Another Baby's Circle

I just finished another Baby's Circle Afghan, probably destined for the Project Linus group, but don't know 100% for sure. (check post on June 11, 2006 for information on where to find the pattern).

~~Begin Minor Rant~~

This pattern is still under US copyright laws and while I am very flattered that people like my work...I cannot "share" or "send" anyone the pattern. Please do not ask me to do so. Whether or not I agree with the copyright laws, until and unless they are changed, I must abide by them. I'm not risking my reputation or family over a pattern for gosh sakes!!

~~End Minor Rant~~

I had this gorgeous variegated yarn, only 8oz of it, but in a babyweight. The baby's circle pattern only calls for 10 oz of yarn and a D hook. I love most of the pattern, except the extreme edges of it are very lacy. I thought I might could get by with the 8oz of yarn if I didn't do the extreme edges.

Well, I was almost right. I started to run low on the variegated.. so I took a leap of faith and stopped using it for a while, hoping I had reserved enough for the flower border, and finished up the spiral/swirl with some other yarn I had lying around. I wish I had had enough of each of the colors in the variegated.. but since I am trying to bust my stash rather than add to it.. I made do.






The pattern calls for repeating until there are 37 dc in each section. I went till there was 27 dc's..

I also used an E hook. Would I have been able to get to 37 if I had used a D? I doubt it, I don't think 1 hook size would make that much difference.

I also reduced the number of dtr's in the flower petals. There's supposed to be 4 dtr in each petal. I tried it and it looked too puffy. So I ripped the whole flower section out last night and redid it with 3. MUCH better. When all was said and done,I was lucky and guessed right on where to stop using the variegated. There's only about a yard of the variegated yarn leftover.

I'm pleased with it and hope the PL folks will be also. I just need to weave in the ends and wash it once to make sure all is well.. and voila.

Riders on the Storm

Today was an awful day. Not the worst one I've ever had, but it ranks right up there.

Spent the night in Troy Alabama... that part was fine, the hotel we patronize there is brand-new and well staffed. Even the dinner at Ruby Tuesdays was not too bad (had a bad experience at that same RT a year ago.. I got served dirty brocoli.. yeach).

When we got up this morning, I looked out the window to check the weather and noticed there was some wind. and it was a bit rainy. OK.. so we don't drive extremely fast today... little did I know.

It took us 6 hours to make a 3 hour drive. We fought wind and rain all the way ... having to pull off the interstate 3 times to wait out the rain. The third time was the worst as the radio gave us the information that there was a Tornado Warning south of where we were and to get to shelter as soon as we could. Unfortunately, there was not an exit for 10 miles from the time they gave the alert. I know the area, so I kinda knew where the Tornado was sighted and the likelihood that it would come directly to where we were was pretty remote, but still it was nervewracking.

There were times on the interstate that it was all I could do to drive 50mph.. and fighting the wheel the whole time because of water standing in the ruts...

We did finally make it in. We got to the bookstore and picked up two of dd's books for the spring semester, the other one should be ready by Monday at the latest. We also dropped by her dormroom and none of her roomies were back yet, so she's spending one more night with me (YEAH!!).

Tried to do dinner at Olive Garden or Chilis.. but the parking situation was just incredibly awful. Chili's was even doing free valet parking (but I saw where those valets were putting some cars.. and decided that wasn't for me). We ended up going to Barnhills. Not a great place, but it's good and was easy to get in and out of.

My hometown has gotten way too big. Barnhills used to be the Bowling Alley. Where Rosss "Dress for Less" is .. was the old Sears Store. Cabo's (a good mexican restaurant) was the Barber College. Where Gold's Gym, used to be WinnDixie. MusicalMoon was the A&P. sigh... there's nothing like Nostalgia.

Currently Reading: Can't wait to get to Heaven by Fanny Flagg. A continuation of the stories started in "Standing in the Rainbow" and "Welcome to the World, Baby Girl". HIGHLY HIGHLY reccommended. (all 3.. tho so far my fav is Rainbow)

ttfn

Oprah's Dream

When the childen in Africa tell Oprah that they want uniforms so they can go to school (versus American kids who want Nike's or Ipods)... Why doesn't Oprah talk to the schools about abandoning their Draconian attitudes and actions about Uniforms??

A well written Dress CODE (saying what cannot be worn) works!! Uniforms are not necessary.

What can I say, this is a pet peave of mine. I see uniforms as another way of stifling a students soul and suppressing critical thought.

