It’s all gone!

Posted on Wednesday, 8 May 2013 by LittleWit

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take a random Tuesday off so I could go get my haircut by my favorite stylist before she moves away to Buffalo. I also decided it was finally time to take the plunge she and I have been talking about for oh … 2+ yrs now. Yep, we cut my hair shorter. Hah! :)

So of course we must start with a reference point.

photo of me before the hair chopping

The before shot.

I was also inspired by the APW conversation about donating your hair for solidarity wigs. Since I missed my opportunity at 17 to donate the 12″ we cut off then (it was waist length at that point) I decided this time I would make good on 17 yo me’s wishes. So we cut enough off that I could donate to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program. Their minimum is 8″ which we hit easily. They are hosting their second annual National Donate Your Hair Day September 7th 2013, if you’d like to join the cause. I am a bit early with my donation. ;)

picture of me with my hair shorter

The after shot taken in the car on haircut day! Guess that means I should take more photos…

I am still getting used to it (it’s such a change!) but my husband is constantly complimenting me on it. He’s just happy I wear my hair down way more now. While I am totally missing the ease of throwing it up in a big messy ponytail bun thing on top of my head. Hahaha. I guess I can see his point. ;)

Oh and on the topic of random Tuesdays off. Can I say yes please I would love more!?!?!? It was such a relaxing day and I got so many things accomplished which included sitting outside in Grandview eating some Jeni’s. Nom. There will definitely be more random mid week days off for me in the future. And by more I mean like 1 every 3-4 mos. :D

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Destashing – Yarn

Posted on Thursday, 18 April 2013 by LittleWit

I’ve been working on some test knits for friends as well as taking a class or two on sweater knitting. Both of these tasks have been a source of great inspiration for me and have caused me look at what I would like to knit with going forward. Needless to say, I have succumbed to the knowledge that I have way more yarn than I can hope to knit with in the next few years. Especially, given my current rate of production (with a typically steep drop off in the summer months) AND my current rate of fiber acquisition.

Last night after work, my brain sort of snapped and I went into “love it or lose it” mode with my stash. Several lovely yarns that usually make the cut during such culls were finally recognized for the beautiful yarn they are that I will just never knit. :) It’s good to know where you really stand on something. Unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of space in my home (hush you) to store yarns just for looking at. So I posted a rather large destash (for me at least) on the ISO boards on Ravelry. I figured I should let you know that I am looking to send some of these lovelies off to new homes where they can actually be appreciated. Hah, now it feels a bit like I am talking about one of my foster dogs. :D Here’s a link to my Ravelry destash, if you find something you like and can give a good home to, let me know!

You can see a snapshot of my destash bins below. Yes, now there are two destash bins. Clearly, early knitting Erin did not buy yarn appropriately for her future. Also, some of the sweater quantities aren’t enough yarn for the sweaters I want to knit now.

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Destash bins

I also tamed my leftover bins last night. My friend Martha suggested I make a scrappy garter ripple blanket with the leftovers. I am very tempted to do that with my worsted weight skeins since those are some of the largest leftover skeins I have. It should be a good use for the leftover sock yarn I get when I make socks for my BIL and MIL. They both need 1+ skeins but not a full 2! :D

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Leftover bins

Two nights ago, my husband sent me a message informing me that I need to start another baby blanket. After making sure he wasn’t telling me that we are pregnant (bwahahaha) we started looking through my fabric stash for the fixings for a baby quilt. This little guy’s big sister got a great pinwheel quilt last year so I want to do something similar for him. Of course, going through the fabric stash reinforced the fact that I totally also have a fabric stash… oy. So, later this summer, it’s entirely possible that I may post some fabrics here that are looking for a good home.

But you can’t have my fiber. No sireeeeee! I have to draw the line somewhere.

 

 

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Game Nights

Posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013 by LittleWit

We started hosting game nights at our home last summer and I’ve really grown to enjoy them. Along with the launch of the Geek and Sundry channel was a new show TableTop - they just got picked up for a second season! I quickly became enthralled with this series and really enjoyed watching the new games every two weeks. We’d been talking about having a game night off and on for too many years but had never really gotten around to doing it. Encouraged by the games I was watching on TableTop and their obvious playability we purchased several from one of our local gaming stores and game night was born. I also managed to get most of our friends hooked on Ticket to Ride.

This past Saturday (March 30) was the first annual International Tabletop Day and we hosted another game day. Kate brought over Pandemic and we played three riveting games. We actually managed to beat Pandemic – not easily accomplished – the third time we played. I think we’ll have to buy Pandemic for ourselves sometime soon, it’s that awesome.

In anticipation of our game day and since we haven’t been able to buy any new games recently we picked some up Friday evening. I am loving Gloom, it’s just the right amount of silly and the game design is just so very clever. Their packaging too was super easy to open. The last game we played was Last Night on Earth. It’s a silly zombie game and my brother totally cleaned up as the zombie.

