Booze and Baby Hats

With another eventful and glamorous Saturday night is under my belt, I have little to show for this weekend except a few more GRE vocabulary words in my brain, a crappy batch of cookies in the freezer (which taste better as dough) and some beer and everything bagels sitting in my stomach. Oh yeah, and some overtime pay from work that will go towards funding my summer getaway to beautiful Schilitterbahn. 

One tangible takeaway from this weekend is my first knitting project in ages. I can feel my crafty flame being rekindled after months of dormancy (suck it GRE!). Since I know more babies at this point in my lifetime than ever before - including when I was a baby myself - I knitted a precious cotton hat. See below. 

I love the color, I love the yarn and I love the size 8 Addi's I knit them on. It was a pleasurable project that came together so quickly that I didn't even have time to take progress photos. I did however have time to enjoy a cold beverage during the process. Sure I could have snapped a few shots after I had to pull out the extra stitches at the top because the crown was too pointy (thanks beer), but why highlight my mistakes? Once it was done, I wove in the ends and couldn't help but look at the hat and think that it wasn't quite finished. 

The little blue hat was a blank canvas to try out intarsia or duplicate stitching, which I have always wanted to perfect. I have some bright embroidery thread that looks adorable with the color, and if I hold two strands of this thin thread together, it will look just as substantial as any other worsted weight yarn I could have used. 

But what should I duplicate stitch on to it? Since I used size 8 needles, the stitch height and width would be too wide to make any kind of word, like the obvious "baby" I wanted to stitch across the front. A heart, butterfly or letter might be pretty cute emblazoned (GRE!) across the brim. 

I'll let you know what I choose to put on there, but until then I just plan on celebrating the fact that I actually made something.

Where can I find these?

Meg and I stumbled upon these glasses in a store called Dressin' Gaudy (No, I am not kiddin') in east Texas. They have one lens that flip-flops from eye to eye along a hinge in the middle. I don't know what they are for, I don't know why they were invented, and all I know is that I have never not bought an item that I was so in love with as I was with these glasses in that magical store. I love them, and a year later, I still think of them and wish I had them. 

What would I use them for? One-eyed reading? General fanciness? An old lady's "camera one, camera two" scene from Wayne's World? The answer, yes to all of the above. So you can see why I need to find them. I don't even know what to Google in order to find them, hell, I even went to Bing, because my fellow humans must know where these are. If you know, please tell me. I'm in the mood to buy.

Like I need a reason to make cookies...

But I am sitting in my apartment, struggling to study the GRE quantitative section with Hell's Kitchen in the background and I can't answer one of these questions to save my life. So I decided to get up and put my math skills to the test by doubling a snickerdoodle recipe. Blaire is taking the Bar Exam next week and she could probably use a care package/"congratulations you never have to study again" present, and since I am recently heartbroken I figure I don't need an excuse. After the success of last week's homemade brownies adventure, I'm feeling motivated to try these swirled snickerdoodles from The Kitchn.

I used this super-soft snickerdoodle recipe from The Kitchn, with a few modifications. For starters I used a stick of margarine and a stick of butter rather than 2 sticks of butter as the recipe calls for. I prefer to use margarine only because one time Nanny told me she uses margarine in her ginger cookies. I also read that margarine has a higher melting point than butter so your cookies come out puffier, and more spiraled in this case. I also didn't have nutmeg, so I used a little bit of ground ginger. It sounded tastier anyway because I think if there is nutmeg in there it might turn into a egg nog cookie (which sounds rancid). 

So I mixed everything together and it was time to roll the cookies out into a sheet. I don't have a rolling pin, so I got creative with some household items. It might come as a surprise to you that a cardboard mailing tube is NOT a rolling pin. So I put all the dough on a cookie sheet and flattened it out with my hands. Then I used a trick I learned from the episode Man vs. Food: San Antonio, where he visits a breakfast food place that makes giant cinnamon rolls. The cook "makes love to the dough" by rubbing cinnamon and sugar into the dough. It all looked pretty tasty and this is the final product. 

So this is going to be a multi-day adventure in snickerdoodling because the dough needs to chill overnight, then I want it to chill some more before I cut it up into circles. I will let you know about the final product. 

