Friday, November 28, 2014

Idle hands.

I feel like I'm dying right now.  I've had four asthma attacks in the last two days.  My kids think I'm dying.  My husband thinks it's funny to make me laugh when my chest hurts (hey, at least he's trying).  I have these horrible coughing spells for an hour or so after every attack and I'm miserable.  My inhaler gives me the jitters so I have been feeling like I'm on a super caffeine high.

My asthma is allergy induced, so who knows what's causing it?  I certainly don't.

I have no yarn so I have been taking a break from my blanket during the days.  The problem with that is that I'm so used to doing something during the day that I almost feel lost (hence the "idle hands".  I would cross stitch, but my kids are constantly wanting to touch it or my threads or my scissors.  At least with yarn I don't worry about little fingerprints on everything.

I'm pretty exhausted so I think I will go lie down for a bit.  My chest hurts.  I am hoping to stitch enough tonight to give a WIP.  It's been far too long since the last time I gave my stitching some love.  I miss my cross stitch.

Happy stitching (and breathing!), everyone.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Loot Crate November 2014

Alrighty, let's get to it because I've got some more baking to finish before Thanksgiving!

This month's Loot Crate theme was "Battle."  And there was something I noticed right away before I even opened it.  This:


Attention Looters
This crate is designed differently than any other crate before it.  Please read the first page of the magazine to see how!


So that seems odd.  But anyway, LET'S dive right in, shall we?



The little diorama of a street was kinda neat.  I wasn't able to put it together because my children absconded with it as soon as they realized it was actually kind of a play set.  It had Megaman I know for sure, but like I said, my kid's took it.  That's what was so unique about this crate was the interactive box.

Anyway, on to the loot:


A Street Fighter headband.  I already have modified it into a "snow white bow" style headband, so it already looks nothing like it's supposed to.  I'm girly, what can I say?  The other item is a Halo Megablocks figurine with a metallic block.  My son immediately recognized the Halo logo and snagged that along with the box.


Some game codes.  A full game download of the arcade version of Street Fighter IV.  I'm not sure what the other two are for, my brother will use Steam cards, though, so I'm sure he can tell me.  

*NOTE*  I love Steam, but I haven't had a computer capable of running it in forever.  My last computer I used for gaming almost burned my house down, so I haven't bought a good computer in a while.

One of the cards isn't actually a game code, but more like a "vote for your side" kind of thing.  I would choose pirates over ninjas.  Sorry.  I just love pirates and I even have a thing for ships as cross stitch kits.


An Assassins Creed Unity coin and faux suede pouch.  It's really heavy duty and my husband thinks it's just the coolest thing ever.  I'm thinking it will go along side my Harvey Dent two headed coin.


The Megaman helmet replica is exactly what it sounds like.  It's slightly smaller than a baseball and it comes with a stand.  I ended up putting it up with all my collectibles that I keep out of reach of the kids.


My favorite item from the crate.  This is a pirate vs. ninja yin yang t-shirt.  The shirt is made by the same people who made the Legend of Zelda shirt from May's crate.

Finally:


The magazine and button from every Loot crate.  I added it to my lanyard.  I need a new lanyard because I'm running out of button room!

Anyway, I have a lot of cooking planned, so I am off to get prep done for tomorrow.  I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  Happy stitching, everyone!



Thursday, November 20, 2014

Power outage.

Our power went out last night at around three in the morning.  Of course my son inherited my fear of the dark, so he screamed bloody murder as soon as it happened.  I wouldn't have woken up had it not been for him screaming.  I was in a goooooooood sleep.

My daughter didn't make a peep.  That kid is a heck of a sleeper.

My son wouldn't go to sleep so long as the house was dark, so because the power was out until seven (four hour total) we ended up staying awake that long.  Me and my three year old...it's been a long day.  A long, lazy day full of lots of yawning.

I'm surprised I'm still awake, to be honest.

I have another WIP!  I have one of my blanket, but I also have one of my GEISHA!!!  Yay!  I got to work on her a bit last night before I went to bed, so I was happy about that.

First the blanket:


Four rows done in four days!  BOOM!

Next is the Geisha.  I will say before you get to the picture:  It doesn't look like a lot of work, but I felt like I'd put in a lot of work.  Beading is really pretty and this is my first kit with the beads and because of my very poor eyesight, it takes me a bit longer to thread a beading needle.  I have to buy needle threaders when I go out next pay period, but right now I'm doing the best I can with what I have.


The first image is where I was last time and the second is where I'm at as of this post.  So it doesn't look like much.

