Ok, this is really starting to chafe my ass. I really hate it when I get a tutorial for a really great looking tag and get all excited about making it only to fins that to make it look like it is supposed to I have to buy the tube and/or a scrap kit. I am not going to fork out money to make 1 freaking tag. It seems like all the tutorials now are just glorified adds for tubes and scrap kits. PLEASE, make tutorials with free images and then maybe show what can be done with the paid images.

Ok, I have gotten my very first bento. As soon as I can find my camera I will take a pic of it to post here. It is a small bento but I’ve found that amazingly it holds a decent amount of food, more than enough for a filling lunch. There is a store in San Fransisco that is opening an online store soon that has bento’s for $1.50! Granted you have to buy the bag and belt and any other accessory separately it is still a great deal. As soon as the shop goes online I will post more about it here. I have also placed an order with Asian Food Grocer and it should be in tomorrow (the 9th). On this first order I only ordered a few candies and some filled breads but if everything arrives safely I will order more because they have really good prices and a great selection. I really prefer to but from places that have a distribution point here in America as it saves TONS on shipping. I mean on the bento I ordered from Japan the shipping alone was over $11 which is quite a bit for such a small package where is the food from the Asian Food Grocer is being sent FedEx, is a rather large box, and it only cost less than $5 for shipping. With lower shipping I can buy more stuff and that makes me a happy Rayne! lol

Ok, my close friends know I now have a new obsession, bento boxes. For those who don’t know, a bento box is kinda like a Japanese lunch box. Here is a pic:

As you can imagine I will be posting more about my adventures in bento. So far all I have are 2 egg molds. It is a bit difficult for me to find affordable things here a most sellers are in Japan so the shipping is either very high or it takes sometimes up to 2 - 3 months to get something in. I love my egg molds, one is a teddy bear and one is a bunny. I used them for the first time today. I was not exactly successful, the eggs were too small and I tore one up a bit peeling it, but I can see that with just another try or 2 I’ll have it perfect.

For any other bento enthusiasts out there I came across something today. Collections Etc has silicone muffin cups that are heart shape on sale for $11.99. They ship for fairly cheap and are fast. Here is a pic:

These are great for use in your bento to keep moist or fragrant things seperated from your other food.

Anyway, this is all for now. I will be posting more later.

Since I’ve been home from the hospital I’ve been sick The fever is now gone but I’m still congested and stuff. They brought me a new head piece for my cpap machine. It looks like a horse harness except instead of having a bit that goes in the mouth this has a bit that goes in my nose. It makes me look funny but it keeps me from dying in my sleep or something.

For those who do not know what a cpap is, it is a machine that blows air and oxygen under a certain amount of pressure into the nasal area and throat. It is to keep that area from closing off in my sleep and stopping my breathing. When you stop breathing like that it is called sleep apnea.

Anyway, I’m off for now. I’ll post more later!

For those who didn’t know, I went to the hospital on January 7th. It was supposed to just be a check-up, maybe an over a night or two thing… Well, it is now Feb 14th and I just got home today. ~looks at clock~ Ok, so now it is technically the 15th and I got home yesterday, but y’all know what I mean. I was in over a month but I am in a lot better shape than I was when I went in. I now have a hospital bed in my living room and an oxygen and cpap machine but all is well. My new laptop is due in tomorrow (today, whatever) and I can’t wait! I will try to remember to post pics of it.

Well, my last cigarette was Wednesday night. As you can imagine I have been an uber-bitch at times. Not all the time, just occasionally. So many times I’ve wanted to just reach over and grab a cigarette and light up. Fortunately I have been able to fight the urges. It seems Nick is having a slightly easier time, though I know it is rough on him too. I have been trying to keep my phone calls with Josh shot because I know I am having a tendency to get snippy and I don’t want to snap at him and hurt his feelings on accident.

Oh, in other news, I am now the proud parent to a small tank of Sea Monkeys! I started the hatching process last night but it will be a few days before they are big enough for me to see. I had Sea Monkeys when I was a kid and I loved them so it is a lot of fun having them again. I’ll post more about them here as they grow.

Just letting y’all know I’m still here. I’m quitting smoking so I am just a Mary fricken Sunshine! Josh and Wendy are flying up for New Years / his b-day so umm yay. I can’t wait. We are definitely going to the club and and such but other than that I don’t know what we will be doing. I’m sure we will figure something out. What ever we do it is sure to be fun.

Ok, I find myself making things but not really feeling like writing down how I did it. I REALLY suck at making tutorials and such as you can see from my attempts. From here on out this will be a basic journal. If I feel like sharing knitting patterns I will but I will mostly be posting everyday crap. Anyway, now I will likely use this thing more often.

Anyway, here is a pic of my new puppy, Roxy:

She is my little demon dog. ~lol~ I was trying to get a good picture of her but she wouldn’t face the camera. Finally I got her looking right at the camera all cute like and as soon as I clicked the button she pounced. Silly puppy.

I just got some wool yarn and tried my hand at felting. There is a purse on ¡The AntiCraft! that I really wanted. (click here to see the purse) I got the yarn in today and knitted a swatch and tried hand felting (I don’t have a washing machine so the bathroom sink has to do). At first I tried with cold water and nothing happened so I switched to hot water. It still seemed like nothing was going to happen then BOOM it happened. It came together so beautifully. I can’t wait to try some actual projects with felting now.

I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with things lately and I’m not sure if I mentioned before that I’ve never really made patterns or tutorials or anything like that before. I started this blog because I want to share ideas for the things I make but please don’t be disappointed if there is a lag between posts. I will try hard to get things up here regularly so just bear with me. As I get more confident I will post more. Anyway, on to a set I just made that I think y’all will like.

With 4th of July coming up I wanted something unique to wear to the firework shows and such so here it is. This is a set of matching cuffs and hat. I would consider this a beginning level project and a great way to learn to use double pointed needles (my first time using them).

For the cuffs I used size 8 (US) (5mm) double pointed needles and worsted weight yarn (I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Cherry Red, Royal, and White). Cast on 30 stitches of White, 10 on each of 3 double pointed needles, knit around for 6 rows. For the next 6 rows of white you are going to work back and forth (not in the round) knitting on the right side, purling wrong side. Change colors to Royal and continue knitting and purling for 6 rows. Go back to knitting in the round for 6 rows. Change color to Cherry Red and knit 11 rows and bind off on the 12th. If you want to dress them up a bit like I did you can crochette a little fun fur in red around the top and Red Heart Super Saver Stars and Stripes around the thumb.

For the hat I used the same colors and size 10 (US) straight needles. Starting with Royal, cast on 40 and knit 48 rows in Stockinette (knite right side, purl wrong side) and bind off. Using a needle and the duplicate stitch sew stars (chart coming soon) all over. With White, cast of 40 and knit 6 rows in Stockinette then switch to Cherry Red for 6 rows. Continue like this for 48 rows (4 stripes of white, 4 stripes of cherry red). Sew ends of the red and white to the sides of the blue forming a tube then sew across the top and embellish by hanging tassels made of the Stars and Stripes from the top corners. [Edit: My mom stole the first on I made before I could take pics. The one I am working on now I used the Garter Stitch (knit both sides) for the first 6 rows on each side to keep it from rolling up]

I know this description is rough. I will try to re write it later with pictures and charts, I just wanted to get it posted before I forgot it. If you have any questions feel free to ask.