The proof is in the pudding.

Warning my dear Stalkees, this is a picture heavy post. Click pics for bigger views.

Have you been to See the latest figures for Dulaan? No?? Then run over here and check it out. I'll wait. Go on.

Impressive ain't it? And mine is just getting into the mail. I'm going to overnight it so it makes it on time. Yeah, I procrastinate but you know this about me so just get over it. And I have pictures! Hooray! First off is a shot of the 3 fleece blankets going.




I'm a bit pissed about this because there was supposed to be 4. Somewhere in the last 5 months I have lost an entire fleece blanket. If you saw my house this would not surprise you. It sure as hell doesn't surprise me. On the plus side, I'll find it in 3 days and it will just become the first piece for next year. Stubborn ass blanket.

Next is a picture of the entire pile that is headed for Arizona, then to Mongolia.



In the group we have 9 hats, 3 blankets (dammit), 2 scarves, a fleece coat and 3 pairs of mittens. So 18 items in all. Not too shabby. (Under the table is my Lhasa Apso, Alex. He's not going. He's momma's boy so he has to stay with me.) And no, I didn't make it all myself but that's not the point, is it. But I did make some of it and I have pics of each. Hooray!

Here we have a Ken Hat a la Harlot and a matching scarf. I used 3 strands of yarn in 3 shades of green. I loved how the colors turned out.



This was my first ever knit hat and it was fun to do. I didn't have any DPNs in the house so I improvised by using straight needles and just moving the stitches back and forth. It worked, don't knock it. Next is the Pinwheel/Butthole Hat by Norma Dear made using a strand of pastel variegated and a strand of light purple. It's all shimmery. Oooh.....aaaaah.



Then, having made said Butthole, I of course had to make the Half-assed Hat and I used the 3 shades of green from the Ken Hat and a strand of the light purple from the Pinwheel/Butthole Hat and, well, the picture kinda explains what I did. This was fun because it was my first ever color change in knitting and it prepared me for Sophie. I really like how this one turned out.



And here it is folks. All 17 (Update: 18. There were 18 items, you twit. Not 17. Stop it!) items minus one Lhasa Apso all wrapped up and heading for loving homes across the big pond.



That's a wrap!

This isn't a house....

Oh well thank the powers that be, it's still June. I would hate to have only one post for the whole month. And I'm not the only one. I've noticed on a lot of the blogs (well, Except Norma's. Norma Dear posts like clockwork. Dammit, Norma.) that it seems like eveyone is a bit behind. It just seems that June has been a too much to handle for most of us. If this damn month would end we could get on with our blogging lives and do things in a timely manner. There have been moves, medical crisis's....crisees....crisisses...uummm....medical issues to deal with, families to deal with, online gaming to deal with and animals to deal with, which brings me to the title. (Neat how I came back to that, eh? Eh?)

I don't live in a house. I live in a wildlife refuge with decent mortgage payments. I came to that conclusion this weekend. I know. I can hear it now. "Why, Dear Stalker, how ever did you come to this conclusion?" Well, I shall tell you, shan't I. It's why we're here, after all. My adult life started off with one dog. One adorable half Shih Tzu, half Lhasa Apso named Shu Shu. And she is, by the way, very, very Shu Shu. A total priss of a pooch. So unlike me it is unreal. When Shu Shu was 8 years old, her life took a humongous turn for the weird and she ended up with a new daddy and a new home cuz mommy had to go and get married. When T and I married, we decided to celebrate our union by getting a puppy. Yes, most people buy new furniture or have babies, but we are so not most people. Enter into the picture, Alex.

Alex is a full blood, AKC registered, papered and all, Lhasa Apso. We now have an apartment with 2 people, 2 dogs. All is right with the world. Sorta. Shu Shu hated Alex. Alex was all young male and all dog. Shu Shu did not care for either of the two and a combination was almost more than she could stand. She spent most of her time hiding from him. And that was ok by us because we weren't sure what to make of Alex at first. Alex was the only male of his litter (we bought from a well known Lhasa breeder. We don't do puppy mills or pet stores) and when we got to the breeder's house, he was nowhere to be seen because he was at the very bottom of a female pile. They didn't pick on him, he just didn't care. No, really. So, we got him out of his pen and he followed us all around the yard. Too cute. Home he goes.

We get him home and I am sitting on the couch playing with him, then I go to set him down. Well, when I set him down on his haunches, I was expecting a normal puppy thing of falling forward and running off. Alex sat there for a moment, folded in half and fell on his side. "Oh shit, we bought a defective dog! It's that or I broke him! Honey come quick!!" Thank goodness I was wrong. He's just that laid back folks. My mother calls him soup in a dog bag. If you pick him up he goes completely limp and every bone turns to Jello. It's a bit disconcerting at first, but you get used to it. He's very cuddly. You just have to watch him or he'll slide right out of your lap and land on the floor with a resounding 'thud'. He's so trusting. Gives me the heebie-jeebies some times.

Fast forward to six months later. Shu Shu goes into heat for the first time in 2 years, Alex all of a sudden isn't so...uummm...not gonna go there. Seriously. Let's just move on. At 9 years old, Shu Shu gives birth to her first litter of puppies. 4 puppies. 4 of the cutest little things that Shu Shu wants nothing to do with. She was a birthing pro! She never whined. Never whimpered. Never even groaned. She just pushed when necessary. And then ignored them. Hubby and I had to take them out of their birth sacks and clean them up. Hubby and I had to hold Ms. Priss down so they could eat. Hubby and I decided that we were keeping the first born. Enter Saoirse, stage left.

