Testing... Testing... 1,2,3...

Okay, so to test out the new "easier" photo posting offered by this here blogger site I have some lovely new images for you!


This is the trial pot holder that I knitted up to see if the yarn a friend gave me would felt up... And the answer is no. Absolutely not. No felting (which is drastic and on-purpose post knit yarn shrinkage) despite being actually boiled in a pot on the stove, so it looks like we are welcoming a new blue Mr. Potholder to the kitchen staff! Come on in! Hold some pots!

There is a slightly funny story about the yarn however, so I will digress...
The dark blue yarn came from a married friend. It actually came from her husband who had a hand-knit sweater from a former girlfriend. Evidently said sweater was grossly too large for said husband, possibly indicating said ex-girlfriend's complete disconnect between reality and fantasy of her soon to be ex-boyfriend. So my friend frogged it! Yep that's right, just like that Weezer song that is now permanently stuck in my head... "if you want to destroy my sweater (woah oh oh oh oh) hold this thread while I walk away (while I walk away!)" Sweater 0 Friend 1.


And this little snuggly creation is what I will now and forever more refer to as my Fluffyfuzzynubble hat! That I knitted with my own two hands! And used complex new-fangled gear like "circular needles" and even "double pointed needles"! I figured out how to make it from a lovely knitter/blogger in LA who posts all her "recipes" for fellow knitting newbies. Although I did have to omit the gleeful consumption of alcohol part, as the midwife has casually mentioned that booze can SLOW DOWN OR POSTPONE LABOR and I am pretty much ready to get this show on the road!

Hmmm, so what are we missing here? Pot holder... hat... sweater anecdote... Aha! Me! That's what we're missing!


To appease my inner narcissist I just had to post this picture of my hair being really cute. I did a little swirly spurty up-do from Cousin Kathleen with wet hair the day before, and got a second day of swirly curly hair for free! Two do's for the price of six bobby pins! Ya can't beat that bargain with a stick!

Photo-tastrophe, A Monkey, And Carrying Implements!

So with my last post I came to a sad realization. The site where I've been caching all of my pictures is a free thing called "flickr", and unbeknownst to me it only holds a total of 200 pictures, regardless of size! So as I've been adding picture upon picture of random household stuff, other things have been falling off the back undetected by me. Durn. I guess I shoulda read that user agreement a bit more closely... So I may try a few new things with pictures soon... so give me a little while to figure out what that may be.

In much less glum news, yesterday was a Banner Goodie Day here at Chez 'Hoop. Primarily we received this in the mail!

Because no baby room is quite complete without a little monkey-head throw rug!

AND THEN! We got THIS!

The worlds most fabulous critter toter! From my fabulous sister! Yay, sister!

And then I decided that I'd had enough of this sittin' around, and I figured it was about time I learned to knit. Yup, the total domestic transmogrification has happened. ( I also have plans to work on a quilt too! Try not to gag.) So I went to our teensy tinsy little local yarn shop and made the whopping $11 purchase of some nasty acrylic variegated yarn and some knitting needles and a wee pamphletty book that totally sucks. I have to say that this website was much more useful until I got to the purling part. And then it was back to the baffling graphics of the pamphlet... Despite this, in two days I have managed to teach myself how to cast on, knit, purl, stockinette stitch, rib knit, add a stitch (knit AND purl) and decrease stitches. Why yes, I am quite proud!

I'd show a picture of what I created so far, but it really is quite ugly and you know, there's that picture issue right now... but soon I hope to locate some actual wool wool and possibly give this cute little felted project a try...

'Cause everyone needs a microscopic shoulder bag in purple mohair, right?

Such are the goals of my new sedentary life...

Arbitrary Day At The Ranch

Sick of All Baby All The Time here on channel 'hoop? Well here's some randomy randomness from the world of Suziehulahoop instead...

And a riddle! What closes faster than an ice cream stand in Poland when the Pope is coming to visit? OUR ROAD! Yes, the road to Yosemite was open for almost 24 hours yesterday, and then our neighbor (Mr. Imp) was on the way home from work and in line to follow the "lead car" and calmly watched some Zippy-Car-sized boulders roll down the adjacent slope and out into the road. And then watched the good folks in charge close the road and route everyone back where they had come from, around half the state, past Go (do not collect $200) and home. Better than getting besquished, I guess.

Y'all know my cat by now, I'm sure, and I even think that most of you know her full name, Molly The Mutant. So here it is, up close and personal, my cat's "variation on normal".


Gotta love a little girl with big shoes!

And one more random image of goodness. Our front lawn bursts forth in the spring with one of my favorite flowers, larkspur. They are SO purple that I'm pretty sure you need UV protection if you stand too close. And they have cute little pointy butts. But you can't see that from here so don't strain yourselves.



Happy spring/summer (spummer?)!

New Internets Technology!

So this critter in my belly is incredibly active, yet also camera shy. I've been trying to get a good film clip for about two weeks to try out this new fangled YouTube site. So I finally caught a sharp and pointy bit of the critter as it flashed by about 3/4 of the way through this short clip. But if you watch closely there are other burbles and sploshings going on before and after the big show...
P.S. If your computer loads sort of slow you might want to hit the pause button on the clip until the whole thing has loaded...

In A Betting Mood?

So guess what today is... May 23rd! And do you know what that means?! I am exactly one calendar month from my due date! (Not quite to 36 weeks out of 40 yet, due to those pesky months having slightly more than 4 weeks...) Yes, yes, I know, due dates are wild approximations and only 2% of women actually deliver on their due date, but then again half of them deliver BEFORE then! Yikes!

So Camp Double Wide is getting pretty geared up for the new visitor, we have officially cleared a bunch o' junk (and sorely neglected sporting goods) outta the guest/baby room, and oddly enough started and finished the re-flooring of The Hub's home office too. And all of this busyness and preparedness makes me think just one thing. We are way too prepared, therefore the baby will be weeks (if not MONTHS!) late! We've got our birthing kit, our birthing tub, a whole slew of fuzzi bunz, a bassinet, a crib, baby bathtub, glass baby bottles (no phthalates here!) and enough clothes for an infant army.

And that pesky road to Yosemite is still closed, so I guess I am now (gasp!) a housewife. Hmmm, that sounds way too close to "house elf". And I keep picking up discarded socks, but it doesn't seem to change anything. But then again, it will all be changing way too soon... So, you know, if you need any recipes or uh... grout cleaning tips, I'm pretty much not your woman, but I'll be here nonetheless!

So what's YOUR guess? Boy? Girl? Early? Summer Solstice? Late? Winner gets a personalized Yosemite junior ranger badge and a week's food and lodging for two at this lovely (but rustic) ridge-top Yosemite area mini resort that I know...

Time Lapse

Lovely Lisa has requested a bump update as she is coming out here to hopefully participate in the birthing process and doesn't want to be too shocked. So here is the comparison...



Shocking or not?

I Just Have Two Words For You Today...

...home office.