I am Kansas City, MO born and raised girl.  I love this city and haven’t found anywhere else that I can imagine living.  This morning we took out on a little photo-adventure to catch some early sun pictures of the city.

There was a lot of traffic downtown for a Sunday morning but there were a few events going on here and there, so I guess we will allow it….

I am loving the new camera BUT some of the stuff are backwards from what I am used to, namely the zoom of the lens!  This was a great opportunity to get out there and try some things out with it though.  Good to get back into it and i’m ready for some more!

I thought I would keep it simple today and answer some random “getting to know you questions”.  Here we go!

• What was your favorite subject in school?  —  Does band count?  If not, my favorite core subect was probably science classes.  I really enjoyed Human Anatomy in high school.  I think it was more a function of the teacher rather than the subject tho.  He was awesome and made learning fun.
• What is your favorite flavor of jelly beans? — I love strawberry and watermelon the most!
• Which flavor of ice-cream do you prefer? — a good vanilla ice cream
• Do you play a musical instrument, if so which one(s)? — clarinet, although not for years
• What do you usually do when you have leisure time on your hands? — knit, too much Candy Soda Crush
• What is your favorite season and why? — spring and fall, probably more so fall because the infernal summer isn’t going to immediately follow!
• If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go? — Japan
• What is your favorite color? — purple
• Who is your best friend and how did you meet? — Carrie, duh!  We met thru a mutual friend in middle school, despite growing up 3 houses apart on different streets…
• What is your favorite home cooked meal? —  Moms beef stroganoff
• What is your favorite grab and go meal? — PBJ!
• Do you prefer to wear pants or dresses? —  pants, I hate when my thighs actually touch
• How many siblings do you have? — one little seester
• What is you favorite snack? — a spoonful of peanut butter
• What is your favorite electronic device? — my iPhone
• What kind of vehicle do you usually ride in? — my 11 year old Ford Focus
• Do you have pets? — 3 dogs and as many cats
• When was the last time you visited a park and what did you do while there? — like a state park?  We hiked up to the “castle” at HaHaTonka State Park last month and checked it out…
• What is your favorite sport to watch? — hockey if its in person, baseball either on tv or in person
• Which sport do you most enjoy actively participating in? — ummmmmmmm….
• When was the last time you stayed or hosted a sleepover with friends? — BFF’s stayed here at New Years because we are responsible adults that don’t drink and drive!
• If you have to dress and leave in a hurry what is the one thing you can easily cut out of your routine? — I think i’ve got it pretty pared down already…
• What was the last item you cooked and ate? — I tried something new…eggplant pizzas.  Not a hit…
• How many books did you read last year? — not enough, maybe 10?
• What size shoe do you wear? — 11 wide 😦
• Do you prefer pens or pencils? — depends on what I am doing, but a good blue rollerball pen always wins in my book
• Do you like your handwriting? — most of the time
• When did you last visit the zoo? — its been a few years, maybe 4 years ago?  I miss the days of going with Audrey
• Have you ever been horseback riding? — yes, in the Grand Tetons and a few other trail rides.  Amazing views
• Have you ever been water skiing? — not personally, I hate water that I can’t see my feet in.  I also have the upper body strength of a wet noodle.
• What is your favorite all-time movie? — Airplane!  A classic, for sure
• Can you change a tire? — yup

Today Laura and I went on a yarn-venture.  We first set our sights on the Topeka Twisted Fiber Arts Show put on by the Potwin Fiber Artisans.  We love yarn.  We love to look at it, to touch it, to squeeze it.  We both fell in love with some hand dyed yarns by Th’Red Head Designs.  Neither of us purchased any yarn but we were being “responsible adults” or something like that.  Personally I didn’t buy the one I was coveting because I didn’t have a specific project that I knew how much I would need for it in mind.

At the show we also sat in on a class on Entrelac knitting.  This has fascinated and baffled me for years.  They gave us some needles and yarn and we got to try it out.  It was a lot easier than I expected!  I think I my give it a go and make myself a scarf.  Laura made a whole swatch.  I wimped out before finishing a swatch but still am proud of my little swatch.

Lauras on the left, mine on the right

After all that yarn squeezing and learning, we were hungry!  We decided to check out a new place (for us, anyway), The Burger Stand.  We both got a different burger and fries.  They had poutine!  Neither of us had ever actually tried this magic and it did not disappoint!

Laura’s burger and poutine

My burger with duck fat fries

After refueling, we headed out to Lawrence on the way back.  There is a yarn store there, Yarn Barn, that we just had to check out since we were going to be driving by!  It did not disappoint, either!  Lots of fun yarn to look at and squeeze.  Neither of us found anything that we couldn’t live without, once again, sadly enough.  Well, not so sad for our pocket books…

After a quick pit stop, it was time to leave Lawrence and head back home.  We decided that since we were going to be driving right by The Legends on the way home, a stop to the Coach Outlet was in order.  That did not disappoint, either.  Laura ended up with an early birthday present to herself!

It was a successful day!  Lots of yarn with a side of purses.  What more could a girl ask for??

No loitering!

Today has been a pretty low key day.  I’m glad I decided to not even try to go to the World Series parade and rally party downtown today.  By pictures and watching it on TV, it looked like complete bedlam.  There are people still trying to get out of downtown, hours later.  I do have to admit that it was fun to watch on TV and our players are all adorable.  They seem genuinely grateful and happy.

I have been working on a “secret” sewing project some today.  I can’t wait to reveal it.,I love how its turning out!

Today’s NaBloPoMo writing prompt for today intrigued me, so I thought I would share.  It is: What did you think was the coolest job in the world when you were younger? Do you still feel that way now?

