Blogging Lull

I'm not sure why, but it hasn't really seemed like I have much to blog about lately...or rather, nothing more than a couple lines and a photo...so I've skipped over blogging it altogether! Maybe if I start blogging about something, the rest will fall into place...

I still haven't finished blogging about Paris, and haven't posted a single thing about Torie's wedding in September (maybe I can get to it this next week?), but I think I kept up pretty well with blogging over the holidays and the trips we took while my mom was here. (Speaking of, here is a photo of the thimbles I got while doing said traveling; there's one from Trier and one from Frankfurt.)

Oh! And I also haven't yet shared the newest addition to our household! No, it's not a baby (though a close friend of mine just had one on Tuesday!), and no, it's not an animal (in the same house as my boys?! HA!). It's a "roommate" of my craft room! (No spiders this time, I promise!) Her name is Charlotte!

Charlotte wearing my hat from Paris, Ravenclaw earrings (made by me), and the purple Luna scarf (made by me)

I bought her to model the neck wear, head wear, and earrings I make. Sadly, though, there are a few things I made recently I could have used her to model, but forgot about using her until I'd already given them away! LOL

And in that vein, here are some of the things I've recently finished, project-wise!

Triangular Scarflette I made as a last-minute decision for a friend's birthday

*PHOTOS TAKEN BY MISHA* A Hat for Emily for Elphie's husband; I made adjustments to accommodate a size larger than youth, and also made it reversible by picking up the stitches along the edge of the hat and knitting the lining

The fingerless mitts I made for The Instigator as a gift for our anniversary, complete with the logo from Zelda

And for those that pay attention to my Ravelry projects in the sidebar of my blog...you wouldn't have even known what I was knitting for these entries! These were super secret projects that I made as gifts for Kristin and Elphaba for Christmas! :D

The capelet I made for Kristin

*PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA* The sleeved mantelet I made for Elphie

And I love my gifts from them (which I will post photos of next time)! :D :D :D They were very fitting!

In other non-knitting, non-holiday related news, Superman (who is showing signs of being Bizarro today!) lost his two front teeth almost 2 weeks ago!

And now I cannot really think of anything else to say...it seems as though my blogging steam didn't pick up today after all. (Of course, that's likely due to the fact that I'm being distracted by the boys being home from school today, doing laundry, and watching Big Bang Theory...) So I think I'll leave it here for now. :)

Gettin' My Craft On!

So I have been home from the States for over a month, and I still haven't blogged about my BFF's wedding, nor have I finished blogging about my trip to Paris with Elphie, not to say mentioning my amazing birthday weekend! But I will get there, I promise. And those are not just empty words. I just have...issues...with finding a balance. There tends to be a lot of extreme behaviors one way, and then the complete opposite (and many times back and forth a time or two more!) before I get back into my "groove." And the past few months have been anything but regular!

And in the "extreme behavior" toward the negative, for a week or two, I was completely ensconced in the silly Facebook games. Frontierville/Pioneer Trail, Mafia Wars 2, Cafe World...all that crap. It was like a trance I couldn't be pulled out of. But Monday, I finally reached a decision that I had been mulling over. I decided to stop playing them. All of them. (Well, okay, I still have Words with Friends and Scrabble, but those only take, like, 2 minutes to make your move and then you wait on your opponent to go. No big.) And in the time that I have not been playing those time-sucking games, I have done the following:

Completed the WestKnits Mystery KAL:

Started and completed a stitchmarker Lariat:

Started and completed a pair of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Wristers:

 

Started and completed a hat for The Instigator's aunt:

Made my own mitten blockers:

Blocked the Bella mittens for Tara:

 Baked a batch of zucchini muffins and 2 loaves of zucchini bread (this is all that was left of the muffins after 24 hours...they were completely gone in less than 48! LOL):

Started and completed a cowl (for trading for an apron from a fellow crafter!):

Finally finished a blanket to donate to a patient of Nephrotic Syndrome 

that has been a long time in coming!:

And have done some super-top-secret HSKS swappy items. Plus,that's to say nothing of finally getting my crafting supplies slowly migrating upstairs to my new craft room (used to be the boys' toy room, but we moved those upstairs to the large closet and their bedroom), catching up on housework, participating in running a knitting swap, and actually cooking meals! I have really been on fire! LOL I'm really hoping that this is less of a swing of the pendulum in the productive segment of my balance and more of a trend leading to habit. :) I guess only time will tell, but all in all, not bad for a week's worth of effort. :)

Spoilage

So. I previously posted about the earring and necklace set The Instigator bought for me. (And for those wondering, yes, it is still sitting in it's box, and no I have not yet worn them.)

Since then, he has gotten me...

Another earring and necklace set that I'm saving for when I go to see Wicked in London with a couple of close friends:

A bag and matching wallet (that are made for the target audience of knitters and crocheters) that cost more than I've ever spent on any bag in my entire life:

A voucher to the spa on base (including a voucher each for the friends that I'm going to London with) for Mother's Day:

My first ever pair of Nike shoes:

A complete workout set (sports bra, pants and t-shirt, also all Nike):

And (the only thing I actually asked for and have been wanting) an iPhone 4. 

I love my phone. Before now, I've only ever had the cheesy flip phones that don't do much of anything past making calls and sending texts. The main reason for that is simply because I had no real use for a smart phone. I didn't care that I didn't have the newest electronic gadget. Then we moved to Germany, and I saw Misha and Kristin with their iPod touches, and given how much technology has advanced and all linked up together from when these phones first came out (not to mention how much they've come down in price!), I decided I wanted an iPhone. I can take it with me when we leave and use it wherever we are stationed. :) I'm pretty addicted to it, actually. LOL The novelty will wear off, though in a week or so, and it'll just be a cool phone instead of my lifeline. ;)

As to the Nike....well, I've never spent that much on brand name before. Shoes or clothes. (I'm pretty much a Wal-Mart/BX brand shopper...I don't really care about the brand names on things I wear...) But I won't lie. The shoes are nice, and with the new workout regime I've begun, the clothes and shoes have both come in handy.

I'm a bit excited about a girls/mom day at the spa (kidless!!!!) with two of my close friends!!! That's going to be FUN! (And it was for Mother's Day, so there's totally a valid reason for the purchase other than sheer spoiling...lol)


The bag and wallet (the latter of which is actually about the size of a clutch purse itself, lol) was something that Misha prompted me to get (with The Instigator supporting her, of course), and I had buyer's guilt for quite some time. I'm finally working past that, though, and am actually glad that I got them. They are very useful, get used all the time, and not to mention pretty! ;) I like having my knitting with me wherever I go, and now as we're past the stage of needing a diaper bag for the boys, I don't so much mind hauling it around to tote my yarn crafting with me. :)

The jewelry, however...I didn't mind the sapphire set as much as the Swarovski set he got me. The reason why? Because The Instigator told me it was for Wicked. Still a bit superfluous in my lowly opinion, but it was semi-justified, anyway.....that is, until he opened his mouth and told me he actually already had bought it and was looking for a reason to give it to me! Ugh. And then he proceeded to tell me that's not the extent of it all...there's more, hiding somewhere in the house, just waiting to be sprung on me. Lovely. What am I going to do with this man?!