Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Scarves are ready to mail

ALL PICTURES ARE CLICKABLE TO SEE LARGER.






VERY wide scarf.. 2 strands of redheart (don't remember color names.. maybe buff & desert?)



Vertical Waves Scarves, one in Homespun Sierra, the other in SimplySoft Bone and Sage.




Very Long Loopy Tunisian Stitch..made with Bernat Chunkee (it's actually a lot wider, it curls up on itself. The loops are the WRONG side.. lol.. I made a mistake on the stitch (pebble stitch) but liked the effect, so I kept on.)







Striped Star Scarves (or should I call it Stars~and~Stripes Scarves?) Some in Homespun, some in RedHeart, some in SimplySoft, some in Bernat Chunkee




Keyhole Scarf..done in Homespun Sierra.
Pattern for the keyhole scarf found at Dreamweaver yarns.

The rest of them I made up.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Operation Gratitude Scarves

I ran across this group the other day called Operation Gratitude.

It's all about supporting our troups overseas. I don't know how anyone feels about the war (I'm not very happy about it myself) but I worry about our young people over there. Personally, I feel I can support the troops without being in favor of the war... anyhow.....

They are collecting scaves right now to send to the troops. They will take knitted or crocheted scarves (although the site only mentions knit). I've been in contact with the organizer of the scarf drive and she gave responded with this information.


Thank you so much for your interest in sending our troops some nice warm scarves this winter! Here's some suggestions for the dimensions: We're keeping them nice and simple. It's just a straight across knit or crochet with no complications---about 5-6" across and about 38-42" long is fine---and any fiber is fine too. We're not picky at all!

Thicker yarn and bigger needles will allow you to knit/crochet faster, but any size is okay---whatever you'd like. As for colors, I think we will have a variety to send them (and any color is welcome), but if you have a choice take the more masculine colors, since most of the receivers will be males!

And please help spread the word about this wonderful project to anyone who is interested. We started loading boxes for Operation Gratitude this past weekend and will continue through December. If you'd like, put a note on each scarf with your name and address.

I am a Supervisor for Operation Gratitude and am also knitting scarves! Thanks again for your kindness in helping to put a smile on the faces of our soldiers this winter!!!

Sincerely,

Sharon Howard


I think they're taking them until December 15th.

Here's the main website for more information.

http://www.opgratitude.com/index.php

The scarves are mentioned on the "wish-list" page.

http://www.opgratitude.com/wishlist.php

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Sometimes A Girls Gotta Geek

Along with crochet, I love computers. How do the two co-relate? Other than both of them using math, I'm not really sure.

Anyhow, I thought I'd mention some things that I find useful when it comes to computers.

Fred Langa has a newsletter called The LangaList at www.langa.com (blog is at www.langa.com/blog). I only get the free version, but it's chockful of information. Some of it way over my head, but keep reading and it starts making some sense.



Mr. Langa has started something called "flog the blog" (sounds kinky). Reading the list of some of his floggers, I found this site.

www.dailycupoftech.com which is a blog devoted solely to technical issues. Very good reading. I really like the lists of things he keeps on his usb drive.

And just for grins: This has been around a while, but it's still funny. www.subservientchicken.com

And I'm hiding here at the computer while men are painting my house. They've been here at least a month and I'm getting tired of the company.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Afghan Arrives in NH

Ya'll remember this afghan that I was working on, called Sunrise/Sunset from the coats & clark website?

Here's a picture of it in progress:

click to see larger
Well, I finally finished it, got it washed, got the prayershawl for my girlfriend finished, got it washed, got them BOTH boxed up and in the mail last week. She received them today and is so surprised and her Daddy is so surprised and touched. I've never met these folks at all, only talked with K. over the 'puter (and really we haven't had alot of time together recently.. life has gotten busy). But I know what it's like to have a family member ill.. espescially a father.

Any hoo, here's a picture of the completed afghan.


click to see larger

If I make the afghan again, I will do the border different. It took a whole skein for that solid steel blue around.. and it wouldn't lay flat after all that work. I don't feel like it's my best work, but it's meant for warmth and caring, not for show.. so I sent it on anyways.

I didn't manage to get a picture of the shawl (it would've been another month to mail knowing how disorganized I am), maybe I can get K to make a pic and send it to me. It was(is?) a seraphina pattern made out of Bernat Caress Yarn in Green (one of her fav colors). Bernat Caress is a 100% acrylic imitation mohair.. much like Lionbrand Jiffy.

K & B, I'm so glad you liked what I sent. I hope they will ease your paths through this difficult time.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Original Art by my Brother in Law

My brother in law, who I think is very talented, has started to sell his art on eBay.

Here is his first listing:

320028704033 << href="http://tinyurl.com/qlql9">http://tinyurl.com/qlql9

I'm so excited for him. He also carves.. he hand-carved a Unicorn for me years ago.. it's rearing on its backlegs. I'm trying to talk him into making me some hooks from trees on the family property.. not yet successful though. I can hope he's making me some for xmas.

Anyhow, he may have some other paintings up later, this is his first venture.

Here's to lots of success Bob!!!

