Lola Bunny Finished and Bequeathed A New Name

Meet Louie the bunny! This little guy is already snuggling with my 22-month-old boy tonight. Yet, I managed to take a few pictures before introducing him to his owner. The yarn is Knit Picks Essential Multi in Confetti; 2 skeins held double on U5 circs, magic loop. The only mods I made to the Lola Bunny pattern were to: 1) CO provisionally via the Magic CO so that I could continue working the opposite direction without having to pick up CO stitches; and 2) omit the tail. I did make a tail and sewed it on. But it ended up looking like Louie was, how shall we say, pinching something. So sorry for the foul description and resulting mental image I just presented to you. However, now you can see why I took the trouble to carefully remove the tail asap. Anyway, here are the pics!

Lola Bunny Progress

Here's the final picture of my Chinese Waves #2 dishcloth. Originally, it looked a bit ridiculous because I ran out of yarn halfway through. So, I folded it in half and sewed it closed. Much better, and I kinda like the spongy feel. I think I'm done with dishcloths for now. Although, if I feel motivated enough, I'll make some Tribble kitchen scrubbies.

I'm making good progress on Lola Bunny (see picture). I got a lot done while my daughter was away at grandma's! I'm currently working on the ears and have the bum, tail, and face after that. The face is done with embroidery floss, which I already have in my cross stitch supplies. Can't wait to see the end result -- Ian has already become interested in it and likes the colors of the yarn :-)

Sometimes when I'm checking the Ravelry forums, I stop and search for new groups that might interest me. Last night I thought I'd check to see if there was a group that speaks Italian. YES! When I went to their forum, there was an Intro thread entirely in Italian. Since it was too late, I only read the first page of posts. But, I plan on reading them all (9 pages) and adding one myself. It's cool to see a wide spectrum of skill levels from beginners to native speakers. I think I'll learn a lot. And they're talking about knitting! In addition to this new Rav group, I've favorited a couple of Italian knitting blogs and sites to check frequently, not to mention some links to real Italian recipes, all in Italian. It's a fun challenge. I'm still doing Babbel, too, where I've built up to 1085 words and 800 or 900 some phrases. For grammar, I've been reading some of my college texts. Re-learning and remembering all the different verb tenses is probably the most challenging thing for me and my 35-year-old brain. Funny, that, because in college my biggest hindrance was vocabulary which is now easy for me in comparison. Back then though, I didn't have interactive sites like Babbel to build up my vocab...

Ciao!

Verde Bag Pics

Pattern: Verde
Yarn: Knit Picks CotLin, 3 skeins (glacier, kohlrabi, lantana)
Needles: US 4, 6, 10

Knitting the lace mesh part of this string bag was my favorite part. The woven stitch at the bag top wasn't too unpleasant either. The only parts I didn't enjoy doing were the bag bottom and the fabric stitch strap. In the case of the strap, the extra time and effort was necessary to create a nice sturdy, nonelastic strap. The bag bottom looks like something unmentionable. Yet, it flattens out a little bit with ironing. The decreases and my nonelastic BO at the bag top created a narrow-diameter opening.

So... after seeing Marie model Verde and get all excited, I think I might let her have it. It's small enough for her to carry around and pretend she's Ariel collecting treasures. We could also use it to carry toys on-the-go or small knitting projects. I just know that it's not possible to be used as a regular market bag unless you're getting only small items. A cereal box definitely wouldn't fit. I think the next time I make a market bag, I'm going to do a rectangular bottom and be sure that the opening isn't narrow ;-)

I've decided to fold my latest Chinese Waves dishcloth in half and sew it closed to make up for running out of yarn halfway through making it. When I get a chance, I'll do that and take a pic. Next up is finishing my summer Berroco top Bright and some other projects that have been in letargo. I might CO for Lola Bunny today, too.

Two Dishcloths Down, Possible Tribbles To Come

With all the leftover Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn I have from last year's foray into dishcloths (and since it's summer), I thought I'd make some more. Having loved the Chinese Waves pattern the first time around, I just had to make another. The second dishcloth is a variation of the diagonal garter stitch DC with a textured center using skp and YOs.

FYI: If making the Chinese Waves DC, be sure to slip sts k-wise to get a holey look which includes the illusion that one "stitch" is split horizontally by two colors. In contrast to my Chinese Waves #1, I tried slipping sts p-wise this time round, and my dishcloth looked completely different and "wrong." So I frogged and started over. Go figure that a simple twist of a stitch makes such a difference. Next up: Tribbles. Great use of scrap yarn!

Tonight I listened to a few Knit Picks podcasts since I've gotten severely behind. Of course, the first podcast I listened to was the one about the new fall yarns from Knit Picks! Next I moved on to the Cookie A. interview and various snippets of other podcasts. I still need to listen to more... so behind.

