yarngirl

Forwarding Address

2005-08-04T10:11:00.000-04:00

This blog has moved! Please change your bookmarks and RSS feeds to reflect http://withahook.com. All future posts will be at that URL. Thanks for stopping by!

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Breaking News

2005-08-01T19:55:00.000-04:00

The Snowflakes in July CAL is over and I for one had a blast. I got to talk about one of my favorite projects, snowflakes, with a lot of different people and we had some wonderful conversations. I loved to see the pictures of snowflakes that everyone was able to make, that has to be my favorite part of all. And they're still coming in! Don't forget, Snowflake Mondays are still going strong, so if you missed out on the CAL the calendar stays the same as far as snowflakes are concerned. Mondays are for snowflakes!

These are the flakes that I made:

There are individual photos as well in my Gallery, following the two photos I've linked here.

In doily news, Vera made this gorgeous doily, Hazelnut, from Coffee n' Creme Doilies. I instantly fell in love with it and rushed off to order the book before I looked at anything else. My copy arrived today (yay!) and I think I will be starting French Vanilla in the next day or so. I'd been planning on doing something oval for our dining room table but this one is speaking to me. I don't know if I can resist and stick to my oval plans. (If you read through the entry in Vera's blog that I linked, you can see the snowflakes that Vera made for the CAL.)

And finally, it's nearly moving day. Other than a final post at this URL stating that this blog has moved, this is the last post here at http://yarngirl.blogspot.com. All future posts will be at http://withahook.com so please change your bookmarks. I'll be switching the Bloglines subscription stuff so I think that'll technically stay the same if you read my blog that way (haven't really looked yet but think it's possible). I've moved some posts over to the new site but never could get the hang of importing my old posts from Blogger and so here they (apparently) must stay. Such is life. I'll still be migrating things over for some time to come, but I like the new template and formatting much better and am happy with how the blog works. I especially LOVE having all my stuff on the same domain/site.

Denise?

2005-07-28T10:09:00.000-04:00

Denise Augostine's site is gone again. *sigh* Please say it ain't so!

I'm thankful I printed out the patterns I loved, but I hope she comes back soon.

The snowflakes continue, four have been done so far. Not nearly as many as I thought I would have done by now, but I did do a couple larger than usual ones too. There is a lot of great snowflake conversation going on over at Crochetville related to this CAL. I'm having fun!

Pineapple Passion

2005-07-26T16:25:00.000-04:00

The doily has arrived in California!

Closeup of center section

This is Pineapple Passion, from the Absolutely Gorgeous Doilies book from Leisure Arts, featuring beautiful patterns by Patricia Kristoffersen. My favorite new stitch? The split double treble crochet stitch. Not nearly as hard to do as to say, but it did have me sweating for a little while. The doily is 14" in diameter, much bigger than the listed 12½" on the pattern. Go figure. Once I couldn't get even close to gauge, now I'm somehow managing to shoot past it! Bigger than planned for is better than way too big and definitely better than too small any day. I used DMC Traditions in 'Neutral' again, I think I have five or six balls of this now as it seems to be the doily color of choice these days. That being said, next week after Snowflakes in July is over I will finish a blue doily. Whatever was I thinking? ;o)

(In a perfect world my camera could have humored me and taken a better picture before I mailed off the doily. Or better yet, alarms and whistles should have warned me so I could have taken a few more before racing off to the post office. Lesson learned, if it takes an extra day to get it in the mail, so be it.)

Doilies... er... SNOWFLAKES IN JULY!!!

2005-07-25T18:56:00.000-04:00

I'll have you know I only have 2½ rounds to go on the Summer Splendor doily before it's finished. So close! It's for my mother, she has no idea it's coming and I have no deadline. Which, you know, is great because ~~some nitwit~~ I declared this week the Snowflakes in July week. My idea was that we'd all work on snowflakes together, all week long, every single day nothing but snowflakes. 39 people including myself stepped up and said this was a brilliant plan and are eagerly stitching at snowflakes at this very moment.

Hunh.

~~I'd really like to finish this doily though.~~

So on I go to snowflakes!! Unfortunately this morning I was suffering the affects of a minor stomach bug and could do little more but move Show-And-Tell posts from one section to another at Crochetville and/or stare blankly at the television. We'll most likely watch a movie later this evening and then I'll let my hook fly and whip up a flake to get the ball rolling here in Jasper.

I finally got my Herrschners order today, can you believe it? I'd ordered the Blue Ribbon Crochet book along with a snowflake doily pattern, a needle Chibi and some thread hook cushions. I linked Amazon though because I see the book is much cheaper there than at Herrschners. Somebody might as well save a buck and get it there faster than I did. I wanted it because of the doily pattern featured on the cover, I thought that was just beautiful. There are some equally impressive doilies inside, along with some gorgeous afghans and clothing. A nice book to add to any collection in my opinion.

Doilies in the Family

2005-07-22T12:55:00.000-04:00

Even though I tend to be the one sending doilies to various family members across the country, yesterday we received two very precious doilies in the mail from Rick's sister.

They both were made in or prior to the 1920's by their grandmother. They have held up pretty well in the 75+ years since their creation, they need some careful cleaning and then we intend to frame them. The first is 14x10 inches in size and the second 18x11½ inches. I had a heck of a time taking pictures of them, my camera will not show the stitches clearly. The first doily looks like size 20 thread, while the second is possibly size 40 or above. I'd need to compare it in order to know for sure and size 40 is something I just don't have. VERY tiny stitches.

I did finish the Pineapple Passion doily yesterday, which by coincidence is going to Rick's sister. I won't post the photo until she receives it, I want her to be surprised and I've given her the links to my blog and Gallery. The camera also didn't do a very good job taking pictures of the doily - sigh. It's already on the way to California I can't do a thing about new pictures now. It may arrive tomorrow but I suspect Monday is more likely.

2 - 2, yep TWO

2005-07-20T19:53:00.000-04:00

Lately everything seems to come in twos around here.

Two websites (that I'm currently working on building)

Two blogs (1+1=2)

Two doilies (the gift that keeps on giving)

Two cups of coffee (nothing wrong with that)

Two pints of Mint Chip Häagen Dazs (but not eaten at once, that would be bad)

Two inches of rain (from an incredible thunderstorm yesterday evening)

Two years old tomorrow (Maisie, the beagle)

Two times today I've had to restart my computer (it likes to crash, what can I say?)

Two times today I've had to set the time on the clocks (the power keeps going out because of lots of storms)

I'm sure there are even more twos if I take the time to think about it.

I was certain last night I was going to have finished a doily today. Since I stated that in two emails (another two!) and a conversation with Rick, of course I hardly had time to touch it at all. Maybe tomorrow. We'll be watching a movie in just a few minutes so I'll get two hours (!!) of quality stitching time in then for sure.

Has anyone else grown older while waiting for an order to come from Herrschners? The order I placed on the 11th still hasn't arrived though the tracking shows it has been in the "Jasper area" for two (cut it out!) days now. What's up with that?

63 and done!

2005-07-15T17:34:00.000-04:00

It's done, finished, complete! I can hardly believe it myself. For a whole year I didn't touch it other than to move the stack of squares from one spot to another. For a while there I was quite certain I'd never finish it and maybe should just stitch it together for a small lapghan.

The pattern, of course, is from Leisure Arts, 63 Easy-to-Crochet Pattern Stitches Combine to Make a Heirloom Afghan, #LA555. I used Red Heart Super Saver Rose Pink and Aran, and TLC Expressions Light Thyme yarns for this afghan. I started in on April 13, 2004 and finished it today. I'm certain I didn't think it would take well over a year to completion when I stitched up the first square.

A special thank you goes to Donna for starting the 63 Squares CAL in the first place, I never would have made this afghan if she hadn't made the decision to host the CAL. Another special thank you goes to Holly for starting the UFO or Frog CAL at Crochetville, it bascially kicked me in the butt and made me pick it back up again. I quite possibly would never have finished it if she hadn't made that post. Thank you too, all of you who have left a comment in the last couple of weeks cheering me on. You guys really kept me going, and I needed it!

Buh-Bye Dennis

2005-07-10T19:27:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to relax now; a few hours passing after landfall is all it took. My family in Florida reports some wind, some rain, and a few branches down. That's it. They never lost power and no flooding in their neighborhood. I finally was able to turn off the Weather Channel two hours after it moved through poor Pensacola. I did manage to get a good bit done when joining the 63 squares - I estimate finishing the joining sometime mid-week.

Thanks to all who commented, I'm trying my best to catch up on emails right now. It's amazing how a little stress can totally mess with your head!

Dennis and thread do mix

2005-07-09T21:25:00.000-04:00

But only as a form of therapy.

I've spent the last couple of days in a funk because of Hurricane Dennis tromping through the Gulf of Mexico. It's way too close to my parents and sister's family in Panama City Beach; I'm not a happy camper. I've spent more time looking at projections and forecasts and commiserating with Melissa (who is even closer than my folks to the assumed landfall) than much of anything else when I'm online. When I'm offline I'm calling my mother and sister and trying to sound optimistic and positive when I don't feel it so much myself. Don't believe it when the Weather Channel tells you the beaches are evacuated, it isn't true. People just aren't out socializing and having a good time.

I've started a Patricia Kristoffersen doily from Absolutely Gorgeous Doilies for Rick's sister. "Pineapple Passion" if anyone is keeping score. It's thread therapy and she and I are both excited about it. The pressure was on because she told me she wanted to frame it once she got it. It had to be a nice one, you know? So PK it is, making me happy because it's my first larger PK doily. Working on it in the evenings has been a good stress reliever for me.

Oh, and I got RAOKed today with the sweetest book from an anonymous Crochetville member. The sneaky lady put my return address on the envelope and didn't sign the card, I have no idea who sent it. I've not seen this leaflet before, "Sweet Christmas Angels" but they're just adorable. They use sport weight yarn and I particularly love #3 which is bottom right corner of the cover. She's perfect tree-topper size. Thank you so much to whomever RAOKed me, I love the book!

Flowering Mum

2005-07-05T19:07:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a happy dance around the house today and it just now dawned on me why I'm so happy. This morning I finished the doily I've been working on for the last few days.

It's from The Ultimate Doily Book by ASN, a pattern by Yalanda Wiese. DMC Traditions size 10 thread with a #6 hook. This one was a quick stitch other than when I made a mistake on round 21 that I didn't catch until round 23 and had to frog back a whole day's worth of work. It's for us, Rick picked out the pattern and it is now on his side of the coffee table.

I bought a couple of doily patterns from Hass Designs a few days ago; the two snowman doilies, I'm a sucker for anything snow oriented - scroll down the pages to see them. I can't help it, I love snow and snowmen and if I lived further north I may not want to see anything to do with snow. They both call for size 20 thread of which I have none; the next time I go to Michaels I will buy a few balls. I have time, I want to do a doily for Rick's sister in California before I do anything else.

