mount Cardigan Lodge to check in. It is near lots of trail heads and has rooms you can rent. During the full operating season they serve family style meals, which was fun because we got to meet a lot of people there. I was happy to meet some other knitters and we spent a few hours sitting around the den area knitting and chatting.

Sunday we hiked up Mount Cardigan via Firescrew. It was a graded as a moderate hike but was pretty vigorous for a while there! Turned out to be perfect for us. It was a 5.7 mile loop that hit both the Firescrew and Cardigan peaks. Here is DH resting on top of Mount Cardigan where we stopped for lunch.

It was a great weekend getaway!! On our way back to the interstate we stopped at a local apple farm for some hot cider, which was the perfect end to our day!!

In knitting news, I am finished with baby gifts for the moment, YAY! I finished the Cowgirl boots this week but still need to upload pictures. I'm hoping to make a few super warm hats now because New England is having cold mornings now!!

Fire and Ice Pillow

2008-10-11T22:27:00.004-04:00

This week I finished the Fire and Ice Pillow test-crochet for the TKB group on Ravelry. I was testing the pattern, which was great! It was very simple and I ended up with a very huggable pillow!

The pattern is inspired by Bella's two "loves" in the Twilight series.

Jacob, who is a werewolf, so here's a fuzzy brown side:

And Edward, who is a sparkly vampire, so his side has a diamond pattern and, though you can't tell, it's made with a sparkly white yarn:

Side View:

Apple butter, YUM YUM!

2008-10-11T21:21:00.006-04:00

If you saw my last post, you know that we went apple picking last week. Well I'm finally getting around to doing something with all of those apples. Fortunately a few we picked were a little under-ripe, so now they are PERFECT!!

My first apple dish is apple butter! First you have to make apple sauce and then basically sweeten and spice it up then concentrate it down. So I took some pictures along the way so that next time I'll know just what it's supposed to look like!

1-boil apple slices in apple juice and sugar! Notice that I left the skins on. I read that leaving the skins on give the apple butter a better color. Also notice I have a combination of different type of apples...this is supposed to give a better flavor.

After boiling and mashing with a potato masher:

After blending:

I choose to use a blender to grind up the skins since I don't have a food mill. This worked great!! There are a few little chunks but tastes and looks really nice!

Final Product!!!

I started with a dozen apples and ended up with about 9 and a half, half-pint jars. They are cooling now. It is a little runnier than I wanted, more like thick sauce. I'm hoping it thickens up more as it cools. I think it will taste great on hot biscuits; my husband is hoping it stays a little runny so he can use it as ice cream topping!!

Peeking out of the back there is a jar of the raspberry jam!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDIT: Kim wants to try this and needed to know how much sugar, so I'm just posting the entire recipe!! This is from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book

4.5lbs tart cooking apples, cored and quartered (about 14 medium)

4 cups apple cider or apple juice

2 cups sugar

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

.5 tsp ground cloves (I didn't use this)

.5 tsp ground allspice

1-in 8 or 10 qt pot combine apples and cider or juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 min, stirring occasionally. Press through food mill or sieve (I used a blender). Return to pot. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Bring back to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, uncovered over very low heat 1.5 hours or until very thick, stirring often.

2-Ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims; adjust lids. Process in boiling water canner 5 minutes (start timing when water boils). Remove jars and cool on racks. Makes 8 half pints.

Note: I don't have a "canner", just use a big pot and make sure your jars are completely submerged!!

And....another baby present!

2008-10-06T21:48:00.003-04:00

This one was a quick crochet project. Thank goodness since this was last minute! I made it this weekend and put it in the mail today, whew!!

Also, the highlight of my weekend was apple and raspberry picking at Connors Farm.

Aww...baby apples!!

My hubby picking raspberries....

Our bountiful harvest....

They are now residing in jars of jam, YUM!!

Whoa BABY!!!

2008-09-28T09:07:00.004-04:00

Wow, there is something in the water in LA this year!! I have so many cousins having babies that I'm becoming a baby present making factory here!! Fortunately I've finished the first 2 (YAY!!!), which leaves me with..........well 4 or 5 I can think of off the top of my head (just added another one yesterday, LOL!! hmmm, maybe I'll have to look for some LSU patterns...).

Here is a granny square blanket and matching bunny (my first stuffed animal/toy!!) I made for my cousin Natalie's baby girl, due to arrive on Halloween!!

