Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Just a quickie

I wanted to make sure that I got on long enough to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year!

We are meeting some old friends for dinner at 7:30 then getting the kids and going home to probably go to sleep early. Woo. Hoo. Lol. New Years day I am off from the fairgrounds and will try to get together with other friends just to hang out and let the kids play. Probably not much knitting or crocheting done but that's ok. I have been working on the SuperShow socks, and have only about an inch left on the leg before I start the heel flap on the first one.

I am concentrating on the Flag Afghan at home during tv in the evenings, and the sock at work while it's slow. VERY slow!!

Well, that's it for me. Have a great day!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Presents!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! I sure did, even if my littlest angel did have something to say about that!

Christmas Eve when we went to my in-laws to open family gifts Sean started complaining about his ear hurting. Ok, gave him some tylenol and off we went. For about the first half hour of being over there he was clingy but otherwise ok. For the next 2 hours he screamed. While we opened presents he screamed, while we ate cheese dip he screamed, while the Wii was getting set up he screamed. Obviously the tylenol was not helping (at this point it had been 3 hours since we gave it to him). So, off we go to the After Hours Pediatric place (which Thank God! was open). 2nd doctor trip in as many days. He has an ear infection and yes it did just come on so the other doctor is not a quack. Yay. Ear drops for pain and antibiotics. He still woke up 5 times during the night (not a fun turn of events this last week) but at least the constant screaming stopped and the drops were helping. He has started eating again and has held most of it down so that is a great thing. He has the sum total of 1 cup of milk since Dr K said to back off it on Wednesday and that cup was last night. I think he's getting better and thats a good thing.

Yesterday we went to my Mom's to open gifts with them and he did pretty good, even participating in the opening (complete 180 from the night before). But, we missed my Grandfather, who is not feeling well at all. Mom loved her sweater and I'd show you a pic but Travis took pics with his camera and hasnt gotten them to me yet. Soon though.

I do have pics to show you of my gift from my Mom. She made me a jean skirt purse. It is So cute!! I put my purse stuff in it this morning. It's lined with a suede-feel fabric and I am using the outside pockets of the skirt for my keys, phone and lip gloss, very handy!
















She and I had talked about trying to make one for months, I gave her the handles a while ago and this is what she did with them. I love it! I have 2 pair of jeans at home that are not wearable for different reasons and I want to make bags out of them. That may be a project for the near future.

I dont know if my Grandfather liked his chili pepper bowl but Grandma loved the market bag. I still owe them since only 1 of the pepper bags got done. My MIL said she liked her bowl too. I hope the market bags get used, they are such a great thing.

Now that the holidays are over I will start concentrating on the Dear Jane again, interspersed with a pair of socks I'm about to start and the American Flag Afghan.

No word yet on the submissions, I'll let you know if I hear something. Starting on Monday I'll be out at the fairgrounds for the SuperShow. I will have very limited internet access and probably wont be posting much. If I am not on before hand, have a Safe and Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Ok... so there IS an update!

My friend and co-worker Patty got me the Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar for Christmas. I was thumbing through and found this:









I remember submitting it quite a while ago and hadn't heard anything about it. It's not a paid gig but for some reason I had it in my head that you get a calendar for them publishing it but I guess I was wrong. Oh well, it's still really cool to be chosen! You can read about my original hat-making here. It really is a great first attempt at fair aisle.

Guess this makes published #2, eh? Ok, that's really it from me this time.

No updates but Merry Christmas!

Between lunch yesterday and part of NCIS last night I finished the rest of the white stars and did the blue border on 6 of them. I also finished wrapping the few gifts we had left. This morning I went through the market bags I have (had had forgotten about, oddly) and I realized that I had not topstitched 3 of them (I knew about 1 but not the other 2). I have 2 each for my MIL and Travis' brother and his girlfriend. I have to topstitch both of mom's and that leaves 1 extra that is done done and 1 that needs topstitching. They don't go together AT ALL, nor do they go with my Grandfather's bag (I had intended to make him 2 or more but am, sadly, out of time). I may give one to my grandmother to use as a regular tote bag (the done one) and save the other one for something else.

I did manage to get the doughnut dough made and in the fridge. I had to call Nanny to get some more information - like how do you make it into circles (doughnut cutter... whoops!) and is it supposed to be like batter or dough (dough). I had to do a little fudging because I didnt have quite enough white flour and had to add a cup or so of wheat flour. Hopefully it'll taste fine. I'll find out in the morning when I make them! If it works, I may pass along the recipe. We'll see.

As for Christmas, I am looking forward to going to Church tonight with the family. Travis works on Sundays so we havent all been able to go in quite a while. I am really looking forward to spending some time with the family and friends and of course gifts. I cannot wait to see how Sean does. Frankly, I'm a little suprised that he hasn't ripped into anything yet!

Today we will get out of work early but I'm not sure when. Travis is home with both boys so of course he says the sooner the better! But I have to gather the stuff together to make the pinwheels and baked brie. Did you know you can now get crescents in a whole sheet that is not perferated! What a brilliant idea! I have seen SO many recipes for appetizers and whatever for crescent dough but what a pain to roll it so you dont have the perfs falling apart. The recipe I'm using came with my Pampered Chef pizza stone. It calls for cream cheese, parmesan and some herbs and such but I'm using Alouette cheese instead. Same concept, different flavor. I've done it before and it comes out great, and with less ingredients.

That's it for me for now. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Thank God for His gift. Hold tight to your loved ones. Give the kids a great big kiss. I hope that Santa brings you everything you've wished for.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

More progress but not enough

Here's what I made last night.

The front and back of a coaster for Damarys:












The inside and outside of the bowl I made for my MIL:













That little bitty coaster took me almost 2 hours to make. 15 minutes to determine my pattern and fabric and mark for cutting. 10 minutes to iron and cut. 15 minutes to sew (and iron and sew and iron and sew and iron). 10 minutes to sandwich w/inside felty fabric, mark little martini glass inside big square and figure out how to use the fancy embroidery foot and make the martini glass. 2 minutes to admire my work and look for the book on how to do binding & miters. 45 minutes to pin, sew, turn, sew, see mess-up, re-sew and cut threads. 45 minutes. !. My plan to replicate that 6 more times went right out the window. It's cute though, and she likes it and that's all that matters, right? Sigh. Stupid coaster.

