Sampler Afghans ~ K & C
Moebius
The Great American Aran Afghan
Cashmere Socks - Autumn Project
Fabric Covered Boxes
Excuse This House Cross Stitch
The Get Well Fairy Iron-On, Embellish
Scrapbooking
Sewing-GB & Will Shorts
Sewing - Fleece Shorts for Sean
Snowman Felt
Quilling-Santa
Paige Blanket - XSt
Mini Sachets
Mittens for Jamie
Beaded Smoke Ring
St. Patrick's Day Projects
Project with WoolPak Yarn
Circular Needle Pouches
XS on Afghan Stitch Blanket
Sampler Stitch Purse
Repair Sox
Add to Hot Damn Afghan
Top Secret X-Stitch Project
Felt Applique Christmas Stocking
I don't know anyone needing this but thought it was cool: Mobility Air Transport
and for cool bio stuff
I love this site for bargains.
and this info to get the hogness part of your life under control:
You won't find time for exercise, you must make it. Start small. "You ate the elephant one bite at a time, you'll have to get rid of it one bite at a time." Rewarding yourself with food is a "great cultural bugaboo." Instead, reward yourself with a CD or go to the movies. Don't let others determine what you eat. Don't put off starting a healthy routine. For more information about the Governor's (AK dude) experiences, read his book: Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork: A 12-STOP Program to End Bad Habits and Begin a Healthy Lifestyle (Center Street).
Check out DC Roo's handiwork --- she amazes me with her talent(s):
What'd I accomplish over the weekend? Get this - I got the tax folder together for the grinch's cohorts to let me know how much they're sending off to repay the grinch. I annually dread it and Wednesday is dee dae fer dat meatin'. I got the house redded up (where did Mom get that saying?), laundry, baking and cooking. I also felted the purse and parts. The majority of it is put together. I will post a pic and the pattern once I have it completed. I think the size turned out perfect for me but the true test is use.
I also put together two of the crocheted chicks with the yarn DC Roofie sent me. I hope to knock out a few more tonight so I can share a pic.
DS is at the coast for spring break. He heads back to town today since he has a job interview tomorrow for summer employment.
I forgot to tell you that I'm a winner. No, not in the self-esteem sense ~ in the for real, gift in the mail sense. This lovely lady had a horrible accident with some sort of metal object ending up in her toe when she slipped on her shoes before running out the door. I had to respond to that since I have extremely sensitive fee. Check out what I won!
I haven't
decided what I'm gonna do with it yet but I may make a summer tank top for my new skinny self. Yes, I'm seeing improvements with the ol' broad bod. The bathroom scale still screams like an injured dog but I tell it to shut up or I'll have a Krispy Kreme Centerfold hop on.
Sales at the knitting vault are going well:
Pattern Name | Sales Count | | |
Children's Pumpkin Slippers |
2 |
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Credit Card/ID Holder |
1 |
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Crocheted Heart Coasters
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1 |
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Lace and Cable Scarf |
13 |
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Low-Riser Cuff Slipper Socks |
7 |
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Seed Stitch Purse |
4 |
Looks like I'll be posting another scarf soon since that is the front runner in sales.
Being an advertising major I found this video extremely entertaining. Those who know me know that I don't work within my field of study. Our graduating class had open offers in Arizona and NYC. I'm not interested in relocating so here I sit at UT. At least I can update my blog and laugh at the video.
Isn't it funny how songs bring back so many memories? I don't think there is anything else in the world that would bring back a memory where you know who was there, what year it was and what you were doing. For example: Lay Down Sally reminds me of my very missed friend from high school, Pam Fabian. Her mom's name is Sally and I distinctly remember her telling me that her mom hated that song. hehe - wonder why!
This is a cool site where you see rooms from houses around the world. It amazes me that most every place on earth looks like the USA when I imagine dirt floors and a woman trying to sweep with a corn broom. I guess I've watched too many Save the Children advertisements.
I have a 7:15 baseball game to attend tonight. I was hoping to chat on the puter with DC but it looks like I'll be drinking coke and hooting for the baby.
We had the very best dinner Monday night. I made broccoli cheese soup and baked acorn squash.
Is that not the yummiest looking squash? The soup was superb and probably the best I've ever made. I took the comments suggestion of doubling the amount of broccoli and using the chicken broth to mix in the corn starch. I bought the broccoli while I was at lunch Monday and across the parking lot is this yummy bread store: The Great Harvest Bread Company. DH & I buy their bread at the local farmer's market and I've never been to their store until Monday. OMG - I bought their Peach Cobbler Crumble bread and it is yummy enough to kill someone over. DH & I have been enjoying a slice in the evenings for our dessert. I sure wish I could find a recipe for this bread. DH says it reminds him of my zucchini bread. That made me chuckle since he couldn't imagine eating zucchini let alone a bread made from it.
