*Shudder*

I'm helping my parents organize their attic, which is chock-full of memorabilia from my childhood, including about 45,000 pictures of me going through various stages of orthodontics, bad hair and general gangliness (I once grew 6 inches in 11 months). I now feel sorry for all children who are growing up in the digital age, whose parents can quickly upload said awkward pictures to their facebook or blog sites. *Shudder* Oh, and don't tell me that all of my childhood memories can be easily digitized with a scanner because I can (and will) booby trap it if necessary. I am starting to become a firm believer in photo albums, which should be stored safely on a bookshelf waaaaay in the back of an attic and only emerge in the case of family holiday nostalgia, and perhaps in extreme cases to initiate a boyfriend into the family history. But maybe only after receiving jewelry as a gift. Yeah, that sounds fair to me.

Of course, as you can see from my previous post, the cutest baby in the world has already been splashed all over this blog and is on her way to digital infamy after just one short year on this Earth. But I promise to be a responsible Auntie (by the way, she is my best friend's baby, not mine or my sister's) and to only post the best, most-flattering pictures of her online. All the rest can go into a vault, along with the envelope of horrifying teen photos I just found in a random box. Oh the horror!!!

Cutest. Baby. Ever.

How ironic is this? I spent one year working on the sweater I am wearing in this picture. But do you notice it at all? Heck no! Because who can take their eyes off the cutest baby in the world wearing her birthday present from me that only took two days to knit???
















Yes my friends, this is a custom-made viking hat. I got the pattern here, but modified it quite a bit. More about that in a second.

















Here she is with her lovely Mommy. Aren't they a beautiful pair?





















Okay, knitting jargon time. To make the hat I used machine-washable yarn. After the rivet section at the brim, I added ribbing to make it look more like metal panels and to give the hat more stretch in case it was a little big on her. Also, instead of knitting the horns separately and then sewing them onto the hat, I just picked up stitches right on the hat and knit in the round, decreasing after a few rows to make the points. Also, I added braids to make it a girly hat. :)





















She actually doesn't mind wearing it, which is great. She wasn't such a fan of the other two hats I made her, so it is encouraging, and also makes me want to knit her more hats now, so she will always have adorable headwear at her disposal.



























































"Okay foks, that's enough. Show's over!" :)

Random Things (but maybe not 25)

There is a flurry of activity on Facebook right now as people are posting "25 Random Things" about themselves. I have been sucked into the vortex of social networking and read these lists with delight. I even made my own! So today I am writing a version for my blog. But I probably won't make it to 25. I might be a bit wacky but I don't think I have THAT many random thoughts to share...

1) I belong to a gym now. The facility is really nice and when I'm not working I like to spend a couple hours a day there. However, I only want to spin (ride bikes) or go swimming. My spin teacher is a mean, mean man and I silently curse him during every single class, but I keep going back every week.

2) I am now temping in the corporate office for a construction company. I have done more data entry in the last two weeks than I think I have in my entire work career combined. If I didn't find the subject matter interesting it would be unbearable, but I am fascinated by the construction industry and what services the different subcontractors have to offer the company. I also love dressing up to go to work. And the fact that I actually get to take breaks and ONE WHOLE HOUR for lunch. Listen, working as a temp has taught me to appreciate these things, people.

3) I still have no set diabolical plan for using singing to pay for my bills here in the U.S. At this point I am teaching a couple voice students and I sing when I get the chance. I have two performances coming up during Holy Week that I promise I will tell you about when I get more information. One is on Good Friday in Everett and I will be singing essentially a full concert with one other woman. The other is on Easter Sunday in Issaquah and the program isn't set yet.

4) I am writing this at the downtown Bellevue library. I came here after going to the gym and on my way I drove past a TOP POT DOUGHNUT SHOP!!!!! I nearly crashed my car (not really, Dad.) :) They make the most insanely good powdered doughnuts I have ever tasted. In my life. It could be a bad thing that Top Pot is in my neighborhood. Bad but so so good. Maybe I'll stop in on my way home.

5) I think my next knitting project will use yarn that my friend Diane gave me from New Zealand. Since it's such special yarn I have been hemming and hawing about what I should knit that takes full advantage of the yarn. I think I have settled on a tee with puffy cap sleeves. More details on that soon. I will probably make great progress on it because of the above-mentioned breaks and lunches available to me at my job, but first I have to track down the right needle size.

6) For all you knitters, do you catalog your needles? I dug through my collection yesterday and discovered that I have FOUR SETS of size 7 needles. Who needs four pairs??? Well, apparently I do, but I really wish I could whittle down one of those to a size 6 so I don't have to buy a new pair of needles. Too bad knitting needles can't go on diets.

7) The cutest baby in the world is one year old today. It is quite possible that I will have photos of her to post on this blog tomorrow. You haven't seen her for awhile, but trust me, as this baby becomes a tot, she will then graduate to cutest tot in the world. And she is so smart! Not only can she walk, but she points, babbles, and can *almost* do the finger motions to "Itsy bitsy spider."

8) I can't think of anything else. :)

DONE!!!

After spending an alarming amount of time this weekend knitting on my couch in my pajamas, I am happy to announce that the longest knitting project of my life is finally DONE!!!!

Whew, thank goodness.

I just wanted to get it finished, so I didn't allow myself to actually try the sweater on until it was not only knit, but sewn together and all of the loose ends were woven in. It was totally worth the wait!

