I was obviously too busy on that to work on the stars, but did find another on on the shelf from when I was working on them before. I brought in the blue for the star borders and hope to start getting them whipped out at lunch today.

Tonight I'm making shephards pie and while that is in the oven I'll put together the batter for Mom's doughnuts. I wonder how I'm supposed to make them doughnut shaped? Hopefully that's in the recipe.

Sean is still sick. Yesterday afternoon I had to go get him at 4:30 after he puked all over himself and the snack table. When I picked him up, he also decorated my shirt and his other change of clothes. So much fun to have to pick up a perscription with a puke-shirt. Thank goodness it was drivethru! Travis just took him to the doctor and seems he has the flu! He did have a flu shot but apparently he got a different strain. Good news is that it's on the back end and should be gone by Christmas. Here's hoping!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and after work I have church at 5 then to the in-laws for presents and to the kids' God-parents (and God-brother's) house for presents. It'll be fun. I am making aloutte crescent pinwheels and I think a baked brie. Yummmmmm!

I will be at work so I should be able to post here. If not, have a wonderful Christmas!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Done done done!!!

I finished Mom's Sweater. Yippee!!!!! I'm really not sure what's up with the shoulders in this pic but I assure you that it looks good on an actual human. Damarys tried it on for me earlier today and it fit pretty good except it was a little tight under the arms. I will try it on Morgan this afternoon to see if she has the same problem. If so, I'll have a little cry and somehow figure out how to fix it. I am praying it fits her.

I have also finished all but 4 of the stars for Russ's Flag Afghan that I need to get done. I'll finish them plus get started on the stripes in the next day or so. I will see him in a few weeks at SuperShow and should have it done by then. OH... if anyone (in the Tampa area or will be 1/14-18) wants tickets to SuperShow, let me know and I'll get them to you.

I almost finished wrapping presents and am done with shopping. I need to make the doughnut batter (for Mom's doughnuts) probably tomorrow night because I won't have time on Christmas Eve and it needs to sit in the fridge overnight.

I also want to make my co-workers little quilted coasters. I'm sure they will be easy enough, and there are only 7 of them. The will be machine quilted with some of my scraps... easy peasy.

I bought the fabric and thread to make my MIL a fabric bowl and did all but the sewing last night. 2 different patterns of an aqua - like the rest of her kitchen. I'll do that tonight too since it should go quick (especially since I already learned to do the satin stitch and don't need to practice).

Travis wants to go to Christmas Lane tonight after a quick dinner but it will depend on if Sean is feeling better.

Ok, enough rambling (that was a lot, huh?) and back to work. Have a great day!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Oh my goodnes!

I have to share this. I was just reading the Yarn Harlot's blog and I laughed so hard (in my office!) that I now have tears in my eyes. You should read too. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2008/12/18/fallen_and_cant_get_up.html

Enjoy.

Slow going... but no time to slow down!!

I am about 1/3 done with the 2nd front of Mom's sweater. I was only able to work on it for about 20 minutes at lunch since I had a few more Christmas cards to get done (only one left is for my brother in law - and I still need to make that one).

I forgot the other socks so I couldn't mail them out like I had wanted. I should have mailed the card seperate so they don't get suspicious, but I have it set to go in the package. Sorry for being covert but the intended reads this and no hints!! Also, Chrissy - I dont have a current address for you... so Merry Christmas via the innernets instead of via the mailbox!

This past weekend I broke down and told Cliff about the Cliffyghan. He was amused but I was pretty disappointed that it won't be done. I will keep working on it and maybe he'll get it next year. I also want to work more on making quilts for next year than yarny things. I dont know how it will go but I will give it the old college try. I did just find out that my Grandmother (that taught me to crochet) did a quilt for Homecoming - hand pieced, hand quilted! I did that with my little 9-patch practice square and it took me a month! I couldn't imagine all that hand-sewing!

I hope to be able to post a pic of Mom's sweater in the next few days - either the parts or (gasp!) sewn together! I don't know if it will fit Damarys and I dont know if I can post a pic of Morgan on here so it actually on a human will have to wait until after Christmas.

That's it from me for today. Tomorrow is our Christmas Luncheon (followed by the rest of the day off!) so I dont know if I'll have a chance to post. If not, have a great weekend!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Hat's done!










(Please ignore the absolutly flattering photo of me and just look at the hat!) I finished Tyler's hat last night around 9:20 and instead of staying up until 10 to work on mom's sweater I went to sleep. I know it sounds like I spent a lot of time on the hat, bu twe had Jake's Christmas play last night and didnt get home until 8ish, then kids to bed and such so I really only worked on it less than an hour. If I add the hour Monday, lunch yesterday (plus a little "break" in the afternoon) and an hour last night I make that about 3 hours worth of hat. I like how it turned out, fits great - goes over my ears so should on him too.

So, that along with the monkey and yak scarves are making their way up to the tundra to be with my sister and her children. Socks are on the way to my step mom and one other pair going to be with a new home (hope the fit). I am guestimating that I have about 5 hours or so of knitting to do on the other front plus about an hour of finishing on Mom's sweater. I will guess that I've put probably 40 real hours into it (maybe more) and will NEVER knit a SWEATER from SOCK YARN again... no matter how pretty it is! I also have a few more market bags to make and I did get the stuff to make some more fabric bowls - LOVE those thing!

Well thats it for me... back to work. Have a great day!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

More progres... 9 days left!

I am about 75% done with Tyler's hat. Here is what it looked like before lunch:








During lunch time, I managed to get the rest of the straight knitting done and about 5 rounds into the decreases. It should be done this evening. Yah!! I didnt work on Mom's sweater but I am actually doing pretty good on it and once Tyler's hat is done I will get back to it. I'm listening to a webcast for work right now, so it gives me a little bit to play online and catch up on my blog-reading. Also today at work we did our cookie exchange. It really was fun to have almost everyone participate. And boy are those cookies good!