On Ravelry, I saw that I have 6 WIPs... Hmm, maybe I should label some of those as hibernating? Anyway, the projects I'm actually working on now are: Bright (drape neck summer top), Verde (market bag), and soon a Lola bunny rabbit. My 2 pairs of socks and cell phone cozy have been on the back burner. I might frog the sportweight pair of socks because they're really heavy, and I'd rather use my green skein of Louet Gems on something else, truth be told. Maybe a hat? The ankle socks are suffering from second sock syndrome all due to my not making both at the same time. Hopefully, I'll get those finished in time to enjoy wearing them this summer! The cell phone cozy... dunno... My ultimate number of WIPs would be 3: one sweater/top, one pair of socks, and one kid project.

The new Knit Picks handpainted sock yarn, Stroll Hand Painted, looks awesome! I'm so happy that Knit Picks has come out with a machine washable handpainted sock yarn. What a pleasant surprise! As beautiful as Imagination is, I probably won't ever buy any more specifically to make socks since it's alpaca (I love alpaca, but not with socks), not machine washable, and felts very easily. The colorways of the new yarn are really, really cool!

We went to the zoo today -- always enjoyable. There was a 2-week-old orange-colored baby silver langur. Just as a zoo keeper was explaining that the female holding the baby wasn't the mother, another female came over and took the baby into her arms. Supposedly, all the females were passing the baby around. The kids and I decided to take the boat ride through The Islands, and surprisingly Marie was allowed to sit by herself in front of Ian and me. Both of them really love being at the zoo.

Low humidity=good hair day; Sara Bareilles' song Gravity

I just checked the current local humidity and dewpoint at 11:29 PM: 52 and 49, respectively... Meanwhile in Raleigh, NC (my former locale): 84 and 66. I actually got cold while outside with Marie before sunset. It's amazing how different 67 in Raleigh feels compared to here! The dewpoints in Raleigh never dip below 60 during the summer. My curly hair is loving this stretch of super-low humidity and dewpoints :-) Today was one of those good hair days that comes out of nowhere. Good hair days are few and far between for us curlies, so I enjoyed it all I could even though the only outing I made was to go grocery shopping. BTW, in addition to the low humidity, I've been doing two things differently: adding honey to my leave-in and adding gel after briefly plopping (not before).

On STYTCD, there will be new pairings Wednesday. Instead of going into all of that, I'll just say that I'm curious to see what happens this week. Last week's Mia Michaels dance is still in my mind, and I've managed to watch it a couple times each day. It's addictive, pun intended.

The Sara Bareilles song Gravity, which was used in Mia's dance, is so haunting and beautiful. It was a perfect match for Mia's choreography. I thought I'd share two different videos of it here. This link will take you to the music video, and here is a video from Sara herself with just her and the piano. This isn't the first time I've been impressed by Sara Bareilles. She did a beautiful song with Ingrid Michaelson called Winter Song that I found while reading someone's MySpace page. Recently, I found out that her most popular song, which I didn't care for until now, turns out to be written in response to her record label trying to pressure material out of her: "I'm not gonna write you a love song cause you asked for one, cause you need one..."

Last, but not least: I CAN TRILL/ROLL MY R'S COMPLETELY NOW. Not especially exciting to everyone else, but it is to me! It was only a few weeks ago that I finally figured out how to roll my double R's for speaking Italian. Then two or three nights ago, I had another mini breakthrough and could finally trill for several seconds without much effort or thought. Woohoo! I've been driving everyone in my household batty with my trilling. It's funny I never learned how to do this while playing the flute. But then again, I didn't need to because I was taught to use just my diaphragm to do flutter tongue (different from double or triple tonguing), kinda like lightly laughing super, super fast. It's like whistling, but to demarcate the notes you use your diaphragm muscle and not your tongue. Well... I can now cross off rolling my R's from my list of impossible feats. Yay!

Sheldon #2 Finished

Pattern: Sheldon
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport, green apple and sky (1 skein each)
Needles: US2 circs and US3 DPNs

Comments: For my second Sheldon, I tried improving upon little things here and there. The most prominent improvement is the applied i-cord around the shell. If you look at the picture above that shows both Sheldon profiles, you can see the difference. All I did was insert a YO before the PU & K a stitch through the shell and attachment panel. Then when you go to pass the slipped stitch over, you also pass over the YO at the same time. The YO acts like a connector and hides any blips of contrasting color. On my first Sheldon, you can see blips of purple yarn peeking through my green i-cord. Here's the tutorial from which I learned this technique. It's one of those techniques that gets long stowed away after bookmarking and then finally gets used for something. I highly recommend it, and will probably suggest it in the Sheldon forum.

