Just popping in to show you how messy my house is…

Messiness of my house aside, I’m excited to announce that we’re shooting more knitting videos. Lots more short technique videos, and at least three more full lesson series – including toe-up socks and magic loop socks. Now that we’ve worked out the kinks and we’re old hats at this, everything is going so smoothly and quickly. (Except when production was halted for two days while I was sick.)

Parker is working like a madman to edit the videos soon after they’re shot, so I should be able to start posting them soon.

A big POO ON YOU to the United States Postal Service…

I knit this dog sweater to custom fit a handsome Basenji in Houston named Strider. His human, Lorelei, commissioned it back when the temperatures were below freezing. I knit it up and sent it off in a Priority Mail box on February 9. Here we are, March 5, and Lorelei has not received the sweater.

I’ve been around and around with the Post Office on this for the last three weeks. They finally told me this week that they can do NOTHING. Poof. It’s gone. I am now knitting a second sweater for Strider, and you can bet that I will pay the extra few bucks for delivery confirmation.

I don’t want to end on a negative vibe, so here’s a sneak peek at a new sweater design I edited/knit for my friend Snowden –

Snowden is working through sweater math for all of the sizes, and should be ready to release the pattern soon. I’ll keep you posted.

The last several pairs of socks I’ve made have involved row counters, charts, notes, cable needles, and Advil. I took a giant step back from all of that and made some socks that didn’t require thinking or anti-inflammatories.

Before I show you, let’s get Tippy out of the way. Tippy MOVE IT.

Here we go. These socks were knit with Aslan Trends Santa Fe sock yarn in Alaska Blue. The plies of this yarn are really tightly twisted, which gives clear definition to each stitch. And I love the colorway, which made it a pleasure to work with.

I used a standard, simple toe-up sock pattern, which means that I used every last inch of yarn with no leftovers. I knit them in a 2×2 rib for a super-stretchy, snug fit. The 2×2 rib is so mindless that these socks made awesome Netflix Knitting. And, I went up a needle size from what I normally use, so they knit up in no time.

Tippy, please.

As you can imagine, I cast-on to make an identical pair within minutes of finishing the second sock. I’m using Three Irish Girls sock yarn for these…some yarn that I used to start a pair of socks almost two years ago, but decided to rip out because they were too tight.

To end this post, I’ll show you where Tippy is right this moment. He’s in my mini photo studio, which I used as a makeshift softbox to light up these photos on this gray, rainy day. I think it’s probably still warm in there from the lights, but he’s a weirdo, anyway. Cute, but weird.

For more of Tippy’s weird cuteness, jump over to the Basenji Rescue blog where today I introduced the world to the Senji-Clean™ Advanced Dishwashing System.

This post is an announcement, mostly, because I’ve just opened a new Etsy shop called verypink knits. As you know, I knit like a fiend, but this is the first time I’ve ever put any knits up for sale. Up until now, I’ve sold knitting patterns and knitting classes to help other people make their own stuff. So this is all brand spankin’ new to me, and very exciting.

My philosophy with the store is to use the best materials in modern designs and colors to offer really nice baby stuff. My hope is that people will visit my store when they’re in the market for special baby shower gifts. When store-bought just won’t do.

Here’s a sample of one of my hat/mitts sets from the store:

And here’s how it looks on a real baby:

I had to say “real baby” there, because for once, I’m not using a Basenji to model baby knits. This is how most of my baby stuff ends up being modeled, right?

So, if you like what you see, tell your friends. I’ll be posting 0-6 month sizes soon. I have several already knit up, but I’m waiting for the sun to come out so that I can get some good photographs.

Man, I finished writing this post a while ago, I can’t believe I’m nervous to hit “Publish”! Do it, Staci! Do it! New horizons!

My New Year’s Resolution is off to a good start. It feels awkward to talk about it, but I know the whole accountability thing is a powerful motivator. (If you haven’t read why I have a resolution to lose weight, you’re missing the most interesting part of the story.)

Here’s what’s happening so far:

In my goal to lose 25 lbs, I thought that I would lose it slowly over the year, like two pounds a month. I didn’t think that through very well. Of course I’m going to lose most of the weight up front. Duh.

I have lost 8 pounds in 7 days already. OMG. A friend of mine said, “That’s impossible”. I KNOW.

Losing 8 pounds doesn’t feel like much of an accomplishment, because I tragically gained 8 pounds over the holidays. So it seems like I’m really just getting started now.

I posted the photo below to flickr shortly after Thanksgiving. I was really glad to have FINALLY found jeans that are long enough for me, but they had serious bagging in the ass area, due to my natural lack of ass. Losing weight isn’t helping this problem. They fit better if they’re fresh from the dryer, but I can’t wash my jeans 3 times a day.

This whole jeans thing is worth mentioning because of my lifelong relationship with high waters and chilly ankles. Finding long pants is like finding a pot of gold.

These first few pounds have fallen off my body with very little effort. I’m still eating. I haven’t increased my activity level. I still drink beer. I realize that I’ll probably have to step it up as I get closer to my goal, but this is pretty awesome so far.

And here ends my one-week status report. Fifty-one weeks to go.

