Is it fall yet?

  I am a huge fan of the transitional seasons.  It is warm enough that you don't need a heavy coat, but can still wear a hoodie, sweater, or cute jacket with your outfit.  It is also the time when there are less temperature dangers to worry about.  No frost bite or heat stroke.
 

   I can't wait to see the leaves start to change colors and for there to be pumpkin flavored everything!  This slippy cowl tells everyone that.  That link takes you to the kit, bit just the pattern is free on Ravelry.
   It is such a nice project too.  I felt like I got a few rows done and I'm already done with the first slip stitch section.  I liked having the slip section be surrounded by the contrast color, so I'm not exactly following the pattern.  That isn't the only thing I have changed.  The first garter stitch area is bigger and I also made the slipped section bigger by one repeat.  I also changed row 1 of the slip pattern the first time I worked it so that I knit what would have been the slip stitches in the new color, and slipped what would have been the knit stitches.
  I might also only do two slipped stitch sections instead of the three.  That way I might be able to make 2 out of the yarn instead of one with odd leftovers.  I will have to weigh the yarn once I'm done with the second section.

  I forgot that I was soaking the big blue shawl, so I had to dry it out and re-wet it so it won't smell musty.  I didn't totally forget about it.

  Since I don't have any finished shawl to show you, I figured I would make up for it by posting some links to some pretty cool things.

• Sproutworld: Pencils that become plants after you can't use them for writing anymore.
• Bellabeat: A little leaf that can help you with your fitness.
• Open Bionics: Using 3D printers to print more affordable bionic hands for those who need them.
• CLICK for Babies: Because their theme is purple.  Just kidding.  They are making purple baby hats to raise awareness for shaken baby syndrome.

  I'm off to go work on that cowl some more while watching the latest season of New Girl on Netflix.

I need a new knit-friendly purse.

  Another day that while I had lots of fun, I didn't make it to knit-night.

  On Monday my mom had to take my Dad to the airport and that is near my house.  So instead of just heading home, she came over and we hung out.  That was not very productive though.  The veggie stand, bead store, and yarn shop were closed on Mondays.  Go us.

  Since Wednesday knit-night is out my way, we decided to try the veggie stand again.  My mom got some pickled asparagus and I got some peach butter.  We then saw a sign that you can go pick your own blackberries for $5 per pound.

  We got lost trying to find it.  The plants were so tall and thick we thought they were grapes at first and walked right past them.  We found a barn with some nice tan guy with dreads who gave us directions how to find the blackberries.  While there were a ton still not ripe there were enough for us.

  While we were being lost we found their chicken coup.  My mom made chicken sounds at them and really confused the hens.  I think chickens are cute, so I like seeing them when I can.

  Since we were almost there we went to Tysons Corner Center to get dinner.  It is a pain to get to and park and all that because there are way too many people flinging around with their cars.  I like going in the early part of the middle of the day because a lot of people are at work and not as many on the road.

  Mary and I had gone in search of candy and had seen an ad for a good looking resteraunt.  We didn't end-up eating there then, so my mom and I went today.

  There was this very helpful poster telling me how to eat my tartine at Le Pain Quotidien.  The food is super fancy and the prices are not.

  We saw this on one of the other tables with no people at it, so we snagged some and put it on the extra piece of bread we had.  It is like Nutella in the hazelnut aspect, but also a bit different.

  This is where it would have been handy to have some knitting with me already.

   Since we were in the mall already in the mall I had to take my mom to this candy store.  I want to move into Lolli and Pops and never leave.  Never ever.

  I call them the "weird candy store" for a few reasons.  Not only do they carry a lot of unusual candy, but they also let you taste anything you want out of the scoop containers.

  My mom didn't believe me.  She mentioned to me that they don't want you to try ALL the scoop container candy.  One of the employees heard her and said "Yes you can, we can start at the front and work our way to the back!"

