Crabby.

Unfortunately, this is very fitting for me this morning. I got a phone call yesterday morning asking me to please come pick Henry up at school, he just threw up all over the classroom. Poor kid. I was supposed to pick him up in the office, but after waiting there for 10 minutes the secretary's phone rang and it was Henry's teacher asking me to please go downstairs. Henry was so embarrassed that he went into the bathroom and was refusing to come out. I had to go in, help him get cleaned up and carry him out of there. Have you been in an elementary school boys' bathroom lately. Oh my gross! It could not have helped the stomach situation, for real. Luckily, by the time we got home and halfway through the first Super Friends episode he was asking for food and within a couple of hours he was totally fine. While I'm glad that he wasn't sick, obviously, spending the day trying to occupy a sick/not sick kid without being prepared for it in the least (I had planned to run errands all day) made me a little crazy. And since I made him 'relax' all day, he woke up ready to face the day at 5:30 this morning. Hence the crabby.

I am lucky, though. After being canceled due to 1/8" of snow last month, I am finally cashing in my yearly Christmas gift certificate for a massage this morning. It will get me all loose and relaxed just in time for my parent/teacher conference this afternoon. His teacher will be grateful for that, I'm sure...

Best Buds.

Roger...Jolly Roger.

First up, check out 10.5 month old Ms. Olivia in her Girly Classic Jolly Roger Crankypants. I don't know about you, but she looks neither Cranky nor capable of pillaging to me. She's the kind of pirate lass that'll kill you with cuteness.




I also wanted to give everyone a heads up about a fund raiser that is going on right now for a family undergoing a serious crisis. I won't go into all of the details here, but a mama of 8 children has suddenly and shockingly been left in the position of raising her kids on her own and could use all the help she can get. My donation to the fund raiser is a pair of 12-18M (medium) Classic Jolly Rogers dyed in your chosen color (cherry, orange, lemon, lime, grape or pink-which Olivia is wearing above-or I can leave 'em white).



You can find my listing and a bajillion more things up for grabs HERE. I think the mama hosting this fund raiser is being inundated with donations, so check back for new items daily.

Nature! Nature!

Well, for a while there it looked like Spring was on its way. Every year I say "I think the cold is gone!" and every year I'm wrong. We couldn't sit inside anymore today, though, so we drove up through Bent Creek to a spot right off the Blue Ridge Parkway and took a little hike to hunt for icicles in the creek that runs through the area. It was a tiny bit chilly, but it was nice to get back out in the woods. Now we're even more anxious for Spring to get here!





A couple of folks have asked me for ant farm updates, so we're counting that as nature as well. They seem to be kind of...waning. There are a few little dead guys in the tunnels I can't get to and the others don't seem that interested in carrying them out. They are supposed to have a 3 month life span at best, so I think we're reaching the end, folks. We have some pretty awesome tunnels, though!

In other exciting news, my orchid bloomed and is absolutely gorgeous! I can't wrap my brain around the fact that I haven't killed it yet. Maybe I won't be such a menace in the greenhouse after all!

Monkey, Monkey

Kim wanted her custom longies to go with her wee one's favorite little monkey friend, so we took the Classic Crankypants Sock Monkey and gave it a colorful twist!








I know they can't come close to a best bud, but I hope the little monkey likes them!

Fancy is the Head that Wears the Crown...

Okay, so I took a little liberty with Bill Shakespeare up there. I have to use that Lit. degree where I can, right?



Are these the awesomest crowns you have ever seen or what? I am lucky to have an in with the maker, my very good friend and sister in craftiness, Liz from Cozy Blue. Now you do, too! Cool Mom Picks is featuring these little darlings today, and Liz has been nice enough to let them run a give away for a custom crown as well. I am so excited to finally see some kick booty crowns for boys, and the little rocket ship and star with the lightning bolts are absolutely KILLING me with their cuteness. So go over and post a comment at Cool Mom Picks to be entered in the give away! Liz is also offering free shipping on all orders from her Cozy Blue Etsy shop through the 28th with a Cool Mom Picks coupon code, go check it out!

Olive Juice.

I am in love with this color combination. The olive is pretty dern cute, too.

The Very Big Wonderful Announcement.

Well. I never thought this day would come, but it is here. The Crankypants Classic Wait List is gone, baby, gone! WooHoo!

I do have a few pairs of Classics left here. Since there are only a handful I won't be opening up for ordering on the main site, rather I stocked them here so I can have a little bit of inventory control until I have a good number of in stock pairs: In Stock Classic Crankys!

I just sent off some sketches and samples to Peru for some other exciting developments, so stay tuned!

