Heart Slacker

Sorry, readers. I made an attempt, but I guess my HEART just wasn't in it. Plus, we've already determined (twice) that I'm not a good rule-follower. That doubly applies when we're talking about rules I've made up for myself, apparently.

Have you ever noticed how as soon as you publicly declare that you're not overly fond of a certain month, the birthdays just start coming out of the woodwork? That happened to me last week, and I do HEART the following people very much:

Feb 17: My BFF Wendy's birthday. She and her sisters recently started an awesome blog to share all of their crafty and creative endeavors. It's a great read if you get a chance. She posted about our trip to Mad Potter last Friday; it was my first paint-your-own-pottery night in years and years. I can't wait to go back again next month, now that I remember how much I HEART paint-your-own-pottery places. I'll post pictures of my item soon!

Feb 18: My coworker Jane's birthday. She doesn't read this blog, but she and I got our forklift licenses at the same time, and I totally love working with her. The poor girl was sick on her big day, so we had to leave all her Payday bars and candy in her desk.

Feb 19: My friend and debate partnerJoy's birthday. I've known Joy since September 1994 (that can't possibly be almost 15 years, can it?), when we took an honor's class in college together. From hot chocolate parties, an Easter road trip to New York City including a great white-out blizzard experience, and debate tournaments to eating sushi, knitting socks, and chatting on Facebook, Joy has been a great friend and is someone I really look up to.

Feb 20: My friend and former coworker Kara's birthday. Kara and I were training specialists together for what seems like a very short time, and I'm really glad that we are still in touch. She's part of the green club (which will hopefully reconvene soon, with the addition of Chris), and she also wants me to teach her to knit, so that she can learn how to make socks! I'm very much looking forward to that, and it's on me to come up with a day, so I'd better do that soon.

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In other news, we had a baby shower today for a girl at work who is due on April 2. She's the one who made my awesome turtle cake for my birthday, so I knew I needed to do something special for her. I had some Blue Sky organic cotton in the stash (in the stash!!), and decided to improvise a sweater for the baby. She's having a boy, so the navy and green were perfect. So, without further ado, the improvised baby sweater:

It's a knit 3, purl 1 rib pattern, and the stripes are such that the next color you want is always where you want it to be when you want it to be there. (Two rows navy, one row white, two rows green, one row white, and so on.)

It's approximately 6-9 months size, so hopefully it will fit him next winter.

My monkey wanted to try it on. Hopefully it will be cuter on the baby. :) I'm not completely satisfied with how it turned out, but it is cute. And... it did get the biggest "Awwwwwwwww"s at the shower today.

Now I'm going to have to bust my butt to get my February socks done in... uh... 3 days.

I HEART This Quick List

February 6
I HEART Monk and Psych.

February 7
I HEART sock club, and all my sock club members, and knitting socks, and being at my yarn store, and sock yarn, and sock needles, and sock patterns. I know this surprises all of you, dear readers, but you'll get over it.

February 8
I HEART great, creepy books being made into great, creepy movies. If you haven't seen (or read!) Coraline, I highly recommend it.

February 9
I HEART the recently-formed Green Club, which consists of Kimmie, Kara, Leslie and myself going to Noodles & Company for lunch the last two Mondays. (I also HEART Kimmie, Kara, and Leslie.)

February 10
I HEART 5:00 pm. Moreso on days like today than usual.

February 11
I HEART taking off my work boots when I get home. This HEART is very much related to yesterday's HEART.

... And On ...

February 4
I HEART hand knitted foot cozies.

I've been loving this particular pair of Fuzzy Feet for a smidge over three years, and it's starting to show.

I think I might need to start knitting another pair for backup.

It's a good thing I have hand knitted foot cozy big toe protection underneath.


I HEART double power hand knitted foot cozies!



February 5
It's Thursday, and even though I know you know this already, I HEART Burn Notice.

On MacGyver, I used to get very jealous of any girl that MacGyver was seeing or, heaven forbid, kissing. It was ridiculous that he would allow those girls to hang on him like that. Seriously. But it's different with Fiona. She's competition, yes, but she likes to blow things up. There's nothing wrong with that.

And Brenda, you're absolutely right about Sam. Your love for Bruce Campbell rubbed off onto me ("Name's Ash. Housewares." "Gimme some sugar, baby.") and I love the role he plays in this show. He's perfect.

Ah. I HEART Thursdays.

My HEART Will Go On

I don't like February. I've discovered this over the past couple of years... it's very difficult for me to get anything done in February. It's hard for me to be inspired, it's hard for me to be excited, it's hard for me to be in a good mood... it's even hard for me to pronounce February! Seriously. Say it a few times in a row and listen to how ridiculous it sounds. Stupid February.

NO! Not this year! Happy February! I'm taking February back.

I've decided I'm going to find at least one thing to be super happy about every day this February. And since it is American Heart Month after all... everything I pick will be something that I HEART!

So, without further ado...

February 1
I HEART knitting patterns that inspire me to cast on and knit them right away! This heart pattern (are you sensing a theme?) was one of the Knitty surprises this winter, and it made me so happy when I saw it that I had to cast on the very day it became available. It uses sock yarn and itty bitty needles, and I had two perfect yarns in my stash. The variegated red is Fleece Artist, and the solid is Louet Gems. Don't tell her, but I'm giving this one to my friend Joyer, because I HEART her, too!

February 2
I HEART my mom.

After my post about my 25 random things, she tried to post a comment with 25 comments on my 25 random things, but it wouldn't let the comment publish, so she printed them out and sent them to me. I totally HEART this list, and I have her permission to post it here.

1. You've never followed the rules.
2. You write the rules.
3. In kindergarten, you refused to make a project because your brother had already made one two years earlier.
4. I was not furious about the ballet class; I was extremely embarrassed.
5. There was no controlling you.
6. You were SO CUTE in your tutu!
7. The ballet instructor was NOT a nice person.
8. I still have to hide the band-aids from you.
9. Wasn't your detective agency's first job to find the band-aids?
10. Remember looking through the corn in the garden to find clues?
11. You were at G'ma and G'pa Mowery's house at breakfast when you asked for the "gravy." My mom and dad thought you were hysterically funny!
12. "Gravy" is an awesome knick-name!
13. Dad insisted you take marching band. I was distraught because you were so... hysterical... but NOT funny!
14. Which car's engine died because you "forgot" to check the oil?
15. A T-rex is allowed to stomp on the grass but is too tough to get injured. I am doubting the hyper-extension...
16. "You and I both know you rolled through that stop sign."
17. Great job list -- you are so versatile!
18. The un-engagement -- you totally lucked out on that one!
19. Dad loved the ocean-in-a-bottle you brought back from LA.
20. You are an incredible knitter! (Thanks, Brenda!)
21. All of your knitting fans adore their socks.
22. How long is the waiting list of people who want more socks?
23. Your sweater is doggone outrageous-gorgeous!!!
24. Excuse me... costumes for turtles? Are you trying to pull the wool over our eyes? BAAA-humbug!!!
25. LOVE THE PRIZE!!!

(My mom is SO adorable! I HEART HER!!!)

February 3
I HEART my sister-in-law!

I am SO proud of her. She is learning how to knit socks! I sent her some sock yarn and some needles and a beginning pattern, and she's braving it with the help of her mom. I don't know how she does everything she does and still has time for learning how to knit socks and post pictures of her adorable children and everything else she does! I don't tell her often enough how much I love and appreciate her. I HEART you, Morgan!

(Plus, the other night when we were talking online, she gave me my most favoritest title ever. She called me a Knitting Ninja Master Pirate Queen! Yeah!)