  I always joke that I see through their plot.  I know when I go to candy stores I see things that sound good, but I don't want to waste money in case they aren't.  Since I can taste test I get to find out that the toffee almonds really are amazing and I need a bag full of them in my life.

  My mom then loosened up and tried a bunch of the candies.  We even found some of the dark chocolate caramel candies with sea salt that we have only ever found in Vermont before.  The price was cheaper too.  She got some of those and I got a Popin' Cookin' Candy Sushi kit.

  While I don't think that this day was a waste or anything since I got to spend most of it with my mom, I didn't get much crafting done.  Though there wasn't a lot of down time, I could have gotten a few stitches in while waiting for our food to arrive.
  I think I am going to keep an eye out for a purse where I can put some small knitting in there so I will be prepared.

Hat or headband?

  I have been wanting to make Calorimetry for a while now.  I didn't have enough yarn to do the project as written, but I wanted to give it a go anyway.  I changed the second half of the pattern a little.  Instead of going to the marker for the first two increased short rows I stopped 2 before, then used the usual 4 stitches on most of the other rows.  Then 4th to last row work until last 6 sts, (2 left on row) work next row normal (4 sts left on row), work back across all stitches and then do one whole row back.  That makes it so that you only have one hole where I was getting holes at every turn.

  Though I didn't do as many short rows as the pattern told me, mine is wider than the one in the pattern.  That is probably because I didn't actually do a swatch, I just kind of had yarn and needles and went to town.  Seems like a theme with this yarn doesn't it?

  The shawl is technically done, but I need to wash and block it.  The tails are even woven in.

  About seven days ago we got another big donation for the make-up bags!  I love when we get donations and even just shares.  Every single step, even small ones, gets us closer to our goal!

I want to share it all!

  I know there are lots of people who see and experience things in their lives and feel blessed to have seen them, but I want to be able to share.  Now, I don't mean to share every second of my life like I'm making my own reality show, but I want to show off the cool things.  I had an awesome opportunity to do this, but no way to act on it today.

  I own an original Hero GoPro.  I had fun playing with it some with the small memory card I have been using for my camera and I think I have all the settings the way I want them.  The only problem is that since the memory card is so small I only get a few minutes of video on it before it is filled.  I had planned on going to the store and getting a larger memory card, but Bill said he probably had some laying around I could use.  Though he was too busy to get to really look before we went on a short motorcycle trip.

   Though I know we can go back and see some of the things again, I know some of the things will be different.  Those two spotted baby deer won't be there the next time, and that baby cow will probably be bigger and probably won't be walking out of that cute little hut that it was in the next time around.

  Anyway, enough complaining and more fun pictures!

 This is where we ended up for lunch.  I love this place.  It is so fun.

 We sat at the bar and you can see the light in the middle.  It changed colors going all though the rainbow.  Their chili was also really good.  I hope to go back at some point.

  Here is something more along the lines that everyone is here for.  The crafty stuff!  There are way too many stitches on these needles to really show you what it is really looking like.  If you know what to look for this gives you an idea of what I have going on. 

  I'm still wondering what I want to do once I get to the bottom of it though.  I don't know if I want to just cast off in pattern or if I want to add a garter stitch edging.  I guess I will just keep chugging along until I can make up my mind.

Another Donation!

  While at K&CC I got an in-person donation.  I was thinking that I would have to lower my final amount and make some sort of note somewhere how much I have, but it turns out they already have a way to keep track of that.  You can enter in offline donations right on the website.
  More good news is that it looks like I have a bunch of bags coming my way.  Blair is getting a bunch of her old Ipsy bags and her grandmother and friend will be donating some as well.  This is exciting because it means I can spend more on the things I'm going to be putting into the bags.  I know I'm saying that every step is exciting, but I am actually getting excited about every part of this.
  At work I even got some old Ipsy bags from my co-worker Rachna.  I might have some extra bags for when I try this again.  I might also put together some make-up bags and auction them off for some money to donate, though I won't be able to use the Ipsy bags for that.
  I have started testing products to make sure they will be worth putting in.  I was thinking of getting the dollar L.A. Girl mascara you can get from the Dollar Tree, but when I tried it I found it wasn't worth putting in since it didn't really do anything to my lashes and took forever to dry.  There is another one out there that I want to try that is a dollar more than the one I am trying now, though the e.l.f. one I bought yesterday isn't bad.

