Animal Rugs

  It seems like everyone has tons of extra knitting magazines laying around.  I say this because I feel like every time I go to a knit-night there are magazines to look at.  I was flipping through and saw an article about this lady and her animal skin looking wall hangings.  There were no patterns in the magazine that jumped out at me, but I took a note of her name.   Ruth Marshall is the person I am talking about.  There is something about them that I really like.

   I am still waiting to hear back about putting the make-up bags together.  I have been out and about pricing things and making notes to myself about items that I think will be good for the bags.  I have also decided that I want to put together 20 bags.  I don't know why, but that number has stuck in my head and I really want to go for it.

   I have been going through my house and cleaning out stuff that I have been holding on to for no reason, or things I just forgot I had to donate for a while.

  I donated some things similar to this before and got rave reviews.  I had bracelet kits before and it helps to keep antsy kids busy while they have to wait.

  No idea where or why I got these.  They are pretty cool if I actually used them, but I know I won't.  There is some good info in these and I know someone will love them.

  This picture is funny.  It might not look funny, but you will get it in a little bit.  Since I finished the Fragole Shrug test knit I decided to go cruising though the Free Pattern Testers forum on Ravelry.  I clicked on a link for a secret test knit.  The designer mentions a ton of times that no pictures can be leaked since this pattern will become a mystery knit along.
  Being the person that I am, I have to bend the rules a little.  No one else is posting any pictures, like good little testers, but I have to be difficult.  I posted the above picture telling the designer that this is my progress picture.  It is showing me cutting the yarn from the bind-off edge at the bottom of the body.  Like I have told people before, I'm obnoxious.  I hope other people find it as funny as I do.

Make-up Bags

  I have been obsessed with make-up lately.  I have been buying more, wearing more, and watching a ton of YouTube videos about it.  It got me thinking of things I could donate besides warm things I made.  I was thinking of pricing things and getting a price point to see how much this idea would cost me.  I could start a Go Fund Me, or something similar.
  Since I don't know what other people feel are "must have"s for make-up, I did some research online.  Unfancy has one opinion on the matter and Huffington Post seems to agree on a lot of things.  I know I will be able to get a lot of things from the Dollar Tree.  They even have tiny mascaras!  I was also thinking of getting some stuff from e.l.f. because I love them.  They have some great stuff for very good prices.
  As of right now this is what I am thinking of putting in each bag:

• mascara
• neutral eyeshadows
• tinted lip balm
• eyeshadow brush

  As of right now I am looking at about $4 for the contents of each bag.  I was considering maybe putting in some unscented face lotion as well.  Now the hard part...where to get a bag.  I am thinking of making some, but I could also do some searching online.  I know I could try and reach out to various places to see if I could get a deal on bags, but I'm not very good at that.  I never know what to say to them and feel like I end up sounding unprofessional.
  Also, let me know if you think I should add anything else to the bags.
  I also wanted to add that I was thinking of having these go to women's shelters.  I know this might seem like a silly thing but I feel like it might help some people.  Some people might have needed to get out and couldn't take things that they use everyday and might find some comfort to be able to fancy themselves up.

Here are some warm fuzzy feelings for anyone who was majorly bored by the rest of this post: Featherless Bird

The Mary bind-off.

Most people bind off as they are working that row.  They knit 2 stitches, pull the first over the second, knit one more and keep on in that manner.  Mary just keeps going until she doesn't have enough to work another row.  Luckliy she does a lot of arm knitting or ruffle scarves, so we are only working with 8-10 stitches per row.  Since I know it would really confuse her, I just have her slip all but two stitches back and then work a bind-off almost as you normally would.  She just slips where most people would knit.  I got to teach this bind off to someone at Wed knit-night.

 Don't mind my laundry in the background.  I finally am totally done with the Fragole(strawberry) Shrug.  It definitely doesn't fit me.  I can't lower my arms all the way.  I think a medium would fit me, but I know someone will like this.

 I love this hat so much.  I actually knit the whole head part of the hat twice.  The first time I didn't pick-up enough stitches and it was very tight on the head.  This didn't let the cat part of this hat really show up, it was more awkward looking.  I had meant to take a 'before' picture, but I got too excited to be able to just rip it out without too much worry that I forgot.  I even did the Kitchener stitch at the top in pattern, though it required a lot more concentration than I would usually admit.

Air rifles

  Back in the day I used to shoot .22 and air rifles competitively. I got to go to the Olympic trainer center and participate in the Junior Olympics on year and got a scholarship to college.

  Well, the IWLA air rifle range had been made out of a large shed.  It only had 7 points and no running water or built in air conditioning or heat.  It had three large garage size doors and a tiny gas heater, but you couldn't feel any difference when you wanted it.

  Since the sport has been getting bigger and bigger, everyone knew there had to be some change.  It took a lot of work, but now there is a fancy new building.  They left some of the original building, so those who want to reminisce can go for it.

  This was the banner announcing the fun.  I'm not sure how long it was up since I heard about it from other people.

  This is one out of three cakes they had.  Everyone managed to get through all of two of them.  I had some of the logo from this one.

  The guy on the left is the one who made most of the magic happen.  He made sure all the forms were filled out, signed, copied, and send to all the people who might need them.  Without him it would still be in the planning/form finding stages instead of done and ready to use.

  A lot of people were glad to see that this hole was still on the outside of the building.  There is a funny story to go along with it.  One of the people who was on my team in high-school kept putting her targets in the same place and hitting the same place so many times that she managed to bored a hole through the building.  That is pretty impressive for a small lead pellet that is being pushed by some compressed air.

  Here is a picture that will help to put some minds to rest in case anyone was worried that I forgot why I even started this blog.  This is the Fragole Shrug.  I don't have a link to the pattern yet since it is still being tested.  The color is a big darker in this picture since it is wet and also in shadow.

  I also had a hat I started a while ago, but the body of it was bugging me.  I didn't like how the body was pulling in some compared to the brim.  I meant to take a 'before' picture, but I got too excited about taking it out.  It has been a quicker knit the second time around, even though it has more stitches.