I'm finally famous!

Well, okay, not really. But I was named as a Rockin' Girl Blogger award winner. Sweet!

I, in turn, nominate:

KnittingKitty - Emma
SpinningWheel - Terri
Artsygal - Jas
YarnHarlot - Stephanie
FuzzyLogic - LeeAnn

Because I need another project...

I know, I know. But I've fallen in love with the concept of Heathen Housewife's Sock Yarn Blankie. It's the perfect solution for all those leftover bits. Unfortunately in my move I cleansed my stash rather viciously, so I lack the resources to sink my teeth into this project. If you have any "High Quality Ends" as I call them, and want to contribute, please do. As much as the concept warms my heart, it'll be far too loud for Matt to allow it to warm our home: The finished blanket will be donated or raffled to raise money for donation to a worthy charity. Double bonus points to get you into (the positive afterlife experience of your choice) if you knit the square, but of course I do plan to have most of the fun myself. Photo courtesy of Shelly, the Heathen Housewife. :)

It's official! I have a practice!

I've rented a room at the lovely Spirit of Yoga studio to open my acupuncture practice. It's a happy space with lots of massage, facials, etc going on already. Their needler just left so I already have a built-in clientele... and I get to take free yoga and pilates classes! I had my first one yesterday: Today I'm sore in that delicious post-workout way.

PA doesn't require a license for massage, so I'm starting with acupressure and bodywork until my paper comes through. I've bought a table and some supplies, and I'm casting about for a nice dresser to hold my stuff.

Girlie is sharing the room with me, doing her Intuitive Massage.

YAY!!

PRTZL is taking shape

Thanks to Girlie's creativity and boredom, we now have a website!

Knit for Brains

RE: Yesterday's roadtrip: I forgot to mention that you know you're with another yarnoholic when you pass a road sign for "Kitchens St" and you both read it as "Kitchener."

Also, Weird Al should redo "Shiny Happy People" as "Shiny Happy Needles" in my hands... It's a natural! Don't you think we need a good pop anthem to celebrate our increasing world domination?

Always be prepared!

In an effort to gather intellectually wacky friends, we've put together PRTZL: The Philadelphia Resist The Zombies League. Ultra-cool gear here.

I have Yarn-dar!

Today I geeked out with Jas, AKA Artsygal, yarn handpainter extraordinare. First we kettle-dyed some merino sockweight. Then we went by Twist, an LYS on the NE side of Philly. Silk was 40% off... yikes, what's a girl to do? I got some light purple to make a summer cardi. On the way there, I spied a yarn shop that Jas had somehow never seen. She declared Yarn-Dar my superhero talent. We then ventured off to the High Meadow alpaca farm in New Hope. We each scored a fleece for $40. Mine is 4 lbs, hers 5.6! After that, well, there was no way to end the day without a stop at Coldstone. :)

Pinkness

When my dear friend and acu-mate Kate told me she was preggers, I immediately started this cotton feather & fan baby blanket. You can actually catch sight of it in an earlier post, identified only as a mysterious gift. I had my fingers crossed for a girl, and I got lucky. Isabel Rose Keyes was introduced on June 14.

The leftover yarn became foot warmers for the ever frigid-toed Girlie. I was going to embroider a guitar down the sides but she was too impatient. I like the funky picot edging.

And don't drive tired, either.

Jacqueline's story here.

Pirate Room, In Progress

I had hoped to get the room more complete before I showed it off. The remaining details are taking longer than expected since we're working on a shoestring budget. I'm going to felt a parrot. Also in the works: Glass floats, charts, more netting, a cutlass, lanterns, a masthead, some rope, etc. We're also going to tin foil some padding under the treasure to make the chest look full. The bottles were found by Matt as a child. Mr. Bones is now holding one.

I had been working up an Arabian Nights concept for the bedroom, but Matt wanted to go Gothic. Alia (she's so brilliant!) came up with a Knights Templar compromise: It blends Middle Eastern design motifs with a Byzantine aesthetic.

Heather: Fear not, the master bath is still Spongebob!

Gettysburg, Take 2

This is Girlie. She was having a discussion with #322.

The Mother's Day Project

Ann Landre has organized a unique tribute to our troops. Hundreds of crafty girls around the nation are stitching the name of one woman lost in Iraq. The names will be sewn together into totes, which are designed to raise awareness in the general public as they are carried around town.

She says it best:

The [...] purpose of The Mother’s Day Project is to draw attention to the human cost of the Iraq War. While the parameters of the Project focus on women who have lost their lives serving as part of the Coalition forces in Iraq, it is not meant to exclude recognition for others who have lost their lives due to this war. Male soldiers, men, boys, girls, infants and Iraqi women have died in the thousands. They are all worthy and deserving of our attention. They were all part of the universal “us.”

This war, more than any other in my lifetime, has been removed from the collective psyche of our day-to-day lives. What we see, what we know and subsequently, what we feel is tightly controlled. [...] The Mother’s Day Project, in making the losses of war personal, changes forever the sense of disengagement.

She played dirty pool and sent me a woman sharing my name. That really made me cry.

Chief Warrant Officer (CW5) Sharon T. Swartworth, 43, of Virginia was the regimental warrant officer for the Judge Advocate General Office, based at Headquarters Department of the Army, Pentagon. She was on a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that was shot down Nov. 7, 2003, in Tikrit, Iraq.

Bathroom

I know, I stink. I promised you photographic evidence of my new abode and I failed to deliver. Most of the rooms are still taking shape (okay, not the walls per se, but the decor) and I want to wait until I'm done. As a preview, here's the main bathroom. Pay no attention to the splotches on the monkey's face: I just had a shower and those are my wet tracks.