Not much knitting has been going on here. Mainly because it is so hot and I just can't get motivated to hold any nice wooly yarns. But I do have a baby blanket WIP made out of some extra yarn I have laying around.  I really should pick up a new baby hat ASAP though since my cousin Denise is about to have a baby shower this weekend for her baby girl. Check out this precious picture of Ellie in her latest hat I made her!

 

Fooooooooorrrrrrt Worth Cats are back, Cats are back!

So I am a little late reporting this BREAKING NEWS but the Fort Worth Cats are indeed back, and yours truly did some "freelance design" work for them (or at least that is what I told the teller at the bank when I cashed my check, *Bling*).

With two weeks left until opening day, my daddy, THE general manager of the Cats and this guy

told me that they needed promo pocket schedules and programs for the upcoming season. With Brady's wedding, Blaire's graduation and my grandfather's funeral in back-to-back-to-back weekends, I agreed to provide  them with the materials. What I didn't agree to was delivering them before opening day. They should really read the fine print in my statement of works. 

Here are some of the photos featured in the 2010 promotional media for the Fort Worth Cats. Be sure to pick some of these up when you go to the games (Like I know you will):

GO CATS!

Summer Resolutions

And so it begins. The summer of Mallory. Memorial weekend last weekend got me thinking about all the good times I wanted to have this summer, especially now that I am really getting into the swing of summers in Fayetteville.

So with the official start of summer behind me, I hereby proclaim this summer the Summer of Mallory, and so here I state my resolutions for the upcoming months.

• Watch more movies
  
• Finish a smocked knitted garment
  
• Less smokin', more jokin' (just kidding, I don't smoke I just heard that phrase on TV and I liked it.)
  
• Actually remember the concerts I have coming up
  
• Take/Sign up for a GRE class

This past weekend, I discovered Redbox movies. Genius! I watched Up In The Air, The Blind Side, Sherlock Holmes and Vicky Christina Barcelona. All great ones, except for Up In The Air, it was depressing from start to finish. I am going to take the GRE this fall and depending on how well that goes, I want to enroll in a grad school program. Resolution numero tres is probably going to be the most difficult as Wakarusa is coming up in two days and the Old 97's are at George's on July 31. I'm not looking forward to a Shooter Jennings 2006 escapade again. 

Overall, I think this summer will be a success if I end up scrapping all of my resolutions except for finishing my smocked garment. I am working on a large ribbed tube that, once it reaches the desired length, will be incorporated with some contrasting elastic to make a smocked bandeau top, or the waistband of a skirt. Since I have no grasp on gauging for this type of garment, I will just have to see what I want it to be after it gets about 8 inches long. Oh yeah, and I would like to finish my quilt sometime soon. 

When I get back, look for a new post about hippie awesome crafts from Wakarusa. I hope I don't go too crazy buying tie-dye and hand knits. 

Too busy for knitting.

I just hate saying that. In my mind I should never be too busy for knitting but I guess that is what happen to me these past few weeks. On top of everything, Nanny borrowed back HER sewing machine to make a skirt curtain (which I still can't wait to see), and I still haven't gotten it back. I can't wait to see the curtain. The miniscule amount of knitting that I have done has been for our super secret vandalism project, so I haven't been able to start on any of the cute projects I have planned for me or Elliot. Super failure for Mallory.

Meanwhile, in my world outside of crafting, you might remember me from my performance as Brady Barnes McDuffie's first bridesmaid in her May 8, 2010 wedding in Hamburg, Arkansas. I know I was quite the local celebrity in Monticello where I was staying, and pestering the Walmart staff there. 

This trip was certainly an adventure. On the way to Monticello, Eddie and I got lost just outside of Star City when our directions led us straight down a dirt road. I wish I would have had my camera to document the journey. A lot of jokes were made about the "Deliverance" of it all, especially when the guy with the flipper hand waved at us, but mostly I think it would have made a great entrance video for our submission application to the Amazing Race. The video would have been titled Amazing Race: Arkansas and would have shown how we eventually made our way to Monticello, found a liquor store within driving distance where we received our clue that led us to the crazy red neck who told us a dog killing story. If we were able to choke back the tears during the graphic reenactment and avoid the DWI on  the way back to the hotel, we were able to reach our NEXT Pit Stop, the Holiday Inn Express in Monticello. Thank God we made it through everything -- I'm still waiting for my million dollar prize. Although, I did win an amazing necklace from Brady that I can't wait to wear all the time. It is my initials on a fancy gold disc! Look for it in pretty much all my pictures to follow.