The set:

Close-up of the scallop edge:

The bunny!! My husband has named him Frank:

And second is this super cute pair of booties, my first baby booties!! These are for Mr. Luke Slay Hammond, who made a very early arrival but is doing great and is cute as a button!! I'm very happy with these. They were super easy so I'm definitely keeping this pattern for reference!!! Can't find the link at the moment (it's on my other computer) so check out my Ravelry profile for the pattern or send me a message and I'll post it!!

Now I'm working on a pair of baby cowboy booties in funky hot pink and white, Woo-Hoo!!

In Memory

2008-09-18T22:15:00.003-04:00

My sweet friend Jill passed away yesterday morning, after a nearly year-long fight with cancer. Jill was a graduate of Miami University and earned her Masters Degree from the University of Cincinnati. Jill was a special education teacher who loved her work. She was diagnosed just 2 months before her wedding to her brave and wonderful husband, J.T. For her friends, Jill was always a ray of sunshine, she loved life and had cheerful words for everyone each and every day. We all certainly miss her.

J.T. has started a Stand up to cancer team in her memory, with the goal of raising money for cancer research and increasing the awareness of this rare but very serious form of cancer. I have already joined and hope my friends will too. Jill was a fighter til the end and I am proud to take up her fight now!!

Prayers for Jill

2008-09-14T08:41:00.007-04:00

My sweet friend Lauren wrote this and I thought it said everything I'd want to say.

Thinking of one of my very dear friends....

Over the past year and a half, I’ve gotten to know a great group of girls. We all got married in December and had lots of fun talking throughout wedding planning. Since our weddings, we’ve continued our conversations and now talk about buying houses, getting pets, having babies, etc. We have really all grown very close, even though most of us have never met.
We were all shocked to find out one of our own, Jill, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer last October at the young age of 24. She has been so brave and positive throughout this. Always cheerful and looking on the bright side.

Although there has been some progress in the fight on her cancer over the past few months, they were told on Monday that her recent symptoms are indicating the “end of her life cycle.” At this point, the doctors don’t think there’s anything they can do for her.
Our hearts are breaking for Jill and her husband, J.T. right now. Please keep them and their families in your prayers.

MKL Cowl

2008-09-02T20:53:00.002-04:00

I just finished my first test-knit last night for the TKB group on Ravelry. It's all about knits that are inspired by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series. So I made the Meine Kalte Liebe ("My cold love" in German) Cowl. It was a great knit, quick and easy. I used Paton's Classic Merino wool in black and I just love how the solid color shows off the texture of the knit. Granted I tried this on in September, but I must say, this puppy is warm! I'll definitely need it in the fall with my new short 'do!!

Hat & Baby Fish!!

2008-08-22T21:43:00.002-04:00

YAY! I got my camera back and here's the hat I made last week!!

(The goofy smile is because I was watching Chapelle show reruns!)

I love the hat, I think it will be really cute for the fall.

So, I'm still reading but on the 4th and final book of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. I'm sure I'll finish it over the weekend. I really have no weekend plans except to go to the grocery and for a haircut.

So, nothing too exciting to report, EXCEPT............babies!!

I came home yesterday to find that my pregnant guppy finally had her babies! I've been watching her for weeks! I was so excited, I really hope a few survive. I counted 10 but they're so tiny, there may be a few more.

30 YEARS YOUNG BABY!!

2008-08-16T15:40:00.002-04:00

Yep, yesterday was my big 3-Oh!! My best friend called and asked how it felt to be 30. My reply: GREAT!! I'm happy and healthy, how could I ask for more?!

So, it was a busy week, highlighted by my work treating me out to lunch for my B-day. I had a personal pizza and cannoli for dessert (YUM!). I got the cutest card ever and a bag of chocolates!! It was fab!!
I am missing my hubby, who is out on an adventure! He is a crewman on the Friendship replica tradeship and sailed to New Hampshire for a tall ships festival this weekend. Then they are sailing to Maine for the week. I know he is having a blast!! He has our digital camera, so I am not able to show you my latest FO, the Crochet Toque. I <3 it!! I made it with the same yarn as my wristwarmers from last week. Now I just need a scarf and I have a whole set!!

