So outraged, I almost asked for my money back

Tonight as I was heading home, I finalized plans for an impromptu happy hour with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. It wasn't anything fancy, we were just meeting up at my place for a glass of wine and whatever I could manage to find to eat. Knowing there wasn't much the in cupboards, I made a quick decision to stop at a little market to pick up some nacho stuff (I had wanted to go to Mexican place so I was still craving the food.)

As I was heading into the shop, I noticed this woman with a sign near the door:
"Pregnant mother of two. Just lost my job. Anything helps!"

Now, as a big city resident who uses public transportation and works in the heart of downtown, I see these signs daily. I'm asked pretty much every time I leave my office if I can spare some change. And I'll be honest, I don't. I choose to donate my money in other ways. But this woman, who couldn't be more than a few years older than me, made an impact on me. I smiled and said, sorry, I don't have any change, as I jetted into the store to look for some non-nutritional, non-essential items.

While I was contemplating which salsa to buy, I started thinking about her. I was thankful that my hubby and I both have good jobs that afford the basics and the little luxuries we cherish so much. I didn't need to be in that store buying nacho ingredients, but I was, because I could. So I got a couple of bucks for my change, folded them up and walked out of the store.

I smiled and handed her the money. She smiled, got a little misty, and said, "Thank you so much!" I got a little misty and headed to my car. As I was getting in, something caught my eye. I turned around to see that she was SMOKING!!!

I think my mouth actually dropped. I was outraged that 1) she was smoking while pregnant and 2) that the money I had just given her could possibly be used to buy more cigarettes. I should have taken that money to buy some food (which was my first instinct - some apples, and milk or something but decided cash was better). While it was only $3, it still outraged me to see her endangering her unborn child's' health (and I'm guessing she smokes around her young kids too).

I think if I see her again, perhaps I'll remind her about Washington's state law that prohibits people from smoking within 25 feet of an open door, window or ventilation system, meaning she'll have to do her smoking and panhandling in the middle of Phinney Way. Perhaps she'll think about it twice then!

DVR Alert! Olivia is coming to a small screen near you!

Just as we're thinking of canceling our cable, I read this: Olivia is getting her own T.V. show!

Who is Olivia you ask? Let me educate you. Olivia is a fabulous, spunky 6 and 3/4-year-old pig who has the most creative imagination! While I don't have any kids myself, it doesn't stop me from picking up all sorts of Olivia stuff! Ian Falconer's books are the best! I own several of them. Last Christmas, my mom gave my sister and I "Olivia Helps With Christmas" which I promptly read aloud to my entire family. It's now a staple in our holiday celebrations (I'm lucky to have a hubby who humors me. A lot.)

Regardless of how old your kids are, or even if you don't have any, rush out and pick up an Olivia adventure today!

This makes me want to pull out yet another unfinished project - the p.j. pants for me and my sister out of - you guessed it - Olivia fabric!

A Pledge to Myself

This week I will get the majority of my nutritional intake not from chocolate chip cookies like last week.

(I know it's best to have small, attainable goals. I'm pretty sure this one is possible. Maybe. I think.)

Whew! What a week!!

It's been a crazy one around here!

The week started off with a fabulous new President! I still had the high of a new leader for many days.

Then, it was a treat beyond words to come home to find new doors with windows where the wall of plywood used to be!!!! They are beautiful new French doors that actually close all the way!! No more winters of stuffing old dish rags in the corners and "sealing" them with duck tape! Of course, we still don't have a view due to the scaffolding and plastic covering, but at least I can see my construction worker friends again!!

And as I wondered how the week could get any better, it did. We got a brand new washing machine!!! After 8 loads of laundry, I'm pretty much caught up! However, the vacuum cleaner still isn't working, but hey, I'm going to focus on the positives for now!

It looks like beginning of a revolt...

First, it was the washer.

Now, the vacuum cleaner has decided it too doesn't want to work.

Oh, and did I mention the in-laws are due for a weekend visit in 48 hours?

