I haven’t been online much, because I’ve been crocheting like mad. At least 4 different projects are currently waiting to be started (yarn purchased, pattern chosen, nothing left to do but grab a hook & go to it), and I’ve just finished a few different projects. I made a scarf and fingerless gloves for my younger demonspawn (which was all in single crochet and therefore excruciatingly tedious), and that set took about 2 weeks to do. I finished it today (yes, her hair is now brown…that happened yesterday):

In the General Annoyances department, I finally got rid of the crappy-looking lanyard they gave me at work, having replaced it with a nifty one I made myself, in under an hour this evening (also single crochet, but a much smaller project):

And I whipped out one of the washcloths I’ve been promising myself I would make as soon as I got the proper yarn, which I bought when Geoffrey & I stopped at Fabric Depot yesterday. I was also looking for chenille yarn to make myself a sweater, or enough purple or blue crochet thread to make this really cute skirt I have a pattern for, but couldn’t find any colors that I truly adored. So I just picked up 5 balls of variegated all-cotton yarn, which is perfect for making washcloths & dish towels (each ball is enough to make about 2 washcloths, and cost $1.25). This washcloth is about 8 inches square, and only took 30 or 40 minutes to crochet, in half-double stitch with a single-crochet border:

I keep forgetting to get a picture of the baby blanket I made for Jonathan almost 3 months ago, in blue & lavender super-fuzzy soft baby yarn. As soon as I remember to snap a pic, it’ll go into the gallery, too. And I have one other crochet project that I’m almost done with, but can’t put pictures up just yet because it’s going to be a gift.

Now, do I want to make myself a green sweater, a black sweater, or a purple shawl? (I’m kinda iffy on the shawl idea…very tempted to make something else with that yarn, but I don’t have enough of it to make anything large.) Decisions, decisions.

It may not be a very popular opinion in many places these days, but I believe that learning to use a firearm safely is important (I like to think of it as exercising my constitutional rights, as well as having lots of noisy fun). Geoffrey’s boss is a handgun enthusiast, and gave Geoffrey a year’s membership at the local gun range as a gift earlier in the year (sort of a company bonus *grin*). Geoffrey has taken Anxiety to the range for target practice a few times, and I approve.

I was her age (15) when I learned to shoot, and discovering I excelled at an activity requiring a great deal of mature responsibility (with the proper safety training, and with adult supervision!) was one of the absolute best experiences of my teen years. It was very exciting, and it made me feel proud of myself, especially when the gentleman who taught me — my best friend’s dad — announced that he’d let me try every rifle & handgun he owned (including a .44) and that there was probably no firearm I was strong enough to pick up & aim that I wasn’t potentially deadly with. (Probably the only thing I liked better when I was a teenager was discovering sex. *grin*)

I think she likes it a lot:

She might even like it a little too much?

But I think it’s great that there’s another activity they can share for some father-daughter bonding (she took this pic of Geoffrey):

In other news, I have gotten pretty fashion accessories for the kitties! I ordered some SoftClaws; a package of red ones (Geoffrey’s favorite color) and of course I got a package of purple, as well:

All three cats got them on their front paws yesterday, and hated them a LOT for a few hours. But now, I don’t think they even notice them. (The flexible, shaped vinyl nail caps go on with super-glue, and are completely harmless. It took only slightly longer than cutting their nails, and lasts for several weeks.) Hey, it’s “Lee Press-On Kitty Nails”! Tee hee.

At the end of a week that was (despite some truly wonderful moments) chock-full of stress and minor crises, it was quite delightful to have an old friend who’s known me for about a decade drop by, and be extremely and sincerely flattering. There’s nothing quite like having a very attractive younger man express his appreciation with snuggly hugs and sweetly-lecherous compliments.

Good thing his wife isn’t the jealous type, since she was standing right there. *grin*

…but it’s rather startling to realize that sometimes I have to be reminded what giddy feels like.

You know you read cat_macros too much when a conversation goes something like this:

Me: I’m going to finish email, and then sit & crochet for a while.
Lyse: You have a plan!
Me: I has a plan.
Lyse: My plan, let me show you it.
Me: Is it can be plan time now please?
Lyse: I made you a plan–
Me: But I eated it!
Lyse: But I executed it. You don’t eat a plan!
Me: (sigh) Fail.