That is the only yarn work I really got to do this week. I've been spending a lot of time reading. I'm hooked on the Twilight series. I read the first 3 books last spring, but decided to re-read them before reading the last and final book, which just came out a few weeks ago. I am delighted to say that the books are just as enjoyable (and addictive) the second time around! I'm sure they will continue to distract me from my knitting/crocheting for another week or so.

My first handwarmers!!

2008-08-09T20:11:00.002-04:00

First, this is why everyone should come hang out at my place:

Pasta salad and snack tray

Virgin (non-alcoholic) fruit spritzer, YUM

Carrot Cake!!

Why all the yum-yums? My local friends from the knot came over to discuss knitty things!! We didn't actually start any projects at this first group meeting, but we did have a big discussion on knitting vs. crochet and which one is really easier to learn first. I learned to knit first and was totally confused by crochet when I first tried it. But this most recent time around, it was much easier to pick up (thanks to all those master knitter/crocheters who put how-to videos on youtube!). I can definitely see why so many people say that crochetting is easier, but I didn't find knitting to be all that difficult to learn. It just required a little practiced coordination and patience.

So, on the project front. Here is an update on everything currently on the needles/hooks:

1-HP Prisoner of Azkaban scarf - sadly untouched for quite some time, but to be picked up again soon so I can finish it before the next movie comes out

2-Cavern cardi - also untouched since my last post, but oh so close to done. As soon as I finish this dang baby blanket

3-Baby Blanket - Going great!! I do need to finish up quite soon, but it's coming along nicely

4-Bunny rabbit - Decided to make my first toy to match the baby blanket. So far I have the body and head done

And, just started and finished this week.........
my first handwarmers!!

Watching Serendipity:

This was also my first 'public' crafting experience. I crocheted these in two days during my train commute. I think crocheting on the go is much easier to handle than knitting on the go would be. I did get lots of 'looks' but they were mostly from women who looked curious to see what I was making and how. At first it felt weird, but then I decided I didn't mind so much because if I saw someone making something, I would be curious too! Overall, I can see where this could become a habit!!

One more thing...

2008-08-03T21:27:00.002-04:00

(Just sharing with my girls!)

I saw The Dark Knight in IMAX last weekend! It was truly the most awesome movie ever. All I can say is:
Christian Bale + Lamborghini = SUPER hotness!!
And, I can't believe he was arrested for assault because he cursed at him Mom:
1-she was beotching about his wife, so she probably deserved it
2-in the good old USA, if cursing in a loud voice at a parent was considered assault I think half of the population would be incarcerated!!
Just my 2 cents.

Weekend update!

2008-08-03T20:33:00.004-04:00

Time for another update!! And, no I haven't finished the sweater. I know, I know, but it's almost finished, really! I am totally finished with one sleeve and started the second sleeve. It really was more challenging than I thought it would be to finish off the sleeve. Knitting in the round with DPNs wasn't so bad until I got to the seed stitch edge. I ended up ripping out the cuff several times before I got it right.

Anyway, it is not finished for 2 reasons.

1-the poison ivy. SO miserable!! I didn't get to knit or crochet for over a week and I was seriously going nuts!!

2-During the poison ivy non-knitting week, I found out about my cousin's baby shower in 2 weeks! So, I'm working on a quick baby blankie. I'm doing crochet because I thought that would go faster. I'm basically just making a big granny square and I'm going to put a scalloped border around it. Here is how it looks:

(it looks wonky in the pic because I didn't really pull it out straight, so it's kinda crooked)

In non-yarn related news, this weekend my hubbie and I went to the Salem Maritime Festival. It was so cool!! The star of the show was the Friendship and my husband is on the volunteer crew!

He had a blast working on the boat and even went 'aloft' (for the non-sailors, that means he climbed the mast and worked on one of the sails) for a demonstration. But, was Kellie around to capture that Kodak moment, NNnnnnnnnnoooooooooooo!! Where was I?? Being amazed in the craft booths of course!! I saw lots of great stuff, but this stole the show: bobbin thread lace.

This is nuts! And I thought I really practiced patience with my knitting and crocheting! There is no way I could do this.

So that's been the last week or so in a nutshell. My poison ivy is finally just about gone, whew. And I've made a few shopping trips to buy yarn for upcoming projects!! Now, I'm looking forward to next Saturday when some friends are coming over for our first knitting gettogether!