Alright, I'm off to take a shower and then I'm probably going to work on my Geisha a bit more before bed.  Good night and happy stitching, everyone!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Like living with an old lady.

I, according to my husband, am a little old lady trapped in a young body.  My hobbies are crocheting, cross stitching, baking, and watching Dr. Phil.  Don't judge me on the Dr. Phil thing...everyone has their guilty pleasure.  I wear my glasses on the end of my nose, my hearing is pretty poor, and my hair is usually put up in a bun.  I am a stereotypical old lady...but I'm not even out of my twenties yet.

Pointless first paragraph is pointless!

I have a WIP of my daughter's blanket.  I'm a whopping three rows in!


I might have to take a break from crochet for a bit.  Not sure yet as I only injured myself tonight, but I did a few rounds with my heavy bag and jammed my knuckle when I hit it wrong.  I hope it won't affect me too bad.  

I'm working on my Geisha tonight because all I use my left hand for with her is holding my pattern up to my nose because of my very poor eyesight.

Alright, I'm off to go watch The Twilight Zone (which I am ADDICTED to) and work on my Geisha.  Happy stitching, everyone!

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Praise be to Din, Farore, and Nayru! It is done!


All hail the Hero of Time!  He is done!  Now I get to start all over and make one for my daughter!  Here's to hoping it's done in time for Christmas!

You can't really see it, but there's a single crocheted green border around the whole blanket.  The camera didn't really pick that up very well and it's not really that wavy.  The only reason it's like that is because it is so big and heavy that when I went to lay it out, it was awkward.  So it got all stretched because I'm too short to get a good view lol.  From where I was standing it looked fine...obviously it didn't!

Anyway, I'm off to start my daughter's blanket now.  Happy stitching, everyone!

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Anything less than immortality is a complete waste of time!

Sorry, I've been watching a LOT of Futurama and the title was something Bender said.

I don't have a WIP, I haven't even been working on my blanket since the last time I posted because I've been fighting off the mother of all migraines.  I'm hoping it lets up soon because I can not function properly.  Even my children are sympathetic.  I've never had them so well behaved before.

So I'm sorry I don't have WIP.  I am off to put my child down for a nap and probably nap a little myself.  Happy stitching, everyone.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

No, you sit here and let me love you!

My dog won't leave my daughter alone today.  She's got a bad head cold, so my dog is constantly "checking" on her which means she's nudging her constantly, licking her face, or trying to sit in her lap.  My dog is 75 pounds and my daughter is a little over 20, so there's a bit of a size difference.  I can definitely understand why my daughter keeps pushing her away...my big nanny dog.

My dog hit a full week of no submissive peeing today.  Since getting my depression mostly under control I've had a lot more energy.  I've used that energy to work with my dog a lot more on building her confidence.  It has definitely paid off.  I've finally been able to let her hang out in the living room for an extended period of time without worrying that by walking next to her too fast she'd pee on the floor.  Or by approaching her she'd pee on the floor.  Or by speaking to her she'd pee on the floor.  NO MORE.  She is pee free for seven full days and I am so happy!  She even acts a lot more confident.  I'm so proud of her!

Alright, enough humble bragging lol  I have a blanket WIP.  I only have two more rows left and the border, so I should, in theory, be done within the next three days.  Here's where I'm at now!


Don't mind the random kitty paw in the top.  She saw me lay the blanket out and said, "OMG NEW THING TO PLAY ON!"

I am so close to being done with this blanket that it aches my SOUL!  After this is done I'm making my daughter her blanket.  I'm hoping that I'll be done with hers in time for Christmas.  It's the same size as the one I'm making now but it's a different Link sprite.  Same game, different sprite (side view).

Alright, I'm off to watch Planes with the kids and fend my giant dog off from my daughter.  Happy stitching, everyone!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Arancini

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's replicating recipes.  Typically someone's "secret recipe" is no more than a Betty Crocker recipe that has been tweaked to their specific taste (example:  add more salt, boil for two minutes longer, take out x-amount of sugar, etc).  There is one recipe that has plagued me for literally years now.

Backstory:  When I was pregnant with my son, my mother's boyfriend's mother (convoluted, no?) sent over some prepared food for me so that I could rest instead of cooking for the household.  She was a little Italian lady who was from New York, and she was such a sweet person.  This woman had never yet met me, and here she was sending food over.

Anyway, in one of the many Tupperware bowls she sent over, there were these little fried balls of something.  I opened up the container and I was immediately hit with the scent of garlic and Parmesan cheese.  Drool.  I bit into one and it was one of the best tasting things I'd ever had.  After eating one, I couldn't help myself and I ate another.  And another.  ...And another.  I had eaten probably five or six before I put the lid back on and put them away.  I would have eaten the whole thing on my own if I didn't move the bowl out of my sight.  This was my first time ever eating Arancini.

