Dandelion Picker

Really, I’m not even going to show you the original it was so bad…peppered with acne, excessive shiney-ness, and multiple chins. Thanks to Pioneer Woman and some YouTube tutorials, I can show you this:

So, Saturday Wy and I ventured out to Sandusky for Corrie’s wedding. Sadly, I have no good pics to show. Wy has them on her camera and by the time she sends them to me, Corrie will be old and gray. If I ever get them, I’ll post them. Her dress was beautiful and everyone had a great time.

Wy was a little tired on the drive home. She’s not a good road-trip buddy…she always sleeps. I’m getting revenge since she makes me play the license plate game by myself…and because she doesn’t read my blog. I KNOW! My own sister doesn’t even care what I have to say!

She’s a hot mess, isn’t she?! So sexy when she sleeps. Quit drooling on my leather seats you camel! You can dress her up, but you can’t take her anywhere…

Saturday night we went out after we got back to Toledo. The first pic was taken at the Whiskey Ranch. I wanna know - how is it I spent 19 years in that city and when I go back, I never, ever run into anyone I know!? Isn’t that strange?

Sunday my mom made dinner and Wy, Mikey, Gram, and I ate over at mom’s house. It was a quick visit but it was nice to have dinner with everyone.

I didn’t get any of my desk done this weekend (obviously). Hopefully I will get it very close to being done this weekend.

I got another row done on Mary’s knitting project, but not much to show, so I’ll post a new WIP update next time.

Gotta get moving! Talk at you soon!

Among other things.

So I said I was trying to keep busy yesterday…here’s what I did. I meant to take “before” pics so I could post them with the “after” pics, but alas, I forgot.

You can see on the right hand side of the one pic what the desk used to look like. Its a really cool desk, an old oak teacher’s desk, I just want it to match my other furniture, so I’m painting it antique white. This is just the primer (which explains why its so sloppy). I had no idea this project was going to take so long!

In knitting news, here is my friend Jodi’s gathered pullover, you can see I’ve made some progress!

I really love the color and how the gathering looks. I didn’t do the decreases over the bust cause I think that looks wonky and strange having that line there. I’m hoping everything is going correctly with this, its my first “real” knitting project. I just have to do the sleeves and I’m almost done. Gawd I’m sick of stockinette!

What I don’t like: see that weird line near the top? Its where I changed from circular needle to straight. I got a weird tension problem there. Guess you live and learn. I can’t seem to get it right. I hope its less noticeable once I block it. Speaking of blocking, this sweater is looking pretty darn small…is that normal? I hope it stretches a bit. Jodi’s not a big girl by any means, but this thing looks like it would fit a 10 year old.

This is the other project I have going on right now:

This is for my aunt Mary’s bday. I’ve been working on this a lot and I feel like I’m getting nowhere! Do you know what it is? If you have an idea you can click here to see if you’re right. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, then I remembered, she can’t sign in to Ravelry! So far I like it, I hope this fits her…its kinda hard to knit for people who live thousands of miles away!

That’s all the knitting news I have. Nothing else crafty going on. Hopefully I will have finished desk pics soon. I wanted to finish it this weekend, but then I remembered, my friend Corrie is getting married, so I will be pretty busy. Wy (my sis) and I will be all dressed up Saturday for the wedding and reception, so I’ll try to get a good pic of us up here

Happy knitting!

Mac Cosmetics is having a sale! Check it out! If you can’t get to a Mac store, the online sale is Monday.

Other than that there’s not much going on here! I have a long list of things to do this weekend that include painting the desk I bought weeks ago from Craigslist. I’ll take some before and after pics if I actually get it done.

I started my aunt Mary’s bday knitting this past weekend. I’ll get some sneak previews up, but I can’t tell you what it is in case she checks here. (Not sure if she does cause my family never leaves me comments!)

PS - Its hot as hell here and I’m not happy about it! (and still pasty white).

Mmmmmm now that’s a good smoothie!

I’ve been drinking these green smoothies for about 2 weeks now, one for breakfast everyday. I haven’t had one the last two mornings cause I’ve been up late and didn’t have time to make one. I definitely miss them in the morning! They fill me up and wake me right up, no coffee needed

This isn’t my usual. My usual is found on the Happy Foody blog. This is a spin on that recipe. This one has:

*a bunch of kale
*some beet greens
*a regular lemon and a Meyer lemon
*a banana
*4 really small apples
*about 1 tbsp. of agave nectar (you could probably leave it out and wouldn’t notice)
*a small piece of ginger
*about 5 oz. of coconut milk
*and enough water to make it smooth

Its delish! And soooo much easier and tastier than eating kale in a salad or cooked. My blender is a cheesy one, so you can actually chew my smoothies. I don’t really mind, I’m kinda used to it, but it does suck when I drink them at work and get kale stuck in my teeth and don’t know it So I will probably be getting a new blender from work soon. We have those super-duper crazy horsepower restaurant ones that are made to chew up anything. After making my smoothie, my current one has to rest and I have to open the door to the balcony to let it air out cause the kitchen smells like burnt-up motor LOL that can’t be good!

