Such Sweet Hands

Good Morning, even though it’s past noon…

Today, I have a little tip for ya! I could go on and on about cork bulletin boards. I have several and I put them to all sorts of “non-bulletin board” uses. Cover them with fabric to make them soft and pretty and you have a great portable, pin-able surface to place your work on.

I love my swift and winder, but I don’t really have any furniture that I can attach them too. Most open surfaces in my place are too thick for the adjustable clamp thingies. Then there’s the table that’s too nice and I don’t want to scar it. There’s also the problem of clutter. When I’ve had the swift and winder set up in a more permanent way I’ve found the set up gets in the way of other things or piles of said things get in the way of my actually using the swift and winder. So, most of the time the winder and swift live in a shelf cubby. When I need them, I attach them to one of my fabric covered cork bulletin boards and Voila! I have a portable winding set up to use as I please. I like to place the board on top of a stack of sturdy floor pillows so I can sit on the floor and watch teevee while I’m on a winding spree.

Today I learned that Pinkberry is really close to my regular Fedex drop spot (ie, the place that takes the latest possible express drops aside from the big one in downtown).  What is Pinkberry?  Aside from a cutie pie store front that keeps taunting me whenever I’m on 6th, it’s a very cool frozen yogurt place with a taste and look ( far beyond anything synanomous with “frozen yogurt”….  You can read more here and see a pics of the k-town edition of Pinkberry here.  I guess there is a new “tart yogurt” craze buzzin around, who knew?

I had the Green Tea flavor with strawberries, blueberries, and cap’n crunch bits.  Just wait about ten minutes and the cap’n crunch softens a bit and the flavor of the yogurt mixes with it…  drool.

I have more deadlines and more visits to Fedex planned for the week, so you know I’ll be stopping in at Pinkberry again, maybe with some crochet…

I have to say I’m in a very good mood at the moment.  Parking in our neighborhood is a pain and I often go to lengths that limit my freedom to come and go as I please just to guarantee a place for my car.  It’s silly.  cars are supposed to provide freedom, but I worry all the time about whether a fun jaunt somewhere is going to end in 40 minutes circling the block for parking.  I’m happy to report that though I did not rush home from the Fedex place and treated myself to Pinkberry, I still found a great parking spot when I returned (past that magic 5pm cut off when parking becomes torture…).  What’s with me?  Why do I feel so free and able to step out of my parking woes and treat myself to yummy yogurt?

Lip Balm…

Susan Beal invited me and some other cool crafty chicas to hang out and do crafty things last night.  She mixed up some delicious Lip Balm that smells exactly like the combo of flavors my mom used to put in the icing she’d whip up for our birthday cakes.  This comforting stuff got me through last night’s late night work crunch sizing a pattern and kept me going full steam all day today.  Nothing like yummy lip balm, I’m telling you.  Just as important as the lip balm is the fact that I took a few hours off to leave the apartment (aka: the crochet hermitage) to socialize and do crafty stuff that had nothing to do with my work!  I owe Susan tremendous thanks for hosting the evening.

I’ve got many more hours work ahead of me tonight, but I’ve got some leftover Pinkberry in the freezer and that super lip balm…

Remember to vote tomorrow!  Pardon the cheesy talk, but there’s nothing more DIY than telling your government whether you approve or not!

You can catch Kim, Donna, and myself on teevee tomorrow morning!

Those little stickers on fruit really do beg to be stuck someplace. We’ve solved this problem in our home by starting Rob’s own craft project. He’s turning a magnet with a 2004 calendar on it into a work of fruit sticker fridge art.

I think I’ll put a layer of Modge Podge over it soon because some of the stickers are starting to peel a bit. In time the whole magnet will be covered in stickers! I love this about magnets, it’s so easy to make anything into a magnet.

I like watching this record of Rob’s fruit consumption as it grows.It makes me smile everyday when I see it on the fridge. Rob recently mentioned that I should blog about it and tell everyone it’s a great project for kids, because any project he’ll keep up with is also great for kids…

Big Girl Knits 25 Big, Bold Projects Shaped for Real Women with Real Curves by Jillian Moreno and Amy R. Singer

I don’t know about you, but it’s rare that I read a knitting book. I peruse, look through pretty pictures, read a snippet or two. Colorful or highlighted words might intrigue me into reading. But for the most part I’m usually looking through a book ravenous for information (information in this case means stitch patterns and pretty pictures) with little patience to actually read it. All that said, I really enjoyed reading Big Girl Knits.

Yes, this book is for big girls. Yes, I am a small girl.
Amy and Jillian speak honestly about project issues that range from shaping to yarn shopping. Having been a yarn shop girl myself, I thank them for their words of advice. They encourage that patience and planning go into getting the right yarn and color, these are sane words that any girl can use.

Best Community Service Moment: they INSIST you wear a proper fitting bra. THANK YOU. Bras make a huge difference in how a garment fits. Once again, sage advice for all girls of all sizes.

Obviously, I enjoyed an evening reading this book. The information is delivered in an honest, entertaining voice. I certainly suggest this book for the for Big Girl knitters. If you are endlessly fascinated by the way a good designer tackles shaping issues, you can enjoy this book regardless of your size. To the crocheters out there: if you don’t knit and only crochet, but you have a friend who is a Big Girl knitter I highly recommend this as a gift. She won’t mind if you browsed the book for crochet inspiration will she?