 Here is the cowl I was talking about before.  I finally wove in the ends and it is done.  It is based on the lace that was used in the Fragole shrug.  There were a few rows that were a bit odd because the lace pattern does shift a little as you work it, but I just moved my stitch marker to accommodate the double decreases.

I'm also working on a huge project.  It is based on herbivore by Stephen West.  I had some yarn and I didn't have my phone with me.  I remember seeing the pattern on a few other knitting blogs in the past and how I thought it looked really cool every time I saw it.  Though since I didn't have any access to it I just kind of started knitting.  It is kind of hard to tell if mine will be as cool looking until I block it, but I'm hoping it will look good.

And I smell nice too.

I have been trying to find a new perfume for a while now.  There are a few I like, but the problem for me is the price tag.  They cost a lot of money for some scents mixed with water and alcohol.  I think I have found a good solution for everyone.

  I never noticed before that little blurb on the box.  That's probably because I have just dealt with the test rollers.  If you try them in stores, I will warn you, the alcohol smell right out of the roller is really strong.  It doesn't last long on the skin and you will get to enjoy the real scent very soon after putting it on.
  I got mine from Ulta where they seem to be on clearance, so if you want some from a store go and get them now.  You can also order them online with no problems.  I got most of mine in the Honey Nectar fragrance and I got one in dew blossom.  The Honey Nectar starts out very floral and light, but as you wear it you get more and more of a warm honey smell.

  So as of the minute I'm typing this, we are at 12% of our goal and 30 shares for the make-up bags.  This is very exciting!  I have done a bunch of research so I'm pretty sure I know what I will be getting for the bags and will be able to get more bang for our buck.
  Here is my updated list for the bags:

• mascara
• eyeliner
• neutral eye-shadows
• tinted lip balm
• eye-shadow brush 
• sensitive skin make-up remover wipes
• non-scented lotion

  Here is the cowl.  It is so close to being done too.  I just need to figure out if I want to do one more row and bind off or bind off this coming round.
  The secret knit is all done blocking and just needs some buttons before I can fill out the survey for the test knit and send picture to the designer.

I started something.

  I got all the knitting done on the secret project, I just need to get it blocked and find some buttons for it.  I've also finished either 2 out of 3 repeats or 2 out of 4 repeats on a cowl I'm making using the strawberry lace stitch pattern from the shrug I made.

  My mom found a "new" place for us to eat.  We got out of the 'monsoon' and into a cute cafe.  The funny thing is that I had eaten at that place before, but not exactly.  Over a year ago someone told me they remembered a bead shop being in a shopping center not far from my house.  Well, I drove and walked around the small strip mall for over an hr before giving up on it.

  Since I was there so long I went and ate at a little cafe that was off to one side in the shopping center.  It was really good and the owner was super nice.  He pushed the table closer to the couch when I was having problems doing it on my own.  I went back later since I remembered all the good things about that place but it wasn't there anymore.  I didn't remember the name, only the place where it was.

  Turns out they didn't close, they moved.  Now they are a lot more noticeable and their menu is even a lot bigger.  I'm so glad Fresh & Organic Cafe didn't go out of business.

  As my mom and I were leaving she was complaining that there was so much rain and no rainbows.  She got one, well, a nubbin of a rainbow.  It is to the left in the larger part of the light area in the picture.

  Here is something I am really excited for though.  I finally got an e-mail back about the make-up bags.  I have a very positive go-ahead.  Since I have gotten that I have started a GoFundMe for the bags.  While I would love to ask for some donations, I would just love some shares to get the word out.