So once again, I have been seriously lacking in the knitting department. But I did get a little done on the sweater:

I still have no idea if its going to fit. I suck at getting gauge.

I got a new book too and its awesome

I’ve made a few things already and they were really good. I especially like the chickpea patties for lunch, a spinach wrap, some sprouts, tomato, hummus, yummmmm.

So that’s it! I’m going to Toledo for the weekend. My Aunt Maryanne and I are going to a fiber festival in Bowling Green, so that should be fun!

And I have nothing to say. Well, I do have things to say, but I’m not going to turn this into a political blog, so I will just leave this nifty little thing I saw over at Lick My Sticks:

1. Why did you start your blog? Cause my grandparents moved away to California. Most of my fam is out of town now and its a good way for them to keep up with me when they want to.

2. How did you come up with your blog name? I wanted something cute Its named Dandelion Picker because my Pop-pop used to take all my cousins and me a field full of dandelions every summer and we’d pick bags full so that he could make wine out of them. In return, we got Taco Bell or ice cream afterwards…it was fun!

3. Do your friends and family know about your blog? What do they think of it? Yes they know, and most of them think I’m a nerd LOL

4. How do you write posts? Usually if I’m at work or at home I’ll keep a little posty note of things I need to blog about so I don’t forget. Then I run around taking pics of the stuff I need to post. I hate posts without pics. I think they’re boring.

5. Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments? Not that I can remember. But if you leave me mean comments, I will delete you. Its my website and I’ll do what I want with it since I pay for it!

6. Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do care, how do you increase traffic? Yes, I check to see which of my family, if any, is reading my stuff! It also lets me know when fellow knitters are stopping by to see if I’ve updated. So, its nice to know that people care what I’m up to.

7. What kind of blogs/posts interest you? I read mostly knitting and vegan/vegetarian, but also Kara’s (when she actually updates!), news stuff, and political stuff. I like funny ones and ones that contain pics! I also read some sewing ones, atheist ones, pro-choice, and gay rights ones.

8. What do you like and dislike about blogging? I hate the feeling that I have to blog. I feel guilty when I don’t do it for a long time…but sometimes there’s just nothing all that exciting that I feel that I need to write it down. What I like about it is that I can go back and see what I was doing a month ago, a year ago, etc. I also like that my fam can feel like they’re keeping up with me even though we don’t get to talk or see each other that often.

So there you have it.

In knitting news (and I’m sorry, there just isn’t much of it), here is Jodi’s sweater once again:

I hate stockinette in the round, it’s so BORING! I guess that’s why I haven’t gotten very far, but as you can see, I’ve started the twisty-cabley part, so I’m getting motivated again. I just hope it fits her, it’s looking kinda tiny to me. But it’s my first sweater, so I’m going to cut myself some slack. Not planning on doing anything for Easter this year. Easter’s never been all that exciting to me, so I think I’m just gonna hang out here. Matt has to work all day, so it will be nice to be home alone! I may make some Easter coffeecake or something if I feel inspired

I got a juicer last week and I’ve been playing with it non-stop (which explains the lack of knitting). I’ve been into the green smoothies lately. Matt says they smell like the apple orchard had an accident, but they taste pretty good! This one is my fav over at Happy Foody. She’s awesome, I love her site. Try a green smoothie they taste great (much better than choking down a salad - you know how I feel about salad!).

Well I spent the past weekend in Toledo with Wy. I went in for my Grandma’s birthday party. Here’s a pic of me and my cousins (some of them anyways!). Oh - I got new hair! I *love* it so much! Its dark dark dark brown (as close to black as I could get) with red and copper streaks!

I didn’t get any knitting done. I was too busy playing Rock Band with Wylie (I suck at drums…but then again, so does she!) and catching up with my friend Sarah from grade school. It was good to see her again, we had lots to talk about and it was fun! And I grabbed a quick bite with my Aunt Kathleen before I came home on Sunday.

Other than that, not much to report over here. The snow keeps coming and its cold…but that’s to be expected, its March in Ohio. I really wish I had some knitting pics to show you, but I’m just not motivated lately. The endless stocking stitch of Jodi’s sweater is driving me to tears of boredom, and the beret I was working on is going to be too small, so I really need to frog it and start over.