Marie is not wanting her brother to have this second Sheldon. She actually was crying about it because she wants her Sheldon to "have a friend." Uh huh, right. She's jealous and still needs to learn that not everything is hers. Right now, Ian's Sheldon is next to him in his bed to greet him when he wakes from his nap. Did I mention that he calls Marie's Sheldon "C-Pa"? I bet that's what he'll say when he notices his new turtle :-)

I should be knitting right now! Oh well... I'll be getting my knit on at knit night anyway ;-)
Sheldon#2 is nearly finished, as well as my string bag.

Last night's SYTYCD was awesome. There were some standout dances and standout individuals. My favorite two dances of the night were Kayla and Kupono's "Addiction" dance and Janette and Brandon's pop jazz "Jewel Thieves." Kupono played his malevolent role of addiction very well, and I got chills when he smirked as Kayla, playing the addict, struggled to escape his grasp. Very powerful, memorable piece. Like last week's vampire dance with Sonya, I was mesmerized. They make a great pair. Janette and Brandon's combination of technique, fun, and chemistry with Wade Robson's choreography made their dance extremely fun to watch. I thought Janette looked like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka the way she wore her hair and hat. Jeanine really shined during the jive she danced with Phillip. I can't wait to see who they partner her with next week. Speaking of which... I think the pairs should be:

Brandon and Jeanine/Kayla
Ade and Kayla/Janette
Kupono and Melissa/Jeanine
Jason and Janette/Melissa
Phillip/Randi

That's assuming Evan and Caitlyn go home. If Evan stays, then I'd pair him with... Jeanine, I guess. Whoever gets Evan is very unlucky.

An Interesting Cover To Share

Interesting, seeing a guy sing Lady GaGa's Poker Face O_o Kinda like it! But then again, I've always liked Chris Daughtry.

Sheldon Snapshots

Since I needed to take a picture of Marie holding her new Sheldon, I decided to take a few shots of my Sheldon#2 in progress. I've already finished stuffing the body of Sheldon#2, so this time around is definitely going faster. It's funny, too, how much easier it is. I'm finding that this Sheldon's stitching is turning out much nicer since I know what to expect. I've got Sheldon fever! This little guy is fun! I'm looking forward to also making Ian a bunny rabbit (Lola Bunny) out of sock yarn. You could say I'm liking this whole "knitted stuffed animal" business.

SYTYCD was interesting this week since almost everyone had to dance their genre. My favorites this week were Janette/Brandon, Kayla/Kupono, Melissa/Ade, and Karla/Vitolio with an honorable mention to Jeanine/Phillip (only because Jeanine has been impressive each week despite her partner). Though I like Randi/Evan, their dance bored me this week. Caitlin/Jason will be on the chopping block this week I think, unless the numerous positive comments about Karla/Vitolio have been misleading. Can't wait to see if the MJ tribute works out!

Tonight is Knit Night --YAY!!!!!!

Before and After Pics

This is one of those times when the before picture is better than the after one (IMO). Today, I got my hair cut the Deva method (a method in which your hair is cut dry, curl by curl), and here are pictures for your perusal. The last picture is the after picture with the original styling products in my hair. I think it'll take me a week or so to see how I like this cut using my own conditioning and styling products. The Deva products seemed to dry out and frizz-ify my hair, which surprised me.

For those familiar with Deva products, my stylist used the low-poo shampoo and One Conditioner (wonderfully scented btw!). Then she put the heavier of the two gels in my hair. After drying under the hair bonnet (or whatever you call those thing-ys), she diffused it the rest of the way. Despite the appearance of my hair in the after/2nd pic, it looked halfway decent when I left the salon. It's after it completely dried that it got super frizzy and dry, and my head began to itch slightly.

My stylist Maria was very nice, and we talked CG stuff the whole time. She knows her stuff and practices what she teaches. She really enjoys cutting curly hair. She did one whole side and stopped to compare it to the other side, which was neat.

After picking the kids up from my mom's and returning home, I rinsed my hair in the tub, then CO-rinsed and styled it with my flax seed/LA Looks gel combo. My hair (and head ftm) feel and look better now. My head doesn't itch anymore, and my hair is softer although not as soft as it was before my haircut.

Sheldon#1 D-O-N-E, Waiting To Meet 4yo Owner

Sheldon is sitting on Marie's pillow, waiting to surprise her when she wakes! Can't wait to see hear what she says tomorrow morning! I finished the shell yesterday and did the rest today. Now I better get started on Ian's turtle right away since he'll be super jealous and want Marie to share her new Sheldon with him.

Since I now have the experience of making one Sheldon, I'm looking forward to knowing what to do the 2nd time around. On Ravelry and at knit night, it was pointed out to not understuff Sheldon, especially at the neck which can get limp over time and wear. Agreed, however... I think I went TOO far in the opposite direction because my 1st Sheldon's body is quite plumply stuffed! I could barely fit him into his shell (a scary moment, I must say!), even though I'd only very lightly stuffed that piece. In fact, it was necessary to sew his limbs on with the shell on. That turned out to be helpful because I was able to place them correctly. His shell will not be removeable unless he drastically reduces in bulk after washing/drying. Luckily, I don't think this matters much because I don't plan on making any Sheldon costumes in the foreseeable future, as cute as they are. Sheldon was a fun knit, especially as he gradually "came to life" step by step!

