I just read this post over at Bluebirdbaby and decided it would be really cool to jump in on the fun!

The idea is that during this time of blah end of winter ickiness, to capture beautiful things on film and share those pictures.  Read the original post for more info, or click on the pretty little icon over there –> at the top any time.

But beware…sometimes I think things are beautiful that others merely consider quirky.

And without further ado, here’s my first post:

I’ve long shied away from anything considered typically “girly” (not entirely sure why, but I don’t like the stigma and pretty much never have); however, this weekend so far has been a bout of incredible girliness for me!

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First, my Jordana Paige purse from Handbags for Haiti arrived in the mail!  It wasn’t the color I expected to be (I thought it would be a very vibrantly bright red, but it’s more of a magenta-ish red), but I think it’s truly beautiful and I absolutely adore it!

Huge and yet incredibly sleek and fashionable, I’ve carried it everywhere since I got it, even though it’s so big.  It’s going to become my laptop, knitting, and sketchbook bag from now on.  If you want to see just how much you can fit in one of these amazing bags, read this great post by a good friend of mine.

And though this is considered an “imperfect” bag, I can’t figure out what the imperfection is!  I looked all over the bag inside and out, scouring it to try to figure out what was “wrong” with it, and I couldn’t find anything!  The closest I could guess was that this snap doesn’t seem to want to close:

So I just unsnapped the other snap and let it roam free inside the bag.  No skin off my back!

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Then, that night, I went out (carrying my great new purse) and was eating with a friend at Steak and Shake (how ladylike!), when an older couple sitting behind us turns around, taps us on the shoulder, and asks if we want tickets for Hairspray, showing at the Center for the Performing Arts downtown an hour from then.  We were stunned!  These were very expensive tickets that we would never have been able to afford, and this lovely couple says that the people they were going to go with were no longer able to come and were offering us the tickets free.  It was such an unexpected bit of kindness, we didn’t even know what to do, but we accepted the tickets and had an amazing time!  Thank you, whoever you are out there, for the tickets!  And I hope to be able to “pay it forward” soon and keep the pattern of kindness going.  You never know how much a bit of kindness can mean to someone sometimes, and it meant SO much to my friend and I that night!

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Concerning even more girly things, I’ve been working consistently on my lace, getting about one repeat done per day.  It’s slow going, but I’m on schedule.  However, at this pace, I’m not going to finish this stole until I’m an old lady!  Ah well, I’m in no hurry at the moment.

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Finally, I also got these “Victory flowers” in what a friend refers to as almost-Colts-colors.

Yes, I am watching the Supebowl this evening with friends, and yes I will be actually paying attention to the game.  I’m enthusiastically rooting for the Colts as I have been all season, so I guess based on that no one could accuse me of being TOO girly, right? Although I’ll probably be knitting my lace and my light summer cardigan during the game, so does that make me girly again?

Have a great Superbowl evening, no matter who you’re rooting for or if you don’t care!  (But remember, you should be rooting for these guys!  Talent, hard work, and integrity get you a long way, and I love that my Colts always try to stay out of the tabloids and get to the top through hard work and sheer determination!)

-Abby

I don’t really consider myself a good cook, which is why I don’t talk about cooking that much on here, but there are a very few recipes that I have made before that have turned out so sensationally that I have to talk about their magnificence and cook/bake them over and over again.

One of these is my chocolate mint brownies.

I call them mine, even though they’re not.  I found the recipe here, but every single time I make these they turn out AMAZINGLY.  Quite possibly the most delicious things I have ever eaten.  One of my go-to recipes in a pinch (or when I’m craving something sinful!)

And I was craving them, so I made a batch.  Are they not amazing?!

They consist of a basic brownie level on the bottom that is very rich and fudgy.

Then, there’s a powdered sugar minty layer.

Finally there’s a melted down semisweet chocolate thin layer on top.  In this particular batch, the semisweet chocolate didn’t quite melt right, so this layer looks a little funky, but it still tastes perfect!

Seriously, they’re heavenly.  Go make a batch now!

Have a great day!

Abby

On February first, I set up my perfect little workspace:

Color-coded lace pattern?  Check!

Tea in a cute little Chinese cup? Check!

Something interesting to watch/listen to?  (Pres. Obama’s Live Youtube question and answer session) Check!

Pile of semisweet chocolate chips?  Check!

