I Found Some of the Promised Photos!

    I found some photos that I had promised to post when I found them. First up is my 3rd tattoo. At the time, I couldn't find a photo of it, but last night I found a good one!

 

   Remember the post about my dad? I couldn't find a good photo of him. I asked my daughter, following her advice, I checked all her photos on facebook. It turns out that she had a pretty good one there! And here it is for you to see! Although he usually had facial hair. I prefer that look! And the baby in the photo is my daughter Sara, she must have been about a year old.

 

 

And lastly, at least for today, is a photo of my favorite baby blanket to make.

 

 

  This is the one I shall be making for Sara's friend. I did have a thought though. Maybe instead of making it all pointy, I shall make it in the round. No points. I will have to think on that one, probably ask Hubs' opinion. This is also his very favorite blanket.

Crochet Project Update and More

    Well, you may be glad to know that I figured out Kim figured out where I had gone wrong with my crochet project, and it has since been remedied and the first part finished. Here is what it looks like!

    I have started a second one, but it's different than this one. I feel that if I were to make another one exactly like the first, right after finishing the first, I would just lose my mind. So I started the first of another pair.

    I was supposed to have company today, to go swimming. But when I texted to see if they were coming, I learned that Cherub was fighting with her mother, and mother didn't feel that Cherub deserved to do anything she might enjoy. I totally understand that logic. It's like: You talked back to me and were very bad, now let's go swimming!! Kind of rewarding bad behavior. So I swam by myself today for a while. Here is what I saw from one corner by the fence:

    That building is empty, it belongs to the local water district. They used to have offices there. It's right at a bend in the creek.

    Then this is the view from my Queen Chair, looking across the shallow end of the pool.

    That's my lemon slice float. I used to have an orange slice too, but it's gone missing. Underneath is Hubs' mattress float. This hasn't been a very good year for our poor pool. First we had a hell of a time getting the chemical balance right, then Hubs had double ear infections, and I got a new tattoo. One more week until I can sped some serious time in the water.


    Not only did we have a hard time with the chemicals, but we had to get a new pump too. The old one, which wasn't all that old, began making loud noises last summer.  It was even worse this year when we turned it on. We had seriously considered just filling in the pool, we'd discussed it for two summer seasons now. I'm concerned that I'm the only one that really uses it. I know it's a lot of work for Hubs.


    I guess we are committed to at least a few more years now, since he spent the money and got a new pump... And he might be willing to get a new liner too.


    In closing, I would like to point out that when considering getting a tattoo, don't get it in the summer. Especially if you like to spend lots of time in the water!

I've Hit the Wall, Knitting Wise

    I sure have. I screwed up my lace stole project a few days ago, and haven't figured out yet where I went wrong. I haven't frogged it, I still have hope that either I can figure it out, or my friend the knitting expert can.


    In the meantime, I have been crocheting. I'm trying again to do the skull colorwork potholders, from the Stitch n Bitch Crochet, The Happy Hooker book. I tried once before to make these for my friend, but I wasn't happy with how it looked. Since then I have watched her make some, and decided to try again. So far, I am happy with how it looks. Even though I'm using my least favorite hook, the size G. This hook size, I consider my nemesis.


    So for now, I am crocheting. I will post photos of my progress. I am really not too happy that to make the potholder, I have to make two of these fracking things. Grrrr.

    And for a double Grrr, as I am looking at the photo, I see the eyes are off center, which means I have to frog the last row that I did. I didn't notice until I looked at the photo! Oh well, at least it's not a whole bunch of rows...


    Tattoo update!! It has now been 8 days since my tattoo, and the last little bit of crust has finally come off. It's still itchy, and I'm still lotioning the shit out of it. I know it seems early, but I have always healed quickly. I am told the color looks awesome. I can't see it myself without mirrors. I think I'll ask Hubs to take another photo of it.


    Crap, I see it's almost midnight. I better get my crap assembled and publish this, or it will show up with tomorrow's date!!

I Found a Great Pattern!

    After searching Ravelry, which has waaaay too many patterns available btw, I finally found a pattern I thought I could do! All this happened last night. So I downloaded the pattern, found a circular needle, and set to work!


    The pattern is called Easy Lace Stole, and it's from Arlene's World of Lace. I cast on the 61 stitches, and did the first four rows to get me started. I am looking forward to this one, as I have yet to master lace knitting.


    I put the pattern on my little stick drive thingie, and have to take it somewhere and have it printed out at some point. I also put the pattern in my documents on my laptop, so I can take my laptop with me babysitting later, and still work during nap time. I will take a photo when it's further along, so you can see how it's coming.


    As for my new tattoo, it's healing up nicely. Today I start applying the lotion to it, according to the directions I was given. Yesterday, I washed it gently three times, and patted it dry with a paper towel.