Before that, I went to Waco for Blaire's graduation and to Fort Worth for Grandpa's funeral. Both weekends were amazing and I loved spending time with everyone that I haven't seen in a long time. Eddie loved being introduced to my old friend, Chicken Express. Which reminds me, pink and green jello/cool-whip/pineapple salads are my new favorite 60's inspired dish. 

In between all of this, I have throughly enjoyed eating fast food and going to work during the week. I have NOT enjoyed the 5 extra pounds I have gained through it all [she says as a tear falls down her cheek and she takes a sip of her Shiner hefeweizen. Ahhhhh, Texas]

My computer and new printer has taken over my sewing machine table, effectively hindering my sewing and my own lack of time has taken over my desire to make hand made goods. More to come later, as the summer laziness takes over and my brain and knitting becomes my one and only desire. Sorry work.

Your very own Kappa Ka-Quilt

Chad Ocho-chino (Fox news style) is being all sessy on Dancing with the Stars, and I just outlined the ladder for all the pages in the 2010 FW Cats program, but I really wish I was working on finishing my first quilting endeavor - my Kappa t-shirt quilt.

For Christmas this past year, I asked Eddie's mom, Sarah to help me make a quilt out of all the Kappa t-shirts I will never wear again. So, a few weeks after Christmas, we went to Van Buren and got all the necessary fabric, quilting accessories and tools in order for me to get started on my first quilt. I already had the sewing machine as it was a gift from my grandmother, but Sarah bought me all the fabric, a few cutting patterns (I'm not sure if that is the right word for the clear acrylic squares that you use when quilting), and some backing to make the shirts a little sturdier.

The first lesson of quilting I learned is that your iron is your best friend. The second lesson I learned is that measuring even a fraction of an inch off can mess up your entire project. And the third, most important, lesson I learned is that sewing machines are bitches. Mine never wants to stay threaded, I'm always tangling the bobbin and I can't figure out what all these sewing machine terms mean. WTF does tension mean? Except for the fact that there is tension between me and my sewing machine, I can't really apply the term to the work I am doing. 

So I begin cutting up all my old Kappa shirts that I never want to wear again. Sleep on them, yes. Wear, no. I'm cutting them in 12.5 x 12.5 squares, so that once they are sewn into my quilt, they will be perfect one foot squares. I'm saving the front pieces of the shirts for a special quilt square where I will merge them all into one. I cut the backing into 12.5 x 12.5 squares also, and using my new best friend, Iron, I affixed them all together. 

I cut out stripping to go between the panels, and I cut those at a predetermined width (decided upon by the VB quilt shop) and at the 12.5" length like my squares. Once I have three squares sewn together with stripping in between them, I sewed a continuous strip across the top of all of them. Then I can start all over, creating a new row of 3. 

Overall, there will be 12 squares in my finished quilt -- 11 whole t-shirt squares, and one square with all the front pocket pieces sewn together. Check out my progress! 

As soon as I get my sewing machine back from Nanny (I surrendered it back to her so she could make a curtain for her kitchen window -- look for a post about that later) I plan on finishing it up so that Eddie's mom can take it to get quilted. I can't wait to use the finished product. At least then my expensive-ass t-shirts will get a little more use then they would in a drawer somewhere.

Let your freak flag fly in Fayetteville

Did I know how today was going to turn out when I woke up this morning? No, and let me tell you why I love that.

I grappled with the option of going out or staying in last night. Of late, it would be pretty typical of me to stay in, grab some knitting and plant on the couch for the rest of the night. But I went out, hung out with a drunk friend and had some pretty eye-opening conversations. So I woke up this morning with big plans to clean and lay low for the entire day, but my best-laid plans went by the wayside and I ended up enjoying all Fayetteville has to offer.