That's it for me. Have a great day.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Making Progress.

I have finished the 2nd sleeve of Mom's sweater and started on the 2nd front. I've got about 2 inches or so done on that, about 20ish to go. I have finished 9 market bags (I counted) and now I have to figure out who will get some.

I need to fill out Christmas Cards now that the kids pics are being printed. Maybe I'll be able to do that tomorrow. I also need to figure out something for my nephew for Christmas. He likes the Jets, wonder how quick I could make a hat? How about if I used fat yarn? Course I don't have fat yarn in green and white at home, but it's a thought. Of course he needs a hat, he lives in Antarctica, I mean NY. Maybe I could stop at Joann's tonight and get some yarn, give myself a few hours of Non-sweater knitting and get it done. Fat yarn + fat knitting needles + delusion = quick hat. Quick enough to be in NY by Christmas? Hmm.

In other news, I went to my grandparents yesterday and made some Christmas Cookies with my Mom. It was great fun, even if ONE of us can't read a recipe (who me?). I came away with some coconut macaroons and peanut butter blossoms but, sadly, had to leave the chocolate covered cherry cookies behind as they were a casualty. They tasted good but because SOMEONE is a dumbass, they turned out flat and runny and the chocolate didn't exactly COVER the cherries anymore. (Why does anyone allow me to do these things?) Tomorrow is the cookie swap here at work, bring in 2 dozen, leave with 2 dozen. Good trade I think. Love cookies!!

Wonder if this where I should mention that I really think I should not eat too much this Christmas and start really paying attention to a diet of some sort come New Years? LOL. Anywho, moving on.

Today is the deadline for Summer submissions at the place where I sent the thing. I really hope they like it (or them, since there are 2). I do, and that's all that counts... right? Yeah I didn't think so either.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Fabric bowl

Yesterday I stayed home from work because of some, um, issues and I got some work done on Christmas presents. I finished 1 market bag (Pop Pop's and it looks SO cool with the pepper fabric!) and I made him a matching fabric bowl. I had bought the kit on Shopping Day and it included the template, 1 piece of heavy duty fusible interfacing and instructions. I provided 2 fabrics for inside and outside and bright red shiny thread for the satin stitch and viola... fabric bowl. Now, my center could have been a little more, um, octagonal. But for my first go at it I think it turned out really cute. If only I had discovered this before I decided to make market bags! 1 hr on bowl (while learning) vs. 2.5 on bag. Add to that the fact that I want each person to have 3 bags.... do we see the problems that my math-challenged brain did not comprehend? Sigh. Maybe next year. I could do a set of 3 bowls in the same time as 1 bag. Wouldnt that be cute? Oh, pictures. Sure. This is from the top then from the side so you can see the other fabric on the underside.













I really love how it turned out. Now I just need to go and get more interfacing (a Joann's gift card would be fabo right about now!).
In other addled-brain news, I am about half done with Mom's 2nd sweater arm. I cound 13 days until Christmas, is that right? Sigh.

Well, lotsa work to catch-up on and a meeting to leave for at 1:30. Have a great day.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Food Pictures

Because I am nice I have decided to share some pics from dinner last night. Yummo!!

Sambuca Shrimp:









Portobello mushroom w/rosemary reduction (SOOO good!, I'm waiting on the recipe) over polenta:










Ravioli Gigante (slightly eaten). The fork gives you an idea how BIG these things were. There were 4:









And finally, the desserts we shared - chocolate cake w/Heath bar crunchies and lemon sorbet w/strawberries:









In Christmas knitting news, I have about 5 inches done on Mom's other sleeve. Yay... only, um, 19 more inches to go! Ugh. I make this C-16 days and counting. Sigh. Well, I'm moving much faster on sleeve #2 than I did on sleeve #, so that is promising anyway.

And speaking of crazy, I may have mentioned to our marketing director that perhaps next year for Christmas, instead of ordering our Board of Directors gifts at $80-$100 a piece, wouldn't it be nice if I could make them all quilts and he can give me that money? Yes, there are 32 of them, why do you ask? Wait, I'm in that count... 31! I don't have any idea how long it will take to do, and my theory is to make one as an example and figure it out that way. Of course, that would mean NO knitting or crocheting next year, Christmas or otherwise. Wonder if Mom could do without another sweater?

Monday, December 08, 2008

Monday

This weekend was nice and quiet. Especially Sunday. My in-laws took the kids to SeaWorld for the day so I spent some time working on my Christmas gifts. Sean got to meet Santa for the first time, he didn't cry, but didn't really smile. Oh well.

I finished the sleeve on Mom's sweater and started the 2nd sleeve. I mustmustmust be more diligent in my knitting or she won't have a sweater at all come Christmas. I also finished 4 market bags bringing my total to somewhere near 10. Not enough. Not nearly. Today at lunch I plan to work on the sleeve some more. I am hesitent to show another picture of sweater pieces that look like they belong on a barbie so I will wait until I have something sewn together. I have the back, 1 front and 1 sleeve so I can get a start on that side I suppose.

For this evening, Travis has been invited to a test meal at Portobello Yacht Club at the Downtown Disney Marketplace. I am SOO excited because since we have had to completly stop spending money on going out, a free night out is a spectacular thing! Especially to such a nice restaurant. Not sure what I'll get yet, but I have been eyeing the menu this afternoon.

That's it for me. Have a great day.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Because time is going backwards...










This is Sean just before we sat down to Thanksgiving dinner. We put him in his seat while we got the food on the table, and I guess it was just too much for him. Course, he was about 2.5 hours late for a nap.

I also want to share with you this auspicious occasion... my car turning 150,000 miles. And BOY can you tell! I keep praying for the lotto so that I can get a new one, or even a new-er one. Sigh.










That's it for me, hopefully tomorrow I'll have some yarn to show you!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Pics to show, and other stuff

































I want to show you some of the pics of Genesis modeling the "Sweet Summertime" top (I still love that name!). She really liked it and didnt want to take it off, which I take as a good sign. I have not done the math to make the pattern to other sizes (although I'm sure it will be not too hard) but I will do that soon. I am just really busy at work.