Introducing Tattoo #4

    I thought I would start by reviewing my first three tattoos. Number one is on my right shoulder, and looks like this:

    I got that one for my 40th birthday, so it's been there a while. The second one? I wanted one I could actually see without using mirrors, so I got this:

    It was supposed to be filled in to look metallic, but I never got it finished. I made the mistake of watching, and almost passed out. That one is on my left wrist. A long time ago, I wore a bracelet that looked like that. I missed it, so I had it recreated.


    The third one, I can't find a photo of. It's on my right forearm, and it's the Chinese characters for Never Again. Hubs has the same one, in the same place. It's about 2 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. And yes, there's a story, but it's a private one. We got them on Hubs' birthday, but we can't remember which one! But it was the last one I got.  Until today.


    OK. I am now home from getting my new tattoo. I am also ready to kill hit him. He keeps slapping my new, sore tattoo and telling me that Cookie told him to slap it, that it would help set the colors.

       This is the only photo my beloved Hubs took. I keep reminding myself, he's just a stupid boy. This photo was taken before any of the colors were added, it's just the black outline and shading. But it's cool, right? I like it very much. Of course, I haven't seen it yet, really. Only in a small hand mirror, too far from the big mirror to see it very well. I will check it out later, in the bathroom mirror.

    

Searching for a Pattern and Other Stuff

    Since yesterday, I have been searching for a pattern to knit. I have looked through most of my pattern books, magazines, and patterns I've gotten from free pattern sites, mostly Knitting Pattern Central.


    I've even looked at crochet patterns. Nothing is speaking to me. In the meantime, I will continue working on the shawl. But it's getting  b  o  r  i  n  g. Which could be why I put it down in the first place.


    This morning, when I went to sit for the Cherub, I took my camera and completed Arachno Shawl. She had agreed to model it for me, so I could show you a good photo of what it looks like. This is what I got:

    Apparently, she decided she wasn't into it this morning. I will try to find another model, or maybe just lay it out on the hood of my Jeep. It's really not big enough to suit me, I think if I want to make it "Kim" big, I would have to double the amount of cast on stitches. I'm thinking that doing the cobweb pattern for the border on that many stitches would drive me over the edge.


     So Hubs is finally asleep, I think, after having to work a 5th 12 hour shift in a row. To say he wasn't happy is an understatement. But it's over now, and I get to be with him for two nights before he goes back for his three night week.

 
    And tomorrow is new tattoo day!! Finally!!

I didn't lie, I was mistaken.

    I did end up knitting yesterday. I notice that because I said in the title that I wasn't knitting, about half as many people read my post. HA HA we fooled them, didn't we? Those who did read it know that I ended up saying I would knit!


    It took me a long time to find the shawl, but when I finally did, I worked on it for what seemed like hours. It's so long at the top now, I only did four rows. I counted the stitches as I knit the last row, and according to my counting, there are 352 stitches.


    I greatly enjoy watching the color progression in this yarn, and how the stripes are getting thinner as it grows. I sort of designed this one myself, I knew it would be big, so I didn't want a point at the bottom. I started with 9 stitches, I think, and did garter stitch for several rows, doing a YO after the first stitch, and before the last stitch, on every other row.


    Then I started doing a seven stitch garter border, with stockinette in the body, still doing the YO's every right side row.  It's funny, but when I pick it up after a long time, I forget to do the first YO on the right side. So it'll end up being uneven, but I don't think it'll be too obvious. I like the rounded bottom. I still have quite a bit of yarn left, I can keep going as long as I want to.


    One of the labels in yesterdays post was babysitting. I had intended to talk about babysitting, but didn't get that far. I have off from my regular babysitting job on Monday and Tuesday. That means I don't have to worry about daddy being late on Tuesday, which might make me late for my Tattoo appointment! Only two more days until my new tattoo!!


    I've been thinking, I might be getting a little old for tattoos, so this might be my last one. But I've wanted this one for so long, and I got gift certificates for Festivus. I just hope Hubs takes good photos.

Plans Changed, What We Did Instead!

   I hate when it happens, but Hubs changed his mind about going to cousin Gary's house for the pig roast. I realized about noon that he was inventing things to do, so as not to attend, so I let him off the hook.


    The good news is that we ended up going to Kingston, to Sam's Club, and bought some cool stuff. All of it was absolutely essential, believe me. Except that they didn't have any Kindle Fires. But that would've been essential too. Essential for my happiness!


    First we went to Pop's Tattoo Emporium and showed my idea for my tattoo to Cookie, my favorite tattoo artist, and friend and bandmate of my favorite son-in-law.
My appointment is on Tuesday, August 7th at 5 p.m. I have already asked Hubs if he will take some photos, since it's not exactly feasible for me to take them, of me getting my own tattoo.


    So look for that post! I'm very excited about it. I've decided to get this:

   I am just not sure what colors to fill it with! Here is what it looks like with some color, I'm thinking purple and red...

   
    What a difference some color makes, huh! I would want the circle red, and the rest in purple. I think. I don't have to decide until after the outline is done, Cookie says. So there's no rush.