The Farmer's Market started on the square today, so me and the dog baby headed downtown to check out what they had to offer. Suzie apparently did not feel like being an a$$ hole like she usually is, and was super friendly, precious and well-behaved. So much so that I was able to take her to lunch with me, and she sat next to me and shared an order of French fries.

Then I went to the baseball game and watched the Razor-bats (as I cleverly coined today) beat the Kentucky Wildcats (maybe??) 10 to 1. Or at least I think that was the final score, I had a few beers in the sun, and we all know what that does to the memory. Now I get to go hang out with some friends I haven't seen in forever.

What a beautiful day! These days are the reason I live in Fayetteville, and furthermore, are the reason I still love living here. Good people, good food, good baseball and precious pups. I really couldn't ask for more.

CURRENT KNITTING: I started working on the smocking part of my new sun dress. It doesn't look good. 321 cast on stitches and one row of shoddy ribbing after a glass of wine really makes me disappointed about the start I got on the dress. My bible, the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework advises to knit one 3x1 ribbed piece twice the desired width of the complete project. So, without knowing the elasticity of a finished piece of smocking, I measured an already smocked sun dress and based my measurements off of that. So after I did all the math, casted on, and knit that difficult first row, I figured out it was FUBAR-ed and I set it down and went out. We'll repair that later.

I finished a hat for baby Ellie, who I get to see this upcoming weekend. It looks a lot like her hat that I made for her when she was born, in that it is knit in garter stitch with the same line of yarn in a different color. Only this time it isn't going to have a flower on the side. This time, I am including a felt cut out of something, and I am affixing it with embroidery thread and probably some fusing backing.

I am concerned that the hat itself is too short for her noggin, it looks like it might be, and I have no idea how big babies' heads are. Hell, the last hat I made for her I measured on a decorative gourd. I need to borrow someone's baby for measurement, anyone know a 3 month old baby willing to be my guinea pig? You will get to see a photo of the finished product on Ellie. Hopefully she will have a few chances to wear the hat before she outgrows it. I know there isn't really much need for a baby beanie in the California sun.

Stealth

What a busy week I have been having! I have been anything but stealth. I've had plans every night this week, which is extremely different than my "one social event per month" calendar I am used to. Tuesday night's stitch and bitch was exceptionally remarkable. I took my big girl knitting project, the sock, and I hope that impressed a few people. It is working up very quickly, and I need to go ahead and finish it while I am still motivated to make its mate. Check it!

I had to go to stitch and bitch by myself since I know a whole bunch of flaky knitters who didn't want to go, but it is so easy to make friends there, that it didn't really matter. So I got there, pulled out my sock, grabbed a glass of wine and everything fell into place. I hung out with some other girls who are planning on going to Wakarusa (which I bought my parking pass for yesterday...finally) and we did some amazing brainstorming of knitted things that would be useful at a giant hippie music festival. We went through projects like water bottle slings, summer scarves, koozies and landed on knitting ourselves a smocked dress to wear.

Loosely based on a baby's smocked dress in Kristin's Aware Knits book, we are going to knit a smocked banded top, and then the plan is to pick up stitches along the bottom and knit the rest of it to a desired length. We will have to come up with some way to include straps, but as I develop this semi-homemade pattern, I will post some photos or sketches. Look for the completed project next summer (realistically).

My favorite development at stitch and bitch this week was a new project reveal - a stealthly project which I am not at liberty to discuss. I will just post this photo and let you draw your own conclusions.

Hip to be squares

Seriously. I have to get rid of all of this yarn that Eddie's mom gave me. Why oh why did I take so much of it? Sure I could donate it, and I probably will end up doing that at some point, but until then I have big plans for this yarn. My plans involve 100+ squares of mismatched goodness, and a neutral gray border that will hold them all together. Yes, it will be the love child of a knitted afghan and a quilt, and it will be made with all kinds of love by yours truly.

Each square is made to accommodate a 19 sts. = 5.5" gauge and they are knit to be approximately 5.5" high. Not all of them are exact, however, and if there is one thing I have learned from my very limited quilting experience, it is that being off by even a fraction of an inch can throw off your whole project. This will surely come back to exact quilting/knitting revenge on me when I put it all together but I will cross that bridge when I get there -- if ever.