In other news, I put the Christmas music on my Media Player here at work to help me get into the Christmas mood. Other other news, my Nanny has bought the Crochet magazine and showed it off, she's pretty proud. I brought into work today to show off too. Boy I'm a dork sometimes! I'm just really excited.

That's it for now, back to work... really. Oh... go to www.northpole.com, click on Kitchen (at the top) and see the bazillion cookie recipes Mrs. Clause has to share there. Gen tried the 1-2-3 cookies and said they were really good, with only 3 ingrediants!! Go forth, make cookies... any leftovers can be sent here!

Monday, December 01, 2008

I got nothin.

I had a nice long weekend and very nice Thanksgiving. I have about 1/2 of the first sleeve done on Mom's sweater and I guess thats ok. I have too much work to do so I cant really show you any pics but hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to spend more time. Have a great night.

Dani suggested a great name for the little girl top - Sweet Summertime. I love that! I have a week or so to really get it wrapped up and written down so that I can send it over.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thankful

I had hoped to be on my way to Joann's by now but I guess the boss has a different agenda! lol. Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to metion the things I am thankful for. God, my family, old friends, yarn & fabric (and the opportunity to use them), time to spend with all of the above. I wish I could add "the winning lotto ticket" to that list, but alas it has eluded me!

It seems like this year has flown by, my boys are getting so big, I am coming up on 10 years of being married (!) and I feel like I have so many creative outlets and I am just so grateful for it all.

I am not thankful or grateful for my Mom's sweater which it seems is just sucking the life right out of me. I really want it to start knitting itself when I'm sleeping. Can we get Mrs. Weasley to help me out with this? Yeah, I thought not. Oh well.

I am off work until Monday and I dont know if I will post from home. If not, have a wonderful Turkey day and fabulous shopping day!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

videos

Here are the videos from the other day with the boys. This is Sean trying to ride, getting a bit frustrated, then Jake showing him how it's done. Too cute.













In crocheting, knitting and quilting news... well there is none. Except that I had some pics taken of the little girl top (still with no name) and they are SOOOO cute! I will spend some time today or tomorrow putting together the proposal. That's it from me for now. Have a great day!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Cutie Patootie

I have pictures. Cute ones. Even some videos that I have not yet put on youtube, maybe later on. Saddle up, lets ride. These are, in order: the cutie patootie little girl top FINALLY done that is needing a name (suggestions welcomed) so I can send it in for submission; Jake spray painting his bike ramp; and Sean's bathtime routine - teeth are brushed after "bathtime, bathtime...yay!"










































That's it from me for now. Videos later on. Have a good one!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Smells like Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving potluck day at my office and boy does it smell good! Instead of our tradition of getting a turkey and ham from Honey Baked, we decided to get BBQ from a truck at a gas station down the road. No, really. I pass him every day and every day he has a line. It smells SOOOO good and the truck claims "Finger Lickin' Good", I'll let you know. I brought in corn & rice casserole (our temp Linda made it last year and I swiped her recipe), there is a Caesar salad, baked apples, hash brown casserole (from Damarys, instead of a flan. I'm disappointed.), rum cake, rolls, broccoli, beans, a veritable cornucopia of goodies. AND my boss broke out the World's Finest chocolate covered almonds I ordered for Christmas. Mmmmm. Have I made you jealous yet? Sorry. Moving on.

I have made some progress on the little girls top that I'm working on, I need to get out one of Sean's shirts to use as a sizing guide. No, I'm pretty sure I wont put it on him when I'm done. I wont be able to crochet or knit during lunch today due to the whole office being in there, but hopefully this weekend I will be able to make some progress.

I still have not gotten my Crochet! in the mail yet, and boy am I impatient! Maybe this weekend. I still planning to buy a few for prosperity's sake, and to send one to Nanny in NY (the one that taught me to Crochet).

Well, sounds like the lunch bell is ringing. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Sweater udpate, with a picture.

Of course, Mom you cant look but everyone else can. Here's an update on Mom's sweater. I think that a back, a front, the collar and part of a sleeve is not nearly enough done for Christmas to be in 35 days, so what say we move it to a little later in the year... like March? Anywho, here's a pic of it currently. I probably have 16 more inches of sleeve to go, plus the other one and the other front. Have you started taking bets yet?

I have not touched the Dear Jane besides moving the 2 cut pieces of the Bachelor Buttons off the chair so Travis could rock Sean. I am not going to work on it until the Christmas knitting is done, even if it does take til March. Wait, better not say that lest I flub it up and show you a pic of a block. Hrm.

I have put together my Christmas list. As you may remember I am not supposed to get Christmas gifts from my MIL since she gave the fabulous mattress (:)) but she asked for a list anyway. I am looking forward to getting Stephanie's two books, plus Drew's book and Quilting for Dummies. Throw in a coupla cd's and boom, Christmas done.

I am really hoping to spend some time with my family and friends this Christmas. It will be hard to schedule with Travis working Christmas day and me working Christmas eve but we'll try to figure it out. I may just have to open his presents for him at my folks house! lol.

And finally, I wanted to say thank you to everyone that has sent me a note congratulating me on my publication. Strangers too! I am thrilled to bits and Can. Not. Wait. to see it for myself. Have a great day all.

PS... I still feel like a mac truck is sitting on my face. sigh.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Time to stalk the mailman...

I got an email this morning from a gal that said she has the new Crochet!, likes my design and put the Letter-baby Jacket into Ravelry. Wait, rewind. The new Crochet! is out? In the public? I haven't gotten mine from the publisher yet so perhaps, maybe, I might need to make a call to Joann's to see if they have it yet (I've been saving room on a gift card). Nope, they don't have it yet. Anywho, I am so excited! I hope this will give me a swift kick to finish up the other design I have in the works.

I worked on Mom's sweater a bit last night but for such a little sleeve (only 50 stitches across in 3x3 rib) it sure is taking a long time. And as much as the glucosamine was helping the last few days, today the fingers are pretty stiff.

