My amazing husband.

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Ali

So, I was having a rough day yesterday and my shoulder has been giving me alot of trouble lately, and it was just a bad day. So, today, when I got off work P had dinner ready and a present for me!

He got me Ponyo! I love, LOVE, love this movie. We saw it in theaters and I was singing the theme song for like a month. It’s such a good film.

But now it’s time for band practice! Being in a band is really fun. Check out our Youtube channel if you want to hear some really unfinished, quickly thrown together stuff. We’re planning a CD release soon (we’ve been doing lots of recording, and P’s been doing alot of mixing!) so hopefully we’ll get a CD release party soon. I’m pretty excited about that.

Oh, and I picked up my embroidery stuff today at Michaels- I’ll be sure to post my progress!

Tomorrow I leave for Tacoma! I am so excited!

Alright, signing off for the night!

Is it Friday yet?

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Ali

No?……

How about now?

I am so looking forward to this weekend and getting to spend some time with my most favorite people on earth! (and quite frankly, the cutest little man I’ve ever met, I’m sure you all agree! I mean, just LOOK how cute he is!

I can’t wait to squish his little face, oh, and make him wear his new sweater.

I am also pretty much dying to make a pair of these for him: Cranky Pants! Aren’t they cute?

But sadly they don’t have a pattern for sale, so unless I want to buy them ($80, how about…n.o.) I may try to figure it out, but maybe I’ll just make a cute pair of striped longies. Someday, when I have kids, I hope I still have time to knit this much!

Update on P’s sweatervest: It’s coming along nicely. Just about up to the shaping of the neck (that’s where things get tricky…) so, wish my luck and as soon as something interesting happens with it I’ll be sure to post it.

Sunday Kitchen

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Ali

I was loving the colors in my kitchen today while I was making lunch.

Also still loving my Christmas present from Paul. We use it all the time.

mmmm Cheese. We love cheese around here

We also love butter.

Starting to smell good! (secret: lots of onions and butter!)

Mmm Mmm, I could eat this ever day.

For the recipe go here.

The bitty brown hoodie

Posted on February 27, 2010 by Ali

I made a cute little hoodie for my nephew, and I can’t wait to give it to him next weekend. I really, really hope it fits!!

Pretty cute, no? But I must admit, baby clothes are cute because they are small. But this pattern was so fun and easy that I might need to make a big one, just for me!

I found some Belgian Chocolate.

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Ali

I found it in one of my drawers the other day, and this week called for chocolate. I got it in Belgium, so it’s a bit old, but it still tasted good. I just wish that Charissa, Autumn and Harmony were here to enjoy it with me.

Yep, it’s chocolate with hazelnoots in it. I love hazelnoots.

It was enjoyed while drinking a tall glass of milk and working on P’s sweater vest. Wanna see? Ok.

So, ok, you can’t see any shape to it, but that’s because it’s on needles that are too short. I need to buy a new set of circular needles that are a bit longer (but hey, I’ve knitted two adult sweaters on them and it worked ok) but it’s just hard for sizing as you go… I am loving this yarn though, it’s perfectly soft, but nice and sturdy (and kind of thick, so it knits up pretty quickly)

And, another happy bit:

My basil was having rough times not getting enough sunlight, so I hung it in the window so he could get a little sun and keep growing. We are getting a bit of sun around here, and it’s be oh-so-nice.

Also did a bit of guitar work this afternoon.
Isn’t she a beaut? Still working on building up my callouses.

And also trying to work on being able to sing and play at the same time… it gets kind of hard and I’m not very good at multi-tasking, apparently.

Happy Weekend, Everyone.

Alexandra and the Terrible, Horrible, No good, Very bad day

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Ali

Today started off like any other, went to work, got my paycheck and (Mistake #1) decided to drop it off at the bank on my lunch break. I deposit my check without any complications, and go back to my car, hop in, turn the key… nothing. Nada. Numpin. Seriously. SERIOUSLY?! Come on. I have 40 minutes to get home, get lunch and get back to work. I think, well, the battery has been a bit sketchy in the past few months, maybe it just needs a jump. I unsuccessfully try to find someone, anyone in the surrounding area that might be willing to help a girl out. Again, nothing, nada, numpin. And mind you, this is downtown, people, on the corner of 3rd and Main! So (mistake #2) I decide it would be a good idea to run home (yes, literally run) and grab the Taurus, drive that car downtown and see if I can’t get the Beamer started again. By this point, it is, naturally, pouring down rain. And I’m in slip-on Vans.

