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.

Pictures du Jour


Baby blanket I made several years ago. I think it's just plain ole RedHeart.. because I know I made it before I knew about "other" yarns. *grin* I had intended to donate this to ProjectLinus, but hubby has claimed it. LOL.. no, he's not going into his second childhood. One of the technologists that work for him is having a baby and the department is having a shower for her this Friday. He wanted one of my blankets to give. I showed him the ones I currently have made up and he picked this one. I'm very honored, cause he's very picky about certain things.

Homespun Montana Sky and Little Victory pattern from Lionbrand. Made for ProjectLinus.

Circular Baby Blanket also intended for ProjectLinus. This is made in Caron 3/4 pound. Color name is BabyRainbow Ombre. Dyelot # 45532. I ran out when finishing the edging.. If ANYONE has some, please email me at Lisatm at gmail dot com. I'd like to work out a trade or I'll even buy it from you (if the price is reasonable). I can't find Caron 3/4 pound listed on Caron's website. I've written them to inquire if Caron 1 pound is the same yarn as 3/4 pound, but have had no response.

Close up of where it ended. :(

Same Circular BabyBlanket, only using Caron Natura and this time I didn't run out!!

Extreme Closeup of the Completed Edging.

Caron TriColour Cluster Hat

My own pattern.. designed for Homespun, but this time made up in plain ole Red Heart.. to test the pattern for other yarns. The hats are for the Hat-A-Week CrochetALong at Crochetville.




















Scarf made for the Red Scarf Project. *I know it's not Red*.. they said they'll take other colors.
Scarf pattern is Unamed Scarf at Crochetville.
Well, I need to get off of here and do laundry and make more pictures. Things have to go in the mail soon.

Friday, January 06, 2006

The Lord Provides

I took my daughter to the airport yesterday to send her back to FSU. Cried while watching her go through the checkpoint. I was ok until then. The screener felt sorry for me and offered me tissues. I kept on crying as I walked back to the car.. everyone in the airport looking at me. I didn't care. That's my baby.. the one I waited 15 years to find the right father for. I had wanted to have a baby since I was 15, but waited until I had the right situation. (Now everyone can closely guess how old I am >grin<)

I was messing around on Crochetville this morning, trying to keep myself occupied and keep my mind off my daughter being gone, and I found this wonderful charity project. The Orphan Foundation of America has a Red Scarf project going on. They want to have 2500 scarves to hand out to their college age kids (OFA advocates for older foster youth who were never adopted and provides a comprehensive scholarship program).

Now I know why I was led to make all those scarves last month. God works in mysterious ways. I even have a 6ft long red scarf that I made for my daughter that she decided she didn't want. Well.. off it goes to the Orphan Foundation.

This means I have to get busy this weekend and make lots of pictures. UGH. The foundation needs to have the scarfs by January 20th. Nothing like a deadline to motivate me!!! And to help me keep my mind off missing my baby.

Monday, January 02, 2006

Broke & Toothless in 2006

I broke a tooth last night while eating (of all things) salad!! I didn't find the broken piece.. I must've swallowed it. Ick.

I dont have dental insurance. I can't get into the dentist's office today (they are getting me in tomorrow) and I can't find my Darvocet.

I think I'll go back to bed.

Happy New Year!!!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Scarfocopia


I've been on a scarf making kick lately. Here's a picture of a few of the ones I've made from the Christensen pattern at lion brand. I've changed the pattern just a little, mainly making it a little longer, but it's basically the same. These are all at least 6 ft long.


from left to right: (click on the picture to see a larger image)

1.Gray homespun (it might be the Metropolis color, not sure) Ebony Suede & FancyFur Stained Glass.
2. Homespun Windsor, Ebony Suede, Gray Homespun(?), and a Blue Boa (by Bernat).
3. Homespun Windsor, Ebony Suede, Homespun Montana Sky and Peacock Green FunFur (I think this one is my favorite.. wild colors)
4. Homespun Barley, Spice Suede, Homespun Sierra, and Bernat Disco Mr. Brown.
5. Homespun Sierra, Scarlet Suede, Gray Homespun(?) and Paton's Divine Black.

And finally:
6. Homespun Sierra, Spice Suede, Homespun Barley and some strange funfurish type yarn I got at BigLots.

I didn't consider this when making the photo, but the last one on the list is the first one I made. :)
Now I'm working on hats, by my own pattern, to coordinate with the scarves. I'm not doing the funfur stuff on the hats, just the homespun and possibly the suede. I'll get pics of the hats up as soon as I can.