I did not work on the Dear Jane or the flag afghan. Such a slacker.

It's pretty cold out and I really need to trek out to the shed and get some nice, warm, handknits to stave off the cold. Wonder how long the 37-60 weather will last? Probably not long enough.

That's it from me, more later on. Have a great day.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Another block












I finished another block, this one is B3 - Mirror Image. Hopefully soon I will get the hang of actually getting these things square! Next is B1 - bachelors buttons. I've got the template drawn but not cut out and the fabric ready to be cut. I am thinking of doing this regular applique instead of reverse applique. I'll think on it some more and see how I feel like doing it. I also wanted to get an idea of what fabric I have and what colors I still need some of, so I sorted what I had and took a little snippet of each and put them in baggies. Here's a pic:










I did manage to knit a few rows on Mom's sweater and brought it with me today to work on at lunch. I also finished about 13 stars total on the flag afghan and although it is with me, I really need to get moving on mom's sweater. How many more days until Christmas? 38! Ugh. I've been more diligent with the glucosamine and my fingers are grateful for it so I've been able to get some more done. I also need to get a move on with the top I'm trying to finish. The deadline is less than a month away, but with all the Christmas work that needs to be done, it's slow going.

And did I mention that I'm getting sick? This is SO not a good time for that! Well, thats it for me, have a great day.

Friday, November 14, 2008

A new beginning

I have been having a hard time with my fingers the last few weeks and apparently Travis is tired of hearing about it while still watching me knit and crochet. "The doctor said it's not arthritis, just overuse so just stop with the yarn already." Sigh. He just doesnt get it apparently. So in my efforts I have been doing less knitting and crocheting and more sewing (as evidenced by the 7 squares I have finished and 1 I started, plus 3 finished market bags). I have too much Christmas work to do to stop completly. I seriously doubt Mom would enjoy a sweater with the back, A front, A collar and PART of a sleeve.

To accomplish the less is more I started working on the American Flag afghan. I've made 4 stars. That's not REALLY crocheting, its only like 30 stitches... hardly counts at all. Course it's not helping mom's sweater or Cliff's ghan... but at least its work on something that needs to be done because it's already been paid for!

Speaking of Cliff, I have an update. He had his scan and he is cancer-free. Yay God! We are just so releived!

Ok, off to make some stars at lunch. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

An update










I finished the Jason's Jax block for the dear jane. I like how it turned out, even if I did realize partway in that the fabric is backwards. Oops! Oh well, it's not ugly so it stays. I have the pieces cut and instructions printed for the next one but it looks pretty scary hard but we'll see how it goes. This is supposed to be a challenge and that's exactly what it is!

I will be heading out in a bit to get ready for the memorial tonight. It is getting a little better in the office today but it has been hard at the strangest times, like making dinner or getting the kids ready for school. I can't even imagine what Lesa's going through and I pray that I never know. Please continue to keep the family in your prayers.

Monday, November 10, 2008

a little one for now

It is still very quiet here, all of us are very contemplative. I did want to let you know that I finished the left front of Mom's sweater and cast on for a sleeve. I also wanted to show you a pic of my latest block and send you to the new site to take a look at the big picture.

6 and some of another done so far and I am still enjoying it. It is a lot of ironing though! Here's my latest square - A7 "Dad's Plaids":













That's it from me for now. I may try to take a pic of my sweater progress tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

in mourning




Saturday night we had a tragedy in my work family. Our show Director's son Doug was in a terrible car accident. He has never regained concioussness and will pass today once they have taken his good organs. Doug has been such a big part of our office because he plays our mascot "Roadie". He's only 21 and 1 day away from finishing school to become an x-ray tech. I tried to find a pic of him not in Roadie but couldnt. Please keep Lesa and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

I will try to post later and show the square I finished and my paper piecing first try but I dont know if I will be able. It's pretty somber around here.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Bigger & better

I have gotten the pics off my camera and I have even updated my Dear Jane website - here.
















These are the 3 that I have finished and here is the one that I am almost done with:









I am really having a good time with these and have been very neglectful of my market bags because of it. I keep thinking just one more block... but it's just like One More candy corn... it just doesn't work!

I did make some good progress on the left front of Mom's sweater but I really need to get on it and do the other sleeve of her bolero so I can get it off my coffee table. I was just telling Damarys that I am really not doing very well with my Christmas knitting. I wonder if I had crocheted the Cliffyghan if it would be going faster? I dont know if I crochet or knit faster, especially when it would be all sc. Wonder how bad it would look to combine crochet and knitting? I bet a log cabin afghan that has a different stitch pattern for each of the "logs" would look pretty cool. Just thinking out loud here.

I have not made any more progress on my newest design, but it's due 12/15 so I need to get a move on, huh? Well, that's it from me for now. Have a great weekend!

Just a quickie.

I will be back later once I've done some work and gotten the pics off my camera (though the priorities are not necessarily in that order) but I had to post this before I forget.

You may or may not know, I am a big fan of Wil Wheaton - his acting and writing. I read his blog pretty religiously. He posted this one last night and I had to share. I especially love the part where he talks about his fundamental rules for life and driving. If only everyone could live by these mantras!

Anyway, more later. Back to work!

Thursday, November 06, 2008

The accomplishments of yesterday

Yesterday I was at home with a sick Jake. Coughing, hacking, boogies, etc. Since I was not home with a sick Sean, I was able to let a movie run and not be interupted for 2 hours. During those 2 hours, I finished 2 blocks. Of course I did not have the mind to take their photos since I had every good intention to bring them with me to work but nope... I forgot. Tomorrow I'll remember. Later on in the day I did the reverse appliquing of the Jane's tears that I had already started and stopped and it is now done and I am in the process of appliquing and reverse appliquing another one. That is 5 done and 1 half done. Yay... progress!!

Today at lunch I will work more on Mom's sweater, I haven't done the armholes but that should get well on its way here in a bit.

Jake is better today, and so far Sean is not sick (knock on wood) even though almost everyone around him is. Hopefully we can keep it that way!

