Thought you'd seen it all?

Check this out!

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2006/04/were_getting_ou.html

It's absolutely adorable, but I don't think Joey would go for it (though he would be quite dashing in a little sweater like that!)

haHA! A FO!

Been a while since I was working on anything but I Do, but I am BACK! This time, I've finished a dishcloth. Not much, I know, but after working 2 months on a huge lace project, finishing anything in less than a week seems like a big accompolishment. Even if it's only 8 in. square :)

This is part of the 2008 Dishcloth KAL (knit-along). Each month has 2 dishclothes to knit, one at the beginning of the month with an image, often themed for the month (better for solid yarns) and one mid-month with a pattern (better for multi-colored yarns). The instructions are sent out a little at a time, and you don't see any pictures as you knit it, just the instructions, so it's a suprise at the end! A fun way to use up my large stash of cottons, and create something useful at the same time!

This was January's first dishcloth (it's a football). The mid-month one is on my needles now, so I'll have a picture later this week. Ta-da:

I can quit anytime, I swear!

So was hitting up Popcap and Yahoo games again this weekend...Bad move, Lara, bad move. Homes to dozens of addicting little puzzle games, and the end of whatever productivity I hoped to have on the computer.

I'm not a gamer. I don't deal well with the multi-player RPG or video games. Something that has dozens of screen views all at once, well, I just can't track it all, and it ends up making my head hurt instead. Shows my age, maybe :) And we didn't grow up with a Nintendo set, so I don't handle complex button combinations. Do much better with simple driving games, or hack-and-slash set-ups. Ask me to walk around somewhere though, or handle a multi-button attack, and I'll end up in front of a wall unable to turn around.

But give me a simple little puzzle game, brightly colored patterns to clear or build or some such, and I'm there! The one that got me yesterday was Bricks Breaking on Yahoo Games. One of those simple little clear-the-blocks set ups that sounds really boring, but then you get to the end of the level, and you've only got 3 blocks left. So close! You can do better next time! And next time, you've only got 1 block left. So close! You can do better next time! And next time....

'Scuse me. The bricks are calling....

B is for...

Bunny!

Seriously, would B be anything but my little buns? He OWNS the letter B. He's my Beautiful Brown Bright-eyed Baby Bunny Boy! And here he is in a Box! Beautiful Brown Bright-eyed Baby Bunny Boy in a Box!! At the time of this picture, he was inside the box eating it (and the newspaper inside!), but it's like cats - they're so cute sitting in things!

PS - For the record, no his eyes aren't red like that. They're really very brown, but red-eye reducer doesn't like to reduce for his eyes; they turn out yellow, which is even weirder looking than the red!

PPS - I think I found a red-eye-reducer that actually works! Yay Picnic!

Speaking of wedding pictures...

I never showed you all how I Do turned out! Shame on me! I've a few pictures here, both from the house, when I finally unpinned it post-blocking, and from the wedding day itself, to see it in the right setting and all :)

I really like how it turned out, honestly. The cotton took FOREVER to dry during blocking (it was very rainy and humid outside, so that didn't help - probably not a problem I'll be having with my blocking in a couple months!) The shots at the house were from when it had finally dried and I could try it on. Then just weaving in the ends, and it was all done!

I wore it the whole day. It was just enough cover on my arms to keep the chill off. Just what I needed! And it went well with the dress, too. The dress itself it so simple, that the lacy shrug was just enough laciness. A nice balance. If the dress had been too busy, beading or lace or ruffles or something, it wouldn't have worked so nicely with the shrug.

The lace pattern was a little obnoxious at times, just being such a long repeat, and that P3tog was awkward sometimes. I was faster, I noticed on the second half of the sweater, so I guess eventually the pattern started getting into my hands. Just took a bit longer than some of the simpler stitch work I've done before. And I worried for the longest time during the knitting that it would turn out weird - I dont have enough experience with lace yet to be able to 'read' it unblocked. It just looks weird and limp and lumpy until it is blocked. But it all turned out! Overall, I think I might make it again, if someone asked me to, or I might make it again for me in a different yarn and a different lace pattern. Shouldn't be too difficult to work it in another 12 st lace pattern, maybe Feather and Fan, and all the shaping would be the same. We'll see if there's ever the call for it!

Woohoo! Wedding pictures are HERE!

I am still sorting through and labeling and all, but the pictures from the photographer have arrived!

Yay! (everyone run around like Kermit in the Muppet Show!) Yaaay!

Once I get them all sorted and incorporated with the family pics and posted to my flickr account, I'll let you all know again, but for right now, this is just a preview.

Don't we clean up well? :)

Dear Fashion Industry,

I have a simple question to ask you, and I would appreciate a simple answer, if you can find time in your busy schedules to tear yourselves away from the latest Hollywood starlet's nonexistent tops and $700 jeans to answer an average consumer.

Why is it that there are no good, affordable fashions for the twenties-thirties professional female??

A friend and I went shopping last week, and were frustratingly unsuccessful. This is not a one time occurance. I've been looking at clothes for myself as I sort out my closet pre-move. My sister's is also reaching this age range, now that she's out of college. We all agree: It's ridiculous!!!

We are not teenagers anymore. Nor are we in college. Teensy belly shirts, and low-low rise jeans revealing our underwear to the world do not belong in our daily lives anymore. We do not wear tank tops and graphic T's except on the weekends and at home. After college, our wardrobes are have more T-shirts than we will ever use in a lifetime.

At the same time, we are not matrons. We still wear fashionable jeans, not Mom-jeans. We do not neet the pantsuits with the flowers on the shirt matching the pattern on the pants. We do not want shirts which read "I Love My Grandchildren." In 30 years, we may want these clothes, but for now, we need something appropriate to our own age range.

We are professionals. We want professional looking clothing. Showing up to meet clients in a cute little graphic T is simply not appropriate. Despite what a manager in my office seems to think, hoodies likewise have no place in the workplace. Not even cute little cropped or intricately cabled ones.

The clothing we need is available. Tailored shirts, business suits, professional skirts and pants, sweaters...these items are not unheard-of. What we need is to find these items within our own price range. Paying over $100 for a simple pair of slacks may be feasible for a branch manager with a corner office. For the professional peon in the cubicle, that's a significant chunk of our paycheck.

Please, our request is not absurd. There is a segment of the population which is being overlooked by the fashion market. We request that this oversight is redressed, so that we too may be appropriately dressed.

Awaiting news with baited breath,

Disgruntled Shopper