New Cat Toy

This week, I was reading Turtlegirl 76's blog, and I saw a link to the cutest Etsy shop. I had to order a kickstick, and boy am I glad I did. As soon as I brought the package into the room, Fenway yowled and started trying to break open the package.

I have two very happy cats.

And when they are not playing with it, Fenway thinks it is a perfect pillow.

Happy Easter

These were a present from my mom.  Aren't they beautiful? I hope you have a wonderful Easter.
-Megan

Some Days I Just Feel Like This

Comic is Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Post. I don't know when he originally posted it. Re-posted from Thrifty Decor Chick blog.

Bella Rue: Part II

I am about 40 percent of the way through Bella Rue, so I thought it was time for another post. I learned one major lesson so far: alternating skeins of hand painted yarn is not optional, it is mandatory. I have no doubt you can see the line where I switched to my second skein, and then when I started alternating. I think hope in something other than bad bathroom lighting it is not quite this bad. I know it is noticeable now, but I am hoping when the whole sweater is done it will not scream out at you like this. I suppose I should rip it out and start again, but I am just not that type of knitter. Lesson learned.

How about a side view?

It's the Real Opening Day!

Dear Red Sox,

It is opening day at Fenway, one of the best days of the year. To make it even more special, you are playing the Yankees. Just as a gentle reminder, you are trying to win, not lose, remember?

Love,
Megan

BBC Top 100 Books

A challenge has been going around Facebook lately- how many of the BBC's Top 100 Books list have you read? Out of curiosity, I did it, and I have read 32 of the books. Some of the others are on my bookshelves, unread, and some I have never heard of. I also read probably a dozen of these books in abridged version when I was younger, but I am not counting those. I think some of the books will be making it to my summer reading list. I would like to have read at least 50 of them. For fun, these are the books I have read. You can see the whole list of books here.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

How about you? How many of the books have you read?

PS- As a side note, I cannot believe the BBC would include so many Harry Potter books as well as Wilkie Collins and not include at least one Sherlock Holmes book.

Bella Rue: Part I

I started a new sweater. As soon as I saw the pattern for Bella Rue, I fell in love: the vintage feel, the cute collar, the back detailing, the pockets, oh my! I got the yarn at Web's anniversary sale last year, so I thought it was about time to use it. The pattern calls for about 100 more yards than I have, so I made the collar a little shorter. I also do not know if I will make the pockets. They are one of my favorite parts, but I think they might draw too much attention to my bulges curves. I might add some bust darts too, to make it fit a little better.

Anyway, I need about 5 skeins of the yarn I am using, Araucania Nature Wool Solids, so I thought it would be fun to show you how far I get after each skein. Without further ado, here is the first twenty percent of my Bella Rue:

And a detail shot of the collar and button band:

2011 Goals- March Recap

I always feel like March is divided into two months: pre-Spring Break and post-Spring Break. I can barely remember before break. Here's my recap: a pretty good month for knitting and reading, but not so much for anything else.

1. Make one scrapbook- no
2. Start and finish a sweater- no
3. Make a color work project- no
4. Knit Nana and Grandad socks- started socks for Nana but had to rip them out because they were too big
5. Finish or frog all 2010 knitting projects- Finished two projects, the baby booties and Mr. DB's scarf
6. Make a felt advent calendar- no
7. Work out 111 times- worked out 7 times
8. Lose 11% of my body weight- gained a little, so back to 0
9. Learn to walk in high heels- forgot about this one
10. Prepare an academic paper for submission to a journal- I'm still in the ideas stages
11. Read 11 non-school books by different authors- read several books. This is by far the easiest goal