Saoirse is Gaelic for freedom and that is so her personality. Saoirse is pronounced "seer'-shah". You're welcome. Saoirse is the cutie pie in my first post. Feel free to "ooh" and "ahh" cuz we still do. Now we have 2 people and 3 dogs in a slightly bigger apartment. Things aren't so bad. Then we decide 2 years ago that we really need a house. Ok, I decide we really need a house, Hubby decides I've lost my mind. We get a house. Now, I've looked at real estate up North and you people are outta your damn minds. My house could easily sell for close to $200,000 up there. That's crazy! Granted, we got our house really cheap for down here too, but jeez people come on. We have a 2 bedroom, 1½ bath, 1472 sq ft., one car garage and a car port. All of the rooms are large because there are only 5 real rooms in the house. The computer room is just big enough for 2 desks and the bathrooms don't need to be big. This house cost us all of $55,000. Oh pick your jaw up. Our mortgage payments are $535 a month and that includes insurance and taxes. Anyone wanna move closer to Ye olde Stalker now? Huh? Huh?? Like I said, not bad for a wildlife preserve. Enter Penny.

Penny has been posted about. You guys all know the story. 2 people, 4 dogs. We'll move on. Enter the mouse. Yes. I have a mouse. Just one that I can tell and he's a brave little bastard. Here I am, sitting at my computer, playing Guild Wars, of course, and the bastard runs across my hand. Across my hand!! I did what any self respecting person would do. I freaked. I told T that this little nasty critter had run across my hand and his response? "It's ok honey, we're in the middle of a mission here." Yeah, I'll give you a moment to read that again. He's lucky his mission isn't to find a new place to sleep. Now this mouse has run across my hand 4 times now. And at one point he peeked out between the desk and the laptop and I yelped. The mouse squeaked. Behind me I hear "Aww baby you scared him!" Who's house is this anyway?

So Saturday I'm firing up the grill to cook me and hubby some very yummy vittles. Everything is oh so tasty from a grill. I reach for the lighter fluid and get attacked. No, I don't know what attacked me but behind the lighter fluid and the lantern out there is a nest. With 2 little spotted eggs in it. There are birds breeding in my laundry room. I give up. I'm moving into the backyard.

Remember me?

Yeah it's been a week. There were barbecues to attend and the world's most lethal bbq baked beans to make and devour and soooo much brisket and potato salad and oh sweet deity the desserts. Anyone else hungry now?

So nothing has been going on. No, seriously. I have allowed myself to become immersed in Guild Wars this week. Not that it wasn't bad before, mind you. I have been playing this game since last October but it was in beta testing and could only be played one weekend a month. Now it's live and it's sucking up every free moment I have. Granted, this game went live in April and it was pretty consuming then. Of course, most of you are sitting out there not really giving a two bit shit about Guild Wars except maybe my new friend Lee Ann (Welcome to the blog, Ms. Hotwheels!) who is getting sucked into World of Warcrap...errmmm...Warcraft. (It's a friendly poke. Calm down. Tell Spiff it's ok.) She'd understand how consuming it is because I think, like me, she has lost her DH to it. It's rather difficult to work yarn while spellcasting and healing and making sure that next group of monsters isn't sneaking up on you. Not to mention trying to keep an eye on chat and deciphering all the leet speak. For those of you not conversant in leet, it looks a little something like this:

Player1: OMG WTF u n00b! u suxx0rz. u m@d3 m3 di3z!
Player2: OMG LOL u g0t pwned. that b0ss pwnz u
Player1: STFU n00b. my s\/\/0rdz > you O_o
Player2:LOL GG Cry

Which translates roughly into:

Player1: Your inexperience has caused my character to pass away.
Player2: Wow, I can't believe that high level character killed you so quickly.
Player1: I don't appreciate you implying that I am not a good player. I should take my high level sword and kill you.
Player2: Oh you are too funny. That would end the game and make me sad.

Yeah, it's pretty hard to find players who can string together a coherent sentence. Sadly enough, you get used to it. It actually cracks me up most of the time.

In yarn news, I have nothing, I repeat NOTHING, on either hook or needle. I have boxes of yarn sitting in there neglected. I am at a serious project block. I have no WIPs, no UFOs, and nothing in mind. I need an intervention!! I don't make sweaters cuz ummm....well it would just take too much yarn. I really should be making more stuff for the Dulaan project, but I have so much stuff to find boxes for now it's insane.

I was trying to use my leftover Cascade 220 from Sophie to make a small argyle pillow. I suck ass at argyle. It's loose and frumpy and not at all appealing. I have no idea how to hold 3 strands of yarn to get it done. I can knit and purl, people. So, I am taking drastic measures. I am going to teach my self some serious knitting just like I did crochet. A Sampler Afghan. *Dun dun duuuuuuun* I got myself a stitch a day calendar thingy that I saw on someone's blog (I don't remember where, but you know who you are and this is all your fault.) and I'm gonna start making squares, I think. No, I am not gonna make 365 freakin squares. Although, they might become dishclothes for friends and family because I may not wanna join all those damn squares. You know the reasoning behind that. Don't make me go there. But I did the same thing to learn crochet. I made all these different granny squares using the same 3 colors and it made the most beautiful afghan. It went to my MIL. I really need to get a picture of it and post it. The edging is gorgeous. You'd like it, I promise.

So, am I in a rut or what? What's the solution people? The first one who says socks gets banned, I swear. Should I work on my technique and make squares for afghan, future gifts? Should I take my lazy ass to my LYS and get the silk I was talking about and make a shawl? Should I cast on the mohair/wool blend my MIL gave me and learn lace? (Yeah, she rocks. I'll give you a pic of it later.) Suggestions welcome, the threat still stands. :)

Hope everyone has a good day!