Throughout my whole pregnancy, I craved those.  She kept sending them over to the house because Phil (my mom's boyfriend) had told her that I couldn't seem to get enough of them.  She loved making them, so she was happy to do it.

I never got a chance to really thank her.  I mean...I told her thank you on several occasions.  I even sent some of my own culinary creations to her after my morning sickness (see: all day sickness) finally went away.  She passed away not long after my son was born, so I feel like I wasn't grateful enough.

She would never give me the recipe for those rice balls.  I think she liked knowing that someone needed her to make them and I never had a problem with that.  Since she passed away, I've been trying my HARDEST to replicate that recipe.  I have looked at recipe book after recipe book, website after website.

I assumed at first that it was, like I said in the beginning, just a tweaked recipe.  Apparently I was wrong.  I've tried every single Arancini recipe I've ever found and not a single one comes close.  So I took a basic one and I've been subtly tweaking it myself as I'm going.  The ones I make now, after roughly three years of research, trial, and error, are so close!  They're just not right, though.  My husband thinks that it's maybe because SHE made them that they'll never taste the same.  Kind of like how coffee tastes better when my husband makes it even though he does the same thing I do.

I am trying again tonight to replicate her recipe.  Who knows, maybe one day it will be my kid or my kid's wife wanting MY recipe for themselves.

Side note:  During my research for this recipe, I found a recipe book that was so old (mid 1800's) it said to, "..rake the coals before putting pot in hearth."

Sunday, November 9, 2014

I Yuh Yoo

My daughter says I love you!  She started saying it today.  She says, "I yuh yoo."  She never says it to me or my husband, but she says it to her brother a lot.

I forgot to ask how everyone's Halloween went?  Any exciting things happen?  Nothing exciting happened here except my son throwing a tantrum when he was done trick-or-treating because he was tired.

I pickled my own beets for the first time yesterday.  Made my whole house smell like those little sweet pickles.  It was pretty awesome.  I tried them this morning and they were pretty good.  I probably should have made more because my kids are all over them.  I suppose there are worse foods for them to like.

I have all my Christmas shopping done already, so I guess there's nothing left to do but save.  

This post was a roundabout way of saying that nothing is happening right now.  Nothing.  I live a boring life, what can I say?  I do have a WIP of my son's blanket, though!


I'm pretty sure I've done two rows since the last update.  I'm so excited to be in the final stretch!  Five more rows and I'll be done...then I get to start my daughter's blanket.

Time for bed, I'm coming down with the same cold my kids both have, so I figure an early bed time is the best thing I can do right now.  Happy stitching, everyone!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Busy, busy, busy, busy...

...there's so much to do!  I have a WIP of my Geisha.  It feels like I haven't done much on her, but remember she's roughly 12x16, so she's not exactly a small piece.


I had to move this piece from a hoop to a scroll frame because I'm doing the beading as I go along and I don't want to accidentally pinch one of my beads between the pieces of the hoop.  Seems like something I should try to avoid...  Anyway, I know it doesn't look like I haven't done much, but that's like a solid four hours right there.  Well, a four hour stint riddled with, "Mommy, I need water," and, "Mommy, I'm not tired."  Oh yeah, and, "Mommy, I can't find my toy."

You think you're safe just because the kids are in bed.

I also have a WIP of my Link blanket today!


I feel like I'm cruising through this blanket now that I'm past the halfway mark because I've got another row of squares ready to be stitched on.  I've already planned the border for this blanket.  It's going to just be a simple treble crochet border, but I've never made a blanket, so hopefully it looks as good as it does in my head!

Alright, I'm going to bed, happy stitching, everyone!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Halfway Done

Well, I have an update on my son's blanket today.  As of right now I am halfway done.


I tucked in all the tails and trimmed the pieces that needed to be snipped.  I am going to be working on this pretty diligently in the next few weeks so that I have time to start my daughter's blanket, too.  

I introduced my one year old to Nutella this afternoon.  Now she's hounding me for more.  Her little face is covered in the stuff right now, so I must go to chase her down and clean her off.

I'll be cross stitching a lot in the coming week or so because my husband won't be home.  I would stitch with him here, but I take up a lot of the couch with my lap stand and my pattern and my supplies, etc etc etc, so I don't like to burden him with my messiness while I'm stitching.

Alright, off to chase my daughter.  Happy stitching, everyone!