P.S. He's since listed a few more.. here's a link to all of his offerings on eBay. http://tinyurl.com/kxwkf

Friday, September 15, 2006

FSU Blanket & Squirrel

I've had these made for a while, but couldn't post because my daughter hadn't received them yet.

Here's two views of the Butterfly Afghan made in FSU colors:








And here's her FSU Squirrel:






The squirrel was made out of scraps left over from the blanket.. plus some funfur (for the tail). The tail really does need a trim, but I'm leaving that decision up to her. It's twice as long as what the pattern said to make.

I got my first real amigurumi pattern book in the mail the other day. I found it by going to www.yesasia.com and then putting amigurumi in the search box. Price MUCH better than ebay.

http://i3.yesasia.com/assets/92/792/p1004179292.jpg <<<< pic of the book

Now to decide what to make.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Butterfly Afghan (in school colors)

I'm in the process of making a butterfly afghan for my daughter. I'm using the pattern from Annie's Attic, Dragonflies, Butterflies & More, To see the afghan I'm attempting, click the "see more pictures" link on that page. I really like the colors Annies chose, but my daughter didn't like their bright colors.. so she chose to have it made in school colors, Garnet & Gold (or as close as we could get to them).

So here's two of the squares for the Girl's afghan, currently being blocked (hoping to reach the specified 11 inches.. mine came out a bit smaller). The one on the left isn't really red, it's more of a rusty orange.. called Persimmon. It's as close as we could get to Gold.





All pictures are clickable to see larger.

I've also almost finished the afghan for my girlfriends dad. Just need to snug up a few loose ends and make a picture and then mail it.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Grammar Police

Someone made this.. I fell in love with it. Too funny.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Monday, July 31, 2006

Sunrise Sunset

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older,

When did they?


oh, alright.. I love that song. And the name of this afghan is Sunrise, Sunset. And all the time I've been working on it, the song has been going through my head.






It's still in progress, but thought I'd show off what I have so far. This is TLC Essentials in Navy & Steel Blue.

The pattern is free at www.coatsandclark.com You have to search for it, it's not easily found.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Mani di Fata

Some Free patterns at an Italian website.

Main site is

http://www.manidifata.com

to see the site in English, click the british flag at the top.

The free patterns are at these links. ONE Of these days, I will try the cloche.

Circular Motif Slippers

Daises

Ivory Shawl with Flowers

Little Flowers Belt

Trendy Cloche

Bathing Suit

Sleeveless Medallion Top

CD Holder

Flowers for edging sleeves


I've started work on an afghan for a girlfriend's dad. He is having some health issues with cancer. Pictures later.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Pineapple Cap

My own creation:






White ones made with Aunt Lydia's Baby Denim in White and an I hook.




Purple (it's really a dark purple.. looks orchid because of flash) is Red Heart WW and an H hook. I like the look of the Baby Denim better.. I did the RedHeart just to see how it would work up in a commonly used acrylic.

Modeled by my adult daughter. Face not displayed for internet safety and her request.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Back to Earth (broken arm update) & Caps to the Capital

Well, thought it was about time to post an update.

Daughter didn't need surgery, nor a cast, and not even a splint. The doctor only put her in a sling (for protection) and said that the break isn't out of alignment at all. In fact, according to our radiologist, the break is a classic example of a fracture that you can only see by the "fat pads" (whatever that is) and he has put the xray (sans her name of course) in his teaching file.

So, she's been going around the house in her sling and gently exercising her arm (per dr's orders). She can now even type with both hands (I remember what that is like.. having only one hand to type with.. back when I broke my shoulder).

We go back to the Orthopod this friday for followup and probably more xrays.

On the Crochet Front:

My afghan for the CALPALs FiletAlong is FINISHED...










Closeup



Sorry the picture quality is so bad. It wasn't daylight when I made the pictures, so no way to drag them outdoors for really good photos. If weather clears up I'll try to do better.

And I've gotten myself involved in another charity project. Caps to the Capital is the name of it and it's about crocheting (or knitting) little caps to help newborns in developing countries.

Here's what I've gotten done so far:






The little caps whip up really quickly because they want caps between 9 & 11 inches in circumference (tiny babies!!). This is a joint effort of Save the Children and Warm Up America and there is a whole set of instructions, including patterns, on how to get involved on their site. It IS a pdf file to download.. but even those with older computers (like me) need not be afraid of it. I only run 128 of RAM and I was able to download it without trouble.

That's all for now... my show (CHARMED) is about to start.. and then have a busy day planned.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Tripping on Air

My daughter broke her arm at camp today. She's home and in a splint and we go to the Orthopod in the AM to see if surgery or a cast or if she can remain in a splint.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Rose Filet Afghan in Progress

I finally got started on the Filet Afghan for the CALPALs group.

Here's one skeins worth of work






I'm using Caron Simply Soft in the color Soft Yellow. The odd scraps of blue & yellow yarn are what I use for stitch markers. I like using scrap yarn for things like that... makes me feel thrifty and frugal and all conservationy.

