Nichole D.
Albuquerque, New Mexico

I currently live in New Mexico with my boyfriend and beautiful daughter in The Retro Palace. I'm currently a student double-majoring in Cosmetology and Architectural Drafting. I spend what little free time I have knitting, crocheting, sewing, and almost any other project I have time for. I do occasionally eat and shower, but only if there is no knitting to be done.

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Friday, April 28, 2006

I'm still here!

Sorry it has been so long since i've posted, things have been pretty busy! The move went well, now it's just trying to get everything unpacked and get settled. I've been holding out on a full-blown blog until I find the camera. Just thought I ould let everyone know that I am still here...

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

New Goodies and Moving

Okay, I know it has been a few days, but it was a holiday weekend, so there. The fact that we really did nothing for Easter doesn't matter. Actually, Sunday was our only day that we had to to sit back and relax. We spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with James' sister, who was in town from Wyoming, and the rest of his family in the area. I love them all to death, but after 3 days, you really need a break. Although they are crazy and overwhelming at times, it was a lot of fun.

It was kind of weird not doing anything for Easter. My family in Minnesota goes all out. In the morning, we have egg-bake and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then we search for our Easter baskets and the 100 or so little chocolate foil-wrapped eggs my mom hides everywhere. No, it does not matter that all of us are over the age of 16, and yes, we usually are finding well hidden eggs until Christmas. After that, we head over to my Grandma's house for a big dinner. But before dinner, she gives us our Easter baskets, and then we have more egg hunting. This time, though, they are the bright plastic ones, and they are harder than hell to find. My Grandpa practically buries them. All in all, it is a lot of fun. I really missed that this year. Although I am excited to start our own traditions for Easter next year with our daughter! Joie got some cute new toys from Great-Grandma, and James and I got a gift card for Target- here are pictures of our new goodies!

Joie with her new toy
Joie and her new toy


New shoesies! Originally $23, I got them ( a steal!) for $5.75!

New Shoes

New nail polish- the colors are Polyester Pink and Big Apple Red.

New Nail Polish

And some really cool bookmarks that hold photos! I have pictures of Joie almost ready to put in them- I think I might get some for my mom, too.

New Bookmarks


I've been making really good progress on the Wrap Dress. It is a lot easier than I thought it would be! I'm not so scared to knit myself something now. If only I could afford the yarn... I still have yet to cast on Wheelie again. I'm scared to, I think. Or maybe it's just that I really haven't had any time to. Either way, I think it is going to have to wait until after the move to be picked up again. Speaking of which...

Holy hell! We are moving in 3 DAYS!! I am excited. I really need to finish getting things packed up, though. It is a bit hard to do when I have Joie taking up a lot of my time. I have more time in the evening when James is available to hold her, but I usuallly reserve that time for knitting. If I don't have a little time to myself every day, be it for knitting or painting my toenails or whatever, I go a little nuts. Or a lot nuts. I'm sure those of you out there with kids understand! Everyone can understand the need for some "me" time. I am really excited to move, though. I know it will be absolutely insane, but I love getting settled into a new place, finally unpacking the last box, going shopping for all those little things you need around the house. On that note, I should mention that I probably won't blog again until next week. Things are going tobe really busy here, and then in Albuquerque. Wish me luck! ( Oh, and if you want to help us move in, we won't mind...)

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Friday, April 14, 2006

Progress and Parties

Last night, James' sister got into town. We all got together at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame for dinner and drinks! (yes, that was the party I was referring to. Lame, huh?) I had a wonderful marguerita and split a burger with my hunny-poo. Joie was pretty fussy, but we dealt with it and stuck around for a few hours. It was a lot of fun! Although I would be okay with a home cooked meal here pretty quick, even if I'm the one who has to cook it.

