Conversation

During my family vacation, my sister Abby and I shared a queen sized bed. The worst part was her thrusting her knee into the small of my back one night--it wasn't her fault; she had an upset, crampy stomach. Abby is an actress and makeup artist, among other things. One morning while sleeping in we had the following conversation:

Abby: Last night I was looking at your mouth, and you know what I noticed?

Me: (groggily) What?

Abby: Your lips have a really nice shape. We should play with makeup sometime, you know?

Me: Oh. I thought you were going to say 'Last night I was looking at your mouth, and you know what I noticed? You sleep with your mouth open all night. And you drool.'

Out west

Bye for now, I'm headed out to Eureka Springs, AR! Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures of my trip.

Bag o' monkeys

I bought the monkey fabric from Textile Fabrics! I bought the red fabric I blogged about earlier and this bananas-on-green-background fabric for a contrast strip. I will use a tote bag pattern to make a bag, and it will have black straps.

Report over. Sorry; I'm sleepy!

Not brass monkey

You know, you take a break from buying a certain item, and then you find a unique, excellent item you can't resist. I was not going to buy any fabric, but then I saw my dream cotton print--in person! Moda's sock monkey fabric. It is adorable. BTW, I was in the fabric store for thread, I wasn't just browsing.

Behold! "5 Funky Monkeys Tumbling Sock Monkey--Red"!

I just bought a cute tote bag purse pattern that closes with a zipper. It would be a fun purse or knitting bag!

I have to break the rule for the sock monkeys.

Ditty Bops

Hey, fans! The Ditty Bops are reviewed in the current issue of JANE!

These quirky girly girls take you on an hour-long time-traveling adventure through the early 20th century. Some songs seem ripped from a vaudeville act, some warrant a flapper dress, and others seem perfectly suited for Marlene Dietrich to croon in a World War II revue. This album [Moon Over the Freeway] is pretty, femme and a lot of fun. I'm pumped to see the Ditty Bops live--they come up with cute themes for their shows (like "All Things Hawaiian," or "Alice in Wonderland") and have been known to eat fire and juggle. --Kate (p. 40, June/July 2006)

Favorite footrest

When we visit my parents' house, Dodger loves to lay on the footrest of my dad's recliner, right up against dad's leg, and with one of his own legs dangling precariously between the footrest and chair seat. From the footrest he can comfortably sleep, or launch at a doggie friend like it's his own personal springboard. Here's a picture of him resting his chin on my leg while I knit. Ralph is also pictured with his nose hanging off the seat. It's quiet when the dogs collectively decide to nap!

M-D dishcloth update: I've made three! I made two with Sugar 'n Cream yarn I really liked the colors of. One is called Swimming Pool and the other Key Lime Pie. I bought this yarn this weekend--I couldn't dip into the vacation stash! Vacay next week, woohoo!

This weekend I bought some gorgeous taffeta cloth for a dress, and to figure out washing care, mom suggested I burn a tiny piece to determine if it melted like a synthetic fabric, or became white flakes like silk. Well, it melted! Polyester (or acetate or whatever) sure isn't what it used to be. It feels and looks great!

My first bobble

Has anyone made a Mason-Dixon Washcloth yet? Open your textbooks to page 55. This morning I knit a washcloth, and I've got some pointers for y'all. I think it took me about four hours to make, and now I'm blocking it. You cast on 150 stitches by using a long tail. Your tail needs to be about 5 yards long (the distance between your nose and extended arm = roughly a yard). The pattern doesn't specify the length of the circular needles; I used 22-inch needles.

When you make the bobbles, please note that the pattern does NOT say knit into the front and back, is says knit into the BACK, FRONT, and BACK. I made two bobbles before I realized my mistake, and you'll probably agree that UNknitting is not as much fun as knitting.

The yarn I used for my washcloth was Lion Brand Cotton that I unraveled last night from my first and very terrible attempt at the crocheted cowgirl hat from Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. I was flat-out crocheting wrong, and the hat ended up big, floppy, and clownlike. I could pull it down over my eyes! Sadly I did not realize the proportion was all wrong until I was done and ran to the bathroom mirror to see what it looked like on. Eek! C'est la crochet.