I have a pattern!

And I have fabric!

Okay, these were not my first choices after browsing the Joann's website but I'm getting more excited about this whole project as I look at it.  I'm using the blue version in the middle of the picture.  I'm going to lengthen it and maybe add some gores into the skirt to give it some more fullness and body.

The fabric I chose is more plum than purple, but I think it will work out okay.  I'm going to overlay the bodice with this sheer, pre-beaded fabric that's a tad sparkly.  Depending on the length of the shirt I'll add the leftover sheer as tooling on the hem of the skirt.  All in all I think it's going to be quite nice.

I'm going to stay up a bit longer and see about cutting out the pattern, maybe the muslin and sew the mock-up tomorrow night.  I need to find dark plum piping if possible...

I got a silver yarn - yes silver - and if I have time I might knit a silver wrap to go with it - but I don't want to get too industrious about this!

Okay, so I have to say that yesterday when I went to do my daily poke at the NaNo site, when it came up with the Site is Down page - I think I squealed for joy.  Yes, I squealed.  There wasn't a whole lot to be happy about yesterday, so if that simple thing made me happy - don't judge me!  You see, every year they pull the site down, do general maintenance, clean out the forums and get ready for NaNo whatever the next year is.  I'm really excited because this is the first year I'll get to do it; I've had my eye on it for a while but it just never happened - but this will be the year!

On a positive note - some of the deluge of unfortunate events of Wednesday, most of them have turned around to something either positive, or a bit more manageable.  My car is fixed! New battery solved it and I just had to go back for them to reset the Jeepies computer and all was well.  My dad's surgery is still going to happen, but now I at least understand what it's for.  He went for a sleep apnea test earlier this year and this is one of those preventative measures they're taking for him; they're basically going into his throat and mouth with a blowtorch and will remove stuff.  Fun, huh?  He's going to be out of commission for like a week.  My sister, as it turns out, doesn't really need us there though I would like to support her in court.  I just simply can't afford to go down there.  I hate that, but that's how it is.  My mom's talked about driving down just to be there for it and coming straight back. 

And my AC is fixed.  That's actually a funny story.  I worked from home yesterday and had all the window open and my "ghetto" box fans on so it was cool enough - thank goodness for this "cold-front"!  I finally started going over to the office to check in with the people there and at like 5pm she looks at me and says, 'But he was just inside your apartment - he said he fixed it!'  As it turns out the poor guy went to the wrong apartment and had already left for the day.  He actually turned around, came back and fixed my AC - and I proceeded to play freeze-out with myself and watch the latest episode of The Office and knitting more.  I bought this pretty teal yarn - yes, I have an obsession with teal - and if I like how the scarf turns out I think I'll go back and buy a bunch of it so I can use it later to make a blanket or something.  You see, my bedroom is teal and I don't exactly have faith in the Urban Outfitters comforter/quilt I bought two years ago holding up for many more.  I'm thinking I can keep the teal thing going on a bit longer if I can solve that problem myself.

I also learned that I have no idea what to do with circular knitting needles.  I sort of gave up until later when I can hopefully either find a better on line tutorial or else find someone who won't charge me an arm and a leg to teach me knitting.

Tonight Courtney, Amanda and I are going to go see Couple's Retreat; it's a hard pick to choose what to go see! Whip It comes out tonight as well as the movie about lying that I think I'll love and Zombieland!  Doubt I'll get to see them all in theaters but it's still exciting!  Since we're going to a late showing I'll have time to swing by Joann's and look at the fabrics and patterns I need to for the bridesmaid dress.  I have a goal of actually working out tonight and getting up at a semi-early hour tomorrow to start the construction process - well, at least cut the freaking pattern pieces out.  That always takes far longer than it should it seems.

I finally got a callback from the volunteer department at the church; I am set up to go do my volunteer observations/orientations for the Youth Ministry department and the Media department Saturday night and Wednesday night respectively.  All in all this is shaping up to be a slightly busy weekend!  I normally go to Saturday night church anyways, so sitting in the control room is no biggie; I'll probably get bored, honestly.  I've seen cameras and operating rooms before so 'eh. Sunday morning is the single's service I'm looking forward to and Sunday afternoon is out bi-monthly church small group that I'll be going to for the first time.  I'm excited about all of it!  Of course I'll need to get sewing done in between all of this and whatnot.  I'm sure I'll post pictures of stuff from my phone and whatnot.