So, on to Sheldon#2 for Ian and back to finishing up my Verde string bag. Once I finish Verde, I'm going to return to Wright, my drape neck summer top. There are also some socks to finish.

Aha -- THAT Explains It

When choosing the colors for Ian's Sheldon, which I'll make after finishing Marie's, I was drawn to choosing Green Apple and Sky Shine Sport. It felt like deja vu, and I wondered why... Now I know: there's a small turtle on the outside of my portable zip-up blanket in the same colors. Aha! Check it out:


BTW, the two skeins of Stroll Multi in Confetti are for a Lola (Rav link) bunny. It's for Ian because he loves to cuddle with a particular little "My First Easter Bunny" from last year that has seen better days. I really hope he'll like his Sheldon turtle and Lola bunny. He already talks to Marie's limbless Sheldon that I'm currently working on, so there's a good chance he'll take to his upcoming stuffed animal cuddlies :-)

By now you've noticed that, yes, I've finally ordered new yarn! About time, huh? The last time I bought new yarn was in January (I got Imagination and Felici sock yarn). Before that, the last time I purchased yarn was in November 2008 for Ian's Thorpe hat and mittens. Luckily my August 2008 gift certificate and Knit Picks Swish Worsted yarn from a giveway contest allowed me to spread out the following sweater projects: CPH, Tangled Yoke Cardigan, Amused, and Tubey. Also, you could say that I've been industrious with leftovers and the free single skeins of yarn I got by attending Knitters Connection last June (I guess that's what the $10 membership paid for, other than early registration.). My stash has dwindled nicely over the last year.

On a completely different subject than knitting, I thought I'd add this YouTube video in memory of Michael Jackson. It brings back memories from childhood when EVERYONE was trying to moonwalk! Enjoy.

Way To Go Nikki!!!!!

Congrats to Nikki!!!!!!!! One of her designs was accepted for publication in Interweave Knits. I'm telling you, my former Raleigh SnB has had some talented ladies. Saunielle, a former member who has been published in several publications, is now studying in NYC. Now Nikki in IK -- how exciting! I'm very happy for her :-)

In case you're wondering where my previous post went, I deleted it. It was funny for a moment, but then I got over it. Hopefully, the Verde bag bottom will flatten out into a PG shape ;-)

...Back to trying to get someone to answer the phone at Shag Hair Studio. I'm interested in getting a Curly Girl cut from them. Maybe I'll try to stop in tonight for a consultation at the very least since no one is answering the phones or returning my voicemail (it's a small salon).

Weekend Update

All that Babbel has helped me catch a few more things in Under the Tuscan Sun. This weekend I caught the movie on the WE Channel and noticed more of the building signs and non-subtitled dialogue. Example? Before Francesca (Diane Lane) walks into a building to sign for the house, the sign says "risparmio" which basically means savings. Many banks or financial institutions are generically called Cassa di Risparmio di (name of city). A few weeks ago, I did a vocab lesson on money and banking. Now I might just have to go back and watch The Godfather movies, especially Part II since there's a lot of non-subtitled Italian. Lately, I've tried to watch or listen to streamed music and TV programs broadcast from Italy.

The string bag, Verde, is coming along nicely. I've got about 2-3 inches to go before beginning the straps. Lately, I've been working more on that than Sheldon simply because I got tired of my kids pawing Sheldon, poor turtle. Out of sight, out of mind.

For Father's Day, we grilled hamburgers out back. Not the healthiest of meals, but we also had pasta salad, chips, and watermelon. After dinner, we roasted marshmellows on skewers to make smores from the dying heat of the grill. Before the sunset, I pumped up my jogging stroller tires, and we went for a short walk in the neighborhood. When we got back, I gave Ian his milk and Marie her hot chocolate after which they both took a bath.

Hair stuff? Though I've CO-washed occasionally since last Tuesday's olive oil DT (a complete and utter FAIL), I hadn't low-pooed. So, I broke out my Avalon Organics sulfate-free shampoo (Nourishing Lavender is the one I have) and went to town. Normally for styling, I use flax seed gel followed by HE Set Me Up Gel. But today, I skipped the FSG and only used some old LA Looks Sport Gel. It was super crunchy when it dried, but after SOTC it looked nice and felt light.

