Fiber Work

(My friend Lisa modeling her new beret I made for her. How cute is she in it?!)
I finished up on a lovely project I started a couple of days ago. (The pattern can be found here on ravelry.) Today was not as fulfilling as I would have liked at work so to make up for it, I quickly finished this hat to help give me a sense of accomplishment.

Modifications: (Due to only having one skein)
-Casted on for more slouchy version (74sts)
-Worked whole hat in a very loose gauge
-Only worked two rounds of lace pattern instead of four before going into the working of rounds 1-6 one time, etc, etc…

(Sorry for the yuck-tastic photo. I took the picture with my phone since my camera only allows me to maually focus my lenses!)

Determination

Andy is Dick and Sandy's sweet King Charles Spaniel. She has been most gracious in allowing my dogs to stay with her while we are in transit to Colorado. When Andy was a puppy, her favorite place in the whole world to hide was under the couch. As she's grown older, and obviously larger in size, her favorite hiding spot has become more of a challenge. Taking this challenge head on, this puppy is willing to put forth the effort to squeeze herself into her favorite "puppyhood" spot over and over again just for the simple pleasure of hiding. You've got to admire that kind of determination. A good life lesson, I think. Even the biggest challenge can be taken on with some will-power and determination.

The In-Laws (to-be)

Meet Dick.

I also call him "the dude". (Secretly.) He makes the most incredible meals every night for myself, the Mrs., and himself to have at a lovely farm-style table accompanied by fabulous amounts of amusing dialog. (I feel like I'm back in Europe where I never rushed a meal and enjoyed the company.)

Meet Sandy.

Sandy is fantastically artsy fartsy and would give her left arm to help others. (I hope she doesn't, though. It's really useful for serving up proper hugs.)

These are my in-laws. Well, starting 9/30/2010 but I figured I would get a jump-start on things. :)

(Please forgive my sub-par photos. I was taking these in an effort to learn how to better use the manual mode on my Nikon. I should have messed with the white balance but I was too focused on getting enough light into the camera without having a lot of noise.... so I forgot! I learned a lot from this session!)

Pics of the day

Outside the house on the way to work. Leading Lines???

(Remnants of snow outside my classroom portable)
Apparently the cool kids here in blog land take pictures of their feet and far be it from me to stray from the pack. ;)

Happy Tuesday!

A New Year...

...means it was high time I updated my header! Thanks to this lovely lady taking precious time out of her busy life to answer my email questions, I have discovered a new (and time-snatching!) site called Picnik where Header Heaven is! (Adam! Keep your mind out of the gutter!)

Once you upload your pictures you can play with collages (I did the three-across collage above), text features, effects, etc. until your little heart's content! (Disclaimer: No joke when I say this is a time-snatching site. :) You can literally waste TONS of time at this little space on the internet!) And the best part? FREE!!!! Oh, yes! Free! You can upgrade to the premium, fancy schmancy stuff (no judgement!) but the basic is way more than enough to make this little lady happy!

So what do you think? Yay or nay to the new header?

FlipVideo: Round 1!

My first go at using and uploading a video with my new FlipVideo! Adam was the unwilling subject but nonetheless made it entertaining, as usual!

Merry Christmas!

Two full weeks off from teaching is always a wonderful treat during the Christmas season and I welcome the time with open arms! The first few days of the break took place in Tampa, Florida where my parents have recently retired and my sister and husband live. Although the time was short, the time with the family was wonderful. I also was able to squeeze in a little knitting which came in handy in Colorado. (Check out the first pic below for the finished project!)
Since Adam just moved out to Denver, I wanted to spend Christmas and the rest of the time with him so he wouldn't be alone for the holidays. I arrived the Wednesday before Christmas and have been having a blast. Thursday morning was spent and the killer REI store shopping for Adam's presents and couple of items for me (including some proper boots for being in this lovely snow!). The afternoon was dedicated to shopping for Christmas dinner and the evening was spent with a neighbor of mine from Alaska.
Adam and I woke up early Christmas morning and he took to the kitchen to make some yummy Pamela's pancakes with blueberries! After breakfast we decided to head outdoors for a lovely, long walk in City Park and complete with picture taking then stumbled upon the Denver Zoo which was open! We had a great time checking out all the critters!
The rest of the day is being spent prepping the food for Christmas dinner, hanging out, and even doing some knitting.
The pictures below are a recap of the Denver trip so far...

My finished project! Mittens!

Hanging with Mimi and Lulu!

Checking out a stunning coral reef

A bizillion ducks!

How snazzy is this critter?

Yep, I'm skipping! Snow makes me THIS happy!


My love and I...our first night in Denver together.

May you and yours have a lovely and peaceful holiday...

Much love and good karma to all,

r