Here is the totoro so far, he's a big boy.  I haven't made any more progress on him.  I have more yarn but I think I'll take a break foe a while.  Even though I have projects to do I kind of started another one.  A while ago I made a shawl with some recycled sari silk.  It got a hole in it from one of the knots coming undone. I ripped it out and made a big granny square blanket out of it.  It's not actually finished because I ran out of yarn.  I need  a little more for the border so I'll order that soon.  It only took me bout three days or so.  I'm going to be going back to the fingerless mitts, maybe I can finish them soon.  Fingerless mitts, totoro and a hat, that's the plan. We'll see how it goes.

I haven't been doing much with k-drama or podcasts, I have been watching some U.S. TV since my husband has been home. I'm getting back to my podcasts but I'm way behind on all of them and my k-dramas.  I'll let you know know if I run into anything interesting.

At the end I'll put a picture of my daughter's nails that we did before valentine's Day.  We used the water marbling method.  It wan't hard to do but it was kind om messy.  We have been looking at lots of nail art and have some interesting ideas.  I'll put up some pictures if any of our ideas turn out well. I think that's it.  I know I've been skipping days, I'll try and do it more regularly.  See you next time.  

Sorry, I had too many errands yesterday so I didn't get around to blogging.  This weird lump is the head of the totoro I'm making.  It's huge.  This picture is from a few days ago, I have more progress now.  The arms are made and attached.  I'm almost to the decreases at the bottom of the creature.  It's already kind of heavy so this is kind of going to be a bit like a bean bag.  I ran out of yarn.  It ate up all the yarn from the sweater.  I'm trying not to buy more yarn so I'm going to put it aside for a little wile.  I did order one skein of yarn, for the little fox, for the art exchange.  I'm going to add in a couple of hair ribbon/scarf  kind of things.  I made them from some yarn from the dollar store and they were really quick.  I even made one for myself and my daughter.  I'm going to make the leaf for the totoro's head then make a scarf for my nephew until the yarn for the little fox comes.

I caught up on my podcasts.  James (Wolfe Farms) is making some really different cable needles and Heather (Highland Handmades) is making some cool colored yarn that is a fundraiser.  Sadly I am too broke to buy either of those things.  There were a couple of short podcasts and some people didn't post new ones so it was easier to catch up this week,  Maybe next week there will be a ton.  Tomorrow I'll try and see if I can get Running Man to work.  

My son had his open house for school yesterday,  Sadly it is becoming increasingly obvious that he is really struggling in a lot of areas.  We will be having a meeting about it on Monday.  It's not that he has to get straight A's but he is so uncomfortable everywhere except in front of the TV and that makes me sad.  Life and especially parenting is balance and hopefully we can find some for him.

I wasn't trying to end on a sad note but it's been on my mind with this meeting coming up.  I have a few more projects coming up and knitting helps me to stay calm so that's a good thing.  I'll see you next time.  

Oh dear here I go again skipping days.  This time thought I was sick.  It is/was just a head cold but it knocked out two posts.  I wanted to post on Sunday because that was the one year anniversary of blogging.  As of right now I have 250 posts and over 2,000 views.  Thanks!  Let's see if I can entertain you for another year.  On the plus side I have a bunch of things I want to show you so I hopefully won't be skipping days for a wile.

The picture is of the Sunday's mitts.  Sadly that was about all I got done on Sunday, I was so tired. On Monday I finished the little tootoro so I'll show a picture of him next time.  I have also been working on my socks, both the stripy one (I'm about to turn the heel) and the "Don't cage me in" socks.  The big thing I have been working on (and I mean big) is the grey totoro.  Since it;s a bulky yarn held double it's big and holds it shape fairly well.  I still need to stuff it and am not sure what to use, I'm not sure my usual fiber fill will be enough. I kind of feel like I need to put fabric in the middle and surround it with the fiber fill but I don't have any fabric I want to spare.  If I do use only fiber fill I think it will take a lot. I'll keep you updated. the last thing I will be making is a fox.  I arranged an art exchange with someone I know on the internet.  She will draw me a picture and I will make her a little stuffed fox.  I can't start that for a wile though because I have to order the yarn and I'll do that on Thursday.

I didn't do much this weekend because I was sick.  My husband and I did get caught up on our anime.  I'm really enjoying Haikyu!! The characters in this volleyball anime are so cute.  I did watch some kdrama.   Surplus Princess is still cute and I'm enjoying Plus 9 Boys.  I think I will also start My Lovely Girl.

Outside of fighting a cold the only other thing is that it is my daughter's 11th birthday.  This year, like the year she was born, it's the first day of Autumn.  I actually considered naming her that since she was born on that day but then my husband told me this story he swears is true.  One time wile I was sleeping after she was born my husband asked her the three names we were considering and when he got to Autumn she stuck out her tongue. He decided that was rejection so it was out of the running.   It's a cute story to end this post with.  Have a great day.

