elvisknits

Early Santa

I got my Christmas gift early today from the most wonderful boyfriend in the world.  Check out my super fabulous new knitting bag!!  I love the bags from Offhand Designs, and have had my eye on this one for a while now.  Tres chic.

Warm hands

Here are the finished wristwarmers I made for some of my coworkers.  Quick, easy, and super cute.  You can find the patterns at http://slumberland.org/wp/. 

to bootcamp and back

I went to Austin this past weekend to attend the Texas Rollergirls annual roller derby bootcamp.  It was a lot of fun, and I got in some good workouts.  We also got to see the Texecutioners play against Duke City Derby's Munecas Muertas.  I had a great weekend, but I'm feeling a wee bit sore today.   

I started a new project this weekend.  It's one of the carpet bags from Noni.  I'm trying to knit a few felted purses for Christmas gifts this year, but not sure if I'll meet the fast approaching holiday deadline.  Now I jsut need to finish this one, and start on the next!

I'm back!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I surely did!  We left for Big Bend early last Saturday morning.  The drive was about 10 hours, but wasn't so bad with my knitting on board.  I started and finished another pair of Warm Braid Cabled Wristwarmers.  I used LionBrand Wool-Ease in "Red Sprinkles".   I'm about to start a third pair of these warmers.  They're really quick to make, very easy, and look great.  And it doesn't take much yarn to make them either.  I highly recommend these for some last-minute gift ideas.

Ok, back to Big Bend.  The highlight of our trip was the 14-mile hike (round-trip) to see the South Rim view of the Chisos Mountains.  I must say that 14 miles of hiking up and down a mountain was no easy task, but it was gorgeous.  I'm not a big hiker, but I had a great time, and got in some good exercise too.  There's a pic of us after the big hike. If you want to see more pictures from the trip, go here.      

Vacation! Vacation!

My guy and I are leaving bright and early Saturday morning to head out to Big Bend National Park for a few days.  We'll be doing some hiking, river riding, and taking in the gorgeous scenery.  I cannot wait!  I'm in serious need of a vacation, and I think this will be a great road trip adventure.  So, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  I'll tell you all about the trip when we get back.

lungs of crud

I have literally been sick for about three weeks.  I HATE being sick.  And it's not a full-blown kinda sick either, which makes it extra annoying.  I feel fine, except I have this weird sensation that I have fluid in my lungs, so I'm coughing all the time.  I sound like a 75-year old chain smoker.  I went to derby practice last night thinking I'd be okay, but the second I start to exercise a little and my breathing gets heavier, I can't get any oxygen.   So, I emailed my doc this morning to see what's up.  Her office has this groovy thing where you can do e-visits so you don't have to go to the office.  Sometimes you have to go anyway, but it's really convenient for busy gals like myself.  God bless the internet. 

I went to the knitting circle on Tuesday night and made some progress on my cable wristwarmers.  I'm making a few pairs for my gals at work for Christmas.  There's a pic of some blue ones.  I'm using Berrocco Comfort, which I'm loving.  It is sooo soft.  The pattern I'm using is the "Warm Braid Cable Wristwarmers" from Slumberland.org.  I've been told there's a wee tiny flaw in the pattern - the cable braid doesn't line up exactly with the ribbing.  No big deal, but just wanted to point it out.

And just in case you have no idea what to buy me for Christmas this year, I would like this hot pink kayak please.  Oh my gosh, I need this kayak.  It would look oh so sweet on top of my Element...on the way to Garner state park.  Anyone wanna go camping?

I’m a Machete Bettie!!

I’m a Machete Bettie!!  Woo-hoo!  We had the draft yesterday, and I finally have a roller derby home.  Yay!  I’m so excited about my team.  I honestly would have been happy skating with any of four teams, but the Betties were my first pick, so I got really lucky.  I was seriously stressed out for the last couple of weeks worrying that I wouldn’t make the draft.  I’ve been sick and my skating performance has been kinda yucky, so I was concerned that I would have to wait until the next draft in the spring.  Thankfully, it wasn’t an issue.  I cannot wait until next season!  Camo is now my new favorite color!

Watch my garden grow

My little garden is growing so fast! Here’s a pic of my lettuce babies, and also a picture of the neighbor’s cat (I call her “Meow-Meow”) pouncing on the freshly sprouted kitty grass garden. I can’t wait until everything is big enough to harvest, and then I will have myself some tasty homegrown salads.  Oh, and there's also picture of some yellow mushrooms that are cohabiting with some of our herbs.  I think they look like little yellow penises.

Sheesh, I can’t believe it’s Monday. My weekend went by so fast! We took a three hour drive out of town for a family baby shower on Saturday, and then drove back on Sunday so I could go to Houston Roller Derby’s championship game. My girls kicked major ass! It really was the most exciting bout of the season, and I have my bitten off nails to prove it.  I cannot wait to be out there skating with a team. Our draft is coming up in a few weeks, and really want to make the cut. I’ve been kinda sick lately, so I haven’t been skating my best, but I’m starting to feel like my old self again. I can’t wait to hit the rink tonight and get my skate on!

I’ve decided to make some groovy cabled wrist warmers for my design department this year. I think they will make some nice holiday gifties, plus they’ll be very useful since it’s usually quite frigid here in the office. Click here to see the pattern I'm thinking of using.

I've been tagged!

Heidi tagged me!

Rules:
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

1. I design office furniture - cubicles.
2. I'm a rollergirl with Houston Roller Derby.
3. My favorite holiday is Halloween.  I love carving pumpkins and decorating the house all spooky.
4. I've lived in New York City.
5. I can play the flute, and I like to sing harmony with the car radio.
6. I have restless legs syndrome.
7. I collect books...lots and lots of books, though I'm currently exercising the use of my library card, since I'm running out of room on my bookshelves.
8. I do not have a gallbladder.

I tag Christine, Crafty Bitch,  NipperKnits, OneStitchShort,  Amy, Skittermagoo, Yarn Maven, and Becky. 
  

Feeling green

With the new scent of fall in the air, I want to be outdoors more.  My plan for this weekend is to plant a small container garden with fall/winter friendly vegetables.  I went to library today and checked all kinds of books on organic gardening and container gardening, so now all I left to do is go to the plant store and get everything into the dirt.  I love tending to a garden, and there's something incredibly satisfying about growing your own vegetables.  You can run out to the garden and pick yourself a salad.  It's fabulous. 

My family always had a large garden when I was a child.  We had cucumbers, peppers, squash, cauliflower, corn, tomatoes, watermelons, and cataloupes.  I had a little bean garden.  I was so proud and amazed when the beans sprouted roots and grew.  Unfortunately, it's not always easy to have a garden in the city, so I'm having to improvise a bit.  I've never grown vegetables in containers before, but I think it will make for a lovely garden.

My next step will be to buy a giant hammock to park outside in the grass where I will read, knit, and watch my little garden grow.