Shannon's Lotus Flower Bracelet

I finished Shannon's bracelet today. I was going to have Sean stop at Michael's Arts and Crafts for black crochet thread, but I guess I'll get it another day. Here's the finished product and close-ups.

Lotus Flower Bracelet by CreativeYarn

Close up with button.
I wanted a teal button, but this white one will do.

What I've Been Up To...

Okay, so finally I have a chance to take some pictures and upload them. The ones on my camera will have to wait until I get back to Boston. These are the pics from my webcam (actually Sean's).

White Cap with Purple Flower

Lotus Bracelet

Irish Rose Dishcloth

Picture of me with Sean. Haha. I'll make him take a picture!

Nice face, Sean.

Okay, so we're not on the same page yet. =)

A Week in Connecticut

I arrived safely in Connecticut on Saturday, December 27. My boyfriend picked me up from Bridgeport, CT. We went to his mom's boyfriend's brother's house in Somers. They have this amazing recreational room in the finished attic. All hardwood paneling with leather chairs spread out in different nooks. There's a bar-like area with a beer/alcohol fridge. The fireplace was huge and gorgeous. In the middle was the pool table. I wish I took pictures, but I think one of Sean's relatives might have some.

Sunday was spent hanging out and shopping. We went to Canton and had lunch at Five Guys. It is the most amazing burger place ever. EVER. I went to Barnes and Noble and got the Interweave Crochet Winter '08 magazine and a crochet book: Beyond the Squares Crochet Motif by Edie Eckman. Then we went grocery shopping at Shaw's. We always stock up his mom's kitchen when we visit. The total was $180. Oh jeez.

I'm also crocheting my aunt's new hat. Pictures to come when I get back to Boston. I forgot to bring the cord with me. =( Well, I've been distracted by my new Nintendo DS game - Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. Okay, I know what you're thinking at this point... Is she seriously playing a little kid game? Yes, I am. It's so addicting. I got it on Saturday and as of Sunday night I already played 6 hours of it. Ahh. Well, I'm probably going to go play another hour and then finish the hat or vice versa. I think the hat is easier to finish and I need to get that out ASAP.

Until next time!

Oh Yes!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone got what they wished for today. My sister and I just finished watching Love Actually. I love that movie. <3 Tomorrow we're going to the mall so I can finally get a winter jacket. I also need to exchange the gift we got my mom because the glass was cracked. Eh. I can't wait to go to Connecticut on Saturday!!!

Okay, back to crocheting. I have a lot of projects to finish!

Christmas Eve!!!

Okay, so I woke up this morning and read for a hour or so. Then I started crocheting my mom's hat. I love the green color; it's called Olive. (Pictures to come.) Plans for the day: CVS to buy a last minute card, bake an apple pie, wash my dog, and clean up my room.

I've been to Michaels Arts and Craft on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Crazy. I bought probably $80 worth of yarn and accessories. I'm going to have to tally up all my stuff and organize it. Wait until you see a picture of my yarn stash. I'm going to have a fun time cataloging them online at Ravelry.

I went to Borders yesterday and bought a new book - Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. I'm a fan of her knitting and crochet books. I can't wait to try patterns out of it. I also bought a book about making potholders and dishclothes. It's called Kitchen Basics in Cotton by Carolyn Christmas. I'm making my boyfriend's grandparents - what else? - some potholders and dishclothes. I can't find most of the colors for the cotton yarn in stores so I'm going to have to order it online soon. No rush.

Okay, off to run my errands and get things done. =)

Home, Sweet Home!

Okay, the only thing not sweet at home is the fact that we have no internet service. My mom doesn't use the computer and Joy and I are never really home for long so to save money we canceled our internet service a few years ago. I've been surviving my withdrawal by going to the local library or by lugging my laptop to Panera, Starbucks, or where I can get free wi-fi.

Well, having no internet is actually a good thing. I managed to get more stuff completed. I'll working on the test reports for Randy. I have 1.5 more tests to finish up. Okay, I gotta go work on it now.

Plan of attack for the day:

Go to A.C. Moore, Toys 'R Us, Joann Fabrics and Crafts, Old Navy, Panera, Borders, Ulta's, and then Michaels Arts and Crafts.

