Happy Post-Zombie Jesus Day!

This is what I get to see everyday that I take Dragon to work. See? Mountains:D

So not much going on in our household this weekend (or for the past few weeks rather) thus the lack of updates. HOWEVER!!! I have completed some projects, started some new ones, taken a SLEW of pictures and I am here to inflict all of this information upon you.

Behold ye, and tremble in fear.

Purple Jade and Sterling Silver...so pretty!

This is a purple jade pendant with a silver dragon on it, courtesy of Uwajimaya Market in downtown Seattle. I also got some Puchi miniature meals...and they are made of awesome and cute!

Puchi Mini Meals...dangerously addictive.

It was amazing and we will definitely be going again sometime soon. It's so refreshing to finally have a place to go to get the awesome Japanese food that I remember from Japan:)

Now, on to the completed works! First up the infamous crochet orange scarf and knitted hat out of the Orange Slices Merino yarn from Andrea :

Finally completed. Very warm and very bright, they help to keep the dreary Seattle chill away. My favorite part (aside from the yarn) is the edging. It's a crochet braid stitch that looks to be much more complicated than it really is.

Then I splurged a little bit (a whole $6) and bought the Applejack hat pattern from Croshay Designs and proceeded to make two of them. The first is out of the amazing BFL in the ColdSteel colorway from the faboo Andrea .

And what's more, I had so much left over that I decided it needed a scarf to go with it, so I'm currently using the Magic Scarf pattern by Crazy Aunt Purl and still working on it:

Then I used a combo of the Dexter colorway in Merino/Silk blend from Cosmic Fibers Yarn on Etsy and some of the Obsidian Merino/Tencel from Andrea :
I didn't have enough of the Dexter to do more than the hat, so I'm thinking that if I knit a scarf for this one I'll do it strictly out of the Obsidian. And I'm thinking cables:D

Then we have the latest Calorimetry that I'm making for my BFF Dawn down in Alabama out of the most AMAZING chunky baby alpaca yarn! I picked it up from Yarnzilla for a steal and I will definitely be getting more of it because oh...it's so lush! I believe the colorway is called Ember Melange and the photos just do NOT do it justice!

That's my little purple skull cupcake stitch marker from Scary Merry over on Etsy. I adore them:)

And last, but certainly not least, I'm working on yet another scarf, this time using the incredibly gorgeous Her Eyes tencel from Andrea . Again....photos cannot capture how truly beautiful this yarn is, folks.

Those are the new bamboo needles I picked up on Amazon for a steal! I now have no excuse because I now have every size from 0 - 13 in 9" straights and DPNs.

I'm using the Old Shale Pattern, found on Ravelry, and so far, it may not look like much, but I swear, when it's blocked? It's going to be utterly fabulous!

So that's it for now:) I swear it's taken me entirely too long to get this update on here. But I'm sure that after viewing such beautiful yarns, you'll need a rest.

The battle for the water box is on. First Blade...

Then Kratos;)

Until next time;)

XOXO
~Bella

Weekend Trollings.

This weekend has been a welcome sun-break from the drizzly, snowy week we've had. It's beautiful out there, sunny and warm, and you can really see the mountain ranges when you wander down the street. Another reason to adore this city;)

So we've discovered 3 new places here in the area where we are now fans. If you're here, you should really check these guys out...and if you're not, just you WAIT till you get here because I'm totally going to drag you there;)

We've found the deli we've been looking for (that isn't downtown Seattle), about 15m up the road in Mill Creek. It's called The Fire Station Gourmet Deli. They make some of the tastiest sandwiches and I was really blown away by their Marguerite Panini (fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil, with a hint of garlic ... and the added provolone cheese by yours truly) and Dragon loved his ham/cheddar/bacon on wheat bread.

As we wandered up and down this incredibly Hollywood-back-lot scenic "main street", we also noticed a place called Spotted Cow Cream & Bean. OMG! They have a milkshake called "Mad Cow" which is your choice of gelato (so amazingly creamy with a vast array of tasty flavors!) and 6 shots of fresh espresso, blended together and topped with an uber creamy whipped cream. It was SO GOOD that we went back again today since we were in the area.