So I didn't really think to share this one but I was hungry for lunch today and didn't really have anything left as far as the veggies I'd eaten with this hamburger and decided to do this dish and figured I might as well share it.  True - it doesn't really look very appealing, but it tastes good - at least to me!  I first made this probably when I was in jr high or high school and it's just been a good staple item since then.  A list of ingredients is at the bottom.

I took some ground beef I had left over; normally I use a whole role or half role of ground beef if I'm making it for myself.  I like to make it for weekends as a one dish serve all for lunch and dinner to last me till Monday.  Brown meat in a frying pan as normal; I like to add just enough BBQ sauce at this point to just lightly coat everything.  This gets the flavor into the meat better and keeps it more moist longer.  I like to add Garlic Powder and Onion Powder, personally, in addition to salt and pepper.

Once the meat is underway, start in on the rice and blackeyed peas.  Follow normal instructions for the rice; I normally cook two cups of rice to mix in with the beans and meat but you can add more or less as you desire.  I usually cut the amount of butter down to a single teaspoon, personally.  I like to drain the blackeyed peas before cooking and after.  I usually get a can of plain, simple peas - no ham or jalapeno style for me!

Now it's a waiting game.  When the meat is browned, the rice is fluffed and the beans have been warmed up I try to get as much liquid or grease off of all the ingredients as possible.  I strain the beans and wash them in hot water, and pour the grease into my old pea can to trash later.  In a large, pyrex glass bowl I combine the rice, beans and meat, give a few good stirs and then pour on the rest of the BBQ sauce.  I like a lot of sauce, others don't so there's no real rule as far as how much to add.

And that's it - Cattleman's Casserole!  It's not much to look at - but it's filling and good.  :)

Ingredients

• Ground Beef
• Instant Rice
• Blackeyed Peas
• Butter
• Salt & Pepper
• BBQ Sauce
  
• Garlic Powder (optional)
  
• Onion Powder (optional)

Utensils

• Skillet
• Two Small to Medium Pans
• Strainer
• Three Mixing Spoons
  

So two things first....

1. It's Banned Books Week.  Did you know that? I didn't!  That truely surprised me.  If I had known I probably would have participated or something.  Unfortunatly most of the week is now gone... I'll put it on my calendar for next year!

2.  Free Theater Night kicks off in October.  I'm fairly excited about this!  I'm lucky I live in the metroplex where there's a lot of options but apparently there's not shows everywhere.  However, should you live around some of the areas where there are shows - make the most out of this opportunity!  The one show I want to see however is on a Thursday - which is our weekly Office watching party.  Maybe we could skip it and watch the episode online instead after going to the Watertower Theater.

I did not get over to the fabric store because I walked out, got in my lovely Jeep - and it didn't start - at all.  Now if you known me long you're probably acquainted with my multiple car issues.  This time I was actually completely cool, calm and collected; that NEVER happens.  Normally I cry, freak out, etc.  This time I pop'd the hood, poured some coke on the battery, called a friend - Courtney Rocks! - who could spare some time to come help me and got my hands dirty.  I got a jump and my jumper cables literally come apart - but the car started!  Courtney follows me to Wal-Mart and we get the battery changed and do a bit of grocery shopping.  We set off on our seperate ways and I call my mom - and realize my Check Engine light is still on; great - more care issues.  I'm hoping to take tomorrow as a work from home day and get my car in a shop.  Now I'm on the phone with my mother and I learn that my dad is having surgery - a rather serious throat surgery at that - the day before my sister's court date.  My sisters mother and her husband cannot be in the courtroom or anywhere near it.  However, someone needs to take my dad home from the hospital and someone needs to be with my sister - thus my mom and I will have to split up and do the family duty.  I nominate myself for a guilt-free five minute pity party.

So I said in my last blog that I would look into the whole Rachael Ray recipes and what not.  I spent a few minutes looking over her site and printed off like nine recipes I'm going to be trying!  I think the first is going to be the Maple-Bacon-Monte-Cristo... Is it lunch time yet? Nope  :(  Oh well!  Going to cook Tilapia before The Office and document it so I can share with my bachelor friends  ~__^

I started reading Bitesize Theology; the concept of the book is what hooked me.  I've had dreams about retiring from whatever I do for the next 50 years and teach like at a community college or something elective courses.  I want to try to write up like an every-day person's crash course in Theology and whatnot.  Like what stuff looks like in the real world with real people language that anyone could understand.  Of course this is coming from me who does things best with a hands-on view so if this ever actually happened - you just know that would be one crazy class!  Maybe I should write a book? Nah - I'm not scholarly enough.

