Mike's Frilly Pink Beer Cozy

I thought this deserved its own post:





Pattern: This Beer's For Her by Kate Korotky (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Ummm . . . Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, I think. Yes, it's the same yarn I used for his hat, which I made for his birthday.
Needles: Size 3 Bamboo DPNs.

I don't think I modified this pattern at all (except for the yarn used -- I think the pattern calls for 100% cotton, but I used a cotton/acrylic blend, which is a little more stretchy).

After I had finished my beer cozy, I asked Mike if he wanted one. He said yes. I said, "Do you want one like mine, or do you want a frilly one?" He gave me a "DUH!" look and said, "A frilly one, of course!".

So, I offer up photos of my 6'3" husband with a pink hat, bowling shirt with "Sandra" embroidered on it, drinking non-alcoholic beer from a pink frilly beer cozy, with his pinky extended, because he's fancy like that. Enjoy!

As promised

I want to show off some home photos.

First off, I believe I mentioned that my legs looked like overripe bananas after the move, and I wasn't kidding:



OOOOOUCH!!!!! I don't remember these happening, but it probably came from carrying boxes and/or large pieces of furniture down the stairs from the old house, hoisting them into the truck, and carrying them upstairs to our new place. The bruises weren't limited to my legs:



Seriously, this is how rumors get started, right? I remember someone telling me how she got a black eye, purely by accident, and had a few women come up to her to say that they hoped she got "the bastard who did that" put away. Thankfully, I didn't get the same treatment (my legs from the knee up are generally covered anyway). It's sad that many people come to the conclusion that bruises on a woman = ZOMGABUSE!!!! When I was a kid I got a black eye getting hit in the face with a tennis ball. Shit happens.

What a digression that was, huh? I hope this doesn't cause a whole bunch of wangsty comments. *shrugs* I moderate my comments, anyway, so I don't even have to publish that ones that are wangsty. ZOMGCENSORSHIP!

We've got our Blickenstaffs up:



as well as a few others:



The tree painting is by Larry Woromay, whose name spelling doesn't look right to me. Mike purchased the painting from his widow a few years ago. The Frankenstein photo is a print taken during the shooting of Frankenstein -- that Boris Karloff, in makeup, enjoying a cup of tea.

We've still got boxes to unpack (it's all CDs, which we need shelves for), but we got our LPs set up and my loverly green cabinets all sorted out:



I love that we found curtains to go with the cabinets! Target, baby, Target.

I decided to make a slip cover for our futon/couch:



I purchased that fabric on eBay several (maybe 12?) years ago, along with several other huge pieces of mid-century modern fabric. I never was able to find a good use for them, because that large of a print doesn't always translate well to garments.

The cats had quite a time exploring:





(Psst. . . that groovy pillow there is a case I made with some of that aforementioned fabric score.)



We haven't had stairs at our old place, so the concept of going up and down stairs is fairly new to the cats. Hopefully Ellie will shed some weight.







New sights and sounds are SCARY! We have train tracks close to us, and when the windows are open, those trains can be LOUD.

Don't worry, there has been time for relaxing as well:











Funniest photo ever:



I caught Luciano at the end of a yawn. This should make a great LOLCat.

Closeup:



I think that's it for now. I've been posting so many cat photos that I forgot what I was talking about.

Hey there!

Long time no post. In fact, it's been about a month.

Well, we're in our new place, as of June 19, and what a fun trip it's been! I may have to gather my thoughts to put the whole big fun-time of the move into another post, but here's a good recap:

- Due to a scheduling fiasco with U-Haul, we ended up picking up the truck at 6 a.m. instead of my requested 11 a.m. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the temperature hit 90 degrees that day. We were done by about 1 p.m.

- We did most of the move ourselves. I found out that I am much, much stronger than I give myself credit for. Our friend Jason, bless him and we are forever indebted to him, helped out us on the new house end.

- My legs looked like a week-old banana from all of the boxes and furniture hitting them. I have a photo of them, but haven't uploaded it yet.

- We did not have Comcast (internet, phone and cable) installed until June 29, even though our first appointment with them was the 20th. The fourth time was the charm. It took many phone calls, and we finally got it done, but despite everything they said and despite being in the same city, we had to have a new phone number. (So, if you are reading this and you have recently tried to call us and couldn't, let me know via comment or email at zelia_and_george at yahoo dot com or zantimissknit at gmail dot com. Yes I have more than one email account -- in fact, I have four or five, including my work one.)

- The washer shit the bed the first time we tried to use it. It wouldn't go into a spin cycle, and thus, would not drain, so we had to get a new one. I bailed out the old one by hand. That was fun. We'll probably get a new dryer soon, because even though the one we have does work, it squeaks. It sounds like a giant hamster on a giant wheel.

Okay, so we have had a few little issues with the move and the new place. How about the good? The good is, we do love it. The cats love it (despite some of the first day freakouts and all of the stranger danger from all of the various Comcast technicians and appliance delivery folks coming in). The cats really really really love air conditioning (and I didn't realize how much I did until ours shit the bed last week while the temperatures were in the high 90s and the repair cost $2600. But I'm going to the positive points of the house, so I digress). We were on vacation last week (but it was a "staycation"), and did a few nature walks and did lots of work around the house. Lots and lots of work, but it's still not done. I have been taking photos, but they aren't on Flickr yet, so I will wait and post them another time.

I also set out to finish up the socks I've been working on during my vacation time, and I did:





Pattern: Express Lane by Diane Mulholland (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Purple Fleece Hand Painted Wool/Nylon Sock Yarn. Purple Fleece is a yarn shop in Maine. I got the yarn at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival at the end of April, and cast on at the beginning of May.
Needle size: US0. I used circular needles, and from the photos, it looks like I used KnitPicks.

This would have been a much faster knit had I not been in the middle of a move. The pattern is super-easy, but never boring. The socks are knit from the toe up. I, of course, have not worn them yet besides for this photo shoot, because it's been over 90 degrees for pretty much all of July so far.

I needed a quick and dirty project afterward, so I made myself a beer cozy:



And I, of course, had to test drive it:



Pattern: Bier Hugguz by f.l. ward
Yarn: Sugar n Creme 100% cotton in a burgundy color
Needles: US6 DPNs (I think).

I knit this in maybe a day. The pattern, as written, does not have a bottom on it so I decreased until I had one. I guess that means that mine is upside down. I don't like having beer bottles sweating all over the place, so I needed the bottom to it to work as a coaster. Sure, I could use a coaster (and I do, often), but I tend to bring my beer all over the house with me, and I don't have coasters everywhere.

I've since made one for Mike, using a different pattern, and I'll post that one when I get the photos up. You'll giggle.

It's put me on a beer-cozy kick. I think there will be more in my future. Of course, I have all kinds of ideas bouncing around in my head, and they're bouncing around NOW that I'm back at work and have less time to execute them.

The only other project I have now, on the needles, is my Swallowtail Shawl. I kept saying I would work on it during vacation, but I didn't. If I have time tonight, I'll work on it. I am going to the gym tonight -- for the first time in over a month, I think -- so I may not have time. I also have many many photos to upload so I can give you another house tour.