Muppet Tentacle Scarf

I'm loving these Egypt DVD's because they let me get so much done with crafting while still being able to absorb all the info. This is yet another project that I started and abandoned, which is now finally finished. I posted pics on FB and one of my friends said the fringe looked like tentacles. Combined with the crazy colors now I think of it as my Muppet tentacle scarf.

Alternatively, I think it looks like lots of yummy flavors of sherbet.

Aforementioned tentacles.

This picture gives a better idea of the true color of the contrasting yarn- it's a beautiful plummy purple that I adore with the softer palette of the main yarn colors because it picks up the subtle darker flecks in them.

Here's a picture showing the length- this wrapped twice around my neck (I like really long scarves). The sherbet/Muppet colored yarn is my favorite- Lion Brand- and the contrasting plummy purple is some random yarn I bought years and years ago. I need to do a post soon about how organizing my crafting supplies in a more open and accessible manner is 75% of the reason why I am crafting like this again. Of course organizing it like that in the first place was motivated by the addition of crafting to my 2011 goals list. For the last few years I've made scarves for at least one person for Christmas, and I think that will be my gift this year to the people who have not yet received one. Underlying all of this crocheting and quilting and crafting (oh my!) is a desire to work through my piles of yarn and material over the next year and a half so that it will all be used up by the time we leave Colorado. I already have a few ideas for quilts and aprons in the works that I'm excited to try out. I made up my own pattern for this scarf and the blue blanket I made, but if you want a great online source for free crocheting/knitting patters you should definitely check out Ravelry's website.

Kate's Birthday Quilt

Kate and I in 2004

Kate is another very close friend of mine I've known since college. I met her my sophomore year (2002-03) and she was a freshman in college the next year while I was a junior. Her real name is Katie, but I've always called her Kate, or, more frequently, we both call each other bunny- yet another nickname/term of endearment to add to the never ending list our group employs. She works at a nursery and is master certified in horticulture, putting in sometimes 80 hour weeks doing back breaking work. She has a thick Texas accent, and she drinks her coffee out of a Mason jar, ya'll. She is most frequently found in plaid, and in fact, last year for her birthday her party was themed "Dress Like Kate", and we filled a house with tens of friends wearing plaid and sporting old cowboy hats, decked out in accessories like rainbow suspenders and boots. Katie also has a deep and abiding love for her native state. Please see this picture for evidence:
That's right, when she came to visit me, we went camping and she actually had a Texas doormat on hand. Just, you know, hanging out in her truck (which also happens to have a bumper sticker that says "Don't Mess with Texas...Women" on it) in case she happened to need it.

Katie and I briefly dated a million years ago, aka 2004 (which seriously feels like it was a million years ago) but most of us in the group have dated one another at one time or another, and like everyone else we remained good friends after and she is still, to this day, one of my best friends in this world. She is loyal and protective and absolutely hilarious. There are running jokes about how terrible she is at telling stories, but she is also a fabulous dancer and we are often found improving some kind of partner dance to a variety of Michael Jackson songs at get togethers. Or, if we're at a bar, we will inevitably two-step- she leads, naturally. Katie shares my affinity for simple and frugal living, and we both have a deep and abiding love for to do lists. Regarding to-do lists, Katie introduced me to the term rat killin' as a euphemism for running errands. This is one of many reasons I think she's adorable.

Kate and I at my going away to Colorado party

This last Sunday was her 25th birthday, and I made her a quilt- all hand stitched!- that I designed. It is meant to be a bit folksy, but if you knew Kate you would say to yourself "that is Kate in quilt form". Here are some pictures of the project, which also happens to be another goal on my 2011 goals list. Shamefully, I purchased these materials to make this quilt for Katie's 24th birthday, but never got around to it between wrapping up grad school and starting my new job. But now it's done, and there is photographic proof.

I found bandannas in Kate's signature colors/style to use for the quilt top. The design was pretty simple, but I'm still pretty proud of it because while I have quilted before, I have never made a quilt- other quilted pieces became pillows. This is the quilt top in its first step.

