A FO On My Feet and Summer Goals

Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments about my new tattoo. I'll try to answer everyone's questions here. I got it at NOLA tattoo by Walt. He did a great job! I went in with an idea of what I wanted and he drew it up for me. It took about 3 hours to do and yes, it hurt, a lot. This is my second tattoo. The first is a skydiving tat that is between my shoulder blades. I am very fair skinned and wear sunscreen all the time so fading shouldn't be an issue for many years to come. I think that covers everything. If you have any other questions about the tat just leave a comment and I'll do my best to respond!

I'm wearing a new pair of socks today! These are the Grasshopper socks from the April Rockin' Sock Club. The yarn is the new Silkie in the Walking on the Wild Tide colorway. I followed the pattern with the exception of not doing any increases on the leg and keeping them short. They were knit on size 1, knit picks needles. My only complaint might be that the toes are too pointy and they do slouch a little so I'm glad I made them short.


I also dug out a WIP from last summer that was never finished. This is from Interweave Crochet spring '06, called Pink Frosting. I had the back pretty much finished last year except for binding off. Then it got cold and I put it away. The front seems to be going much faster than the back did but I've been knitting a lot longer now.



Ali is having a contest over at her blog relating to summer knitting goals. Go check it out, it's fun! And here is my list of summer knitting goals.

1. Finish "Pink Frosting"
2. Finish "Maltese"
3. Keep up with the remainder of the Rockin Sock Club kits
4. Finish at least 2 more pairs of socks outside the club socks
5. Start a Chevron scarf before the end of summer
6. Design at least 1 crocheted item
   
7. Keep knitting from the stash - maybe I'll get one more tank/sweater started

I've now lost 25.4 pounds on weight watchers since Jan. 9 of this year. I've hit a little bit of a plateau though and haven't moved much in the past 3-4 weeks. I really need to start working out more and I think that will probably get the scale moving again. I'm working to try and keep the motivation level up but I've been having a rough time with my migraines again which makes it hard to work out.

I went to a new nuerologist last week for the migraines. She started me on some new medication. One was a steriod for the current headache and also on verapamil as a preventative. Well, my system had a little bit of a freak out after starting them, extremely flushed, racing heart, shaking. The doctor thinks it was the steriods so I have stopped them, still taking the verapamil which is actually a blood pressure medication. But the headaches are not getting any better, actually maybe worse if anything.

Not for the Faint of Heart

Crazy Coincidences

I was browsing around on the DeStash blog and spotted some good wool for felting. Since making the sushi wallet I've wanted to do more felting and the price was right. So I sent my email to the sealer and she said it was still available and I sent over my address. Now, she sends me an email back saying that she's going to be visiting in New Orleans this weekend and offers to hand deliver the yarn! How cool is that? This morning Jenn and I met at Cafe DeMonde and hung out and knit on our socks for a while. Those jaywalkers she's working on are gorgeous! The internet is a marvelous thing!

We decided to walk over to the yarn store in the Quarter, The Quarter Stitch. I picked up a skein of sari silk to try out and Jenn got a couple of skeins of sock yarn. Then as we're walking out the store we literally run right into Jerry Springer! At first we weren't sure if it was him but then this group of guys started yelling "Jerry!, Jerry!, Jerry!" And he waved a little and kept walking. We think he was looking for a place to eat lunch. Of course we both forgot our cameras!

Stay tuned for pictures of the big surprise! I'll be posting them tomorrow if all goes well.

A Grandmother's Love

I get a lot of my craftiness from various people in my family. My Mom did a lot of sewing and some quilting and crocheting when I was growing up. My paternal grandmother sews and crochets. My materal grandfather did a lot of wood working. My maternal grandmother also sews, quilts and used to crochet. There are others in my family who are crafty as well but these are the ones I feel influenced me the most.

I've been bugging my Grandmother to make me a quilt for quite some time now. She quilts by hand and has made a number of quilts that are scattered through-out the family. Well, for my birthday (which was in January) this year she made me a quilt. It is so very lovely. Every time I wrap up in it I can feel my Grandmother giving me a hug.

There was a mix up with the address when she mailed it and it took a few weeks to get here. I was starting to panic but finally it showed up. She told me the pattern is called "Road Home to Tennessee."

All of my grandparents have been having more and more health issues recently and I wish I could spend more time with all of them because I know my time with them is limited. But time and money only allow so much. I hope each of them can feel all the love I'm sending them.

A Little Catnip Goes a Long Way

Well, I told you I shaved DH's head so let's start with that. Doesn't he look handsome?

I finally finished putting the zipper in the sushi wallet. This was a kit I originally bought from Scout's Swag for my PRGE (Punk Rock Gift Exchange) partner, Leslie. The kit was supposed to be mailed directly to her but there was a mix up in Scout's computer and it was mailed to me. When I told Scout about the mix up she shipped out a second wallet to my pal (who already finished hers) and told me to keep the extra! So cool of her and excellent customer service. I've had the knitting and felting done for a couple of months but just hadn't sewn in the zipper. It was my first time felting and that was fun but zippers, not so fun.

I finally got my April Rockin' Sock Club shipment and I love it! I already cast on and I hope to have them finished soon. The Silkie yarn is fabulous!

The kitties received some cat nip toys this week. They went a little crazy.

Keep your eye out, on the 19th I'll have a big surprise to show you! I'm so excited, I can hardly wait!