Make Me

Sweet Saturday

It's 5:25pm and all I've done today is sleep, eat 2 loads of laundry and watch TV.  Aaaah.  Of course I have a list of things I should be doing, but that hasn't happened yet.  Does the refrigerator need to be cleaned if I don't open it?  I don't think so.

I've also spent the morning in pursuit of this purse.

Everyone is sold out and it doesn't look like it's going to be remade.  There are a few on eBay.  The question is - as much as I love this messenger bag in the pirata print....Do I love it $160 worth?  I'm not a big money purse kind of gal, preferring to buy my handbags at thrift stores, garage sales and on eBay for $10 or less. 

There was a Kenneth Cole purse that I lusted after for most of a season at Macy's one year and I waited and waited and waited until it finally went on sale for half price.  Of course it was never the be all and end all purse I dreamed it would be.

That's the thing about purses.  You never really know how it works until you get all your crap in it and carry it around for a couple of days.  That's the appeal, I imagine, of Bag, Borrow or Steal.  Although one of the Judith Leiber bags was "renting" for over $100/week.  If I could afford to rent a bag for $400/month, I should probably just buy the thing and sell it on eBay when I was sick of it.

Anyway, back to the Sportsac Pirata messenger bag.  I really do love it.  And Sportsac bags last forever.  But I really think I should wait for a sale.  Do you think it would be possible to get this for half-price?

Green Acres

So, I'm here in Alpine on my friend's "homestead".  There are 4 goats, 6 dogs, 2 birds and 2 kids young adults.  It's been a comedy, lemme tell ya.

I may not have told you this, but I am a city girl through and through.  Yesterday morning saw me feeding the doggies, pitching hay for the goats and chasing one very fast, wayward long-haired doxie around the rose garden.  Of course you know that when you chase a dog with the goal of catching it, the dog thinks it's a game.  So I'd get close and he'd take off.  Such fun.  So when I finally caught him, I had to carry his little muscle-bound dogginess back to the barn.  Then I had to feed the bleating goats.  I've done a lot of things in my life, but I think this is the first time I've handled a pitchfork. I'll be hanging on to my day job.

I got a blister on my toe from chasing the dog because I was wearing inappropriate (but cute) shoes.  On the way home from church I had to stop by Lori's to surround myself with yarny goodness.  Too bad I was too tired to take in all the new stuff. Maybe next Sunday.

Today we continued with orientation week at school. Luckily I didn't have too much to do with their TA workshop today so I got some paperwork done.  Just as I was reveling in my clean desk-ness, another load of paperwork came bustling in.  Would it be unethical to trash it and say it was never received?  I used to work with a supervisor like that.  She got promoted. 

One thing I've learned so far is it is freaking hard to be a parent.  I mean all the little things you've got to remember let alone the things you have to do!  Oh my!  The whole homework thing is bringing me down.  High school homework is more involved than I remember.

I haven't knit a thing in weeks.  I meant to start my second Waving Lace sock over the weekend, but the bed just looked too inviting.  And now that I have to leave the house at O-dark-thirty in the AM, I just don't have the time before I need to get to bed.  Seriously - how do you moms do it?  I feel like someone has been beating me with a baseball bat while I'm sleeping.  I lift my glass to you, ladies! C'mon to my house, I'm making ze hotcakes.

Friday Five

Oh the things I do for my blog!  Tired as I am, I am posting another five fab products from Etsy.  San Diego themed this week.

Charger Wedding Garter

Killer Tomato

San Diego Trolley painting

La Jolla Hobo Bag

Tijuana Bull Tote Bag

Enjoy!  I'm off!  Not much to hear from me this week - one more week and The Orientation Battle is Ovah!!

I'm Too Old For This!

OMG - Orientation week is whipping. My. Butt.  I hope next week gets better. At least so I can get some sleep and maybe some knitting done. 

The projects are starting to mock me again.  The Waving Lace sock is crying in a corner lamenting ever having a partner to go through life with.  Beaded Camisole makes snide comments under her breath.  Wyvern sock taunts me by mooning me with her half-done heel.  And I can't even believe what Isabella says right to my face!  There needs to be a little more discipline around here.

Right after this nap....

Friday Five

Happy Friday!  This week's "Five" is all about the Amigurumi!  Yay!

LIttle Fawn

P T Stitchy Monster Pocket PIllow

My favorite! 
The Concentrating Truffle
How cute is that?

Eugene the Green Alien

Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake (calorie free! Yum!)