I keep hearing wonderful things about Loreal's CG conditioner for curly heads called Vive Pro Nutri Gloss Conditioner for "Medium to Long Hair That's Curly/Wavy." It's in a pink bottle with a blue band. The other versions (one for fine hair and one for smoothing) in that line are NOT CG, so beware. Many on naturallycurly.com swear by that stuff for their CO-rinse. Most people will CO-wash with something lighter like Suave Naturals conditioner and then do their CO-rinse and/or leave-in with the Vive Pro. It sounds like it works for a variety of curlies, but especially for people like me who have tons of hair. Supposedly, it feels like the cone-filled conditioners without actually containing any of them.

My...well, I should really say Marie's shasta daisies are still alive! They've completely adapted to the outdoors and are doing well. They sure don't grow fast, though, I must say. In other backyard news, we have some new residents in our birdhouse. At least we did for a short time. A pair of birds built a nest in the birdhouse, and I watch off and on one day as both birds guarded their abode. Unfortunately, I saw a black crow or blackbird checking out the birdhouse and haven't seen the cute pair of birds since. I'm guessing the thieving crow got the eggs. Mean crow!

ETA 6/27: Good news! I've seen the pair of birds guarding their birdhouse again.

A string bag, CG stuff, and cherry pie

Knitting
I finally decided to make a bag out of the 3 differently colored skeins of CotLin I've had since the yarn debuted. Initially, I thought I'd make some washcloths, but now I've CO a Popknits pattern called Verde. Mine won't be green, obviously, and I hope I have enough yarn to complete it. The straps have a stitch pattern similar to duffle bag straps, so that will take more yarn... No pic yet, sorry :-) Tonight or tomorrow, I also plan to re-start Sheldon. I was told at knit night that my Sheldon might be too loose to stuff. So, I'm going to switch from my US 3 dpns to US 2 circs and magic loop it this time. Sheldon is a lot smaller than I anticipated. It's possible I might be able to use the small amount of leftover Grass Shine I have to make the body.

CG Stuff
Lots more conditioner works for me! I'd been having to use a lot of gel and other products to maintain my mop top. After reading a few of the 3b and higher subforums on naturallycurly.com, I decided to try a lot more conditioner as my leave-in. Before, I was using a quarter size at most; now I'm using a small handful. What's amazing is that my hair absorbs it all. Since upping my leave-in amount, I've not had to use as much gel. In fact, today I didn't even have to add a 2nd round of gel after plopping. So, I only have flax seed gel in my hair right now: not as crunchy.

In other CG news, I've been clipping when air drying and using tons of lavendar water spray (Tiffany's version that includes conditioner) as a touch up or styling aid.

Baking
I've made pie a few times in my life, despite the fact that I love cake more. But, I've never made cherry pie before until a few days ago because I typically like pies of the pudding variety. We had some fresh cherries and didn't know what to do with them. So, I found a recipe on the Food Network site that uses fresh cherries and their own juice (with cornstarch and sugar) to make the filling. It turned out wonderful. However, I've discovered that I'm not enjoying super-sugary desserts these days. It's been a while since I've had a fruit-filled pie, and I could definitely tell. It was like drinking regular soda pop. While it tastes good, at the same time you are aware of how sugary it is.

On A Much More Positive Note Than Yesterday...

Here are some things I've been up to: Sheldon, Wright, daisy seedlings, and flax seed gel.

For those who've knit Sheldon, you'll get a good laugh out of this... I kept thinking I was working on the tail while I was knitting the body today. The whole time I was thinking, "This is quite a big tail, my goodness!" It wasn't until I started doing the decreases and looked more closely at the pattern that I realized that I had been working on the body. Sheldon's a lot smaller than I was expecting! Anyway, I'm on the head now. After finishing this first Sheldon with scrap yarn and working out all kinks, glitches, etc., I'll be ordering some new Shine to make Sheldons for Marie and Ian.

Finally, I have a picture to show of one side of Wright. As I've said before, I'm using recycled Knit Picks Comfy in Lilac Mist. I got a lot done on this on the wedding roadtrip to North Carolina.

Several weeks ago, I bought a cucumber seedling starter kit. Um, well... I over watered the poor little seedlings and they died. Sooooo, I bought some more starter discs (3/$1 at Target, no less) and planted some Shasta Daisies. Just yesterday, I separated and replanted the seedlings in a spare flat. They've been doing well adapting to their new home and to the outdoors. Can't wait to see them bloom!

And finally, homemade flax seed gel. I love this stuff! This is my second batch, and I think I got it right this time. We'll see how well it works because I made it thinner this time. I was trying for more egg white and less brown snot texture. If you're not familiar with flax seed gel, it's really handy for people with curly hair. It's also dirt cheap if you consider how much can be made from the basic ingredients and that the flax seeds can be reused if frozen. The recipe amounts I used were 2 c. water with 3/8 c. flax seeds (halfway between the 1/4 c. and 1/2 c. that are typically recommended). After boiling to desired consistency and then straining, I added lavendar EO and a touch of honey. Many people also add natural preservatives at this point like magnesium sulfate or grape seed extract, and they commonly also add aloe. But I didn't have those things on hand and don't mind refrigerating my gel anyway. Many recipes say to boil the seeds 10 minutes. I found that for me, it only took 5-6 minutes to get the consistency I wanted. FYI, a 2-c. recipe makes about 1 cup of gel. Since I made it thinner this time, I had a much easier time straining it :-) Yay!

