Busy Busy Busy

Oh boy classes have been busy lately, work has been busy, life has been busy! The week after next is Spring Break, early this year, but we've been in the 60s and 70s for the past few days, so it works for me :) But I guess that's why I have so many papers and tests next week...

Tomorrow my momma is coming down to hang out with me for the weekend, it is going to be so much fun! We are going to see the Carolina Chocolate Drops on Friday and Saturday we are going to have some quality girl time shopping and gossiping and thoroughly enjoying ourselves, in case you hadn't caught on, I am psyched! So today is trying to be productive between classes and work, I need to clean out my car so it doesn't look like I've been living in it, and I need to clean up my apartment so it doesn't look like I just moved in...I mean, I've been there for two weeks, I should have been all moved in-ish right?

Well, I'm off to be productive, I hope you all have great weekends!

Cute Puppy Pictures

My brother recently adopted a new puppy and he came down to visit a few weeks ago, I figure today has been the type of Monday that I think we could all benefit from some cute puppy photos yea?


Looking all cute and exhausted

Cammie trying to get in on the action

Panda thoroughly enjoying himself and somewhat freaking out little Cammie
Panda trying to look all regal and smart :)

Recovering

Sometimes when you get a little too wild on a Friday night you just want to relax and recuperate, for those of you who get hangovers, you probably just want a mug of hot coffee or tea, a blanket and a movie. Here are some super cool finds to help your Saturday Hangover

Great Mug! Haikus and tea from myteacups
Pick up some green tea from good4you
Don't forget the biscottis from treppenwitz
What is your favorite way to spend a relaxing (or hungover) Saturday?

*Disclaimer - I am not the sort to go out and get wildly drunk by the way, nor do I get hangovers, just observations of my friends ;) *

For The Walls

Who doesn't love decorating their own space? I had always had dreams of having my own studio for my yarns and my knitting and what not and now that I live in my own apartment with nobody else, I can kind of have that now!

In my last post and I wrote about that peshmina decorating an entire wall in my little space, but, believe it or not, there is plenty more I would love to cover up with awesome finds! Here are some of my favorite found via Etsy.

Zulu Tribal mask from Magner
Wall Flower Pillow from bannerbabe
African Mask from Cameroon from BENMICHELVINTAGE And of course, what would my place be if there weren't any new elephants?From Hilks

Making The New Place Into My Place

A while back my uncle sent my mom and I two peshmina shawls. He is an artist currently working with the military in Iraq, you can read his blog to learn more about his many adventures. These shawls were made in Iraq and are very very beautiful and massively huge! I wasn't quite sure what to do with it as it doesn't get cold enough here to wear them and I don't have a table worthy of a runner but since I've moved into my own apartment, I needed some decorations to cover up the plain white walls.

The shawl almost covers the entire length of the wall I hung it on! I know what you are thinking, either that wall is tiny or the shawl is huge, and to be honest, its actually a combination of both.

There are so many wonderful colors, and the detail in the piece is amazing! What do you think?

Oh, and I have been slowly but surely working on a new scarf for my shop, between classes, work, homework, and moving its been slow going, but here is a preview of whats to come! So keep your eyes on the shop so you can snatch up this trophy before someone else does ;)

What A Weekend

Well, so much for enjoying the romantic holiday, snowboarding the slopes of Red River or doing anything else excessively lovey and icky and fun. Spare you the details, but basically, I'm trying to get back in the swing of singlehood. Got my own place, no roommates except Delilah, it gets kinda lonely but its not too bad, I can have my friends over whenever I want, so I'm trying to stay positive.

Besides that, I listed a new hat today, its a red version of this light green one I listed last week, very chic, very warm.

What did you do this weekend?

Fixer-Upper Bike

So I live in this tiny, little bitty town south of Albuquerque, NM and I go to the Tech school here. I live in an apartment off campus which is probably less than a mile from the campus. I am close enough that driving everyday makes me feel bad (for my car, the environment, my wallet...) but far enough that there is no way I could get up in time to walk to class and work. So I decided, time for a bike!

Granted, I haven't ridden a bike in, oh, probably around 5 years, and when I was first learning how to ride a bike, it, uh, didn't go so smoothly. I learned in this big church parking lot across the street from our house, yea, bit ol' parking lot. One tree. You see where this is going? Yea, towards the d@#* tree.