No scratching allowed :(

2008-07-24T22:25:00.003-04:00

Finally, a new update!! I've been thinking about it for quite a while, but I'll be honest, I've been lazy about taking pictures and I just feel like I shouldn't really post without a picture. Weird, I know, but it's like, an unspoken blog etiquette/taboo kind of thing to me.

Anyways, I have not gotten a huge amount of knitting done lately. There are a few reasons. For one, I've been keeping busy!! Last weekend we went to the annual BBQ/cookout at my boss' house.

**NERD ALERT SIDENOTE**
Has anyone noticed that grammar rules are changing? I learned that to form the possessive of a word that ends in the letter "s" you just add an apostrophe.
Example: boss'
Now I see people ALL the time forming the possessive with apostrophe "s"
Example: boss's
This is just not right to me, I can't do it.
**END NERD ALERT**

So, we had to bring something for the picnic, so I made cupcakes!!

YUM! I love the funfetti sprinkle icing, but I secretly longed for pretty cupcake flag decorations like my friend Lauren sells in her Etsy shop. They would have been so cute! Next time I have to plan ahead!!

So, why did I tell you this long story in regards to my lack 0' knitting. Well, I got poison ivy at the picnic :( YIKES!! It freakin itches like MAD! I woke up Tues. morning full of what I thought was bug bites. Yea, that was pretty freaky. Come to find out later, it's poison ivy. I've been wearing long sleeves all week because it looks like I have some disease. Fortunately for me, it's been rainy/overcast in the Northeast and it's always cold at work, it hasn't been too bad. I'm now covered in Calamine lotion and I'm refraining from knitting because I don't want to get Calamine or poison ivy goo all over my sweater.

But, although I don't have a picture, I can tell you that I finished one sleeve and just started the second one, YAY! Also, a new Michaels store in my neighborhood just had a grand opening sale last weekend!! I got a coupon for 50% off one item. So, I went and got the cable needle set I've been eying for ages, but refused to pay full price for! AND, I wasn't the only thrifty knitter in the area, I got the LAST set!! I had to stand in line an hour and a half (no joke) but I was not missing out!

Lastly, my newest venture is to learn a bit of crochet. I've been wanting to do this since I bought a small set of hooks for my knitting bag, to catch all those dropped stitches! Well, I spent some time on the web and YouTube and lo and behold, I learned to make Granny Squares:

Maybe not perfect, but great to me! I've made about 10 (it goes so quick) and I'm looking forward to joining them all into an afghan throw!! I had to force myself to stop making them so I could get back to my sweater.

Now, you are all caught up, and I'm itching again, so it's time to redose the calamine before bed!

Oh my!

2008-07-05T20:03:00.003-04:00

I have been a BAD blogger!! I am getting settled in quite nicely in Boston and now I'm getting used to my new work schedule. I have a train commute every morning and evening, which can make for a long day when the subways are backed up. But on a bright note, the trains provide me with excellent reading time, so I am burning through books!!

I have been keeping up with some knitting. First, the booty update. I finished the 2nd bootie. I held it next to the first one and realized (1) I made a mistake halfway through, opps!! (2) on the first one I interpreted the pattern differently and did the YO's with a knit stitch in between them. So, they didn't match :( SO, RIP RIP RIP it went and now it's a big pile of yarn. I did cast on again, but was a little disgruntled, so I put this project aside for a little while.

But, the cavern cardi is looking GREAT! Here are some pics of my progress!!

I just finished the main body piece of the sweater, YAY! I'm SO excited because it looks like my gauge is OK and it's going to fit, YIPPEE! Here is a closeup of the stitches. The yarn is JoJoLand 100% wool in Red-Plum:

So, tonight, while watching Harry Potter on the family channel, I'm knitting-in-the-round with DPNs for the first time. Ouch!! Quite tricky, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I'm 4 rounds in and it looks to be working.

Hopefully next time I check in you can see a sleeve. If you're lucky, maybe you'll see two sleeves. Or a baby booty. Until then, happy knitting ladies!

Picking up the needles....

2008-06-06T08:12:00.002-04:00

Boston Love!

Finally, we are moved! It was a 1500 mile drive and took 2.5 days. We drove through the Smokey Mountains, the Shanandoah Valley and the edge of the Poconos. It was a beautiful drive, but I'm glad it's done :)

We are now getting settled in our new apartment in the suburbs of Boston. I think after today we'll be settled in enough that I can pick up the needles and start knitting again, YAY! We have about a week to explore and learn our way around before I start work, so hopefully I'll also get some knitting in.