Anyways - I'm going to eat dinner, do some stuff and we'll see what happens.

Okay - so I got bored and did this. The first one on the left I like but... I don't know. I'm struggling with how to embellish it. I need fabric to speak to me.

The second one is growing on me, though I feel that it might look strange covering up my shoulder tattoos only partially. The design of the dress is really growing on me.

The third one, on the top with the sash I like - but strapless? I don't know.

The fourth, on the bottom is what I'm slowly leaning towards. It has a halter-top tie, and a toolish looking bit on the bottom. There's some pre-beaded fabric on the Joann's website I want to go look at.

My plans for tonight got canceled so I'm toying around with the idea of going to look tonight instead of this weekend. If I can just cut the muslin and work the fabric this weekend that would be great instead of stressing over going and getting everything and FINALLY getting to it - that idea's getting more and more appealing....

I need the brides oppinions! She's going to hate me texting her and bugging her - I just know it!

And I also saw some silver lame yarn on the web - and yes, the idea of knitting a silver shawl HAS entered my brain... Not sure if I will or won't on that point. Need to make the dress first and foremost...

I made a pot-holder!  Well, really what happened was that while taking stock of what I have as far as yarn and what I have to try making a beanie out of - I ran across this.  I think I started it as a scarf but um, completely forgot about it, who it was for and everything.  So I ripped out a few rows, finished it and here we are! A very tightly woven pot-holder.

I'm starting to think I may be making my stitches too tight a lot of the time; I hold onto the needles really hard and am always tightening stitches and realized at work that my knuckles sort of hurt.  I don't think they're supposed to.

I intended to start the beanie cap, but realized I needed the circular needle thinggies... I'll have to pick some up and just work on my 'blanket' for now. It's well over a foot in vertical length and I tried counting stitches; it's more like 150+ stitches - eventually I just lost count.  Basically it's a lot of yarn.  I should have knitted different squares really and just pieced them all together.  Oh well - I'll know better for the future now.

And I watched the latest episode of the Tool Academy; oh my goodness!  It's trash TV, I know, but it's great just for the drama, crazy stuff that happens.  The latest episode was all about the guys learning to appreciate their girlfriends and oh my goodness!  The guys go into an outrage and trying to fight some of the crew, destroy stuff - it's just so nuts!  The guys get the taste of their own medicine having to watch their girlfriends taken out on a date by a 'true gentleman'.  They don't see that it's fair turn around, they just growl and throw a fit about how it's so unfair to them.  Such an interesting show...

So while taking my morning off work, I happened to watch the Rachael Ray show - I don't think I've ever done that.  I was intrigued by her cooking and that this chicka's going to do a year of Rachael Ray recipes because she's inspired by the movie Julie/Julia that I have yet to see.  Anyways, I poked around her recipe archive and was thrilled to see she has a picky eaters section!  She's speaking to my heart...  Anyways, I think that I want to pick out some of her recipes and try them.  I should try cooking new things - my cooking's getting a little predictable.  I'm probably going to be cooking up some Tilapia tomorrow night for our weekly gathering to watch The Office so I might see if there's something new and exciting I can do to it.

Now for a bit of my nerdy side.  A friend of mine watches this show called Kamen Rider - and to be quite frank I used to mock him to his face and secretly about it.  I mean come on - live action battling 'monsters'? Super dumb.  However, one night I was bored and watched an episode of the Den-O season and I've been hooked ever since.  The new season, called Kamen Rider W (here on referred to as W for short) just started at the beginning of the month; we're three episodes in as it has to be translated before links go up.  The new season fills me with a huge sense of nostalgia as it reminds me so much of when I used to play Dick Tracy with my friends growing up.  The two male leads - I love.  The female lead - I hate; she's so freaking obnoxious and like nails on a chalkboard!  I'm enjoying this season though; last season with Decade was a bit of a let down - even though I left off like half way through and have yet to finish it I've been told I'm not missing much.

