Moving Swiftly

It's been almost two weeks since my last post! I have been busy! Last week we found a used motorcycle for sweetie. So, we've been busy getting it legal and riding! I also found a new dining room table on craigslist which I love! We have tickets to two concerts this month, Korn in Biloxi on the 14th, and Rage against the Machine at Voodoo on the 26th. I also decided to become a demonstrator for Stampin' Up and have been busy with my starter kit and getting ready for my first party! So, if you're looking for any Stampin' Up products be sure to let me know! There has also been knitting. I'm about halfway done with the Chevron scarf now and I've done a few more repeats on the Maltese shawl too.

Then on Friday I got my new tattoo! Check it out! What do you think? For those asking why would I get a devil fighting a rose, here's the story. My parents got tattoo's together when I was very young. My mom got a rose on her chest and my dad got a little Hot Stuff type devil on his hip. Can you see where this is going now? Well, after almost 25 years of marriage my parents got divorced. When my dad saw the pic his response was, "Well, if I'm supposed to be the Devil I see you got my pot belly right, but you sure made me ugly enough didn'tcha." My Mom hasn't seen it yet (Hi Mom).

Ima, asked about how to make a DIY swift. Yes, I built my own tabletop swift. Actually I've built one and half. I built one in California following Craft Diversion's directions and it turned out wonderful. Then somewhere in our move back to New Orleans the top half of the swift got lost. So, I ran out to the hardware/lumber store, grabbed a couple pieces of wood, assumed I remembered how I did it the first time and got to work. Not such a good idea and I'll show you why.

The first time I made it, I carefully measured and remeasured using the directions I linked to and cut everything perfectly. The old saying, "Measure twice, cut once," that was my motto. I sanded everything smooth. It turned out perfect and it was balanced and sturdy and stable. When I put the yarn on it, it spun beautifully. The second time I made it. I figured I had done it once, I knew what I doing now, right? Wrong. My measurements were off. It turned out lopsided. See the end there with marble taped to the end of it. That's my improvisation to get it somewhat balanced. So, yeah, I still use it but it's not nearly as nice as the first one. It shakes and rocks and goes crazy, but it'll get the job done until I get the time/money/energy to go get more wood and remake, yet it again, and do it right. So, what I'm trying to say, is that it's not hard to do but follow the directions, you can subsitute type of wood or whatever you need to get it to work, but remember, "measure twice, cut once." I've included some more pics of everything so you can see how the bits and pieces all fit together and how you can break it all down for storage too if you don't have a lot of room. I like to set it up on my ironing board because then I can set it out in the middle of the floor without it banging into anything. Here it is winding up some Socks that Rock lightweight in the Covelite color into two balls for socks that I may or may not be casting on for some monkey's soon.