Goal 1: Finish the baby booties, SO CUTE! I may also make little mittens and/or a hat to match :)

Goal 2: My first sweater! I cast on the Cavern Cardi from Cosmicpluto. This will be my first real attempt at a sweater, YAY!!

Helping a friend

2008-05-23T13:02:00.002-04:00

First off: One of my dear friends is in an on-line "spring break moment" contest for a $500 scholarship. She has entered the picture of her husband proposing to her!! Down on one knee, on the Grand Canal in Venice!! It's so sweet! Please take a moment to vote for her and give her a 5-star ranking! Thanks!!
http://tinyurl.com/5pusyf

Second: no time for bootie knitting! Packing is INSANE and taking all my time at the moment. I guess I'm taking a knitting 'break' until after the move. I am packing the bootie in my 'moving tote' bag so maybe I can work on it at night in the hotel room during our big drive next week.

That is pretty much all there is to post. ONE WEEK TO GO UNTIL THE MOVE!!!

2008-05-18T22:43:00.002-04:00

Another week down, which puts me only 2 weeks from our BIG move! I have been a busy girl this weekend with packing and organizing, but I managed to start a quick project for when I need a break.

A friend of mine is expecting a baby boy in August, so I decided it was time to try my first pair of baby booties. I am using Red Heart's Luster Sheen in Ocean, here is a pic:

I was worried it might have too much of a purple tone to it, but it was the only color combo without pink I could find that could work for a baby. I think it is coming out greaat! Here is the first booty. I still have to sew seams and add laces.

I am pretty sure I'll get this finished before we leave. But I still have work full-time and lots of packing to do. See? Here's a pic of my living room at the moment, YIKES!

I see lots of coffee and sleepless nights in my future!

Major changes!

2008-05-12T23:43:00.004-04:00

OK, so I promised a BIG update and here it is! I haven't been around much lately because I have been SO SO SO BUSY!! Here is all the big news:

1-I've accepted a job at Children's Hospital in Boston and start in mid-June! YAY! I am moving to Boston in 3 weeks!! This has been huge as we plan for a move from the Mississippi coast to WAY north! I've managed to get us an apartment, all the utilities are set up, and we have a moving truck reserved. Every spare moment is now spent packing, cleaning, etc.

2-My husband graduated Friday with his Ph.D.!! Here is the only picture I got of him. I will need to get more from the family!

3-much less major, I cut my hair short! It is so much easier now.....

Amidst all this I have been furiously knitting on my Phiaro scarf, determined to finish it before the move. I just finished it tonight!! I made a few modifications:
-used cotton yarn
-went 16inches wide instead of 22inches because I wanted it to be more of a scarf and less of a wrap
-I screwed up the fringe and had to cut it. Think about when you were 12 and decided to cut your bangs...but they weren't even, so you had to cut a little more. That was me with the fringe. It is SHORT!! It would look better long, but I'm OK with it.
-instead of braiding the fringe (that would have taken me another month!) I slide on beads up to the stiches and tied a knot. Then I just let the fringe dangle, as all fringe should.

I love it and consider it my first big successful project!! I really wanted it to be done for the move because it is still chilly in Boston at night and this will be a perfect "summer scarf."

Now I am going to bed (don't I look tired in the pictures?!).

7 Random things!!

2008-05-06T11:07:00.002-04:00

I have been tagged by a fellow blogger and have to post 7 random things about myself. Here goes:

1-I'm a bad blogger :( I haven't posted in a LONG time because I have been so insanely busy!!

2-I have a 'dolphin-fly' tattoo. I couldn't decide between a dolphin and a butterfly so I have a dolphin with a cool filagree design in the shape of butterfly wings around it. No one has every seen anything like it, LOL! Funniest part, it was a Christmas present from my parents and my Dad brought me to get it. Talk about father-daughter bonding.

3-OK, this is kinda gross. I have bumps on my head. They think they are calcium deposits, but can't be sure without biopsies. My hair mostly covers them so it's not a big deal, never got them removed. But I do have to get a CT scan done every year to make sure they are not changing or anything. When I first met my current neurosurgeon, he saw the MRI and said, "WOW, that's an impressive deformity!" Um, thanks...............

