I do so love Mad Men even though I haven't had cable for a year now. But I've been able to watch the episodes online and am seriously considering getting the DVDs. The writing, the acting, the clothes, the sets...it's wonderful eye candy.

Thanks to padawansguide for sharing this link. This has got to be one of my favorite iconizers around because you can choose body types and the clothes are groovy and there's a few different backgrounds. Thumbs up!


http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself

Well, except for the first one perhaps...but then, I wasn't around for that one.

We headed into the weekend with no concrete plans. My dad was going to stop by on Saturday evening to spend the night on his way to Iowa but aside from that we had a three day weekend full of not much to do. Which was fine by me, honestly. I spent Friday morning doing laundry and then hung out at MisKnits for a few hours.

When I got home, our former foster kids had called to see if they could come over. We said sure, had some dinner and then headed out the door to go pick them up. Sid wanted to bring Lucy because what dog doesn't love rides, right? Anyway, Sid usually drives the van when we go out so when he headed out the door with Lucy, I grabbed my purse, twisted the lock on the door and swung it shut behind me. As it clicked, Sid asked me if I had keys. Um, nope, I figured since he'd be driving and he was already outside with the dog that he already had his keys. So I had my knitting and that was about it. Oops.
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So there was this time when I once did something foolish and used a Sharpie instead of eyeliner. A simple command of "pics or it didn't happen" has led to that photo being hit in web searches nearly every day since then.



So looking at the Google image search for "sharpie eyeliner", my pic is currently third just behind Amy Winehouse. I'm not sure what to think about that but it is more than a little disturbing, actually.

It used to be that one of my most looked at photos was my niece in the Halloween costume I made in 2008.



So much cuter than my wacked out last minute almost eye makeup, don't you think?

It's been a week since we said goodbye to our dear puppy Kasey. She was about 12 (rescue dog so no accurate birthdate available) and she lived with us for 7 years. I finally feel composed enough to be able to write a bit about her.

This is my favorite photo of her. She was pretty photogenic even though she was a strange looking dog and not really all that cute in person. But we loved her very much and will miss her greatly.

I never really had pets before meeting Sid. When I met him, he already had Jerry the Wondercat and our other cat, Tipper, moved in shortly after I met him. She used to live with his sister and brother-in-law until their young kids started walking. Honestly, I thought two cats was the limit for pets in our small house in St. Louis.

But about six months before we got married, Sid and I were talking about childhood friends and so on. He started telling me about the dogs he had befriended over the years and how much they meant to him. We agreed that night to think about getting a dog.

The next day, he asked me to meet him at the local shelter. He had found a great dog he wanted me to meet. So I spent my lunch hour with him at the shelter getting to know Kasey. She was a bigger dog than I had in mind so I wanted to see some smaller dogs. There was an assortment of cute smaller dogs but they were all under a year old and we wanted a somewhat older dog. Plus, Kasey would sit, lay down, heel and was pretty mellow compared to all the other dogs. She didn't even pay the cats any attention as they were brought into the facility. So we agreed that she was the dog for us.

We walked her out to the parking lot and before I headed back to work in my car, I went over to Sid's truck to see them off. What did I find in the truck? Dog food, bowls, toy, leash and collar. The whole nine yards. So maybe I was had, but Kasey had captured my heart anyway.

We had our ups and downs with her but overall, they were seven happy years that we were able to spend with her.

Good bye dear Kasey. There's a dog-shaped hole in my heart for you.

So the day that I Sharpied my eyelids? I came home to this...



I don't feel so bad now. And yes, he's wearing his MacNair shirt that the Jos and I made for him. How he puts up with my geekery is beyond me.

This past weekend was productive and fun! I finished knitting the neckline of a sweater that needs the sleeve hem stitched and ends woven in and then it can be called complete.

The husband and I spent a bunch of time cleaning and rearranging furniture this weekend in anticipation for a party yesterday. I'm so pleased with how the house looks right now. The only room that really needs help right now is my craft room. But it's mostly clutter that just needs to be put in its proper place. So I'll whittle away at that a bit more this week.

Anyway, I feel like having a party every week right now because I really like having people over. If I can manage to keep the house clean for myself instead of slacking off because who the heck ever comes over anyway...maybe that could be a good thing.

But either way, it was really nice to wake up to a clean house this morning.

It hasn't washed off yet.

However, I have posted three days in a row so that's got to count for something.

Substituting eyeliner with a Sharpie marker ten minutes before a board meeting could provide less than favorable results.






edited to add photo sincesmeddley believes that photos prove existence



also, it's very difficult to take a photo of one's self with a darn camera phone...and it looks worse in person...this photo only looks like it's my first time trying eyeliner

I've been spinning so much in the past two months. I rented a wheel for a short time and spun up most of my fiber stash. I only have a bit of alpaca and various odds and ends right now. Here's some of the alpaca roving I had and how it looks after it was spun.



It was a tri-color roving and even though it's a spun single...it looks like it's been plied. It is so soft and luscious to touch.

I also spun up some pretty superwash wool from Zarzuela's Fibers in Cranberry Bog.


Oh and I've knit some stuff but I only have an in progress photo to show off. Here are some mittens that I knit up from some of the cashmere handspun that I bought in Scotland last summer.



They are so soft and toasty and Jen calls this yarn softer than puppy sneezes. Which is much better than my description of softer than angel farts.

"It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it."

I have that pinned up on my bulletin board at work and it makes me chuckle. It's practically an insult, you know.

Here's the view at whitehouse.gov right now.



And it makes me smile.

