Huzzah!

A human in the grocery the other day had apparently not ever heard someone say "huzzah."  I'm betting this person has never been to a RenFair...

ANYWAY.

I came up with a name I think I like for this damnable thing I call a blog!  What do you think?

Alas, California is a bust /sadface.  So Much Crap happened at the end of 2014 and ThatGuyILike and I are just could really use to be in a familiar place.  More on this later.

But most importantly a big ol' thank you to everyone who helped us save Vyvyan.  She's back to jumping and playing ball, getting better at using that back leg every day.  We're so incredibly thankful to still have her.  She's a damn good dog.

Chaos may reign but soon it will be spring and there will wrenching on bikes and playing ball with Vyvyan outside.  But for now there is string and snuggles with critters.

Keep on keepin' on, as they say.

What are you working on this winter?

"Is the cabin drunk?"

Hello, hi.

I forgot to mention I moved to California two months ago.

That's a beach.  Those are new.
cc by me, thanks.

The above is apparently my reaction to a mild (in Boulder Creek, anyway) earthquake.

Anyway.  Now my string and motorcycle and cats and I are in California.  Oh lord.

Existential Crisis

Photo by Stephanie Klocke CC BY-SA 2.0

Send halp.

I cannot decide what to do with the name of this damn thing.  I decided I wasn't digging on the "girltankthinks" bit anymore but that's as far as I got.  Please feel free to chime in with any brilliant ideas because I am having precisely none of them.

... also, don't bookmark this url just yet, who knows if it's sticking around.

'kay, thanks, love you, bai.

Thoughts on Gifts

Just look at this beauty.  Check out the shop here.

Apparently the spirit of the holidays (or just the spirit of consumerism?) has gotten me thinking about the gifts we give and receive during the year.  (Ok, ok, it was this article over here on Raptitude: What to get Everyone for Christmas)

Anyway.  It got me thinking about most loved gifts.  The ones you use all the time and cherish.  So here a list of my most loved gifts I've received (in no particular order).

The Green Knubbly Man Sweater
This sweater is definitely in the running for personal favourite article of clothing of all time.  Once it starts to get chilly you can probably find me wearing this thing at least 70% of the time.  It's a chunky waffle knit pullover in the best forest green colour you've ever seen.  It is snuggly and oversized just to perfection.  I wear it to work.  I wear it to coffee.  I wear it at holidays.  I wear it to bed.  I might really like this sweater.

The Wooden Jewelry Case
I don't actually think this miniature chest of drawers was necessarily intended to house jewelry.  But it's what I use it for in any case.  It's just like a big set of drawers except tiny.  Now that I think about it it does sit on my dresser... a jewelry dresser on top of a clothes dresser!  It's a dark, soft wood with a natural finish and it just happens to be perfect for my jewelry.  I think Felicia Day has nearly the same one (unless her instagram is lying, which would be weird).  Mine is taller and thinner but it's the same damn thing, I swear.

The Most Cozy and Most Giant of Quilts
My bed is a full sized bed.  Not even a queen sized bed.  But nonetheless I have giant (and marvelous) flannel scrap quilt.  This thing is huge.  One hundred and twenty-five inches square.  And I love it.  It's snuggly and warm and there is never not enough of it.

The Fancy Watch
For a very long time (6 or 8 years?) I did not wear this watch very often, if ever.  I got it when I was about 16 or so.  And being a mouthy tomboy who found herself more often covered in paint (hello, tech crew) than not, I didn't exactly where said very nice, expensive watch.  Lately, I wear it nearly everyday.  It has a small, deep blue face and a simple, thin metal band.  I like it.  Apparently 16 year old me new what she was doing when she picked out fancy things...

The Wall Hanging from China
A good friend of mine brought me back a custom wall hanging from China when he was finished studying abroad.  It's the first line of the eighth chapter of the dao de jing.  My favourite translation of which is, "The best of man is like water."  I keep it hanging in my living room.

The Oxblood Mug
I'm not sure which birthday I got this for but believe you me it is the single best mug in the history of mugs.  The glaze on the outside is this absolutely wonderful deep, deep red (hence "oxblood," hello) while the inside is just barely a minty blue.  The shape and size and handle are just perfect.  It is the best mug.  (It may be worth noting that I firmly believe that everyone should be in possession of a friendly stuffed critter, a cozy blanket, and a good mug no matter what.  Just sayin'.)