I will still update via cellphone my Twitter account. If you scroll down and look on the right side of this blog there will be a section called "Twitter Updates". I'll be posting to it often throughout the week since it's faster to text then drive out to a wi-fi location to just get internet service to blog. =)

Going Home

I'm traveling home today in 3 minutes. So I'll make this quick. I catch the Amtrak from Back Bay at 8:45 AM and take it to Bridgeport, CT. Then I hop on the Port Jefferson Ferry and it takes me to Port Jeff, Long Island, NY. Then my mom or sister picks me up from there and drives 20 minutes to our house. The total trip takes about 4-5 hours depending on how long I have to wait in between the train and ferry. It's snowing out a bit, but I hope it doesn't impede my travel.


Happy Holidays! Stay warm and toasty!!

Pictures from Friday's

Yankee Swap at Friday's on December 18, 2008:

Deciding what to eat...
Matt and Randy

... the menu can be challenging when there's a lot of options.
Steve M.

Anthony (in the white) why do you look so down?

Clearly I wasn't sneaky.
David

John, Rick, and Karen

Joe Q.

View down the table, part 1.

View down the table, part 2.
Oh look, Dan's in a picture!!! (Green stripes)

Clearly the best gift of the night. Her boobs jiggle.
My supervisor, Ken

Checking out the gift.
Ricardo, Steve D., and Ken

Some funny faces with Matt and Randy.

Massive Snow Storm

Oh yea, there's a huge snow storm outside. I'll be back in my room in an hour or so and I'll be uploading new pictures. Stay tuned!

-----
December 20, 2008 1:30 AM

Getting a ride back with Steve. 93 South, North of Boston.
Zakim Bridge in the background.

All's quiet on Westland Avenue.

Still no one on Mass Ave. (I was dropping off my blockbuster movie.)

Bundled up and ready.

Huntington Avenue and Opera Place. (Outside of Speare Hall.)

The Nano Dog covered with snow.

Looking towards the Student Center.

Looking towards the Library from the Student Center.

Looking out onto Sweeney Field and nearby Huntington Avenue from my window.

New Blog

Hi everyone! I have a new blog that I started a few days ago. It's dedicated to talking about my co-ops, engineering, and work. My Books & Hooks blog used to be about everything, but now it's mostly about my favorite topics of interest. So take a peek and see what's been on my mind.

http://mysocalledengineeringlife.blogspot.com/

Thanks for viewing!

Not So Funny...

So today went by pretty quick. Of course it usually is when you have a lot of things to get done. Hopefully the snow stays away until later in the day tomorrow. I need to finish a test report, a very long one. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning so I won't be in until noon if the weather holds.

So after work we gathered at Friday's. Everything was going great and everyone was having a good time and lots of different conversations were happening at the same time. About an hour in we started the Yankee Swap. There were some cool gifts and some not so cool ones. My favorite was the one my boss picked out. It was a top half of a women with bouncy jelly like boobs. OMG. It was hilarious. It was suggested that we put it on the shake table. Haha. That will make Art and Cristian's day.

At the end of it all I got a $20 Au Bon Pain gift card. Hey, college kids never turn away free food. Lisa, one of my co-workers gave me her scratch cards that were part of her gift. The first one had nothing, the second one had $1, and the third one had $2. The last one looked the same as the other ones and the prize was $10,000. I proceeded to scratch the pyramids one by one and then in front of my eyes... $10,000. I was like... serious? No way... I was so happy that I shed some tears. Then someone suggested that I sign the back to claim it. So I turned it over and I started reading...

It was a fake. It had stuff on the back like "Write to [...] the NorthPole" and "Winners only get laughed at by their friends." Something along that line. Great. There are two things I hate doing and I did them tonight. 1. I cried in public and 2. I was made a fool. At one point during my happiness I yelled out that I was going to go to Europe with that money. Guess not. Oh well. My tears of happiness became tears of sadness and disappointment.