Knitting update: I am on the final strap of the self-designed purse. I have about 40 more rows of 7 stitches and then I will make the internal pockets. I hope to have it washed up and ready for construction over the weekend. I desperately need a brownish purse. Yeah, I know that I have two others hanging in the closet but desperate is a personal thing.
I've decided that I'm going to paint my home office. It should be the cutest thing and I'm hoping it'll make everyone drool with envy. I will have to find a way to keep the computer up and running while all this painting occurs because the bills will need to get paid and I don't have a ton of time to set aside for the makeover. I will also need to find a room to move everything into to keep it out of the way. My options are: DS's room or the hallway. DS is away at college but I like to keep his room a haven away from school. The hall is not really wide enough to accommodate all the furniture and things I have stacked in that room. I may have to become creative in placing items around the house. The hope is that I will clear out the "unneccesaries" in the room so that I can become more productive. I have approximately eleventy bazillion recipes that I've printed out or snipped from the newspaper. An equal amount of fabric and just a tad less yarn. I wish my DC Ruthie would haul her skinny ass down here to Texas and take home some of this fabric. I still cry over the loss of a dumpster load of fabric that ended up going with the trash man. My original fabric load consisted of my ass (quite rotund) in a dress, leaning into a dumpster and piling it into my trunk. I worked at a theatre and they dumped all the fabric samples into the trash. I believe I have five 32-gallon plastic bins filled with fabric. Get this - I gave half of the haul to my boss and still have this much left over! The load I lost was one that someone told me they'd grab and never did. Still makes me sad although I really don't need more and definitely don't have storage room to accommodate. I've probably used 10-20 pieces out of the haul. It will be decision time once I empty the room.
Fatgirl has been working out daily, as planned. I feel like I've reached the point that pushes you over the edge to where you enjoy and look forward to each time you do it. I tell myself that I deserve an hour a day to work on my body. DH has been extremely supportive and willing to jump on dinner that I may have started or just plain leaving me alone to get it done. I hit it at 5 - as soon as Judge Judy has torn away someone's self-esteem and handed it to them. I truly wish that I can grow up to be her or a meteorologist. Wouldn't that be the life? Go to work and be the meanest bitch to everyone who crosses your path or go to a job where accuracy never plays into it? Maybe I could combine them into the perfect job - poke my head out the door, walk back onto the set and say, "It is gonna be another hot one down here in Hell, Texas. I hope everyone will just f*ck off if they don't like it. Do I have stupid written across my forehead? You're just a con artist and I don't believe a word you say. Case dismissed!" BTW family members: if you call between 5 and 6, I ain't talking to you. I'm working out. Don't make me pull out my JJ attitude on you.
March? WTF has the time gone? Didn't we just clean up from Christmas? Pretty soon I'll be 90 years old and only count the years instead of the months.
I thought I was anal - this lady at work beats me hands down. Not only does she have everything inside the house extremely organized, she's taking off a week of work to fertilize the yarn yard (Freudian slip?), stain the concrete porch and numerous other things on her list. I love her lists. I once caught sight of one of her lists and topping the list was "shave pubes." My boss and I will never let her live that one down.
Still working on trying to find a house in the ol' stomping grounds. It seems that all we're finding (that is big enough for all of us) are drug infested areas. The only problem with that is leaving it sit for most of the years. I don't want squatters or other problems. We're also working on the financing. I'm hoping to get a contract on a house soon. Keep it all crossed for us.
Guess I'll get to work since that is what they pay me to do.
This is why I used glass bottles with my son. Anything that you CAN'T clean pristinely did not go into my son's mouth. I was too young to be hung up on such things with DD. I just hope my son is continuing the tradition and keeping dirty things out of his mouth.
Random things I like...
- Baby kisses
- The "in love" feeling
- being naked - scary for you but this is my list
- a clean house
- organizing
- making lists - ask Seester about my sticky note obsession
- jewelry - ask Seester about my baubles and beads
- pedicured feet
- being girly
- men with long hair
- reading
- dessert
- men who wear t-shirts under their dress shirts
- line dried clothing
- fire - the smell, the sight, digging around in it
- cold days
- shoes
- TJ Maxx and Marshalls
- shaving - crazy isn't it? I shave daily! Legs and pits!