See, I need approximately 143 squares (depending on how off I am on my measurements, I may have to cram a few small squares in there to make everything fit), and right now I have 23. For those of you following along, I am 15 percent of the way complete...with the squares. That isn't including the border I plan on picking up all the way around it. It is okay though, I don't plan on finishing the blanket any time soon, and it is the perfect project for bar knitting since everything is done in straight garter stitch.

I will post more photos of my stack o'squares as it grows larger, and of course, when the time comes some photos of me putting it together and picking up the border. Until then, challenge your math skills and your patience by starting a scrap blanket of your own. I know that in the end it will be worth it, if not for me then for someone in my family at Christmas ("Of course the blanket was expensive! No, I didn't use the yarn I would have otherwise donated. Yes, you are welcome.") This is all assuming it is done in nine months.

Meanwhile, over on the sock front. I have managed to turn the heel quite nicely on the striped sock, and I am pleased with the progress I have on this "show and tell" piece for knitting club this week. There is nothing like a cozy wool striped sock as the weather starts to change from 12" of snow to blue skies and sunshine! In fact, that's almost what the color pattern reminds me of. These socks will forever be known as "groundhog socks" marking the transition from the icy blues, to the green and orange colors of the spring. Had the winter weather not lasted until the first day of spring, I never would have had the drive to knit some cozy socks. Thanks Puxatawny Phil!

Ideal knitting destinations

UPDATE: It is no longer raining in Fayetteville. It is beautiful and sunny. I wrote this 3 days ago.

So it is still raining in Fayetteville, and after the foot of snow we got on Monday melted (yes, I know it is March), and the three inches of rain we are getting today, I will have to be careful not to get whisked away in the raging river that is flowing outside of my apartment. And though I would like to be at home knitting or napping the day away, there is something peaceful about being at work when the weather is gloomy, knowing that at least I am not wasting a sunny day trapped behind a computer screen.

If today was a Saturday, and I didn't have to work, and I didn't have any other social commitments, I would likely spend the day knitting or doing some sort of craft. Preferably with a drink. So, since I have long finished my work tasks for today, I think I will let my mind slip off into another knitting daydream and visit all of my favorite places to knit and craft.

Right now I should be on my couch, covered in a blanket with my puppy by my side, working on the striped socks. There would likely be a crime show on TV because Law & Order's Dick Wolf made a deal with Cox Communications that a variation of the show must be on at least one channel every hour of every day, and sometimes two channels, especially on holidays.

I could also spend the afternoon anywhere on Dickson Street knitting in a bar. Few things are more hypnotic than straight knitting after several cocktails, plus it is a great conversation starter for meeting other lushes who are spending their early afternoons drinking and not working. Yep, I'm going to be one of those old ladies who sits around sipping wine and crafting hundreds upon thousands of knitted teddy bears for no one. I should just schedule a standing date in 2050 for Hoarders and the 1-800-Got-Junk crew of hotties to show up at my house and free me from my prison of hand made caca. With new 3-D TV, that episode should be really frightening. (Genius Idea: Flat knitted "hoarder" cat to lay around the house, it serves no purpose, but will be made of fun fur and an old button for the eye).

If it wasn't raining and there was a baseball game in town, it might be nice to knit in the outfield of Baum Stadium before the game starts. Knitting outside anywhere is usually very pleasant, but it is nice to have the baseball game going on as a distraction. Oh yeah, don't forget the kettle corns, and the occasional terrifying visit from Ribby the Razorback and the RBI skanks.

Knitting is inherently relaxing so pairing it with a place I love makes it even better. Toss a drink and some good friends in the mix and you have an afternoon well spent, plus you have a hand made garment, as a souvenir. How and where would you spend an ideal afternoon crafting?

Socks

Check your clocks, it’s time to make socks! Not time for frocks, or time for smocks ‘cause the time to make socks is the time that rocks!

I broke into my stash of free yarn from Sarah (thanks again!) to start these cool self-striping socks. Following a pattern in a book I have had since I was young, I cast on 48 stitches using sock weight yarn, and using 2x2 ribbing I started forming the leg part of the sock. Instead of getting a nice wide opening to accommodate my whole giant foot and ankle, I have a small opening fit for golf club, more specifically, a putter. Realistically, I think the width will work fine in the end, especially with the stretchy ribbing, but right now it looks a little blood-flow-blocking tight.