I make it home in record time (Oh, did I mention that I also received a package at work and didn’t want to leave it in the car, so I ran with that, too. Yep.) So I run upstairs to our apartment, grab the keys to the Taurus, run back to the car and scurry downtown as fast as I can. I find a parking spot (miraculously) right behind my car (Yeah, the Beamer’s battery is in the trunk… it’s a weird car.) I get the jumper cables out, get them hooked up, start the Taurus, let it soak up some good battery juices. I go back to start the Beamer, and again, nothing, nada, numpin. Repeat 3x-still nothing. Dead, dead, dead. I call AAA, they can’t be there for over an hour, and at this point I need to be back at work in like 15 minutes, and apparently they can’t come jump or tow your car unless you are present. Ughhh. This is in the downtown district, 3 hour parking, and I am afraid of getting a ticket. So I leave a scribbled note on the dash that says “I have a dead battery, someone is coming to pick me up, please don’t give me a ticket”

At this point I am angry, frustrated, wet and very hungry (This was my lunch break after all, and I haven’t gotten any lunch yet). So, then (mistake #3) I called Paul, and since he was in class went straight to voicemail, and I think I left a message that must have sounded something like this: “Paw, I, *sniff* canna get duh carra start anna gotta go backawork an *sniff* tribbleay cannuh come and caw me back when you getthis please *sniff*” So, I leave the car there and go back to work.

Paul checks my voicemail and calls me back, skips his next class, because I sounded like a ridiculous wreck, and he so kindly offers to call AAA, and go to the car and wait there until they come. But he decided to just take a stab at it and see if he can diagnose the problem with the car, so he gets in, turns the key…. starts right up. First try. What the heck! So Paul calls me at work to tell me this and I just about lost it, right there at my desk.And my pants and shoes were still soaked. But, we have a fireplace at work, and since we didn’t have clinic today I took off my shoes and socks and put them in front of the fireplace and let them dry out.

And that was the story of Alexandra and the terrible, horrible no good, very bad day.

Baby Alpaca

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Ali

So I need some help, guys. I bought this baby alpaca yarn on a whim, because of it’s gorgeous color and it’s oh-so-heavenly-softness, but I don’t know what to make out of it.

It’s worsted weight, about 102 yards, so not much.. the only thing I was thinking that I could make that small was either a Martha Neck Scarf, or maybe a hat? But I won’t be needing either of those too much longer, as spring is making its way to the Northwest…

Or maybe I should just stash it away for a fall treat?

But, let’s face it, the at least 75% of the reason I bought this was because it had a cute little baby alpaca (also known as a cria, for those in the know) on the tag.

Ok, so get your brains working and let me know what I should be making!

A Little DIY for you.

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Ali

A teeny-tiny DIY, you don’t need to know how to knit, crochet, sew or anything. Just how to cut a (mostly) straight line, thread a needle and make a braid.

Braided Headbands!

So, first you start with some fabric, I used some leftovers from the cloth we have above our bed.If you use a patterned one (like I did) it’s a bit more fun, but if you used contrasting colors it would be fun too)

Cut it into 9 strips, about one inch wide and about 12 inches long. Measurements are approximate, and the thicker you want your headband, the wider you should cut the fabric.

Take 3 strips, braid together, repeat with other 6 strips so you have 3 braids, like so:

Take the 3 braids, sew the ends of them together, and this next bit is up to you, you can sew ribbons on, like I did:

You could also use elastic, or something like that. I took the lazy road and instead of hauling my sewing machine out, rethreading it, etc etc… I just hand stitched it instead. And TADA! You have a headband. Cute, no?

A Good Saturday For Second Hand

Posted on February 20, 2010 by Ali

I got some good finds today at The storm Cellar and Salvation army.

I love the tulle on the bottom. It’s just adorable.

And also a cute summer shirt.

And a cute plaid skirt.

Also found another cool glass thing for my terrariums.

And a cute little pitcher!

And all these embroidery hoops! They were labeled individually and when I got to the counter she told me that it’d be a dollar for the whole lot of them. (Should have been more like $11.00) Hmm, alright, I’ll take it!