I know I skipped a bunch of days but this time it was a conscious decision not a forgetful thing.  I just didn't feel like I had enough (or any) progress to show you.  I think this will be the way it is from now on.  If I don't feel like I have anything to show I'll skip days. There will probably be things on Monday because I will at least have made my charity knitting on Sunday.  If you can't tell this is the blue totoro.  He has a nose but you can't really see it on the dark blue.  It should have been more of  blue gray but I was limited to what was at Walmat.  I didn't notice till I took the picture that his arms were kind of off.  I blame that a little on my daughter.  She said it was too high so I made it lower.  I'm trying to decide if I should take it off and change it or not.  If I do I'll probably take the other arm off and un-stuff it a little.  I'm still working on the little white totoro and I started the big gray one.  On the white one I need to stuff the tail, make the eyes and attach them both.  That won't take long if I just get to it.  I stated ripping out the 5X sweater so I can hold that yarn double for the grey totoro.  It's going to be huge and it may take me a little longer so I don't hurt my hand.  I'm going to try to attach the arms as I go instead of sewing them on later.  The only problem with this is I forgot to make them.  I need to attach them about row 22 so I figure I have till about row 20 to get them done.  I sewed this guy's appendages on with sewing thread but the big one I think I will need to use yarn.  I feel like there was something else I wanted to say but I can't think of it now.  The only other thing that I have been doing is working a few rows on the sock here and there.

Lets see what have I done that is non craft related.  I listened to all my podcast and got to work on some of Yarnivore's as well. Many podcasts were using a site called Blip but over the course of the last year or so they have slowly been kicking the knitting podcasts off.  I think this is the reason that I can't access the Yarnivore podcast on the site anymore.  Some of the episodes are on YouTube but I had to skip from 45 to 98.  I think I may run into this with other podcasts as well.

What else did I do?  I went on a field trip.  My son has been having a hard time at school so we have been keeping an eye on him.  He came home the day before the field trip absolutely insistent that I go and I was afraid he would have a meltdown if I didn't go.  It was about agriculture so they showed the kids cows (beef and dairy), chickens, pigs, sheep and horses (three sizes).  They talked about why farming is important and what we use animals for.  They also helped pack snack bag for a local food pantry (with things from each food group) and planted seeds in a little cup.  After lunch they went to the John Deere Pavilion to learn about farm machines and a little about how things were in John Deere's time with a black smith and someone dressed up as John Deere.  I did enjoy seeing the sheep but the blacksmith was the highlight of the day for me.  He was so funny with these little throw away lines that went right over the kids heads.  It was not a bad day but not what I had planned for that day.  I of course brought my knitting and got in a couple of cute conversations with some of the kids.  One girl actually guesses correctly that I was making a sock.  I know a couple of times there were some kids watching me knit in the back and not listening to the presenter.  I was o.k. with that because do you really think the second graders care how much horse power a tractor from 1949 had or how much it cost?  As long as they were sitting quietly we were all good.

The only other thing I did is kind of silly.  I signed up for an underwear subscription service.  I know, I know, it's a bit weird but all the reviews seemed good and the price wasn't outragous.  I got my first shipment today and they're cute.  I figure I can do it for a few months then cancle.    It's called Volupties if you want to check it out, they have sizes up to 3X.

I think that's it and now you are caught up.  I think I may skip a few days again till I have something to show.  Maybe I can knit faster and show you more things.

Here are all the pieces of the totro.  We have a body, ears, arms, eyes, tummy and tail. This pile of random things now have to turn into a totoro.  This is the part I find time consuming.  The sewing just isn't as much fun as the crochet. I will use the long tales to help hold the piece on but I will actually sew it on with thread.  I was going to make my sister's tea cozy next but I think I'm going to make mitts that go with the hats I already made for her kids.  (well baby mitts, fingerless mitts and a scarf depending on the kid).  I'm sneaking in a bit on my socks here and there as well.

Besides playing WOW yesterday I did some errands so I didn't get much crafting time in. The one thing we did do yesterday was go to my daughter's open house. Because there are so many kids (300 5th graders) I didn't get a welcoming feeling.  It kind of felt like the teachers were saying "hi, bye."  I know it's not a parent teacher conference but it didn't feel terribly friendly even though I'm sure they are great teachers.

I think that's about it for today.  Nothing exciting is a good thing right?  I'll see you next time.

This is the totoro body.  It has such a funny shape.  I'm working on the detail today. The actual crochet I don't mind but the sewing isn't so fun.  One of Amey's former teachers wants to make a crochet hat for a gag gift and wants me to teach her how.  I don't have a problem with that but she has no basic knowledge to start from.  I'm not sure how I can find the time to show it to her.  I think I'm going to have to look up some you tube videos that may help her.

I didn't get much crafting done yesterday because I was playing WOW.  I didn't get much progress but I did get a little.  My one character still can't click on anything and aparentaly I never sent a ticket about it.  I think I will delete her are and start another one right away so I can use the same name,  She is only level 12 so it's not like I have invested a lot of time or energy into her (it?).  Today I think will be a k-drama day.

