Massimo and Harold

The following post is what happens when I don't get enough sleep, consume entirely too much coffee, the phones at work are super slow, and all my work peeps that keep me entertained are at an off site meeting all freaking day. Now you can't say I didn't warn you...

As you may or may not know, I have a pygmy puff that resides atop my Tweety mug on my desk at work. His name is Massimo and you can see him chilling with Spock back in this post. Massimo keeps me company on days like to today when everyone is at an off-site meeting. Don't let the cute and fluffy look fool you though... he has sharp little teeth, is fiercely loyal, and has been known to attack mean-spirited people as they walk by my desk (of course he only attacks when he feels I'm being threatened).

Apparently Massimo needed a friend. After all, I'm only at work 40 hours per week and Massimo is by himself the rest of the time. He must get lonely, right? Tuesday evening I received a yarny-goodness package from my dear ravelry friend Vberry and inside was the world's cutest stuffed gorilla. Once I was done drooling over the amazing yarn I popped the gorilla into my purse so he could come to work with me on Wednesday. As soon as I got to work yesterday morning I introduced Massimo to the gorilla, but apparently Vberry had warned the gorilla about Massimo's ...not-so-friendly... side. I tried to reassure the gorilla that Massimo wouldn't hurt him, but the gorilla still seemed really nervous. In fact, he was so nervous that he wouldn't tell me his name.

While with me, the gorilla had only encountered me (a ginormous human-type-being), and a friendly pygmy puff that he believed to be evil. That must have been terrifying. Thinking that he might warm up to someone more his size and completely likable, I decided to introduce him to Ryan. Unfortunately I didn't consider the fact that Ryan might not be so keen on talking to a gorilla larger than him, so more awkwardness ensued.

Eventually it was time for me to go to lunch, and as much as I hated to leave the nameless gorilla at my desk, I thought he could use the space to settle in without me worrying about him. Turns out I was worrying for nothing. By time I got back he had climbed up on my travel mug - he just wanted a better view! He told me that his name was Harold and that he just wanted to see what I was working on. I showed him my plans for my Slytherin pumpkin and he told me that he thought it would look better with a badger... he's a Hufflepuff! We agreed to disagree and move on with life. I explained to him that Massimo is a Slytherpuff (loyal friend with an evil streak that I adore) and that over time I'm sure they would become good friends.

Harold seems to have survived the night, gave Massimo a second chance, and was still on my desk when I got to work this morning. He even helped me put together signs for the Halloween contest at work tomorrow. Such a good gorilla :-)

In other non-gorilla news, last night I hung out at Starbucks with Shirley and worked on my Rose's Mitts while drinking a yummy venti toffee mocha. Silly me, I forgot to say "decaf." Decaf is super important when ordering a huge coffee-type beverage at 7pm.

Once I was home (and practically bouncing off the walls) I realized that sleep certainly wasn't in my near future, so watching the Rocky Horror Glee Show and carving a pumpkin sounded like a good idea. RHGS was awesome and was amazingly ab-tastic. This means I was easily distracted. Easily distracted Schmutzy + pumpkin carving = bad idea. No, I didn't cut off my thumb or anything that tragic, but I did manage to screw up my pattern. It's not beyond repair and I think I've figured out how to fix it, but it was still frustrating. Oh well, I'll just have to take another crack at it tonight. I was planning on watching Amityville Horror or Boltneck this evening, but after the events of last night I'm thinking that a Ryan Reynolds movie while pumpkin carving could be even more distracting thus a bad idea. Maybe I really do learn from my mistakes!

Seahawks Mitts and Other Awesomeness

Can you believe it? I actually finished Mary's birthday present ON TIME. I even had enough time to block her Seahawks Mitts and let them dry before giving them to her. I am absolutely in love with the way they turned out!!! I've drooled over this pattern for so long but dreaded jumping into stranded colorwork, especially when a deadline was involved. Really bad idea to do them 2 at a time on 1 needle, but I survived and it was worth it. I definitely want to make another pair for myself one day!

