Hello, I've kinda been lurking here a while, planning a wedding for spring 2010. I'd been surfing online for a wedding dress and bought one online from China because of the tempting prices. Yes, I did do research and found horror stories but there are good endings too. So, I found a dress I really liked and ordered it Nov 27, from DHGate.com. I got an email notice that it shipped on Dec 9. I received the dress yesterday, Dec 16, that makes turnaround time just under 3 weeks. Here are the results. ( I'll try to stop being so shy but here are pictures )

Hey all! I rarely ask for help here but I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. I'm getting ready to make the decreases on this hat (Ravelry link) and the directions read as such:

"Rnd 1: *K6, K2tog*, repeat to marker
Rnd 2-3: Knit even
Rnd 4: *K5, K2tog*, repeat to marker
Rnd 5-6: Knit even
Rnd 7: *K4, K2tog*, repeat to marker"

This seems fairly straightforward but just to be sure, after round 7 I would go back to knitting 2 rows evenly, then start all over again. Or, after K4, K2tog, I would knit 2 rows evenly then start with K3, K2tog, etc until I'm knitting 1 and K2Tog till I get to the amount of stitches I need?

I know I'm probably over analyzing, but I just don't want to screw up. Thanks in advance!

It appears I am very out of date. Eldest daughter's boyfriend (late twenties) has requested a pair of gloves and/or hat for Christmas. In my Wisdom (not) I bought a small boatload of superwash wool for making gifts. Today I realized that it wouldn't matter, superwash or not with these here boyfriends, because laundry goes from the washer to the dryer and that's what the care instructions have to be. "Lay flat to dry" is a foreign concept.

So I have 2 colors of acrylic yarn: dark teal and off-white. I am told that the color is less important than any design on them: cables, snowflakes and skulls are right out of the picture, argyle might be okay, maybe anime could be fun.

I am at a total loss. If need be, I'll make plain old PLAIN gloves, but thought maybe y'all could suggest a pattern, or at least a design to spice it up a bit. I know he likes D&D and Avatar (The Last Airbender) but I don't know his interests beyond that.
Maybe a geometric design that is manly?

In my day "manly" was black. Or Steel gray. Period. Cables were okay if you were Irish. (teasing)

ETA: emmacrew to the rescue. I'm gone from here, hard at play...

Are you having your dress altered by a local seamstress, or by someone from a bridal salon?
What are you having altered, and how much does it cost you?

Remember the gray dress that I posted? Now I have decided that I want to feel like a princess for a day (hey, WHEN else would I ever get to do this? Lol), so now the hunt for a white dress begins. I'm saving the gray dress for one of the formal nights on the honeymoon cruise that we'll go on.

I'm now living in the Temecula/Wildomar/Lake Elsinore in California. If you are familiar with the area and know of a good seamstress, just let me know! :-) I have found a few on Craigslist who seem nice, but I'm always open to suggestions.

Shawn said he'd like to do a dollar dance. I didn't know what one was, so he explained it to me, and it sounds like a great idea. I was thinking of using the song "Take the Money and Run" or perhaps "Money (Thats what I want)" but do any of you have any better ideas? What songs are you guys using for your dollar dance?

I am hoping some of you out there knit and can help me with a predicament. I wrote something on Facebook about how I couldn't wait to sew and my best friend made a comment implying he would love it if I knit him a scarf for christmas. Way to go buddy, Christmas is in 8 days! Now I have never even attempted knitting in my life. How hard is it really to knit a scarf? Is it an easy project for a beginner? His birthday is January 4th so I could always make it for then but I already had another idea for his birthday present. HELP!

I Was contentedly knitting away on my lunch when I realized I had dropped a stitch when I had completed the previous cable. I discovered this when I needed to complete the next cable and my stitches were off. One would think after 10 rows this would be discovered. FARGHHHHHHH!

I invoked the power of Lucy. I took a breath and dove in to fixing the cable......without ripping out the rest of the work! I then remembered I had my camera with me, so I started snapping photos of the fix. I dun doo'd it! I am so frikken pleased with myself right now. I trouble shot, I problem solved, I fixed and all is well in whoville. (If only life and/or people were this easy to fix) Go SEE my accomplishment - Eleventybajillion photos under the cut! (moments like these deserve to be recorded in detail)

( Read more... )

Hello! My name is Claire (pinkguitar84). My husband and I got married in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 24th, 2009. I joined this community mostly to watch and get ideas, since I joined only a few months before my wedding. I'll post later about the joys, the drama, and whatnot, but for now, we jsut got our professional pictures back and I thought folks might like to see them.

To view: Go to www.reecephotography.com. Click on Web Gallery. Enter event id "cmjoes"

It will ask you for a name and email. You DO have to enter a name and email, but it doesn't have to be the real thing. You can make up a name and an email.

It should bring up Claire & Michael Joesting

Enjoy!

Hello hipsters!

I'm applying for an overseas job and I need to get some documents translated into French: diploma, birth certificate, police record, medical record. I've looked at online translation providers, but they all seem kind of expensive, and I'm wary of submitting so much personal information on the internet. The thing is, I speak French and will be translating most of the application myself, but the organization specifically calls for those documents to be translated by a certified translator, which I'm not.

I'd love advice from anyone who's had personal experience with translators. I really don't know where to find one. Are there official translators for city and state governments, like notaries?

I know this isn't exactly a "domestic" query, but I've run it by the Mods. Thanks in advance!

I really like watching photographer wedding slideshows and I realized that ours will be removed from the web in February (I can't believe we have already been married for almost a year!).

So, this is a "show me your.....wedding slideshow!" :)

Hi,
My apologies in advance in case this is not appropriate- feel free to remove it if needed.
I have been trying to fix my garbage disposal. I used the vinegar/bkg soda, tried ice cubes, hot water, cold water, allen wrench, reset button, broom handle you name it. It is not "dead" and it's only a year old. It's just humming and is clogged with juniper incense (don't ask).