Protective Eye Gear

Happy Belated Valentine's Day to all of you! We had a great day with one minor blip. Kyle and I got Henry separate V-Day presents. I plotted out a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt with a new book, a tiny box of chocolates, a new Bakugon and a couple of coupons for extra Wii time hidden all around the house, little rhyming clues and all. He loved it. Kyle got him 4 big Nerf guns. He loved those even more.

Later in the day, we met some friends for a rousing bowling game.

Me: Take off the Nerf goggles, it's time to go.
Henry: Yeah, I don't need them anymore.
Me: Nope, they are just so you don't get Nerf bullets in the eye.
Henry: Yes. And whatever you do, don't look directly at the sun. They aren't that kind of protective eye gear.
Me: You are SO going to get beat up in middle school.
[Okay, so I just thought that last bit]


This isn't a picture of the Nerf goggles, but I love it and it fits, so there.

The only blemish on the day was when Kyle stabbed himself trying to get one of the Nerf guns out of its packaging. Lots of blood. Big deep gash in his hand. I was put in the position of explaining to a grown man why it wasn't a good idea for me to give him stitches with a regular needle and thread. Ummmm....no. Luckily, serious antibacterial foam, butterfly bandages, lots of gauze and 12 hours later it is looking pretty healthy. He's going to have a heck of a scar, but I think he'll keep the finger.

I hope you all had a great day!

Bakugon...BRAWL!

Hey Pepere, I think he likes it!

Sneaky...

I am in total crunch time right now so this stocking is going to be small and totally last minute, but I wanted to give a tiny sneak peek before things go live at 10EST this morning. Pssssst...yes, there are a couple of larges in there!

What a Weekend.

Henry has been begging to go see Coraline since we saw the first preview months and months ago, so when it finally came out on Friday we were first in line to get our 3-D glasses. I love Neil Gaiman and Henry loves Tim Burton (he has watched Nightmare Before Christmas about a zillion times and did fine with Corpse Bride) so I thought it would be fine. Umm...no. While the movie was a visual stunner and the art direction was amazing, the story line was simultaniously too slow and too scary for Henry. He was freaked right out by the whole thing. When we left the theater he said "I wish I hadn't made that decision to see Coraline". No nightmares yet, though, so I guess it wasn't too traumatic.

A bunch of other stuff happened, but we haven't had good pictures in a while, so let's get on with the show here.

In the middle of weekend craziness I finished up Carrie's super girly girl Monster Booty longies. She had some Cestari Super Fine Merino dyed in a custom colorway and I knit it up with a tiny beaded heart detail around the bottom of the legs.


I know I promised a pre-Valentine's stocking but it looks like it may be much smaller than I was hoping for. I am planning on doing it on Friday, so we'll see how much I can get done by then.

Motley Crew

I got a small box in from Peru today and there seem to be some stow aways.


They are all hand knit and about 17" high. I didn't ask for these little guys, but I am in love! I'm going to try to get some better pictures soon, but I have to brave the snow and wind to go pick up Henry from a play date right now. Yay play dates!

If you are on the Classic Wait List, keep an eye out for an email soon!

Just in Time...

I finished Molly's Obama longies just in time to get started on the new month's round of custom orders, wooHoo!



In addition to the work knitting this month I've decided to make a special project just for myself. I've had this pattern in my Ravelry queue for a long time and keep coming back to it, so when a bunch of other knitters I love decided to do a knit-along this month I couldn't help myself. It is the February Lady sweater, and I'm doing it in Cascade 220 Heathers series 'Irelande'. If it comes out the way I hope it does I will probably knit another one in some super nice hand dyed yarn, but I want to test it out before I make the investment. We shall see...


I just spoke with my Peru contact and he said that my shipment just cleared customs and should be here in the next couple of days. He also said there were a couple of surprises in there, so I am going to be stalking the poor UPS man until I can see what they are!

Wait List Peeps

If you are currently on the wait list and you are waiting for smalls or mediums of any Classic style, please shoot me an email. I have some here that I can ship as early as tomorrow morning.

As I type this I am sitting on my back porch in a hoodie. It is almost 60 degrees and the sun is shining, shining, shining. I am trying to soak up all the sunshine I can before the snow comes back on Tuesday. Henry has a couple of friends over and they are running around like maniacs in the back yard.

I love this place.

February Customs

I love it when someone who has been trying forever and a day finally has their number come up. WooHoo!

Erika
Jennifer R.
Jessie L.

The emails have been sent out, so if you see your name on here but haven't received an email from me, let me know.

Happy February!

It's Happened Again...

Another month has flown by. Today is the first, so get your emails in from 10-noon EST today if you would like to be entered in the lottery for a February custom slot. I will start the auctions tomorrow.

Also, coming up this Thursday is a delicious chocolate themed stocking at Venus Vanguard.

Aaaaaand, I will be having a super secret stocking sometime between now and Valentine's with a few sweet tidbits for the holiday.