If you’ve been following the Pona story, you know that he’s been a foster dog here at my house since September. Pona came into the Basenji Rescue system after he had been hit by a car and was picked up by Animal Control. He had a broken femur, broken tooth, heartworms, whipworms, and scratches and bruises all over his body.

But those days are long gone! He is healed, feeling good, and running around like he should. Here is a little video I shot a couple of days ago:

As you can see, the healthy Pona is very different from the Pona we saw back in September.

So, yesterday was the big day! It was time for Pona to move in with his new, forever family. As difficult as this sounds, it was actually awesome. We’ve been working on this adoption for a couple of months now, and the transition was smooth. Pona’s new daddies are Steven and Jeff, who happen to be good friends of mine.

	This is one of the first things I saw when Pona and I arrived, and I reacted with all of the appropriate “awwww”s. These personalized mats show how excited Steven and Jeff have been to get their dogs.
	I said “dogs” because Pona wasn’t the only adoption yesterday. They also adopted a Basenji girl named Kate. Here are Pona and Kate in the backyard. I think “frolicking” is the appropriate word. Pona and Kate had visited a few times before yesterday, so we already knew that they get along really well.
	Can you tell that Steven has treats hidden in his hand here? Pona and Kate know he does.
	Here is the whole family in a very sweet photo. Such a life change for each of them. They’re all going to have so much fun!

One last video, taken today by Steven. Pona and Kate haven’t known each other long, but they’re already acting like old pals. (Thanks, Steven. I totally stole this from your photostream without asking.) If you’d like to continue to follow Pona and Kate, you can see them on Steven’s photostream and his blog.

And me? I’m doing FINE. Surprisingly well, not one tear shed! I really thought giving Pona up would rip out a chunk of my heart, but I’m really okay. I think it’s for two reasons – first, Pona’s in an awesome home, and second, I know I will see him again. It also helps that Steven and I have kept in close touch for updates since yesterday.

Best of luck to Kate, Pona, Jeff and Steven! I’m so happy for all of you. 🙂

Christmas 2009 is over (and was very fun), so now is the time that I start looking to the new year. I probably set New Year’s Resolutions for myself about half the time, and this year I’m going to jump on a bandwagon with a lot of other Americans – sort of.

Here’s the deal. I’m going to lose weight in 2010. How trite, huh? Before you die of boredom, hear me out. I have a cunning plan. I came up with this plan about a decade ago, and I think it’s time to put it in place.

My BMI (body mass index) falls smack-dab in the middle of the normal range. Oh, this is getting more boring by the second! The point is that I’m a healthy and active person, so weight loss isn’t something I need to do for my health. It’s for my face. This is my plan…

Over the next year I slowly lose weight to get myself down to the low end of normal on the BMI scale. Because I’m 5’11”, that’s TWENTY FIVE pounds. Holy shit. Anyway, I lose this weight slowly enough so that my skin has plenty of time to keep up and stay taut, especially on my face. I will maintain this weight for the next ten years or so, until I start to see old lady wrinkles on my face. Then I just gain ten or fifteen pounds to flesh-out my face a bit, and viola! Lines gone! No plastic surgery!

I’m pretty sure you’re laughing now, but all brilliant people get laughed at, so I’m flattered. Thank you.

When this plan is a glowing success, I’ll be on the Today show and everyone will want to do it. Watch this space for the next eleven years and you’ll see.

This is the last category of my favorite photos of the year – and no, I still don’t have my photo-taking-mojo back. Here are my self-portraits.

These are my favorites of 2009 and that’s all fine and good, but I think my Favorite Self-Portrait Ever still holds its title.

One of my goals with selfies is to push the limit with how different I can make myself look from one day to the next, whether it’s staging the photo, messing with hair and makeup, or manipulating the image in software. (Truth be told, I still haven’t taken the time to learn all about my camera and it’s settings, so those variables are out.)

So now I’m left with 41 days remaining in my photo project, and very little urge to pull out my camera right now. I have to hope that 2010 is the magic year that gets me going again, because I really do enjoy it.

This is Part II of my favorite photos of 2009 series. Still trying to get my photog mojo back.

While I was loading up the coffee maker this morning, I thought about a couple of handknits that I hadn’t bothered to photograph and put on Ravelry. Then I thought of a couple more. Then I started thinking about a ton of things I made this year that hardly got any attention at all. Lame! The number of things I knit and didn’t photograph has to be upwards of 30 items, because I know I made 23 Christmas gifts that were shipped off without so much as a blurry camera phone shot.

Ah, well. Bygones. Here are my nine favorite photos of things I made this year.

Next up – 2009 Favorites, Self-Portraits.

I’ve recently done something I didn’t think I’d ever do. I “paused” my year-long, photo-a-day project – on day 325, no less. Poof! I lost inspiration. I found myself skipping days and taking crap pictures, so I paused the project until I can get back into it again.

For the sake of trying to jump start my inspiration as well as wrapping up the year, I browsed the photos I took in 2009 and picked out my favorites. Here’s Part 1, Basenji Bonanza.

Next up, 2009 Favorites – The Knits