Let me tell you how dense I am sometimes. Even thought this CAL officially started on July 1, I didn't go and get my yarn till yesterday. I kept thinking I'd make myself drive 50 miles to where the "real" stores are instead of just doing Wallies here.

I finally realized that aint gonna happen.. so off to Wallies I go. Now, if you look at the picture of the afghan I'm making, it looks as if it is made in squares. Right? sure I'm right.





So, while going into Wallies, I had a brainstorm. Why not make each square in a different Rose color.. there are pink roses, yellow roses, lavendar roses.. etc. Just whatever I want.. then join them. It will be beautifully different!!

So, I bought some Pink, Lavendar, Offwhite and soft Yellow Caron SS.. (only 1 skein of each) and came home.

So, I'm sitting here getting ready to crochet and notice the beginning chain is 185 stitches. Hmm that's a little long for 1 square, but whatever.

It's not until about the 4th row that I realize this afghan is made all in one piece.

Man do I feel DUMB. What's worse is that I've had the pattern for at least a week and have skimmed over it several times .. even LOOKING for the joining instructions and not seeing them. But I read very very fast and sometimes miss important things, so it didn't occur to me that I wasn't seeing the joining instructions because THEY WEREN'T THERE.

I feel like Homer Simpson... really dumb.

Here's what else I did dumb this week. I had a battle with a ?softsided? *could've fooled me* suitcase AND LOST.





Yarn taking a bath.






Looks like I'll be busy awhile today. I got tired of the all black background and also my comments were badly messed up...so I changed templates and lost all my previous comments :( :( and also lost all my buttons on the side. This will be FUN to fix. Glad I know a little html.. otherwise I'd be completely lost.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Humble Pie

Pass the Ketchup.. I have some words to eat.

Back on April 23, I blogged about being turned down for an exclusive Crochet Group and how I understood, but my feelings were still hurt.

I find myself on the other side of the fence now and it's a strange feeling.

A little history... back around mid to late April, I was doing most of my crochet hanging out in two places, Crochetville (a moderated board) and Crochet Partners (a moderated mailing list).

I used to also spend a lot of time at the LiveJournal Crochet site, but it died and altho the moderator has brought back the posts.. the responses are no longer there. I feel I understand why she did what she did, but LJCrochet is STILL greatly missed.

Then suddenly one day, Crochetville was no longer available. It was there, but instead of being able to read and post, there was a sign up that it was down for vacation for the moderators. Yikes!! This happened with no advance notice to most of the members. Well, people panicked .. and made contact lists on Yahoo groups and other places. Some of the yahoo groups ended up morphing into new boards. I got invited to a couple of the new boards and have found one of them to be very friendly and "I'm lovin' it".

The ketchup part? It's invitation only. Open mouth and insert foot (hope I washed it lately). The new group is called CALPALs and we do LOTS of Crochet-a-Longs (the CAL part) and we're all friends (the PAL part). I think this group is a MUCH MUCH MUCH better fit for me than the group that turned me down. Hmmm do I wonder why? nah, I know why.

Crochetville came back in a day (or so.. don't remember how long it took actually) and I'm still active there, but have found a new home away from home. Thanks to the creator and the moderator (ya'll know who you are) of CALPALs for inviting me. I think/hope we will have a long and happy friendship.

and I understand why the C'ville moderator needed a vacation.. it was just a shock to all of the members for it to happen so suddenly.

New favorite Link: (crochet related): http://www.jessica-tromp.nl/free_crochet_patterns.htm

Tons of stuff there...Including advice on how to enlarge patterns!!! BUT, you need to be able to crochet from a diagram.

Almost off my hook: A Honeycomb shawl (my pattern) in White Omega Sinfonia for my niece for graduating from Community College. She did this all on her own.. no financial help from anyone. YEAH ASHLEY!!!!! Onward and Upwards Girl!!! She's now studying fashion design.. still supporting herself. I predict we will see great things from that young lady. All I have to do is fringe the shawl (after weaving in the ends and gently washing it) and then package and mail. Packing and mailing will be my downfall.. I'm horrid at that.

My son is retaking part of his TAKS exam today. Prayers, good wishes, Light a candle, say a MoneyHum (Heinlein fans?) that he will pass it this time. Only missed by 1 point last time. Gotta pass this to graduate HS (what a crock huh?) I wish I could still vote for Kinky Friedman.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

So Much to Say

so much to say, so much to do.

Last Friday was sooo wonderful. My kids (who were away WORKING at camp woke me up at 7:20 am... "Hi Mom, it's our day off"!

They voluntarily took the dog to the vet to have stitches removed and I gladly did their laundry in return!!

The boy left after lunch to go visit his Not-a-girlfriend(uh huh.. riiiight), and dd and I had some alone time which was wonderful.

It was sad when they had to go back, but they'll be home again Saturday. :) :) :)

I'm supposed to start a FILET CAL over at CALPALs (more about CalPals later), and have finally gotten the pattern I want to use. It's called "Yellow Rose of Texas"




I finally have the pattern (got it on eBay.. love it, saved time and gas $$) now I have to decide on yarn. I'm leaning heavily towards Caron SS in Offwhite.. which is a very creamy french vanilla color. Aunt Mary's yarns is going out of business, so I'm thinking about calling them and see if they have enough millends in that color. hmmmm

I've also been tempted into starting ANOTHER Cal for Noreen Crone-Findlay's Butterfly Shawl that's shown in the Summer issue of Knit.1 magazine. Read about the shawl and it's creation at Noreen's blog.

