I Finally Completed Something!

I have been knitting on my Crosshatch Lace socks for so long, that I don't feel like I am getting anything done. The good news is that I only have about 1 more inch to knit before I start the decrease for the toes. Yeah!

However, I took a small break and finished up a felted bag that I started working on in June/July 2007. I used the Tote Around pattern by Janet Scanlon of Knitkit.com. And the I finally remembered to measure a felted project before I felted, so that I could know what the difference was.

Before: 15" wide x 19" tall with a 10" diameter on the bottom circle.
After: 11" wide x 11 3/4" tall with a 8" diameter on the bottom circle.

If it didn't have a circular bottom, it would almost be a square.

So here are before and after photos.


I changed the name from Tote Around to Raspberry Truffles because of the color scheme. It is knitted using Patons Classic Wool Merino. The bottom is Taupe, then stripes in Rosewood(varigated), Pink and Taupe.

PS: Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend. I painted the sewing room purple. It looks like Heffalump (the purple Disney elephant) exploded. I love it. Pictures will be forthcoming. I saw the new Indian Jones movie. It was good too. There was one seen that was kind of hokey, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Yummy Merinade!

I bought a couple of sirloin steaks this week because the local grocery store had them on sale AND you got 5 cents off a gallon of gas per pound. What a deal! I ended up getting 15 cents the day the gas jumped to $3.95/gallon.

Since I am working both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, I decide to grill one of them up. It's big enough for 3 maybe 4 meals and that would pretty much cover the whole weekend. I decided to try a merinade, which I hardly ever do. I usually use a fennel rub, but I am almost out of it and not sure where to find more. (Found on clearance table at LS Ayres) So I decided to look through the back "spring/summer" issues of my Taste of Home magazines to see what grilling recipes I could find. I found one in June/July of 2003 that I had all the ingredients for.

Here it is:
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. ketchup
2 Tbsp Worcestshire Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp hot sauce
dash or two of cayenne pepper

Mix in ziploc baggie and merinade at least 6 hours or overnight.

I made a few mods: 1/2 tsp both salt and sugar and fresh cracked black pepper instead of cayenne. OMG! I was a little leary about the ketchup and sugar, but it was great! I had a sample of it before packing it up to take to work. It was so good, that if I had had more time, I think I would have eaten half of while standing at the counter.

I stopped at the store on my way to work and bought steamer bags, corn on the cob, country crock butter(which I needed but have been forgetting), and pre-wrapped microwave baked-potatoes. I just can't wait for dinner time to get here.

Addendum: (added at 6:41 PM)
BTW dinner was delicious! I steamed 1 ear of corn for 2:30 minutes. I added a little cottage cheese to the baked potato in leiu of sour cream. Added butter, salt & fresh cracked pepper to both with the steak on the side. I was so stuffed. Too bad I was at worked because I really needed a nap afterwards. :o)

7 Random Things about me!

I was tagged by Kary of Living to Tell the Tale.

1. As a young child I believed that if you drank a glass of water while you were on the toilet going poddy, it would just go straight through. Sort of like a check value would suddenly open and water would pour out the bottom. As I type this I am reminded of the Baby Doll that wet her pants after you gave her a bottle of water. That must have been where I got the idea.

2. I was in a "special ed" class for inability to read well as a child. I don't think I was having problems learning to read, I just hated to read when I could be out playing and so was a little behind. Anyway, I never read a book all the way to the end until I was in 7th or 8th grade. I always just read enough of the beginning and the end to write an adequate book report. The first book I read cover to cover was The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey. I remember that it was a paperback book that was about 2 to 2.5 inches thick. It was a Sci-fi book that I had seen my dad reading. He was an avid read and sci-fi book club member. Because he had insomnia, he would read a book in night. Anyway, that book started my love of reading. Now I get antsy if I don't have a book to read.

3. I was supposedly born 1 month late, however I just think they miscalculated.

4. I first went to college for Aircraft Mechanics. I graduated, took my written tests but was too terrified to take my oral/practical tests, so never got my license.

5. I bought my very first home in 2001.

6. I can pick up things with my toes and even pinch with them. Look out!

7. I know how to make home made authentic Tamales.

Wow, I didn't think it would be so hard to think up only 7 things about myself. It really is, but fun too. Well, I'm supposed to tag 7 more people, so here they are:

Star Shaped
Avocado Fever
Introvert Reflections
Simple Knits
Into the Day
A Week of Wednesdays
Love Your Bag Designs

The Wedding is Over (Big Sigh!!)

