Pictures soon, I promise...

So I finished the lace cardigan yesterday! And by finished, I mean finished. I've woven in the ends and blocked it and everything. I'll take a picture soon, although I'm not sure how flattering the garment itself will ever be, as it has a distinct lack of waist shaping.

I also planted those pesky tulip bulbs, finally. A row of taller white ones behind a row of shorter red ones, along the front of the house, on either side of the porch. They should, I'm hoping, go well with the yellow house and white trim, and with the orange day lilies that are already there. With the hostas gone, the only thing throwing a wrench in the color scheme is the bluey-purpley iris, but I like irises too much to get rid of it, and I'm too lazy (right now) to transplant it elsewhere.

Oh, right, and I also have two potted peonies that need to go somewhere, in the hopes they'll survive for next year. I think they're some sort of miracle variety, because I didn't get around to addressing the issue last fall (they're pink, and I don't know where to put pink things in my yard yet), but somehow they still managed to create new growth this past summer. I think the early snow we had last fall/winter provided some extra insulation for them. That, or they're just miraculously indestructible plants.

Anyway, I didn't - and won't - take pictures of the newly planted tulip bulbs because the visual right now is just a bunch of tamped-down dirt. Boring. Kinda like this post.

And as a quick final note, I've signed myself up for a 5k next year. Yes, this is the same 5k I signed up for last year and bailed on (I forget whether it was due to an injury or just plain low motivation and lack of training...), though at least my registration fee went to a good cause. This time, though, I'm determined to follow through. I. will. get. back. into. running. I will I will I will I will.

Yes.

Successes (complete and partial)

1. Complete: Thanks to the inspiration and guidance of a recent smitten kitchen post, I figured out how to make a really good batch of home fries (a key element of breakfast-for-dinner, which one really must incorporate into one's life at least quarterly to ensure a proper level of contentment and whimsy). Helpful tips were the pre-cooking of the potatoes, so as to equalize their cooking time with that of the onions, and the use of butter, so as to create a crispy potato exterior. Addition from my own mind: a dash of cumin. Complete success.

2. Partial: The sleeves on the lace cardigan are done. Only one of them, however, has been sewn in place. Copious ends need to be woven in. Blocking must occur.

3. Partial: Tulip bulbs have been purchased (and have subsequently ridden around with me in my car for about a week). Hopefully there'll be a day with neither rain nor work in the near future so I can plant them. Relatedly, I've obtained the materials for weatherizing my windows. Unlike planting, this process doesn't require a rain-free day, or even daylight, but it does have a much higher motivation hurdle to address. Oh, motivation, how elusive you are...

weekend highlights

This weekend was a whirlwind, lemme tell ya. Or, I should say, I had things to do this weekend, and as a result am tired now, because I am apparently old. With a side of insomnia. Anyway.

I got a haircut. Nothing fancy or different from what I've done in the past, but much needed. In a couple weeks it'll be perfect and I'll wish I could make my hair stop growing at will. No pictures right now, but if I can finish up knitting the lace cardigan (ooh, haven't heard about that one in a while, have ya?) before my hair grows back to the length it was anyway, I'll try to get a decent shot of the cardigan and the haircut together. Two birds, one stone.

I tried to buy shoes for Awesome Friend's wedding (I triiiied, I really did!), but the store I was sure would carry them... didn't. Le sigh.

At the other end of the footwear spectrum, I wore my beyond-broken-in pair of sneakers to tromp through some mud and go urban hiking. No, really, there's hiking within the boundaries of my (very small) city. I know, it's just barely a city. But still, it's really cool: there are acres and acres of marshes and wooded trails (and a waterfall!) a stone's through from residential streets and a shopping center or five. And you'd never know it when you're in either setting. My (mini-)city rocks.

A fair amount of time was spent taking a putty knike to old wallpaper and a rake to old leaves. Thankfully, a fair amount of time was also spent eating delicious food and laughing with lovely people.

Oh my gosh, and I re-watched one of my favorite movies ever. Crash. It won the Oscar for Best Picture for a reason, folks. So good. So.so.so.so.good. I'd already seen it, so I already knew what happened, and the two best scenes were still amazingly powerful. Tears rolling down my face kind of powerful (and I don't cry at movies, like, ever). If you haven't seen it yet (why the heck not, I ask you?), get your hands on a copy posthaste!

A Month of Wednesdays

I'd realized sort of vaguely that I'd been posting less frequently lately, but imagine my surprise when I scrolled down through the last three... four... FIVE... posts to find that they were all dated on Wednesdays. Huh. I'm a creature of habit, always have been, and am well aware of said trait, but that much? Really? I guess so!

Anyway, let's cross something off the most recent ATDL, shall we? Yes, we shall.

Progress on Thermal so far

As for the rest of 'em, let's roll out the accountability fanfare. Dah, de-DAH:

- Get a pair of prescription sunglasses
Not yet. In fact, might wait a while to see if my prescription is where I need it to be (headaches again. argh.)...