At work, we're busy dealing with year end things. Which means dating nearly everything with 12/31/2008. So yesterday, I suddenly realized that the actual date was 1/6/2009. So now, here I am...a week into the new year without even really acknowledging it.

Last year, I joined the 101 in 1001 project. My original post is here. Why I bother joining things is beyond me. I am usually full of fail when it comes to stuff like this. And although part of me feels as though I haven't accomplished much so far...I still have until Tuesday, September 28, 2010 to work on this. Then again, I joined the summer of socks knitalong and completed only one pair.

Upon reviewing the list, I have completed more items than I'd expected. What I need to do is be more mindful of my goals and review the list more often.

New Star Trek Trailer

Wow.

Just wanted to share a funny with you all.

LJ has been blocked at work. Which is a bit of a bummer, but hey, I'm there to work anyway so can't complain too much. The only thing is that when I do manage to log on at home, I tend to hang out on Facebook playing Pack Rat instead of much else. And I've been limiting that anyway because honestly, when I get home...the computer isn't the first thing I want to be near.

We're trying to cut back expenses and I dropped off the cable box/DVR at the cable company yesterday afternoon. I think the only show I'll really miss is Mad Men, but I'll either buy the shows individually on iTunes...or wait til the second season DVD comes out and add it to the Netflix queue. More first world problems, I know. Not a huge deal.

Between all the things that my friends and I have experienced this summer, I'm starting to think that I could have missed a calling as a daytime drama writer. I'm really ready for a peaceful, uneventful fall.

Here's to happier days ahead!

Not too long ago, I made my first Baby Surprise Jacket, a cunning piece of knitting engineering designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I don't really have any reason to knit a baby sweater at the time. I know one or two people who are expecting who might appreciate a hand knit sweater for their baby-to-be. However, I mostly wanted to knit it for the challenge.

And while the actually knitting of it wasn't that much of a challenge, I mostly wanted to make it so I could figure out how it goes together. And now that I have, I feel the need to test the limits of the design. It's designed to be knit flat in one piece, sew up two seams at the shoulders and it's a basic garter stitch cardigan. So first I started thinking about knitting it in stockinette. Which led me to think of how I could create this piece in the round since I'd rather knit stockinette in the round than flat.

So that naturally leads to attempting the BSJ in fair isle or stranded knitting. It seems crazy or perhaps foolhardy. However, I think it could be done. I did some searching and couldn't find any examples of anyone else trying it. So here's my attempt so far:



I'm using the Knit Picks Palette yarn and if you're on Ravelry, you can check out my project page. So far so good. I completed the decrease section and have started the increase section. The next big hurdle is the section where I'm supposed to go back and forth to create length. I have a vague idea of how I want to handle that, but I guess I'll see if it's successful once I try it.

Not only do I have clean socks, but I have a bunch of sock blockers to lay them out to dry.



Hooray for husbands who make sock blockers!

Yeah, shameless promotion, I know. But they looked so pretty on my ironing board that I couldn't resist.

Yes, we went to see the 3D extravaganza that is Journey to the Center of the Earth. I used to have a mini-crush on Brendan Fraser back in the days of Encino Man and School Ties. So while I wasn't really looking forward to the movie in general, I was at least hopeful for eye candy.

Well, there was a bit of that. But what really made the movie tolerable was the 3-D effects. If you must see this movie, see it in 3-D. Sure it's a cheesy movie riddled with improbable events, but it is a fun movie. It's definitely made with kids in mind. (Could that be why my husband liked it so much?)

The biggest disappointment to me was not actually the movie, but the theatre. With the temperature creeping towards triple digits, I was welcoming the opportunity to cool off in the theatre. Unfortunately, it was warm and stuffy through the whole thing. And if you happen to know me in person, you know that it had to be warm in there.

And yes, I did cry at the sad part.

Of course, I bought yarn in Scotland! Some of you have fondled this yarn in person but here's a pic of the pile.



Half of it came from Shilasdair on the Isle of Skye. Not only is it a gorgeous place to be, but OMG the yarn!!!!! It's all dyed with natural dyes and the base yarns are amazing. I bought a bunch of silk and their "Luxury DK" which is a wool, angora and cashmere blend in order to make their kimono sweater patten.

Here's the colors I choose in those luscious yarns.


But honestly none of the yarns I bought compares to...

the handspun cashmere! Softer than the softest thing ever. I really should have bought a sweater's worth and just resigned myself to taking out a home equity loan in order to pay off the credit card. Perhaps someday when the dollar is stronger against the pound, I'll order some more. In the meantime, it will be my emergency fondling yarn.

I also bought some lovely laceweight and sock yarn at K1 Yarns.



Those on the left are by Fyberspates and those on the right are by Old Maiden Aunt. Lovely lovely hand dyed yarns that are splendid to behold and soft to the touch.

All in all, I spent plenty of money but could have easily bought four times as much. But my limited storage space is now bursting and I need to concentrate on more knitting and less spending.

Now according to my Ravelry notebook, I've only completed six projects so far this year. Although I just remembered there's at least one completed shawl that I haven't put on Ravelry yet so it's at least seven. So I think I'm going to attempt to have at least a dozen completed items in Ravelry before I even consider buying more yarn or even fiber for spinning. Yep, that's right. I'm declaring a moratorium on yarn buying! Make your side bets with each other now.

I still haven't posted much about my trip. But I'm still catching up with work, family, friends, knitting, etc.

Speaking of knitting, I have found my latest obsession. Twist Collective is a new knitting magazine that will be released in August and there's a groovy countdown on their website. Each day a new photo peek is released.

Oh I can't wait, but I'll have to...it all looks so yummy.