I like the unique texture of flax seed gel. It's similar to egg whites, but thicker. So it's super slippery and provides great hold and shine when it dries. I made my FSG super thick last time, and it took some getting used to when applying. The thicker it is, the more you have to emulsify it in your hands before using. Any "crunch" can be eliminated by scrunching your curls upside down when they're dry. BTW, many times I'll combine my FSG with my Herbal Essences Set Me Up Gel or LA Looks Sports Gel to get the best results. When I use the FSG alone, I seem to need more than regular gel to achieve long-lasting results. This time I added honey, though, so I might be able to get away with less.

Tomorrow night's our knit night potluck! We're celebrating one year together (It's seems longer!). Good food, good company, and good times ;-)

I'm SO tired of cleaning up messes!

Danger: Be warned that I'm NOT in a very good mood right now. In fact, I'm livid and this post will be a rant. Why? I'm soooooooooooooooooo sick and tired of cleaning up other people's messes! Whose messes? Kid messes, that's what.

Today pushed me right over the edge. I'm sending my daughter to bed as soon as she eats her dinner. I've had quite enough of that child. She somehow managed to get a hold of some Nestle Quik and spilled it all over the living room while I was cooking dinner. It's on the floor, furniture, and books. Where was hubby? Outside fixing the garage door. It's a disaster that will take quite a while to clean up. Guess what, that's just the icing on the cake for a day filled with messes and spills. I had her help me clean up the previous messes, but this one is just too much. I'm SO MAD. See ya tomorrow, I'm done. Time to go put the little gremlin to bed.

Hello Honey, I Think I Like You

Well, the honey definitely worked. I loved the honey and olive oil DT so much that I tried adding a pea-size amount of honey to my conditioner today. Bam! I got excellent curl definition AGAIN. I feel I should note the rest of today's routine in case it interests you:
1. Avalon Organics Nourishing Lavendar shampoo (sulfate-free, my first time using it)
2. Suave Naturals Ocean Breeze Conditioner + honey
3. cold rinse, lavendar water spray, and 1-2 Tbsp CO for leave-in
4. flax seed gel + HE Set Me Up gel
5. plopped 5-10 minutes
6. more FSG
7. air dried 1 hour and then diffused upside down to about 80% dry
8. 1 tsp Suave Naturals Coconut conditioner slightly diluted
9. a little hairspray (Suave)
Later, when my hair was 100% dry, I scrunched upside down to get rid of any bit of crunch and used a slight dusting of hairspray again. It wasn't until this last step was complete that I was convinced. The honey made ALL the difference in the world! Since having kids, I haven't had this nice of curl definition. So, now I plan on adding a pea-size amount to my conditioner every time I do my CO rinse. It doesn't look greasy or wet, which is what I try to avoid; it looks shiny and clean. Yay, a happy hair day :-)

Knitting
Since this IS a knitting blog, I should probably mention some knitting-related stuff, too. I think I'm going to make some more Chinese Waves dishcloths with some leftover cotton yarn (Peaches & Cream, I think?). The reason: stress relief. Sometimes I just need something quick and relaxing to make. Since getting back from NC, I haven't gotten back into a regular knitting groove yet. No, I haven't lost my mojo or anything. It's just that I'm getting distracted by kid stuff, cleaning, and gardening. My mom and I just planted a flower garden and flower box for Marie and a box of herbs to sit on the deck railing (parsley, sage, rosemary, dill, basil, and oregano). At night, (besides Ravelry and blogging) I've been spending time re-learning more and more Italian vocab (on Babbel), re-reading my old college Italian review textbook, watching the new Tonight Show w/Conan O'Brien, and making and reading online about Curly Girl stuff. Hmm, I don't see exercise listed, do you?! Bad Jackie, bad. Just tonight I was saying to Jared what nice running weather it was.

Other Stuff
I've been watching So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD, Season 5) for my second summer. The most recent episode was fun to watch since they picked the Top 20 and had the semi-finalist guys and girls dancing to West Side Story. This show is my rebound from American Idol.

We went to the zoo yesterday (Friday) and were glad it was open until 6:00. The gibbons were particularly fun to watch because they were sitting under the cover of trees, scooping water into their mouths and onto their heads. I think I could see a tiny baby latched to its mother. For once, the flamingos weren't asleep. Marie still isn't interested in penguins or otters. The penguins I could maybe understand since they're usually not swimming. But the otters are, to me, so much fun! We completely skipped the east side of the zoo. So next time, we'll be starting there. One of these days, we'll aim to get there for the baby elephant viewing at lunchtime.

