Roosevelt

Resting... Basking in the cuteness.
















Waiting... Who's that?















Pondering... What's out there?
















Smiling...Happy kid.















Gimme that duck!

Please do not feed or agitate the alligators?

I went to lunch at Quiznos on my break from work expressly for purposes of taking a photo of this sign that makes me laugh every time I see it.
















When I first started going to Quiznos a few months ago, I asked the girl who worked there if this sign was a joke. She replied, "no, there's two of them that live out there," as if this was a ridiculous question. Of course, the time I would go to take a picture of the sign there would just HAVE to be spanish moss on it but you get the idea. I have yet to see such alligators until I took this photo today.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bump in the water behind the sign... You can see it WAY in the back of this photo.















So I walked over to see if I could get a closer look (and/or photo) and there he was! A real-life alligator! Where am I??? What is this place???















I guess his friend was jealous about all the photos so he came over to get some of the action... His friend??? There are two??? .Oh.my.god.















And so the point of this story: I live in the jungle.

So far this summer I have seen owls, various fish, seagulls that will eat pringles right out of your hand, DOLPHINS at close range, snakes in my yard, ducks, SCARY spiders that look like the cast of Arachnaphopia, bright green tree frogs, turtles, pelicans, GIANT cockroaches (excuse me, palmetto-bugs), racoons, jellyfish, B allegedly got stung by a sting ray and now alligators--real alligators--live where I get my lunch. Great.

Lots more pictures to come. Dad got his favorite daughter a brand new Olympus Stylus 710, 7.1 megapixel digital camera! :) Hooray! I've taken over 80 photos today! No more uploading from the cell phone at 40 cents each... Thanks, Dad (and mom!)! THIS CAMERA IS AWESOME!

UFOs are Everywhere

With so many UFOs around, who can get anything finished?
So far we have...
1. the Somewhat Cowl, which I can't put down and I can't wait to wear,
2. the quilt, which I've been procrastinating finishing because of the binding (I don't know why),
3. two more wallets for the Polish girls,
4. an Amy Butler purse I cut out of the nice bird fabric from NY,
5. let's not forget the bubbly curtain--I don't want to talk about the tangled yarn situation...and
6. countless others...
They're everywhere! Including inside my head.

Why can't I finish? Why do I feel compelled to start (heh, and finish) a project in the midst of all these UFOs? Maybe it was the three balls of KnitPicks Main Line Cotton that made me do it (I wanted to see what the fuss is all about?). I have been knitting non-stop since last night at midnight and I have finished a cute little baby capelet for Alexys, Sharyn's soon-to-be one-year-old. She's the one who got the cute one-hour booties a year ago! Additonally, I have worked a bit on the Somewhat Cowl. Will post pics when I finally try it on.

Anyway, here's the new baby sweater. It's the pattern I got from craftster called the "Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet". I made two of them back in Feb-March.






























Happy Birthday, Alexys! At least now I have one recent FO to speak of!

Blurry and Weird Pics

Maria loves this little bag I made a while back. (Remember it?)










She requested I make her one. :)
Here's the new and improved version:










And a VERY blurry one:











For you, Maria! It will be taking a ride to Poland with her next week. She will be one stylin' chick.

Back to Finishing Old Projects

I'm a bit behind on finishing my Somewhat Cowl... You know... The one I started back in MARCH! So I have been telling myself I need to finish SOMETHING before it gets cold (as cold as a beach can get, ahem). I have also been telling myself to please find the strength to start the Sweet Mary Jane pattern I was oh so excited about back in...hmmm... February???

Anyway, I got bored with the Somewhat Cowl because I became such a S.L.O.W. knitter during the process of completing the raglan increases. Procrastinate no more, Steph-you're on to joining in the round! :) Oh boy. I'll join in the round tonight, and hopefully be finished by October 6 so I can wear it in New York. Think it will happen? Maybe, but let's ask the binding for my quilt that has yet to be cut and see what it thinks....

Silly

He's such a silly boy!

Freak-out Time

This beach has no shells. I mean none. Shards, bits and pieces--that's all you get.

So, I was walking on the beach with Roosevelt yesterday, and these people were digging in this hole in the sand. Odd thing was...there were all these huge, beautiful conch shells and other souvenir store-type shells being dug up from this one hole in the sand! WTF? So I walked over and asked what's up. Apparently, this guy found a big shell or two, then started digging and found like, a gold mine of shells! It was quite uncanny. I just kept walking along the beach, but I was strangely drawn to this hole, the thought of why the hell there would be so many shells in one place, and plus...I wanted a couple of nice shells.

On the way back I stopped again to talk to the people, who had hundreds (probably) of REALLY NICE shells they had dug out of this hole. So I started digging around, not wildly, just moving sand a little bit. Digging and digging pursued. No good reason. I kept feeling puzzled about why there would be so many crazy shells here....

About 15 minutes pass, and then I did it. Sliced my middle finger on GOD KNOWS WHAT! Blood. Lots of blood. I'm freaking out. I walk down to the water to wash the blood off my hands. As I turn back, I look to the left and right of me. NO SHELLS. Straight ahead, in the middle of nowhere--a hole FULL of shells. WTF? Why o why did I have to cut my finger? Why. Why? Surely it was a shell... Right? What if it wasn't? Oh god. Needle, toxic waste, rusty scalpal...it could've been anything. Surely it was a shell... Right?

Off I go to find a doctor to get a Tetanus shot. Next time I write I will probably have lock jaw. How long does it take for that to set in?

Getting Around the Camera Problem

Here's some recent stuff, even though there's no camera. Phones with cameras rock!















Saw the fabric online. Got the fabric at Purl. Fabric's even better in person--canvas! Got exactly the bag I wanted. :) Cut to finish: 2.5 hours.















Fuzzy pic of some fuzzy felted bowls I knitted while visiting at mom and dad's in May. Finally got around to felting them day before yesterday. They're already dry! Apologize for the quality. Again, no camera--just phone pics.















Hopefully my secret pal has received this by now... Otherwise the surprise is ruined. Felted clutch from the One Skein book. I LOVE how it turned out. So much I wanted to keep it... Mister said I shouldn't have given it to someone I don't know. HOWEVER, I love giving stuff I've made to people, even if I don't know them.

More progress on the bubbly curtain to come... Also, more projects to show soon I hope. Maybe I'll even bind the quilt! I'm off for two days! Whoooppeee!

Eh, Camera?

Making all kinds of cute stuff today... But where's the camera? I think it's in New York. Oops.

Well, here's a couple I took with the cell phone while in New York.

Lost Another Good One

Steve Irwin. Rest in peace. We loved you. Passion, diligence. A free spirit.



"May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young."
-Dylan

Croc Hunter, we will miss you.

Elvis Costello

I saw him in Chelea yesterday at Balduccis. He was picking up some sushi.