I should probably mention that I changed the pattern up a bit. I really didn't like the look of the ribbing on the hands in the original pattern, so I decided to switch them to stockinette. It worked out really well since I was using the same weight yarn, same size needles, and same number of stitches that I did in my Tenth Doctor Mitts and I knew they fit Mary so I just made the hands the same way. It worked out great! Next time around I think I'd probably switch to size 2 needles for the last few rows of colorwork to make the wrist a little bit tighter. Other than that they fit both of us really well :-)



Mary (aka BFF) showing off her new Seahawks Mitts and Birthday Babe beads

Not that this should surprise anyone, but Mary was really lucky that she even got her birthday present. As soon as I tried them on I wanted them for myself! My mitts that I wear on a daily basis are only wrist length, but the Seahawks Mitts go practically to my elbows and are super squishy and warm. This leads me to believe I need a longer pair for me and soon (especially since my desk is freezing today) so I've started on a pair of Rose's Wrist Warmers that should go about halfway between my wrist and elbow. It doesn't have anything to do with this month's Gallifreyan Time Travel Challenge of crafting something inspired by your favorite Doctor Who companion. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

And now for something that *wasn't* crafted by me... A couple months ago the super awesome LisaD sent me an amazing ice cream swap box. It was full to the brim of all kinds of fantastic goodies including an ice cream cone cat toy for Bella. She sent me a message asking me to take a picture of it since she forgot to before she sent it, but I couldn't right away because I did something monumentally stupid. You'd think that I'd have learned by now that I need to take pictures of swap goodies before giving them to Bella, but obviously I haven't. I opened the box, gave it to her, and didn't see it again until yesterday. She just loooooves to hide her toys, especially those containing catnip. Apparently she was craving ice cream yesterday so she pulled it out from wherever it was hiding and played with it a bit. Luckily I was around when this went down and was able to snap a couple of pics. The little bugger hid it again before I could get a picture of it all by itself, so these are better than nothing. Apparently she just doesn't want to share her stash.

Mitts, Mitts, and More Mitts

The past couple of weeks have been fairly stressful for me, so blogging hasn't been done as regularly as I'd like, but I still have been knitting away! Seems like the only thing I've been working on lately are pairs of fingerless mitts!!!

Tenth Doctor Mitts
Once I started over on these I was in love. They went sooooooooo much faster since I actually enjoyed working on them and I finished them in just under a week. Perfect timing too because my desk just seems to get colder and colder in the mornings and my hands have been freeeeeezing! Suppose that's to be expected in October. I actually finished them the same day that my "It came out of nowhere..." shirt from woot arrived - a Thursday right before casual Friday when I get to wear t-shirts to work. I was totally stylin' with my Doctor Who shirt and mitts :-D I've worn the mitts every morning since then and I still love them. What a treat to actually make something for me!!!

Shantelle's Birthday Mitts
When I brought the Beauxbatons mitts into work to show off over the summer, my boss really liked the pattern and asked me to make her a pair in black. Time passed and I didn't get to them. Eventually she changed her mind and decided that she'd actually rather learn how to knit and make her own. I taught her how and right now she's working on a scarf for her daughter to practice before she starts working with fingering yarn and tiny needles. Unfortunately this leaves her hands cold until she's ready to work on her mitts, so I decided to go back to the plan of black Susie's Reading Mitts and made them for her birthday. Now her hands don't have to freeze while she's still learning how to knit :-)

Seahawks Mitts
BFF Mary's birthday is this coming Tuesday and it looks like I'll be able to finish her Seahawks mitts in time!!! I finished the colorwork portion at knitting group last night and I love how they're turning out. This pattern is so awesome that I'm going to have to make a pair for me one day...

In other non-mitt-related news, I got to hang out with Nicole this past Sunday which means I was reunited with the Traffic Cone of Doom I crocheted and gave to her this past spring. He has a place of honor sitting on her dashboard and reminds her not to go hitting innocent traffic cones. Awesome :-D