My car is getting fixed today - replacing the intake manafold gasket. Apparently this is a long process and not cheap either! I pray that this helps it hold on for another 30 or 40 thousand miles! Lotto... any day now would be great!

That's it for now. Have a great day.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

I voted, did you?

I went this morning, 2 kids in tow, to the polls. We got there at 6:35, and did pretty good while outside since Sean was contained in the stroller. I wasnt able to get the stroller up the stairs so I took him out and carried him. That was a mistake! Do you know hard it is to hold a squirming child and color in ovals at the same time? Very. I miss the touch screens. Anywho, I did good time-wise on that, got out at about 7:20, went to take Jake to school and the road is closed for construction. Backtrack about 3 miles, turn the other way and go another 3 miles the long way to get him to school. In a SLOW schoolzone both ways. Got him to school around 7:50, go to drop Sean off at daycare, left there at 8:12. Got to work about 8:35. Not terrible, but had I known about the construction (which will torment me until 11/22) I could have saved at least 6 miles and avoided the crappy school zone (school zone's are not crappy as a whole, but this one is at a 3-way light and 9 million people try to turn left there and there is no left lane, which means it takes forFREAKINever to get past). This morning Sean was up at 5:45 again. Silly silly boy, doesnt he know that the time changed?

Anywho, I sorta figured out the DJ website and I added a link over here on the link list. I haven't figured out how to do the clickable design wall, but I have the completed blocks in the photo albums and once I have too many to put in one big blob I will seperate them by rows.

Well, that's it from me. Hopefully tonight I'll get some more done on my squares. As for yarny news, I have finished the body of the left front side and am about to decrease for the arm holes. That should go quick since it'll be REAL skinny to knit on.

Monday, November 03, 2008

I had a great weekend, how was yours?

My birthday weekend was pretty darn good. Dinner at Tia's was a blast and it was really nice to see some old friends. Here's my favorite pics from the night.

Me realizing I missed 3 calls from Jen:













Me, my Mom and Jen (just like the old days!):











And me, Charles and Jen. This is HUGE for me - the 2 people I spent the most amount of time with in Jr High. In fact, we were talking about how I was gonna miss the New Kids concert on 11/2 cause I didn't get tickets. These are the 2 I went to the first time around!









I drank a midori sour, ate queso and forgot to get salsa to go. I got nice gifts, finally met Charles' wife and enjoyed the many trips down memory lane. And FINALLY my mom got to see Jennifer - see... not a figment of my imagination!! It was a very nice time. I think everyone else enjoyed it too... cept Jen that got there late because I didn't hear my phone. Whoopsy!

Thanks to everyone that came, and I really did miss the ones that couldn't come.

And in crafty news, I created a Dear Jane page since I couldn't figure out how to do what I wanted here. You can visit it Here. I finished 2 blocks, did most of #3 and cut the pieces for #4. That's real progress! I also did a few inches on the left front of Mom's sweater and fixed 1 sleeve of her bolero. See, I got a lot accomplished!!

That's it from me for now. Have a great day and don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Good Morning... Happy Birthday to me!

It's another early morning, I guess Sean was just very impatient to give me greetings. Yesterday was cute and I will post pics on Monday. My little scarecrow and scary monster had such a great time trick or treating and my kitchen table is FILLED with goodies!

After we got out early yesterday I went to Joann's and bought quite a bit of remnant fabric and spent about $8. I was looking for pinking shears but they were pretty expensive (about $22) and I didnt have a coupon, so I left to get them at Walmart. Then I tried to go to the big walmart and couldnt find a parking spot (at 2 on a Friday afternoon!) so I went to the crappy walmart. I found 1 remnant and pinking shears and spent $16. I also went to Once upon a child to spend some credit I had (1 flannel fitted sheet for Sean's bed and 2 pair of long pjs) and to the sewing shop next door and got 3 fat quarters. They were higher than at Joann's but I liked the patterns in the fabric and its so much better to support a local place. I went to Sean's Halloween party and we went to the in-laws. Carved Jake's pumpkin (AC/DC) and got both kids dressed and out the door. So much fun. And I got a giftcard to Joann's so I'm excited to spend that!

Today, one friend is coming this morning to get something so I need to pickup the house in a minute. After Travis leaves for work the kids and I will go return the Walmart pinking shears and go to Joann's with my coupon and get them there. I may even get a Sewing bag, but I will probably wait until tomorrow and another coupon. My folks are coming over this afternoon to hang out before supper at Tias. I am excited because tonight I have 2 (maybe 3) old friends coming, 2 that I havent seen in well over 15 years. It'll be just like my 13th birthday all over again! LOL. It will be hysterical to me to have a pic of us 4 and each of our kids.

Well, lots of pics will come on Monday, but for now it's clean up time. Have a great day!!!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Blue-o' lantern, quilt square

Happy Halloween!!! I hope that you are having a great day, I am. Lunch will be early today then I get to go home! Yippie. Anywho. I did Sean's funkin last night (We'll do Jakes as soon as he gets home) and I think it came out cute... and even looks like Blue!:









I also cut the pieces out for my first block. I plan to sew it together this afternoon.:












I am trying to work out my virtual design wall, but I am having trouble. I had travis make it work on my computer, now I need to figure out how to make it work for you to see. Sharon Mastbrook, the gal that designed it did such a great job explaining how to make it work but didn't mention publishing it to the web but gave a link to an example on Geocities. So, I am creating a geocities page. Once I figure out how to show you what I've done I will post a link. That's it for now, I have work to do in the short time I have left here. Have a safe and happy fright night and Happy Birthday to me tomorrow!!!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Dear Jane, trampoline & I'm sick... not in that order.

My birthday is 2 days away and I am hopped up on citrus & c to get rid of what I really hope is allergies. Kids aren't sick, co-workers aren't sick, just me. I felt it coming yesterday, just a little bitty tickle in my nose so I ran to CVS and got some zycam which is mostly mega c and zinc and stuff. This morning I added a claritin (claratin? whatever) after a 9-sneeze run and I'm back on the zycam. This had BETTER go away Real quicklike!