Or um... before I start another doily...

I laid out the 63 Squares while I waited for the doily to dry after blocking today. I used safety pins and they are now all in their proper places by the grid in the leaflet. I'm eager to start joining them, 90°F or not. Better to do it now I think than wait another month when it's near 100°F in the afternoons. Maybe moving north isn't such a bad idea after all.

Snowflake Update

2005-07-03T22:44:00.000-04:00

So far, 39 people have decided to make nothing but snowflakes the week of July 25th.

Me
Chie
Tina
Ulla
Vera
Courtney
Becca
Jana
Karla
Jovien
Jen
Lani
Betty
Mary
Patty
Brie
Vims
Kimberly
Jess
Catherine
Melissa
Alison
Leanne
Amanda
Dee
Stephanie
Linda
Becky
Melissa
Jenn
Melannie
Lonna
Holiday
Laura
Stacey
Eva
JenC
Faith
Dawn
Kristen

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Snowflakes in July Along

2005-07-01T09:33:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about choosing a week to do nothing but snowflakes each and every day. Seven days of snowflake goodness. I'd like to have as many flakes as possible available when December rolls around, for gifts, for me, for Christmas cards. Then I started thinking, wouldn't it be fun to have other people doing snowflakes with me during that week? I love Snowflake Mondays to see people making a beautiful flake here and there. It would be much more fun if more of my friends and new friends would make snowflakes too.

Here is the plan:

The week of July 25th, the last week of July, we will make nothing but snowflakes. Making it the last week of the month gives plenty of time for you to get your affairs in order. Finish those WIPs you've been diligently stitching away on; get those last minute gifts finished. Three whole weeks to get ready for one week of flakes.

Snowflakes can be crocheted or knit, can be actual snowflakes, snowflake doilies or even a snowflake afghan.

Only snowflake-y items can be worked on during the week. No fair cheating!

I'll make a webpage showing everyone who is making snowflakes, with a running tally of how many each of us made and the group together.

I made a pretty button to tempt you:

So, who's in? It's only one week, you know you can do it!

!!!!!

2005-06-29T17:01:00.000-04:00

I can't even think of a title, I'm so excited!

#63 Parallel Cables.

Sometime this week I'm going to lay them all out and see how they look together; get started on joining them. It's 90ºF here so I'm not overly excited to sit under an afghan for any length of time.

It won't be long though, I can't wait for much longer to get it finished.

Yay me!

tick tock...

2005-06-28T19:07:00.000-04:00

#61...

#62...

#63... tomorrow. (We had to go to Wal-Mart today, it was a lost cause. Tomorrow for certain. Why didn't I buy the Mint Chip Häagen-Dazs to celebrate?)

Tina won!

2005-06-27T22:52:00.000-04:00

Tina (who seems to be currently blogless but makes beautiful things all the same) said "I say snowflakes, the squares have waited this long, they can wait a little longer, right?"

The score was Snowflakes 2½ to Squares 3½, because Melissa said I could both. Tina was first though, and since I promised to do whatever I was told, I made snowflakes. If I didn't have to make a grocery store/post office run, I probably could have made three easily. Instead I only managed two.

Tina gets a prize for being the first to boss me around today (she even beat the dogs, that alone deserves an award!). I haven't yet decided what her prize will be but will send something to her on my next post office run.

Rick was so disappointed when I told him I was working on snowflakes today, he's just as excited as I am to see the squares so close to being finished. But tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow I will make great strides toward getting them done. I can hardly wait!

Snowflakes vs. Squares

2005-06-27T08:27:00.000-04:00

The debate that is going on in my head right now! Today is Snowflake Monday. I started square #61 last evening. I could finish them all today (or come very close), but it is Snowflake Monday after all. Waiting one or two more days to finish the squares isn't that big of a deal since I probably won't be joining them until the weather cools off somewhat. It would be so nice to have those squares finished though after well over a year of working on them. This will settle it. First person to come by and tell me what to do, squares or snowflakes, will get the minor thrill of bossing me around for a day. That doesn't happen often mind you, only a very select group of people get to crack a whip over my head on a daily basis. Actually, it's really just the dogs that boss me around here at home, other than that I'm very spoiled and don't get nagged at very often.

Speaking of snowflakes, I've been batting an idea around in my head for the last few days. Stay tuned to see if I do anything about it in the next couple of days.

53 'n Me

2005-06-23T19:57:00.000-04:00

Or -

El Wrongo!

The Crossed Puff Stitch

I stitched it. I frogged it. I stitched it. I edged it. I worked in the ends. Then I thought to close the book to see where it fit on the afghan. I like to find them myself, it helps me to remember where they will be rather than look at the chart in the book. You know, top or bottom, blah blah blah.

So I looked...

And looked...

But couldn't find it. So I flipped open the center to see the photo of it in the book to see if mine was so different than the pictured one that I just couldn't see it on the back. Oh yeah! I got a little crazy with those puffs. While there should be 11 crossed puffs in each row across, there should also be three rows of sc stitches in between each row of puffed stitches. I only worked one row of sc. It's way wrong.

Rick loves it, it is soft and plump and definitely different than any of the other squares. I would redo it in a heartbeat, but he loves it. I'm not so sure that I can omit the square from the finished afghan without his noticing.

I keep thinking that a rug of this stitch would be great for in the bathroom or something. I don't plan on doing it any time soon.

- - - - - - - -

Doily pattern picked out - it will be from The Ultimate Doily Book by ASN again, the same book that has the Pineapple Sundae doily pattern. Maybe this time next week I can get started.

D'oh Debbie!

2005-06-23T11:28:00.000-04:00

Vera said it much better than I ever could:

Does Debbie Diss Doilies?

If I wasn't 9 squares from finishing the 63 Squares... ermmm... squares, I'd start one today. But it doesn't stop me from drooling over patterns and planning the next one.

Actually, I have one in mind already.

Senso, spyware-o and yarn hunt-o

2005-06-21T21:42:00.000-04:00

I have a couple of observations about the Senso, not that I've used it yet. I've been too busy playing with the 63 Squares and the shawl (more on that further down). The DMC Senso I bought is a wool/cotton blend, kind of slubby looking and very soft to the touch. They actually had more than one type of the Senso at Hobby Lobby, but I liked the looks of this one the best. There was also a nice variegated thread too, it reminds me of a very skinny TLC Wiggles. There is also a linen and a regular crochet thread, all in size three.

Not only have I been battling ISP and DSL problems this week, I've also had a war with spyware to contend with too. I thought at first I had a virus because things were really crazy here for a day or so. I finally managed to get rid of 40 (!) really nasty malware and spyware files on my computer, including some zipped files that I know I never clicked on. At the moment I'm clean (I think) and clear (I hope). I'll be running the programs everyday though to be sure.

Finally, I wanted to say thank you in a very big way to the wonderful Holly, Celeste and Karen. After posting about the shawl and my yarn hunt last week, these three ladies came swooping to my aid with helpful tips and suggestions to make finishing the shawl a possibility. Holly is the designer of the pattern I am using and has provided excellent ideas and suggestions for stretching the yarn that I have now as far as possible. Celeste has spent a good portion of her time sending emails to people and places overseas, including one gentleman who works for the manufacturer of the yarn and promised to check their warehouse for her (me) this week. Karen has checked online and hopes to be visiting her favorite LYS in England in the next week or so in the hope of finding the yarn. Apparently the yarn is discontinued and explains the difficulty in finding it. I am amazed and touched at the lengths Celeste and Karen are going to help track down the yarn. Even if we never manage to get more, I will always be thankful for their help and friendship.

DSL and yarn goodies

2005-06-18T22:34:00.000-04:00

What a day! Yesterday afternoon our ISP was changed which has resulted in all kinds of interesting ~~nervous breakdowns~~ developments. Almost immediately I started getting change of password notifications from my old ISP email addresses. Those led to other various warnings and threats purporting to be from the email host. At first I thought perhaps it was related to the change but have since discovered that it's apparently an amazing coincidence. Still enough to give me pangs of concern throughout yesterday and today. The new ISP people set up the account name wrong and changed it for us, which then caused a service outage which finally ended when we drove 50 miles round-trip to have them reset our DSL modem tonight. We got back home around 9:15pm. If you know us you'll know that we very rarely if ever venture out of the house past 8:00pm; we are home bodies to the extreme. The tech support 'office' looked like it was anything but an office. Overflowing trash cans everywhere, cigarette smoke so thick in the air you could see it hanging. We are having serious reservations if this is the ISP we need to be with and may well change again, back to where we were I guess. They are the only other DSL in the area. Plus I can't get into my ISP supplied email account, which I usually use for family members. That in itself is not a problem, I can set up something else, but added to the list of other problems and I'm not sure what we're going to do next. If by some chance we turn off the computers tonight and you send me an email, then don't hear from me for a few days I hope you'll understand why.

We went to Hobby Lobby the other day (I have to have some sort of fiber related content after all!). I was not happy to see half of the shelves stripped bare. Rick found several extra large cardboard boxes full of yarn. I have no idea if they were to be stocked or just pulled from the shelves, but we scavanged through them anyway.

It wasn't the best selections in any case; unless everything was spread out over multiple boxes, I bought all of each of those colors they had. I will make kerchiefs with the cotton I think, and perhaps use the Senso for bookmarks for the bookmark swap. I also bought the Ultimate Guide to Pineapples for Your Home leaflet and Flower Garden Pineapple Doilies while we were there. I love the doily on the cover of the second book, I'm going to have to make that one sooner or later.

If I can tear myself away from 63 Squares. I'm up to number 50 now.

Actually, that means I'm up to number 51 now. Only 12 more to go.

a little help from my friends...

2005-06-14T20:32:00.000-04:00

Yes, please, I'm asking.

Back in March my Spring Secret Pal from England by way of Crochetville sent me four balls of stunning Wendy Nirvana DK yarn in the softest shade of lavender (shade 0287). It's an acrylic/mohair blend, oh so light and fluffy.

I instantly fell in love with it and hid it from myself to keep from using it for something silly and frivolous. I really want it for more than a hat and scarf set. Of course, it's been in the back of my mind for some time now and since I finished the rose filet shawl last week I've been itching to use it in something; the hard part was deciding what would make the yarn look its best. Since a girl can't have too many shawls and I dug out a ball Sunday night and started to make Holly's Butterfly Wing Shawl with it. The pattern is great and perfect for working on during movie nights, no counting and stitches up in a flash. The only problem?