Plantation Crochet

I was browsing the internet... trying to find out why the state of Georgia has two towns named Thomasville..and ran across this site, describing a southern plantation that features crochet.

Actually, I'm sure they mean CROQUET... but I can just see people going there for a weekend of hooking and frogging. >grin<

I found the name of the place that is having the great yarn sale... it's called SewPurlatives. The sale ends Tomorrow, so I need to decide tonight whether or not to swing by. I think I'll ask my daughter how she feels about it since she's my passenger. She's anxious to meet her new roommate (one of them went psycho and moved out with almost no notice.. DD found out by the new one coming over and saying "Hi, I'm going to be your new roommate next semester") so it might not be the kindest thing to ask her to tolerate a stop at a yarn store.

Temptation rears it's Ugly Head

My sister emailed me (and then called on my cell this morning) to tempt me.

She found out about a fabric/yarn store in Thomasville, GA that is going out of biz and has yarn that regularly sells at 8.00/skein going for about 1.50/skein. I think that it sounds like Wool and other itchy/scratchy/sneezy fibers.... but I might go check it out.

Funny thing is.. she didn't give me the name of the store...so I'm off to try to find it on the web.

I'll post if I find it and find anything.

KA-BLOOEY!!!!

I am posting from a hotel room in Vicksburg, MS tonight.

No, I'm not on vacation, nor have I left my husband or ran away from home.

I am ferrying my oldest offspring back to college, which is about 14 hours of nonstop driving, or 2 days of a push or 3 days taking it easy. We're doing the 3 day plan (reward nights at hotels are a GOOD thing).

We started out today about 9:30 central time and did make our goal, but we were 2 hours later arriving than I had hoped. Why?

We had a BLOWOUT on the interstate.

We were driving along in the fast lane, passing a slower car, when we suddenly heard a really loud noise, as if we had hit a piece of sheet metal. There had been nothing in the road to runover...it took me a few seconds to realize that it was probably a tire.

Right rear. Thank goodness for AAA and Cell Phones. We called and got someone to come out and change the tire. (I was amused that the lady at AAA in Dallas thought we might need the police to protect us) I had a difficult time telling her where exactly on the interstate we were (very few cross streets ya know..lol.. and approx 37 miles west of Shreveport didn't do it for her). It took about an hour for the AAA wrecker to find us (plus 3 extra cell phone calls).

Unfortunately, this car has special locking lugnuts that if you don't use a particular tool correctly, you can't remove the tire. The guy from the wrecker service didn't know how to use the tool. So he couldn't remove the blown tire. He was in a regular truck, so he had to go back to his shop to get a flatbed wrecker.

Then he took us to a tire store and they took about another hour to get it done.. and my locking lugnut is no more on that tire. I haven't decided if this a good or bad thing.

Turns out somehow I had picked up a nail in that tire and it had worked it way though the side wall and ka-blooey!!!

Here are the good things about this incident today:

1) It happened in the daylight

2) It wasn't raining (rains are supposed to start tomorrow)

3) We were lead to an honest tire store. In our situation (needing transportation), they could've easily sold me 4 new tires intead of just one.


Some things I learned from this experience:

1) SLOW DOWN and/or MOVE OVER when you see someone with car trouble on the interstate.

It's amazing the number of semi's and cars and trucks that just kept on as usual.

I am impressed with the Covenant Transport line.. they moved over from the right to the leftlane to give me peace even though it would've been easier just to stay where they were.

2) LOOK for MILE MARKERS or other IDENTIFYING signs/sights before calling for help. This would've saved us a lot of time and frustration.

3)Try to make sure your AAA respondent is competent.

All in all, we are safe, the car has a new tire and I'm 1/3 of the way to taking the progeny back to college.

How I made out like a bandit.. legally

I recently got 40.00 worth of free (yes, really free) giftcards to use online at Walmart.com or Sams.com. I don't know if this is repeatable.. but might be worth a try for someone next year.

Here's how it went.

I did a pre-order of a highly desired video game back in November (Zelda Twilight Princess for the Game Cube). The game was due out December 10th or 11th, close, but reasonably in time for Christmas. I wasn't terribly worried as I had bought a used GC with two controllers, 2 mem cards and about 7 games, all in one auction (what a deal!).. so the gifts were covered, but really wanted TP also, if I could get it.

December 10th comes along and I get an email from WM... saying that the shipment would be unavoidably delayed. Hmmm.. so I go searching the web and several places that would ordinarily sell it are NOT taking any more pre-orders. Okie Dokie.. I keep on looking.