The Knitting Stash
This one is bittersweet.  My good friend's mother passed away this summer; she was an avid knitter and had amassed quite the collection of beautiful books, patterns, and yarns.  I am so lucky and blessed to have them now in my home.  Every time I pick up my needles I hope I will do her proud.  She was a lovely woman.  And she raised a lovely man.


There you have it.  I doubt this list is by any means exhaustive of course but you get the idea.  Leave a comment below and let me know some of your favourite gifts.

Hey kids, It's time for PRESENTS!

... Or at least, the deal of the century (which is close enough).

If you have a small business or even a blog, you need to check out The Middle Finger Project's awesome and excellent (and somehow exceedingly funny) Small Business Bodyguard.

I'm not just promoting this because it's pretty (although it is very pretty).  I think it's a damn good idea - I'm not a lawyer and I can't afford one.  But I do need to know this shit and so do you.  I bought it myself when it dropped because it's important.  I'm going to turn it over to Ash really quick, she's much better with words (but I might be better in bed...)

Trying to figure out exactly what your business’ legal needs are on your own is scary. (And, let’s face it–sometimes you don’t even know what you don’t know.) Throw in the fact that hiring an attorney is really expensive, and you have yourself a large group of people conducting unprotected sex business and ignoring their business’ legal needs altogether. (Cue the Jaws theme song).

But at the same time, you don't want to spend your time learning how to be a lawyer. You just want to get the information you need and take care of the legal stuff correctly and quickly so you can get back to doing the work you love.

Sound familiar? I thought so. But have no fear, because help is here! (Please picture me wearing a cape with my underwear on the outside of my pants in true super hero fashion.) If you're looking to become legally legitimate and cover your ass, check out this great resource.

And as an added bonus, Small Business Bodyguard is going to be on sale for 48 hours only for Cyber Monday. Set your alarm. And get ready to rock the legal side of your small business.

So seriously, head on over and GET SOME.  Deal ends tonight 12/2 at midnight sharp (that's EST for those concerned) so act fast.  Go on, get your grubby little paws in on this great deal.  And then get said paws on some wine.  You deserve it.

Project Update

(For the humans that don't exist and therefore aren't reading this.  Whatever.)

Updates!  Yay!

The hat in question
(on the man in question's head)

I've finished things!  Remember that hat I mentioned?  It's all finished and on the man's head!  He seems to like it so that's shiny.  I also totally finished up the headband I had made for a friend of mine some time ago.  Alas the finishing took some time as I had misplaced all of my yarn needles so I couldn't finish the damn thing for ages.  But I found them!  And it's done now!

Ze headband/earmuff thingamajig

I picked up the yarn for my sisters headband and drafted up a pattern for it... we'll see how that goes, I guess... eep.  (If you're wondering, it's the teal on the right.  The grey shades were contenders but the teal one out.)

And I got yarn for the brother's scarf too; it's a lovely deep forest green sock weight merino wool blend and I think he will like it a lot (far left).  Assuming I can manage to finish a scarf made of sock weight yarn by christmas of course... That'll be a trick.


But there you have it, kids, all updated as to my current shenanigans.  I also made pie.

(pumpkin, for those wondering.)



(I also promise to someday figure out how to make pictures and formatting not suck.  But that day is not this day.)

nowhere to start

I'm not particularly in love with "firsts."  So instead of an introduction or some such nonsense I'll just list what craft projects I'm currently working on.

Aside from my endless quest to improve my craft room I'm working on three (four?) knitting projects, an embroidery piece, and some ornaments for my family (which I swear I haven't been putting off since June...).

There's a headband for my sister which is getting worked in a heather grey wool/acrylic blend.  A hat for that guy I like a lot which is only at swatch stage but will be done up in black worsted weight wool that I got from his mother.  A mouse (yes, a mouse, more on this later).  And a sweater I'm working on using a Boston Tweed pattern that is coming along quite nicely.

I'm still in the design process on the embroidery piece - a set of tea towels for my mom to match her kitchen.

And the ornaments are surprise (lest a family find my less than inconspicuous blog) but I promise to do post about those later.

That's all for now.  ttfn.