The one ball only gave about 13 inches in length, from the back of the neck to the center point. I'm going to keep going until I run out of yarn. I suspect it won't be near long enough to suit me, small boned I'm not and I'd like it to fit around me comfortably. I've done some Google searches and hit eBay without any luck. There is Wendy yarn out there, even in the Nirvana line, but it's mostly on eBay and I had no luck finding the right color. I'm hoping that someone who lives in Great Britain (or Europe) knows where they can find this yarn easily. I'll gladly pay for it, shipping too and something extra for your trouble. It's possible I suppose that it's available here in the States but I am not having any luck finding it. No LYS in my neck of the woods to check 'just in case' so I'm border-line desperate.

If anyone can help me, I'd love to hear from you!

Points for Today

2005-06-13T23:59:00.000-04:00

~ No matter how much you think you have - 200g of yarn probably isn't enough for a shawl.

~ England is a really long way away when you don't have enough yarn and the yarn has a British accent.

~ Just because I like a snowflake doesn't mean it's going to like me.

~ Going to the mall only once a year and so many months means that you actually look forward to the trip (in a weird, twisted sort of way).

~ Beagles really never stop barking.

~ The phone doesn't ring when you're expecting a call about a certain shawl and doily sent through the mail.

~ It's always most humid just before bedtime. Or, 2:30 in the afternoon. Both, actually, it's a toss up.

~ Oddly enough, when you can't find a #6 hook that you were just using you can always find it in your seat when you get up. No matter how hard you searched for it while you were still sitting down.

Thank you Vera!

2005-06-08T21:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday in the mail I received some lovely scarves from Vera. She sent them to me as a thank you for running the Summer Scarf Swap at Crochetville. They are beautiful and I am thrilled to have them. The white one is crocheted and the pink one is knit, AND the pink one matches the new outfit I just bought so Vera must have had a psychic moment.

Thank you so much Vera!!

Today I worked on squares and then made a trip to the post office. The Pineapple Sundae doily and Rose Filet shawl are on their way to California. I hated to see them go and will be tracking the delivery anxiously online until I know they are there. That is the hardest part of hand-made gifts; the sending them across the country. I feel good about it though and can hardly wait until the birthday to hear if she liked them. It's going to be a loooooooong weekend.

Tomorrow, more squares!

Rose Filet Shawl

2005-06-06T15:25:00.000-04:00

I understand that some people don't care so much for joining crocheted squares together, but I gotta tell you I don't care so much for tying on fringe. Really, if anyone had offered to come help I'd have jumped on the offer. Keep it in mind for next time, okay? I promise I'll do my best to help join squares for you!

This is the Rose Filet shawl and the pattern can be found here, I used just over 3 skeins of Red Heart Lustersheen in Warm Red and a G hook, with the remainder of the third skein and bit of a fourth for the fringe. I added a lot for the fringe. As you can see the shawl is huge. If it were in any other color but red I'd be forced to keep it for myself as I already have a red shawl - but now I want one for me too. I finished the body of the shawl last night and spent four hours today putting the fringe on and adding the top edging. Believe me, I never expected to get it finished in time to celebrate the birthday of a Red Hat Society Queen Mother in California (next Monday). I'm very excited! I think with this and the Pineapple Sundae doily I'm sending her also she's going to have a really nice day. At least I hope so. Now I just have to get them both in the mail!

with a feather I tell you!

2005-06-03T14:32:00.000-04:00

I dashed out the door this morning for the grocery store to spend $20 on four things we didn't really need - pickles, dog treats (they think we need them), donuts (yeah right) and trash bags (okay, maybe we did need those). Hmm... seems like the $20 should have gone farther and for the life of me I can't figure out how that total was correct.

Then I came home and completely forgot about the $20. Celeste sent me a goodie package, a wonderful, totally unexpected goodie package!

A rather large wound ball of multi-colored lurex (and that stuff is hard to wind, she sent a LOT), a smaller ball of a very soft pink fiber; something stretchy, I'm not sure what it is. And chocolate, who doesn't need chocolate!? So I grabbed my camera fast to take a picture of it all before I ripped open the candy bar because it also was worthy of being pictured. It's a Gorilla Bar from the Endangered Species Chocolate Company. Very cool. And very good, too! Thank you so much Celeste, you just have no idea how exciting it was to see a package from you. I really appreciate it!

In other (shameless self-promotion) news, I've been working on a photo gallery for the new website over the last few days. No wonder I haven't been able to crochet. In any case, please check it out if you've got a few minutes to spare. I'm really proud of some of the things in there and can't help but beg everyone to come and see.

I'm so bad!

new email

2005-05-31T20:35:00.000-04:00

I'm in the midst of setting up a new domain for the blog and website. My new email address is julie[at]withahook.com. Eventually everything will get moved over to withahook.com, but I only have a couple of things there for now. Moving the blog isn't a high priority though I intend to do it. The pictures and stuff need to get a new home as soon as possible.

If you need to get in touch with me, be sure to note the new email address above. We're changing our ISP in the next week or so and the current email address you have will cease to exist rather abruptly. Kind of like the chocolate chip cookies I'm about to have for dessert this evening.

Pop Quiz

2005-05-30T16:49:00.000-04:00

Alright class, get out your steel hooks and white thread. We're making snowflakes today. Now stop groaning, you'll thank me come December! Get out your pattern books and turn to page 4, make the first flake you see. Even if you don't like it, someone else will when you decide to gift it to them.

No excuses, now get to work!

So, how many snowflakes have you made so far? Today is the 22nd Snowflake Monday of 2005, only 30 more Snowflake Mondays and you'll be sorry you waited! It's never to late to make snowflakes, if you start today and make one a week you will have made 30 beautiful flakes to hang from your Christmas tree or give as a gift. Come on, you know you want to!

On My Toes

2005-05-28T19:23:00.000-04:00

Today was catch up day on various projects. The primary goal was to finish the first Sock Memories sock. This is the first 100% wool sock that I've done and I really like it. It's more stretchy than I thought it would be, and it's still sized just right to fit my monstrous size 10½ foot. Not too big or too small, just right. I used the Toe Up Socks pattern for the body of the sock, and made a shorter version of the cuff from the In Your Shoes Ankle socks for this one. I have four yards left of sock yarn, you can bet I was breathing a sigh of relief when I was sure I had enough in the first skein for the sock.

The color is Paper Doll and I love it. It does make me want to do a solid color sock next, or one in shades of a color just to have a little variety for a change. Maybe some Color Your Own sock yarn is in my future. Now I just have to start the mate to this one and I'll be set.

Move on, just keep going... Nothing to see here.

My niece's seventh birthday is on the 17th. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday (because she already has everything on the planet she could possibly want) and she didn't know (see, proof I'm right!). Finally she said girly stuff, especially pink flip-flops like the green ones I made for her last year. I can do that.

Patons Twister 'Fruit Loops'

Bernat Disco 'Motown Mauve'. (It's got Lurex in it, I couldn't resist. She won't have a clue, but I will.)
I think one more pair is in the offing along with a couple cute tops to up the girly quotient. I wish my nephew was as easy to shop for.

Long Lost Squares

2005-05-21T21:31:00.000-04:00

Check Stitch

Aligned Cobble Stitch

Silt Stitch

V Stitch

Twin Stitch

Little Crowns

Not too bad considering I only picked it up again on Thursday. Numbers 31 - 36; it seems almost like a party to have so many done so quickly. If only I could keep up the trend, but maybe I can. Even if I worked on it every other day, I might be able to keep it going. I haven't looked at the pattern for #37 yet but I suspect I may regret making that statement. It looks icky. Popcorn stitches and braiding. We will see.

Pineapple Sundae

2005-05-18T21:02:00.000-04:00

The more doilies I make the more I want to make. This one is for a gift and I'm going to have a very hard time parting with it when the time comes.

It's called Pineapple Sundae from The Ultimate Doily Book by ASN. Besides how much I like this doily pattern, my biggest thrill comes from the finished size - 21½ inches in diameter. The pattern gave a size of 21 inches. I used a #6 hook and DMC Traditions thread, size 10 in Ecru. It took one full ball and a little of a second, just about halfway around the outer edge. It is almost all treble stitches, chains and single crochets with a few treble trebles thrown in for good measure. In the next day or so I will drape it around a cardboard tube and wrap it in birthday gift wrapping paper so it will be clean and safe until the time comes to mail it off. It's still three weeks or so until it needs to be sent and I am a pro at spilling things and making messes. The sooner I get it wrapped the better.

Around here somewhere...

2005-05-16T19:19:00.000-04:00

I have been cleaning large areas of our house for the last week. I have been shopping at various stores for the last week. I have been fishing during the last week (and didn't catch a darn thing thank you very much). I have been working on setting up a business during the last week. I have a nearly finished doily driving me nuts because I don't want to do anything else but work on it and yet I keep getting busy doing other non-crochet things that aren't nearly as much fun to do. Tomorrow I won't be home much so maybe, hopefully, Wednesday I might have it finished. Please with sugar on top? I also have a half finished sock calling to me to put the heel in and start on the cuff, but the doily is much noisier and demands more of my free time. Socks are great car projects though, so if my sweetie drives you can guess what I'll be working on in the passenger seat.

Adding fuel to the fire to get things done, I got this wonderful package from Jess today in the mail. She knows me like a book, I'll tell you right now. Just perfect!

I had absolutely no idea she was sending me anything so it was a total thrill to get the mail for a change. No bills and sock yarn!! The sock yarn is from Knit Picks of course, Dancing yarn in Swing. On my monitor it looks darker than it does in person; in my hand it's almost a rainbow of color. I love it! In fact, I like it better than the Dancing Two Step that I bought. It won't be hard to decide which one to work up first. She also sent my first PK large-sized doily book, Masterpiece Doilies. I have a few books with some smaller patterns of hers included, but this one is all larger patterns. I am drooling over the book, somehow Jess even managed to get one that isn't stocked at my Michaels and I haven't seen before. Plus a sample ball of multi-colored lurex (in the white envelope) and a keychain from the Maryland Sheep+Wool Festival to finish up the package. Thank you so much Jess!

Tea Time

2005-05-08T20:46:00.000-04:00

I had more problems with the Tea Time doily than I've had with any of the others so far. I sincerely doubt the problem was with me (HA)or the pattern, instead I think it was because the soon-to-be doily heard me call it 'easy' several times before I started stitching and wanted to teach me a lesson. I omitted clusters in the center light blue section which caused no end of problems and caused some serious frogging to occur. I fixed that problem, joined the dark blue to the light and determined halfway through the second round that I had turned it around and was working in the wrong direction. More frogging. Re-started in the correct direction and missed a couple more clusters and had to frog back rounds again and again. Finally, when I began to add the light blue edging I realized that I was working in the wrong direction on the dark blue - but that it was the right direction according to the light blue section in the center. You guessed it. I wasn't wrong when I added the dark blue the first time and frogged it out for no reason, and then made the mistake. *sigh* I had thought, originally, that I could whip out a couple of these in different colors and shades to have on hand for last minute gifts. Just stitch them up every once in a while so I'd be prepared for any gifting emergency. It's a good plan, but I don't think it will be this doily. I'll find another one and forget the word 'easy' is in the English language and blast through them.