Someone on the 'ville asked how many wips we had. I sat down and counted mine.. at it was a staggering 14 (or 17 if you count the blankies that I still need to weave ends in on). That is depressing. Why do I want to start two more?? I guess there's just something about new beginnings that is irrisistable for me.

I was accepted as an Unknowable Shrone some time back and have not had the time to upload a button or do a bio for the site. I just went and looked and can't find myself on there. Hmmm.. I know I received the email. Maybe I should reply to it??? LOL

Well. time to publish this post and do some other things on the web.. I'm sure I will be back to say more.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Baby's Circle & Giant Pineapple Patterns

I'm often asked where to find the patterns for both of these, so I thought I'd blog a little about where I found these patterns.

Baby's Circle Afghan (picture shows a partially completed one)

click to view larger

The pattern is from a collection called Quick n Easy Crocheting that came in the mail and the patterns were filed in small yellow notebooks. When complete, there was a set of 3 notebooks.

I think this subscription service was available in the 80's.

I have found the pattern for sale on eBay.. sometimes the individual pattern for a few dollars, and sometimes the whole books. I managed to get all 3 binders (with patterns ::grin::) for about 20.00, but I was lucky. I've seen individual binders go for 2x as much.

If the pattern is followed exactly, it comes out very very large..even using baby or sport yarn. I usually just make the pattern until I'm satisfied with the diameter and then do the edging.

Some of the terms to search eBay with would be "Baby's Circle Afghan" or "Quick n Easy Crochet*" (be sure to use the quotes, asterisk and check the box on ebay to search inside the auction..not just the auction title)

If you're looking at buying one of the notebooks instead of a single pattern, I would contact the seller and make sure the pattern you want is in the books. And as always with eBay two things to remember.

1) don't buy from someone whose rating is lower than normal body temperature.
2) Sniping is your friend.

I don't have the inclination to go into sniping in detail right now, but if you're curious go into the community area of eBay => discussion boards => bidding => Sniper's Revival is a good place to start learning.

I know some people think that Sniping is not a "good thing", but as long as eBay permits it, I don't have a problem with it. I personally think it's good for sellers and buyers. If you have an issue with Sniping, complain to eBay, not to me.

btw: The Answer center in Ebay (also found in the community area) is a great place to spend some time reading & learning to avoid problems.


Giant Pineapple Pattern:



squares shown made into afghan.


The pattern is hard to find.. because the page it was on is no longer active. Thank Goodness for the internet archive!!

It's at this link: http://tinyurl.com/253kn

If you prefer the long version:

http://web.archive.org/web/199911032...Pineapple.html

I used an H hook for the off-white squares and a G hook for all the rest. I've listed the amount of yarn I used for the afghan I made, you may need a little more or a little less depending on how you crochet.

You will need about 3 to 4 ounces of Worsted Weight for each square. I used 6 skeins of Dawn Sayelle (by Caron) for the off-white squares. The skeins were 3.5 ounces and most of them had a small amt left after making a square.

Since I couldn't get anymore Dawn Sayelle.. I figured another Caron yarn would be fairly safe to use. What is easily available to me is Simply Soft... so that's what I used for the Turquoise squares and also the Bone for joining.

It took 3 6oz skeins of the Turquoise (they call it Blue Mint) and 1 6oz skein of the Bone.

Since I was going to use Priscilla Hewitt's flat braid method to join the squares, I stopped at Round 14 with 50 dc on each side of the square.

Each square was bordered and joined with the Bone color.
Flat braid method: http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/lffunt/flatbraid.htm to join the squares.

And I'm bordering it with a variation of Kim Guzman's (aka CrochetKim) friendship afghan border. http://www.crochetkim.com/patterns/border.html

I didn't want to make the puff stitches, so I just did Half doubles all the way around. The border was just finished tonight and I will try to get final pics up soon.

In discussing the flat braid joining method on the CrochetPartners mailing list yesterday, Wilma Keith, one of the other members, gave me this tip.

To make the flat braid easier to work, I usually sc one extra row around with the corner being sc, hdc, sc. That gives the corner a much sharper edge and easier to see. All flat braid starts at the hdc.

Now all I need is another Afghan to join to try out her tip. Hmmm maybe my next Scripture Afghan. :)

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Catching Up

I haven't posted lately because I've been wanting to make pictures. Well, I finally found the camera and had time to struggle with dialup and all that.. So here goes.


Scripture Afghan. Each square is related to a certain bible passage. Made in various shades of purple in good ole indestructable red heart. Squares were crocheted together, purposefully creating small ridge around each, to create a mini-frame.

Lace & Bobble Afghan. Just made from scraps.. ( I have TONS of scrap yarn) started when I got frustrated with the scripture afghan.

