The Versatile Blogger Award

So I have at least one reader who thinks I'm awesome!

Thanks Mrs. Kinne from "The Unstoppable Mrs. Kinne" for giving me The Versatile Blogger Award!

The Award Rules

1. Thank the person who gave you this award. (DONE!)
2. Share seven things about yourself. (see below)
3. Pass the award along to 5 bloggers who you've recently discovered and think are awesome (and be sure to let them know).

The Seven Best Things About Mollie

1) I am afraid of deli counters. I have no idea why.

2) I have a pug who is afraid of more things that I am (including deli counters), is the love of my life, and does the BEST supper dance.

3) My favorite part of the human body is the that spot on someone's lower back with the dimples.

4) I'm hoping to be knocked up within few months (if not at this moment). On a related note, I very much enjoy the term "knocked up" when it refers to a grown women. I also intend to use the term "in trouble" (as in, "Three months later I'm a gal in trouble", a la Cher.)

5) My favorite TV show is, and will always be, "Friends." I know every line of every episode. I enjoy having analytical conversations about which season was best and Matthew Perry's weight.

6) If I start eating Salsa Con Queso or Swiss Cake Rolls, I cannot stop. Literally. I will eat it until I get sick. Deep down I think that perhaps this will be the last time I ever eat it, therefore I need to savor every last ounce, just in case. Oh, and also Almond Joy minis.

7) I have read the entire Harry Potter series at least 10 times. My favorite is #5, The Order of the Phoenix.

My 5 Favorite Blogs

1) The Craftzine Blog: They are just so crafty. Plus they have super cute Star Wars crafts, which I often forward on to Mrs. Kinne.

2) The Unnecesarean: A patient-advocacy Web site that pulls back the curtain on the practice of unnecessary cesarean surgery.

3) Public Health Doula: My friend from college is a Doula, recent master's of public health graduate, lactation consultant-in-training, and feminist. She is super-smart. She reflects on her studies, other people's studies, posts news, tells stories, and invites discussion on reproductive health from birth control to birth to bra fitting.

4) Richard Lawson's Real Housewives Recaps: Ok, this may not be a ground-breaking blog (or even a blog, really), but it is one of my favorite things to read. Richard makes you look at Real Housewives in a whole new light. I laugh out loud every time.

5) Birth Sense: Also called "The Midwife Next Door". A lot about normal birth and avoiding interventions. A while back she did a great series about "What NOT to expect when you're expecting", basically debunking a bunch of stuff in the What to Expect books.

Wow, that post took a surprisingly long time. I probably should have been working. oh well.

How to forget you're on an airplane

So I hate flying. Like with a passion.

My favorite line from Titanic is:

"But this ship can't sink!"

"She is made of iron, sir. I assure you, she can."

That is what I think about every time I fly.

"But the plane can't crash!"

"It is a steal tube 30,000 feet in the air. I assure you, it can."

It probably doesn't help that I could see the Sully plane floating down the Hudson River from my office window. I'm not sure what I would have done had I actually seen it crash.

Anyway, back to knitting. So I flew to and from Minnesota this past weekend, and the only thing that kept me from escaping via an inflatable slide was my latest project.

Veronik Avery's "Lace Ribbon Scarf".

I had bookmarked this pattern ages ago, and was recently "raveling" those bookmarks and came across it. The lace pattern is tricky but very repetitive, so once I did a few rows I was able to remember it and take the project "on the road". This will be this year's "Red Scarf", for the Orphan Foundation of America. I'm actually going to host a party for all my knitter friends to encourage them to start and/or finish their Red Scarves.

Painting Craftiness

So, it's not knitting, but I think it's pretty artistic.

I've wanted to paint walls for years. When I was a kid, we were re-doing my room and I really wanted to paint. But the wall-paper that was there was so old, and when we stripped it off, it was chopping and gross, and we couldn't paint.

After college I lived in a great apartment, but the landlord said we couldn't paint. Of course, my old roommate still lives there and wore him down -- the walls are now red! ha ha!

When C and I got married, we moved to Manhattan and rented our "post-grad chique", almost-one-bedroom. It had this amazing molding, and all I wanted to do was PAINT IT!!! ARG!!!

Last month we moved into our new, "financially-stable", adult, two-bedroom co-op. And my first order of business -- PAINT!!!!

We started with the master bedroom. I said I wanted "Anne Bolyn's boudoir with fewer beheadings."

Before:

Preparation:

Coat #1:

Coat #2:

We may do one more coat in the middle of the walls (not the edges, which are dark enough), because a few spots are too light.

We tackle the trim this weekend.

google image search gone wrong

**** Warning . . . may not be safe for the office *****

Oh my god.

How on earth did I find this picture.

I'm all for birth photos, but even this creeps me out.

