Fun hunt

So yeah, just like everyone else and their mother I’m totally into Groupon and Living Social. I usually check them every day. (Well, I also try to check Woot and Teefury too.) The only thing is that while I think some of the stuff is cool, it takes a lot to get me interested enough to buy something. What I like about Groupon though is when they have deals on local events.

That’s how I roped loved ones into a scavenger hunt. I said 1) It’s a fucking scavenger hunt and 2) what a deal, right guys?!

I think everyone had fun. It turned out to be a beautiful day for it despite predictions of rain. We ended up running around downtown for two hours trying to solve some (wacktastically hard in some instances) clues. Plus I saw and learned some things about the city that I had never seen or known before. That’s always a plus in my book!

For instance:

Did you know that Columbus is home to the World’s Largest Gavel…? Yeah, that’s one up on Dubai.

It was sweet and I’d definitely do another one. If you’re interested in seeing all the pictures and even reading the clues that we got, I posted them on my flickr. The clues are under the photos. Although one of the photos (of us solving a clue) got accidentally deleted… probably at the point that I lost my phone. That was scary.

In knitting news, I did go to a Wool Gathering again this year with my friend Molly.

Earlier this year I actually started working on a shawl with yarn that I had gotten from a previous Wool Gathering… only to find out that I didn’t have enough yarn. I ended up getting more yarn to complete that project at this years’ but to be honest, I’m worried about it. Maybe I just need a ten man hype crew to tell me it’s going to be okay and not clash and be hideous and then everyone will be mad at me and I’ll start crying in front of the whole school. Or something.

Plus, yeah, it totally doesn’t count as buying yarn when I need it to complete a project and get rid of yarn from before right? Please maybe?

Oh! Buttons!

Not to sound like a total punkass or anything but I am seriously loving life right now guys. I hope things are going well for you out there in Cyberland.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

You may have noticed that I went missing for quite a few weeks. Things got busy here with the new house. But also, things went crazy with the new house and a visit from Granma. You remember Granma, right? Because I’m pretty sure she will adopt all of you.

This was my favorite picture from the whole thing. She hadn’t met my little step-niece before, my Dad always calls her Little Girl. I also didn’t realize until this picture that my father is a fan of tiny children.

Before she even got here though, Granma had a game plan. She sent a box ahead full of projects that she was stalled on and that she wanted finished. Plus she started a project on the plane that she was quickly making progress on. Well, until I hijacked that train of thought.

In that box there was:

A bag that was missing the handles. Although she had even gone ahead and threaded the buttons. She also told me that all of that yarn was the same dye lot. Color me confused. (ba dum tsh)

This shrug that needed some ends woven in and buttons attached to it. She didn’t plan on it but it really fits her perfectly. She has lost so much weight and seemed to be in really good spirits, which was comforting. Now she’s got a new shrug to go out on the town in.

This blanket! I’ve been constantly harassing her about this blanket because I love it so much. The yarn is super soft and I like the colors. It’s one of those Mary Maxim kits that she’s fond of. But the stitches were starting to fall off the needles so I showed her that two circular needles at one time technique. It’s not every day I get to teach her something, so I felt pretty special.

This was my favorite of the bunch. A crocheted Victorian bride doll. I put the hair on her while watching Downton Abbey. When I was done with her, I’ll admit I had gotten kind of attached. (Even if I am a grown ass woman and it’s a doll.) Luckily, when Granma came she told me that she had made the doll for me and was glad I had liberated her from her box. I figure, hey, I live in a Victorian, she’s a Victorian doll- kismet.

Then Granma went through my shame pile and got all of my projects sorted out.

She poked, prodded and cajoled. She said, “Oh Lindsey, finish these mittens. They’ll be quick and easy and everyone loves a good mitten.” Okay.

I’m so glad she visited and got me back on track with some things. Not only did we knock out some projects and get things organized but we also made a hot dish every night of the week.

So yeah, that’s partly what I’ve been up to. I also just did a quick stash killing project the other day for my cousin.

