Claws and Paws: Triangle Tips

I have seen triangle tips a few places, but this recent pin on Pinterest inspired me to give it a try:

I knew that you could use Scotch tape to outline the triangles, so I found some tape and settled down to paint. The results were... frustrating.

Pinspiration: July 19, 2012

I have a lot of projects that are 90% done... and I'm struggling to finish them so that I can show them off! This month has been full of travel, and helping The Boy move into our apartment. I've only been able to spend a few days there, but it already feels homey. Kudos to The Boy for surviving a shopping trip for apartment things!

On to my Pinspiration:

Is This Real Life?

For some time now, I've been thinking about writing a post on being a boomerang child (you know, a child that went off to college and graduate school, and then came back to live at home with her parents). Maybe part of why I kept putting it off was the uncertainty of my future. While I enjoyed being back home, I was ready to move on, but not sure how to do so. This is a tough time to look for teaching jobs, especially in Pennsylvania. Today, I'm happy to announce that I finally have a plan! While I love my hometown, I'm excited to be moving away and living in a new place.

This past year was full of choices (actually, potential choices that I stressed out about). I loved my school district and coworkers, but the district isn't hiring for the jobs I want. Meanwhile, my boyfriend and I were getting tired of being in a long distance relationship, and looking for ways to close the gap. I felt I had to choose between being financially responsible and taking jobs in Pennsylvania that weren't my favorite but provided steady income, and being happy by moving to my boyfriend's city and continuing a scary job hunt. I asked my coworkers to all move with me so that I could keep them as coworkers and see my boyfriend, but something about having jobs, spouses and kids made them say no. Hmph.

I finally decided that I should take advantage of being a young adult with nothing holding me in one place, and move! Last week, my boyfriend and I signed a lease for an apartment in Arlington, VA. It's near the metro, so he can get to work easily, and the area has a lot of public and private schools (please hire me!). We're excited because our landlord is renovating our apartment for the first time in 20 years (it still had the original bathtub and tile from the 1940s!), so it will be new and squeaky clean! I've been busy exploring the area on Google maps, looking for restaurants, yarn stores, and places to run. I'm nervous about finding a job, but I'm really excited to be in a new place!  A lot of my friends from high school and college are in the area, and I'm looking forward to catching up with them.

I'm also very close to finishing my Rocky Coast Cardigan! Look for pictures soon.

Ugh.

Sometimes I have this amazing ability to get really sick at the most inconvenient times. Well, this is one of those times.

Not only have I had to skip running this week (it would have been week 9 of couch to 5k! The last week!), but I can't visit my old roommate while he's in the state. Sigh.

I promise I will be back to blogging when I feel better. I haven't even felt well enough to work on my knitting!

Progress! And... A Minor Setback

I've been working on the beautiful Rocky Coast Cardigan (see below). Other knitters reported that the sweater had tiny tiny arms, so the creator released alterations. I followed the alterations, and was feeling pretty good about the quick progress I was making. Until I tried on the sweater last night. Despite the alterations, the arms are still really tight! I don't want to sound conceited, but I have pretty small arms, so if this is a problem for me, it must be a problem for everyone making the sweater!

Copyright: Coastal Knits

Copyright: Coastal Knits

Now, I have to undo the whole sleeve! I think that if I just redistribute the decreases, the arm will fit better. It's still frustrating to have to frog over a foot of knitting.

 Above: My sad one-armed (soon to be no-armed) cardigan, and a close up of the cable pattern. I love the cabling! I hadn't seen this pattern before. It's interesting, and it's easy to memorize.

Time to stop whining and get back to my needles...

Pinspiration: June 20, 2012

I've been on a Pinterest binge lately. There are just so many cute and creative ideas out there! Here are some of my favorites:

Felt MacBook case [source]. Adorable!

A friend posted this picture on Facebook. What a great idea to dress up an old pair of shorts!

I'm not a huge fan of brooches, but I would make an exception for this one, by PL Wear [source]. The Etsy store also has some great yarn jewelry!

Diamond pintucks! So cute and such a simple way to add texture to your sewing [source].

This yarn mobile is perfect! I definitely need to remember this in the future when I have little ones [source].

What an original idea! There are endless possibilites with sidewalk chalk as your "background." The kids did a great job posing too [source]!

Simple and classy nail art. This design makes me want to invest in some striping tape... [source]

The weather is heating up, and this fresh lime fizz sounds like the perfect drink for a summer day! It's a simple recipe too [source].

My town has an amazing Belgium restaurant, which introduced me to gruyère cheese. There gruyère popovers sound amazing [source].

I hope you're enjoying your summer! Any good ideas to beat the heat?

New Computer!

I'm typing this from my new Macbook Pro!  Ahhhhd;flkadjfa;glf! You may think that I am unreasonably excited - I didn't even get the brand new retina display Macbook pro that got released this week. But let me summarize the past 6 years:
1 new hard drive (free, thanks to my brother's friends)
1 new power cord (old one became a fire hazard with exposed wire)
1 free RAM upgrade (again, my brother's friends)
1 free OS update (see above)
1.5 years of keeping my computer constantly plugged in due to a battery that can't keep a charge
1.5 years of a loud, whirring fan because my computer can't find its own heat sink
1.5 years of living in fear that my computer would die at any moment
1.5 years of a faulty wireless card and dead ethernet port
2 degrees (B.A., M.A.T.)
2 countries (USA, Australia)
3 states (PA, OH, IN)
countless itunes upgrades (I hate those!)

With a new computer, I have no excuse not to be better at updating this blog. My computer can always find the internet! I can actually unplug the power cord and still use the computer! My computer can run multiple programs at once without becoming overwhelmed and confused! It's a glorious day.

Even better: I went to our local farmer's market for the first time, and got delicious artichoke asiago sourdough bread and a basil plant!