Celebrate Burt Day!

BEETS FOR DWIGHT

I'm a huge fan of THE OFFICE (US Version). I love the show so much. A few months ago I was browsing the patterns on Ravelry.com when I came across a pattern for a beet.

That's right. A Beet.

This beet pattern just happens to be a pattern written by my favorite knitwear designer, too. Norah Gaughan. I love her. Her patterns are gorgeous!

Now if you watch THE OFFICE, you know that Dwight Schrute (played by Rainn Wilson), owns a beet farm. I'm already in the Ravelry fan group for THE OFFICE. Currently, there are 2,240 members. So I thought to myself, WOW wouldn't it be awesome if I can get as many fans of THE OFFICE that knit, to knit a Beet For Dwight! I'm usually not one to toot my own horn, but it's probably the best idea I've ever had. Maybe even the only good idea I've ever had.

So that's when I decided to start the Ravelry group, Beets For Dwight. My ultimate goal is to get fans of THE OFFICE that knit, to come together through their love of the show and of Rainn Wilson and his character, to knit 100 beets. I will then send these beets to Rainn Wilson.



So far there are 90 members. Not a bad start, but we can do better. Just after about a month of doing this, I've received 4 beets so far. One more is on the way. And I just found out that one member knit 5 beets and has sent them out to me too!

Here's a pic of what I have received so far.



I'm sure that with enough support we can reach our beet goal!!

The Norah Gaughan beet pattern can be purchased online here. Or you can check at your LYS to see if they have the pattern, too. Support your LYS!! (Mine is KnitPickyYarns.com)


Or, if you're looking to save some cash, two of my Ravelry friends (and fellow beet knitters) have written a Free Knitted pattern AND a Free Crochet Pattern as well!

They can be found here and here. Although you'll probably have to join Ravelry if you haven't done so already, to view the patterns. Joining is also FREE!!!

So, if you watch THE OFFICE, or know someone else that is a fan, and they just happen to knit also, please let them know about Beets For Dwight. And hey, maybe you are a fan of the show but you don't knit. Wouldn't now be a great time to learn?!?

BEETS FOR DWIGHT!!

Baby Bobble Cardigan

Finished!

Pattern

As some of you know, Mother's Day isn't a particularly happy day for me. If anyone that's reading this has lost their Mother, than you know what I mean when I say that this time of year is hard. The media, TV, sale ads, etc ... bombard you with Mother's Day ads, and just rub it in your face. I miss my Mom enough already without being reminded every 10 seconds of the month before Mother's Day that she's not here, and that I won't be able to get her anything.

SO ... how do I make up for being sad and angry and annoyed at all the attention given to Mother's Day?

I buy myself stuff instead! I've splurged WAY TOO MUCH this month. My credit card is going to come back and bite me in the ass, I know (it's happened before so you'd think I would have learned from my mistakes) But NO.

Thanks to QVC for this one.



The Edge 500 Manual Treadmill. It's manual. No power, or motor. You just get on it and walk and as slow or as fast as you go, your motions move the belt. It was odd at first but I got use to it. It's on a constant incline (which can be adjusted 3 different ways, but I have to use the easiest one) so it feels like you're walking uphill always. Just 10 minutes on it and I'm already sweating and feel like I've really worked out! I'm really happy with it!

Next up is my new bike.



I saw this at Target and just had to have it. I needed a new bike. This is just a cruiser, so it's perfect for just biking around the neighborhood. I've only been able to go riding once since I've gotten it, but I really like it, I just hope I get to use it more! Plus, it was one of their "Breast Cancer" items so I feel even better knowing some of the money went to charity.

I also treated myself to a pedicure!




And last ...



I already have Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely perfume, which I bought a few years ago. Patrick is allergic to it, so I don't wear it that often, but I saw that she had come out with 3 new fragrances and I had to check them out! This is the one I loved the best. To me it smells like fresh soap with just a hint of roses or something like that. I love it!


So to those of you that see me on a weekly basis, if I'm not around for awhile it's because I'm either walking or biking, somewhere with my new perfume, or crying over my credit card bills.

Amanda's 30th B-day Party!

The party was so much fun ... even if I did make an ass out of myself with the karaoke. But Kim and Susan has us all laughing with their rendition of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" & "Old Time Rock and Roll".

Totally unrelated to knitting ..

I just applied to FTTC. I'm freaking going to college. At the earliest it will be in 2010. Maybe not until 2111. But I'm going to go.

New photos of the Lush & Lacy Cardigan and the Cable Hat.