Money's always been an issue in my family. We always just had enought to make do. Since I was 9, my mom has raised us, Joy and me, single handedly and gave us everything, though she had nothing. When I was 16 I understood the debt my mom was living in and wanted to help. I've been working every summer and every school year since then. The only time I wasn't working was when I was in San Fran for two months this summer. Every other paycheck up until my second co-op went to my mom to help pay for the phone bill, the electricity, and other expenses. Even now I'll go home and give my mom $500. It's something to help her out for all that she's done for us. I love her and I can't say no if she's feeling pinched.

So when I saw that $10,000 I thought of what I can be doing with it. I would put half towards my trips and the other half will help pay off some of my schooling. To find out that it was fake was very disappointing. I'm not sure who put it in or why they bought it. Maybe they didn't know it was fake, maybe they thought it would be funny. The wrong person got to scratch that card and definitely didn't take it as a funny joke. I think the people around me felt awkward because here I was so happy and finding out it was fake totally killed my happy mood. Well next time I'll read the back before jumping up and down and making a cake out of myself.

Mr. Cactus and His Hat

Okay, so I'm a bit ridiculous. I finished Mr. Cactus today. Then I sat back and realized that transplanting a cactus to the Northeast was not a good idea... he'll get cold. So I crocheted him a little ear flap hat. OMG! It's sooo cute! Hope you guys like it!!! He's going to be sitting at Azure Dynamics. Us co-ops can't keep plants alive. =)

Mr. Cactus (Amigurumi World)

I just made the little hat pretty much out of nowhere (actually off the top of my head).

Okay, so I also made a little scarf...

... clearly having too much fun.

Almost Done!

My last day of co-op is December 19th -- this FRIDAY!!! Omg. I can't believe it's almost over. It's been super quick. I have an end of the year/co-op review tomorrow and my boss is taking me to lunch. Yay! On Thursday we have a Yankee Swap after work at TGI Friday's. I'm excited! I'm making an apple pie for Thursday. Friday I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, but I will be in around noon. Not missing the CRD seminar hosted by Beth for the world! Should be an interesting topic... She's putting together a slide show about what our customers have been doing with our DMOCs and motors. Fun! Okay, gotta run to my sister's now. =)

Cutie's Sweet Set

I have been crocheting non-stop! I'm currently finishing up my handwarmers. The scarf came out great! Here are some pictures. My ravelry username is PVeeraplin. You can find more information about the patterns there. I added embellishments to all the patterns: picot flower and/or contrast edging.

One Skein Scarf by Denise Cozzitorto (Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker)

Basic Fingerless Mittens by Julia Vaconsin

Whoa There Crochet Addict!

Okay, so I made more stuff...

Baby Owl (Amigurumi World)

Natural Cap to Crochet (Bernat Designs)
I added the contrast trim and flower.

Crochet Picot Flower by SkaMama

La Vie en Rose Lyrics

I was watching Wall-E and this song was playing during a scene. I heard it before but never figured out what it was called. <3

La Vie en Rose

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast this is la vie en rose

When you kiss me heaven sighs,
And thou' I close my eyes I see la vie en rose

And when you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart, a world where roses bloom

And when you speak angels sing from above
Ev'ry day words seem to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be la vie en rose

When you kiss me heaven sighs,
And thou' I close my eyes I see la vie en rose

When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart, a world where roses bloom

And when you speak angels sing from above
Ev'ry day words seem to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be la vie en rose

Catching Up

Okay, so I've been a bum and haven't updated my blog in quite some time. So here's an update. I won't say it's a quick one because I can write on and on about nothing. Hm. I rant.

Crochet Projects:
After weeks of intense crocheting, I decided to give it a break and get back to my romance novels. I managed to read 3 of them in the past two weeks. I made my aunt's cloche, 15 mini Christmas stockings, and started Chris's convertible mittens and a tiger amigurumi. I'll post up some pics soon.

San Fran:
I went to San Francisco, CA for Thanksgiving and stayed there until the Tuesday after. While there I went to Sausalito, Tiburon, and the Marin Headlands on Friday. Took in a Raiders game on Sunday afternoon (they lost) and went on the Alcatraz Night Tour on Monday. Sean took most of the pictures so I don't have much to put up on Facebook. Alcatraz was pretty cool, though it gave me the creeps... just a bit. The Raiders game was an interesting experience. I have the worse luck... every time I went to the concession stands they would score a touch down or field goal. =( We had really good seats in the Season Ticket Holders area. Section 139 Row 42.