(I also don't like how I blocked the edging but that is something I can fix without frogging, I'll just block it all over again.)

I started a sock using the Toe Up Sock pattern and the Knit Picks Sock Memories Paper Doll yarn. I couldn't wait to see how the colors pool together (I kind of wish it striped - or even gave me broken stripes as it is in the toe) but it's nice all the same. I'm already plotting my next colorway.

I also reordered the 63 Squares CAL book yesterday morning. I will finish this afghan before the summer is over (provided the doily doesn't talk to the yarn and cause further problems for me).

Jess made me do it

2005-05-06T21:25:00.000-04:00

And actually Andrea had a good hand in it too because of a comment she left in Jess' blog.

Knit Picks Dancing in Two Step

Knit Picks Sock Memories in Paper Doll

I'm wishing I'd bought a different color in the Dancing now that I see it in person, but maybe once it's worked up I'll like it better. I'm not so crazy about the elastic threading running through the yarn, though I do like the elastic in the fiber. I don't care to see it is all, but once again, I'll work it up and see what I think then. The Sock Memories is BEAUTIFUL, this the first merino wool sock yarn I've purchased and it's so yummy! The colorway isn't really me but I couldn't resist, it was too pretty. I may have to buy all of them just for fun.

In other news, the wonderful Tiff sent me some RH Casual Cot'n in Mushroom because I have yet to find any at all in my area. (Which isn't so odd if you tried to go yarn shopping around here, you'd understand.) So I promptly went to work making her Crossed Bucket Hat and love it! Dork that I am I couldn't take a decent picture of me wearing the hat so I will have to try again. Go make it if you think you'd like to have a nice summer hat, it's a one afternoon project. Rick was amazed I'd finished it so fast. Great pattern Tiff, I love it! And now that I've seen the Casual Cot'n, I'll have to order more to make a couple other hats soon.

63 Easy-To-Crochet Pattern Stitches Combine to Make an Heirloom Afghan. I can't find it anywhere, I've looked with my other pattern leaflets and magazines and books with no luck. It's hiding from me. I'm giving it another 24 hours to come out and surrender or I'm ordering another copy (because Wal-Mart didn't have it tonight). I reorganized my yarn stash yesterday and the 30 finished squares started crying because I haven't touched them since last June or July. I can't pretend any longer that I don't hear the weeping. I will be good and get this afghan finished. No more excuses.

Except for the snowflakes... and sock yarn... and doilies...

Under The Wire

2005-05-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

Just. Since all of our mother-type people live out of state, I decided today was the absolute last day to get things in the mail if I have a shot of them arriving on time for Mother's Day this coming Sunday. It could well be that I'm too late anyway, but in any case, I finished five roses.

The picture isn't so great as I took it two minutes before I began racing about, trying to get things packaged up and ready to mail. Each of the roses are now on their way fabulous, fun-filled destinations: Florida, California, Nevada and Michigan. Don't get lost little flowers! I made it to the post office with 10 minutes to spare, not bad at all.

Oh, and imagine my ~~joy~~ surprise to realize I had miscounted relatives. How I did that I don't know; I thought I needed seven but in reality I only needed six. I ended up not making one for my sister who probably wouldn't have appreciated it so much anyway. I'll send her a Johnny Depp dvd to be determined later to make up for it. She'll be much happier and only have to argue with my nephew for television time when the Atlanta Braves aren't playing on television. Boy does he get excited! :o)

Boxes For Brendan

2005-05-01T23:08:00.000-04:00

One of the ladies at Crochetville has a young nephew going through some serious health problems right now. The wonderful folks of Crochetville are putting their talented minds, hearts and hands to work to bring a little comfort to this adorable little boy, Brendan. If you aren't familiar with Brendan's story you can read more about it here. Thanks to Ro for her hard work in setting up and maintaining a website for this project dubbed "Boxes For Brendan".

We're making Brendan a zoo! I finished my contribution today, a snake which is quite possibly just as long as Brendan is tall.

It's 45½ inches long and the pattern can be found here. I enjoyed trying to make it as long as possible (and yet still able to fit into the box I have for shipping). Every last millimeter will fit without smooshing either end of the snake. I hope Brendan enjoys it along with all the rest of his menagerie both completed and in the works.

You can see pictures of other completed items for Brendan by clicking here.

Pretty Pillows for Mom

2005-04-30T09:59:00.000-04:00

It isn't often that I can get my mother to look at a catalog with crochet patterns and leaflets in it. Especially since she lives in North Florida and I live in Northwest Georgia. It's hard to put one in front of her to see from here, ya know? But we both (she cross-stitches and embroiders) are subscribed to the Herrschners catalog and occasionally will receive them on the same day. So we talked about this project and that one, and when she mentioned that she wished she could crochet good enough to crochet these pillow tops, I paid attention. (Yes, it might have been a hint but she knows she just has to ask, I'll make her what she wants.)

The pattern is a free one on the Coats & Clark site, Pretty Pillows. I used one skein of RH Lustersheen in Tea Leaf which easily made two pillow tops. They are both getting mailed off to Mom today, along with a couple other non-crocheted goodies, and she can then stitch them onto pillows and send me pictures of the finished project. I'm not much of a sewer and she is, and this is nice because it's a rare project we both can do together. Even when we are 700+ miles apart.

Back again.

2005-04-28T15:50:00.000-04:00

The list seems to be working again at this moment in time. I have very little confidence that it will function as it should, so I will continue to look for another hosting site. Though it has reappeared it has not updated so as has been the case since mid-February, nothing is as it should be.

You'd think I'd be happy to see the list back up, but instead I find myself rather annoyed and irritated. If they'd get their act together perhaps I'd feel differently.

Top 100 Crochet & Hook Sites List

2005-04-28T12:08:00.000-04:00

I hardly know what to say. I created that list over a year ago to feature all of my (our) favorite sites. The hosting site, TopSite Lists, has had no end of problems since the beginning but usually things were fixed and the list would continue. In mid-February of this year, the list stopped updating. This wasn't because of anything I had done on my end, the whole network stopped working. We, the list owners, were told this was a server transfer with multiple errors but that it was being worked on. I held my breath, big mistake. I watched and waited.

Late last night, I checked my Top 100 list just before going to bed. I checked several times a day to see if it had been updated but of course there was never any change. Until last night. They (the hosting site owners) have apparently abandoned the project entirely. The domain name has been allowed to expire without notice or any sort of warning. There is NO technical support at this point in time. I am incredibly upset and incredibly embarrassed. I don't really know what else to say.

For the record I did use their free list hosting service, but at no time were the paid lists getting any better treatment. Their lists stopped working just as mine did. My goal and hope now is to find another hosting service. I enjoyed having the list for the most part and was always amazed and thrilled at the traffic it generated to my sites and the others on the list. I'm happy to take suggestions for other list hosting sites if anyone knows of some they've used and liked.

October

2005-04-26T19:35:00.000-04:00

I guess it's a fitting name for the doily I finished today. After all, temperatures over the weekend dipped down into the 30's here in northwest Georgia. Even today we had a fire burning in the fireplace as it was raining and barely 50°F for most of the day. Luckily with the rain most of the pollen seems to have eased up just a touch, so I'm hopeful that some of the rain will head over to Andrea's neck of the woods so she can breathe better too.

But enough about the weather - talk of the weather is for when you don't know what to talk about. I've got something to talk about.

This is a biiiig doily. Unblocked it was 14¾ inches in diameter, blocked it comes in at 17½ inches. The pattern gave a 17¼ inch diameter, so you can imagine that the happy dance was being done with the tape measure still in my hands. I can't believe I finally got one right!! The doily pattern is from A Year of Doilies, Book 3 and is named, of course, October. J&P Coats Royale thread in Natural, size 10 with a #7 hook. Yes, I just gave all the details in my last entry, but I'm proud of me for doing this one and I'm going to brag about it while I have the opportunity.

As mentioned previously, this one is ours. It is already in place on the coffee table under two of my favorite Fenton Art Glass pieces.

Rick is already ~~demanding~~ requesting another doily just like it for the coffee table. The doily might be big but there is plenty of room for another one beside it. I told him it would have to be a little different but I'd start picking out a pattern. Something smaller is in order for the next doily though, and that will give me plenty of fun things to look at while I hunt the next pattern to stitch.

Added - update your bookmarks!! Maybe everyone knew but me, but here is Denise Augostine's website: Crochet Paradise. Most of the patterns look to be back, I can hardly wait to start the hunt again. :o)

Thread and More Thread

2005-04-22T19:35:00.000-04:00

The last two days have been fabulous days on the doily front. I've been able to add about four rounds a day to it, bringing me to round 30 of 37 rounds complete. Not bad! If I keep this up I will definitely have it finished early next week (because I know better than to expect that I'll be able to keep this up - something will get in the way). Want to see it so far?

It is October from A Year of Doilies, Book 3. I'm using a size 7 hook and #10 Royale thread in the color Natural. It's 11½ inches in diameter, unblocked, and I still have seven more rounds to go. The best part is, this one is for us.

I did manage to complete a snowflake this week:

The lurex shows up really well in this photo for some reason, see the sparkles?

This was last week's snowflake:

The roses are still in progress, I'm midway through a third one. I may finish the doily first before I complete another rose. It's a hard decision. I'm doing so well with the doily I hate to work on anything else, but if I did a couple small things in between I may well keep up my enthusiasm and finish the doily by Wednesday at the latest. It all hinges on tomorrow; what will tomorrow have me work on? Please, just don't let it be something I'm not currently working on at this time!!

What happened?

2005-04-19T21:09:00.000-04:00

Where does the time go? When you hit a certain age do the days just start to fly past at three times the normal speed? I think that must be it, because I don't know what I've been doing or where I've been since the last time I posted. I've only completed one rose since last Thursday. That's just craziness. Yesterday was spent getting ready for my sweetie's birthday which is today, so I haven't even touched a hook since Saturday. Tomorrow, perhaps tomorrow I can stitch something. Snowflake Monday has come and gone but if I sneak a flake or two in on a Wednesday or even Thursday will anyone yell at me?

In what can only be called perfect timing, Holly has started a new CAL at Crochetville. Crocheters Against UFOs. I love it! There are even some really cute buttons to inspire me to get with it and work on some of my UFOs:

I can't decide which one to use. I guess there could be worse issues to deal with than this one. Such as, where oh where is the yarn for the 63 Squares?

Also, check out the new Crochetville CafePress store. Donna has spent tons of time working on all kinds of goodies for us to have fun with. Go check it out!!

Mother's Day Rose

2005-04-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

Just a quick reminder to all you crocheting guys and girls out there that Mother's Day is coming. It's the second Sunday in May. I had a total "I think I can - Little Engine That Could" day and made my mom a rose pin.