Oh and for another fun game, my future brother in law got me The Red Dragon Inn 1-3 for Christmas. It’s basically a drinking game for your character as you try to be the most sober and keep the most gold. The first person to pass out or run out of their money is out. Last man standing wins. We played this game for my birthday game night and the grand champion was my friend’s 10 year old son. :P

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Good Reads

Posted on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 by LittleWit

Last spring I finally gave in and purchased a Kindle. I intended to use it to have my knitting patterns with me digitally on a larger screen than my phone can provide. I also intended to use it to partake in the Vaginal Fantasy book club I had found online. Turns out I don’t use it as much for patterns anymore (acquiring an iPad was the death knell to that plan) but I have been reading at a clip that I haven’t seen in myself since High School. It’s been lovely getting back into reading. I love that my case with a built-in light allows me to tuck under the covers and read until the wee hours while the boy sleeps soundly nearby. Or, sometimes, he wakes up and pokes me and says “Are you really still up reading?”

I’ve also joined another online book club The Sword and Laser. Both book clubs have video shows on the Geek and Sundry YouTube channel and I thoroughly enjoy watching the hosts discuss the books each month. The Sword and Laser also does author guides/interviews and they have a podcast. I think there was a significant dose of fiction missing from my life and I am glad that I’ve finally found a way to add it back in, in a way that feels great! I’ve also found audiobooks in a way that I couldn’t get to work for me 6 or 7 years ago. It’s really nice to have an audiobook on hand to listen to while walking the dogs or cleaning the house. I also like to listen at work if I am doing a lot of image editing or something where I am not wordsmithing.

I participated in the GoodReads reading challenge last yer and missed my mark by 1 book! This year I have been keeping a pace that puts me 4 books ahead of my goal each month. I am hoping that I can keep that pace throughout the year and at least finish even with my goal.

The other, slightly more exciting thing for me about getting back into reading is using my libraries as extensively as I did growing up! My interaction with the library may not be the same as before, I am not physically there nearly as much. But I am constantly on their websites hunting down ebooks and audiobooks to read. I am so blessed (I mean really is there a better word?) to live within 2 miles of two very, very excellent library systems. One of my local libraries (the one I grew up with) was the national library of the year in 2007, which now that I read it sounds like forever ago. But! They’re seriously one of the best libraries ever and are basically the bar I set for any library system that I use. They have so many books, an easy system for reserving and transferring books and an easy way to request new book purchases. The library system where I currently live is just as great as the one I grew up with. They were awesome and linked mine and the boy’s library cards when we first moved into town 5 years ago. Really, one of the most wonderful things ever, because as someone who works from home I often find myself calling my commuting partner and saying “hey honey can you stop by the library and pick up my new book?” Since our cards are linked he can do it with no trouble and ta da! home delivery of books! :D

Now that I’ve rambled on about my awesome book clubs and libraries, I think it’s time to go curl up with a book club book I borrowed from my library! :D Good night everyone! And go read!

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House Work

Posted on Thursday, 28 February 2013 by LittleWit

So for those of you who have been to my house before, can you tell what’s missing in this image?

After pic of kitchen

Perhaps this image will help. :)

Before pic of kitchen

There is a suscpicious lack of wallpaper and a dividing rail between the two rooms! :)

At the end of this month the boy and I will have been in this house for five years! We’ve finally decided to begin working on making the lower portion of the house more “us”. We’ll pretend like this wasn’t started due to a rookie plumbing mistake on my part last fall.

Quick tip: always place a bowl under any plumbing work to catch any leaks. Also, check your plumbing work hourly to make sure there are no leaks!

Do not, like someone I know, skip both of these steps and only check on it when your dog wakes you up at 2am barking his head off. Rumour has it that at this point the ceiling below your plumbing work will be falling… At least that’s what I read in a book once, yes that’s it. Ok fine, it was me. But now I know better. :)

ceiling without hole!

At any rate, in the process of working to fix our ceiling we decided to rip out the wallpaper and paint. The boy also decided he just didn’t want the dividing rail anymore, so while I was working on the website redesign for our rescue, he cut it down. He’s totally handy and impulsive like that. :)

I suggested that it was also time to visit replacing some of the appliances that came with our home. The fridge and I have been strictly tolerant of one another since we moved in. I’m delighted to finally get to replace it with a fridge that I can hang out with. What? You don’t hang out with your appliances? We’re also updating our stove and the microwave for more cooking power and room! Then I think we’ll be pretty well wiped out for the spring.

After pic of Kitchen

Except, I also have plans to paint several of the rooms in our house. So, if you come over in late spring/early summer, the house may look brand new to you. :D Ok, it probably won’t be that drastic but it should look nice and updated. :) Now to figure out where to put the coat rack so he stops trying to jump out at me when I come home late at night.

After pic of kitchen - coat rack

Do you see him there on the left? He’s so wily and scary…

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