Camera? Check.
Tripod? Check.
Ten-second timer operating correctly? Check.
Treats for bribing? Check.
Dogs ready? Oy.
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“Oh, you’re a good boy. I wish your brother was in this photo…” |
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“Okay, dang. Can you just…
no… Ike… hey…” |
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“Up here! Up here next to me! C’mon…” |
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“Well, umm…
ouch…” |
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This is the best we could do.
Merry Christmas from Staci, Ike, and Abe! |
Wow! Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and all.
Here in Austin one hears fewer “sleigh bells in the snow” and more “flip-flops on the sidewalk”.
It’s a fast-topic-changing-Friday, I hope you know the drill…
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My shameless begging for Christmas cards has turned out to be such a great experience! Cards have come from all over the world! The Christmas wishes written inside are so very sweet and heartfelt.
Besides the written notes, I’m enjoying the smiling family photos, the recipes, the trinkets…each card is like a giant Christmas present. I am so grateful. Next…! |
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Speaking of cool things in the mail…
Tammy sent me The World’s Sexiest Earrings. Ha-cha! Tammy happens to be my online pal and personal fashion adviser in addition to being an amazing metalsmith. I have found that wearing these earrings guarantees a good time. Magic? Maybe. Next…! |
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Umm…spoiled much?
Actually resting their bodies in the soft grass is just too “country” for these dogs. A bug might touch them or something, I guess. Next…! |
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On the needles…a baby sweater, specifically Vestee from knitty.com. I didn’t want to make it until I saw one knit-up in person.
Another pink knit for my little niece. (She will never be mistaken for a boy again!) Next…! |
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Bad dog. I get up from my tv/knitting spot for ONE STINKIN’ MINUTE and Ike moves in.
I know for a fact that he doesn’t need the light. He might just find a lump of coal in his stocking. Have a great weekend! |
Back in September, I started my No More Short Socks Campaign. I say “campaign”, which makes it sound like a really big deal, like my socks were running for office or something, but it was really just my little thing.
I have the results of the first socks that adhere to the new rules: toe-up design (no yarn wasted), and massive yardage (Fearless Fibers gives you 550 yards of sock yarn).
The design is my own, called Bubbles Down the Drain. I’ll write up the pattern and make available soon.
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These socks feel so good! Snuggly wooly goodness all the way up to my knees.
Because I designed these socks to be a custom fit for anyone’s legs, they stay up! Here’s proof: |
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They stay up while waiting in line at the bank… |
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While reaching for a book off the top shelf… |
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Even surfing! |
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Here’s the “during the photo shoot” story.
These socks are so long that I had to remove my jeans for the photo shoot. Abe brought my jeans into the dining room, and then tried to remove a tissue from my pocket by ripping a hole from the inside. He still acts like such a puppy. |
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Ike, of course, is too dignified to participate in any silly tissue-retrieving mission.
This has become Ike’s “spot”. I will forever have dog beds on my bed to keep him happy. |
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One last note…I’ve decided to take part in a photo project on Flickr called 365days. The rules are that you have to post a self-portrait every day for one year – self-timers and tripods are fine, but no one else can click the shutter. I expect this to be an adventure in creativity and self-discovery.
You can see what I have so far in my Flickr 365days set. |
I could have made this fast-topic-changing-Friday post really long. Venturing into Chapter One of my new life means that there are so many crazy, funny, and strange things to talk about.
I’m laughing about a thousand times a day. Seriously.
Before we get started, please remember my shamless plea for Christmas cards at the bottom of Monday’s post. I’m so grateful and excited to get cards!
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In the past, when things got weird, I used to stop eating. It was a very bad habit, but I didn’t know how to change.
I am proud to say that I have been purchasing, preparing, and consuming my own food. Every time I sit down to a meal, it’s a little triumph. Lookit me! I’m doing it! My arm hurts from patting myself on the back. Next…! |
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Anne Boleyn needs to get off her non-existent ass and clean up her room.
I’ve had it with her and her filthy ways. Next…! |
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Unusual Thing About My New House #1:
The broiler is under the oven, in the drawer. What?!? I have only seen this drawer used for storage in the past. It isn’t very convenient, and I have a burn on my arm to prove it. Next…! |
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I am SO GLAD I bought a vacuum cleaner on the same day that I brought home new dog toys.
Ike and Abe had a blast tearing these up. Next…! |
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Guess who learned to “sit” this week! Abraham!
It was impossible to teach him in a house with four dogs, because it was just too chaotic at cookie time. With the chaos removed, he learned to sit in one day. He is such a good boy. Yes, that is a handknit wool blanket. Nothing but the best for my boys. Have a great weekend! |
And so it starts!
Here are the facts:
1. I live in Austin now
2. I have two dogs with me, Ike and Abe
3. I love it here.
In normal verypink style, let’s tell more with photos. (I have a special request of you, dear reader, at the very bottom of the post.)
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The dogs are having a great time. It is so fun to watch them tear around in the big backyard.