Progress on the wrap dress is going really well! I've now finished the back completely and have moved on to the front- I think a hear marching bands in the distance! (that might just be me going crazy, though. One never really knows.)I'm really enoying watching it progress, and I'm excited to see it finished on on my wee one! I think once I finish this and we get moved, I'm going to try and focus on sewing her the four or so more outfits that I had planned to make her for the summer. The patterns are pretty simple, and if I work on it consistently, I'll finish one in about 2 days. I miss sewing! It's been a month or so since I have sewn anytihng. I should really patch some of James' work pants, too. But what fun is that?!

The move is only a week away now! I'm excited. Not that excited about all the packing that I have left to do, but hey, it needs to be done. I think I am driving James a bit crazy, because I am trying to limit what we buy now, especially groceries. That, and we really have to watch our budget to make sure we aren't poor for the first week or so that we are down there. I think that I have it all pretty well planned out, though, and we should be completely fine!

I'm excited to meet all the Stitch n' Bitchers soon! I'm not sure if I will be able to make it the first week- I feel kind of bad leaving James with the baby on his second day of commuting an hour home after a hard day of work. I think I'll give him a week to get adapted first. Well, from the sounds of it, I have to change a diaper- hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Knitting and other Good Things

Last night, James so kindly took Joie with him when he went out, leaving me alone in the apartment for almost 4 hours. What insued was some relaxing knitting heaven! No hurrying to finish a row because she's crying, no rocking her with my foot until my leg feels like it's going to fall off, no losing my place in the pattern because I had to stop to pick her up- just 4 hours of loverly, uninterrupted knitting! I made some really good progress on the wrap dress, and am now working the armholes. It's exciting for me, never making clothing before, but also a bit boring, because the pattern is soooo simple. I really expect fireworks, and maybe a marching band when I finish a section and move on. But alas, I am disappointed repeatedly. At this point, I'd settle for a golf clap from James, or a reasuuring coo from Joie. Anyways, here is another fun picture- click on it for the groovy annotated version! Moving on...

My Knitting Mess

Joie and I went to the doctor's office yesterday for a well-baby check-up. first off, I would really like to say that I HATE our clinic. Thank God it was the last time I'll have to go there. The doctors are really great, but the clinic itself sucks. Here's why:

3:25- arrive at clinic. ( appointement is for 3:30)
3:30- get signed in and sent to the waiting room.
4:20- complain that I have been wainting in the waiting room for almost an hour, get told I will be called next.
4:35- finally get into a room after watching 4 other people get called ahead of me. Nurse weighs Joie and checks her heart, breathing and temperature. Tells me Doctor will be right in.
5:15- doctor comes in, looks at Joie, talks with me for about 7 minutes, and we're done.
5:25- get screaming Joie packed into carrier and wait in line to drop off one stupid paper.
5:30- in the car.

Ridiculous, yes? Let me state again- thank God I don't have to go to this clinic ever again. At any rate, Joie is fine ( we were worried about her weight a bit after a concerned family member brought it to our attention that she thinks the baby is too small and not eating enough. She's in the fifth percentile for weight, hardly starving.) So there, insert concerned family member name here! ( I really do love said person, and they were just worried, as it has been an issue in the past with the family- plus, said person is a little nuts. So it's all okay.)

James' boss is treating us and the other people from the shop to Il Vicino for dinner tonight- yummy! I'm more excited because I won't have to cook. Although you will never hear me complain about free pizza, either. Hopefully Joie will behave- I'm going to try and get her well-fed and happy before we have to go, but she is notoriously crabby around this time of night. Also, I'm missing the new episode of Top Model, but I can catch it next Tuesday night. On that note, I'm quite excited to get our digital cable with DVR when we move!

Here's a fun little meme that I picked up from January One- you do a Wikipedia search of your birthday, sans year, and pick three events, three births, and three deaths from that date. (Don't be scurred- you know you want to do it too!)


My Birthday- October 14th


Events

1. 1582- Due to the implimentation of the Gregorian Calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.

2. 1912- While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, former president Theodore Roosevelt is shot by saloonkeeper William Schrank. With a fresh flesh wound and the bullet still in him, Roosevelt still delivers his scheduled speech.

3. 1968- The first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft occurs on Apollo 7.