Either tonight or Saturday I will make the trip to look for fabric for the bridesmaid dress.  I have an idea of what I think I want to do in my head but it could require a lot of work and I may just end up taking the border to one of those stitching shops and get them to do the embroidery and not do it myself - but that's if I go with that plan.  I need to see fabric first!  I plugged in the reference swatch she sent me for reference.  As far as I can tell it's either straight up acrylic or some sort of blend, a bit course.  If I can find this particular fabric I'd completely line the dress with something more comfy - it's also going to be December in Oklahoma so I'm considering lining whatever I make so I don't freeze; if the wedding's in the church I remember - I have distinct memories of freezing through a service already.... I don't wanna be a brides-maid-ice-sculpture or anything. Hmm, I hadn't even asked about shoes - what kind of shoes we're supposed to wear makes a lot of difference too.... *goes to text the bride!*

Went to a friend's place last night and I got the worst heart burn I might have ever had.  I have a weak stomach so it's not surprising that I woke up ill to my tummy this morning.  So I took off the morning from work and am currently still in PJ's, on my couch, wearing my new NaNo hoodie, kick'en it with my Chinchillas.  :)

I studied JGibson's Simplest Cap of All pattern and I think with the help of knittinghelp.com I might just be able to muddle through it on my own.  I also found a knitting shop that's between me and my best friend, which makes it all that much easier to get to - plus they're open late a few nights a week which is so much better for me as the other shops I could only get over for a Saturday morning.  I'm going to muddle through it tonight hopefully and see if I can't figure it out.  I still have some of the Vannah White yarn in pea green and some in navy I can use on a tester to see if I know what I'm doing.

Okay, so I got the fabric swatch for my friend Danielle's wedding.  This wedding is a lot of DIY, which I love and hate.  Love because it's my best friend's wedding, hate because I'm going to obsess about making the dress simple and perfect and comfortable.  I only have until the last day of October for finishing it because I'm doing NaNo and I don't need the weirdness of trying to finish a dress and write all those words at the same time.  I still need to figure out where I'm getting the fabric from, and the parameters; she wants us to all dress differently.  Here's the problem - I don't like following patterns.  I spent a bit of time looking through a few websites and dresses and I've picked out some that I feel I could do in purple and layer with some sheer material and perhaps spruce up with some beading or something.  At the bottom are some pictures I'm leaning towards.



(on the left) I don't really know that I like how I think this black dress would fit; it looks interesting on the dummy, but I question all that sheer layering and whatnot.  I think it would end up looking like a bag if I made it.

I like the very simple design of this dress (on the right) ; I picture it in a deep purple, the skirt lengthened and perhaps a simple border on the hem.  Not even anything special, just a satin, ribbon border.



(on the left) This one - for sure would need a longer hem.  I think I'm more drawn to the idea of embellishing the collar - though I have to think about my tattoos and that a lacy neck frill like this would just overpower my top half.

And this next one (on the right), I think just really drew me in on the neckline and the interesting shoulder-wing looking things.  The cinched waist has me a bit leery just because I gained weight and I really don't know that this would look good on someone who's not a twig.  Just being honest!  While I really like the overall design of it, I do question if it would be a good idea considering a huge factor to me is comfort.

Next up (on the left) is a simple, V-neck dress with a hemline I feel would be more comfortable for me.  I might have to tighten up the V, the wedding's very conservative and I anticipate being very busy and I want to wear something I feel comfortable working and wearing and what not.

I looked around at patterns and found some that could work.  Some of them, like the Butterick 4443, I feel like I own this pattern already.  It wouldn't surprise me; the dresses are all fairly nice, you could make several from these patterns by using solids or prints and whatnot.  However, it's not exactly what I want - but I like it well enough I might see about getting it to have for later.  I need a better organizational system for the few patterns I still have and will probably buy.  The McCalls M5001 is one I'd use in a heartbeat - if we were using a shimmery fabric.  I think that in the matte one that's been selected it would just look like a big grape.  I need to talk to Dani and see what her feelings are on embellishing the dresses.  The McCalls M5879 might just be the pattern I use!  I like the one in pink - picture that in purple, with maybe some satiny purple ribbing on the neck, arm holes, and hem.  Maybe some tool on the bottom, and I could see me doing some light embroidery in a similar shade of purple just because I think it could turn a very simple dress - absolutely fabulous - but again, I need the brides okay!  The McCalls M5833 is sort of similar, but has an added, strange thing in front I might like - I need to see a pattern to really figure it out, but it might be a backup if the M5879 doesn't pan out.