Finally got the buttons on the cardigan and wore it to BIRTHDAY Knit Night!
The cake was yummy ...
the Champagne was yummy ...
and the gifts were yummy!

Lush & Lacy Cardigan

Pattern: Lush & Lacy Cardigan from SweaterBabe.com

Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton

I had a lot of fun making this one. It knit up SUPER fast. This is the first piece I've knit (for myself) that I had to seam together. I think my seaming skills have improved some since the last time I had to seam. There's always room for more improvement in that department for me!

EXCELLENT yarn! This is a more cost efficient alternative to Cascade 220. There are 247 yards per skein, 100% wool, VERY soft, and not at all itchy. Not as many colors to choose from as Cascade 220, but still quite a few. Great stitch definition, too. I would totally use this yarn again!

Garter Stitch Loop Through Scarf

From 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders

Yarn:
Blue Ridge Yarns Silk Shimmer

Norah Gaughan is my Favorite Knitwear Designer

I have fallen head over heels in love with Norah Gaughan's patterns!! They're flawless. Everything is so flattering too, which I LOVE. Here are a few that I'm dying to knit up someday ... I'm seriously adding all of these to my Ravelry queue. Well, okay, most of them have already been added for quite awhile. And I will knit them all, OH YES, I will knit them all.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Made with lean ground beef, fat free cottage cheese, low-fat mozzarella cheese, spaghetti sauce, and lasagna noodles.

IT WAS YUMMY!

New Photos of the Wicked Witch

After wearing it out, finally .... I think I like it ... maybe if I lose about 10 more lbs. it will fit better.

I've been doing HORRIBLY with WW lately. Something is always getting in the way ... However, at least I'm cooking a lot with my Slow Cooker, and using the healthy recipes book I got. Even if I'm not counting my points so much ...

I got my new Crock Pot book a few days ago, and last night we tired our first recipe with it!

My Crock Pot is about 30 years old. We found it in the cabinets, in the back when we were cleaning out cookware a few years ago. My dad remembered it, but said it was never used. You can tell it's brand new just by looking at it. My mom had a larger one, that she used to make baked beans in, but we got rid of it because it was so old, and held on to the new one. It's only a 3 quart size. so we were limited on what we could make. Most of the recipes in the book require a 5-6 quart size.





So we decided to make Meatball Stew! It's basically just meatballs (ground beef, onion, and bread crumbs) hand-rolled, browned in a skillet, then added to the CP with carrots, celery, beef broth, etc. We made the noodles later when it was ready to be served. It was in the CP for about 4 hours. It was so yummy! And we have a ton of leftovers, which I've already had for lunch today.



However, since my CP is only a 3 quart size, and I want to be able to make whatever I want in it, I just had my hubby go to Kohl's and get me this:



They were on sale for $29.99! It's a Hamilton Beach Stay-or-Go 6 quart Slow Cooker. I can't wait to try another recipe!

My Lace Ribbon Scarf Hates Me

I started this scarf a while back ... put it down for awhile because I lost interest, then a few days ago I picked it back up again, determined to finish it before starting another project. So of course it's just my luck to completely screw something up in the pattern, and since fixing something with lots of YO's is nearly impossible, I ripped the whole thing out! I haven't decided yet if I'm going to try it again. I LOVE the pattern. It looks so gorgeous. Maybe I'll try again. Here it is before I murdered it.

I hung out with my friend, Kenan last week and finally got to give him his scarf. He loved it!!

I really miss Kenan. I rarely get to see him. We've known each other since we were little. He was best friends with my brother all through school.

We had dinner at Five Guys, then went to the pitiful Circuit City for awhile to see if they had anything good. And they didn't. What a pathetic store. No wonder they're going out of business. Even with everything on sale, the prices were still higher than Best Buy! Last, Patrick met up with us and we had coffee at Brew Nerds, while playing the "Every Other Oldies Song That Comes On Is One We've Never Heard Before" Game. That's when I got this snapshot!!

Let the joyous news be spread, the Wicked old witch at last is dead!!

Pattern: Wicked

Yarn: Cascade Sierra

Online Shopping

Stuff I just got from Amazon.com:

FIX-IT and FORGET-IT LIGHTLY : Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker



I've really been wanting to start using my crock-pot lately. I found this cookbook at Target for like around $18, but I got it on Amazon for $13. It's got all the Nutrition Information in it, so I can make anything in it and count my Weight Watchers points, too!


I also got Freaks and Geeks - The Complete Series on DVD! I've been wanting to get this forever. It's one of my FAVORITE TV shows, even though it got canceled after only 18 episodes.