Ian has been talking on Marie's Cinderella cell phone lately. He absolutely loves that thing. The only thing he loves more is his bunny (and maybe his baby blankie that I made him). Marie knows how to open up Internet Explorer from the desktop and go to her favorites to start playing her favorite kid games. Recently, after getting out of the shower and checking up on her, I found her playing something on Noggin or Nick Jr. Then she proceeded to show me how she'd tried to play her Disney princess song CD, but a DVD player window had popped up instead of the Window Media Player that she was expecting. Wow, I guess she really pays attention to what Mom and Dad do on the computer because I never showed her how to do that stuff. Kids, heh.

Oh! I forgot to mention something that might not mean much to you, but it's exciting to me: I can finally roll my double rr's in Italian! The single r is simple to do (think "Dracula"), but I've never been able to do the rolled double r. Practicing over and over finally paid off. I still can't roll it for a long time or do it by itself. But, I'm definitely able to roll it long enough to be passable in conversation. Now, if I could just stop the lightheadedness (don't laugh!) and relax my jaw and tongue more, my rolled r's would sound effortless. Ha! That will take some more time and practice...

Fighting Fire With Fire (Because I'm Not Patient)

CG News
After returning from my wedding roadtrip to North Carolina on Monday, I decided to go back to doing the whole CG thing with my Suave Naturals Ocean Breeze Conditioner. Starting out the no-poo regimen requires patience and time, of which I have little when I see straggly, frizzy, oily, unevenly-curled, clumpy hair. I decided to fight fire with fire to see if that would bring back some curl definition: Last night I did a DT with honey and olive oil. (I did an olive oil treatment a few years ago when I tried going CG and remembered how much my hair liked it, as well as adding honey to various products.) I warmed 1/2 c. honey and added 2 Tbsp. olive oil per the directions on the livefreelivecurly site. Before doing the DT, I thought I should remove any existing gunk from my hair. I added 1 Tbsp. of baking soda to my conditioner and followed that with an ACV rinse. Next I poured the warm honey and oil over my head while bending over in the tub. After massaging it into my scalp and raking it through my hair, I wrapped my head with plastic wrap and let it sit 30 minutes. It was difficult to rinse out, so I CO-washed. BTW, I think a sulfate-free or loo-poo shampoo would've worked better in this case because I had a LOT of honey and oil in my hair! (Next time, I'm going to reduce the recipe amounts by half.) After rinsing in cold water, I added more CO as a leave-in. My flax seed gel wasn't on hand, so I used HESMU gel and squeezed excess water out while scrunching upside down. Then I put in one clip front and center at my hairline to create more lift, plopped for 10 minutes, and went to bed. I noticed that my curls were already showing more definition and were standing away from my scalp when I removed my towel before bedtime, so I was looking forward to seeing what my hair looked like in the morning.

The first picture is how I generally wear my hair. I smooth out the curl with a round brush around my face, diffuse the rest, and then hand style; or I pin the long bangs down and air dry followed by hand styling. The second picture is from this morning after waking up from doing the DT. (I know, I'm not a morning person and this picture clearly shows that. Just look at the hair please!) More definition and boingy curls -- goal achieved! It'll be interesting to see how long my hair stays moist from the DT. I'm glad to have alleviated a few days of frizz and sped up the process of my hair becoming more moist.

Knitting News
I finished one side of Wright and am on the second side now.

Next time I go grocery shopping, or maybe sooner, I'm going to buy Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Invigorating Shampoo (although I hear the 50:50 works well, too). It contains zero sulfates. I'm also interested in Nature's Gate (Tea Tree Calming Conditioner, Hemp Nourishing Conditioner, and their Organics line of shampoos and conditioners) and J/A/S/O/N (Everyday Hair Care line and their All-Natural Specialty Hair Care line). I think these all cost around $7 or $8, so not too bad. Although, I'm more likely to buy just the sulfate-free shampoos and continue with the cheaper Suave Naturals and VO5 COs for CO-washing and CO-rinses. If I did splurge and buy one of the above-mentioned conditioners, I would use it sparingly since I tend to use a lot.

Tracy Flick lives on in Glee

One of my favorite dark comedic movies from the 90s is Election with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. I haven't quite seen its match in comedic style until now. Not only has the style been resurrected, but the lead high school female character is a lot like Tracy Flick, Reese Witherspoon's unforgettable character in Election. Fast-paced wit and charm interlaced with deliciously smart musical snippets can be found in the new Fox show Glee. There were scenes in the pilot that could've been pulled directly from Election. For example, how about Rachel Berry storming down the school hallway pumping her arms while intensely fluttering voices are playing in the background... to her fake crying in the principal's office making accusations against the former glee club advisor to get him fired. I thought back to the very determined Tracy Flick running for school president and how she would let nothing stand in her way. Rachel Berry on Glee is determined to be a star using the glee club as her platform. The creator of Glee even eludes to the movie Election when asked to what he compares his movie. Oh, yes. I'll be watching this show religiously come fall. I even downloaded the highly-ranked-on-iTunes cover of Don't Stop Believin'.