A Baby Lace & Bobble in progress. Awaiting more yarn. I'm making this from left-over Wendy Peter Pan yarn. Love this yarn, wish I could find another distributor other than Smiley's Yarns.

Pineapple Squares Afghan. Started as a "keep busy" project one weekend, and fell in love with the look of the square in off-white. Sadly I couldn't get more of the off-white yarn, so I had to improvise on finishing it. I'm really loving how it's turning out.

And lastly a Terry Kimbrough design made in the Wendy Peter Pan yarn. This was intended for one of the ladies that work for my husband (she's due sometime this month), but he didn't know I had something ready.. so he bought her a gift. So this doesn't have a home (yet).

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

THE VILLE IS BACK!!

I can stitch, I can stitch, yes the ville is back..

Ya'll be glad you can't hear me, singing with laryngitis.

Crochetville is back up. Yahoo!!!!

Unpleasant Surprise

I was unpleasantly surprised today to find that Crochetville has closed for vaction, except for the Swaps & Original Designs.

There's been some real unpleasantness going on in the 'ville, which I really hate to see. I've had nothing but good come from there, except for one run-in with someone who didn't appreciate my advice.

That could've been my fault, in fact, it probably was. No one likes advice unless it agrees with them, so I should've kept my mouth shut.

I would make a very poor board administrator, my personality isn't tough enough.

A temporary group has been setup at yahoo, called CrochetAlongPals.

And now Crochetville has a new message saying they'll be back soon. wow. How strange.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Exclusivity Sucks

A while back (2 weeks or so) I applied to join another crochet group. It wasn't an open invitation group like Crochet Partners or Crochetville or the long-mourned Crochet Community at LiveJournal, but you had to tell the owner something about yourself.

I was rejected. Not sure why, the owner didn't tell me. I suspect it was because I was honest and didn't hide my membership in other groups. Or maybe it was just because they don't know me. I really don't know.

I was very polite in responding to the rejection letter. I said something like "Ok, thanks, perhaps another time" (I don't remember the exact wordage). I also think I was polite in my application letter. It would be really stupid to be rude in a letter applying to a group. LOL

Anyhow, two weeks later, I'm still trying to figure out why being rejected bothers me. I KNOW not everyone is going to like everyone.. grief, being different is what keeps the world interesting. Uniformity is dreadful. Do I want the people at the other community to see this post? Maybe. Honestly, I'm not sure. I don't want to be sour grapes, but maybe the invitation only community wouldn't be a good fit for me anyways. But I won't ever know.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Fiberglass Crochet & Crocheted Coral Reef

Couple of quick links:

Fiberglass crochet, also a camoflauge crochet covered cadillac (say that fast 3 times)

http://www.supernaturale.com/articles.html?id=166#gloria

Crocheted Coral Reef (and they are taking contributions..Lord, slow my brain down please.. don't let me start more than I can finish)

http://theiff.org/exhibits/reef.html

On another note: I have messed this blog up sooooooooo bad by tweaking it.. I'm considering starting over. Or at least moving it to a new home temporarily. Probably a project for this summer when I have a little more free time (huh? what's that).

I can always dream can't I?

One more quick link:

http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/04/10/what-do-you-do-when-someone-steals-your-content/

100 Things about myself

I was on the Unknowable Shrone's site and filling out an application and one of the questions was something like "Has the candidate ever filled out the 100 things about themselves, if so, link to it".

I was fascinated by that idea, and went off looking for others who had done the 100 things and found them fascinating. Soooooo, I thought I'd do one too.

So.. prepare to be either fascinated or bored out of your mind (or to be convinced I belong in the Looney Bin).. cuz here's my 100 things.