4-I used to seriously kick booty at karate. I studied Shotokan and would LOVE to do it again. Absolutely the best work-out/stress relief ever!!!

5-I work with a guy who doesn't wear deodorant and smells. Again, gross, but I have to deal with it everyday and he just walked by, so there you have it.

6-I have a Ph.D. in molecular genetics. Yep, that makes me "Dr. Kelliebelle." I'm in the lab and should be working, but I'm waiting for the agarose for my DNA gels to cool down, so I have a few minutes. Then I have to go get on the microscope and shot yeast cells with laser beams, YES!! This is how I check my email during the day, between experiments.

7-I am a sentimental packrat. I just threw out the letters from my penpals when I was 8. I think it's sad that with the internet, kids don't have penpals anymore and don't get the thrill of receiving international mail. I'm a nerd, I thought it was the BEST!

OK, there you have it!! Random stuff about me! Now back to work. A knitting update will follow soon....

My Sew-sew weekend project!

2008-04-07T23:43:00.004-04:00

So, this weekend I spent a LOT of time doing laundry, cleaning, etc etc. It is GREAT to have reclaimed control over my apartment!! To celebrate, I decided to tackle a project that had been on my mind for a few weeks.
A while back I bought a set of 13 bamboo knitting of various sizes on Ebay (YAY Ebay for great deals!). They each came in a plastic case that is, at best, annoying to deal with, so I wanted a case they could all fit in. I ran to my favortie local craft store and was not very impressed with my options. So, here I am getting creative!

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a 'seamstress' or 'sewer' in any sense of the words. I have never taken a home ec class or been taught by Mom or anyone else. I do however own a sewing machine and have read the book that came with it. This is how I learn things (did I ever mention this is how I'm learning to knit?), God help us all!

So, this is by no means professional, but boy is it ever functional! Since I didn't want to deal with finishing off the edges (I find sewing in a straight line to be sometimes difficult....see above disclaimer RE: lack of sewing abilities) I started with 2 reversible placemats I got for $2 each at Target. One served as the back and the other as the front panels for pockets and a flap to cover the top. I just cut that one and used a double-fold bias tape (in red because that's what I had on hand, but I love the chocolate and red contrast!!) to finish the cut edges. Here's how it turned out:

Flap open and needles all snuggly in their places!

Flap closed....

I found that folding works better than rolling...

I attached a ribbon to the back with a button to use for tying 'er up!

I'm very happy with how this turned out!! Now I can knit with the peace of mind that my needles are safe!! :)

Trucking along...

2008-04-03T23:39:00.008-04:00

That's what the days have been doing. I'm amazed at how quickly time passes when you're busy. So, some of you know that I recent got my hair cut and have been asking for pictures. Well here you go! Now, granted this is with no makeup after a 15 hour day, but you get the idea! It's shoulder-length and layered around the face, which works so great for curly hair! Not me mention it looks so healthy with all the ends (about 3 inches of them!) nipped off!

Many of my friends from theknot.com December 07 board have joined the blogging community, so I have a special surprise for them here!! Last October we formed a Passionately Pink for the Cure team called the Blushing Brides and I volunteered to be team captain. We raised $345 for the Susan G. Komen foundation! I am so proud of everyone who participated and helped out. Well this week, I got a special Thank You card in the mail from Susan G. Komen for the Cure:

It was so unexpected!! They also sent a card so we can register our team again for the 2008 fundraiser. I will be so happy to do this again, but since I know I'll be moving in a couple of months, I'm not going to register yet. I'll hold on to the card and register us one I know what my new address will be.

Lastly, since this really is a knitting blog, I have an update!! My Harry Potter PoA scarf is coming along quite nicely, just about halfway:

It's a LONG scarf! I can't wait to wear it at the new movie later this year. I'm resisting starting anything new until I finish something up. OK, I'm trying to resis, not doing too well at it, but trying :)

Hoppy Easter!!

2008-03-23T23:36:00.002-04:00

I love my family!! One reason is that this is the kind of cool stuff I get for holidays...lots of candy (YUM, Thanks Easter Bunny!), funny cards and a diva bunny!! Rock on!!

I have been super busy lately, but squeezing in as much knitting as I can muster. Granted, it's not much, but at least I can keep it going!
Here is my current status on the Phiaro Scarf. It's 7 in long, so I'm about one-third of the way there. I can't wait to see how it comes out!! The color in this pic is a little off, it's a taupe so imagine more brown - less gray....