A mitered Kindle cover. You know why I chose it right? Because there was a button involved. Plus it helped me get rid of some stash and I’m all about that this year. Finishing projects and getting rid of yarn. Actually, I have a good idea for getting rid of some yarn and I really need to follow through on these ideas lately. Stop getting so sidetracked.

Plus our brief encounter with colder weather is making me so excited for knitting! Well for project doing in general. The other day I actually completed two sewing projects– and I’m not a fan of sewing. So something is in the air.

And on the home front? We had a window special built for an odd shaped window in our bedroom. This had always been a random dream/fantasy I had growing up and I never expected it to come true but maybe this is the house where dreams happen. (barf? But kind of cute, right?)

Quick trip: Pittsburgh

My friend Megan moved out of town to Pittsburgh recently.

Luckily for me though, I got to help her, which meant I went on a day trip to Pittsburgh- a place I’d never been to before.

She laughed at me because I was taking all of these stupid pictures of bridges on the way there. I think they look super cool. She was like, they are but it’s nothing compared to Pittsburgh. Since it’s the steel city, they have a ton of bridges.

I liked this one the most of the ones that I got to see:

There were like horses and a globe up there. Pretty fancy.

It was so funny because I went there to help her move some stuff but she’s such a nice person that she didn’t want to ask me to do anything. It was both really sweet and frustrating. The sooner we put together this bookshelf- the sooner we can party and hang things on the wall, you know?

Their place was super cute. Plus Pittsburgh, from my limited day trip assessment, seems like a cool place to live. I definitely want to go back and check it out. We went to this fun place while we were there called the Franktuary:

A hot dog place that’s actually located in a Cathedral. Everything about that description made me excited.

Since we were road trippin’, that meant we got to go to Denny’s. (Columbus doesn’t have one.) Where else can I get a milkshake to go with my 10 pound omelette?

So yeah, Pittsburgh seems pretty cool. I told her that I wanted to visit her- does anyone have suggestions for fun things to do in Pittsburgh? Let me know!

One seriously rad book signing

One day I was whining on the internet about how no books were holding my attention this summer. (I know, you can’t imagine me whining, right? But it’s true sweet blog, it’s true.) Luckily, instead of telling me to stfu, judahthor came to the rescue. He sent me a whole slew of book ideas.

The one that has really caught my attention so far is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. For some reason I got super caught up in it. Even though I don’t share the same obsessions as Cline, I still got wound up in thinking about obsessions. I wrote about his book on my goodreads if you’re interested. But! What’s more interesting is that thanks to judahthor’s quick recommendation, I was able to see Ernest Cline here in Columbus doing a book signing. Eeeee!

He answered questions and got very animated with the hand gestures. He definitely struck me as the type of guy who would get really excited about finding some lost episode of an 80′s cartoon.

At one point he said that when he was describing the evil corporate headquarters that are in the middle of Columbus (in his book) he was totally thinking about Nationwide. I found this even more funny since I was sitting in a ‘dudes who work at Nationwide’ sandwich at the time. Mostly because I think they’d agree- giant buildings that dominate downtown and they sell insurance? I’ll bet they have a department that’s completely just guys with mustaches tying ladies to train tracks.

But yeah, I’m recommending this book to everyone and their mother. Because even though I didn’t really care about some of the main 80′s things he focused on (I want to stress this- I really don’t give two shits about Rush), I still loved the book.

Plus…

Ernest Cline also collects 80′s memorabilia, which he is taking with him on his book tour and he totally lets people play with it. There was even a proton pack from the Ghostbusters just chilling in his passenger seat. The passenger seat of what else–

But a ghostbusting knight riding back to the future DeLorean.

Which I totally sat in but man, that thing is low to the ground and small. I didn’t want to sit all the way in it for two reasons. One- I might never get out of the thing, it’s like a pit. Two- he left it on and playing Huey Lewis and the News and I thought… if I really sit in this I’d definitely feel the need to look at John and say “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.” Then you’d all see me on the evening news being pulled over in what would seriously be the most stupid car heist in history. Because it’s not a Honda Civic, stealing a DeLorean means the police are actually obligated to throw your ass in jail.