- Find a pair of brown boots to replace the current pair, which has seen better days
DONE! Brown, heels but not too much, zip up, cute square-ish toe. Approx $50. Thank you, Bass outlet!

- Buy tulip bulbs
Um, not yet.

- Plant said tulip bulbs
Clearly, no.

- Purchase housewarming gift(s) for TNG
DONE! And he lurved them.

- Go. to. the. gym.
Yeah, I went. For 25 puny minutes on an elliptical machine. Went for a two mile walk with the CraftoMom today. Tomorrow's activity will be brought to you by renovations, no doubt. Gym again on Monday. Yes.

- Take and post a picture of my progress on Thermal so far.
Oh yeah!

- Stop working on Thermal and get some progress done on a neglected new design
Oh. Yeah....

- Make hotel reservations for the weekend of Awesome Friend's wedding
DONE! Just now! Thank you, ATDL, for reminding me.

- Buy dress and shoes for aforementioned wedding
Next weekend, I swear.

- Prep windows for winter
Sigh. No.


But I *did* carve a pumpkin. (And TNG did, too, a cool cyclopse jack-o-lantern, but my camera batteries fizzled out before I could get a shot of it.)

Ghostie's got a little case of osteoporosis, it seems. Carved pumpkins don't last forever, ya know...

Back by popular... well, by necessity

It's time for another Ambitious To Do List! True, the weekend is still a few days away, and it isn't even a long weekend at that, but the tasks hovering over me continue to accumulate. So, ATDL it is.

- Get a pair of prescription sunglasses
- Find a pair of brown boots to replace the current pair, which has seen better days
- Buy tulip bulbs
- Plant said tulip bulbs
- Purchase housewarming gift(s) for TNG
- Go. to. the. gym.
- Take and post a picture of my progress on Thermal so far
- Stop working on Thermal and get some progress done on a neglected new design
- Make hotel reservations for the weekend of Awesome Friend's wedding
- Buy dress and shoes for aforementioned wedding
- Prep windows for winter

list format: heavy on the information, light on the creativity

- I've cast on for Thermal, of Knitty fame. It's slow going, folks. Slowwwwww going. Thank you, tiny gauge.

- Terrific New Guy (hereinafter "TNG") met a bunch of my friends this week at various social events, all of which seemed to go swimmingly.

- Used up some leeks for yummy soup (bonus: lunch with a friend!)

- I went fishing. Yes, really. There was no bait involved, only fiberglass lures, and I miraculously managed to get through the day without injuring myself on the hooks. I caught (drum roll, please)... a leaf. Yeah. There are pictures, but I'll spare you, lest this blog turn into The Adventures of Craftosaurus and TNG ("look, another self-taken shot of us in front of some scenery, with a vast expanse of the photog's sleeve! whee!").

- Went to the local quaint retail-centered touristy area, intending only to windowshop, but ended up getting a new suit (much needed, and this one was cute and fit well) for sixty bucks. Oh yeah.

- Had a fab, fab, FAB dinner following said retail excursion. Wine and entree were delish, but ohmygoodness, the chocolate stout cake with peanut butter frosting? Wow.

- Backyard at Chez Craftosaurus is FULL of leaves from the resident chestnut tree. Must rake this weekend.

- Also this weekend, have got plans to sit outside in the crisp fall air and watch the song stylings of area marching bands. Ooooh, the nostalgia.

- Flu shot tomorrow. Healthy, healthy. Also, must remember to wear an outfit with roll-able sleeves.

I *heart* long weekends.

It's a Wednesday, but it feels like a Tuesday because the real Tuesday was the Monday of the week, Columbus Day having turned the real Monday into an extra Sunday.

You still with me?

Anyway, yes, I was one of the lucky few who had Monday off for Columbus Day (although, fear not, I'll be cursing the other Lucky Few when I sit at my desk on Veterans' Day). That third day is key, I tell you, KEY. There was much sleeping and cooking and knitting of sweaters and watching of movies. And there was apple picking! While there are no actual apples in this picture, the leaves are leaves on an apple tree in the middle of an apple orchard, I promise.


So I just have to get through this Wednesday-that-feels-like-a-Tuesday, then a Thursday-that-feels-like-a-Friday (because it will. you know it will...), then a Friday-that-feels-a-thousand-hours-long, and I'll find myself in another long weekend, because I'm using some vacation time at the beginning of next week. Hooray, long weekends!

In the category of Various and Sundry Other Things to Post About Quickly, I've reached the end of the yarn on the Lace Cardigan. I'll need to rip out the unfinished sleeve caps, for sure, and possibly a fair amount of the sleeves themselves, because I don't think there will be enough yarn to get to a 3/4 length. The alternative, in my mind, will have to be cap sleeves, as sleeves to the elbow just don't sound like they'd be a pretty sight.

Also, debate tonight. Save for the feeling that I could fall asleep any second and the fact that I've still got hours of wakefulness to conquer, I'm really excited!