It's size 10 thread and red lurex (you'd have been shocked if it wasn't) with three teeny green leaves and a pin back. I'm not rich enough right now to send my mom, grandmother, stepmother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law and daughters-in-law flowers for Mother's Day, but if I hustle they can each have a rose pin made by yours truly. The pattern can be found in the July 2004 issue of Crochet! magazine.

Make your plans now, and don't say I didn't warn you! ;o)

Promised Projects finished

2005-04-09T23:13:00.000-04:00

I have three ponchos to send to my niece, for both her and her best friend. I've done them before, once for my niece and once for a friend's daughter. It was complete and total repetition which had me so bored I didn't want to work on it. I glad they are done now, I feel a breath of fresh air to have them finished. Using the exact same colors as before only made it seem like I'd been working on them for ages.

My niece is getting one of the two purple Lacy Shells ponchos on the bottom of the photo, the other two ponchos are for her best friend. My sister paid for the one on top, saying that they share everything anyway and this way my niece will still have the one exactly like the one I made back in January and the friend can have one too. Or something like that. In any case she paid for it. The two on the bottom are my contribution, each took less than a skein of yarn to complete and worked up in less than an afternoon. They are exactly like the one I made in February.
Because I always make my mom little things and send them to her, I felt like I should do something for my sister since the box is going to her house this time. So I made her a pair of Barefoot Sandals, from the November 2004 issue of Crochet! magazine.

If you aren't familiar with them, the loop on the bottom slips around the toe next to your big toe on your foot, and then the straps tie back around your ankle. When walking around it looks like you are wearing sandals, except you are of course barefoot. I used less than one ball of Endless Summer Collection Sonata in a colorway not shown that I can't remember the name of anyway. Purples and lavenders. It's wound with size 10 Royale thread in a blue/lavender colorway similar to RH Ocean and, surprise, blue lurex. My sister lives in Florida and lives on being barefoot. So do I, actually, but those really aren't my cup of tea. Hopefully she'll get a kick out of them, I think they'll suit her perfectly.
And finally, not to leave my nephew out, he is getting...

... a bag of rocks. He won't wear a poncho, and it's not the right season for me to send him a hat or something similar. So inspiration refused to strike crochet-wise and I remembered his affinity for tumbled rocks (he's 8 years old). My sister said he'd be thrilled. I hope so.

Norwegian Filigree Bookmark & Lurex... again

2005-04-08T19:54:00.000-04:00

I got more lurex yesterday. Don't ask me where I'm storing this stuff, I have no idea. Right now I'm busy admiring how pretty the red and iridescent look, camped out on my dining room table.

Here's the most recent fix (because I am definitely addicted):

Gold, Red and Silver.

I have been drooling over the red for some time now and was so glad when Melanie finally got it in. I promptly searched for a quick project to use the red lurex in, wound it with red thread and made the Norwegian Filigree bookmark.

The white sparkles are actually the red lurex reflecting in the flash. I used size 10 thread and a #3 hook just to keep it big (because you know I stitch tightly with thread), and then blocked it with water to make it even and square. Other than a three hour interruption while we ran errands, it probably only took 30 minutes to make this bookmark.

I think I'm done bothering Melanie with emails for a while, though that multicolored lurex is still in the back of my mind. She's been so kind and gracious when replying to my ~~begging like a dog for a treat~~ questions that I will do everything I can to encourage folks to keep her in mind when buying yarn and lurex at eBay. She's great, I can recommend her wholeheartedly.

To complete the spoiling process, I received a table runner leaflet from Rebecca today.

I had looked very hard at this leaflet in the last Annie's Attic catalog I got, Rebecca must have read my mind. It even features a snowman table runner, and as I love all things snow related this is a most excellent book. Thank you so much Rebecca!!

It's snowing!

2005-04-04T20:04:00.000-04:00

Okay, let's not get too technical. So it's not really snowing, but I'll bet if given the chance most of you who are still dealing with real snow wish it was this kind instead. Not so cold and wet to walk through. Though the person that steps on one of my snowflakes is going to get in big trouble!

I only made one snowflake today, I just didn't have the time for more. I paid the bills first thing, and then after I ensured that the checkbook was done flinging bits of paper into envelopes I started to work on the fun stuff. I wound a ball of the Opera thread that Jess sent me with the iridescent lurex. Make a note, go order the iridescent if you've been debating on it for snowflakes. It's by far the nicest look, at least for the clear or white lurexes (lurexi?). The silver is very good too, but this is my favorite. Depending on the angle to the light, you can see sparkles of soft blue, lavender, pink or gold. What's not to love about that?

I just wish my camera could pick up the colors for you.

Where's the FO?

2005-04-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

The new Crochetme is up, go see! Nice cute quick patterns, I'm in love with several of them. Great job Kim and all!

I have no FO to show off, I'm floating in a sea of almost FO status. Three things so close to being completed that they should be, and only my wandering mind to blame for my failure. Tomorrow is another day, as someone fictional once said, and maybe just maybe I'll finish something. If only it were blog-worthy.

Karla sent me a book I've wanted for an incredibly long time. Why I haven't bought this book for myself I don't know, but it's wonderful. I'm just thrilled to have a copy of it now.

I wrote on the inside cover who it came from Karla, so I'll always have a reminder of how kind you were to me. Thank you so much!!

I have one more photo to show, so feast your eyes on the wonder that is lurex. Oh... yes, I guess I have Lurex Acquistion Syndrome. There are worse things to have.

From left to right we have iris (pearl?), purple and iridescent. I question the name of the one on the far left only because of an email exhange with Melanie that had me a little confused. And it's very easy for me to be confused, let's face it. So if you are looking at her eBay store, I believe the color is now pearl shimmer. Either way it's all very nice. The iridescent is screaming at me to wind it into some thread for snowflakes. I am such a sucker for this stuff. Oh yes, there is more to come (though my budget has to catch up now).

Come on budget!!! ;o)

Hey - I already told you once, go see the new Crochetme now!

Snowflake Monday and Goodies Galore

2005-03-28T19:49:00.000-05:00

Snowflakes are not meant to be perfect, snowflakes are not meant to be perfect... I made a couple mistakes today. I really only messed up one snowflake, and it is messed up but good.

See?

Rick calls it the peg-leg flake. It looked MUCH worse with five arms before I blocked the poor thing. I was scooting those arms around trying to get it to look evenly spaced on the board. Had I noticed the flake only had five arms I would have picked out the tail and fixed it. Unfortunately it did not become obvious to me until I had soaked it in the Stiffy and placed the third pin. The first two seemed okay, but it was that third one that caused all the trouble. Yeah, maybe it's the pin's fault! The second thing I did wrong with it was completely ignoring the pattern (it must have been a trend) and putting those three extended picots in place the way I wanted them to be. So they don't sit properly and aren't symmetrical. Not that the flake is symmetrical, but we must start somewhere.

Obviously I didn't start with that flake.

This was the second flake and it turned out much better.

I'll be making a few more of these to use for gifts this year. I like the shape of this one.

Both of these flakes came from the Lacy Snowflakes book by Leisure Arts. I told myself I wouldn't post a photo of each and every snowflake as I made them when I started making snowflakes again this year. However, I did in this case to point out the lurex. In the first photo it is hard to see, but I used the silver lurex that Jess sent me a sample of last week. VERY nice look, very clean looking with more sparkle than my clear but not enough that it looks black against the flake. I was worried about that. The second flake uses the blue lurex with the white thread. I'm not crazy about that look but that is okay, I really bought the blue to carry with blue and purple threads. I think the lurex can be seen fairly well in that photo, and gives a good idea of just how thin it is.

Last week I mentioned that Jess had sent some silver lurex and a few surprises to me. These are the things she sent to me, and again, I am so touched by her generosity.

I've started another snowflake with the white and silver lurex she wound for me, you can see it in the photo. I'm in love with the colors of Opera that she sent, particularly the teal blue. I'm especially thrilled to have the thread hook cushions as I can't seem to find them here any more. Thank you so much Jess!

Today I received two packages in the mail that were complete surprises to me.
The first was marked RAOK and truly was a random act of kindness. Deneen sent me a lovely snowflake book.

Thank you so much Deneen, this is a fabulous book and I can't wait to make some snowflakes out of it.

The second is from one of my fellow Georgia crocheters, my friend Karla, who sent me sweet little goodies 'just because', along with the promise of a book I've been wanting for a while that is on the way.

Girlie stuff! I love girlie stuff. Tomorrow night I'm going to scare Rick with the mask and thoroughly pamper myself with the Burt's Bees products. She also included some of adagio.com's teabags to try; all I need is to choose my favorite loose leaf and I'm set to go. The stickers are great for the backs of envelopes and to make bill paying just a leetle bit more fun for me. Thank you so much Karla!!

Cosmos

2005-03-25T20:38:00.000-05:00

This is another little doily from the Dainty Little Doilies book. It's another Patricia Kristoffersen pattern and is a good companion doily to Vanity Fair that I finished two weeks ago.

I used, in my struggle to get close to gauge, a size 3 hook for this one. Jess may get me for it, but darn it I was at gauge this time! I'm working at keeping the thread higher on the hook, and hopefully it will make a more apparent difference to me on the next doily. This one is going in the mail along with Vanity Fair and June's Little Beauty to Rick's daughter. She requested six neutral colored doilies, so we'll see what she thinks of these. While we wait to hear, I'm going to do something bigger for us. And maybe with more color, I'm so eager to use color.

I think Dawn had mentioned a few days ago that Denise Crochets isn't up right now. (I think it was Dawn - I remember reading it but my brain is still in a fog from the wonderful increase of traffic to the new Crochetville forum. My apologies if I am remembering incorrectly.) Unfortunately that still seems to be true, no website full of wonderful doily patterns. I hope Denise is okay, really and truly. I found some I have printed out in the past to do but chose one over another and so still have the copies, thank goodness. In the meantime I have lots of her patterns bookmarked that I would like to do, and can only hope the site is back soon. In the meantime, check out the Wayback Machine website. Put the URL in of Denise's site or a particular pattern you might have bookmarked and it seems to have most all of them listed - or at least the ones I have checked so far. No photographs of the doilies though, but the patterns are still there. My memory isn't so good to remember what all of them looked like, but if I bookmarked them it must have been for a reason so I might give a couple of them a try while I wait with baited breath for the site to come back again.

Jess sent me some of her silver lurex to play with today, along with a wonderful gift of four balls of Opera thread in red, peach, white and a gorgeous dark teal color. She also included three of the blue thread hook cushions which I have been unable to find in my local stores lately. I ~~screwed up and forgot~~ neglected to take a photo to show just how generous she was because of trips to the post office and grocery store, and now that it's dark I know my camera can't handle it from experience. Trust me when I say I was thrilled to receive the box, and even more so when I saw how thoughtful she was. Thank you so much Jess, I really appreciate it!

