Bead pile!

The first one of 2013. :)

Been busy busy busy making lots of beads so I couldn't resist a quick snap of one of the piles before they got strung up and mailed out. (I don't keep any for myself so it's the only time I get to enjoy them. lol) I *WOULD* say the bright colors are a nice treat from the cold, dreary winter but, in fact, it's been warmish and quite nice here for the last week.

I don't do resolutions but my PLAN is to do more stitching this year. Of course, like all good plans, you need to prep first and, for me, that means clearing the deck of my current knitty WIP's. I am struggling to finish up a pair of mittens (started last fall) but I went like gangbusters on this Wurm hat. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to grab the hubby to help with the 'modeling' part of things Grr. (As it is impossible to properly photograph YOURSELF from the back.) So I grabbed Frosty McSmiles-A-Lot to do some modeling instead. 

 His head, crazily enough, was pretty perfectly sized for hat modeling. lol

This hat is kinda awesome. It has a knitted in brim so it's crazy thick and warm, and, even better, crazy fast to knit up. (And crazy easy to understand. You can knit this pattern in your sleep. ) Also: it's free. So what's not to love? It's got kind of a 'hipstery' vibe with the whole 'sag and droop' thing in the back. Not sure how hipstery *I* am but I wanted a hat that had ample room for when I have the Pile O' Curls bunched up on top of my head - and this definitely fits the bill. (I'm MUCH less inclined to spend time on blowing the 'do' out in the winter as it's too dry and fly-away sometimes for that. So au natural aka HONKING MESS of curls it is instead. :)) So now I have a hat for every occasion that might pop up - just in time for the snow that is coming our way this week. 

My other plan for the year is keep walking. I got a Fitbit last year for Xmas and, in a stunning turn of events, I not only used it - I USED IT EVERY SINGLE DAY. Every day! (Except for the two days I had food poisoning. But, you know.) 

 My 'natural' schedule would only put me at 3,000 steps per day but I worked up to 10,000 per day afer a while and, lately, my totals have been even higher than that. Who knows, if I keep it up maybe I will walk 2,000 miles this year............or MORE. So if you need a little motivation to be more active, a Fitbit might be for you. I am still endlessly fascinated (and motivated) by the constant digital tick-tick-ticking of my day, even after a whole year of it. I'm sure my heart is very thankful for it too! :)

Happy Friday the 13th! :)

It's hard to be spooked by it though when it's so bright and sunny and warm though, right?

(I've come across this multiple times today on Facebook, etc. and, while it doesn't seem that fair, I have to say I've snorted  laughed at it every single time. Why? I don't know.)

Hard to believe another week has gone by!! Let's see, what did I get into to this week.......

I finished up all of my current sock projects!

Oh, don't be too impressed though - the "Wayward" (red) ones have been ongoing since the beginning of March. 

 I just had a bitty foot on the right one to do to put that project to bed. (And, because of the complementing wrap-a-round cables, these socks actually *DO* have a left and right to them. Thankfully, I paid attention to what chart was what, out of the stack that this pattern comes with, and ENDED UP with a right/left one vs. two lefts, etc. WHEW!) 

 The Dragonfly socks were a quick knit - easy, easy! Probably could have gone with another repeat for the leg so I'll remember that for next time. (I don't like my socks too long so it's no biggie either way.)

Also (semi) finished:

Stitched my flag stitchy again, this time on the 'proper' fabric so it will fit on top of the star box that came in the kit. Just need to find the time to do the finishing now. (I didn't improvise a little '2012' on the new one but now that I see them together, I kind of miss that? I might have to go back and put that in!)

Anyone else doing the L*K Mystery Sampler Club that was just released??? I started it and love the colors but the fabric is a little larger count (30 ct.) than I would prefer. It's not a deal-breaker though. I'm just a diva and will get over it. *cough* I think the transition from 40ct from the last project to 30ct was a little oogy for me, is all.

I know so many of you are BROILING out there, in the heat, but it's been phenomenally seasonal here the past week...........again. Much better than it usually is for this area! If this is the new 'face' of climate change for this area, I'll take it!!!! Got lots of biking in last week, picture is from one of the (many) bike bridges on the Blackstone River Trail in Lincoln/Cumberland, Rhode Island.

