temptation's the name

Show us a photograph from a wedding.
Submitted by Connie.

IMG_1439

Stolen from both hamikka and uncagedbird and is surprisingly on target:

Your Personality at 35,000 Says...

Deep down, you vastly prefer being with others to being alone. You love to engage people in conversation. You are good with your place in the world. You are confident and comfortable with who you are. Your gift is having a way with words. You know how to express yourself well. You are inspired by what is unknown. You are drawn to the exotic. You are happy as long as you are given some personal space. It's important for you to have your own private life.

What was your first car?

First one I drove, a late-80's Colony Park station wagon.

First one I paid the insurance for, a 1993 Dodge Spirit which I bought off my brother for the price of the title transfer because he needed to get rid of it, and I didn't own a car.

First one I consider *my* car, a 2004 Toyota Corolla which I bought new when the temp gauge of Casper wouldn't leave "H".  I've also completed my payments on this with my last paycheck.  It truly is my car now...well, as soon as Toyota pulls the last payment from my bills account on June 1st.

Do you believe in ghosts? If so, have you ever seen one?

Yes. Haven't seen one, but have heard one.  I would have thought I was crazy when the tour guide asked what I was talking about when I asked him about the footsteps I'd heard above us, but one other person in the group said he had heard them, too.  This was in the Vaults in Edinburgh.

If I buy any more yarn this month, I need to go into a 12-step program.  Actually, most of the yarn I purchased this month was for a specific project, known here on out as the Big Ass Shawl.  I'm making it for myself to wear to my cousin's wedding which occurs in 4 weeks.  I'm just under halfway done and considering I cast on about 2 weeks ago, I'm in good shape.  I dug out my Denise interchangeable needle set so I could do continental knit and English purl.  The reason I needed the interchangeable needles, other than the extension cables, is that to keep my gauge because of switching up like that, I have to do the knitting on a needle two sizes smaller than the size I do the purling on because of the difference in my gauge.  As it is, it's a little off, but as this has turned into straight stockinette stitching, it really doesn't matter.  And why do I need to switch up how I do the knitting and purling?  Well, I'm a genius and cast on the called-for 420 stitches called for in the original pattern, which has now been so horribly disfigured by my alterations that I won't even bother telling you what the original pattern is.  Considering the original pattern called for a worsted weight yarn and the yarn I'm using is bulky, I'm afraid of what the final measurement of the width of the shawl will be.  If I'm lucky, not that much longer than my wingspan of six feet. Hence, the Big Ass Shawl.

In addition to needing much yarn to cover my very, very white skin (sleeveless dress), I also went yarn shopping in Chicago this past weekend with two of my SnB buddies.  I went to Loopy Yarns for the first time and I somehow managed to avoid OD'ing on the yarn fumes...at least compared to my friends.  They've got a ton of great yarns that I haven't seen elsewhere in my travels, and a few that I've only seen far afield from my usual stomping grounds, and I highly recommend them to anyone who's looking for yarn in the Chicago area, especially as they're on the southern edge of the Loop (you can see the Harold Washington Library from their front stoop).

Number of yarn transactions: 6

Locations where yarn was purchased:
The Yarn Shoppe - Davenport, IA
Nana's Knitting Shop - Oak Lawn, IL
Loopy Yarns - Chicago, IL

Number of skeins purchased: 30 + a remnant for 50¢
Range of price per skein: $4.00 to $43.50
Range of total prices: $4.95 to $110.05
Total: $252.40
Average price per skein: $8.41

Yarn purchased:
Crystal Palace Glam - 2 skeins plus aforementioned remnant.  I'm making a scarf for myself that I'm calling "Sam's Scarf" because the color combo reminds me of Sam from Danny Phantom.
Crystal Palace Party - 2 skeins. I've paired this with the Glam for Sam's Scarf.
Crystal Palace Shimmer - 15 skeins. This is for the Big Ass Shawl.  Colors are Jet Black, Soft White and Indigo to match my dress.  I'll be sure to take piccies at the wedding to show how it turned out.
King Tut - 5 skeins.  This is a cotton yarn that I bought in two different colors, 3 in royal blue and 2 in green.  Don't know what I'll make with it yet, but the colors were just so intense I couldn't pass them up.
Karabella Gossamer - 1 skein.  This is going to be a lacy scarf.  Gotta love garter stitch on size 13 needles.  Anyway, the color is a really neat mint green with silver and gold accents.
Ester Bitran Tabali - 2 skeins.  Again, no clue, but I liked the color combination of light olive, purple and gold.  This is a cotton/viscose yarn of around 81 yards per skein, so probably a summer scarf.
Mirasol Sulka - 2 skeins.  Probably a striped winter scarf as I got it in two different colors.  I can't wait to use it as it's 60/20/20 in merino/alpaca/silk.
Handmaiden Camelspin - 1 skein.  I'm drooling just thinking of this skein.  Like the Artyarns Silk Rhapsody Glitter I got back in January, I'm going to wait to find the perfect pattern for this.  It's a little over 300 yards in 70/30 silk/camel fiber and is a gorgeous variegated brown with purple undertones.  The colorway is called Mineral, and this is that $40+ skein.

Corrections from March (I had the formula set for the wrong amount of cells):
Total: $64.25
Average price per skein: $16.06

Ravelry contribution to date: $5.84

...about being on the high side of average:

Your final score was ¹⁰⁸/₁₈₀

Birthday Party DJ (73-108 points)
You are a rabid consumer of music. You get a rush every time you hear something new but remain faithful to those artists you love. Your music collection represents who you are and what you care about and your home may even bear the tell-tale signs of your affections – posters, old band t-shirts and the odd music biography. But you aren't a completist, you know what you like and make sure you have it. Simple as that. To expand your repertoire, perhaps there are some genres that you'd benefit from giving a little more attention to – perhaps now is the time to hear something new or get hold of that missing album from your collection.

Get your Music IQ

Because I was telling some friends about this recently, here is some fucked up goodness:

Charlie The Unicorn

1 comment

And the sequel:

Charlie the Unicorn 2

1 comment

Don't slam injured finger into edge of fridge door handle, perfectly in line with healing cut.  It causes this:

Bruised cut

Cute urgent care doctor called for an x-ray which showed no bone breakage, which would have really capped my day if it had.  Prescription: ice and continued use of antibiotic cream and bandages.

Since some people have been asking what the hell I did that prompted such a large bandage, the evidence is below.  After I let the air at it for a couple of hours, I'm moving to a smaller bandage.

What's under the bandage