I'm still trucking along on my HP PoA scarf, although it's kind of my 'down-time'/TV project. I know I won't be able to use it until next winter so I'm not rushing it.

My newest purchase is 20 balls of this red-plum wool for a steal!
I've got about 2200 yards, OH THE POSSIBILITIES! I think I'm going to get brave and try my first sweater, just trying to pick a pattern. Right now in the running is the frontier blues jacket (by Wendy Bernard and featured in the winter 07/spring 08 knitscene) and the clover cardi (by Carrie Bostich Hoge, also from the winter 07/spring 08 knitscene). I haven't scoured through Ravelry yet, but plan to look at more patterns there. I love the 1/2 to 3/4 sleeve cardi look, so if anyone has other recommendations, let's hear it!!

Work, work and more work :(

2008-03-13T22:32:00.005-04:00

Well the last couple of weeks have been pretty interesting. Unfortunately I have had little time for knitting :( I went to a whirlwind (read: exhausting!) trip for work last week AND time changed. Oh, man, I was hurting for a few days. I'm finally recovered from that but have been totally swamped between work and helping my husband with his dissertation. I'm pretty much his free editor, so this is me this week:

Looks exciting doesn't it?

I did get to cast-on my Phiaro scarf (YIPPEE!!) although I know it will take me quite a while to finish, especially with the serious amount of work on the 'finishing' end of that project, lots of fringe to braid!!

I also bought this little puppy, which I hope will help me fix my stripes on the famous Harry Potter PoA scarf (still much in progress!):

This little guy is chalk full of good tid-bits.

OK, off to grab a coffee and get back to editing ::groan::

YAY for Saturdays!

2008-03-01T21:27:00.005-05:00

Oh my gosh, today has flown by. I had a LONG week at work and did some shopping today, a little cleaning, cooked dinner, and POOF! the day is gone!! Oh well that's what Saturdays are for!

I have a big update! I finished my knitting bag!! Well, mostly anyway. I still have to glue down the stiches to the dowels to keep them in place. I love how it came out!!

OK this pic is a little blurry but you get the idea.

So, my next big project is the phiaro scarf. I got my new yarn in that I ordered for it, YAY! I love it.....but not for this project! It really doesn't have the weight/drape that I wanted. So, I picked up some taupe (good neutral color) in an all cotton yarn that is nice, no fluffiness. I played with it last night and learned the long-tail cast-on (which I LOVE! Never going back to the knitted cast-on!!). Then I made a small swatch and practiced the 'dropped' stitches.

Swatch:

Dropped stitches: the top row (BO row) is a bit wonky. I did a knitwise BO, may need to try purlwise for this.

But, I'm convinced now that I can do this and this yarn will work, so I've cast-on already!!

That's all! Time for a coffee :)

2008-02-21T23:44:00.004-05:00

OK, so I've been a bit busy with work, so I haven't posted lately. But, I will report on progress:

HP scarf - rocking along!! It's starting to get to a healthy length, although I still have WAY farther to go. What's driving me nuts is that my yarn is problematic. I was very careful to buy balls from the same dye lot, but the texture of the yarn itself varies. I have one ball that was way bulkier than the rest! So, the width of the scarf varies a bit, hopefully blocking will help this!! As for the stripe weirdness (see last post), my friend Adele pointed out that I'm knitting in the round and because of the 'spiral' knit that's why the stripes don't line up quite perfectly. This makes total sense and was my thought as well, but for some stripes it's worse than for others?? Maybe my technique is just not very consistent?? I don't know, not worrying too much about it.

berry stitch knitting bag - about 75% complete! I have one side done, both handles done and the last side about half-way done! YIPPEE!!

So, I've thought about my upcoming projects once the bag is done. I have a few hats I need to make for some friends, but then it will be on to the Phiaro Scarf!! I can't wait to try this one, I LOVE how it looks. I bought this yarn to use for it, it's a silk/rayon blend:

YAY, can't wait to knit with this yarn!!

I know I won't make much progress this weekend because I'll be out of town, but there is always next week!!

In the meantime, I just got the CD of my wedding pictures! Enjoy a few of my favs & have a great weekend!!

BOO for imminent Monday!

2008-02-10T23:15:00.000-05:00

Man, this weekend has flown by and I don't want Monday to be here. So, I'll remain in denial until my alarm goes off in the morning, hehe.