From what I've heard, there is a lot of good music and guests coming our way. Kristin Chenoweth plays "an alcoholic high school dropout"; Josh Groban guests as himself and plays an "ignorant a-hole"; and Debra Monk and Victor Garber play Will Schuester's parents." One difference between Rachel Berry and Tracy Flick that I like was shown in the pilot: Rachel actually has a heart and does get her feelings hurt at times. I mean, how couldn't she have a heart with that gut-wrenching performance of Les Miserables' On My Own for her glee club audition?! That gave me chills.

On to American Idol. Yes, I'm not finished with Idol just yet! For those who either initially disliked Danny Gokey or eventually disliked him, I found some hilarious, tension-releasing, South-Park-and-LOTR-infused commentary videos on EW by Michael Slezak and Kristin Baldwin:
Danny Gokey's exit recap video - Part 1
Danny Gokey's exit recap video - Part 2
Idolatry 5/10 - Part 2
I love the South Park graphic! If you don't have time to watch these in full, just watch the beginnings of the first and third video links. I found myself completely agreeing (and laughing along) with pretty much everything they were saying. Then if you have time, check out the video series of Allison Iraheta's exit interview. Obviously, Michael Slezak adored her as much as I did.

Something else to mention before I stop talking AI is that Danny Gokey did it again... As if some people didn't already feel enough disdain for the poor guy, he screwed up on CNN's Larry King Live with Ryan Seacrest last night. Every single other contestant on the show were considerate and gracious in their comments concerning Kris and Adam. Until Danny spoke, the other contestants were reiterating in solidarity what Kris and Adam have been saying in all their interviews. Then Danny comes along and says that he thought Kris would win and gave reasons behind why Adam didn't. Arrogant SOB. Adam and Kris were sitting right there. Granted, Danny had said these same things in an earlier live blog and Ryan Seacrest was bringing it up on LKL to see what Danny had to say for a second time in front of the two finalists. The other contestants could've eaten him alive with their eyes when he was opening his big mouth to Ryan. Danny, you do realize that you'll be going on tour with these people for the summer, don't you?! Ugh. As a David Cook fan, I'm still miffed that he sang Hello on the Finale Results Show. He didn't do that badly actually, but I'm sure all David Cook fans like myself had daggers in their eyes and collectively gasped when Danny started singing that song. Danny rant finished. Check.

Did anyone watch SYTYCD? I got all teary when the blond-haired girl who lives with her grandparents auditioned and made it. Just beautiful. I also liked the girl from the Bronx who has rheumatoid arthritis. Such talent coming from people who have odds stacked against them in life!

In Curly Girl news, I found the book at a smaller branch of my local library. I took Marie with me to get that and the Sensational Knitted Socks book, which happened to be only one aisle away from the CG book. (BTW, I've already finished the CG book -- fast read.) We also got her some books and DVDs, then walked across a grassy field to the playground at Thompson Park. She enjoyed that it was just us without Ian. When Ian is with us, I can't help Marie climb on things since he's always trying to run away and explore. I got to climb on everything with her, and she loved that. Then later when we got home, I read to her all about honeybees and snakes from her library books. We're talking in-depth books here, and she had lots of questions. My favorite was, "Are there any snakes that would eat me?" Her eyes were huge when she saw the page that showed a snake swallowing its prey.

Looks like I might be doing most if not all of the driving next week to Raleigh: Jared tripped and broke his arm today. Poor thing was trying to run to get the phone (it was me calling) and got a loop of his shoelace caught on his cymbal stand. He went to an urgent care and got an x-ray done, after which they put his arm in a hard splint.

Knitting News
Not much, other than I'm at the armhole of the front side of Wright. My sportweight socks are coming along slowly. I was lucky to find the yarn for those from last year's Knitters Connection goodie bag of one-skein yarns from Knitters Mercantile. Actually, I also found that I still have three differently-colored sample skeins of CotLin (my purchase from when CotLin first came out) and a super bulky skein of black alpaca yarn (from the Knitters Connection goodie bag). Other than that though, my modest stash consists of only leftovers. I'll be thinking about what to use those skeins of CotLin for while finishing my current projects. I'll probably make a Sheldon with my leftovers of turquoise and orchid Shine (unless it's the wrong weight of Shine -- haven't checked the pattern yet) that I used to make last year's mermaid outfit for Marie.