What else can I try? I'm desparate but we REALLY don't have the money to call someone right now.

Thanks,
Pooket

I'm planning a small housewarming party the first weekend of January. It will be a mix of adults and children. What is your all-time favorite portable party food? Not finalized on a menu but here are some ideas we've thrown around so far.

Hello there, this is the first time I've ever shared an original fic of mine :) So if you readers could give me some constructive comments, that would highly appreciated. Nothing too harsh though, I beg you. This chapter is basically an introduction but the story develops; I promise you. Well, enjoy and thanks for being interested enough to click :D

Title: Complications Rating: T Warnings: Language

Summary: Noelle Leonora is the sarcastic non-believer; meaning she doesn't believe in true love. Cassie Welshire is the sweetest girl around. Aaron Miller is the always confused, gorgeous 'it' boy. And Janine is the average delusional girl you'd see everyday. How did these four wind up in a love "square"? Or was there really a "square" in the first place? Read their story to find out. (Click Here To Read)

I checked the tags, but couldn't find anything that relates to this.

I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put a window in a shower, but that's what my house has. Right now there are vinyl mini blinds and a pair of water resistant curtains. Problem is the curtains need replacing because of mold that won't wash out.

I could order some more on line, but I have guests coming next week for Christmas and I was hoping to find some in town. I went to BED BATH AND BEYOND, but no luck.

Are there any big chains or other stores that might carry water resistant or vinyl curtains for a window in a shower? I live in Louisville, Kentucky if that's any help.

"High Moon", my new Haxan story, is now up at Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Please, click the banner to read the story. Hope you like it:

( Lookie! )

I made him myself.

I am a nerd. That is all.

Sitting in Astronomy right now. We're currently studying stars, nebulae, black holes, all the really cool stuff out in space. Y'know, the awesome phenomoena you only ever see in science fiction.

The prof showed an image of the Horsehead nebula, and I started thinking about all the amazing images from Hubblesite (the wallpapers are my favourite). Wouldn't it be amazing to blow those images up to poster size and display them during the reception? They're definitely something FH and I would display in our home.

I've talked in a previous entry in my journal about possibly using a star theme, putting stars in my hair, decorating the tables with origami stars, etc. Something randomly sparked an idea for a dress. I thought about using a dark-coloured fabric for the dress, and putting some sort of netting over the skirt with something sparkly, like rhinestones or sequin, to look like stars. Probably have beading or something sparkly on the bodice too. Has anyone seen anything like this?

X-posted to alternative_wed, nerdweddings and my personal journal.

Perhaps this is not the correct forum for this but since my son sometimes reads my LJ, I thought it was a safer bet than posting the question there--

My 25-year old son is coming (with his lady love) to spend Christmas with me for the first time in a number of years.
Since we live so far apart, I have little clue as to what he's into these days, other than Guitar Hero and DDR and Japanese anime and Final Fantasy.

I have no idea what sort of gaming system any of these things are played upon or what I could get him that he wouldn't immediately label lame or worse, smile and say he liked it when he clearly would have rather had something else.

Clues anyone?
Suggestions?

UPDATE
Thanks to everyone who responded. I was trying to do this without having to ask him or his girlfriend.
Obviously, that wasn't working so I e-mailed the GF. She said he wants a regular old board game -- Settlers of Cataan? Anyone heard of it?
So I'm going for that and just tossing a Game Stop giftcard into his stocking.

Whenever anything goes awry, I come to you for advice :)

My partner had surgery about 3-4 months ago on her elbow to fix the intense elbow pain she was in. The doctor/surgeon that determined what was wrong with her elbow and who did the surgery made a mistake. She just found out today that the thing she had surgery for is NOT what is wrong with her elbow, based on finally being forwarded the test results from the specialist for her to review. This clears up a lot of her questions about why she's still in so much pain and why she has a lot of numbness and new symptoms that she didn't have before the surgery. We think maybe the doctor mis-read or didn't get all the pages or something and went forward with the surgery. Now, my partner has had a very painful surgery that she has still not recovered from. She has the intense elbow pain, still. She also has a 6 inch ugly scar on her arm. And she has a nerve in her arm where the nerve didn't need to be moved to, making part of her job painful.

Now, she really likes the doctor that made the error and doesn't want to go off half-cocked and sue him. The only thing she would want, to have the scar be gone and the nerve back where it was originally, can't happen, so she doesn't see the point and she's definately not one to go around suing people left and right. However, because of the surgery and because of the real underlying problem with her elbow, she's concerned about the future and her insurance. Specifically, she will probably need significant physical therapy for the real problem and to continue the rehabilitation from the surgery and doesn't think she should have to pay for this, since she already paid a huge sum of money for the unnecessary surgery in the first place. She's also concerned that, since she didn't need the very expensive surgery, that this might be construed at insurance fraud and doesn't know if she should be alerting her insurance carrier or not.

Does anyone have any experience with managing the after-effects of an unnecessary surgery? To whom should she be talking? She's afraid that talking to a lawyer would just put pressure on her to sue the man and she's afraid that talking to the insurance people might get her into trouble. How does one get a doctor to admit he made an error and have him agree to pay for future medical care for the issues associated with the mistake surgery? We're in Northern CA and her insurance carrier is United Health, if that makes any difference.

Thanks for the advice :)

Hi everyone! I have two FOs to share today, one a gift and one for me:

( Pembrokeshire Pathways ) ETA: sorry about the double LJ-cuts... somehow LJ screwed up the formatting on the cuts when I posted this. Just click one of the links and it will take you to the (nicely formatted) page with the pictures :-)