Domestic Geek

Can't remember where I originally found this, but I had to share:



'Twas the night before Christmas, and oh, I was weary.
My stitching unfinished, my eyes getting bleary.
The stockings weren't finished, the chimney was bare
And I knew that morning soon would be here.

My children and husband were tucked in their beds,
But visions of backstitches ran through my head.
I'd stitched ornaments and presents and gifts by the ton,
And now, I was finally, almost, almost done.

As I poised my needle for one more stitch,
I heard something outside that made my hand twitch.
I jumped up from my stitching and flew to the door
Pressed my eye to the peephole, tiptoe off the floor.

My stitching forgotten, I peered into the night
When suddenly I got a terrible fright.
On my porch appeared Santa, holding his sack
He knocked softly, and I took a giant step back.

I unlocked the deadbolt, and let Santa in
He entered and gave a mischievous grin.
"Hope you don't mind if I come in the door?
Coming down the chimney can be quite a chore."

He said, "You're up late. Still working, I see.
Do you know how tired you're going to be?"
I know, Santa, I said with a sigh
But I'm still backstitching the stars in the sky

And the fields on that stocking look blobby you know,
I need to backstitch the drifts in the snow.
I've been stitching and stitching and stitching, no rest.
I just tried to finish stitching too much, I guess.

"I know what you mean," he said with a smile.
"This is my busiest time of the year, by a mile."
He stooped down by the tree and he opened his sack
And began to pull presents out of his pack.

"I've got some things here I think you might like.
An oak stitching frame and a brand new Ott-Light.
A bundle of floss and a great big mat cutter."
I smiled and felt my heart go a- flutter.

He put down gifts for us all, then waved his right hand
"Go to bed," he said, glancing at my floor stand.
He gave me a wink and stepped out the door.
I just stood there a moment, glued to the floor.

After he'd left, I turned back to my chair
Picked up the stockings and started to stare.
The backstitching was done! The stars lit the sky!
And on my son's stocking, angels sung on high!

I ran to thank Santa for this final gift,
And watched as his sleigh started to lift.
I heard him exclaim as he pulled out of sight,
"Merry Stitching to All, and to all a good night!"

~Author Unknown

Despite being sick, I managed to get quite a bit done this weekend.

On the crafty front, I finally got around to sewing the watch band for the iPod Nano that Dad and I got for Marcus last Christmas. I swore I'd get off my duff and get it made before this Christmas and I did it with a more than a month to spare.



I've been getting into making amigurumi lately. The first one I ever made was a Yoda for my desk at work. My most recent one is this cute little pumpkin pie:



I also finished knitting a dish cloth that was a test knit for a friend of mine. No picture yet as she has not yet released the pattern.

I made a really yummy dinner on Sunday night. Beer can chicken (free range) with sage, thyme & rosemary stuffed inside, baby red potatoes & broccoli with oregano, olive oil & sea salt and corn muffins. All organic, of course.



We had to board up the skirting where a raccoon tore into it to get under the house. I hate raccoons.

I got all the bedding washed, got the dishes caught up, bathed the rabbit and cleaned her cage, made a sketch for this week's Team Housewares golf poster...whew. Too bad the work week started again and is cutting into my productivity.

We had a really cool spring storm start up the night before last. Marcus and I both really love it when it is raining or snowing, so when we heard the rain start up again, we headed for the front door.

Now, I think I've written here before about our trials with raccoons around here. When Marcus opened the front door, one of those damned critters was on our front porch. It took off, so Marcus opened the screen door and I poked my head around him so I could see out. Suddenly, I was in terrible pain. The raccoon had come charging back and Marcus had quickly slammed the door closed; unfortunately, my head and the door could not take up the same physical space. I think I'm OK, I just have had a doozy of a headache the last couple of days. Part of that is probably the weather change and it being spring, too. If I wasn't already taking time off later this month, I'd would have called in sick yesterday . I was so not in the mood to deal with THE STUPID at work (and the people at work didn't disappoint).

On a brighter note, the watermelon self-striping sock yarn I pre-ordered from knitpurlgurl on etsy arrived! I've been wanting watermelon sock yarn forever. I've been stalking one seller, but I always miss when she puts stuff up for sale. My friend, Ruth, told me about knitpurlgurl and that she also sells a watermelon yarn from time to time. I was clicking through my etsy favorites one day and saw that she was taking pre-orders for it, so I finally purchased one. Yay!



I didn't realize when I ordered it that knitpurlgurl was from Colorado Springs (saw the return address on the package when Marcus got it out of the mail box). Also, I love the little touches added: the watermelon jolly rancher and the little watermelon wedge stitch marker. Very clever!

Now, if only I didn't have to work so I could stay home and start knitting it up.

I thought I had posted about this, but it turns out I just tweeted it. That's one of the major downfalls of sites like Facebook and Twitter, I'm not documenting stuff here. Anyway, back on June 26th, I got my rear in gear and finally took a lesson to learn to use the embroidery machine that Marcus got me for Christmas in 2007. I had stopped into the Aurora location of Rocky Mountain Sewing & Vacuum the week prior to inquire and met a wonderful lady named Barbara who said she's be more than happy to help me get started. I'm determined to find a way to make a living with that thing. One thing that is a side effect of any kind of sewing, but especially embroidery as I'm finding out, is the large amount of thread scraps all over. I've always meant to get a little basket or something to keep by the sewing machine to toss scraps into, but have never quite found something I liked. I started to make myself something out of plastic canvas years ago, but somehow managed to misplace part of it before I finished it.

A couple of weeks ago, Marcus used up the last of the oatmeal and tossed the container. Inspiration hit!

I've had that fabric with the cutting mats scattered over it for a couple of years now. I meant to cover magazine boxes with it, but have never gotten around to it. (<sarcasm>Big surprise!</sarcasm>) I picked up some bias tape for a couple of bucks at Joann's. I wish I had taken pictures during the process, but alas, I'm a slacker that way. I wrapped the oatmeal container with some batting and glued the fabric and bias tape on. I was happy with it at that point, but something seemed to be missing. While I was perusing designs of many of the embroidery sites I frequent, I came across a lovely embroidery machine on Designs by Sick. I added type to it in PE Design, put a border around it with one of the frame designs built into the machine and voila, Scrap Container. I used the lid as a base to keep the bottom from getting worn and messed up. I think it came out rather cute!

I've got to face the fact...my body is getting old.

I'm trying to work on a pair of crocheted earrings from the July/August issue of Crochet Today while I watch Lost streaming from Netflix on my PlayStation 3. I'm using a tiny steel size 12 (1mm) hook with crochet thread and I can NOT see the stitches. *sigh* I had to bust out my Ott light with the magnifier on it so I can work on these.

I knew my eyes were getting worse and it was time to go in for an exam and get some new glasses. This reinforced that thought. Oh, to be able to afford laser surgery.

Speaking of Crochet Today, that was the first and only issue I will ever buy. That magazine sucks. The earrings are the only thing in there that I will make. Most of the patterns are stereotypical of what people hate about crochet. Most of this stuff is FUGLY!

OK, gripe over for now. Off to crochet.