And finally, today, we decided to do something we've never had the opportunity to do (because, let's face it, it's hard to find this in San Antonio): we found an authentic french bakery up in the Mill Creek/Everette area. Although everything we tried was so lovely, our favorite, by far, was the lemon tart. Mmm. The coffee eclair, the cream puff, even the chocolate croissant...they were all amazingly tasty. And affordable too! We were very impressed and it WILL be on our regularly scheduled monthly outings. L'Artisan French Bakery...tres yummi!

I have more to say and update you with, but for the moment, I need to devour my most recent creation;) It smells SO good!

XOXO
Bella

*tap tap* Is this thing on?

Is this not the cutest face?

Mumbles impersonates Mom after a long night working the phones.

I've been remiss in updating, but I have a good reason! I've been working my happy little ass off in an effort to both pay my bills (current and upcoming) AND to start feeding my yarn addiction again.

Miss Andrea is tempting me like whoa and that squeaky sound you're hearing is me over here wringing my hands in wanton lust at some of the most beautiful fibers I've seen yet. Here...let me show you. First up? The ones I'm dying to beg her to add to my stash...seriously:

Pressed Roses (Hemp)
Is this not one of the most lovely dusty rose colors you've ever seen?

Depression Glass (Tencel)
Something about this color just calls to me. I don't know if it's the darkness, or if it's the way the darkness is made light with the shiny nature of the tencel...either way, it's gorgeous and I covet it.

Wallpaper in Old Rooms (Shetland)
I..uh...have this thing about purple yarns. And, I know I already have too many skeins of purple yarn but frankly? I don't care. I love this one.

Black Cherries (BFL)
See above. But this one? This one is special. This one, provided no one else snags it? This one I am definitely going to beg Andrea for because omg. I seriously adore this like whoa.

And then, we have the ones that ARE in my stash right now:

Blood Ties (BFL)

This color is so decadent. I already know what I'm going to use it on. And I can't wait!!

Learning to Climb (Hemp)
I don't think words can adequately express how much I adore hemp yarn. No really. This lovely skein is already slated to become a fabulous hat that I am almost guaranteed to wear everywhere.

Dark Opal (tencel)
Along with my adoration of hemp comes my utter love for tencel, courtesy of the delicious Andrea herself. I also have an obsession with black opals...and this just combines the best of both worlds for me.

Sam's Eyes (Tencel)
This is the commissioned yarn I asked for. The color is absolutely perfect for what I asked for and it will be turned into a fabulous shawl that I swear to All will be worn at every available opportunity.

Dragon's Tail (Tussah Silk)
This one is for my Dragon. I saw it and immediately thought of him. Plus, it'll be my first foray into knitting with silk. I can't wait!

On Cat's Paws (Merino/Tencel)
One of my favorite poems from childhood, and again with the grey/blue prettiness that is quickly starting to rival purple as my favorite colorway.

Amethyst (Hemp)
Again. With the purple. And the hemp. How predictable am I?

So there you have it. The pretty pretties that I'm totally looking forward to in the coming month. I've been suffering yarn withdrawal due to fundage issues, but with the new job literally swinging along? That won't be a problem anymore. I'm sure my Dragon will be SO pleased. {/sarcasm} But...if I can keep him indulging his comics/collectables addictions, then he can wholeheartedly support my yarn/oils addictions and we'll just be happy as two peas in a pod!

On the work front, things are really great. I've had a rough go of it only with getting my body back into the "work all night, sleep/work all day" routine, but I think I've finally finagled a solution. I cannot even express how thankful I am to have gotten this second job because it is, head and shoulders, a step above any other phone work I've done. It's a well oiled machine (pardon the pun) and every single thing they've achieved is fabulous. I feel like I'm a part of a community who actively WANTS me to succeed. Of course, this means less time to blog here because now I have to keep up a blog for them AND chat with callers AND keep up with SC work...it's exhausting, but I'm still trying to make sure I carve out time every night to do a little knit/crochet.