My google search was "birth outfit". Because of the 7 pregnancy books I've read, not one said what I should wear to push this (not-yet-conceived, mind you) baby out. I'm sure I won't care when the time comes, but I would like to be comfortable and pretty during the whole process. I don't like hospital gowns, so I want something cute.

The above picture is not, however, and birth outfit. Google, fail.

Finished Notre Dame Baby Gifts

Baby Boy Curtin Gift Set -- DONE!

Letterman Jacket/Sweater

Pattern: "Top Down Raglan Baby Sweater" by Carole Barenys.

Yarn: Lionbrand Vanna's Choice (I LOVE this yarn!) in White, Navy, and Mustard.

Special additions:

Monogram logo intarsia pattern:

Shamrock Appliqué:

Football buttons from MJ Trimmings in NYC.

Golden Dome Hat

Pattern: "Baby Golden Dome Hat" by ME!

Yarn: Lionbrand Vanna's Choice (I LOVE this yarn!) in White, Navy, and Mustard.

Blue and Gold Socks

Pattern: Modified from Unisex Socks by Alyce Benevides & Jaqueline Miles

Special Additions:

Shipping out today!

Baby "Golden Dome" hat

Just finished my Golden Dome Hat.

The resemblance to the actual Notre Dame Golden Dome is uncanny, if I do say so myself.

This is a gift for new baby boy Curtin, due in August. Now, I know being born in August in Texas may make the hat a little unnecessary, I just couldn't help myself. It is to go with the Notre Dame Letterman Jacket, which is almost done (I just need to hit up the trimmings store for buttons tomorrow).

I originally was going to base the hat pattern on a fantastic ribbed hat I found online, but it just didn't decrease the way I wanted, so I guess this is an original pattern!

Materials:

Worsted Weight yarn in White, Navy Blue, and Gold/Mustard Yellow

5 Size #4 dpns

Cast on 72 White

Divide onto 4 dpns (18 on each) and join

For the Base:

Row 1: K1 P1 rib around

Row 2: Attach blue. K1P1 blue, K1P1 white for 13 stitches, carrying the blue behind. [K1P1 in blue for 5 stitches (carrying the white behind), K1P1 white for 13 stitches (carrying the blue behind)] X3, P1K1 blue 3 stitches. (* For a graph of these instructions, see the image at the bottom of the page.)

Row 3: K1P1 in white around (do not carry blue)

Row 4: K1 white. P1K1 blue for 5 stitches, K1P1 white for 5 stitches, P1K1 blue for 5 stitches. [K1P1 for 3 stitches, P1K1 blue for 5 stitches, K1P1 white for 5 stitches, P1K1 blue for 5 stitches]X3, K1P1 white.

Row 5: K1 white, P1K1 blue for 7 stitches, [K1 white, P1K1 blue for 7 stitches, K3 white, P1K1 blue for 7 stitches]X3, K1 white, P1K1 blue for 7 stitches, K2 white.

Row 6: Knit all blue.

For the Dome:

Row 7: Attach yellow. Knit all yellow.

Row 8: (all yellow) [K8, P1]X8.

Repeat Row 8 for about 4--5 inches.

Decreasing: [Knit until 2 stitches before the Purl row, K2tog, P1, SSK] until there are two knit stitches between each purl row. (24 st)

[K2tog, P] around. (16 st)

K2tog around. (8 st)

For "Statue" . . . (this may be one of the most blasphemous things I've ever knitted)

Attach white

K2tog around. (4 st)

Kfb around (8st)

On 4 needles (2 st on each needle), [Kfb, K1]around (12 st)

[K2tog, K1]around (8st)

K2tog around until 3 stitches remain

Change to Yellow

Make a 3-stitich i-cord for about 7 rows.

Cut and thread end through the stitches.

Embellishment of Base:

Using a crochet hook, do a chain stitch up and down the white triangles (are the gables? are they peaks? I have no idea). For this version, I threaded the yarn through the inside of the hat at the end of each gable.

I'm thinking the next one will have a folded bring with the embellishment on the "inside" -- we'll see.

* pattern graph (click for larger view)

Start at the bottom right; first white row indicates the cast-on row.

New Home Craftiness

So I've discovered Virtual Painting on BenjaminMoore.com. It's kind of amazing.

Upload a photo, mark off the different areas of the room -- wall, trim, accent, etc. -- and then drag and drop different colors and see what it looks like!

For example: My Living room now . . .

I marked off the ceiling, the top and bottom of the walls, and the trim of the shelves and the chair rain I want to put in,

I played with colors, and now I have the names and numbers of the colors I like for when I go to the store.

I can also contrast and compare different layouts. Like below, the radiator is brown, instead of blue.

I also want to paint all our random bookcases. We have these great built in shelves along one wall, and I'm hoping to use that space for my fancy yarn storage.