So, I had a big weekend!! First, here's the update on the HP scarf. It's a little bit longer and has another set of stripes:

But, what the heck is this??!

For whatever reason my stripes are not lining up quite right. It looks like the rows above and below are lining up right, so I'm probably just doing something ignorant. If anyone knows what said ignorant thing is, please let me know!! Anyways, I'm plowing forward on it because this is where the join is and the tube scarf will fold so I don't think it will be super noticable. Hopefully I'll figure it out before I get to the next set of stripes.

Second, I started another porject, SHAME SHAME I know but I couldn't help it. It's the knitting needle knitting bag by Pam Allen (http://www.knittingdaily.com/freepatterns/bags/Knitting_Needle_Bag_252-1.html?ET=knittingdaily_blog:e812:63084a:&st=email). I've never done the berry stitch, so that was interesting to try and wasn't too bad once I got the hang of it. Here's where I'm at:

This will be the back side and as you can see I'm working on the first strap (wanted to get the full effect!). Also, instead of knitting needles at the top I just got wooden dowels in the same diameter. I probably won't get to really work on this anymore until next weekend, so it will take me a few more weeks to finish it.

And lastly, I finally got my Ravelry invite. So I'm heading there to play around a little before signing off!! Happy knitting everyone!

Almost the weekend, WooHoo!

2008-02-07T21:49:00.000-05:00

Boy, this week is flying by!! I've been working on my Gryffindor scarf the last few nights. (Pattern from http://knit.atypically.net/scarves/azkaban/pattern.shtml) I actually started this a week or so ago, but got about 10 inches in and ended up frogging it. My gauge was off ::hangs head in momentary shame:: My 9 inch wide scarf was coming out at 12 inches wide, YIKES! So first I calculated how much more yarn it would take to finish the gigantor-scarf, then I promptly and happily tore it up, balled the yarn, and restarted. I recalculated the stitch number based on my actual gauge and I've managed to fix it, ah-ha-ha!! Now my scarf is right at 9 inches! and I am past the first set of stripes. Here is what it looks like at this very moment:

Also, here's a few pics of my knitting 'toolbox.' I'm so proud of this bag because I got it for a steal and I LOVE a bargain!! It's too large to carry around everyday, but it's GREAT at being a portable workstation in the house.

Outside View: You can tell the bag is in use by the adjacent ivory satin slipper, leftover from my wedding reception, that goes oh so beautifully with the plaid flannels I'm sporting at the moment. Obviously, my husband married me for my snazzy style :)

Inside:

YAY for organization ::wipes proud happy tear::

Now, time for my evening coffee dearies! And my needles are calling!!

The hat pic!

2008-02-01T21:27:00.000-05:00

Super quick post just to show off the pic I promised of my hat!

This was this evening just before I dashed off to the grocery!!

Off and running....

2008-01-31T23:57:00.001-05:00

So, I decided to start this new blog to chronicle my knitting adventures. I first picked up knitting a few years ago after reading an article in Martha Stewart Living with very basic (i.e. good/understandable to the non-knitting community) on knitting and a couple of patterns. Well, I tried a hat and, like many before and after me, I didn't know about gauge and made a ginormo hat that was totally useless, opps! But I was OK with straight lines, so I made an equally ginormo blanket for my grandmother, which she loved! I played with a couple of scarves and then stuck my needles firmly in the 'craft corner' (that would be the far dark corner/black hole of my closet where things get stuck for indefinite periods of time).

Well, last weekend, after a few cold miserable days I came across this little puppy (http://tinyurl.com/2w6y2w) and got inspired once more! I dug out the needles, figured out gauge, knitted furiously for a few hours, and VOILA!! I have created a cute normal sized hat!! Oh, the exhiliration!! I sported it all weekend while running errands and giddily showed off my creation (and warm ears) to my very impressed husband.

Since then, I am totally hooked! I have knitted every night for a few hours and have discovered the relaxing benefits to clearing your mind and letting your fingers just go. I'm armed and dangerous, with the famous 'Stich N Bitch' manual to knitting like the super cool & crafty goddess I long to be, and have graduated to circular needles and (gasp!) STRIPES!! I am now working on the infamous Harry Potter Gryfindor colored scarf. I know it will take me a really long time to finish because I'm still pretty slow, but I am loving the results so far.