...MonkeyKnits... A Knitting Blog

back to the blogosphere

Can I just tell you, I have the coolest shade of polish on my nails right now? It's called Blackberry Chutney and it's part of the new India Collection from OPI. I'm loving it. It's fierce.

Speaking of fierce, have you seen the previews for this? OMG. Talk about a hot tranny mess. Fabulous. And in other news, I'm in two (count 'em two!) quilt swaps. Granted, they are "doll-sized," but still. I've got four weeks for one of them and about eight weeks for the other one. Think I can do it? Sure... Not to worry. Pish posh.

I'm working on a pair of bright pink mittens for a co-worker. She gave me a massage. I'm knitting her mittens. I'm also working on spinning yarn, yarn, yarn for a non-bloggable project. I'm not sure if the recipient reads the blog or not, so better safe than not surprised.

That's it for now. Sorry I'm not more exciting. The photos are from a party I had at our Sioux Falls house last summer. Oh, summer. When will you return?

playing @ work

I played a little at work today. Well, actually one of our new stylists played. I sat in the chair and transformed from an ultra blonde to a ravishing redhead!

A new color. A new cut.

Now, I just need to get a new redhead attitude, right? Watch out!

(my apologies for the terrible photo quality... gotta love Photo Booth + bad lighting, eh? I was just excited to share!)

W.O.R.K.

NEW0019.JPG, originally uploaded by monkeyknits.

It's a four letter word.

Seriously, I really love my "job." I put it in quotes because how can you really complain about working for a company where your benefits include Aveda product at cost and awesome salon and spa services?!?

It's been crazy busy at work. Patti (mom/boss) and I are learning so much about owning/managing a successful salon/day spa. Every day is a new challenge, but it's so much fun. I actually look forward to going to work in the morning -- what a crazy thing, huh? :)

I've posted some photos from the salon on Flickr. Check us out... Like my friend Kali says all the time, "We're kind of a big deal." And if you're ever in Duluth, come see us sometime!

On the Canal Salon & Day Spa
In the heart of Duluth's Canal Park
www.onthecanal.com

Hello? Is anyone out there?

It's been a while since my last post... Is anyone still checking in? Is anyone out there?

Blogging has been put on the back burner while I concentrate on "real life" for a while. Work life and home life are keeping me quite busy, and I find myself with just a little time left over for crafty life. Over the last few months I've chosen to spend that precious amount of leftover time for crafting rather than blogging about crafting.

But with a new year comes a renewed effort and energy to put towards the things I enjoy the most -- blogging is among them, as are knitting, spinning, and sewing. It's all about priorities, right? I've already committed to setting aside some time each day to "me." That usually means something crafty, but it also has meant indulging in trashy TV (have you heard about this show called "The Bad Girls Club?), catching up on my blog reading or playing around on Ravelry. I also joined the gym, which eats about an hour and a half 5 days per week (yay!).

I know I promised photos of our new house, and I will get those up here soon. We are still loving it, and are so grateful to have found such a great house with even better landlords! We are looking forward to spring and summer so we can start exploring Lake Superior a bit more (we're not the biggest outdoor fans in the winter).

I hope your new year is fabulous thus far. See you around!

sunrise at our new home

First of all... Happy Birthday, Baby! Hope the coming year is all you wish for and more! Here's to celebrating many more of your birthdays right by your side... Cheers!

sunrise, originally uploaded by monkeyknits.

I promised photos, and here they are! The first one (above) is the view from the end of our yard, looking out over Lake Superior. This lake is amazing -- every day it's a new view, I swear!

This little guy (below) lives in our backyard. I try to feed him peanuts, but sometimes the crows get them before he can. I know that squirrels are basically fancy-tailed rats, but I can't help finding this guy cute. He looks like a little old man pulling up his pants. It makes me giggle.

Here are a few more "outside" photos...
looking to the southwest we see the Aerial Lift Bridge

looking to the northeast we see fall colors

this is the view from our back porch

I make it a point to take in the lake at least once a day. It's just amazing to me. Okay, anyway... so here's the house...

the house has a nickname: "Little Vic"

can you say "guh-zee-bow?"

the ladder is the fire escape from our third floor loft - hope we never have to use it!
and the round part is our master bedroom - the head of our bed is in the tower*

I'll have some interior photos later this week. We're finally unpacked. Well, *almost* unpacked. And I shouldn't really say "finally" because there was a point where I thought we'd be living out of boxes until Christmas. My parents helped us out a lot -- not just with the hard labor part of unpacking, but also with the interior design part as well. I was really at a loss for how to arrange the furniture in this amazing house. The first floor has three large rooms that are separate yet open, if that makes sense. I'm sure one of them is supposed to be a formal dining area, but as we are not formal diners, we made it into a sitting area.

So those photos will be up later this week. I just have to say a very sincere "thank you" to Greta and Tyler for allowing us to rent their lovely house on the Lake. We are so happy here and it truly feels like home. So, thank you!

There has been a little knitting going on here, too. I currently have two pair of socks on the needles -- one is intended for my Sock Monkey Swap pal. They'll be going out in the mail next week. The other pair is for an unnamed male -- unnamed because they are quite possibly going to be a Christmas gift, so no photos to share yet. In the middle of all this unpacking, I've also unearthed a handful of UFOs that I had forgotten about. So I'm working on a couple of them and contemplating what comes next for a few others... I see some ripping in my future!

*so I just learned the difference between a tower and a turret. I had thought that we had a turret, but it turns out we have a tower. Who knew?