Rest assured, you’ll look like a fox in these cozy striped socks. Or you could put them in a box, secure it with some locks, and take them down the block to your small-footed friend Dave.

Hopefully my socks will also help me gain some street-cred at the next Stitch & Bitch. OK, I know I am a dork.

The next project I am going to start is for my precious niece Elliot. She needs a new knitted garment from her Auntie Jo Jo to model on the baby circuit in Southern California. The front-running project is this sun dress/tank top from Lion Brand, sans the flowers. Those look dumb. I will probably pick up some cute buttons and put them along the chest part.

Have I mentioned I love my dog?

If you're crazy like me, and would rather shop for your dog than yourself, then you know that it is easy to spend a small fortune on dog treats, toys, clothes and food. I have spent so much time and money spoiling my puppy that it is embarrassing, but Suzie needed a dog bed and I wasn't about to deny her of the comfort she deserves. Like I said, I am crazy.

Dog beds are ridiculously expensive if you have a dog over 10 pounds, and even in my craziness I have to draw the line somewhere when I spend money on animals. So, with a little inspiration from Molly Mutt and some old laundry bags from my summer camp days, I was able to craft these adorable dog beds for my adorable dog.

I helped my mom clean out all of my stuff from their garage, and I found several canvas laundry bags and a mesh laundry bag that I used at summer camp. Given the purging mood I was in that day, I could have just thrown them out with the other Goodwill stuff, but I thought they were too cute not to be repurposed.

After Christmas, I learned how to use my sewing machine to make t-shirt quilts (after I salvaged a bunch of those from the garage as well), so I took my newfound ability to sew in a straight line and I applied it to making some dog beds.

First I cut the laundry bags along the seams, making the top and bottom panels of the beds. Then I cut strips of upholstery fabric in 5.5" widths. These strips served as the sides of the beds. The upholstery fabric was my only expense, and it was on sale for $5/yd. After I sewed all the pieces together, and rigged up the corner to look presentable, I sewed a zipper (acquired for free after an afternoon in the Van Buren, AR quilt shop) in one of the seams on the short side.

The zipper was super difficult, and I probably shouldn't have picked a coat zipper that comes apart over a sturdy dress/pillow zipper that will stay stuck together at the bottom. Either way, it is just a dog bed, and if your dog is like Suzie, then she will just eventually tear it up to bury her ball in it anyway.

After all of your pieces are sewn together, and the zipper is sewn in along the seam, you are essentially left with a zippered pillow case that you can fill with whatever you have lying around the house. I used my mesh laundry bag as a catch all for all the pieces inside the floral dog bed shell, so I threw sewing scraps, old t-shirts, sweat shirts and towels in there and placed it inside the shell, fluffed it around, and voila! Extra cheap dog bed for one precious pup.

For filling, you could even use old pillows or those knitting projects that just didn't quite turn out as you hoped. I threw an afghan in there I made out of homespun cotton candy pink yarn -- God I was tired of looking at that pink beast. The best part about these beds is that if they are soiled, you can open them up, take them apart and wash every piece of it -- very hygienic for you and your doggy. Check out how much Suzie loves her new beds!

The best "stock the bar" party this immediate side of the Mississippi

For the past several months, Allison and I have been planning this couples shower for our recently-engaged former roommate Brady. I'm not a fan of anything extra girly, so a traditional wedding shower was pretty much not going to happen on my watch, and because every one likes free booze, a "stock the bar" party seemed to fit the bill. Since Allison is planning her own wedding, and since I am perpetually broke, we both wanted to do the party on the cheap -- so we got crafty. Taking a break from most of my knitting works in progress, I spent the past few weeks gathering crafty things and creating stuff for the party. In the end, I think we had a pretty fun night, and aside from the cuddle-raping (more later) the night was a success. Here's how we did it.

The Barnes family was very gracious, and let us have the party at their family's cabin on the Mississippi river. Venue = free, and not to mention precious and relaxing.