I volunteered at Mookie's school today for the first time this year.  I really like helping out.  I may start working in the library as well.  Well volunteering, I'm not getting paid. Yesterday the kids got out of school early for heat but it was kind of nice.  When I was in the building today at 8:30 or so it was already really warm and humid.  I feel bad for those kids.  It was bordering on uncomfortable for me I don't know how they can study like that and they still had the whole day to go.  That's it for today, hopefully I will have more totoro progress tomorrow.  I'll see you then.

I know this looks weird but it is the beginning of the totoro.  I finished the body and it's about the size of a bowling ball. next are the arms and ears.  Those aren't hard just kind of fiddly to put on.  I should have made the arms first and crocheted them in instead of sewing them on but I didn't think of it till to late.  I don't think I'm going to have any exciting pictures for a wile.

I actually got all my podcasts listened to yesterday.  I wanted to play WOW but it was Tuesday so it was down for part of the day.  I felt like there was something interesting that I wanted to say about one of them but I don't remember it now.  A lot of podcasters are talking about a book called Big Foot Knits that teaches you how to measure your foot and make socks custom fit for you especially if you have big feet or calves.  I really want to get that book,I think It will really help me.  

My husband had an unexpectedly long shift yesterday so he's tired and I had a bad depression day so I didn't get much done.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  I have some running around I need to do so I hope to get some work done on the sock (or socks).  I don't think I have anything else to say.  See you next time.

These are the baby mitts that I made on Sunday.  For some reason the background came out blue. I tried to fix it without  changing the color of the mitts. I'm not sure it worked so well.  I started working on one of the totoros that I plan to make.  I guess I assumed that most people know what a totoro is and never explained it but maybe I should.  There is a studio Ghibli movie called My Neighbor Totoro about two little girls who meet a spirit of the forest that is called a totoro.  If you are curious you can look it up.  I highly recommend it, it's a really sweet movie. The creature is kind of roundish with a kind of cat type face. In the movie there are three sizes a small one that is about small cat size, a medium one that is about medium dog size and big one that is about the size of a bear.  I want to make all three but of course they won't be proportional.  Right now I'm working on the medium size one and when I get to the eyes I'll make extra for the little one.  The little one's body is done I just need to do the finishing like eyes, tail and feet.  The medium one is going fairly quickly so I'm hoping to have the body done today so I can work on the extremities tomorrow.

I watched kdrama yesterday.  I caught up on It's Okay, That's Love and Surplus Princess. It's kind of hard to explain It's Okay... without spoiling.  Basically we are learning about our hero's back story so we can understand why he's crazy.   With Surplus Princess (The Idle Mermaid) it's just funny, there isn't really anything deep going on that I see.   The thing that made me laugh the most was a parody of GDragon's "Crooked." I also started a new one called Plus 9 Boys.  The concept of this one is that when your age ends in 9 you will be unlucky.  There is a family of boys who have just turned 9, 19, and 29 with and uncle who is 39. The drama will follow their progress as they try to break their curse.  I watched one episode of it but I was having trouble with my internet so I couldn't watch all of episode 2.  Today I'll watch/listen to podcasts.

I think that's about it.  The kids are back in school so I have house work to do.  I feel like I had something else to say but I don't remember so it must not be important.  I'm going to go do something constructive.  See you next time.    

Here are some Totoros I made, sitting on a blanket I also made

I didn't mean to skip yesterday.  It was just busy in such a way that made getting any thing done nearly impossible.

On my podcast day I listened to Wolfe Farms (I like their lotion), The Fat Squirrel Speaks (I find her funny and my husband finds her annoying) and some old Knitting Pipeline episodes.  Yesterday for Kdrama day I watched two episodes of "The Queen of Office" (yes that is the title it's not a typo.)  It's about a contract worker that goes in and straightens out a dysfunctional office.  I'm trying to be vague and nonspoilery (I know that is not a real word) . A group I am in in Ravelry has that drama as a watch along.  I also watched some more running man and I recognized more people. Oh Ji-ho was on an episode and I recognized him instantly but had to look up his name.  (I wanted to call him Cabbge Patch Head like they do in "Queen of Office").  They also had Daesung on from Big Bang and I didn't reacognise him right off because he had a wig but once I saw his face clearly it was obvious.  There were a couple of episodes that weren't that funny, and I thought about giving up on it, but the last couple were funnier to me.  Today is a WOW day again.

I've but been trying to make more spiders but I'm getting tired of them and the acrylic is kind of hurting some.  Maybe if I take today off I can plow through the last few tomorrow, I think I have about 10 left.  I need to set aside time today to actually take pictures of my swatch and the yarn so I can type up and submit my NerdWars dissertation proposal. 

I did walk on Friday.  I didn't walk as far as wanted to but I was feeling "off" and thought it better to be safe than sorry.  My husband has Monday off so maybe he will walk with me again.  That's it for today.  See you on Monday.