- garage sales, clearance racks
- doing laundry
- smoking - yeah, I know that it is bad for my health - leave me alone
- Autumn
- holding hands
How's that? I'm sure I could make this a never ending list but I'll spare you.
Busy, upcoming weekend. Tomorrow morning is garage clean out time, and then we have GB's first baseball game of the year at 3. Sunday is Lion King and daughter's 27th birthday. I hope that maybe we can trim trees next weekend. The burn ban means that we will have to store the trimmings for a later burn date. The exercise will do me good.
Speaking of exercise, I've decided to up my exercise schedule to every day. Pretty ambitious but my motto has always been "shoot for the stars." I am trying to kick the metabolism in the ass and I can't think of a better way to do it.
Check out this kick ass studio. I think I need to throw everything out and start over. Mine is way more eclectic and so uncool.
My favorite flowers are the spring bulbs. Here is what I have blooming in my yard:
Gorgeous narcissus that I inherited with the house. Unfortunately they only have a lifespan of about a week.
This weekend we are taking GrandBaby to go see the broadway hit:
Highly recommended
and I'm sure way worth the $. We've waited about 5 months since we purchased the tickets. Another big weekend event? My oldest baby's 27th birthday is this Sunday. It doesn't seem that long ago. I hope that any of you out there who have youngsters will try and enjoy the years you're raising them. Try to enjoy the trying times right along with the joys and celebrations. It goes way too fast.
I've added a few more audio books to my finished reading list. Once I get the name of the one I just finished, I will add it to the list. I plan on listening to it again because it was pretty inspirational about being kind, compassionate and understanding. Those are some characteristics that I have a hard time finding within myself, for the most part. Especially with myself. The author is not a major bible thumper which you usually run into when "reading" this sort of book. He quotes many famous religious and poetic leaders throughout history. It was a wonderful listening event for me.
I finally got out of the knitting/crocheting rut and I've designed a purse/bag. I have the front and back complete and I'm now about half way through with the joining strip. Once that is complete I will work on the handles and then they will make a trip through the washing machine. It is designed in pieces, felted, blocked and then constructed. I'm hoping it will turn out the way I have it planned but if not, it will just end up a little smaller than planned. I am not a fan of large purses/bags so this is intended to be more of my preferred size. Hopefully.
Spinning - I'm plugging away at some brown wool that I purchased from the spindling class instructor. I bought 4 hanks of roving from her and I have about 2 finished. Once I finish the other two and then ply them together I plan on designing a scarf for the yarn. It'll be my first project with yarn that I've spun. How cool is that? DH says I was born into the wrong century. I wonder if spinning wheels were so expensive way back when!? I still need to invest another couple hundred bucks into things I need for my spinning. DH says he can make me some spools. How cool will that be?
Seeing as we get bored with our knitting, crocheting and whatever else
we're doing, I thought I'd search out a new craft for all of us. Here
is what I came up with:

I'm always looking for something cute to wear plus I've found a use for those baby faces in the stash!
Here is something that brings back sweet memories:

When my darling Aunt Ruthy lived on the west hill, she had these aluminum cups in her cupboard. When you drank from them, the beverage was very cold and you could taste the aluminum. Very "in" and fun. It is amazing to see what comes back in style.
I finished a book while I was on travel: The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Very interesting and a quick read. Of course, anything would be a quick read after a Michener book. Not only are Michener's books about eleventy gazillion pages long, they're printed on rice paper. This makes it virtually impossible for you to flip through pages as you read. When I pick up a "normal" book, I always feel like I'm flipping cardboard pages.
Crochet update: I have let the cardigan marinate way too long. I need to pick it up and finish the back and start the front. I also frogged the Amish yarn 'ghan and started it again. I worked on it while I was in Atlanta and used up all the yarn I brought with me. I usually bring more than I ever get time to use but not this trip. I like how it is turning out - much better than what I ended up frogging.
This morning DH and I hit Fry's for more computer memory. Friday we had the cable guy at the house to diagnose why we couldn't get on the internet - the modem took a shit! $75 late we were up and running. DH said we needed to hit the store for "about a hundred dollars of memory." Why, exactly, is it always double what he guesstimates? Yeah, $200 later we were out the door. Not having spent everything in the bank account, I told him I just had to stop at Half Price Books. Hey, it was in the same shopping center and I'd never been in this one. I found this book: http://i8.ebayimg.com/02/c/06/f8/12/d9_7.JPG and this book: http://i16.ebayimg.com/03/c/00/c1/ce/ce_7.JPG. DH came home with 3 cookbooks. I was happy to remember my 15% off coupon.