I may bitch, but lordy, I am blessed. This month has been especially rough on both of us, but I'm overjoyed that there's a light at the end of the tunnel...and it ISN'T another oncoming train.

Add to that these two little morsels of happiness: My brother IS actually engaged to be married, so there's a trip to Florida sometime next year for that. And the second morsel? My mom told me that she and dad are coming to visit this July! *dances* Now, the only down side (which, theoretically SHOULDN'T be) is that somehow *coughDADcough* my grandmother got wind of their plan...and it has now become a family affair. I guess it's going to be my folks, my grandmother, AND my aunt n' uncle along for the ride. So let's just say that July is going to be quite...interesting.

*yawns* Okay, my bebes! I need to get some sleep. My dragon should be puttering around now getting ready for work. I'm super proud of him for keeping a 93% on his numbers at work! Today he's bringing home GS cookies in celebration. *dances* I may not need them for my hips, but my tummy really digs this time of year.

Until later, dumplings!

XOXO
Bella

Okay. These made me chortle today.

I know, I said it was a small post. I lied.

These about made me pee m'self laughing so hard. I thought I'd share them with you guys too;)





XOXO
Bella

We can has moar sno?

Well this is certainly unexpected.

Apparently it's snowing outside! I doubt it'll stick around too long, since tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and a brisk 44 degrees out there.

Hey, I'll take and enjoy what I get :)

There are so many things I'm loving about this city! It's constantly full of surprises! For example, there are mountains that can be seen while I drive my husband to work in the morning. However, it changes from day to day what can be seen of the mountain range. Some mornings, it's a beautiful, crisp mountain view. Other days, you can barely make them out because there's a thick, surreal fog. Other times, you can't see them at all because of the clouds. But it's always lovely, even when it's grey outside.

I find reasons upon reasons to continue falling in love with this place.

Oh, and congratulations to my lil' brother on his engagement! Welcome to the family L, we're glad to have you:) I suppose it's time to start saving up for a Florida trip sometime in the future.

That's all for now:)

XOXO
Bella

Foggy days, crisp nights.

The last few days have been full o' fog around here and I've been enjoying every minute of it. To my macabre mind, I suppose it's just spooky enough to make it feel more surreal than it might to the average Pacific Northwesterner.

But then, I'm still newly transplanted.

It's a new year, therefore new goals, hassles, irritations and triumphs. We've been getting out and seeing the city more, slowly but surely, and I'm currently dying to get tickets for Cinematic Titanic's first show here in March. In case you don't already know, and I'm sure most of you don't, I'm a huge fan of MST3K. So when CT announced tour dates, you know I'll be in attendance:) See, this is one of the big reasons we moved here in the first place. The opportunities are crazy! Combine that with another Abney Park show next month and you've got a me that's just squirming in her pants to get out and get on with it!

I've been working on a new scarf. I'm using the lovely orange merino I got earlier this month and after searching high and low, I settled on a scarf that's similar to the Circle Crochet Scarf pattern and I fully intended on using that particular pattern. But then, while perusing through my Encyclopedia of Crochet the other day and found the perfect stitch pattern for it.

See, I envisioned this scarf, because of the yarn, looking like little slices of mandarin oranges, so I went with Catherine's Wheel. And yes, it's crochet:

See that gorgeous color? Believe me when I say that the camera does NOT do justice to how lusciously beautiful it is.

And my favorite dyer/spinner extraordinaire is at it again. Look at this: (picture totally taken by Andrea, by the way)

Now, I will admit my ignorance, because I don't know what Black BFL is (the fiber she used for this yarn) but is that not one of the most gorgeous red colorways you've ever seen? Can you imagine a deep violet color? OMG! So pretty!

So naturally, I want some. *laughs* We'll see what happens;) What with working two jobs now, I might be able to keep up my yarn-whore habit! (As it is, I'm totally tempted to have her add the Purple Haze merino she has in her shop. I keep lusting after it. Darn her!!)