Yeah!! My friend Teresa's wedding went off with pretty much no hitches this last Saturday. I now realize why the happy couple take a honeymoon after the wedding; it is not only to get away by themselves, it is to recuperate from all the running and planning and setting up. I can't imagine what Teresa's stress level was, but I was so tired from all the running around that I vegged out most of Sunday and could've used a real long nap yesterday too.

Here is a picture of me and the glowing bride. I tried to correct for the red-eye, but it didn't work. Anyway, she was a very beautiful bride. The groom wasn't too bad either! :o)


It was an outside wedding and we were pretty worried about the weather. On Friday night they had the rehearsal and it was so COLD and breezy. Everyone had the shivers. But Saturday dawned beautifully. It was sunny and warm with just a slight breeze. But the breeze was enough that the candles at the alter did not stay lit. They did the 'pretend' lighting of the unity candle.

Even though I wasn't one of the bridesmaids, Teresa didn't want me to feel left out. Mark didn't want more than 4 groomsmen, so she had apologized for not being able to ask me. I graciously said thank you and told her I hope she didn't take this the wrong way, but I was a little relieved. That meant I didn't have to buy one of the dreaded BM's dresses. 9 times out of 10 you just can't wear them again. Although the ones her girls picked out were very lovely.

The bridesmaids from left to right: Amy (Teresa's Cousin), Michelle, Amy (Matron of Honor), and Leslie.

I got a pedicure/manicure done on Friday. Then joined the bride at the hotel. I thought we were going to have to start setting out the decorations (center pieces and favors) that we had made. But the staff at the new Hilton near St. Mary's College was very helpful and effcient. They did it all. That left us just enough time to run a few last minute errands for misc. items (distilled water for steamer, gift bags, Gatorade, Starbucks for the bride, etc)

Then I went along with all the girls on Saturday to get out hair done. With the bridal party, Mom, MIL, myself and other various members of the grooms family, there was about 11 or 12 of us. And most of them were getting up-do's. I just know that the stylists heaved a huge sign when the last one of us was out the door. Can't imagine how much hairspray they went through. I just know my hair was NOT moving. It was kind of nice to not have to worry if your hair was slipping or drooping. Between the spray and the teasing, it was a bear to get out the next day. I had to wash my hair twice and use an extra duty cream rinse to get the teasing to relax.

All-in-all it was a great night. Plenty of food, cake, dancing and fun.

Success!

I got the gussets done on my Crosshatch lace socks. For both socks. Then I decided what the heck, let's try the 2 socks at one time thing. So I loaded them all up and "success". Yeah! I was able to do both of them without too many problems. I have successfully completed 2 whole repeats and am working on my third. Here are a few pictures to show you what they look like now.

And I had the wild idea to try them on. Boy was that tricky with both of them on the needles at the same time.

And even better success, I went clothes shopping yesterday with my friend McKelle. I was looking for an outfit to wear to the wedding of my friend Teresa next weekend. I didn't think I would find anything, because I waited to the last minute. And you know when you look last minute, you can never find the right outfit. I was kind of torn: 1) I wanted a new outfit because it is a special occasion and I hadn't bought anything really snazzy in a long time and let's face it, I lost 30 lbs and wanted something to make me feel pretty. 2) but if I didn't find anything that was just right, I have some dresses in the basement that I had bought before I gained the 30 lbs and knew they would fit, even though I really didn't want to wear a dress.

We started our shopping experience at Kohls. I found a pair of dressy black capri's and a blouse that I liked, but neither of them really fit 'well'. They would do, but they just weren't "THE" outfit that I wanted. Our next stop was Avenue and I hit paydirt! I found a pair of dressy black capri's that fit me perfectly and 4 blouses that I liked. I knew as soon as I put it on, which one I would be wearing to the wedding. 3 of the blouses were black/white and the 4th was black/tan. Although I liked the black/tan one, I put it back because it kind of had a fall feel to it. Of the 3 left, one would have required a little tayloring, which I had no time to do and really didn't feel like doing to a $40 shirt. So that left 2. I bought both. The one I am going to be wearing is a crinkle shirt (no ironing!!!), buttons up the front and has 3/4 flaired sleeves. I love the fact that where the pattern turns from mostly white to mostly black hits right at my waist and gives the illusion that I actually do have a waist. Here is a photo of them hanging on the bathroom door.

Isn't it just fabulous? I love it!