Other news.. the Disco Throw has morphed into an afghan and is complete. And my daughter doesn't like it. Too many bright colors. Oh well.. such is life. I can remember not liking some of the things my mom came up with too. I will find a good home for it.

Other things have been completed.. but not yet photographed. Will post about them when photos are available.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Friendship bread?

****Warning**** NON CROCHET POST*****Warning******


Found this while cleaning off the bathroom counter (what was a recipe doing in the bathroom? who knows..I remember making this stuff years ago when kids were young. I must've been busy, set it down and forgot about it. I'm not the world's most organized person!!! )

Please be sure to read this ALL THE WAY through.. there's information at the end that will be very helpful.

Amish Cinnamon Bread


RULES:

1) Do NOT use metal bowls or utensils

2) Do not refrigerate starters, leave out on the counter.

3) Use PLAIN flour (not self-rising).

4) Let air out of bag periodically; it is NORMAL for the batter to ferment & thicken.


STARTER:

1(.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F / 45 degrees C)
3 cups all purpose flour, divided
3 cups white sugar, divided
3 cups milk

(the instructions aren't clear, but I think you put the yeast, water and 1 cup of each flour, sugar & milk in a large (gallon size) ziploc bag. With all the fermenting and squeezing going on, I think I'd use the name brand bags too.)


Instructions (10 days)

Day 1: do nothing

Day 2: leave on counter, squeeze several times a day.

Day 3: leave on counter, squeeze several times a day.

Day 4: leave on counter, squeeze several times a day.

Day 5: leave on counter, squeeze several times a day.

Day 6: add 1 Cup Sugar, 1 Cup Flour, 1 Cup Milk, squeeze into mix until combined.

Day 7: leave on counter, squeeze several times a day.

Day 8: leave on counter, squeeze several times a day.

Day 9: leave on counter, squeeze several times a day.

Day 10: In large bowl, combine batter with remaining Sugar, Milk, Flour (1 cup of each). Mix with woooden spoon (remember, no metal).

Place 1/2 cup of mix in each of 4 gallon ziplock bags and label each as day 1 of starter. Give 3 bags away (with a copy of the instructions) and keep one for yourself.

To what is left in the bowl add:

1 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Milk
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 C Flour
1 C Sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1&1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix well with wooden spoon and pour into 3 well greased loaf pans (about 2/3 full). In a seperate bowl, mix tsp cinnamon and 2 Tbsp sugar. Sprinkle on top of batter. Bake at 325 for approx 1 hour or until done. Slice and serve. Enjoy.

~~

since it had been so long since I had made this, I went digging through google to see what I could find to verify my memory. I found these instructions at http://bread.allrecipes.com/az/AmishFriendshipBrdStrtr.asp

seems I remember almost correctly. And very nice to know that the starter can be frozen.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 3 cups white sugar, divided
  • 3 cups milk

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 2 quart container glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature.
  2. On days 2 thru 4; stir starter with a spoon. Day 5; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Days 6 thru 9; stir only.
  3. Day 10; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Remove 1 cup to make your first bread, give 2 cups to friends along with this recipe, and your favorite Amish Bread recipe. Store the remaining 1 cup starter in a container in the refrigerator, or begin the 10 day process over again (beginning with step 2).


Editor's Note:

Once you have made the starter, you will consider it Day One, and thus ignore step 1 in this recipe and proceed with step 2. You can also freeze this starter in 1 cup measures for later use. Frozen starter will take at least 3 hours at room temperature to thaw before using.


Also take a look at this: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/388/Friendship_Fruit_Starter14094.shtml

Friday, December 02, 2005

Gmail troubles

Gmail has been wonderful.. until some id-i-ot has figured out how to use gmail for file sharing. Ever since that became common knowledge (Nov. 28th) Gmail has SUXXXXXDDDDDD. I can log in, but mail doesn't arrive. Mail was down yesterday, I complained and it came back. Now it's down again. Here goes another complaint email.

And NO, I won't tell anyone how to set up their gmail account for file sharing.. my mail is slow enough as it is. The info is out there if you know how to look.

Here's to hoping that the powers that be at gmail shut down this service so our email can continue. If not, I'll be moving my accounts back to yahoo mail.

I'm a strong supporter of Electronic Freedom, but as the saying goes, your freedom ends when it starts impinging on mine!!!

Listening to: Robert Earl Keen "Merry Christmas from the Family" Love this song. :)