Births

1. 1890- Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. General and 34th President of the United States (d. 1969)

2. 1894- E. E. Cummings, american author (d. 1962)

3. 1939- Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer



Deaths

1. 1977- Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (b. 1903)

2. 1990- Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor (b. 1918)

Also, it is World Organ Donation Day! Woohoo!


So that's that! It's kind of interesting to check out, even if you don't post it on your own blog.

And now, because I can, here is a picture of my little girl, sleeping like an angel. (currently she is not sleeping like an angel, she is screaming like a banshee, which means it's time for me to go!)


Sleeping like an Angel

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Monday, April 10, 2006

Oh yeah...

I forgot to mention that I didn't make it to the Craft Night on Friday- I couldn't really justify spending the money for gas with how tight money is at the moment- the move coming up and all. I was bummed about not going though, and am still really looking forward to meeting everyone in a few weeks!

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Aaah, Mondays....

Yes, it is Monday once again. I'm not a huge fan of Mondays, even though I don't really have to do anything different besides hearing the alarm go off for James in the morning. Still, not a huge fan. Monday is the day that I should (and sometimes do!) catch up on the housework that I neglected over the weekend- today that would be folding and putting away laundry. Also, I should be getting more stuff into boxes, as we are moving next Friday. Yee!

Things have a been a bit crazy in the last few days- Joie has been a bit of a terror. A lot more fussy than usual- we think she is teeething. It has been pretty rough and both me and James. We both have been pretty tired and our patience has been worn thin. Hopefully soon she will calm down a bit, but I don't really see that happening any time soon. I guess one never knows though. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'll ask him what he thinks and if we can give her some kind of tranquilizer or something...

Not much knitting going on this weekend- in fact, none. I did finish the star crochet dishcloth and started another, but ended up ripping back about half of what I had done because I was somehow making weird increases at the edges. I really need to get back to the wrap dress- I think I'll save the dishcolth for mindless keeping busy of hands.

bmmmmmjj bik That was Joie saying hello- she likes to kick at the keyboard when I hold her. Usually she isn't close enough to hit letters, but there you have it. We are off to bathe- wish us luck!

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Thursday, April 06, 2006

I'm a Hooker!

Yes, it's true. I have picked up a new craft. Hooking. Er, I mean, crocheting. heehee! I'm having a lot of fun with it! I was a bit wary at how well I would be able to pick it up, as every time I have tried I couldn't figure it out. I got the hang of it, though, and like it a lot! I still like knitting better, but I like the different texture of crochet. Here is a picture of my first two projects- the square dishcloth is the one I did yesterday- you can see on the lower edge that I started offa bit looser that I finished it- I started out knittin the same way. The other dishcloth is a star shape -I thought I would go for something al ittle more challenging for my second project- that one isn't quite finished, but just a few more rows!


Crochet Dishcloths


Well, although James is a bit apprehensive about me going to Albuquerque to meet up with a group of strangers, I am going to the craft Night with the ABQ Stitch n' Bitch girls tomorrow- yaay! I'm pretty excited to meet them all ( I have been reading their blogs for a few weeks now) and have a few baby-free hours. Tomorrow is going to be busy- I have to get grocery shopping and laundry done too, and James has his painting class in the afternoon, so no help from him for a few hours.

That's all for now, I have a dishcloth to finish!

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Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Life is back to normal.

First off, I am glad to say Joie is all better- her fever broke yesterday and she stopped being so crabby- yaay! Have I mentioned that having a sick baby sucks? Anyways.

I'm making good progress on the wrap dress. The pattern is pretty easy, and right now I'm just working rows of stockinette to get the back part the length it needs to be. I still haven't attempted wheelie again. Maybe once I get this back piece done. I picked up a kit to teach myself to crochet, because I like the way crochet looks and there are a few patterns I have found around the internet that I would love to do, that are in crochet. I'm really excited to do it, but I promised myself that I wouldn't open it until I finished one of the projects I have going now. I have a dish rag on the needles (I love knitting dish rags!) that is almost done, so I figure once I finish that, I can bust open the crochet kit! Hopefully I can figure it out- I've tried to figure out the crochet thing before, with no luck. This kit thingy is how I learned to knit, though, so hopefully it'll be helpful. It's hard for me to learn from someone who already does it, seeing as I am left-handed and do everything backwards. James finds it amusing that when I am looking in a book or online and how to do a certian kitting technique that I have to hold a mirror to all the images. Gets a tad bit confusing at times!