1) I am one of 4 girls in a family
2) I used to think of our family being like the family in "Little Women".
3) I was Beth, and supposed to die young.
4) Instead, my father died.
5) In February of 2007, I will be the same age as my father when he died.
6) I love my husband enormously.
7) The beach is my favorite place.
7a) The redneck riviera is my favorite beach.
8) I could eat seafood every day and not get tired of it.
9) I am homesick for Florida and have been for 25 years.
10) My husband and I have been together for 25 years.
11) I used to collect Beanie Babies.
12) Now I collect yarn.
13) And patterns.
14) I made up the title for this blog out of my own head.
15) I love working with computers.
16) I can fix alot of what is wrong with most computers.
17) I want to build a computer from scratch.
18) I have added harddrives, ram, and various "cards" to my own computers.
19) I used to be a LVN.
20) I once grew my hair down to my waist.
21) I'm growing my hair out again.
22) I learned to knit before I learned to crochet.
23) I've forgotten how to knit.
24) I love to crochet.
25) I own (?) 1 cat and 3 dogs.
26) I have one child far away in college
27) I have another child still at home.
28) Once I own something, it is extremely hard for me to let it go.
29) My best friend has bipolar disorder.
30) I once dated a man with schizophrenia.
31) I used to drive a Green Volvo.
32) I hate football on TV (live is different).
33) My job is wonderful and I like the people I work with very much.
34) I have promised myself that I will move back to Florida someday.
35) One of my hobbies is Genealogy.
36) I have (among others) French and Austrian (not Australian) ancestry.
37) I am considering obtaining a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science.
38) I have two Associate Degrees.
39) Southern born and bred, I'd never live anywhere else, except for love.
40) I have dark brown hair, but now it's red.
41) My eyes are hazel (green & Brown).
42) I can listen to a song I like adinfinitum.
43) I love to read.
44) I abhor spelling mistakes.
45) I try very hard not to correct others spelling mistakes, unless they ask or I'm teaching something.
46) I am very much a night owl and always have been.
47) I have been treated for Chronic Low Level Depression.
48) I grew up with a Mother who had SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
49) I want to own the house I grew up in.
50) I enjoy learning now that I have to pay for my own college.
51) I have lived in, avisited or driven through the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California.
52) I lived in the District of Columbia for 6 weeks.
53) I like the Applachian Mountains.
54) I'm not so impressed with the Rocky Mountains.
55) I think Michelangelo was a wonderful artist.
56) I want to go to Ireland some day.
57) I like Alt. Country music.
58) I never thought I'd like Country music.
59) Sometimes I stay inside the house for days and days.
60) Sometimes I am painfully shy, other times I can be very outgoing. There's no rhyme or reason to the difference in moods.
61) I have learned to take long car trips by myself.
62) I taught myself to play the guitar.
63) I didn't keep up with playing the guitar.
64) I learned to play the clarinet in 5th grade.
65) I didn't keep up with playing the clarinet because I was sent to a private school with no music program.
66) My parents sent me to the private school because they were afraid of the neighborhood where I was supposed to go to middle school.
67) I absolutely hated the private school.
68) Because of that private school experience, I have major difficulties with organized religion.
69) I am a Christian, but don't beat people over the head with a bible.
70) I try to live my life as being a good example of Christianity.
71) Sometimes I fail at being a good example, majorly.
72) I used to have recurring nightmares about driving over a log bridge with my grandmother.
73) I love staying up late and sleeping during the day.
74) I love working the night shift.
75) I miss my family.
76) I dealt with missing my family by pretending we were pioneers.
77) During that pioneer phase, I canned lots of tomatoes and made lots of jelly.
78) I really did not like my mother in law.
79) I did respect my mother in law. She did a good job in raising her son.
80) I don't think my mother in law ever really liked me.
81) I grew up on a farm with goats and horses and chickens.
82) One of my jobs used to be to gather eggs.
83) I can clearly remember helping my Daddy plant tomatos.
84) I can also remember playing in the barrels of chicken feed.
85) I can remember watching the chickens "dance" after Daddy cut off their heads.
86) I can also remember watching my Daddy skin and gut squirrels he had shot.
87)I think fried squirrel, smothered in gravy, is delicious.
88) I love to go fishing.
89) I also enjoy crabbing.
90) I haven't been fishing or crabbing in years.
91) I hate housework.
92) I want to hire a maid.
93) My husband fired my last maid and I haven't gotten over it.
94) I have so many crochet projects in progress I don't want to count them.
95) I keep thinking of new projects and don't know when I'll have the time to do them.
96) I have learned not to order grits north of south carolina.
97) I like all kinds of logic problems/puzzles.
98) I have an addictive personality.
99) Pre-Katrina, I used to want to live upstairs in New Orleans when I was a "little old lady".
100) Now that Katrina and reality (old bones and stairs don't go well together) have both struck, I'm not sure where I want to live when I'm old.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Compulsive Hoarder too?

well, I think I may have discovered I am a compulsive hoarder, as well as a compulsive hooker. The two probably feed off each other.

Check out this list:

SIGNS OF A COMPULSIVE HOARDER
•An excessive amount of clutter (yarn/thread/patterns/stash) that limits living space
•Difficulty categorizing & organizing items (patterns/hooks/stash)
•Holding onto possessions that seem of little or no value (remnants/small pieces of yarn/thread)
•Severe anxiety when trying to throw out an object (WIPs/UFOs)
•Trouble making decisions about possessions (GOTTA HAVE, GOTTA HAVE)
•Feeling anxious, embarrassed or depressed because of clutter (OH MAN!)
•Fears about needing items that could be thrown away (you just might NEED it one day for something!)

The original list was run in a Parade magazine sometime in the Fall of 2005. The stuff in the parenthesis was added by one of the c'ville members, but I think they're so good I'm including them too.

http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13227&highlight=hoarder

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

I'd Walk a Mile for a .......

Guess that shows how old I am, I can remember old cigarette slogans.

I "know" someone, or I should say know OF someone, who is going to walk many a mile.. 60 of them as a matter of fact.. for the Breast Cancer Cure.

She talks a little about it on her blog.

And later I'll put this button on my sidebar, but for now it goes here.


Image hosting by Photobucket




I go to the dentist at 2pm tomorrow to start the process of fixing my broke tooth. I've changed two appointments so far, I'm so afraid of going. This one I have to make. I may not be blogging for a few days.. the pain may keep me in bed.

Nothing much new in the crochet world. Other than I finally bought the (fake) mohair tonight to make my Turban for the hat-a-long that Lady Linoleum is sponsoring. I think I joined this CAL back in January.. sheesh I'm bad.