All in all, I'm ready to tackle this project so be ready for more to come!

Well, it's 10:00 am, I should probably think about doing something with my morning; like shower or knit or clean the Chin cage or something ya know?  More to come later on my sewing and knitting craziness!

First - I dislike when lunch comes around and I'm not really hungry - but I know I need to eat now or not at all. There's very little left in my apartment to eat and just about nothing besides overy-sugary granola bars that fit for breakfast so I scampered into work today without anything in my tummy besides some lovely tea.  An hour and a half into the work-day I was totally drooping and in a meeting and recalled - I hadn't eaten! Well duh I was going to loose gas to power on.  So I grabed one of the incredibly yummy-yet-totally-not-good-for-me Chocolate Muffins - 600 calories, thank you very much!  I'll just promise myself that tonight I'll ride the bike before I head over to Courtney's for an impromptu girl's night.  Should be interesting to get through all that Cowboys traffic - I'm sort of dreading this...

Anyways - onward!

I think I've talked about this a few times before  :P  Actually - I know I've talked about it, but I have yet to talk about my knitting goals or anything just quite yet.  I'm still learning but thanks to having read The Friday Night Knitting Club I poked around and actually found two knitting shops in the metroplex; granted getting to either will be a task for a Saturday a piece as they're sort of restrained as far as the hours - but oh well!  Both websites lead me to believe they have people there who are capable of helping someone who needs some pointers!

While I want to be able to knit lots of cute things (such as adorable Marvin dolls from Hitchhiker's Guide, courtesy of OhMyStars.net), I'm going to focus on functionality for the time being.  I have a friend that aspires to have dreadlocks again and his birthday isn't for many more months - which leaves me time to learn how to knit hats and make him a rasta hat!  Granted in my search for the perfect pattern I've found quite a few I want to learn to knit just for the heck of it!

Something like Calorimetry would be a good first step; my hair's getting far too long to put into a hat and this design would allow me to keep my head warm and not fuss with my silly hair.

I think anyone who knows me knows that I like old things made new; the Chapeau Marnier pattern makes me think of the 20's or something.  I don't know that I'd actually wear the hat unless I cut my hair, but it's super cute and I want to learn how to make it!

I could see me making the Couvercle hat for other people, and maybe one myself!  But mostly for like guy friends or my brother Patrick; I think he'd dig this hat if I made him one.  He's partial to grays, which I think this would do great in a charcoal.  We'll see....

I have yet to find a good rasta hat pattern, but the one on Knitty for the Pecan Pie Beret looks awfully close; lengthen the bulk of it and it could work.  I'd need the advice of someone with more experience.

Anyways, I've also had it requested by a few people I learn how to make socks or knitted slippers so after I learn hats I'll see about footwear...  I also saw a nifty pattern somewhere for a laptop cozy - which doesn't look particularly hard and I think could be a useful item to know how to knit.  I'm not sure but my left hand might be swollen from all the knitting yesterday - then again it could just be that it's the same hand I broke and never went to see a doctor about; the knuckle's never looked right since then!  It doesn't hurt or anything, it's just a bit bigger.

Also going to set aside time over the next few weeks to do some character and world building for my NaNo; I think I have a really great idea but if I don't have a good foundation for the world or who the characters really are it'll flounder.  I need to give everything depth so that when I'm grasping for straws I'll have something to leap to; some explanation of why the social or religious system works the way it does.

I've realized my default time on Blogger is all sorts of not correct, but I don't have time to figure it out.  Lunch break almost over! Gotta scram.

So I made the decision that to conserve money I was going to really stick around my place this weekend with the two exceptions of going to church Saturday and Sunday.  It's been interesting, I sure come up with ways to entertain myself.

Friday I had this idea; I was thinking about ways to make money and that I should try to use the best tools I have.  So why not make money from something I like to do? Writing.  Now my idea is a bit scary but it's worth entertaining.  My idea was to do a devotional book; yeah - crazy huh?  I don't normally like devotionals most of the time because they aren't really applicable.  Everything seemed to be aimed at ages younger or older than I.  It's an idea I want to let stew; I won't have the time to seriously study and devote for this until next year.  I called Dani and talked to her about it and how I could incorporate other people I know, their experiences, and tap into their viewpoints to give it a very wide and interesting flavor.  Ultimately it would be aimed at people around my ago.