I've been blown away by everyone's pictures of their stash! (For those non-knitty folks out there, April 1st, many knit-bloggers showed pictures of their yarn stash.) I have maybe 6 skeins of yarn that are't dedicated to projects, and all are acrylic yarns from when I first started knitting- my practice skiens, I guess. I can't believe that there are really people with boxes upon boxes and closets stuffed with yarn- it must be sheer heaven! Having that said, if anyone would like to deminish their stash a bit and get this poor mommy some good yarn to knit with, feel free to send anything in your stash that has been sitting there for years, that you hate, that the color just isn't appealing anymore, that you can't think of a project for, that you need to get rid of before buying more yarn, etc. (tee hee!)

On Friday, on of the girls from the ABQ Stitch n' Bitch is having a little crafty get-together, and I think I have secured James as the designated baby-watcher so I can go! I'm pretty excited to meet everyone and have some baby-free hours to knit and be a real grown-up again. Yay!

Alright, I am off to finish this dish rag and see if I an crack into this whole crochet business before nap time is over- wish me luck!

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Monday, April 03, 2006

Sick Baby and Summer Knitting


Poor Joie is sick- she woke up yesterday with a fever, and has been feverish and whimpering occasionally ever since. Sick babies are not fun, folks! It is hard to get much of anything done, because she needs a lot of extra TLC. Hopefully soon though she'll sleep and I can do the dishes and maybe even some knitting. I wish there was more I could do for her.

I got a good chunk of the back of the dress done last night. So far it has been pretty easy! This is the first garment I have ever knitted, and so far I am pretty happy with how it is coming along! I am slightly terrified of the finishing and blocking, but I'm sure that I will be okay. This picture is of my little knitting spot on the couch-click here for the annotated (and more fun!) view.


I am rather frustrated with Wheelie at this moment. I have started it over 3 times because I keep missing stitches in places, and it is really difficlut to figure out where. I haven't gotten more then 4 rows into it yet, and currently it is no more than a thought in my head, because the last time I ripped it back I got pissed at it and decided to work more on the wrap dress instead. I haven't picked it up again yet, but no fear, I will tonight. I think this is a project to do when I can concentrate on it more, not while simultainously playing chess, watching Desperate Housewives, and rocking the baby. Meh.


James and I played some chess last night. I enjoy chess, but I don't play much with James because he always kicks my ass and I get frustrated when I can tell I am going to lose. However, last night I did manage to get him to forfeit, and that's the closest to beating him I have ever gotten. One point for me!

Hey folks! Leave me some comments! I just want to make sure they work and that people can find thi and are reading it and all. Well, at least looking at the pretty pictures.

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Saturday, April 01, 2006

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog everyone! I started this blog here for a few reasons. Mainly, because I thought it would be nice to have a blog devoted mainly to my craftiness. I like that anyone, not just members, can comment, and I like the format a little better. I will still post blogs on MySpace for those who like it there, and will also post updates for this blog on my MySpace blog. I hope I didn't confuse anyone there... So, this blog is dedicated to my crafting. Knitting, sewing, and cross-stitch, and any other crafty endeavors I might venture into. On that note, the bunny is finished! It looks a little 'tarded, but I'm pretty proud of it, being my first time making any kind of stuffed creature. I would like some suggestions on how to attatch the extremitites without it looking all home-made and crappy from all you fellow knitters out there. As you can see, though, Joie likes it!




Here is a picture of it by itself.





Wel, I'm off to cast-on for the wrap dress for Joie- I'm doing it in bright yellow cotton for Project Spectrum this month. Thanks for stopping by to check it out, and I hope to see everyone back here soon- I'll try and post at least every other day.



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