Oh, and I've been trying my darndest to figure out a pattern written in German. I know what the German words/abbreviations mean (LM = chain, FM = sc, for example), but the syntax doesn't quite make sense. One of the rounds says to chain 2 into the 4 mesh, 3 dc, repeat. huh? How do I chain 2 into the 4? Fortunately there is a picture.. so I might be able to approximate the final result.

That's about it for now.

Things that made me smile today: Seeing a guy in one of those cars made to look like a car from the 50's, wearing a cowboy hat. Usually you see CBHats in Pickup trucks. It just amused me. I'm easily entertained.

Good night for now.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Hearts & Diamonds found

I found a place online that has my favorite quick (about 50 hours worth of work) afghan/throw.

here tis: http://www.purplekittyyarns.com/free-patterns/afghan-patterns.html and click on the Hearts & Diamonds pattern.

I wish it wasn't in PDF form.. but I can live with that.

I think I have pictures of the afghan I made from this pattern near the beginning of this blog. I went and found them and reposted. They should be clickable, ie: you can click them to see a larger picture on another page. Close the page that opens to return here.

Rose & Cream                          Red & White

          

I've made one for each of my sisters and my sister in law. Also for my two bosses and a friend. The love just grows and grows.

My thanks to Julie and Evelyn from Crochetville for leading me to the Purple Kitty site.

Friday, March 31, 2006

C_C_C_Changes

Still can't find the camera. Have instructed son when/if it turns up to PUT IT BACK IN THE CAMERA BAG. I KNOW he was the last to use it, but of course, being only 17, he can't admit to any failings.

Since I can't make pictures (and darn it, I had finally decided to post some yarn on ebay to sell), I've tweaked the blog a little bit. I added a feature called "Change Detection". Sign up with them and they'll email you whenever the blog changes.

I feel very comfortable with this service, because I've used them to notify me when a certain web security site is updated (http://www.grc.com/SecurityNow.htm for those who are also computer nuts). I've never gotten spam from this group and they are very reliable. I hope this will work for my blog.

And thanks to Dee of CrochetingWithDee.com, I've become aware of a crochet oriented Podcast. It's at www.crochetcast.com Very nice, but I do have one disagreement with the site. I understand her premise that it's hard to crochet and read at the same time, therefore the podcast, BUT.. for those of us who are still on dialup, the podcast is frustrating.

I hope Crochetcast.com will make alternate communications available, like GRC does. GRC has many methods of acquiring their information, which would probably be overkill for crochetcast, but a simple text file of the cast would be great.

Today has been frustrating in one other way. I ran out of yarn on this afghan I'm making.. 42 sc's from the edge. Argggghhh. Walmart here I come. (after I look for the camera once more).

Frustration

Ok.. I finally have a day off from work and time to post pictures and the Digital Camera is not in it's home.

GRRRRRRRRRR

Guess that means I'm not supposed to do pics today.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Sweepstakes and other good things

http://www.joann.com/sweepstakes/sweeps_craftmonth06.jhtml

Win 10,000.00 from Joanns to create your perfect craft room. ummmmmmm yarnnnnnnn

Crochetville (www.crochetville.org) is gearing up to have a silent auction April 2 to the 8th.

Read this post to see how it works.

http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showpost.php?p=318519 />
And a GREAT new extension for Firefox called Stumble. Get it and get readdicted to the web.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

I've completed one of Terry Kimbrough's baby afghans.. just because I wanted to.

Also finished a Scripture Afghan. I hope to get pics up this weekend. I'm at least 3 weeks behind on my hat a week crochetalong. And I did NOT finish the Baby's Circle Afghan that I was trying to make for the Crochet Olympics. I don't think I like this afghan made all the way out. I think it's better uncompleted. Pictures will tell the story, if and when I get them made.

I'm posting this with another new firefox extension called "Perfomancing". We'll see how well it works.





Friday, March 03, 2006

Mystery Afghan

I was browsing pictures of dorm rooms (my son is a junior in HS.. so we're starting to look at colleges now) and I saw this one with this gorgeous afghan.

I wonder if anyone knows where to find this pattern, or one similar.



Sunday, February 12, 2006

Lace School In Ireland needs Help

I got the below email in my crochetpartners mail list... I think this is a worthy cause and hope anyone reading my blog will take the time to send an email in support of the project.

I wrote and said that I was from the US and one of my longtime dreams was to visit Ireland and If I ever get to make that dream come true, I'd love to be able to visit a Lace museum.

LACE SCHOOL IN IRELAND HELP NEEDED

A very dedicated group of people in Co. Mayo are trying to turn the
building that housed the Muings Lace School into a museum. It is
envisaged that the museum will exhibit Irish crochet lace and hand
knitting with other traditional crafts. There will also be lectures,
courses, workshops in traditional crafts, including crochet lace,
local history, research etc, for adults and children.

This part of Ireland has been left behind by the Celtic Tiger Economy
and could do with the extra jobs generated by increased visitor numbers.