Incorrigible

2005-03-23T19:53:00.000-05:00

All I needed was a whisper of different colors available...

It's beautiful metallic ocean blue lurex from Melanie at Fiber Options again. Snowflakes, yes. Bookmarks in blue or green or purple, yes.

Oh yeah, I'm totally in love.

And I'm waiting for an email from Melanie right now.

More colors.

YUM!

Hello, remember me!?

2005-03-22T08:43:00.000-05:00

I feel like I've been gone for weeks and weeks. Not so, but I'm definitely losing the battle on staying caught up. Crochetville.org is up and running and fabulous, busier it seems than ever before. I'm loving every minute of the time I get to spend there. That being said, I'm due for a serious time schedule overhaul.

Yesterday was Snowflake Monday and I couldn't participate. I was too busy running to the bank and then Wal-Mart to buy exciting things like contact lens cleaning solution and a grow-light for my african violets and what else? Oh yes, hyacinths and petunias. So after my two hour excursion to Wal-Mart I came home and planted the hyacinths in the front yard planting beds. The petunias still need to be planted but I was too lazy at the time. After that was done, we went to the post office to mail packages including one to my mother.

Inside the package was this little beauty:

Nothing terribly fancy, but at least I did something in the last week. I'm serious, that's all I've been able to do. It's the Pretty Pineapples bookmark from the May issue of Crochet! magazine. Mom loves pineapples so off it goes to her with a few cross-stitch books from my former craft life that she might like to have.

I wonder how that bookmark would have looked with some blue lurex?

Crochetville.org is LIVE!

2005-03-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

The new forum is up and running! Come visit crochetville.org!!!!

Snowflake Monday or It's about time!!

2005-03-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

Today, for the first time in nearly two months, I worked on snowflakes. I could hardly believe it myself. Rick bought me, a week or two ago, some metallic Lurex thread that I had been watching on eBay, sold by Fiber Options. It's clear, shiny, and about as thick as your hair. Maybe a tad bit more. When carried with the white thread for the snowflakes, you don't see the fiber of the Lurex, but you do see the sparkle. It looks almost like the sparkle is coming from the white thread itself.

There is enough thread on that spool to probably make several thousand snowflakes; the cone weighs 1¼ pounds. She still has a few cones of silver and gold Lurex available, do a search for 'Lurex' within her store and they will come up. I wound it along with the thread on my yarn winder to make a rather loose ball and made such a little dent in the amount on the cone that it is entirely possible that my estimate of thousands of flakes may be too low. Here are the two I made today, both of them in the 5 to 6 inch range in size.

In honor of Snowflake Mondays revisited, I made a button. Snag at will, if you'd like to make snowflakes too. The idea behind it is simple - make at least one snowflake every week. By the end of the year, you've got a heck of a lot of snowflakes. Everyone likes to discover a snowflake tucked inside a Christmas card, and in a pinch a few will make the perfect gift for that person on your list who has everything.

Thank you Jess, for giving me the idea to make a button.

And before I forget, Gina is hosting a snowflake CAL on her blog. If you are going to make snowflakes this year, drop by and join us!

Vanity Fair

2005-03-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

Isn't it pretty?

It's from the Leisure Arts book Dainty Little Doilies and my first Patricia Kristoffersen doily pattern. I'm going to have a hard time parting with it, but I will as it is a gift. It isn't very big, as the title of the book implies. The pattern stated 7½ inches, but when I get my hands on it I manage to knock two inches off the diameter and bring it down to 5½ inches. This is even after going up two hook sizes to a 5 from the suggested size 7. I'm open to all kinds of suggestions here, tips on crocheting looser with thread. I have sent the recipient a doily of this finished size before and she was thrilled, even requesting more doilies of the same size. That of course may be fine, but I need to figure out how to stitch looser so I'm not losing size. I don't want to tackle a doily with size 20 thread, if I can't manage to get a doily close to gauge with the size 10.

In the meantime, the doily was very interesting to stitch. Lots of things going on texturally as well as visually. Not only double treble stitches in this doily, but treble and double treble popcorn stitches too. I thought those yarn overs would never end! :o)

Yes, I'm definitely going to have a hard time parting with this doily.

She must have read my mind!

2005-03-09T15:59:00.000-05:00

I was thrilled to receive a package in the mail today from my secret pal. I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a great pal.

The four gorgeous skeins of lavender Wendy Nirvana DK is crying out to me already make it into something, soo soft and such a pretty color. She sent a beaded book mark and matching keychain, and see her very first thread project ever - that adorable thread bookmark, and some purple emory boards too.

I've been wanting stitch markers for quite some time now, and my wonderful secret pal read my mind and sent me a set. Not just any set though, but the first set she ever made.

I'm flattered beyond belief to receive so many firsts, I will always treasure them. Thank you so much Secret Pal!!!

Hat Swap Hats

2005-03-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

I mentioned on January 19th that some of the ladies participating in the Crochetville Hat Swap were going to make extra hats to donate to anysoldier.com or another organization of their choice. The grand total was 55 hats. I received 25 hats from 12 ladies: Chelle, Deneen, Sutty, Pam, Marvie, Rebecca, Jayme, Rebecca, Kelly, Barbara, Carmen, and Tari Nienna. The award for most hats sent goes to Sutty for six wonderful hats she sent at the beginning of the swap (except I don't have an award yet... I must come up with an award). As incentive for the ladies to make hats, I brashly stated I would match a hat for each hat I received to send to anysoldier.com. I think the idea of torturing me with hats did the trick, and there were days when the hats stuffed my mailbox to the brim. But I did it too, I made 30 hats and managing to keep ahead of the count most of the time.

Thank you ladies, for the pile of hats on my living room floor. I needed the push to get as many done as I could, and you definitely came through for me. The hats are going out in the mail this week, a box to this APO, a box to that one. Here, there, and everywhere. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

The All-Season Shawl

2005-03-05T16:39:00.000-05:00

Massive frustration time. I ran out of yarn. Lion Brand Wool-Ease in 'Mushroom'. I was so close to finishing the shawl yesterday afternoon I must have pouted for a good two hours at least. Okay, I'm still not done pouting. I sat there and stitched and frogged and stitched some more. I frogged the border three times hoping like crazy I'd miraculously come up with the 5 feet of yarn necessary to close the 26" gap. My math could be off, but I am sure the most I gained was two inches after three alterations to the edging. Finally I was forced to realize it just wasn't going to happen, no finishing it today, and I worked it up like I originially wanted it to be and tried my best not to sob at the gap. I thought, "Tomorrow I'll run down to Michaels, buy two skeins of yarn in complimentary colors, and finish the darn thing. One skein in the color I'm using now, but a second complimentary skein in case the dye lots are WAY off on the correct color and it doesn't match. I'll frog the whole edging again if I have to, but I'm not doing this thing halfway. This is my everyday out in public shawl, and I want it to look nice and classic and be WARM. No fooling around with this thing."

And then I went to Michaels this morning and they didn't have any Mushroom. They had an empty bin with a hang tag that said 'Mushroom'. I'm sure someone there had to hear several cells in my brain imploding from the irritation. If only I hadn't been so greedy for each additional half inch of length that final skein could get me. I wanted just a bit more to drape on my arms, just a little bit more. It was that last row that did it to me, if I hadn't added that last row before starting the edging I would have had enough to finish it. I fussed over it for three days, hardly stitching it because I was so busy agonizing over whether or not it was long enough. Yeah, I'm greedy. I want the last piece of candy in the dish too.

My secret pal mentioned she liked the Woods Print in Wool-Ease, which they had at Michaels. It was my best bet for finishing the shawl today. I could have held out for more Mushroom a few more days, perhaps they would have restocked it but I was already frustrated enough as it was. Plus another cold front is due any minute now, I wanted to have it done so I could wear it! So I bought the Woods Print, came home and frogged the edging for the fourth time and replaced it with the new color.

I'm not sure that I like it; I'd had a single solitary color in my mind for the month or so I've been working on the shawl. I had it pictured in my head. Rick likes it. Ask me again tomorrow, and I will too.

By the way, we had a hard time taking photos of the shawl that actually looked okay. I mentioned the cold front coming through, and it is with a vengeance. The wind is gusting around 35mph outside right now. We spent a lot of time fighting the wind, it's a wonder I was able to hold onto the shawl at all. I'm sure you can imagine how great my hair looked out there too, it's not much better in this picture: click here.

It's my turn now

2005-03-04T10:06:00.000-05:00

Last year at this time I had just quit my job and was looking forward to having lots of free time on my hands. Little did I know I would find things to fill it up so quickly and thoroughly. Today is my one year Blogiversary, and a very glad and happy one it is to celebrate. I've met so many wonderful people because of this blog, people I visit with every day through email, Crochetville and instant messaging. I've grown to know some of you so well that you are a part of my daily life, and I really wouldn't want it to be any other way. This blog was the first step toward meeting all of my friends in the online crochet and knitting community. Thank you all for sharing your creativity and being such a source of inspiration to me!!

Heather says I'm the snowflake queen!

2005-03-01T17:01:00.000-05:00

I just got the sweetest little gift in the mail today, I can hardly believe it. Heather sent me a little package which was brought to the door by a shivering UPS man. It's snowing here, very unusual for Georgia in the month of March. Not nearly enough to even mention, other than I LOVE the snow and wish it would stick around longer. Yes, as I've already told Donna today, I'm very weird.

Look at how appropriate Heather's gift to me was for today...

It's one of the cutest little plastic canvas candle holders I've ever seen. I might be a little biased, after all, it is a snowflake. I can't quite figure out how the base is attached to the cup which holds the candle, but that is the mystery I suppose.

It's very sweet and cute and I just love it, Heather! Thank you so much!!
(Rick claimed the candle in it, he loves the scent. I had to sneak it back from him to take the picture and will replace it with one of my own instead.)

c.o.v.e.t.

2005-02-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

Dawn asked a few days ago - What holds your hooks? (For some reason this totally reminds me of the 'What's in your wallet?' commericals on television. I keep saying it with the same inflection. Yes, I'm very weird. But you're doing it now too, aren't you?)

It sits on my night table beside the bed, well, not at the moment I took the picture. But I do most of my crocheting in the bedroom while sitting on the bed, so that of course is the perfect place for my hooks. I have a quilted hook holder which at the moment is nearly empty, only one or two yarn needles inside. If I travel (never happens, certainly not for overnight) then I will use the hook holder to bring all my hooks. You never know what you're going to need on a trip. I could pack a suitcase with nothing but yarn for just-in-case.

Lately I'm in a high state of 'covet'. I got the new spring Patternworks catalog in the mail a couple of days ago. I haven't opened it yet. The cover is enough to do me in and make me want to roll around on all of that gorgeous yarn.