I designed the invitations myself and was able to find a printer in town to print them professionally. Sure, I could have gone to the Kinko's in my work parking lot, but that would have been too convenient. Plus I would have had to cut them myself. Overall, Invitations = $40 including postage and envelopes.

We put BYOB on the invitations, because if there is one thing I know about the Arkansas Delta, it's that people there can put away some booze. I can barely afford beers for myself some weekends, so they needed to bring their own. We provided a little booze in the form of a signature cocktail - sweet tea vodka, lemonade and water. Cost of cocktail = $26 for booze (split between me and Allison), $20 for pretty drink dispenser. I don't know if I will ever use the drink dispenser again, but maybe I can sell it to someone who is having a party. Check out the paper flowers by the drink, I made those!

Since we had the party during dinner time, we felt like we needed to provide food for our guests. Originally the plan was to cook out, but Allison and I decided against that, and chose to make taco soup and chili. Those are much easier to make in bulk, and it was perfect since it turned out to be rainy night. I went to Sam's and spent $80 on chili stuff, candy, dip, chips and desserts. I still have a lot left over and I don't plan on going grocery shopping all this week. Not too shabby for food for dinner for 40 people, and a week's worth of food for me.

I spent probably another $15 on odds and ends for the party, like plates, cups, mason jars and a new ladle. That brings the grand total to $168 spent on the bash, not including my gifts, but I would have bought those if I wasn't hosting the party, so they aren't really relevant to adding up the costs. I don't want to seem like I am really hung up on the cost of the party, because I would do anything to throw a fun party for my besties, but I also love finding a good deal, and any chance I can use to get crafty, I want to take it!

Aaaaaaand back to the cuddle raping... Around 3 a.m. Brady's cousin crawls into bed with me and drunkenly tries to cuddle with me. After a quick cussing out courtesy of yours truly, I think he sat up, realized I was not the person he was supposed to be cuddling with, and quietly slips out of the room. A shady ending to an otherwise perfect evening!

A gift I wouldn't mind getting

What can I say about Aunt Jo? Arguably my favorite aunt, she lovingly did my laundry on weekend trips to Little Rock from Fayetteville in college, she feeds me like a queen every time I visit and she has never met a stranger, at least not in the state of Arkansas, because she knows everyone here! Did I mention she is also my middle name sake?

Aunt Jo works at UAMS in Little Rock by day, and by night she is one BA caterer. When I needed help getting the food ready for Brady and Bryan's stock the bar party, I hoped she would help, because then I knew my chili would be better than Allison's taco soup. And in return for the cooking lesson, I thought I would knit Jo some dish cloths. I use my dish cloths every day and they are my favorite things to use to wipe down counters and clean inside small dishes. I sometimes even use mine to wash my face.

I make them from 100 percent cotton, and I used to like Peaches and Cream, but now I prefer to use I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby, it is cheaper and somehow it is softer than the 100 percent cotton former. I would definitely venture to say..."I Love This Cotton!" Whenever I make these cloths, I can't seem to just stick with one pattern, and I like to look at them as a blank slate for trying out new patterns and stitches. On this particular set, I have one slanted rib, one double seed stitch, one regular seed stitch and then my personal favorite, a pattern called "ribbons of sunshine". The last one is sure to elicit "tears of joy" when you see it. I hope Aunt Jo likes the green variegated yarn. It matches my stuff, but I am not sure about hers.

One skein of I Love This Cotton rings up for $2.99 if you don't catch it on sale for 30 percent off. Either way, they are inexpensive gifts that whip up in no time. The best part about them is that you can really test yourself and your creativity with them. At my aforementioned Stitch & Bitch, someone described it as my "in between" dish cloth, meaning it was something I was working on in between starting and finishing a bigger project. Although I don't have the bigger project in the works, I was happy that they understood my knitting wasnt just limited to tiny seed stitched sqares someone is probably going to mutilate beyond recognition with eveyday use. Can you tell I was a little self conscious?

When I put the four cloths together they make a lovely set that I think any foodie, clean freak, new homeowner, face washer, or cloth aficionado would love to own. Make your own set and let me know what patterns you come up with!

