Erica’s Blog

  Hubby and Thing One got back from Yosemite at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon.  They hadn’t bathed since they left (swimming in the river in their underwear doesn’t count), they were filthy and smelly, and all their clothes smelled like a camp fire — it was a successful trip.  <BG>

 Hubby told a hysterical story about a squirrel stealing Thing One’s chocolate bar one night.  Apparently, he gave her the chocolate bars to hold and told her not to put them down or open them.  She opened hers, then set them down.  A squirrel came along, took hers and ran off with it.  The squirrel took the candy bar under someone’s RV and was opening it more and eating it.  When it came out, hubby chased it some more, but it ran across the street and took the candy down into its hole.  B/c it was her own fault the squirrel stole it, hubby was tempted not to share his chocolate with her, but he relented, and they both had s’mores.

  They even brought back souvenirs!  Thing One got a stuffed baby coyote for herself and a stuffed bear cub for Thing Two.  They brought me a travel coffee mug, and hubby got himself a fridge magnet.  Thing One really wanted to get something for her special friend Devin, and hubby had a quite a time convincing her that a boy wouldn’t want a stuffed animal souvenir.  Eventually, he convinced her, and she got him this cute foam visor that looks like a coyote. 

They took WAY too many pictures for me to post on here.  To see them all, click here.

I am SO glad they’re home.  Thing One’s glad to be home b/c she was feeling media deprived.  Thing Two’s glad to have her playmate back.  Hubby’s glad to sleep in a bed again. 

OK, I KNOW this pattern had to have been created by a Trekkie.  I took one look at the photos, and thought, “Those are tribbles!”  This is totally bizarre.  I mean, really now — who NEEDS a tribble?

Check it out:  Squiggle Beasties

Well, it’s certainly a good thing I didn’t prepare a bunch of food or bust my butt to get the house spotless b/c NOBODY CAME.  There were already a bunch of people I knew wanted to come but couldn’t.  Then, as the day drew closer, people started dropping like flies:  Toni had a meeting, and Sarah had to work. This morning, I found out Brandi would be off celebrating her birthday (happy birthday, you young thing!), Renna had to go to Gilroy with her husband, and Donna was having company she had to prepare for.  No idea what happened to Robbyn & her daughter or Kathy & Linda. 

Bummer!  Somehow, I’ve managed not to take it personally, probably b/c I could tell people actually did want to come.  Made me wish I’d invited even more people, though, b/c the more people you invite the more are likely to come.  So, Thing Two watched a movie and played, and I wound skeins of wool into center-pull balls.  I feel like I’m coming down with something, so it’s probably just as well….

We’ll try again at the end of next month.

Seven days till Grandma Ruthie arrives!  Thing Two was upset this morning when she asked how soon Grandma was coming b/c she didn’t want to wait seven days.

BTW, Grandma & Grandpa did fine in the latest hurricane.  They closed their shops early Thursday and stayed closed Friday.  They were w/o power for about 12 hours, but at least it came back.  Frank & Maria (Grandpa Gil’s stepdad and mom) — and about a million other people — are still w/o power.

Here she is!  The colors are still off, but I like her.  She didn’t felt quite as much as I had hoped — this is after a 12-minute cycle, then a 10-minute cycle — but I think she’s good enough.  I especially like the dragonflies “flying” up the bag.

P.S.  Since I’ve been asked…This bag is approximately 17″ wide at the widest point and 7″ high in the middle.

Okey doke, this one’s in the washer right now.  The colors are off b/c of the crummy camera.  Hope you can see the dragonfly buttons “flying” up the bag.

The yarn is Kool-Aid dyed Lopi.  I did it single-stranded on US 13’s.  I made the bottom the same width as the BHB “unpattern” says to make it, but I did 60 rows instead of 40 on the main part.  I did one extra increase, four extra rows on the “knit straight” part, and one extra decrease.

Should be interesting to see how it turns out….

 OK, I’m hyperventilating with excitement here.  Just LOOK at all this yarn that Merry simply GAVE me!!  90% of it is acrylic, which is fine for stuff for The Preemie Project. 

There are also cones of a thin rayon chenille that would be perfect for lacy shawls.  I’m about ready to start jumping up & down.  There’s a little bit of lace-weight mohair (or mohair-ish — not sure, no label) yarn.  Also, there are several balls of kitchen cotton.  

I’m so excited about all of this that I really don’t know what to do with myself.  This makes me want to stay up all night and just knit, knit, knit!  Hey, hubby’s not home tonight.  Maybe I’ll have a ”Lord of The Rings” movie marathon tonight and do just that.  <VBG> 

Merry, you are an absolute angel!

Thing Two and I hit Joann’s today.  I needed to get something for my Secret Pal to round out the September package.  (What did I get?  I’ll never tell…)  I also wanted to feel some of the yarn I’ve heard about (specifically Caron’s One Pound to see if I could use it for stuff for The Preemie Project).  You just can’t tell online if something’s going to be soft or scratchy or yukky or what.  Anyhow, I ended up getting all these buttons.  Sorry for the photo quality — hubby has the good camera with him in Yosemite.  I also got two cat buttons for Thing Two.  Not sure what I’ll put them on, but they’re cute.  The two dogs will go on either end of The Pink Fuzzy I’m making for Thing One’s birthday.  I think.

I can see those dragonflies on some buttonhole bags or Sophies.  Same with the flowered Mary Engelbreit buttons.  Just fell in love with all of those. 

Oh, speaking of The Pink Fuzzy, here’s how I’ve decided to do it (I abandoned the baby hat I was making for Baby Amanda b/c I didn’t like how it was coming out, so it’s going for a visit to the frog pond):

Anyhow, I’m thrilled with my buttons.  As a matter of fact, I think I’d better hie myself up to the attic to get some yarn and start in on a BHB so I can use some of them….