See that little bit of light blue laceweight on the right side. I haven't looked to see what it is yet, but it's definitely covet-worthy. I don't really want laceweight yarn, it's lovely and gorgeous and oh so soft, but I'm not a laceweight shawl wearing type of gal. I'd make it, be scared to death to wear it and it would end up folded away somewhere safe. So I just look at it on the cover of the catalog. One of these days I'll actually open it and look inside.

I'm also ~~drooling over~~ coveting the doilies in the leaflet A Year of Doilies book 3. Click on the link and look at the front and back cover, s'ok. I won it off eBay last week and it arrived a few days ago. I wanted it because of the motif doily on the back, isn't that beautiful? I have looked inside this one, and truly I just don't know where to start. It's full of gorgeous, beautiful doilies. I would love to own each and every one of them inside - well, there are maybe three of the twelve which I probably wouldn't be so enthused with. The rest I can picture on my hook and I don't know which one to begin with. It's a guarantee that if I start with one I'll be wishing soon I'd worked on the other. Impatient, that's me. I should draw from a hat to decide which one I'd do, except it would never end because I'd never be happy with the random choice. Maybe I'll just let Rick pick. Poor man, what if he doesn't get it right and has to choose 42 times before I'm happy?

June's Little Beauty

2005-02-21T10:09:00.000-05:00

Late last night during a game of Scrabble, I finished and blocked this doily. That may well be why I lost the game; too busy placing pins to think of the next word to play. I really enjoyed working on this one, it is a bit bigger than I thought it would be. A very pleasant surprise there, considering my doilies are usually smaller. Not a lot bigger, mind you, but I'll take it!

The pattern comes from Panda Crochets and is June's Little Beauty. It was pretty easy to stitch, and very nicely laid flat for me until the last few rounds. In hindsight I do wish I used two different colors of thread, I think that is what drew me to that pattern in the first place. I used JP Coats Royale thread in Peach, size 10, and a #5 hook. The doily is 9 inches in diameter. Thank you Vera, for sharing the link to the website with me.

Looking back over it, I just realized I totally missed a direction in the pattern, and there are missing picots!! Ack! The recipient won't know, but how could I have missed such an obvious step? And I like making picots!

WIPAS

2005-02-18T21:20:00.000-05:00

Sitting here this evening watching my nephew play on his computer in Florida over the webcam. I wonder what I could send to him that he would be interested in - his sister is easy, she likes ponchos. I feel bad sending her something and nothing for him. I wonder if he would want a cape à la Spiderman. Though living in NW Florida pretty much negates the need for a cape. Something spidery though, to give him a thrill. It will give me something to Google later.

Did I ever mention, speaking of Googling, that I have a myHq page? I don't believe I have. Almost any time I find something that I think is interesting or worth referring back to at a later date, I add it to the list. Want to see it? Okay, click here - Yarngirl's Favorite Links. (I need to link it on my sidebar but I'm too tired at the moment to make a button for it. And as I can see the button in my mind, the button will wait until tomorrow perhaps.) If you aren't familiar with the myHq pages, it's free to sign up and very easy to add links to the page. Because I've had relatively bad luck keeping a computer operational for more than 12 months a stretch, this has been a great way for me to hang on to bookmarks without having to gather them again after I've lost the files. These are mostly patterns that I am interested in, or think I could be interested in someday in the future.

I am nearly finished with another doily, hopefully I will have something to show off sometime this weekend. Truly, I'm searching for the F in FO. Lately I feel like I keep stitching but nothing gets finished. I received the new Annie's Attic catalog in the mail today and studied the doily pattern books. There are some really nice ones, I'm very tempted.

Is there such a thing as WIP Acquisition Syndrome? I think I've got it.

Catching Up...

2005-02-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

I've spent the last two days flat on my back during prime crocheting time. Yesterday was a bad personal day (hey, I don't share everything, it just seems that way because I don't know when to stop blabbing) and today was due to a rebelling nerve in my upper back making me not want to sit upright for any length of time. Hopefully a good night's sleep will make the nerve relax because tomorrow is Thread Thursday and I'm ready to start another doily.

The 63 Squares. I guess I think if I keep them front and center I'll shame myself into actually picking it up again.

Rick's lapghan. This one is getting closer to being picked up. Mainly due to my feelings of guilt because I promised it would be done months ago.

The All-Season Shawl. I've been picking at it, a little here, a little there. It's growing slowly but it is growing. I should have it finished when the temperatures hit 90° again.

Troop Hats. The numbers are still climbing. I set a deadline to get the hats to me for February 23 (next Wednesday). I think that will still give me time to get any late arrivals matched so I can start sending boxes out by the 1st of March. That is my goal.

Lacy Poncho times two. Does it count that I can see the yarn for it and I want to get started on it?

The next doily. One from this site. I just haven't decided which one in particular yet. Thanks Vera for the link!

Happy Birthday, Crochetville!!

Pineapple Blossom

2005-02-12T19:31:00.000-05:00

This is the doily I was pretty certain would never end (but only because it was the largest I've attempted so far). It is the Pineapple Blossom doily from this book and I'm already planning on making another doily from it soon. This one goes to my mother, just because she was stunned her daughter could stitch a doily in the first place.

I used size 10 thread in cream, and the pattern suggested using a #8 hook for a final diameter of 18 inches. Because I stitch so tightly with thread, I used the #5 and mine is only 14 inches. Somewhere I need to find a happy medium but I'm not sure where that is. I like the small stitches that come with the smaller hook sizes, but I also don't want a 10 inch doily that was supposed to be 18 inches someday. Guess how upset I would be? So other than my gauge concerns I am thrilled with the doily. Off it goes to Mom on Monday, not quite in time for Valentine's Day but very close. I wasn't really trying to get it there by Monday anyway. ;o)

Thanks to Deneen who posted a message at Crochetville about Adagio Teas' Rewards Program, I enjoyed a cup of strawberry tea this morning. I received the ingenuiTEA Set for adding an Adagio Tea link to my blog! The set included the 16oz. teapot and four samples of tea. I received Mango, Oriental Spice, Cream and Strawberry teas to try. The cream was already a favorite of mine from a previous order and I fell in love with the strawberry this morning, it's very good! Thanks Deneen!!

Ooooooooooooh Donna...

2005-02-09T19:48:00.000-05:00

Donna tagged me. Watch out, it could be you next. ;o)

1. Total amount of music files on your computer
Erm... zero? Unless you count the Tom Petty Wildflowers cd that is actually in the tower.

2. The last CD you bought
Bluegrass Today, it's a various artist compilation - Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Rhonda Vincent and more. That was last June on my trip to Michigan, something to listen to in the car.

3. The last song you listened to before reading this message
Show Me Your Glory by Third Day, though I don't really remember actually sitting down to play it. It must have been on the radio in the car, it's the song running through my head today.

4. Name 5 songs you listen to often or that mean a lot to you
1. Ralph Stanley - Angel Band
2. Lynda Randle - God On The Mountain
3. Debussy's Clair de Lune - it makes me take a deep breath each time I hear it.
4. Nanci Griffith - More Than A Whisper
5. Van Morrison - Moondance

5. Who will you pass this stick to (3 people) and why? Karla at Karla's Corner and Ro at I Didn't Buy More Yarn Honey!, because both of sent me really nice emails in the last few days so I'm hoping they won't get mad. And Vera, of course, at Vera's Crafty Blog. I don't think she has done it yet and has great links on her blog to her favorite music. This should be a piece of cake for Vera!

Clearing the Cache

2005-02-08T18:46:00.000-05:00

I tried really hard to find a picture of the Moda Dea Cache online with no real luck. Bron has a picture of it on her blog, here (in just the color I liked, too). I questioned the fulling ability of the yarn so I didn't buy it - plus there wasn't very much of it at all. That's what I come here for, I know I can get the answers to my questions. :o) Knowing the Landscapes would felt, I knew it could be possible but don't really trust my own judgement yet either. I thought it would make a very cute little bag, but I have to admit I can't see me using a bag made out of the yarn. I really liked it, and it wouldn't take much to tempt me to give it a try. It would make a really nice eyeglass case though, but I would be surprised if there was enough there to get two. Provided, of course, it would felt.

Thank you Vera!!

2005-02-08T14:44:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, Vera celebrated her one year Blogaversary. In her entry, she mentioned me for leaving the most comments in her blog. I'm pretty sure that's a good thing (I'm not stalkerish, not normally!), but really, I enjoy reading her posts and am always happy to see what she's working with and on. If you don't read Vera's blog regularly, I suggest you check it out.

Vera offered prizes for the first blog she found, first comment left on her blog, and the most comments. Yep, I got a prize, and what a prize it is!!

She made a kitchen scrubbie for me (and I needed one, too), and sent the books Winter Jewels (snowflakes!!) by Southmaid and Aran Afghans from Leisure Arts,

Coasters By The Dozen and "Scent-Sational" Sachets (doilies!) both from Leisure Arts,

and Baker's Dozen Pot Holders and Poncho Panache!, both from Annie's Attic.

If you haven't gathered by now that Vera is one of the nicest and most generous people I know, read this sentence a few times over and let it sink in. I couldn't believe the contents of the package, and I'm still giddy with all the fun I'm going to have with all of these patterns. Thank you so much Vera! I surely don't deserve such a wonderful prize. I'll take it though. :o)

This morning I went to Michaels and Walmart for yarn. Yeah, I bought groceries too but it was really the yarn I wanted. Michaels had all kinds of new (to me) yarns that I hadn't seen before. New Mode dea yarns that I was really tempted by (does anyone know if the Mode dea 'Cache' will felt? 75% wool/25% acrylic) and lots of new books to flip through. I bought more yarn for troop hats (black black and more black) and some crochet thread in peach and cream. I also bought some Bernat Bling Bling in Spotlight Sage, and trust me that the picture does not do it justice.

Lots of little wisps of sparkle throughout the yarn, it's 100% nylon and chunky weight. I have no idea what to make with it but the color required me to purchase it so I did.
I want more.

I think I did it!

2005-02-04T19:08:00.000-05:00

That didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would!

Cross yer fingers...

2005-02-04T18:46:00.000-05:00

So, I'm going to be changing the template to my blog now. If it doesn't work, and you hear any screaming where you don't think there should be screaming, don't worry.

It's just me.

Cross your fingers everyone!!

Happy Me!

2005-02-03T20:35:00.000-05:00

I got my first package from my Crochetville Secret Pal today. I think I'm going to be spoiled, I'm not sure but it certainly looks that way.

The yarn is gorgeous, it's Stylecraft Gypsy in Mystic, the color in the upper right corner. I can't wait to use it. I'm thinking first on a hat for trim, and then the rest carried with another yarn for a matching scarf. Yep, I definitely love it! The chocolate couldn't have come at a better time, but frankly any time is a good time for chocolate!!

The frog is a little photo holder, it comes apart in two pieces with a magnet on each end. Stick a piece of paper or photo between and it will stand upright.