Speaking of birthday, tomorrow is our Marketing Director's birthday and the office is taking us to lunch. Smokey Bones BBQ (his choice this year, last year my pick was a steakhouse). AND the boss said that after lunch we all get to go home. Guess he's feeling a bit guilty for "work-related" golf outings. Well, it'll give me a chance to vote early anyway.

We played on the trampoline last night and I took some pics and video. They had such a blast, so did I! Boy that thing will get your heartrate up real quick.









Last night I got my book back and started planning my first Dear Jane block. I washed and ironed all of my fabric scraps and discovered that I really need to get a pair of pinking shears because what should have taken me half an hour took almost 2. Cutting apart fabric that was sometimes hopelessly stuck together with other fabric by frayed ends sucks. Anyway, here's my first block prequel:












I also got a journal to start documenting my DJ stuff. Maybe it will be helpful if I do another one, who knows. I have been searching online to see if there is a Ravelry-type site for quilting? Something to keep track of projects and designs and such. If anyone knows, please share! I am also trying to figure out how to add the vitural design wall to my blog so everyone can see my blocks as I do them. I may have to get Travis to figure it out for me, I'm pretty lost on it. Well, that's it from me, have a great day!!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Not much of an update

Good morning. I put on makeup this morning solely for your benefit... Here's my pic:


Speaking of pics, here's one from this of the first snowfall up home:


Boy does that look cold!! Anywho, we got the trampoline last night but it was too late to take pics once it was up. I need to get some padding for it but it is pretty big - 13 feet round I think. Jake and Sean had such a blast, Sean cried when I dragged him off it - but it was getting cold pretty quickly. My toes were FROZEN - dumbass me was jumping barefoot instead of getting socks.

I made a little progress on Mom's sweater, and as it stands now:
Done - back, collar, 9" of front left.
Not done - 11" of left front, right front, 2 sleeves, assembly.

I gave my DJ book to my MIL to take to work and it is now spine-free and in gbc binding. I hope this works out for me, since it's free and all. I really didn't want the expense of all those page protectors. Now I just need to figure out a good way to store completed blocks. I am all ready to start my first block - it'll be B13, it's a yellow one and a simple 9 patch. I have 2 yellow fabrics to choose from, scraps on one and a yard of another that has not yet been cut for a market bag. I'll try the scraps first to see how it goes - I do need to wash them yet though. I also need to get my background fabric ready (I'm using a set of white sheets that my sister gave us as a wedding gift. I dont like sleeping on them because they have lace edges but it will be a nice memory to add into the quilt). I am so excited to start this!!! Wish me luck!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Dear Jane progress, sort of

SO I do understand that I have swallowed a whole gigantic wad of crack in taking on this project but I am getting pretty excited about it and I look forward to the challenge. I am fully aware that it will probably take me a year or two to finish (assuming I CAN finish) but it will be a labor of love. A HUGE labor of love - a 80 1/4" square labor of love. I sat down last night and instead of Watching Chuck I Listened to Chuck and dug out Jake's colored pencils. I used the little template thing on the DJ blog and came up with my color scheme. Here it is:









I have collected quite a bit of scraps and a few quarters that will go into this. I am not using 225 different fabrics as some do, but I will use as much of what I have as I can, getting a lot out of each fabric piece. I am getting quite a bit of leftovers from my market bags, so thats a cool thing.

Here is my stack of partially sewn market bags, and in the center is my favorite find - I scored a remnant just big enough for this plus my center and corner DJ squares for about $1.20. Thrilled, let me tell ya!











I need to take a look at the DJ Blog and see where to start, and gather my backing fabric and get to cutting. First up though, I am taking the book to the printshop my MIL works at and get the book unbound. I am trying to decide if I should have it gbc bound (spiral bound) or just put each page in a protector in a notebook. I need easy access to the pages for tracing the patterns and the advantage to the protectors is that I can put finished blocks in them until its time to piece the thing together. Hrm.

And finally, in not DJ news, I have about a foot done on my Brothers Scarf and havent touched Mom's sweater or Cliffy's afghan. Once I get a block done and realize just how far I've gotten myself, I'll get back on track for Christmas. I did work on the little girls top a bit, but I am not sure if I'm in love with it yet. I still have some ideas with it so we'll see how it goes.

Oh, really finally this time - today is trampoline day!!! We are getting a trampoline delivered today at our house. A friend of my MIL sold it to her for $50 including delivery and setup and it's only a year or so old. I. Am. So. Excited!! Also, I got a haircut last night and maybe tomorrow if it behaves better I will show you a pic. Thats it. Have a great day.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Jake's post

Good afternoon! I wanted to share a few things from Jake today. First up, his report card. We are thrilled with his grades this 1st 9 weeks.
Bible & Spelling A+ (spelling was 101.5 w/extra credit!)
Math, Phonics, and PE A
Reading A-
Spanish & Computer Outstanding
Music Very Good (deduction for not good behavior).

Second, he started his Christmas list. I HAD to take a pic of it, it cracked me up! I kept it big so you could see it better.












And in case you cant understand what he wrote...
1. Spygear watch
2. Wii
3. Baseball cards
4. Guitar Hero for Wii
5. Wii music
6. Wii Lego Star Wars
7. volley ball
8. math book
9. science book
10. history book
11. technology book, er sorry teknoligy book.
12. oragami book (which is handy since I got this for him already!)
13. amplifier

And finally, Jake was helping me with my sewing project this weekend. I was trying to get the market bags that I had cut sewn. I did realize after the sewing that I had only cut some of the pieces one way and they were way too wide because I'm a dork. Oh well, those of you that will be getting them... um it was a design element? LOL. Have a great day.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Shopping, Selling and Singer

I went to the last day of the Moonlight Maddness sale at Joann yesterday and I had only a few things on the list of stuff that I really wanted to get. I needed to get some yarn for that submission top I want to make (this is the only thing not on sale that I was able to apply the 50% coupons to), I wanted to see how much their Cut & Press cutting mat/ironsafe boards were (it was on my Christmas list, but they were cheaper on sale here than at Walmart where they are never on sale), some fat quarters for $.99 and a carrying case for my Singer. I did not get the carrying case because I am not fond of the plastic ones and their fabric ones were REALLY expensive, I got 2 yards of clearance fabric - one orangy and one yellowy, 2 blueish fat quarters, the yarn (pink, red and green... there's your hint) and a little craft iron that I am returning today since I wasn't able to use the coupon on and it wasn't on sale and do I really need to spend $10 on a little pink iron anyway? Moving on.