My darling cousin, Ruthie, does the most beautiful work and doesn't charge near what her talent is worth. Lucky for me, she sends some of these beautiful creations. I had never seen (in person) any of the fabric doilies but could tell by the pictures how gorgeous they are. She asked me to choose fabric from a website that she orders from and this is what she made:
I am so thrilled with how this turned
out and beautifies my kitchen. For now, it is on the kitchen table but it may move to the island to more "showcase" it. The reverse of the doily is a light Christmas pattern - all I have to do is flip it over and announce, "Merry Christmas."
Today I must finish up the housework and bill paying so that I can have time to pack. I head out very early Tuesday morning for Atlanta so today I must hit the list: check Atlanta weather, list out needs for the fair and self, crawl through the attic to the suitcases. You know, typical crap for a trip. I'm looking forward to it since I get there around 11 and will have the rest of the day to myself. I've mapped out some yarn stores and then when Martha (coworker) arrives we plan on hitting the underground. There is an entire city underground that includes a mall, restaurants and God knows what else. I've also been told to hit the Coca-cola museum. It is on the list.
Here is what is awaiting DH when he wakes:
Matching coffee mugs/saucers! I found these yesterday at IKEA and I even had to steal the display model to nab the blue one. Plenty of the red but no blues left. I hope he likes. He doesn't normally suck down this much jo but he can pour less than the vessel will hold.
I've been moving along the learning curve of spinning. No, Ruthie, not exercise spinning - too funny that you'd think this butt would actually attempt that. I had hand spinning class #2 of 2 yesterday morning. I like the way this all worked out for me. I bought a kit in Boerne in 2005 and a man walking around stopped me and gave a 5-minute lesson. I did a little more spinning after that and then started the pining for a wheel, knowing the speed would vastly improve with a wheel. I got the wheel and then the hand spinning class started the following week. Michelle, the teacher, had us wind and wind and wind until I wanted to scream. That evening I played with the wheel and it all just clicked for me. My hands realized what they were supposed to be doing. Class #2 had me spinning frog hair on the spindle - it all just came together for me. No, I'm not a pro but I have greatly improved. Wanna see my firsts (not many firsts left for this ol' broad so I now takes pics):
The white
stuff in the front were my very firsts from the wheel. After that I got tired of white and started mixing when I started plying. They're really tiny balls (huh?) but they're all mine.
This is really fun and DS woulda loved when he was jocking it up. I do have a question - is the top, middle cake for your son or hubby? We all like a happy peter but I wouldn't wish out loud for my son to have a happy peter.
Class#2 of hand spinning is this Saturday. I haven't touched the spindle. Tonight is the plan so that I don't embarrass myself on Saturday with nothing to show for a week break. I have produced a few yarns and they're set aside for keeping. I am improving and am less frustrated --- all downhill from here. Now I have to purchase fiber to spin. Another excuse to spend money.
I also want to hit the Joann store over by work. They're moving the store so all items are on clearance. They don't have much left but I've always loved digging. Maybe at lunch today. I so deserve it and the weather is supposed to be 76 -- a good excuse to slide open the moon roof and drive.
Lookie, lookie, the cat got a cookie...
OMG - I just HAD to! I've been so pining for a wheel and I got a great deal on this one. The girl who sold it to me met me in the McD's parking lot after work. I felt like I was awaiting a drug deal to go down. I was so nervous/excited! She whipped in with her 6 yo and 18 mo kids, pulled out the wheel and showed me how it works. She threw in two bags of roving to get me started. I did not get a chance to play with it last night - I'm trying to knock out a Chicago Bears stocking cap for DS. Making myself wait gives me incentive to knock out the hat.
DH and I are working on curtains for DGB's room. I've had the fabric sitting there and pulled a typical Marlana move. I get wrapped up in the details and make it impossible to get the project off the ground. I start worrying about the design --- working with red, yellow, green and checkered fabrics causes me to have spasms. Then I was worried about what "type" of curtain rods to use. When I got home from shopping on Sunday, DH had them cut out and pinned. No, not the way I would've done it but his idea on the curtains is way cool. I got all the pinned parts sewn (sewed?) and all we lack is finishing up (I love that saying --- God bless Mr. Carriker).
Stupid cable internet is down at home - "they" have been working on it in our area. I also had to call in to our home security system - looks like our backup battery is dying a slow death. Of course, I have to be at home when I call. Does it ever end?
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