Anyways, I want a bike. But I don't like those mountain bikes everyone rides around here, and road bikes are dangerous, for me at least, and tricycles, I don't want to be "That Girl" so I found a vintage cruiser. I really really like those. I found one, its a bit of a fixer, its at least 50 years old, and it shows, I call it character. But I have high ambitions of making it ridable, complete with at least one basket so that I can put my bag in it instead of it across my shoulder making me all lopsided because, lets face it, I need all the help I can get.

What do you think of my new project?

It will probably take me a good three months or so to fix up because the needed parts cost money and as a broke college student, I don't have much of that, but I have dreams! And that's all one needs right?

Oh, and on a separate note, new items in my shop!

A New, Different Sort of Item For My Shop

So recently I have been toying with the idea of offering a sort of color choice option for my beanies in my shop. I have these beanies (like the Lemon Meringue beanie) that had a solid color undertone of sorts and a fluffy over tone of sorts and I have many different colors to choose from and I just simply couldn't decide which colors I wanted to do next so I decided to let my customers decide!
What do you think of this idea? Would you be tempted by it or do you like being able to see the finished product instead of having to guess what it will look like? (even if you know it will look awesome?)

Ravelry Swap Question #4

So you all know that as part of my Ravelry Swap we get to answer bi-weekly questions, so this week's question is:

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day this year?

Ah Valentine's Day, to be honest, I have no idea what I will be doing for Valentine's day. I told Dominic that I wanted him to plan it (it's always more romantic that way right?), so I've heard something mentioned about maybe going to Red River to go snowboarding, we have a milk carton that has a coupon on it for buy one get one free for the lift tickets up there, so I think we may do that...who knows, I can pretty much guarantee that if we do decide to go snowboarding you will see pictures haha :)

Hearts Don't Grow On Trees

Hearts don’t grow on trees, you can’t just go pick out a new one when the one you have breaks.

The mending process gives your heart texture, if mended properly, it not only shows some of the original heart, but also some of the inner happenings as pieces have chipped away. If mended improperly, you can’t see the heart at all, just the hard exterior that flawed mending practices have created, the heart itself is deep within and hard to reach, even for its owner.

When the heart has been cared for and allowed to rest, once the bandages come off, the scares remain, but the heart itself is a thing of exquisite beauty, full of life and a new found appreciation for love.

Finished!

I finished the slouchy beanie I was making for myself with the Baby Alpaca from my first swap package (can I say Thank You enough oh spoiler?)

Anyways, here it is, and I love it and I haven't taken it off since I finished it except for sleeping and showers :)

Pizza Crust Recipe

Last night I decided I wanted pizza. I didn't want that sh***y pizza from that place that delivers nor did I want that cardboard pizza from that other questionable place. I wanted delicious, rich, fattening pizza with enough Ranch dressing to cover the plate.

and I got it :) I made it myself, from scratch. It was delicious, simple, and the recipe can be made healthier by any variety of methods. I don't have any pictures to show just now, but imagine the tastiest pizza known to man, fresh out of the oven with a bit of steam rising from it and the edges of the pepperonis browned and crispy. Yea. Now wipe that drool off your lip.

If you want to try and recreate your own delicious pizza, here's the recipe I used for the crust, feel free to change some of the flour to whole wheat or whatever suits you, its a very simple recipe to follow:

1 tablespoon of oil
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package yeast

Mix the above and let sit about 5 minutes

Then mix together with 1 3/4 cups flour until it forms a ball.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured sheet so that it is stretchy but will not break easily.

Place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about an hour, the dough will expand to about twice its original size.

Pound, punch, or otherwise flatten to about a 12 inch circle, top off with your favorite toppings and extra cheese and place in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

It is to DIE FOR!

Across the Big Colorful Universe

Two new scarves have been listed in my shop! This super long, wide colorful one:

And this one which would be absolutely perfect to wrap around your shoulders on a chilly night where you just wanted to wear your most favorite LBD!

Lemon Meringue!

Who doesn't love Lemon Meringue? My personal favorite is the yogurt, I can afford it and it is not nearly as fattening hehe. Or at least, the yogurt was my favorite, now its this super soft and warm beanie!

Freshly listed in my shop, now you have a chance to get your piece of the pie!

Rasta Slouchy Beret

So I finally listed one of my new items, a slouchy rasta beret! Wonderful depth to hold your dreds, and amazing stretching ability to accommodate just about any head size, this beret was really fun to knit up!

Also to come:

Lemon Meringue Beanie

and Super Long, Wide, Colorful Scarf