So do you remember back in the day when stores used to actually put price tags on items?  They would open up a box of boxes of cereal and it was somebody’s job to use the price gun and price sticker each one of those boxes.  I was fascinated.  It looked like so much fun!  Every time I saw and employee pricing stuff I just wanted to step in and help!  Obviously I have bigger aspirations in life now which is good for me, since things don’t tend to actually get price tagged in most stores anymore.  At my job, we do have a small selection of products we sell so I occasionally get to break out the price gun and go crazy.  It’s still one of my favorite on the job tools!

I feel like its been a pretty low key sort of week, but I managed a few adventures.  As far as my current knitting adventure, the socks, I haven’t really made much progress.  I’m still working on the cuff of the first sock.  My knitting will probably be on hold for a little bit as I tried to cut off my thumb making lunch today and it makes holding my needles a little tough at the moment. 😦

I made my own Niddy Noddy, something I didn’t even know existed until our Field Trip to the Farm.  With $4.02 in supplies, I now have a great way to wind yarn into hanks for dyeing!

My home made Niddy Noddy

Josh and I went on a food adventure in Westport.  We tried Sama Zama, a Japanese restaurant.  It was…different.  We got an appetizer of Danshaku Korokee (potato croquettes) which was pretty good.  For our meal Josh got Tonkotsu Ramen and I got a Classic Okonomi Yaki with chicken.  We both started off OK with our meals then they quickly became overwhelming for the both of us.  Neither of us finished our meal or the leftovers.  It was nice to try something new though, I would try other things there too, I think.

Josh’s Ramen and my “pancake”

Thursday was my last Thursday with my niece before school started.  I can’t believe she’s starting middle school already!  Where does the time go???  We (Audrey and I, Josh came along too!) decided to go on an adventure to finish off the summer.  We ended up going to Moon Marble and checking the place out.  It was pretty cool.  We got to see how handmade marbles are made and their store was fun to look around in.  It would be an excellent place to go for fun little jokey gifts.  Of course we had to hit up the picture opportunity outside…  After Moon, we went to Dave and Busters too to play some games and then finished off the day with some good ole fashioned Frozen Custard!

Audrey and I at Moon Marble Company

Yesterday Mom and Audrey and I participated in some retail therapy and a nice lunch where I introduced them to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Ponaks.  My only purchase was a coloring book (and the colored pencils I bought earlier in the day at the store) for adults!  I’ve been coloring quite a bit since yesterday, including this morning, at coffee time, when Carrie and Laura and I all broke out our coloring in Starbucks and went to town!

Coloring!

Now its Sunday and time to start getting ready for another week of work.  Oh the excitement!

So. I’m trying something new for me…socks!  I haven’t ever tried a pair because I hate DPNs and haven’t yet gotten the hang of the magic loop method. That, and anyone who knows me, knows I don’t like “fiddly” projects for the most part.

A couple weeks ago I saw a book on Pinterest called Knit Your Socks on Straight and was intrigued. It calls for knitting them in the flat then seeming them once in the end. Color me interested!  After checking the library for a copy (no dice there) it was off to Amazon to purchase it!

Today on my lunch I found this pretty sock yarn on clearance and got a pair of needles to go along with it. I chose circulars because I have theiving cats and dog and I like to always know where my other needle is. I’m funny that way. Here’s to nothing!

Don’t mind what looks like a tangled mess…its just yarn barf.

Update 2 hours later (not dedicated knitting time…I’m not that slow!): ripped out 2.5 rows…ribbing wasn’t ribbing. Let’s try this again…

Today was a day I have been looking forward to for a couple weeks now!  I went to a workshop called “Field Trip to the Farm” put on by the Red Barn Yarn Farm in St Joseph, MO.  We learned a new to us method to dye yarn and best of all, got to meet the alpacas!

We learned to “paint” yarn using acid dyes.  It’s pretty easy and you get come really cool effects with the yarn.  We spread out sheets of plastic wrap and placed our vinager water soaked yarn hanks on it.  Then we used acid dyes in squirt bottles to put the dye on our yarn and rubbed it in.  After applying the color we wanted, we wrapped it up in the plastic wrap and microwaved it for a few minutes to set the dye.  Once our bundles cooled down, we unwrapped and rinsed our little gems.  It was fun to see what color combinations every one came up with.

The fruits of my dyeing labor today.

I can’t wait to get some more dyes and try this at home!  We will have so much more control than doing it in the crockpot.

Now for some pictures from the day.  It was a warm day but there was shade and a nice breeze and plenty of water to be had.  I would go back in a heartbeat!

Winding the yarn into hanks to soak and dye.

Yarn painting in action.

Laura dyeing yarn

We each had our own bowl for our yarn to cool down in. Mine is the orange one 🙂

The girls.

A few of the boys.

One of the sassier girls. Rumor has it she will spit on you if you make her mad. Luckily we didn’t experience it.

Angus and I cheesing it up for the camera.

One of the girls, just eating some hay.

Angus. He had the greatest eye lashes.

Thanks to Jenny at the crew at Red Barn Yarn Farm!  It was a great experience and I learned a lot!  We can’t wait to come up and check out the store!

Obligatory selfie with Angus and Laura!

That’s about all that can be said about that.  We have been spoiled with a beautiful, long spring and mild summer.  Until this week.  Today was 98 degrees with the heat index around 114.  UUuuuggghhhhh.

Now its all about conserving the coolness.  Unfortunately it leaves me not wanting to cook or knit or do anything that requires movement.

If you need me, i’ll be lightly dressed in front of a fan.