Oh! And I haven't forgotten the backlog of stitch patterns of the day. I'm still doing them, I've just gotten caught up in other things. Hopefully over the next week, I'll get them all photo'd and uploaded and let you all know what I'm doing!

Game's on, have to run:)

XOXO
Bella

Like a virgin.

I've never tried soymilk before.

In fact, I'm not a milk fan in the slightest. I like dairy foods (cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc.) but I cannot stand the taste of straight milk. Not even on my cereal. Not even with a TON of chocolate syrup in it. I can handle milk shakes from time to time, but even then, there comes a point where I get annoyed with the milk flavor.

So when my doctor suggested going on a Biocleanse this month (which I haven't done for other, personal reasons, but WILL be doing next month) I was perusing the list of foods we CAN eat, and it mentions soymilk. I'm not even going to go into the list of foods we cannot have because, frankly, it's everything we do eat right now. So it's more than slightly depressing;)

I asked around, various friends, to get suggestions for what is a good soymilk to try and one told me about 8th Continent. I haven't been able to find it here, and we wanted to try something out, so we settled on vanilla Silk.

I'd been sitting here looking at it everytime I open the fridge for the last couple of days, trying, I suppose, to work up the courage to just drink it. Instead, today, I opted to put it on my cereal. Although I have 3 cereal options, I picked plain ol' Life because, I figured, if it tastes bad on Life, there's no hope for it on anything else.

Let me tell you! It actually tastes pretty damned good! I still won't drink it straight, but on cereal? It's definitely a winner. Light, sweet, with none of the milky aftertaste that makes me gag. I really enjoyed it.

So if you're soymilk shy, I'd have to recommend Silk vanilla in the blue carton. Seriously tasty stuff. I wonder if it'll be good to cook with? Anyone know?

XOXO
~Bella

Happy New Year!

I've been dealing with a sick Mumbles. Apparently, his brother stole some yarn and HE ate some of it. Cue massive bouts of puking combined with lethargy and non-interest in food or water. It's been going on for about 24 hours, and of course, with the exception of emergency vet clinics, any regular vet is closed today.

*sighs* Why oh why does my problem child have to do this on the holiday?

He's puked up some of it so far, twice, and looking at the pattern repeat (as well as how long I was out of the room) he couldn't have swallowed more than maybe 6 inches, 4 of which is already out of him.

I'm just keeping a really close eye on him right now.

As for everything else, we were up, bright and early, at 7:30am to take Trina her Calorimetry. She was extremely squee about it, even putting it on and running outside for a smoke so she could test it (it was coooold and windy today). To say it made my morning is an understatement. Especially when it was to have a smoke break and I was able to bum one off of her (despite my, erm, quitting this morning *blush*).

How is the new year going for all of you? I'm working on my first swatch from the pattern book of stitches, the twisted stockinette stitch. I skipped regular stockinette and garter stitch because, well, let's face it...I think we're all pretty familiar with them both;) I'll post a picture of the swatch when it's done later today!

I have some Sauerkraut and Kielbasa bubbling away in my oven, our traditional New Year's fare, which we'll chow down on with some molasses bread later. So the house smells pretty wonderful right now.

What are you guys up to? Anything?

XOXO
~Bella

Thought idea....right before bed, go figure.

So I was sitting here flipping through the stitch pattern book and I realized I have a goal.

I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but it's not like I don't have plenty of scrap yarn in my stash with which to try: I'm going to attempt knitting a swatch of each stitch pattern every day. Each new day will be a new stitch pattern, starting with the more basic and moving along to the more difficult ones.

I want to do this to help increase my knitting know-how. I'll post pictures every day of each completed swatch square and perhaps...just perhaps...this might be beneficial to more than just me:)

Comments? Suggestions? I'm open and listening!

Low key.

So this was perhaps the lowest key Christmas I've ever had. Go figure, it's the first one spent away from my folks.

I didn't get any presents, not because they weren't sent, but more because they're lost in the USPS aether somewhere with nary a clue as to when it's going to show up. Hell, we were shocked when the Christmas ham showed up on our doorstep last night (as it was supposedly not to be delivered either).