Other than that I've been writing a bit and watching TV and making total use of my Netflix and knitting.  I did have a run in with another one of those freaking huge roaches; currently it's trapped under a candle car in the middle of my livingroom because it's still alive.  Yes, I'm wimpy when it comes to these roaches; they're huge! If it doesn't die soon, I'm calling Billy and I'll let him deal with it.  :P  He did offer!

I did learn that the Tool Academy is back for a second season!  It's another one of my terrible, horrible tv show that I get pulled into liking.  I don't kow, maybe it's just how watching it makes me realize there are people like that out there.  I just watch it for the train wreck it becomes at times; towards the end last season the last few episodes I watched got less drama filled, but it's still very entertaining.

Apparently I'm knitting a throw, or maybe it's a full sized blanket.  Either way, I'm not quite sure.  I have this huge thing of run of the mill acrylic yarn and some time ago I started knitting it; only I knitted like 100 stitches on a line! Yeah.  That's quite a bit - equates to about a 66 inch long strand.  Yup - a little over five feet.  It's going to take me ages to get it done, and even then it's not exactly soft and cuddly, which is why I'm thinking that if I keep it, it should be a throw blanket or something.  Perhaps I should give it away.  I wanna find some chocolate colored yarn to do a border and perhaps tie in some of it here and there; light blue and chocolate - good combo, right?  Doubt I'll be done with it anytime soon but it'll be a fun winter project to haul around with me.  Eventually it'll be nice and warm to work on in the winter.  For now it just makes my left hand hurt holding all that to knit it.

Watching the second season of Dexter now - have I ever mentioned how messed up this show is?  Yet I still like it.  Go figure!

I was laying awake in bed last night for a short period and came up with an interesting idea for a short story.  It could possibly be a novel but I don't particularly want to invest in this story all that much.  It's not my preferred style and would require a lot of research to make it believable so I think I'll gloss over the details and make it a short story.

The whole idea centered on the thoughts I was having at the time; as a girl - I ponder possibilities of my future, doing something fun, new or exciting, meeting Mr Right, and so forth.  Well that's where the idea started.  I have a silly crush on someone I hardly know and I very much doubt there's any substance to the interest but I can't really squash it so it's there and I think about the possibilities sometimes.  This is where I branched off into the story-teller "what-if's?"  The idea centers around a woman who is so submerged in her imaginary fantasies with these people she doesn't really know that when one event happens that crushes her, she begins to take everything out on these real people - who are not the people she has imagined them to be.  Ultimately it's a mystery, crime-solving type of piece that will be interesting to write once I have the characters and perspectives penned down but that'll probably be my weekend project after I finish some other odds and ends.

I am working on being more faithful through tithing to my church.  There's a lot of stuff I should do better but I really felt convicted about my finances - which I stress over regularly if you know me at all.   I'm not particularly money savvy and I know it so I am over cautious that I don't become careless to the point you probably don't realize I"m terrible with numbers.  Confused yet?  LoL  Anyways, I tithed first and payed my bills second and I'm not worried about lasting until my next paycheck; it'll be okay regardless.  I know everything's taken care of and all I really have to worry about is making my food last and even then I am pretty sure I have enough food in my pantry to last me.  Now that the hot months are over my electricity bill should be lower at least so that'll give me a bit more wiggle room - right?

So this weekend will be spent at home knitting the bit of yarn I have at my disposal, finishing Code Geas hopefully, the second season of Dexter, my new Mercedes Lackey book, and cleaning up my place - well, doing laundry - Amanda came over and cleaned with me.  I am super grateful to her and Courtney; they're awesome friends.

OH! I found a dead roach this morning - they're dying and I'm celebrating.  Am I a terrible person?  I need to probably scrub down my counter-tops tonight and I'd like to disinfect my floors.

Regardless, this next seven days will consist of a lot of staying home and being lazy - which after the last few weeks - I'm okay with.  I should also get back to working out.  Might even try out riding my mom's old bike!  *gasp*  If you never hear from me - I probably had an accident.....