Don't worry, I've got it all under control. Instead of one, big, looming pile of dirty clothes and towels taking over the back hallway, I've decided to spread out the dirty clothes piles around the house on to the areas of the carpet that really need to be vacuumed.

See....it's all under control over here.

The Change is Here

Today is such a wonderful day for our country and the world. We now have a new leader who is full of hope, encouragement and the ability to install confidence in our nation. Very little was accomplished at work today since I'm lucky to have a T.V. on my desk (a perk of working at a T.V. station). I wish I could have been among the lucky (and cold) millions at The National Mall in D.C., watching this in person, but I still felt like our new President was talking to me.

And now I'm confident things will change. It'll be a long road. And a hard road. But a journey I'm looking forward too.

A Crafty Weekend

I was lucky enough to have a three day weekend, which meant plenty of time for some good ol'craftiness!Saturday's afternoon plans were unexpectedly cancelled, which meant some good sewing time for me since the hubby was out snowboarding. I whipped up another Simple Tote for a sweet little girl who recently turned two! I'm just extending her birthday joy. It's best she learn early that Auntie Meggie can be a bit slow. Then I was able to start (and finish on Sunday) a baby hat for a coworkers first baby.

Hat: Children's Cotton Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: Mission Fall Cotton

(I added a stripe instead of the bow since it's for a baby boy).

Sunday was full of organizing, rearranging and clearing up lots of space for new craftiness!

And Monday, was meeting the girls at Nana's for soup and knitting. However, while the food and conversation were fabulous the knitting, was not. I had casted on for a new hat for myself, but the yarn I picked wasn't ideal. So I opted for project two. Only the pattern was back home. But thankfully, I had the day off so I simply ran over to my LYS and bought better yarn. Now the project is back on track and ready to be tackled this week. Picture to come soon.

Project Update: Construction Mess

While those of who are lucky enough to hang out with me on a regular basis, are also oh-so-lucky enough to hear me complain about the daily on-goings of the construction work. But they haven't been by to see the mess. So here you all go:

(Here's a partial view of the deck construction. It was the best pic I could get)

Our French Doors have been replaced with plywood and painters tape. Let me tell you, plywood and painters tape doesn't exactly keep out Mother Nature. The weekly construction update says the plywood could be in place for a "few weeks." I'm not so sure about that.


You see, the construction foreman personally called to tell me that our ceiling replacement project would only last "about three weeks." That was more than two months ago. And I swear the ceiling is getting worse. And lower. I don't how that's possible. But in this mess, I wouldn't be surprised.

(The ceiling of the entry way.)

The only upside to this is the amount of organzing and purging of crap that we are doing. Sunday was another day of reogranization, furniture rearranging, several trips to the dumpster and another big ol' trip to Goodwill. Once this construction project is finished, I'm going to be amazed if we have any belongs at all.

My Epic Clapotis

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert on Knitty

Yarn: Socks that Rock Medium Weight in Faulty Dyer

Washing Maching Update: It ain't good

The repairman just left. While the good news they have the parts needed to fix our washing machine, the bad news is, it's a two person job because it's one of those smaller stackable apartment machines. I do have Monday off so I'm really hoping they can schedule the repair then. But as we all know, life just doesn't work like that. So I'm guessing it'll be another week.

I think I'm going to have to pull out the iron. Either that or I need another Arctic blast so I can start wearing my warm winter sweaters. Or I need a heat wave so I pull out some of my spring/summer clothes. At this point, I don't really care. As long as I don't have to go to a laundromat or -heaven forbid - iron anything.

Whew!

It's done. Finally done. Well, I still have to weave the ends in on my clapotis. But for now, I'm quite pleased despite the fact that it's bigger than I wanted it to be.

Stay tuned for pictures to be posted soon. For now, I'm going to sit back, relax and curl up under my pretty new wrap.

Well crap.

This is not how I wanted to start out the week. The washing machine broke yesterday. Just as I was starting to do my laundry. Which by the way I've been procrastinating to do because I hate to do laundry. The repairman can't come until Thursday. I hope he can fix it then. Otherwise I'm imagining the worst: they'll have to order a part, then with the holiday on Monday, they won't be able to come until sometime late next week. I don't have that much clothes. I may have to resort to drastic measures.