So we've spent the day chilling, eating pot roast and ham, watching Season 2 of Supernatural and just relaxing.

Mom loved her scarf. I'm sure you remember which one I'm talking about. *grins* It was the tencel lace leaf scarf in Coppertop that I'd been slaving over. It actually turned out really nice! I managed to snap a picture of the lacework just to show you how pretty it was when it was blocked out:


The picture, as usual, doesn't do it justice, but mom loved it, so that's all that mattered:) I ended up frogging the whole thing and starting over, doing only 2 pattern repeats instead of the three it has, so it's a little skinnier (but certainly not SUPER skinny) and longer. The drape of the tencel after it's dried? Fabulous! And since I have some more here (and on the way) it means I'll get plenty of opportunity to knit other fantastic projects:)

I'm still working on the Kitty Paw scarf, and I'll post pictures once I get far enough along to really get a good idea of how it's going to turn out!

I hope the rest of you had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the upcoming new year:) I promise to post more often and hopefully, this will be a very knitty new year for me too!

XOXO
Bella

Lesson learned.

That's what the sky looked like last night as the snow fell.

It's beautiful, really.

I just learned today that, being un-used to driving on snowy roads, it's really a better idea to stay inside. Seriously.

We decided to venture out to the bank this afternoon figuring, well, it's snowing. So it can't be that bad. People are still driving around.



How wrong we were. We made it to the bank only to end up stuck on an ice patch in the parking lot. If it weren't for the two very nice guys who helped Jack shove the car off the ice and onto the snow, we'd probably still be there. So, we came home. The bank and trip to Fred Meyers can wait for another day.

We definitely need snow tires stat.


In the meantime, yay snow! Boo driving in snow.

XOXO
Bella

December 1st!

I can't believe that the year is almost over! 6 months ago, I was sitting in my living room in Texas wondering where my path would lead...and here we are in Washington!

I'm going to reserve my "thankful for" list until the end of the year, and am, instead focusing on getting my knitting done! There is a NIN concert next Sunday in Portland that we have tickets for, and I am determined to have my coppertop scarf done by then. I also need to make another calorimetry head scarf done before Sunday rolls around (it's supposed to be quite chilly that day!)

Later this month, we're going to celebrate our anniversary by going to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's 25th anniversary production of The Nutcracker, and later that night, we're going to a Saloon in town (in full Steampunk gear *grins*) for The Steampunk Cabaret show!

I've been playing with ideas for Christmas goodies that I plan on giving out, and I think I've settled on some chocolate dipped cake bites (courtesy of Bakerella at her blog) because they look delicious AND unique enough to give out:)

I have to make some traditional cookies as well this year because my Omi mentioned that she won't be making cookies this year. *sad face* So instead, I'm going to send some to her for a change:) It should be a nice little surprise for her!

I'm currently amused by My Dragon driving himself nuts trying to answer my question of "Who is your favorite James Bond villain?" Poor thing can't decide. *wicked grin*

In other news, we had a relatively successful Thanksgiving with the exception of the cornish hens. They didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but that is partially my fault because I decided to try a new recipe on a holiday. *laughs* So from here on out, no new recipes on a holiay WITHOUT pre-testing them a few days in advance.

Lesson learned.

And because this wouldn't be a proper post without some sort of picture, I present something from another Etsy girl that I am totally addicted to:

This picture doesn't do them justice, so I'm going to borrow the ones directly from her shop!
Voila:


These adorable little confections are by Jillian and can be found at her Etsy shop WeeOnes and she has the most amazing stitchmarkers! If you're looking for something whimsical and new, a little different and a lot amazing, check out her shop! I have to admit, I'm a bit bummed that the sushi stitch markers she had up aren't there anymore *pout* but I wonder if I can cajole her into creating more? I'd looove to have some sushi stitch markers!

In any event, I'm going to step away from the computer for a bit, since I've been tied to it all day! And then....dun dun DUN! It's Heroes Monday:D

XOXO
~Bella