Fibre crafts in general need all the help they can get in Ireland at
the moment. Wool shops are closing. Tivoli Mills are discontinuing
most of their wool yarns and importing only novelty yarns. I had a
long search to just find 100% wool I could felt recently.

You can read about the project here:

http://www.laceschool.com/


You can help by sending emails of support to
laceschool@hotmail.com .
If you would be likely to visit such a place it would be useful to
mention this. I have sent off an email myself but funding boards
would be much more impressed by letters from overseas. They will be making their presentation to the funding body on Wednesday 15 February so need these messages of support as soon as possible.

I am not personally involved in this project and have no affiliation
with it.

Thanks

Lynda
Co. Cork, Ireland

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Pre-Olympic Jitters


Just a quick post to show off the button for my Crochet Olympic Team. It's hyperlinked back to the webpage for the Crochet Olympics. I need to get my yarn out and start swatching. So glad I have Fridays OFF!! And my dentist appt is Tomorrow, so I should be over any pain by Friday (Still working on getting that broken tooth capped.. eek).

It's almost 11pm and I need to be up by 5am. I've been awake since 3am. I'm gonna be WORN OUT tomorrow.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Crochet Olympics

I hate sports. I really do. I REALLY hate watching them on TV. I think this stems from my childhood and having only one TV in the house and the men being allowed to bully the females about what was watched on the Television. Probably the main reason I despise football.

I've never gotten over the idea that a guest in my home was allowed to dictate to me what I could watch on the television. Rudeness and discrimination.

So I never got over it. I got better, I got revenge. I still hate sports on TV.. but now I crochet through it if I can't avoid it.

I'm going to have my own version of the Olympics.. Crochet style. The wonderful folks over at crochetville are starting a Crochet Olympics CrochetALong.

Rules are:

The rules are:
1 - The project must be a challenge for you to complete in the specified time frame.
2 - You can NOT start until opening ceremonies (Feb 10, 2pm Eastern Time)
3 - You MUST finish by closing ceremonies (16 days later, Feb 26th)
4 - You can do prep work before (guage swatches, winding, etc), but no working on the actual project.
5 - Pick something that is doable, but challenging. Do not set yourself up for failure.

For those of you who knit.. Yarn Harlot is having a Knit Olympics. Some brave souls are doing both!! yikes!!

I hope to go buy my yarn tomorrow. I might take son and hubby to go see "The End of the Spear" and shop while they're occupied. hehehee

Several people have asked me what the purpose of having a Crochet Olympics was. My first thought was "does everything have to have a purpose?" But not wanting to sound snippy (and while the response does sound sarcastic and snippy.. it's not, it's a real question), I have replied with these are the reasons/purposes to have a Crochet Olympics:

1) Fun
2) A self challenge
3) something to do while watching the Olympics
4) an excuse for another project
5) all or none of the above.

Off to work on my hat-a-week project. I would be half finished by now, but the pattern writer put two patterns in one long post and didn't put a note to refer to the stitch instructions at the beginning for those making the second item. grrrrr. I had to sign back on the computer and find the post all over again to print the missing instructions. I would've winged it, but I had NO IDEA what a ALTSP was. LOL. ( it means Alternating Stitch Pattern, I'll probably never forget that now).

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Red Scarves for Valentines project


A scarf for the "Red Scarf for Valentine's Project". BlueHaze is the color (lotta pink in that there yarn to be named blue haze.. but that's what the label reads). It's Bernat Berella 4. soooooo soft & cuddly. And it's even acrylic!! yeah for non allergy provoking fibers!!!

BernatSofteeChunky that I bought earlier this month. Not my usual color choice, but at 1.00/skein, I thought why not. No pattern, just noodling around.

Bernat Softee again, but in two colors and a sttich from the Harmony Guide. I think it's called CrossHatch. I like the effect.

My very favorite, it will be hard hard hard to let this one go. Simply Soft in Autumn Red and the pattern is adapted from one once posted on the now defunct LiveJournal Crochet Community. I did the edging different, but the flowers are the same as the LJ pattern. I may have to make another before I can stand to give this one away.

I made many more, but don't want to overwhelm folks with the pictures. These are the ones I like the best. There's more on the 25 Things for Charity Blog. And you can see other people's gorgeous creations there too.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Hat Attack


UBW hat for Crochetville Hat-a-week CAL. I did a FPDC, BPDC around on the last round to make a stretchy band and added a floppy pompom.

Homespun Hat, my design. Pattern coming soon.


Another Homespun Hat.

and again

one more

Hats & Scarves.. version 1 These scarves are made from the Christensen pattern found at Lionbrand.com

version 2

and Version 3

Garnet and Gold Scarf for the Red Scarf Project. Pattern is CrabbyCabbies Unnamed Scarf found at Crochetville.

Scarves made from Moonlight Mohair. My pattern, stitched on the diagnal. It will be written up soon.

Cathedral Window (in progress) There's a crochet a long for this at Crochetville.

My son being eaten by the Cathedral Afghan *grin* My son is approximately 5'8" and he's having to hold the thing over his head. We roughly measure it at nearly 5 ft across.. it's probably bigger. And there's still lots more to go.

Up close and personal.