What I Might Be When I Grow Up

Silly as it sounds. The other night my mom and I were talking about what I would do when Scout is old enough to go to school. I said, "I'll home-school her", but I doubt that I would do it. My patience runs awfully thin. So I was thinking about what I would do, maybe use the Interpreting degree? Maybe? Or something else. All I've ever really done was work with animals, as a dog groomer and a Veterinary Assistant.

I could be a baker:

This my friend is a most delicious Buttermilk Frosting that goes on top of Buttermilk Brownies.

I could most definitely be a chef or baker with this:

My brand new GE stove. Oh it's delicious I tell you! They installed it today after we complained about our previous oven, (that must have been here since they built these complexes), wasn't working properly. (Gotta love having friends in management huh?)

Or maybe I'll be a seamstress:

My first sewing project since the 7th grade: A DPN Needle Case for my Monkey Sock Pal. I used the needle cases my grandmother made for me as a template and designed them for double pointed needles. (It is a sock swap you know.)

A close up of the lil monkeys.

And a picture of the backing which is a dark brown courdoroy, (sp?)

I'm happy to say that I am very happy with the needle case for a few reasons. One, my mom looked at the one my grandmother made, (mind you they have a very strained relationship), and all she could say was, "oh, she's gooood". My grandmother is a professional seamstress. She's been sewing since she was a little kid, of course she's good! Anyway, we finally figured out how to do it, and I was good. Cutting fabric, pinning fabric, cursing fabric, sewing fabric...

Needless to say I'm addicted to fabric already. I bought enough fabric to make three more cases when I bought monkey fabric. But then yesterday, I went back to JoAnn's because they'd give us oodles of 40% off coupons for fabrics, notions, containers and craft items. (Mind you, last week I went to Michael's and bought $30 worth of Halloween ornaments and paints, crayons, and other stuff for Jem.) Anyway, I left JoAnn's spending about $60!!! I bought more cord, some cool dog print fabric and a few yards of Pooh Bear baby blanket fabric for Scout's baby blanket. (My grandmother made me my baby blanket which I had until 7th grade when I lost it on Halloween night. My mom made Jem his baby blanket which he still uses, and she made me this really cool blanket too. One side was fuzzy Raggedy Ann and Andy prints and the other was a sheet that matched my bedset. My friend borrowed it and never gave it back and now my mom refuses to make me one. So I'll have to make Scout's and one for me!)

In other news, I got my sock project bag from Momma Monkey, in the mail yesterday and I totally ♥ it! I really wanted one with Siamese cats, but I know sometimes specific fabric is hard to come by. But these cats were just too cute to resist! So if you need a small sock bag, this is most definitely what you need to get:

Check out her Etsy shop!

And my Koigu Monkeys are coming along nicely:

I was worried they weren't going to fit, the stitches were a bit tighter than I'd like, because I used US 1's. But they fit comfortably, so onto Sock Two I am going.

I finished the back to the Tilted Duster, but it's awfully ugly just sitting there, (all the bind offs), so I'll wait til I get the fronts done before showing you a picture. The good news is that while the Peruvia is a bit fuzzy, it doesn't bother me as much as I'd thought.

And that's about it. I have a lot of blogs and groups and swaps I need to catch up on. So I'm off!

P.S.: I sold a number of stitch marker sets last week at the LYS and made a bunch more for the SnB tomorrow night. Whatever doesn't sell will be posted in the shop on Saturday. Be on the look out, there are some great new markers!

Happy Valentine's Day

What does this:

And this make?

These:

Since today was Valentine's Day, I decided to do something special for a sweet treat. I intended on making Tyler Florence's Bittersweet Chocolate Cloud Cake but opted out last minute. (The main reason being I didn't want to spend $20 on really good chocolate and not have the time to actually make the cake, you'll see why that could happen in a moment.)

Before getting the chance to bake though, Jem's school called. He had woken up at 5 a.m. telling me that his ears were hurting. He went to school anyway because today was their Valentine's Day party. But at 10 a.m., they called. I picked him up and we grabbed McDonald's for breakfast. This put a damper on my day. I would never have been able to make a two layer chocolatey chocolate cake in time.

Thus, Valentine's Cupcakes. I made it from Betty Crocker's Triple Decadent Chocolate Cake Mix and Cream Cheese Frosting. Then I took a little bit of the frosting and used my Wilton Food Coloring Dyes and piped some pretty little hearts. I have to say, this was the best cake mix I've tasted in a long, long time. I've only had two so far. (I'm trying to be good.)

While Jem hung out in his room, me and Scout wrote a Valentine for Shawn. (Shawn and I have been having a rough patch, caused by a low in my depression. This happens every so often. I am doing ok today, by the way, but the point is that this Valentine's card was really important.) And so was this:

Ms. Ruffled Butt. After Scout was born, we took a trip to Target, (I ♥ Target). Anyway, we found two really cute Valentine's Day outfits. With ruffles.

Ruffles on the butt. Ruffles on the feet. And "Daddy Loves Me" proudly sporting on the front. Can you get any cuter?

In the midst of all of this Valentine's Day loving, I had a chance to browse my new Interweave Knits. I am absolutely in love with the Ribs and Lace Tank. It calls for Karabella Zodiac, which I found on Kpixie, for $6 a skein. (I found some cheaper on eBay but they don't have the color I want). I really like the dark brown, but I might opt for black.

While perusing, I found this great Lexie Barnes Bag. But for $140, it may not be that great. It would mean no yarn for like two or three months. And while I have a good stash, I don't know if I can go that long without a yarn purchase. I have some decision making to do, these prints don't stay for long.

And then I saw a Goddess.

Lovely.

I hope everyone is having (or had) a Happy Valentine's Day. After a nice dinner at BJ's Brewery (after the car didn't want to start, of course), things worked out. But now Scout is crying and kicking and I think I hear some cupcakes calling my name.