This last pic is from my Epic Kitchen DeClutter this morning. Does anyone else find the kitchen gets cluttered if you so much as take your eyes off of it for a second? I hadn't SERIOUSLY decluttered it in awhile so I went at it in a ruthless manner this morning and now it's all back down to clean surfaces everywhere you look. 

I had to laugh and stop to take a picture of this ridiculousness though:

I *might* have a packet problem. As in, drink packet?

Yeah, I gots it bad. REAL bad.

And I'm not sure the picture is *quite* capturing just how many are there. (And I'm not even getting into how many bottles of MiO are around. *ahem*)

In my defense, I do drink a lot of water. (I even have a water cooler in my kitchen to facilitate things.)

I don't have any defense, really, for ordering more though the other day. True Lemon has 50% off all the lemonade packets this month and I..........may have ordered some more? Less than a 100 packets but, uhhhhh, more than 50. Okay so it was 80. Crap. WHERE IS THE 12 STEP PROGRAM FOR PACKET ADDICTION????? o_0

(Not that anybody asked, but my favorite one is the stevia-sweetened Apple Pear ones from Target. If I could get that one on tap, that would be GLORIOUS.)

Peeking in..............

 To my poor neglected blog. It's crazy how time just gets away from you and POOF, before you know it, it has been two weeks since you last posted. 

 Sterling, CT trail.

I blame it on the bike riding. It's going to be the death of me. Doing that 3 times a week and still trying to walk 2-3 miles 5-6 days a week? IS TIRED. VERY tired some days. And with not much extra time for projecty, crafty, yarny type of things. *sniff*

South County trail, RI.

Oh well. I'm sure the hot and muggies will hit us soon and that will be the end of me wanting to do anything that doesn't involve me getting major time in air-conditioned rooms. I am UTTERLY miserable and diva-cranky when it's super humid out so the hubby will have to go plunder those forest trails without me once it hits. (Which it will............soon. I'm actually surprised at how mild it's been so far this summer because it's usually yucky yucky yucky here from Memorial day to mid-September.)

The only thing I've managed to put any real amount of effort into lately (aside from WORK, of course, which can not be avoided, yes?) is my pair of 'travel' socks that I keep in my purse for car trips or quick crafty goodness on the deck. This is a Patons cotton blend sock yarn and is very sproingy yet comfy. (Not all cotton blends are.) The striping is super cute to boot. I never say no to stripey socks. :)

Needless to say, my blog reader is STUFFED full of unread posts as well but I'm so far behind at this point I might have to start over from scratch. Bleh. I hate that because I hate the feeling that I'm missing something really really important but when it gets THAT bad there isn't much choice. I promise to be a better blog-friend going forward, at least in the near future, because I miss that daily dose of blogginess, I really do. :)

Weeeeeeeeeeee!

 Lots of new adventures this past week in the form of: BICYCLING.

The husband recently got one to use on the hiking trails in the woods down the road from the house and then he talked me into getting one too. (With CONDITIONS. Like: bike paths only, no woods, no roads, etc. I'm a diva like that. :))

Mind you, I haven't been on a bike in OVER TWENTY YEARS so this past week was *quite* the hoot. You don't TOTALLY forget how to ride one. You basically remember enough not to fall off it - while looking/feeling like a complete moron for awhile until it fully comes back. There was bunch of pushing around with one foot like a scooter until my brain kinda connected with the fact that you have to, you know, PEDAL. Hahaha! We've gone out a few times and it gets easier, as far as handling, each time. (Because physically? Exhausting. And I've been REALLY good about getting in my exercise 5-6 days a week this year so that doesn't seem fair. *pout* I feel like I should be in better shape?) This week has been nothing but rain but hopefully the weekend will allow for a couple more 'sessions'. :)

In other news, Shepherd's Bush was really great about sending me some more chenille trim to finish my pillow. While waiting, I stitched her face again, this time with random Crescent Color floss in a Xmas theme. I think it will make for a cute ornament finish. (Carrot nose has been ordered.)

 It fully hit me that I have a STAGGERING amount of smalls to deal with now (to me) when I went to store that pillow until holiday time so I buckled down this week to at least get my Halloween designs finished.