Work:
My co-op is winding down to a close. I have about 2 weeks or so left. Originally I'm supposed to work until December 19, but that might get extended to the 23 or 24. I planned on going home on Dec. 20, but I'm going to aim for the 24. I can't wait to see my mom and doggie again.

Random:
While I'm on the subject of home, I plan on bringing up some of my yarn stash and taking home random clothes that I don't plan on wearing anymore while I'm up here.

School:
The upcoming spring semester is my last. I'm almost done! Last day of class is April 15 and commencement is May 1. I'm sooo excited!!!

Upcoming Trips:
I plan on going to Thailand mid-May and then Europe at the beginning of July, both for a month. Well, it depends on my financial situation next year... sad story.

Okay, I think that's about it for now. =)

Thanksgiving in San Francisco

I am spending Thanksgiving in San Francisco, CA! I'm so excited. My boyfriend, Sean, and I have been planning this for the past month and a half. I'm leaving on the 8 am flight out of Logan Int'l Airport on Thanksgiving Day and I'll be landing in San Francisco Int'l Airport around noon. I'll be there until Tuesday, December 2. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and post them up here soon. Three days of work this week and next week. Two full weeks after that and I'll be done with co-op and one month closer to graduation!!!

Good night, sleep tight.

Convertible Mittens: Update

Making some convertible mittens for my friend, Chris...

(www.crochetandknitting.com)

Amigurumi Koala!

He's done! It took me a few hours since I had to take breaks after I've been sitting in front of the computer for hours...

Amigurumi Koala (Tiny Yarn Animals by Tamie Snow)

Why Can't You Bag Groceries Properly???

Do they not training people to correctly bag items at the grocery stores anymore? I go grocery shopping once a week at either Shaw's near the Pru or the Stop & Shop near Brigham Circle. Both places I hate to leave the bagging up to the bagger. They never do it correctly. Who puts the bread and other delicate items at the bottom? I normally bring a reusable bag that I bought from Shaw's with me. Since it's bigger I feel like these kids just toss my stuff into it...

Today my apples got bruised, last week my zucchinis were almost squashed. WTF?! I used to work at Costco (summer after freshman year) and we pack carts (think bagging but on a bigger scale). I did an amazing job. =) When I bag my own groceries everything makes sense. You put the frozen and refrigerated foods in one bag, cans and odd items in one bag, produce in one bag, and boxy items in another. You can combine them together by putting the heavy big objects at the bottom and work your way up to the top with the lighter, delicate items. Sometimes I just want to teach these people how to bag properly, but it's not my place... I blame it on their supervisors and trainers.

There was another pet peeve, but at this point I don't remember what it is... =P

Thin Walls = Not Cool

One thing I hate about on-campus apartments: thin walls. I was sitting here on Facebook minding my own business when I heard one of my roommates and her boyfriend having sex. Um, yeah, I totally didn't need to hear any of that. Why did I hear it you ask? I had music going in the background and it was in the middle of a transition to another song and that was when I heard it. Good thing most sexual intercourse lasts about a few minutes. Haha. As I'm typing this one of them just went to the bathroom. Whew, I'm ignoring any awkwardness in this. Moving on...

I'm starting a new crochet project: driving gloves.

Oh yea, so I joined Ravelry. If you want to look me up and friend me my username is PVeeraplin. That seems to be my username for a lot of websites. Okay, back to work on this project.

Stockings Sweet Stockings

Okay, so I finished two so far. They were made using two different weight yarns so one's bigger than the other. Well, I extended the pattern a bit for the brown one. I have a lot of random color yarns... I think I'll go buy red and green yarn to be traditional, but I swear that's it. No more yarn until Christmas. =)

I think I'm gonna go have dinner and watch a movie. My sister went to the University of Delaware for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament so I'm gonna be lonely this weekend. I guess I'll hang out with my other friends. =)

Mini Christmas Stockings (Learn to Crochet)

Stroller Blanket (Crochet Today! Nov/Dec)

So cozy!