I sold 3 out of the 4 lots on ebay and I will ship those out tomorrow. I will be getting together some funky novelty yarns and some WW acrylic lots and I will probably go through my books and start getting rid of those which will never be used. I sold more than I spent at Joann's and that's really where I wanted to be with this.

On the way to Joann's yesterday I got a call from the Sewing Machine Fixer Place that it was ready. The problem? I had the controls set incorrectly and that is why it was sewing backwards. I figured this might be the case when I got a response to the note I had sent to Singer about the return and they suggested making sure the bobbin winder thing was the right way for not winding bobbins because having it the other way will make it do many things, including sew backwards. Course it took a week for SMFP to get back to me on this, but oh well. During naptime yesterday I made a market bag with it and I like it. I only have 1 strap to sew up then it's done. I really enjoyed playing with some of the fancy stitches! I made a few changes to the pattern I had been using and it went quickly and easily and now has a flat bottom (Mom's suggestion). It took about an hour to make (I had cut the main fabric but not the lining, and thats included in the time) and came out cute.

That's it from me for now. Have a great rest of the weekend. Go Bucs! Go Rays!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Menu Planning and Dear Jane

In an effort to save money by not going out to eat and not over-purchasing at the grocery store, I am going to make a pointed effort to do a monthly menu. I have done this before and it usually works for that month and then I forget about it for 6 or 7 months, even though it lives on the fridge door.
I am doing some research to see if there is an online planning guide for this - and wouldnt it be nice if there was a menu planner that was connected to a recipe database, WW Points and a shopping list? I did find this website in my searches that has what I want but is not helpfun in the "effort to save money" part: http://www.menus4moms.com/store/index.php This is sort of like an idea that was thrown around a while ago with Anut Sue (Hi Aunt Sue!) since she is good at this sort of thing. I am going to keep looking around for a free-er version! I dont know how possibile it is to do instead of a meal plan, an option plan - like I look through the recipes and insert them into the days of the week and it prints directions for the meals and a weekly shopping list. Asking a lot, I know but it is something that I want to play around with. I know that mine is not the only family on the planet that is a little pickier than the weekly menus usually allow for.

I still have not received my Dear Jane book, hopefully I'll get it on Monday. Also, I am still waiting to hear from the Sewing Machine store to hear that I can pick it up and have it sew, you know, foreward! I should hear from them today so thats a good thing. I am planning to go to Joann's for the last day of the Moonlight Maddness sale, I have 4 50% coupons that need to be used! I wish I knew how much yardage I need for each of the "rounds" of the quilt so I could get some.

The Dear Jane quilt is made in Color rounds starting from the center with green, then yellow, grey, orange, pink, etc. I have been saving the scraps from my market bags to use later, turns out later will be this project. Those are mostly pastels, so I think that will be my quilt - white background and pastels. I am so exceedingly excited about this I cant stand it!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Quiz, scarf

Good morning. As you may know I have THE worlds WORST memory, horrible! A friend of mine sent me a Facial Recognition quiz through BBC and I really enjoyed doing it and did pretty ok! There are 2 parts and I scored 95% and 78%. Basically, you are shown 2 sets of 12 people 5 minutes apart. Then 5 minutes later you are shown 48 people and have to decide if they were in group A, group B or not at all. You are scored on 1 - if you recognized if they were/were not in the groups and 2 - which group they were in. Go try it if you have a bit of time, very interesting.

Click here for the test.

I frogged out the homespun hat that I was working on for my brother and it is now about 3 inches long of stockinette scarf. This is working much better for some reason, we'll see how far a skein will get me and go from there. The only reason I got so far is that I forgot mom's sweater front at home and had to knit SOMETHING during lunch yesterday! I remembered the sweater front today.

I did some cleaning out of the stash the other night and listed 4 boxes of yarn (small boxes, I'm not crazy) on ebay. I will also put together a box of RedHeart in cakes this weekend. My stash was completely out of control and I am trying to rein it in, mostly because of the guilt over getting sewing stuff. I am holding true to the "it can't come in unless something else goes out". I'll probably take a look at purging some books soon too, but I'm not sure.

Well, that's it from me, have a great day.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

My weekend

Hey all. We went to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival on Sunday with no children (they got to hang out with Mamaw) and we had a blast. No strollers or I Wants, and it was a beautiful day. We did the Behind the Seeds tour at the Land Pavilion which shows many different ways to grow food - hydroponics, sand, hanging, etc plus fish, gators and eel. One of the plants that we saw is called a Sensitive Plant because when you touch it the leaves close up to protect itself. It was very cool. I took video (which Travis laughed at!):





Here is a pic of the "Earthquake effect" - the guide shook the plant a bit and this happened:










I (and 2 others) were given a vial of lady bugs that we got to release for pest control, here are my bugs:









I released them on a white eggplant tree. Here's the gator area... I swear this one was staring right at me!










And for the final pic, this was outside the Australia area - there were 3 huge balls of "yarn" and I just HAD to take a pic. Travis is just lucky that I didn't drag the knitting out of my bag to pose with it!









It was a great weekend. I peeked at Jake's grades online - all As with 2 A+ and 1 A-. I was really wanting to brag on him but we just got a call from the principals office - Ugh. Maybe next time. I did make some progress - I'm about 1/3 done with 1 front of Mom's sweater and I ripped out the hat. Somehow I had gotten turned around on the had so it got screwy. I really didn't need to take on another project, now did I. Speaking of not taking on other projects, I just got this book. I know, crack in my water, but how hard can making 225 5" squares be? LOL. Sigh, but it is REALLY pretty and a goal that I will work on between cleaning up puke sheets and grounding a 7 yr old.

That's it from me for now. Have a great day.