Turns out if you do one each day it's not super overwhelming. I would cut/pin them while waiting for my kiln to heat before working, do the sewing after I was finished work, and then stuff/close up at night while watching tv.

 It feels good to get these 'done done' now so I can use them this fall. I have four times as many Xmas ones to finish though so....................hold me. The end is no where in sight. lol

Happy May Day!

 In my usual scan of various news sites and blogs this morning,  I've already come across that May is the National Burger Month, National Mental Health Awareness Month and National Masturbation Month. Sooo..........yeah. Busy month, it seems! (One of those came from Bobby Flay's twitter feed............I'll leave it to you to guess which one it was. lol)

Things have been busy busy the last week! Not much time for projects and that sort of thing I'm afraid. I did manage to grab The Most Awesomest Sneakers in the world though. I'll show them to you but, first, put on a pair of sunglasses.............ready?..................

Oh yeah, baby! 

The color isn't *quite* right there though...........

Yep. That's more like it. 

If you think I don't plan on wearing these with my equally-eye-searing neon orange capri jogging pants..........YOU WOULD BE WRONG. (That's me - standing up for the unloved colors with PRIDE.) They are light as a feather - literally. Just 7.6 ounces! I've already put about 12-15 miles on them and it's two thumbs up all the way. Sorry to be so EXCITED but I literally can't remember the last time I had a pair of 'regular' sneakers. Ages and ages and AGES. I usually go more for the hiking/trail type shoe or sandal. Plan on wearing them out with the walking. Zoom, zoom, zoom!

Got those when I was SUPPOSED to be shopping for wedding clothes. My bad. Easily distracted shopper here. *waves arms* Did manage to get an outfit though and be properly dressed in the end. 

The wedding was in Boston, which was a treat as I haven't been to that city in yearsssssssss. Easily over a decade! The ceremony was at the Public Gardens by the Swan Boats which was pretty but, New England being New England, the weather wasn't ENTIRELY cooperative. (It was about 50 degrees and SUPER windy. Brrrr!) Strangely enough, I have *ANOTHER* thing to go to this week in Boston as well. Funny how that works! Haven't been there in ages and now I'm going twice in one week! 

 I managed to score three tickets for a Red Sox game this week so we have that on Friday. FUN! I've been to a ton of 'farm team' games (grew up within a stone's throw of McCoy stadium) but I've never been to FENWAY. I don't actually watch baseball or, uhhhhh, know any players names or anything but I always LOVE going to see something live regardless. I'm weird like that. There's something about the 'realness' of it that I find  immensely entertaining, while on tv it just bores me to death. lol 

HUGE THANKS to Carol and Lori for the gifties that I received from them in the last week!!!!

 I won this adorable little bunny chart from Carol..........

And the yarn was a wonderful surprise from Lori. (Which I immediately caked up and started working on, as you can see.)

THANK YOU BOTH and *MWAH*

OH MY!

 Sooooooooooooooooo busy lately. You can tell from my frazzled needs-to-be-dyed immediately and not-quite-red-anymore hair (hate that red washes out so quickly) and the number of mumbled-under-my-breath F bombs I'm dropping per day that things have been, well, busy. Vacation is coming in a week and I'm trying to keep on top of EVERYTHING (work/housework/shopping for a vacation that I have exactly ZERO clothes for) all at once so I don't end up 'last minute'ing everything and.............it has been a little crazy. *whew*

First up.........

Time to say BUH-BYE to the snowmen for the year. It's back to being cold out here but it's time to, sniff, put these away for spring. Loaded them all up and onto (and under............and around.....) the coffee table and packed them away into their bins. It hurts a little because I picture them going "Oh nooooooooooooooo!" in a Mr. Bill voice as I do it. lol (I probably just dated myself with the Mr. Bill reference too. Heh.)

Hey! How crazy is this?

Apparently if you write a polite letter to Patons telling them you are disappointed in their lack of dye lot know-how (see: multiple pairs of non-matching socks done with the FX yarn line) they send you a box of free YARN. That's pretty cool of them, right? Aside from the non-matching dye lots in this FX stuff, it is good sturdy yarn and will make very wearable socks. I do appreciate the effort because I wasn't looking for replacement yarn, to be honest. Free yarn = always awesome.