I started kind of making up the design as I went, and decided there had to be a Texas in there somewhere. Bobby donated some old work pants to the cause, and I knew Kate would love that detail. Bobby found a template online for me that was the perfect size. Here it is, waiting to be embroidered onto the quilt.

As I had never made a quilt I decided to go the easy way and tie it. But I wanted it to be cute, so I got beige and orange buttons to decorate where I tied it together.

More button detailing...

Close up of the center...

Size comparison (before ironing, don't judge me too harshly!)

And the back, also before ironing. I totally took the lazy way out and purchased a fleece blanket for the back piece. But, while it was lazy, it was smart in two ways. One, I didn't have to piece together two lengths and then sew it to the top- and saving sewing is always good when you're doing it by hand! And two, this fleece blanket was about half the price of buying fleece by the yard. Frugality for the win.

The most important thing is that Kate *loved* it. And I'm so glad she did!

A Blue Weekend

This weekend was one of those weekends where I simultaneously got a ton of things done but also had a lot of downtime to just curl up with a book next to Bobby on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary- in fact, we skipped our planned West Coast Swing dance lessons in favor of staying in on Friday and Saturday night. A few things that stood out on the good weekend list:

I made a hodge podge breakfast smoothie on Saturday morning out of random things in the fridge that needed to be used up- 1/4 a cup of pureed pumpkin, about the same amount of blueberries- plus an overripe banana, a tbsp each of ground flax seeds and chia seeds, a splash of almond milk, and what I *thought* were frozen peaches from our CSA...

See the little orange guys hanging out at the bottom? I just found out (as I was typing this) that they were not, in fact, peaches. They were little chunks of butternut squash. I found this out when Bobby (who is, as I type, making a peach/strawberry/rhubarb crumble) asked "is this...cantaloupe? what is this?" and I told him they were peaches. Then he says "no, THESE are peaches" holding up another container. Moral of the story? Chunks of frozen butternut squash taste damned good in a smoothie with unlikely counterparts such as pumpkin and blueberries. Lesson learned!

So, this is a bittersweet moment from the weekend. My beloved green, eco-friendly, all natural rubber yoga mat bit the dust after a little over two years of use (I'd say about 3 times a week for an hour of power/vinyasa flow, so it did admirably). I wanted to replace it with the exact same brand and type, and this was the only mat we could find in town that met the requirements.

Why, hello there.

It's been unfurled in the study room for over a day now, because as you can imagine it smells strongly of what it's made out of- pure rubber. I can't wait to use it tomorrow morning.

And last but not least, I finished a project on my 2011 Goals List. This is the blue baby blanket that I started... wait for it...THREE YEARS AGO. I know, it's awful! But look, just by putting it on a goals list, it's magically done a mere two weeks later. Originally a few people around me were pregnant and its home was kind of up in the air, and now I need to find a place to send it to.

This is triple stitch crocheting, for those of you out there who are familiar with such terms. I finished the last 5 rows- including cutting every.single.piece.of.yarn. for tassle- and the tassle on both ends in about 3 hours while Bobby and I watched another DVD of Egypt lectures (his parents sent us 7 DVD's of a professor lecturing on Egypt in preparation for our trip and they are fascinating). It was nice to kill two birds with one stone, and since it's literally just a lecture on DVD I didn't miss out on anything by having to glance down at my hands periodically.

I learned to crochet when I was 5 or 6, and a part of me is still in awe that by twisting yarn in a certain way around a little metal hook this is what's created.

Of course, as I realized here, it's just as nice for an adult to curl up in as well. So I suppose that broadens the field of who might be receiving this little guy. I'm just glad I finally finished it! I also finished Kate's birthday quilt (also on the goals list), so I'll post those pictures later. In other good news not proven by photographic evidence- I met my Spanish study goals for the week. I sat down at the kitchen table and studied for two and a half hours this weekend, which not only got me off to a good start but helped me flesh out a study schedule that I think will be effective. I'll go into more detail on the goals progress in monthly reviews though, so for now I think I'm going to get ready for bed so I can curl up with a book and some of that peach/strawberry/rhubarb crumble that I'm starting to smell from the kitchen :)