I finished two books this week. They were both very good if anyone’s interested…

First I finished “We Need To Talk About Kevin”, then “What the Dead Know”…both kept my attention…which isn’t easy!

I broke down and bought a juicer, so there will probably be lots of juice pr0n pictures soon!

Its awfully cold outside. We got lots of snow last night. No one bothered to shovel the walks or plow the parking lot of the apartment building, so this morning was a nightmare. I can’t wait for winter to end.

I started working on Jodi’s gathered pullover last weekend. Here it is in all its stockinette stitch glory. I can’t wait to get to the gathered part. It looks like it will be more fun than plain old stockinette. I love the color too, but its turning my hands and needles red! I had a hell of a time getting gauge on this one. I finally just gave up and started knitting with the needles it called for. I don’t know what my problem is. I hope it works out in the end!

I finally got my order from Joann.com that I placed 3 weeks ago…not sure what the issue was there, but their customer service department leaves a lot to be desired! So, I can now finish the beret I started also. Just a plain old beret in cheapy yarn, but I love the colors in the yarn. I have a beret fetish this winter…they look ridiculous on me, but they’re so darn cute!

I also got my fabric order from Z&S Fabrics. I saw this super cute fabric on the Knitting Box blog and I had to have some! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it, but I love it and its going to be cute. Actually, I love all the fabrics I got from them And they were pretty cheap too! Check ‘em out:

I love the skull one and the geisha one too! I think I’ll use that one with all the circles to make a project bag. I was lurking over here too, on dontcallmebecky, and saw that gorgeous Amy Butler fabric and I love that one too…what a cute bag huh?!

Fine Points was having a 30% off sale before Valentine’s Day (yes, I’m a little behind in my posting) and I picked up the following at a steal:

This was the last online order:

I’m using the four bulky ones in front for the Daisy Stitch Handwarmers.
And the bag in the back is for the Composed Mitts. I can’t wait to get those started, they’re so cute. Unfortunately, I have yet to finish Jodi’s sweater, my aunt Mary’s birthday gift, and my grandma is having a birthday this weekend and I haven’t even figured out what to make her yet…needless to say, its going to be late. I’m a little behind. I haven’t even blocked my mom’s scarf that I finished so long ago. Ooops.

Well, hopefully next time you hear from me the snow will be gone (wishful thinking) and I will have at least two or more finished projects to share!

I had to rip those endpaper mitts AGAIN. I give up. I’m starting on Jodi’s sweater!

I won a blog contest over at Cocoknits! Nicole sent out the goodies pictured below:

Isn’t that yarn yummy??? Not to mention the chocolate - its delish! I’ve never had organic chocolate before! Thanks Nicole! I promise to pay it forward sometime soon!
So I thought I would blog while I was eating dinner tonight… here’s what I’m having (sorry about the blurry pic):

Two weird things about this if you know me:

1. I hate salad

2. I can’t cook worth a crap

But, the dinner turned out great! Its Mushroom and Spinach Stroganoff over Tagliatelle (vegetarian of course, from the Quelle Ergsome blog), and Raw Kale and Avocado Salad with some Olive Focaccia I got over at Whole Foods. The salad came from this blog if you’re interested: Happy Foody. She’s awesome. Even if you’re not into raw or vegetarian food, her recipes and knowledge are inspiring. This salad is awesome, by the way.

I have been knitting, but it doesn’t look like much because I’ve had to frog this thing about 4 times.

I measured and according to the pattern, I need a size medium, but that wasn’t working out so well, so I’m now using size 5 dpns and it seems to fit better. Its a little slow going, but they are going to be pretty! I was hoping they’d be done by now. I was hoping to have them done before the rest of the supplies arrived to start Jodi’s gathered pullover.

So that’s about it for today! I think Matt and I are going to see Juno tomorrow after I get off work, I heard its a good movie.

I also got a new Aiden pic in the mail this week…evidently he doesn’t like having his picture taken, seeing as he’s giving the camera the bird. The kid is adorable!

Hope all is well with everyone! Leave me a comment and say hi!

Yes, I know the Superbowl was 4 days ago, but I’m a superslow knitter! Now that I’ve outted myself to my friends as a knerdy knitter…this is what I worked on while we watched the game:

One Gretel coming up!

I used exactly one skein (I omitted a couple of rows cause I was afraid I’d run out of yarn, and good thing I did!) of Mmmmmmmmalabrigo in Brown Berries. I’ve never worked with Malabrigo before, but now I know why they call it Mmmmmmm! I have a new favorite yarn!

Now I need to start working on Jodi’s Gathered Pullover. Its my first sweater ever so cross your fingers! I’ll probably cast on tomorrow night. I’m excited to get started!