Giving myself a pat on the back

I have always been one for celebrating the little things in life - my dog's half birthday, the season premier of Rock of Love, the opening of a new restaurant in town, a friend's purchase of a scooter, a Tuesday. But today we have real reason to celebrate. It is a Thursday, a.k.a. my favorite day of the week and $2.25 margaritas at Mojitos, but besides that I went 3 for 3 on the Tri-Puzzle Tournament which includes the Thursday edition of the New York Times crossword!

The Tri-Puzzle Tournament is a term coined by Corinne for my daily attempt to finish the Jumble, Cryptoquip and the New York Times crossword puzzle (all on the same page in the Democrat-Gazette). It is a feat not for the faint-of-heart, or those who are legitimately busy at work. As the week progresses, as does the difficulty of the crossword. I can't tell a difference in difficulty on the other two puzzles, but they don't really count anyway. For the past two years, my New Year's resolution has been to finish the Friday NYT crossword puzzle, and today I find myself one step closer, and it is only March. I'm impressed. Sure, there were a few clues I didn't quite grasp, and after finishing the puzzle I looked them up to see if I had them right (I didn't), but this is the closest I have ever come to finishing a Thursday puzzle, and closer than I come on some Wednesdays. And that, my friends, is celebration-worthy.

Other latest accomplishments include finishing my Jonas Brothers Eternity Scarf, an infinity scarf so named by my friend Kevin (not of JoBros fame). It was knit length-wise in the round with some free yarn given to me by Eddie's mom, Sarah. She let me raid her yarn stash quite some time ago, and I am still trying to finish knitting through all of it. The yarn is called Pebbles, and that is exactly what it looks like to me - little pieces of technicolor gravel, not Fruity Pebbles like Kevin thinks. It is incredibly soft and cozy, which made it a pleasure to knit with. My only issue with it was that the yarn split very easily so you had to really watch what you were doing.

The scarf is knit in garter stitch, which I am usually not a huge fan of, but you can't really tell with this yarn. The scarf does have one flaw, which I am attributing to Suzie, although my friends will tell you that it is entirely my fault. I still prefer to blame the dog.

In other news, I read about and went to my first Stitch & Bitch gathering this week. I met some amazing and accomplished knitters, which made me feel like a giant dork as I knitted away at my technically devoid dish cloth. Even though I was able to finish it off in the several hours I spent there, I still wish I had a "big girl" project that would show everyone how good I think I am at knitting. I'm thinking socks would really wow them, and since I have some sock yarn courtesy of Sarah, I am going to start on those next. We meet every other Tuesday in a bar off the square in Fayetteville called JR's. They open three hours early just to accommodate the knitters. It is nice to be able to sit in there without the overwhelming cigarette smell.

What an amazing and productive week! It gives me some real reasons to celebrate this weekend. Coincedentally, we are having a party! It is out at Brady's family's cabin on the Mississippi River. My friend Allison and I put a lot of work into the party, and we were very crafty in our planning, so expect to see a post on how we threw Brady and Bryan the best "stock the bar" party this side of the Mississippi.

Get your creative juices flowing...

Good evening!

After a failed blogging attempt and countless hours spent at work daydreaming about crafting, I decided to start Hey Purl! to serve as my project log. My craft of choice is mainly knitting, but I have recently developed an unhealthy obsession with quilting, and I like to find inexpensive ways to create cute and functional pieces. 

I admire so many bloggers and knitters for their creativity, and I love that they share their work with me and other readers, so I am taking cues from several people to make Hey Purl! I want to review books like on The Purl Bee. I love Will Work For Food Girl's amazing photos and money saving tips. And Queer Joe's blogging style is one I really respect - I love how he talks about other topics, not just his "fiber arts."

This blog's name, Hey Purl!, is a common greeting among my friends Mairin, Laura, Jake and Maya Bailey. I maintain that it originated in my Media Law class with Katherine Shurlds when she showed us pictures of her baby cocker spaniel puppy, Pearl, aptly named for her Dec. 7 birthday. This professora was also a fan of quilting and posted a lot of her favorites on her class Web site. 

I hope you enjoy following along with my creations as they come together. I am open to any new ideas and ways of doing things, so please e-mail me if you would like to get your creative juices flowing along with me!