I threw out the shall-not-be-named stitchy that was giving me grief. Yes, threw it out. It was too far gone to do anything else, to be honest, and keeping it around would have assured I continued to stay butt hurt over it so.......................a quick flash of the scissors to free the linen that was used up and off to the trash it went. I went back to trying to finish the LHN design pictured above and all was right in my world again. (I could *possibly* finish this one this week if I stay monogamous with it and don't start side eyeing the 823423234 other things on tap.)

Does anybody else Lolo Fit? I know fitness posts are uber-boring but I started using their treadmill app last week and it's pretty durn cool and figured it might punch up someone else's treadmill routine too. You set how long you want to walk, load your own music set from your iPod if you wish, and it gives you a walking (or running if you do that..........I don't because OW. OW. OW.) plan that goes through intervals and different inclines to keep you interested. Changes it up every few minutes or sometimes even every 30 seconds. The trainer voice speaks over your music when it is time to change the speed and, surprisingly enough, I haven't wanted to strangle and/or kill her yet. lol It sounds simple but it really does make the hour go by MUCH faster somehow. IT'S TRICKSY LIKE THAT. Gotta love something that makes exercise a TEENSY bit better, ya know? Now I just need an app that magically makes pizza and tortilla chips look like a pile of poo and I will be all set for life!!!! :)

Boo hoo, vacation is over.

Wait, was it not apparent I was on 'vacation' last week? Well I was......sort of. I still worked an awful lot but we managed to get out and do a few things outdoors too before the weather gets totally frigid.

He worked on painting the window sills for a couple days, another day we headed down to the RI coast to walk the Cliff Walk in Newport with my mother. I haven't been on the Walk in quite a few years so that was a treat.

It's a walkway on the edge of the cliff that runs parallel to the backyards of all those spiffy, old skool, multi-gazillion dollar mansions from days gone by. (We didn't go back through on the street though where you can see the mansions from the front because if you've seen them once, there ain't much else to see. /shrug) I just like the walking by the ocean part. Oh, and these signs that are posted everywhere:

 OH NOES! DON'T JUMP CARTOON MAN! 

The whole thing is 3.5 miles long (though you have to COME BACK so it's really 7 miles if you start at the beginning) and we did maybe 2 miles. (Which was kind of needed because OMG WHOA vacation eating!)

My 'new' threads came the other day so I sat on the deck for a couple hours and got that organized and put to rights and reorganized my WIP's, etc.

(There might have been some new-new stashing too. *ahem*)

So today is back to the normal schedule, normal eating plan (*cough*) and mentally preparing for fall because, wow, is it chilly already! :(

I'm insanely excited for the new tv season starting this week but my love is mostly limited to two shows: my beloved Fringe and.......

Downton Abbey.

OH YEAH PEOPLES. Can I get a wut-wut for the start of the second season?

How much did I enjoy this series last year? Enough to download the UK version (longer/uncut) and obsess over every last detail. I might have entire scenes memorized. Maybe. *cough*

Well the UK version started yesterday* and I might have already downloaded the episode. And peeked at it. Maybe. Just a LITTLE. (Who is this new maid sassing my Anna???) The hubby wants me to wait to watch it with him but.........I don't know if I can do that. I would have to wait until WEDNESDAY in that case to watch it and I don't know if I can resist the voice in my head going "watch me.........watch the precioussssss............watch me......." until then. *twitch*  

And yes, I got him hooked on it too. Mr. I only watch Pawn Stars/Top Gear/NASCAR and Ice Road Truckers when left to his own devices. Hooked. On a period drama. THAT IS THE POWER OF MAGGIE SMITH aka Cousin Violet. :)

I heard they won a bunch of Emmys last night too, including best miniseries/tv movie so yayyy!

(I couldn't get past the opening of the Emmys to watch the rest of the show. Wow. Painful. As in painfully unfunny.)

*If you're download-averse, the PBS version starts in January. I love you PBS but I can't wait that long. And I don't like that you cut it down to 'fit' some predetermined notion you have of how long an episode 'should' be vs. how long IT ACTUALLY WAS. Pfffttttt!