There is the added bonus of squirrels in the trees! (I seriously pity the squirrel that decides to come down from the tree to face these two.) |
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Same furniture (minus a desperately-needed rug), new front room.
I still have a lot of work to do on the house, but the basics are all here now. It’s a dark, cloudy day. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make the room look as bright and cheerful as it usually looks. |
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I threw the dog beds on my bed while I had boxes everywhere, but Ike has decided that this is where they belong.
I suppose I have to let the dogs have their say, too. |
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And now, a request…
I love getting Christmas cards. LOVE IT. I’ve been a little bit worried about myself during this time of transition and Christmas on my own, but I know that receiving cards in the mail will make it feel like Christmas for me. Here’s my shameless request: Please send me a Christmas card. Staci P. |
This isn’t an apology for not posting much over the last few weeks, but more of an explanation as to why…
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I have an empty house to fill.
In Austin! Closing was yesterday, and move-in date is very soon. See why I’ve been busy? |
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Aaaaand, some doggie goodness.
I’m going to fall off the face of the earth for a little while, but I’ll be back soon. And when I get back, I’ll start an exciting new chapter. 🙂 |
Time for Christmas music also means Time For Carbs!
I usually stick to the rule of “No White Foods”, except for the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then all bets are off. It’s the most luxurious gift I could possibly give myself.
“No White Foods” means that I don’t normally eat bread, rice, or potatoes. Don’t try to read too much into it. I do eat eggs. I do eat chicken. I do take cream in my coffee. Some people find it a challenge to think of every white food on the planet, then quiz me about it. Makes me laugh.
It’s a fast-topic-changing-Friday, so hang on…
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Have you seen these fancy automatic shower cleaners? It’s a great idea. Just push a button and it sprays the whole shower down with cleaner, so you never have to scrub.
The latest refill I bought came with an extra bit of information… |
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Oh, no. Does that mean that someone actually – and then wrote to the company to complain that their skin burned off or something –
and…? I suppose we can’t credit all of America with being supersmart. Next…! |
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I spent Thanksgiving with some new and old friends. Here is one of my new friends, Muffin.
She is a bottle-fed kitten, cared for by one of my Thanksgiving hosts, Elissa, who works in an animal clinic. Please drop me a note if you’re in Houston and interested in adoption. Funny, last year’s Thanksgiving post was also about animal rescue. Next…! |
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I enjoyed a fantastic Thanksgiving meal, with all of the trimmings, cooked to perfection.
I was even sent home with a ton of leftovers, so the carbohydrate merriment continues! Next…! |
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To make it to Thanksgiving dinner on time, I had to feed and walk my dogs early in the afternoon. (Any disruption to their normal schedule is potentially a cause for 4 meltdowns.)
When I got home late in the evening, I saw that Lou had thrown a decent tantrum, by rearranging everything he could move in the front room. Ah, well. Have a great weekend! |
I will remain calm.
I am not freaking out.
But I would forgive myself if I did freak out. You see, I was at the supermarket fish counter, turned my head, and saw this:
…and I threw up a little bit in my mouth.
Not because it’s a crazy Texas cowboy Santa with a cactus and a penguin, but because I am NOT READY to deal with Christmas yet.
By this time last year, I had already:
But mostly, I had:
KNIT MORE THAN TWELVE CHRISTMAS GIFTS, and I did it all without ever stepping into a mall.
Clearly, Christmas is going to be different this year. Not bad, but different.
Just as long as I don’t freak out because I can’t be Martha Stewart this time.
Instead of wool and alpaca and cotton and silk, my attention has been focused on other materials – namely cardboard and tape.
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And a black magic marker, of course. |
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The art of knitting has been replaced by the art of stacking and lifting… |
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And sorting, and sorting, and sorting.
Packing and moving is one thing…but inspecting every single item to decide whether it’s “his” or “hers” is time consuming. I’m not complaining. It’s actually sort of cleansing. |
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Speaking of cleansing, my closet positively echoes right now.
“Big picture” details soon. |
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The dogs and I have a deal. As long as I move the dog beds around the house to follow the sun, they won’t unpack what I’ve packed.
Win win! |
Sometimes even an emotionally stable person can’t avoid baby talk.
Especially in the presence of so many tiny, cute things.
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First up, my niece. This is Molly Renee at 10 weeks with her mom (aka my sister).
Recently, someone on the street mistook Molly for a boy. Since then, Phyllis has been careful to cover her in pink and bows. A boy? Really? Only in Alaska. |
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Next little, cute thing – these tiny mittens.
I made these as a shop sample for The Knitting Nest, to help show off the Baby Ull yarn. I love this pattern, so much that this isn’t the first pair of these mittens I’ve knit. |
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Yet another cute thing…here is the Baby Surprise Sweater I knit a few weeks ago, but this time with buttons.
The buttons aren’t actually attached yet in this photo. |
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Are you about to reach your limit on little cute things? I wasn’t going to take a photo of Little Lou’s head, but he got curious about what I was doing.
The sweater is my latest WIP, Basic Black from the new MagKnits, knit with Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Chocolate. |
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Little Lou again, looking kind of huge from this angle. |
