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. |
Otherwise Occupied
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. 🙂 |
The Launch of Carb Season
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! |
No Way, Man
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:
- – mixed up new Christmas music playlists
- – put together a Christmas party outfit
- – selected the Christmas-ey scent for my home
- – bought my Christmas cards
- – selected gifts for the nieces and nephews
- – I was very close to buying a tree and decorating
- – photoshopped my dogs to look like reindeer
- – had a plan for wrapping and shipping everything off to our family and friends
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.
Less Stitching, More Stacking
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! |
Widdle Fings
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. |
Crazy Talk
Tenth Clapotis = fini.
As much as I like the pattern, I’d still like to think that this will be my last one.
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Pretty, huh?
While I was knitting it, I was thinking, “Man, I’d sure like to have one for myself out of this yarn.” Could somebody lock me up, please? |
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This one was made with 2.5 hanks of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport. The drape on it is perfect and lovely and it smells good, and it is my new BFF.
I WANT. |
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Enough of that.
Here’s Gus, from a photo shoot I had with him a few days ago. (He’s laying next to the destroyed dog bed.) Isn’t this called “Rembrandt Lighting”? |
Boing, Boing, Boing
A fast-topic-changing Friday! It should be in title caps! A Fast-Topic-Changing Friday!
First up, mini trampolines (aka trampettes, rebounders) were constantly bouncing into my field of vision, which made me want to give one a try.
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A trip to the sports store and $19.99 later, I had me one.
It is so fun! It’s jogging and bouncing, without pressure on the joints. In fact, there are a whole host of benefits to be found on the very trustworthy Online, including happier lymphatic circulation. Who knew? I like the fact that I can place it directly in front of the tv and bounce to The People’s Court. |
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Abe likes it, too.
Next…! |
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Could it be? Might I be knitting my TENTH Clapotis?
Yes. It’s a shop/class sample for The Knitting Nest. I might hold the world’s record for Clapotis. If anyone knows of a knitter who has made more of these than me, please let me know. Next…! |
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I got the coolest free gift.
I happen to order all of my skincare from a certain website (I’ll tell ya if you really want to know), and they were having a “free cocktail ring with purchase of $1.4 million dollars” or so. I’m a sucker for free gifts. I’ve actually been looking for a ring like this! And it’s really metal, and it’s just my size. But it gets even better… |
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Lip gloss!
Next…! |
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Here is proof that I feed my dogs things other than mini trampolines and Harry Potter scarves. Here they are enjoying a nice bowl of Froot Loops for dinner.
Have a great weekend! |
One Costume, Four Dogs
Next up in sample knits for The Knitting Nest – a project that happens to also be the household Halloween costume.
All four dogs are going as Harry Potter this year. I didn’t give them a choice.
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This sample is for a class I’ll teach for beginners who can already knit and purl, to give them skills in double-knitting, changing colors, k2tog, finishing, and blocking.
These are Gryffindor colors, even though I was sorted as a Ravenclaw. If you haven’t been sorted into your house yet, this test is pretty cool. |
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My guess is that Gus would actually be sorted into Slytherin, which explains his discomfort with wearing Gryffindor colors. |
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It’s hard to tell if Lou loves it, or hates it. |
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Oh. He hates it.
I would guess that he would actually be a Hufflepuff. |
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Abe awaits his turn. I think he’d be a Gryffindor.
It was at this point that I started to worry about the destruction of the “costume”, so Ike didn’t get a chance to try it on. That’s okay. Ike has suffered plenty of humiliation with modeling handknits. Happy Halloween! |
Letting It Unfold
It used to be that my plan was to move to Austin, and my plan didn’t have any shape beyond that. But because of my friends and this amazing thing called The Online, a better plan is coming into focus.
I have made the greatest connection with Stacy who just opened The Knitting Nest in south Austin. After only knowing me through verypink and a few emails, Stacy asked me to teach knitting classes at her store.
Now I have something to do once I get to Austin. I am so grateful. Not only does Staci own the greatest knitting store in Texas, but she is kind, generous, and sympathetic to my situation. I tell ya, it’s a great connection.
So now I have prep work to do before my move. I need to knit samples for the classes I’ll teach, as well as some shop samples for Stacy. Last time I was in Austin, Stacy sent me home with a metric ton of yarn to get me started. I’m glad that I’m a fast knitter. I have been busy.
Here is just the first of many things in the works…
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This crazy thing.
Doesn’t look like much, but it is The Number One pattern in it’s category on Ravelry. This will be a shop sample. |
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I’m sure that some of you recognize what this is already. I’m going to to play dumb for a bit.
Umm…no. |
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In Spanish: No. |
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In French: Non. |
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In Italian: No. |
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In English: Almost! |
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Viola! The Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann, from her book The Opinionated Knitter.
I swear, it looks nothing like a baby sweater while you’re knitting it. You gotta trust the pattern and press on. Just a couple of seams, some blocking, and a few buttons needed now. |
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Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a bed and a toy.
Both are destroyed equally in this house. |