I may have to iron something that's clean, but shoved in the back of the closet. Because the one thing I hate more than laundry is ironing.

The Great Yarn Explosion of '09

Don't worry, I wasn't hurt. A little dazed at all the yarn, but otherwise, OK.

It all started out so innocently. I know, they all say that. I just wanted to find some yarn for the Purly Girls Stash Swap. And from there it got a little out of hand.

I ended up cataloguing a lot of yarn for my raverly site. And I finally went through the big bin of yarn and I decided all the little balls of yarns that I've been saving for a rainy day needed another home. So the yarn purge began.

I've got a big bag ready to go of full skeins to the Stash Swap.

And two bags of partial or very small skeins left for goodwill.

Now there's plenty of room to bring something soft and pretty home with me.

Oh yeah, the details...

I was so busy woo-hooing over my adorable bags that I forgot to share the details of the project. So here you go:

Simple Tote

Bend The Rules Sewing by Amy Karol

This project is super quick and easy. Once I had everything cut out, it took less than and hour to whip it up. Plus, it really doesn't require a lot of fabric. I used fabric from my scraps and remnants.

What can I say, I'm a Woo-Hoo girl for cute crafts

What is a Woo-Hoo girl? I'm sure you remember them. You know, when you were out at the bar (before our crafty days really kicked in), they were the girls who were all hanging out together drinking, dancing, laughing and woo-hooing. Why do they woo-hoo? Who knows. Anything can set them off. A great dance song comes on, happy hour, a cute guy asking for one of their phone numbers (they woo-hoo after said cute guys is out of earshot - or at least they think he is.)

A perfect example of woo-hoo girls in action can be seen here on this promo of "How I Met Your Mother," a show that if you're not watching - start right now. You can thank me later.

OK, so I was at a sewing bee at a friends house this past weekend. I know, a sewing bee isn't exactly the place that I thought my inner woo-hoo girl would come out. But as I was sewing this super cute bag for my niece, the woo-girl made an appearance. I was turning the bag getting the lining all set to sew the top stitch when it happened. I was just so tickled at my adorable little bag, with the lining, inner pocket and handles, I woo-hooed over it.

(I just love this vinatage style Alice In Wonderland fabric!)

Admit it. You've woo-hooed over crafts too.

Look, I did a lining with an inner pocket!

My Dad, the foot model

One thing I forgot to do while I was visiting my parents for Christmas was to get a picture of my dad actually wearing his socks. Crazy I know. He said he'd take a few pictures of them and send them my way. I think if he gets tired of fishing and woodworking in his retirement, he could earn a few extra buck in the foot modeling industry. Take a look:

(I think my mom helped with this photo)

(Here the photographer experiments with different lighting techniques). Thanks for the pics dad - they are great!

2009: So many possibilities

2008 was a good year here at the Knitting Knot. It ended with a finishing frenzy of hand knit goodies for loved ones at Christmas! The hubby and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary and six years of being together as a couple (well...we didn't actually celebrate it but around the end of Sept. I remember that the date had come and gone and we both thought that was a pretty good number.)

I learned how to make socks, knit a number of baby gifts, tried my hand at sewing and canning, shopped and cooked locally, finally picked out my first big girl sweater and actually bought the yarn for it.

So what does that leave for 2009? Well, now I have to actually start said sweater! I don't necessarily set resolutions for myself, but more of a few goals that I'd like to try and achieve. As a Type A list lover, it's perfect for me:

• Do more sewing
• Start/finish the February Lady Sweater for myself
• Take in more culture events such as art/photo exhibits, concerts, etc.
• Read more
• Brush up on my French for my March trip to France with my mom and sister

And finally, the big one for 2009 - become a grown up and buy a house! (Preferably one with a craft room, but I'm not going to be too picky on this one. I do need a craft closet though. There's way to much stuff to not have a closet for the craft goodness!)