kitties and computers

Lately, somebody has been stealing my computer. I'm not going to say who (Siren)
She keeps crawling on my lap and onto my computer every night lately. I wonder if it's because the computer is warm? It is really cute though.

I've been working more on my log cabin blanket. I'm down to one skein each of the colors. I'm pretty sure that there will be enough of the center color to edge the whole thing. It might even be done for Thanksgiving. Something nice to cuttle in on my day off.

clothing makes the sale?

People often say, " The clothes make the man" (or woman). And I'm pretty sure that clothes help make the sale. When you work in an area of town where most of your customers are wearing suits, button up shirts and kackies, or even uniforms I think this applies even more. Now, how do I convince others of this?

Lead by example. That I can do. But to lead don't folks need to fallow?

Now, if only I could knit faster. Then I could lead in fabulous hand knits. I'm thinking about making hand knit version of my Target dress. It's chunky to bulky yarn, with a cowl neck and A line. I'm pretty sure I could knit it all in the round with maybe a fake seem to give it a little more shape. Not sure.

When I start i'll post some pictures and see what you all think.

Fall???

The weather seems to think that it's not going to be uber chilly right now.
I am only marginally ok with that. Ups and downs in the weather make my UC
go more than a bit wonky.

That said, Saturday was really nice.
Crafty Planet had their party for the new book One Yard Wonders. As written by
our own Crafty Planet crew. It is written, designed (super important to me) and laid out well.

Here is the cover


Now I'm not sure what in the book i'm going to use this fabric for. Maybe a skirt?



Now this. This will be a hand bag and maybe 2 project bags.


And this, this needs to be something hug able.


Now, I was not bad and didn't spend money I didn't have. I saved a few spiff
checks just for this. Because really, when you go to a store that is having a
party, it's just bad form not to buy something.



Oh, and just in care you were worried. Here's some yarn. I think this could make
a pretty lacy something. Not sure what, but I got 2 balls so I'm sure I can think of something.

Halloween '09

I can't remember if i showed off the owl socks her yet.
So, here they are.
It was pretty much just a basic ribbed sock with the owl cable.


They fit pretty well. The second sock is a little tight in the heal. It still made it
on to my foot though. So that's a win.



And here we have my Halloween costume. It was steampunk shop-keep.
I already had the skirt, but as i have gotten a bit hippy, i need to add some
fabric to it.


So it turned out nice. I made the top too. I think i need to work on my sewing
skills. It turned out well, but i would have liked it to be a bit more, professional looking.

We had a good night. Went out for dinner with friends. The Wilde Roast Cafe
is pretty tasty. I think the breakfast is a bit better than the dinner.

And now, now there is too much candy in the house. I got some just in case
our friends didn't want to go out to dinner. Well we forgot to set it out.
Now it is in the kitchen, tonting me. But looking at my chin in those photos,
I'm really going to have to stay away from it. Or get that neck-work-out
infomercial thing. :P

Now, get out there and enjoy the sun all you Minneapolins. It might not be
back for a long time.

Day trip'in

If you have wandered over to Stumbling over Chaos, you might have seen that there was snow happening the other day.



Here we have proof. The flowers survived and there are some pumpkins hiding behind there. So, the snow was pretty. But it was not welcome. The fact that i'm on vacation and didn't have to worry about the snow at the store, now that was welcomed.

So I decided yesterday to take a little day trip to Stillwater, MN. It was great to see some water, yellow leaves and the only snow was melting snow.


Main St Stillwater is pretty cute. I think the next time family comes up we are
going to have to take them here. The Ms. Pacman window art is from a food
place. It looked tasty, I didn't stop to eat.


I did stop to look at yarn though :)
This is Darn.Knit(Anyway) a nice new shop. They have yarn, fabric and art.
They have been looking for local (mn or maybe wi since it's right across the
river) artists. It was nice talking to Carly about the shop and about a camera
for the shop ;) Even on vacation I talk cameras.

There was some yarn bought (i'll show you in another post) and they were
super cool and gave me a reusable shopping bag with their logo on it.
It's a very cute bag and it will get a lot of work.

So, if you are feeling like a day trip. Stillwater is just about 30hr to 45min away.

I know I'll be going back.

fall update

So here is a little "What's going on around the Iki house"
Well, we have been cleaning. We have been rearranging the bed room (HT did that) and we have been getting the yard ready for after "The Fall".


The pumpkins turned out well. Not as many as I thought there would be. Though there are a few that will be good for baking. 3 for baking 4 for carving, not bad for a first try. There are still a lot of tomatos on the vines. I don't think they are going to turn red any time soon. I'm going to have to try out fryin' them up I think.


We think these are Spaghetti squash. There are about 6 of them in total. Not sure what to do with them really. We also had 2 acorn squash. They were made last Wednesday for dinner. Turned out pretty tasty. The peppers that were living next to all this squash just started making peppers. Sadly they too will not get much bigger before the frost comes.


I've decided to take the blanket I was making out of squares and scrap it. I saw MomRKnits working on a 10 stitch shawl and thought "By, the Log Cabin would be an easy thing to work on". So, the squares will be made into pillows or something. It's coming along well. It's Knitpicks Wool of the Andies on size 8us needles. I'm going to save aside the center yarn for the edging. It's the discontinued Mainline. I really love the cotton wool mixture. It will make a nice soft edge.


The guest room (aka Grimlock's room) has gotten a work out this Sept. Our friends Mr & Mrs Toons came up for a lovely wedding (still have to get our gift in the mail as we forgot to bring it.) And HT's Mom and Dad came up the next weekend. It's nice to host people in the house. I just wish I could take more time off to spend with them all.
Well I'm off to drink some more tea (got a bit of a chest cold). Remember, the best way to warm the house on a cold day, is to bake something, cook something, or put some kitty treats on your lap and have more hidden in your pockets.

Halloween is coming

I'm thinking of steampunking it out for Halloween this year.
Here are some good places to find things if you are thinking of doing the same.
There is Scoundrelle's Keep. She is local, cool and that's where the picture is
from. Such awesome stuff.
We found Steampunk Emporium at work. It seems to have a lot of nice things
for men. One of my emps really likes the men's bathing suits. :)
If you are thinking about designing your costume but need guidance,
there is this page.
I've personally purchased from Art of Adornment. They were super helpful when
I couldn't get pay-pal to behave. I love the top hat I got from them.

I'm going to start sewing tonight. I'll post some in-progress pics eventually.