Monday, August 25, 2008

Gracie is Spun!

I think that this is the most balanced yarn I have spun to date.


Here it is closer to get an idea.


Lily decided that, like everything else in the house, this yarn belongs to her. (She's so adorable!)


And in a skein. Love it!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Crafting Update - New Blanket!

The Openwork Lattice blanket is finished! Well, this is mostly true. In 100% truth, I still need to knit and sew on the border, but that will be a quick process, and, in it's current state, one could certainly curl up in it.

After the border is done - say, next week. I'll have to figure out a plan to get this blanket to it's new home with my Aunt Geraldine and Uncle Jimmy? (Uncle Jimmy, are you reading this? Are you surprised? Here are some pictures of your new blanket!)



While I'm waiting for my mother to bring me a pair of 10 1/2 straights to knit the border of the above blanket. I've started on a new blanket for Sean and Missy. The blanket is called Autumn Blaze. This is because the pattern calls for red yarn. Clearly, my blanket will not be blazing.

There was a bit of confusion in which I ended up with 26 skeins of yarn for this project. Now I'm down to a more reasonable 14 skeins, which is what I actually need, and a new bag, which I was able to get will all that store credit I had from returning a dozen skeins of yarn.

This blanket is worked in strips and then knitted together. It is incredibly lovely. I think it works like magic. I'm completely enchanted.


I've also been spinning. I've been working on the Gracie roving.


And, just because I had the camera out, here's Lily. She had to go for her annual vet visit on Thursday, but they gave her three year shots so that she won't have to go back for a long time. (That's how badly it goes. Poor kitty.) Seth took her this time, and I was still a nervous wreck. Although not as bad as if I had been there. Lily is so adorable and fuzzy, even at 7:00 this morning when she was walking all over me in bed and waking me up.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Las Vegas 2008!

Vacation Day 1: Woke up at 3:45 a.m. for our 7:30 a.m. flight. Everything at the airport and on the plane went very smoothly. Seth seemed to enjoy his inaugural flight experience.

Arrived at the airport at around 10:00 a.m. local time. The shuttle driver to the hotel was a riot. We checked our bags when we got to the Excalibur because it was too early to check it. Decided to take the Monorail to the Las Vegas Hilton for Star Trek: The Experience. (Super excited already!)

Arrived at The Experience a little after 11:00. We had a drink and snack at Quark’s. Drink: Borg Sphere = craziness! (See vacation photos.) Food: Ferengi Flat Bread = less craziness. Then The Experience!!!

Klingon Encounter: We were transported to the Enterprise-D. (I don’t know how they did it.) We were taken to the bridge where everything was explained. Quickly, we had to get to a shuttlecraft and away. We took the turbo-lift to the hanger bay, but (Oh, no!) the Klingons attacked the ship and the power went out. We were in a free-fall! Fortunately the power came back, so we didn’t die. Then the escape shuttle ride. I only saw parts of this because I got motion sickness… Good news was we escaped.

Borg 4D: We arrived on a medicate testing station. The Doctor briefed us, but all of a sudden a Borg cube attacked the station. We ran away but the Borg were everywhere. The poor crewman after me got assimilated. Fortunately, we made it to the shuttle craft. Unfortunately, the shuttlecraft is pulled into a Borg cube and we’re assimilated by the Borg Queen herself. Back to fortunately again, Admiral Janeway came in Voyager and saved us!

After The Experiences, we bought cool Star Trek merchandise at the shop on the DS9 promenade and got on the Monorail to go to the hotel. The AI controlled Monorail when all Hal on us for a while but finally pulled its act together before anyone was overly traumatized.

We had lovely eggplant for dinner and then slept intensively after a 20 hour day.

Vacation Day 2: Time to casino hop! We visited the Luxor and Mandalay Bay first. There was a Lush store in Mandalay Bay. I got crazy stuff, plus Seth got me a gift set, Viva Lush Vegas, which I am still super excited about. (I used one of the bath bombs two nights ago, and it was the most amazing and fragrant bath experience ever.)

We walked through New York New York and the MGM Grand again. (We had passed through to get to the Monorail on Thursday.) I enjoyed visiting the lion habitat at the MGM Grand again. We walked in the hot, hot sun and visited a large arcade for an hour, then got a crazy strawberry drink in a very tall glass.

We walked as far north as the Paris and toured inside. We walked back south and had dinner at a fancy Chinese restaurant at the MGM Grand.

We used the Excalibur pool that night. There was a waterslide, which a dozen ten-year-olds and I enjoyed a good deal. There were also waterfalls into the pool.

We then visited a video game tournament, Evo, at the Tropicana across the street. Then back to the hotel and intensive sleeping again.

Vacation Day 3: Because day 2 just about killed us with heat, we decided to take the bus up to the far north end of the Strip, walk back to where we had left off, and then take the bus back to the Excalibur. This worked well, and we were able to see way more without sudden collapse.

We saw the following locations:

Wynn – So lovely and expensive. Every store there was designer, example Yves Saint Laurent. Lovely waterfalls outside and landscaping. Lush interior.
Fashion Show – A mega mall with a fashion show that you can watch.
Treasure Island – Very cool pirate and island style exterior but kind of boring inside.
The Mirage – Awesome! Here we went to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat and saw dolphins, lions, leopards, and tigers. Also baby tigers at 14 weeks. All cats seem lazy like our cat.
The Venetian – Had a canal inside the hotel. We had a snack at a cafĂ© there that was quite tasty.
Flamingo – Really just stopped to see the flamingos. Did you know the babies are not pink…
Caesar’s Palace – Very, very cool. Great replicas of Roman statues and intricate tile mosaics.
Bellago – Another expensive and snazzy hotel. We had dinner here.

We rounded out the day by picking up some souvenirs at our hotel.

Vacation Day 4: Time to travel back East. Unfortunately, the terminal we were flying out of at the airport lost power, causing confusion, and delaying us 1.5 hours, but we got home in one piece, albeit at 2:15 in the morning.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Our Home: An Updated Tour

A lot has happened with our apartment since I posted the original photo shoot on Facebook over a year ago. Here's the tour.

When you first enter our home you will be greeted by the most fuzzy Lily. Here is Lily ready to accompany you on her tour. She's sitting and waiting for you. (When she sits she has the same shape as a cello - a fuzzy cello... Click to compare shapes.)


Welcome to our living room. It is where we spend most of our time.


Right near the living room is another important room - the bathroom.


Conveniently located for making tea while watching TV - the kitchen. It extends right off of the living room.


Let's walk down the hallway. You'll come to the office.




The office is the home of the spinning wheel. I am currently spinning up Glimmer. Ooo!


Finally, the bedroom.


Thanks for visiting!