Spring cleaning!

We've been Spring cleaning here at the casa. T-rizzle cleaned out the garage to make way for the Judge (a beautiful 1969 GTO), which is in need of an engine rebuild. We're hoping to have it done by the end of the Summer so we can take it drag racing again. Fun!! I've been attending to the indoor cleaning, clearing out some space for our impending visitors in the guest room (which meant finding space for my shoes (god I love me some shoes) and clothing, picking my way through the small storage closet (hence the cat pee scented yarn), and doing things like cleaning the ceiling fans and scrubbing the tub. The house is really shaping up. In addition, I've been clearing out some psychic space with my knitting too. In accordance with the 2007 UFO Project, I've decided to frog some projects that saw no end in sight and that has been really gratifying as well. I never realized how those unfinished projects have a way of taking up so much head space.

Knitting:

• As I mentioned before, I frogged my sister's pedicure socks and spit-spliced all the yarn together to make some neat little balls of yarn that are ready to be made into a felted cosmetic case or two.
  
• I also frogged the first sock I ever made: for a number of reasons. One is that I decided to use a three-needle bind-off for the toe (NOT a good idea). See here: It gave it a weird little elf toe thing and also discouraged me from making the other one (that's my story and I'm stickin' with it.). I undid the weird little elf toe and frogged the whole thing. I immediately cast on again, using a four-stitch pattern (the purled ladder) from Sensational Knitted Socks. I've got about two and a half inches done thus far on the sock and I'm already happier with it. Now I can give them to my sister, like I originally planned, or, if they'll fit me, I'll keep 'em for myself. I haven't decided yet. I really like the yarn though. It's got microfiber in it and it's really soft, not to mention vibrant.
  
• I got around to taking photos of the dishclothes I made this past week: and I even took a close-up of one of them for your viewing pleasure: I love how they look and I'll probably weave in the ends tonight and hand-wash them so I can send them out tomorrow or Wednesday to my papa and my oldest sister. That'll knock two family members off the list. I'll have to dig out some more cotton so I can do some more. Simple things like dishclothes can be so much fun.
  
• I took a photo of the nearly finished Titillating TaTa Tube and a close-up of the flowery crocheted edging. If you look closely at the bottom of the second photo, you can see my feet making an appearance. If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know I have a thing for photographing and posting photographs of my feet. They just kinda snuck into this one though.
  

Tales from the Tattoo Shop:

• This past weekend was good at the tattoo shop. The jackass contigent was pretty low and T-rizzle made an appointment to finish up a fairly sizeable piece this coming week. He's booked with appointments for next week and looking at securing a guest spot down in Ft.Myers around the second week of June, so that should be cool. We'll be able to hang out with my mama and get him some more exposure.
  
• The tattoo shop purchased 15 sets of new flash, some of which is actually pretty cool so it'll be a nice change for them to be able to do some cool flash pieces on some people. Y'all should come by and check it out. Allie, get in touch if you are still interested in getting a great tattoo in September. We'd love to have you come on in and share in our brand of crazy. Of course, Travis will draw up something custom for you but you should give him some idea of what you would like to have so he'll have the opportunity to work up a really cool piece for you. If not, we can always recommend a good artist somewhere closer to you.

Partaking in Culture:

• We've made it up to season three of The Sopranos and season three is, thus far, a real downer. Needless to say, we're looking forward to season four.
  
• I tried to watch The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (this old German film) last night and about an hour into it, I still didn't know what was going on so I took it out and put it into the mailbox with the other netflix. I tried, right?
• Did I mention I've been watching The Riches, that new show on FX, with Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver? Travis isn't so big on it and thinks it's basically a low-budget rip-off of Big Love (which comes on again on June 11. I'm soooo excited!!) but I'm all about it. A new episode comes on tonight and I'm looking forward to some good television time tonight.
  
• Lost only has one more episode this season. *insert big sad face here* They signed on for episodes through 2010 so we are having the sinking feeling that it's going to be pretty slow going from here on out. I hope the writers prove us wrong. I'm completely hooked to too many shows. Whatever, right?
• The 400th episode of the Simpsons aired on Sunday and it was hilarious, as usual. I'm looking forward to as many more episodes as they can generate. The movie comes out on July 27th and you can bet I'll be there with bells on.
  

I'm still thinking of organizing a swap so let me know if y'all'd be interested in doing a Swap from Your Stash. Basic details: All yarn you send to your secret swapping pal MUST come from your stash. You can include a pattern, a knitting (or non-knitting) book, or knitting magazine, as long as it comes from your stash or is written by you. Needles and notions should, optimally, come from your stash as well. Anything else you wish to include in your package to your secret swapping partner is up for grabs. All participants will be asked to answer some questions that I'm coming up with and paired accordingly so everyone can get some new schwag while clearing out some space from their stash. It's meant to be easy on the wallet and creative as well. I'll be sure to include some wingmen to fill in for those who don't receive anything or for those who have to drop out of the swap for some reason. Also, at the end, there will be prizes for most generous swapper, most creative swapper, and most WTF swap received. I'll be posting the swap news on a couple of knitting forums to generate some interest.

Well, fair bloglings and blogettes, I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a good week. I'm sure I'll be back on soon as my blogging has been much more frequent as of late. As always, thanks for reading and leave me a comment or two.

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