I haven't taken the sweater off since I put it on a few hours ago. It's awesome. I love how it came out!

















And even though I thought it would be a real distraction if I didn't fix it, the neckline of my sweater looks great even with a flaw.

















I almost don't want to block this project because then it would mean not being able to wear it for several days until it dries.
















Okay, on to the next project!

That's not what I meant!

I might need a new nickname. Ten years ago when my Mom helped me think of a new e-mail address we both thought "cougardiva" would be a fun name. I was currently a student at Washington State University (home of the Cougars) studying music (vocal performance, specifically). Not that I can claim to be a diva in talent, but maybe at times in attitude. :)

Anyway, the e-mail address and nickname stuck with me over the years and now the name has followed me to this blog. But times have changed since my days at Wazzu, and I recently found out that to a stranger, "Cougardiva" can mean something vastly different than I originally intended.

Are you curious to see what it is?

Okay, go type "cougar" into Google and see what you find. Too lazy? Oh all right, I'll do it for you. Click here to see the results.

Are you shocked??????

Oh my. All of a sudden my nickname doesn't mean just a singer from WSU, it could be interpreted as an older married woman trolling for younger men!! Oh dear. Maybe I need to get new business cards printed. Sheesh.

Anyone have creative ideas what I should rename my blog???? Be sure to google your suggestions before submitting them so we know they are clean. :)

To tink, or not to tink.

This is why women spend $100 on a knit sweater. This is why *I* have spent $100 on a high-quality, well-made sweater. Because when you decide to knit it yourself and become emotionally invested in the sweater, it can make. you. completely. insane.

I am insane. This sweater is making me crazy. Do you want to see why??

Here is how much I have left on the front piece. After I bind off all I need to do is sew the front and back together and set in a neckline and cap sleeves. Piece of cake, right? Nope. There is a problem lurking in the pattern of this sweater. Can you see it? Because I can.



























Do you see this tube of knitting where my finger is? Does it look right to you? No seriously, this is a real question, because when I look at the sweater this is all I can see. Is it all you can see, too?






















Because apparently I managed to mess up the pattern when I was decreasing stitches for the neckline. I missed a cable twist and just knit straight instead. See? That arrow is pointing to the part where there should be another one of those little twisty rope things. Sigh.





















That means ripping. Tinking back. Taking out all of those rows and re-knitting several inches of the panel. Not a big deal, you say? Well, take a look at the knitting instructions.





















There are two cable patterns happening simultaneously, which have different row counts. One cable pattern has 28 rows in it and the other has 12. And then there are the decreases that happen every fourth row. Are you confused? Yeah, I am, too. And if I were to rip out the 30+ rows of the sweater to go and fix that cable twist, I might not be able to find my place again and have to rip back all the way to where the v-neck starts.

I can't believe I just wrote that. I feel faint.

Maybe this is why I haven't had the urge to knit lately. Going to the gym and having my tail kicked in spin class sounds much more fun than figuring this out.

Sigh.

So, what's your vote? Should I just move forward and ignore the lack of cable twist and hope that the neckline I will inset later will distract from it? Or should I tink back and fix it? I can't decide what I want to do, which means the project is hibernating for the moment.

Bedroom Makeover!

After some wild times with some quilt batting, velvet and a staple gun, my bedroom makeover is about 99% complete! I couldn't wait for that extra one percent to show you how it looks, so here's a tour!

I don't even really have any before pictures, but just trust me when I say that the after shot is pretty dramatic.





















Just to the right of my bed I placed a quilt rack to display some of my Grandma's gorgeous hand-made quilts. I found in on Craigslist and painted it green. I also painted the wooden chair in front of it. That was a very thirsty piece of furniture, and it took four coats of paint to get the color I wanted!



























This is the headboard I made last night. I started out with a plain wood headboard, and then used construction foam to smooth out the front (with my Dad's help!). Then came the interesting part, which was wrapping the headboard in quilt batting, covering that with fabric and then stapling it all in place. For a first attempt it's not so bad!





















This chest of drawers was a Goodwill find and has some gorgeous details. The people who donated it obviously thought the dresser had as much potential as I did. The brass hardware is brand new and was in one of the drawers. So after removing the old hardware, sanding it down, painting it a cheery green color, and then installing the new hardware, it looks as good as new!



























A much larger desk used to sit in this corner, but as much as I loved the desk, I had to admit it was way too big for my bedroom. This desk is from the Goodwill and I sanded and repainted it to give it a new look.




























To the left of my bed I have a pine nightstand that I salvaged from my parents' attic. I painted it green to match the rest of my furniture and used an extra drawer pull from my dresser to coordinate it with the dresser.



























The leopard print chair adds a bit of splash to the room and is a reminder of my Grandma. And the lampshade on my desk was the inspiration for the whole room! It came back with me from Germany and provided the color palate for everything else you see in the room!



























The afghan on the bed was not knit by me, but by a friend of the family. It was living a sad and lonely life in my parents' linen closet, so they donated it to my bedroom makeover. I think it adds something really special to the room.



























Even though my bedroom furniture came from vastly different places and style periods, I like the way the color unifies everything and makes it look clean and bright.



























That was a lot of fun! It feels great to have a sanctuary to myself and a place where I feel happy and relaxed at the end of the day. I think my cow approves, too. :)