Back From Vacation

Did you like how I started NaBloPoMo and only did like three posts? Yeah, that was classy. But still. I didn’t know I would get the opportunity to visit Colorado so soon. It was awesome, by the way. Man, I’ve got a ton of projects that need to get done for thank-you’s and birthdays as well as starting on the Christmas presents so I finish them on time. Look more for those soon. In the meantime, this is what was more important than blogging.

Our KOA cabin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving through Poudre Canyon. (Dude, they totally say pooter. Laugh hysterically with me.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And our campsite at Horsetooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry that the pictures are all different sizes. I don’t like this new picture adder thing. Grumble.

Knit List

I like how I fell screaming of the blogging bandwagon there. Really though, my best friend stayed longer than I imagined and we had a great time. Plus, I’ve got new stuff to show you all. Later. When I find my camera. For now though…

I’ve just realized that I have a ton of knitting to do this summer and each project has a deadline.

• I knit a washcloth for my best friend’s birthday.
• I knit a beverage cozy for Texas Ranger, am nearly done with one for my step-dad, and have 1 our of 3 done for my dad.  (2 1/2 more to go)
• I’ve got to finish mom’s presents. One will take quite a bit of work.
• I plan on making my first pair of socks and another scarf before I head off to see Texas Ranger.
• I need to make a present for one of my friends who so graciously offered to let me take one of her original paintings when she moves.

This may not sound like a lot to some people, but I’m still slow. Beer cozies, socks, scarves, and presents. Oh my. Let’s just hope it all gets done in time.

 

Short and Sweet Today

My best friend is hurting today, so I’m going to spend it with her. You understand. If there’s a better interpretation of ‘home’, I don’t know it.

However, I did finally make it to my knit group last night. Fun was had all around. Decided to knit my dad a few beer cozies for father’s day. Am having trouble working with double pointed needles, but I have faith. Plus, a few last minute projects are coming up. Until tomorrow.

Washcloth Mania

I challenged myself to knit most of a washcloth in one day. Aside from maybe 7 rows, I actually did it. It was supposed to be a sun pattern, but my tension got messed up so it’s more like a wonky eye. Regardless, it’s getting shipped off to Texas Ranger once he gets settled in his new place. Plus, this was pretty fun. I’ve wanted to try all kinds of different patterns and obviously this is the way to go. Doesn’t a stackful of knit and crochet washcloths sound more appealing than terry cloth? I thought so. Also, I found a skein of Bernat Cottontots in my stash and am loving how soft it is. Nothing like the regular dishcloth cotton.

In other news, I have my first box of sale junk up on ebay. One down… I may get around to handwashing a bit more, but I actually want to go to knit group tonight instead of thinking about it the day after. We’ll see what happens.

Clothes, How I Hate Thee

I remember now why I still have clothes from middle school. Well, for one they still fit. We’re ignoring that though. I’m afflicted with the “but I can do something with this” itis. Not only do I have piles of clothes that I wear, think I’ll wear, am waiting for the occaison to wear, will eventually fix, and want to alter, I also have the craft pile. This is insane. INSANE. Guys. I’m saving my torn and stained underwear to make a quilt with. Really.

Another thing that’s making this hard is that I’ve got nearly 5 baskets full of dirty laundry needing to be sorted. That’s roughly 15 loads in case you were wondering. It’s $1.35 per wash load and I can fit 2 loads into the dryer at a time for… $1.50 I think. So, a full wash and dry for two loads is $4.20. Meaning I’ve got about $32.25 worth of laundry to do. Are you as tired as I am just thinking about it?

 Would you like to see part of my solution?

Oh yeah, I went there.

I think my new mantra should be: I will not let my stuff control me. These are my possessions; they do not possess me.

I gotta get back to the tub now.

Life in a Storage Unit

It seems like every place I move, I have the same problem: it doesn’t feel like home. Oh sure, it’s nice to come back to the place with all my stuff and I always said home is where my computer is, but it’s not enough. I’ve always wanted a functional apartment that didn’t feel like a storage unit. The obvious solution to this is to declutter. This may sound easy for some of you, but natural born packrats sympathize with me. I’m hoping that have you watch over my shoulder will help me really pare down. Also, I’m hoping whatever I get rid of I might be able to sell off to cover my little bit of credit card debt and to save for future plane tickets. He’s moving to Colorado now, in case you were wondering. Near the Wyoming border.

So far, I’ve been to the post office today to ship off four text books I knew I would never use again. That’s a bit of padding in the pocket. I also shipped out thank you cookies to the boyfriend’s mom and grandmother. Not much, but that bit of floor looks so much better. I plan to start going through my clothes a bit too today. I cringed when I wrote that because now I’m going to have to. See? Isn’t the internet a wonderful thing?

In other news, I’m learning how to cable.

I’d heard that it was easy and I’m so glad that it has been so far. Cabling is what made me interested in knitting in the first place. I’m glad I’ve found a lot more to be excited about since though. Otherwise, knitting wouldn’t have become such a big part of my life. Yay for crafting!

NaBloPoMo Again

So it’s officially in November, but they do it every month as well. This month’s theme is home, which happens to be just perfect. This is the month I’m trying to get my own home in order, so I figured I’d try another month of nonstop posting to help keep me motivated.

You see, this is what I call my Research and Development Summer. Not only am I trying new crafts and stepping up my old ones, I’m doing research to determine what I want out of grad school, what I want a grad degree in, what I want to do with it, plus I have a book list on top of that and I’m trying to declutter and clean my life. No easy or clear-cut feat for sure. I know it would be easier if I could define goals for all these areas and track my progress to keep me motivated, but I haven’t sat down to do it again. Be sure though, I made many of these plans before- Texas Ranger kept me distracted and made sure little of it got done.

So far, there are many new boxes full of stuff to be sold or given away, a few new projects in varying stages of development, a few good leads of school research, and a tiny bit done around the house. My home seems to get so messed up during the school year. I know most of this is due to the large volume of complete crap that I insist I keep and my inability to properly organize and clean on a regular basis. Maybe today will be the day I draft a new game plan.