I haven't done any amigurumi yet, but I'm so fascinated by it.  If you conceive of an idea, then you have to figure out how to translate it into crochet.  I'm stymied!  I think I have enough crochet experience (30 years!) to figure something like this out, but I've never even tried.

I have fun plans for the weekend - girly slumber party tonight.  BTW, do you call it a slumber party or a sleepover?  Is that regional?  We always called them slumber parties. 

Then tomorrow it is tea time at the Bird's Nest.  I think we might be discussing our latest book, but I've only read the first 5 pages, so don't tell Wendy.  I'm so behind.

We have a summer reading thing at work through the library.  You write up reviews all summer and in September you can go to a lunch and win prizes. The catch is you can only write up books that are available through the campus library, although you don't have to get them from the library.  So any book that wasn't on the list didn't get read by me this summer. Oops. I'm shallow, I admit it!

This Post Brought to You by the Letter "Zzzzzzzzzzz"

I've been overtaken by some sort of home-induced narcolepsy. I walk in the front door and all I can think about is sleep.  I fell asleep last night on the hard floor! As usual, I am blaming the weather.

Seems a bit of autumn sneaked in while I was complaining about the heat.  There's a definite snap in the air and I need to use my wipers in the morning when I get in my car.  Nice, that.

I'm not really a summer kind of gal.  The heat makes me cranky.  Lucky for me, I live in beautiful San Diego where the "intense" heat lasts an approximate total of 4.5 days.  Still, it's enough to make me put on my cranky pants. 

I've been floundering in the knitting lately.  I finally got the needles to make the second Waving Lace sock, but I feel guilty about starting it with Isabella lurking in the shadows.  And I'm having trouble with the gusset of my Wyvern sock.  I'm not sure I'm doing it right.  And I want pancakes.  Blueberry pancakes.

All this is contributing to my general grump-dom. 

Good things are happening though.  Even though I'm confused a lot about my new job, I find myself giving students the correct information every now and again.  And I have organized most of my stash and listed it on Ravelry.  I've got a few goodies to post in my Etsy shop, too. 

I'm going to leave you with this lovey-bit.

Friday Five

It's been what - 2 weeks since the last 5?  Blame Ravelry.  Even when I don't intend to, it just sucks me right in and I can't seem to start.  Is there a 12-step program?

Anyway, today's Five is brought to you by Audrey Hepburn. 

Audrey Hepburn pendant

Breakfast at Tiffany's set

Audrey Painting

Sweet Audrey Bracelet

Audrey Cowgirl Light Switch

Enjoy!

Tink, Frog, Scream

I've spent most of the week on Isabella.  It's making me crazy.  Somehow I've messed up one of the lace patterns and I end up with the right amount of stitches but the pattern is one off.  I think I've frogged enough stitches to make a whole new Isabella. 

Very frustrating.  See the bump-out at the top?  I'm thinking I'm just going to hand stitch everything in place if it doesn't go well tomorrow.  I was planning to have this finished by last weekend.

This is still a (Mother's Day) gift for my mom so, no further peeks unless you look at my Ravelry account (Hilari).  Keep your fingers crossed for Christmas.

I'm also working on my first toe-up sock - Wyvern.  The heel had me a bit stumped, but I think I've got it conquered.   I used Wendy's tute and it's pretty easy to follow.

I bought one of the brass Addi needles last night at Lori's so I can finally finish my Waving Lace socks.  You'll be happy to know that I now have only 1 dpn from that set.  Yup, no more dpn socks for me! 

Redecorate

It's been unseasonably hot here in SD.  I believe the meteorological term would be way freakin hot.  My a/c has been on for 3 days straight.  I've got a nice condensation leak on the carpet, but I'm not turning it off.

Anyway - because it's been so hot, I finally moved my computer out to the living room where it's cooler.  And actually I like having it here.  I've finally read my email and lookie here! I'm bloggin'! 

Yesterday I spent a lot of time in my car because it was cool.  I tried the beach but even that was unpleasant.  Let's face it - I'm not a hot weather gal.

I did make a brief stop at Common Threads and The Black Sheep.  Bought a wee bit of yarn, but nothing I didn't absolutely need.  And honestly, when these skeins looked up at me with their sad puppy dog eyes, who was I to resist?

This Boku is from Plymouth and looks rather like Noro, but not as scratchy.  And definitely not as pricey - about $6/skein.  I'm thinking of making a shawl with it, provided the temperature ever drops below 100 degrees.

Then I found this Crystal Palace Maizy yarn at The Black Sheep.  It's got a bit of elastic with it so I am excited to see the socks it will make. 

Love the color!

Now I've got to update them on Ravelry.  That means about an extra 5 hours lost.