I finally find a forum where someone posted that a major retailer (maybe it was Circuit City.. I really don't remember) was going to have them available starting the next day at 5pm, but they were not taking pre-orders. Being that we live in the sticks.. CC is a bit of a drive. I decided to check our local WM to see if they might have it.

So, my son and I go to WM the next day and check things out. I do some regular shopping and then meet him over in the game dept. I asked if he found it. He said, no, they don't have it. I asked.. did you ask a clerk? Son: no. I find a clerk and asked if they had gotten TP in. Lo and behold they did have it!! So I bought it, thinking I'd cancel my online order.

Get home, log on, follow the directions in the email that WM had originally sent me on how to cancel the order. Didn't work. There wasn't a link to cancel where they said one would be. Ooops. OK.. so I find WM help dept and email them asking what to do.

Next day, WM emails back and asked that I contact them via an 800 number. Yeck. I hate dealing with computerized phone messages. So I decide to put it off a day...and the day after that I get an email from WM saying that they will NOT be able to fulfill my order and in compensation would I accept a $25.00 gift cert. (online only). Whoopee!!

Of course I accept it and go off to see what I can spend my windfall on. Hmmm... ok, books are good and WM only charges 97 cents for a book delivery. So I choose a book.. and order it and get an estimated delivery date of Dec. 20th (or thereabouts).

A few days later.. WM emails again.. they will not be able to deliver in time.. and would I accept a $15.00 GC? This is too funny... I accept again.

Two days after Christmass...I receive the book I ordered.. and still have 26 dollars and some change to spend.

I've ordered two more books.. we'll see what happens. They are supposed to arrive this week.

I think the moral of the story is.. If you don't have to have something by a particular date.. try ordering it from WM.. you might get it AND some extra spending $$.

Perhaps a secondary moral is Sometimes Procrastination Pays.

Crochet 100

Article in the Longview News Journal..

Only disreprancy is that the Project Linus isn't JUST for newborns.. but maybe Ms Whitehead's blankets are newborn sizes.

I've also posted the article in full here.. incase the link quits working. I'll leave it unless/until the powers that be request that it be removed.

Blankets travel from 100 to zero
Volunteer, 100, crochets for newborn babies


By RACHEL PHELPS
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-JOURNAL

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Margurite Whitehead has been crocheting most of her life — which is longer than most people have been alive. She turned 100 in August.

"I learned to crochet when I was real young and there was nothing to do in the summer," said the centurion.

Now Whitehead, who lives in Buckner Assisted Living, is taking her hobby and helping others with it. She crochets blankets for Project Linus, a non-profit organization that provides handmade blankets to seriously ill or traumatized children. The organization offers blankets to children from infants to 18-year-olds, but Whitehead specializes in making blankets for premature babies.

She heard about Project Linus in 2004 through her daughter, who went to a meeting about it at her church.

"I said, 'I want to do that,' " she said, "So she got the yarn and I started crocheting."

It usually takes Whitehead a week to finish a blanket, and Project Linus Chapter Coordinator Pat Vanderwater collects them a dozen at a time. The last time Vanderwater picked up a set was in November, which brought Whitehead's blanket count up to 149 since she began making them two and a half years ago.

"I don't think anybody has turned in as many as she has," Vanderwater said.

Vanderwater also told of one large blanket that Whitehead crocheted for Project Linus. Project Linus donates blankets to the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund, and this year Whitehead crocheted a full-size afghan for the fund.

"We like to send patriotic blankets and Mrs. Whitehead made a beautiful red, white and blue blanket for them," Vanderwater said.

It can take Whitehead a while to situate the yarn and position the needle, but she says she hasn't slowed down a stitch since she began making these blankets. She works on one every day and faithfully turns in her dozen every three months.

"It's a blessing that I can do this because my eyesight is getting bad," Whitehead said, "I can't read without a magnifying glass."

She also is blessed by hearing from the families her blankets have gone to.

"Every once in a while I'll get a letter and a picture of the baby, and I do appreciate it," she said.

Vanderwater is thrilled to have Whitehead as a volunteer, and said that people like Whitehead fulfill the second half of Project Linus's mission statement, which is to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity to interested individuals and communities.

"I visit her on and off all the time. We've become really close," Vanderwater said, "She's more than just a volunteer to me, she's a dear friend."

Whitehead has no plans to slow down now that she's made the century mark. She said she didn't know what her secret was for such a long life, but she did know that she would keep crocheting for the rest of it.

"As long as I live, I'll be crocheting," she said, "I'll probably be crocheting when I die."