I'm engaged!

Since I don't want to retype the story yet again, I'm going to give you a link to what my fiance and I wrote for our page on The Knot

If you're not feeling like going to the link...what it boils down to is that even though I had a little knowledge that he had been looking at rings, he still caught me off guard in his proposal and I loved it. It was very cute and memorable :)

Headaches

Boo for headaches. I have had them as long as I can remember...going back as far as early elementary school. I've had lots of things checked out and tried lots of different things but nothing seems to work. Or if it does, it doesn't work for long. It might be easier to get help if I only had one type of headache. But I don't.

I get migraines occasionally, headaches caused by clenching my teeth at night, tension headaches, stress headaches, headaches from too much sugar or motion (aka my "sick" headaches), cluster headaches....

Trying a new medication but it doesn't seem to do much at all. Went to a chiropractor for a while but seeing as insurance didn't cover it at the time and like everything else, it stopped working...I had to give it up.

Now though, I have better insurance so I am going to try out physical therapy. I've been told by my current doctor that this person has had a lot of success helping people with headaches so I'm crossing my fingers that she will be able to help me help myself.

The reason I say it that way is because I am certain that at least a percentage of my headaches are caused by something that I am either doing (and shouldn't be) or that I am not doing (and should).

I've reached a point where I don't know if I should even bother taking ibuprofen or other otc pain medications because they really don't seem to help 99% of the time. Getting neck/head rubs helps but I can't always get those when I need them even with my absolutely fabulous boyfriend being willing to help me out.

They have gotten to the point where its seriously affecting my life. I have to plan around headaches or take them into account when I want to do something. I've learned to just power through them most of the time but that only works for things like my job...its harder to keep going when its something fun because I get cranky and miserable.

Here's to hoping that PT will help me out! First two sessions this week--Thursday and Friday.

Seriously too cute!

Raynor of Jelly Bums is constantly outdoing herself! If you didn't know, that's the person who designs the patterns of the super cute animals I have been knitting and sharing on here. She occasionally does free patterns and this one just takes the cake! Seriously...its a dino suit for the stuffed animals. Can it get any cuter? If you have suggestions for other outfits, why don't you let her know on her blog. My personal suggestions are akin to the patterns I have seen for Sheldon the Turtle- pirate, cowboy, superhero....the ideas are endless!

Presenting: Eloise the Elephant

I am not listing Eloise tonight because I need better lighting but I was so excited to finish her that I at least wanted to post some sort of picture. So here she is!

Some more of the Coming Soon....

I just finished a recycled yarn dog (same yarn used for Odette) and I am currently working on a purple elephant. I think after Eloise the Elephant is done, I want to try a penguin. Sorry, just normal colored for the first one though.

Seriously?!

I know I live in Minnesota....specifically really far northern Minnesota. That's not good enough reason to be getting snow flurries on the 16th of May! I think this is the latest I've ever personally seen snow in the air. But then, I'm not originally from northern MN. I spent most of my life central and southern. But seriously...May and snow? NOT COOL!

Anyway....today there was a community rummage sale....I found some old worsted weight wool yarn 4 or 5 skeins for $2 and some Bernat Softee Baby yarn along with other stuff for another $2. So I was thrilled with that. Love finding yarn for cheap!

Also bought a cool book on doing miniatures. Not in knitting, but still. I'm fascinated by miniature stuff.

For my next moose...

First moose was normal colors with purple eyes, one I'm currently working on is normal with green eyes....but I want to do a moose of a different color. You've seen some of the yarns I have. What color combo should I do: dk pink/lt pink, dk blue/lt blue, dk green/lt green or some color combo that is not a dark and light of the same color?

I guess I don't have any real incentive for you to post right now, but if I choose your color combo...we can work out something :)

Coming soon...

I'm currently working on a dog made with the same reclaimed sweater yarn as Odette Octopus. I have everything except the arms done (my least favorite part since they're so frigging fiddly)

Additionally I'm working on a green animal...I haven't decided what it will be...the body for most of the animals is the same so I have lots of choices. I'm thinking another dog but maybe a monkey? Or maybe a green moose? What do you think I should do. I also have patterns for a lot of other animals as well.

I'm an alternate for a Treasury!

I have yet to be featured in a Treasury (at least to my knowledge)...but for the second time, I am an alternate in one! I'm almost as excited for that as anything.

For the longest time I had no idea how to even find out if I was in one or not. And then I didn't know any way without scouring the lists looking for the star indicating you were in it...and then I heard about Craft Cult and Craftopolis. If you're just looking for Treasuries that you are featured in, Craft Cult will do the trick...and it also lets you know how many people have favorited your shop (and who) and how many have favorited what items. Craftopolis is mostly for dealing with Treasuries, which is why I forget to go there...but it lets you know if you are an alternate in someone's Treasury which I think is neat.

I'd really love to create a Treasury or two of my own but I just don't seem to be on the computer at the right times. But I can tell you what I'd probably have the theme as....something along the lines of repurposed/recycled stuff..since that's what I do when I'm not knitting (well, even sometimes when I am!) I'd probably feature something by itsourearth, zJayne, delightfuldeceits, JeansAndaSweater, ElephunksTrunk or one of the myriad other shops that have really cool repurposed/upcycled stuff that I am totally envious of!

More new critters!

Finished the moose this morning but he still needs a name, as does the blue monkey (also finished this morning. Any suggestions?

What's new

Thanks to Raynor Gellatly of Jelly Bums I now have a super cute moose pattern. He's mostly done...just needs a tail, and one more ear and arm.

I'm almost done with a monkey the same color as Duke the Dog ...should be up at least on here in a day or two.

I finally got my hippo commissions finished,

as well a Daisy Dog to join Duke!

Recycling Sweaters

I went to the other thrift store today to see if I could find any unravelable sweaters (is that a word? unravelable?)....and I found three! So yay for that...it means that more of my stuffed critters can be repurposed yarn from sweaters. This website has the info that I used to figure out how to do this, and which sweaters are actually worth attempting it on. Its great...it cost me $1 per sweater....so for $3 I have loads and loads of yarn either for stuffed animals (with the unknittable scraps being great for stuffing) or for whatever other things I can think of. yay!