Another Thrift Store Save

What a nice, little logo. The first time I was this logo was at a St. Vincent's de Paul in PA when Dirty and I were visiting family. The price tag read $2. WHAT?!? $2 for an awesome *PURPLE* suitcase! I had to have it.

{Bad color in the photo, but still shows off how nice it is}

I slid it out from between the other suitcases, set down my 50 cent throwback Nikes and $1 kick-butt boots and went to open the latches to check out the inside, but...

{Was this all I was to see of the purple suitcase of loveliness?}

...the latches wouldn't turn. Locked up tight. Neither of the other American Tourister suitcases at the store had keys. What was a girl to do?

We took it to the counter to see if maybe, *maybe* they had extra keys. Nope. But the super nice ladies at the checkout counter said I could have the suitcase--no charge. WAHOO! I figured, worse case I could either try to buy keys on eBay or take it to a locksmith.

Amazingly, at a Goodwill here in town I found another American Tourister (bigger and gray, but still very nice) that had 2 keys. Not 1, but 2. Fingers crossed,I bought it for $4 in the hopes the keys would open my beautiful, purple suitcase.

Well, I couldn't get the key to fit. Dirty's dad tried, his girlfriend tried and still no luck. I gave into the fact we got another nice suitcase for $4. Not a bad deal. Then my Dirty tried...and OPENED the purple suitcase of loveliness!

{Pretty and pink}

The interior is gorgeous and pink without any weird smells. It looks like it was barely used, but had 6 or 8 straight pins in it, which I found odd.

{Zippered side pocket and elastic back pocket}

Now I just need somewhere to go! =]

Keeping warm(er)

{My Ravelry project}

I have also been knitting a lot lately. The proof.

As I mentioned I also cast on for an Odessa Hat with a Bamboo Wool bend from Moda Dea in Chili Pepper Red. It is the first time I have knit with beads and I really like it. The hat fits well and keeps my head warm with out being itchy.

On it's first trip out of the house on my head it got a compliment from the lady behind me in the checkout line. She asked where I bought it. When I told her I made it her eyes popped out of her head and she said it was beautiful. I don't know about beautiful, of course there are mistakes, but I sure do like it.

{My Ravelry project}

I was also able to finish my French Press Slippers for the Ravelympics. For the first thing I made to be felted it's not too bad. I made the seams too bulky which made the toes a bit bumpy, but they work just the same. They are cute, pretty easy to knit and warm.

{Gigantic pre-felted slippers}

The felting was a trip. Your supposed to use your washing machine with the hottest water possible. Our hottest water is quite chilly since we don't have the washer connected to the water heater. I boiled pots of water on the stove, dumped them into a 5 gallon bucket and hauled it to the washer. I also learned that if you turn off the water line to the washer it won't start agitating no matter where you set the dial. I had to add a small load of cold water to get it going but it didn't seem to hurt the felting process.

{Slippers in action}

I used a pair of fabric covered buttons I received last year in a swap package from Erika. I was waiting for just the right project for the buttons and these slippers are it. I wear them all day everyday when I am home. This pattern will definitely be knit again. =]

How not to photograph bats

Several weeks ago while playing fetch with Pea in the lot next door we had a visit from some long lost friends--the bats. I don't know if bats migrate or not, but I haven't seen them since last summer. Our bug eating web-winged friends are back and we can't be happier. I tried to get some pictures of them, but bats are particularly hard to photograph. They are always dipping and diving and changing directions it is nearly impossible to get lucky enough to catch them in the frame. After about 50 attempts, I gave up and just watched them.

{Can you find the bats? Me, either.}

No pictures of the bats yet, but I got some pretty and creepy pictures of the trees against the twilight sky. The tiny orange dot in the bottom right corner of the picture above is the sun. I love twilight...





Welcome back, batty friends!

=]

Note to self, swatch more

OK, so I am a new knitter. You would think that I wouldn't try to establish bad habits. I would knit and frog and re-knit and re-frog correcting my mistakes. I've gotten pretty good at squares (wash clothes) and rectangles (Swiffer pads). I've even learned to decrease and change colors. I am pretty proud of myself being self-taught and all.

A few weeks ago I decided to make the "Hot Head" pattern from Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller. I don't have a big stash--pretty much just the yarn I swiped from my mom--so I did a little substitution. Instead of bulky wool, I used Lion Brand Velvet Spun. I figured, it's classified as bulky on the label, I had several skeins and I like the way it feels.

Like a good little student, I read through the instructions, re-read the section on mattress stitch since I had never done it, got out my 10.5 needles and started swatching. I swatched about 5" by 5" knowing full well all the articles and books I read and all the podcasts I listen to are filled with non-swatching nightmares. Why can't I learn from other's mistakes? Why? Because I laugh in the face of proper swatching...ha, ha, ha! It's just a hat, right and I'll make the smallest size so it can stretch if it has to. Yeah.

This is my impression of Dumb Donald from Fat Albert.

The result speaks for itself. I'm going to try to shrink in into submission by dowsing it in hot water and drying it on high. The hat is super cute so I hope it shrinks up some. OK, a bunch.

Knitting is so awesome. I love learning how to knit and attempting new projects, even if they don't turn out exactly as the picture. Last year for Christmas I asked for and receive some needle and books. I joined Ravelry earlier this year which has helped a lot. Add me to your friends list... I'm drizzle. I am not much of a forum poster as a forum stalker, but that site rocks! The portability of knitting is one of my favorite things. The repetition of stitch patterns is really soothing a great for decompressing after work.

I also listen to several knitting podcasts. My favorite is Stitch-It! Meghan's mid-western accent reminds me of home and I love that she talks about both her successful and not-quite-so-sucessful moments. Her laugh is infectious which is a sign of a great person in my eyes. Listen to her podcast if you haven't yet. You'll like it. Go do it now. I've got a hat to shrink.

=]