Soothing candle?  Check!

Pouch of all the tools I could possibly need directly to my right in case anything goes wrong?  Check!

Lace needles with a smooth join?  Check!

Smooth, contrasting color waste yarn and my lace yarn?  Check and check!

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I was ready to go!  After several frogs over the previous few days, I was ready to do it right!

So here’s my cast on:

And after long last, here is where I ended today, on my third pattern repeat. I finally got a chance to pin it out and get a contrasting color background (cream colored carpet doesn’t photo gray yarn well…) and some natural light:

I’m very happy.  But also this is going to take a very long time!  It’s ok, though, it’ll be worth it!

Glad to hear most everyone else seems to be doing well, too!  Continue to check out my Adventures in Lace blogroll along the righthand side of this page, and if you should be in the blogroll and are not, leave me a comment to let me know and I’ll add you right away.

Thanks!

Abby

Sorry I don’t have time to write right now, but I just finished my second repeat of my lace pattern, which, granted, is not very much, but which took me a very long time to complete, and it looks amazing!!  I am SO happy with how it looks!  I just had to gush!

After lots and lots of tearing it out and restarting, and lots of getting lost in the pattern, it’s finally working and looking great.  I’ll have pictures up very soon.

I hope everyone else’s lace is going well!

<3Abby

Remember how excited I was yesterday about my thrifty sweaters that were soon to become yarn?

I may have made the cardinal mistake of frogging sweaters….I got attached to both of them!

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First, I started looking at the camel one.  Intriguing construction!

Obvious yarn over bust darts that created an interesting pattern:

Horizontally-knit sleeves:

And a neckline that purposefully spills over onto the back a bit (don’t know how else to explain that, but here it is:

Not that I don’t still want to frog it, but I at least want to study its construction a little more before frogging it.  *sigh*

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With the yellow one, I made an even larger error.

I tried it on.

And it fit!

And I kind of like it.

A lot.

Except the color…

I have a feeling that if I do anything to this sweater, it will be dyeing it instead of frogging it.  And probably studying it a little bit too.  It’s pretty!

I need stop letting this happen over and over!…

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In other news, the lace knit a long starts today!  And I just realized after a large swatch (aka casting on the project then deciding to frog it) that I need a new pair of lace needles, so after I run to the store I’ll be able to re-cast on.  News on that as it breaks.

In the meantime, check out the blogroll along the right side of the other participants in the knit a long.  I’m sure there will be lots of exciting news on their blogs!

Hey everyone! I have a few “announcements.”

–Our amazing lace KAL (Knit a long), Adventures in Lace 2010, is about to begin!  Tomorrow, February 1, everyone is planning to cast on their projects and start on the same day.  How exciting!  I’ll be giving frequent updates on how mine is going.  In the sidebar are links to all the participants in the knit a long as well as our Ravelry group and Flickr group, so check it out frequently!

–In the same vein as the previous, Kate, the creator of the knit a long, has decided to have a little sweepstakes for some amazing lace yarn, so hop on over to her blog to get entered for that.

–In the same vein as the previous, another bloggy friend, Jenny, is also having a sweepstakes for some amazing yarn!  Go check hers out here, but hurry, you only have until midnight tonight!

–The class I taught the other night went really well, too!  I’ll update you on that once I teach the next one.

–The Grammys are tonight!

–I have all sorts of things that I want to write about that keep on getting pushed to the back burner.  Hopefully I can get my butt into gear soon and actually remember to write more often.

–This list is quickly deteriorating, so I’ll sign off now.

Have a great night!  Talk to you all soon hopefully, and tomorrow I’m (re) casting on for my Print O the Wave Stole for the lace knit a long!  Yay!

I took myself on a “date” the other day with $5 and a camera to the local thrift store, just for a little fun, inspiration, picture taking, and the possibility of scoring some great yarn:

Oh dear...This sweater is definitely NOT wool!

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I ended up spending just a teeny bit over $5 for this book:

And these two sweaters:

Success!

So my roommate came home the other day with a big bag full of fruit and announced “we’re making smoothies!”

It was a very unexpected and pleasant surprise!  Here’s what happened, told in pictures:

It was delicious and unexpected and a LOT of fun.  Here’s to simple pleasures and fresh fruit!

Also, look at all of the colors on that counter!  I think that color combination would make for some really pretty fair isle, don’t you?