I really love all my goodies, thank you secret pal!!

hmmm

2005-02-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

What does it say about me that when I do a Google search this morning for 'crocheted pineapple shawls', my own blog comes up three times on the fourth page back? Could it be, do I have shawls on the brain??? Perhaps that is why I was up until 2:00am last night, flipping through my Crochet Stitch Bible. So then why did I get up at 8:00am when I could have slept in, with the rain merrily tapping away on the roof this morning.

I've got too many things to do, I shouldn't create another one for myself just because I want to play with a new yarn. That's not right! Natural, sure, but not right! Now I'll spend all day dreaming of bright colors and fluttery shawls.

It's officially WIP Wednesday, so I'll lay my cards out and then get to work.

~ Troop hats, check the sidebar for the current totals.

~ 63 Squares. I think it's beginning to taunt me now, those 31 squares I've finished so far. Stacked up neatly, edged and all the ends worked in. Only halfway... What happened Julie, can't you figure me out?? Yes, I can! I just have no willpower to finish what I've started and to stop adding new projects.

~ Rick's lapghan. The stack of those squares is being taken over by hats. They are multiplying as fast as I can work on them, hiding everything beneath them. It must be the camouflage colors.

~ The All-Season Shawl has also been neglected for the hats. How can I think of another shawl (dare I use the D word - design) if I can't finish this one? And I desperately want to make Holly's Butterfly Wing shawl too.

~ Chelle's Lacy Poncho. One down, two more to go!

Before I forget, check out the new Crochetme Magazine, lots of new patterns to torture myself with. :o)

Lacy Shells Poncho

2005-02-01T17:07:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Chelle posted a new poncho pattern at Crochetville for us to play with. It's the perfect thing for nieces and nieces' best friends gifts, so I bought some TLC Wiggles in Grape a week or so ago with it in mind.

I used an I hook, but when I make the next one and the one after that I'll go up at least one hook size. It took a little over half a skein of the Wiggles to complete. I totally winged the size, knowing how big to make it for my niece and taking it back an inch or so for a child a year younger. At the least I can call it a capelet if it's too short, but I don't think it will be.

Where did it go? & Ice & OW!!!

2005-01-29T10:05:00.000-05:00

Just a quicky because I have loads of things to do today. First of all, if anyone was wondering where Crochetville is last night and today, don't worry, I'm wondering too. It seems the rampant server issues that ezBoard has been having lately have hit us with a vengeance. Yes, Crochetville is moving to a new site sometime in the next few months, but we haven't moved yet. Don't worry! We won't leave anyone behind!

We've had a rain and ice storm come through here last night and it should continue throughout the day. So far we have a half-inch or so of ice built up on the decks and trees, and it is raining and sleeting right now. The road hasn't started to freeze badly yet but they expect that later today.

In the OW portion of the blog entry for today, my sweetheart slipped on the ice last night and did something to his leg. He's not in pain other than the moving around part and absolutely refuses a trip to the hospital. My frown may be permanent today. No swelling, no bruising, but the decided inability to put any weight on it has me insisting on his staying in one place, preferably still and plied with coffee. In fact, I'm going to get coffee myself, build a fire in the fireplace and watch Maisie try to ice skate on the deck. At least when she falls out there, she's a lot closer to the surface than my poor sweetheart was.

WIP Wednesday

2005-01-26T20:38:00.000-05:00

I've got so many right now I don't even know where to start!

First off is my poor neglected 63 Squares project. This is swiftly becoming an irritation to me, I've left it sit for much longer than I ever intended. After the troop hats are over with, I'm going to get back to work on these. Right now I'm making hats every day, but as soon as I'm all caught up I might surprise myself and finish another square.

Next comes Rick's lapghan... Once again, the hats have taken over almost everything (I do still work on thread twice a week, details to follow). Perhaps I can alternate doing the 63 Squares one day and a square or two for Rick's lapghan the next. I promised him it would be finished quickly but it got shoved to the side during the Christmas rush. I need to start working on it again, I know it would make him very happy if I did.

I've been working on the All-Season Shawl in my spare time. I'm only one skein into it so you can imagine how little I've finished on it in the last couple of months. I'm using LB Wool-Ease in Mushroom and absolutely love it!! I call it my Scrabble shawl because much of the time I have been able to work on it has been while I wait for my turn when we play Scrabble in the evenings.

Snowflakes - I can't have too many snowflakes! So far this year I have only missed one Monday of making flakes. We were running errands all day this past Monday and I didn't have a chance to work on any. I could have done it on Tuesday or today but those hats keep calling to me! :o) I know I have plenty more Mondays to get some made, and as I sorely missed working on them I know I'm not in danger of forgetting my promise to myself to devote Mondays to snowflakes.

Thursdays are for thread also, and in this case it's doilies. I joined the Thread CAL at Crochetville and am halfway through the Pineapple Blossom doily on the cover of this book which will be for my mother. After that, the recipient of the last two doilies I made, January Thaw and Passion Flower, has requested six (count 'em SIX) doilies about the same size from me. She would like to buy them, but she is family and I ~~refuse~~ have a hard time charging family so we will work something out.

What else, I know there is more... I'm doing a simple hdc scarf for Rick in LB Homespun in Nouveau which he picked out himself. I'm working it length-wise to get it done quickly with a K hook, and though I haven't measured it yet I know it is at least six feet long. We have freezing rain in the forecast for this weekend, so I want him to have a scarf long enough to wrap around a couple of times and cover his mouth and nose too. There is another shawl that I am picking at in fits and starts, designed by one of the ladies at Crochetville. I won't name her because she hasn't posted about the shawl yet and should be allowed to brag about it first, but it's fabulous and I love it. I wish I had the time to devote to it as I would like, but perhaps I will throw my hands in the air one of these days and make such great headway on it that I neglect everything else until I get it finished.

So these are my WIP projects, at least as many of them as I can think of. Somehow I feel like there are many more I have forgotten.

It's Wonky Time

2005-01-23T09:03:00.000-05:00

There was a post at Crochetville that got me to thinking about my very first finished object. It's all wavy edges and skipped stitches and I wouldn't part with it for the world. Wanna see my first officially official crocheted goodie?

I made this in the fall of 1989, my first ever anything with a hook and yarn. It looks a bit more wonky in person than it does in the photo, trust me. Two months after graduating from high school we moved from Florida to Georgia. I didn't have a job, no friends except the ones I'd left back in Florida, and no car to use to go places and meet people. So my mother, who wasn't working at the time either, taught me how to chain and do a double crochet stitch. I sat on the couch and watched a Happy Days marathon on TBS and finished it in a day and a half. You can see I learned gauge near the end, as the stitches are much more even and I didn't miss them any longer. Unfortunately I missed plenty in the beginning so it has that delightfully wonky shape to it. There are cross-stitch stitches striped across it (the main cause of my frustration during the hooking process I remember vividly), also a perfect opportunity to up the wonky factor.

After finishing this afghan, I don't remember picking a hook up again until 1998, nine years later. I cross-stitched for a while, and dabbled with rubber stamps but couldn't get into it. We use this afghan all the time when it's cold out (read - NOW), added to a stack of afghans to hold in the warmth in bed. Mainly it's still used because I'm so busy making them for other people I hardly ever finish one for us. It makes me smile to see it, because I know I can do so much better now than I did back then. The lesson learned from the wonky afghan is not to give up once you start a project, and this misshapen, wonkified afghan inspires me to improve every day. Plus, I can honestly say to anyone just learning to crochet that having a wonky project is practically a given and something to be proud about. Keep going, don't give up and someday you'll discover you actually made a square that looks like a square.

Troopin' Along

2005-01-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

Every month at Crochetville we start a different swap rotation. At the first of January we started a Hat Swap, with the rotation to end on February 28th. I drew names from a Fenton Art Glass box, a vase box (it was handy, I didn't have a hat around, go figure!), and the ladies who signed up have been happily making hats to swap with each other.

I made a suggestion at the beginning of the swap for each of the participants to make a hat to donate to a charity of their choosing. Or, they could send the hats to me and I would donate them to anysoldier.com in one or two larger donations.

So far I have received 10 hats from some of the wonderful women at Crochetville. Thank you Chelle, Deneen and Sutty!! There are many more on the way as I get messages daily from these fabulous ladies who are making hats. As an added incentive, I decided to match every hat I receive for anysoldier.com. I've made five hats so far (I had a couple of birthday presents to complete first but now it's nothing but hats five days a week) and hope to meet my personal goal of one for one. I've had a couple of offers of help to make hats to meet the number donated, but at the moment I'm going to try to do it on my own. A personal challenge, if you will. :o) I may send out boxes to some units as I gather together enough hats, but right now I'm so happy stitching away I haven't looked for a unit to send the first box to yet.

Passion Flower

2005-01-16T14:27:00.000-05:00

This one wanted to argue with me a bit, but I think I won in the end.

The pattern is the Passion Flower by Denise Augostine. I used a #5 hook and size 10 thread for it. My first two doilies called for a #7 hook which I used but they finished smaller than the size given in the pattern. I decided to try for gauge this time and found the hook that got me closest which was the #5 steel hook. I stitch very tightly so going up two sizes made a huge difference and I'm pleased to see a doily at the proper size.

I had a few problems with this one, I'm not sure if it was me or how the pattern was written. Not necessarily errors in the pattern, mind you, I just had a difference of opinion on how to proceed during a couple of rounds. I plan to make most of Denise's doilies and can't wait to start the next one. I love how it turned out.

Tiki Tropics

2005-01-11T19:15:00.000-05:00

or - Mitzi made me do it.

I still have a hard time believing this is Red Heart yarn, and then I have a harder time believing I can walk into my local Wal-Mart and buy it. I've got big plans for the three balls of pink (it starts with a P and ends with an O and will fit a certain brown-haired little girl who just got a purple one a few days ago). The other colors remain to be claimed by other projects at a later date. The colors were so nice I couldn't leave them in the store, and I am certain I will be buying more as long as they stock it. I love the orange one better than any of the others, so why did I only buy one?

Two In A Row?

2005-01-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

Three more snowflakes were completed today, are blocked and stiffened, ready to join the others. That's two Mondays of making three; I'll feel like I didn't accomplish a thing if I only get one or two done some day. I can see the cardboard cone through the white thread now that I've used so much of it. Tomorrow morning I plan to go to Wal-Mart so I hope I remember to buy more. I'm sure I can get several more flakes out of it, but I don't want to run out either.

The poncho arrived in Floriday today, making my niece very happy. She stayed home from school with an upset stomach but said she felt much better when the poncho arrived. As she was dancing around in front of the webcam with it on for me I'm fairly certain she was feeling even better by then. My sister insisted that I make no plans to make her another one, but I already have an idea for one so it won't be long before I'm starting on it. I want to get caught up on a few other things first.

Purple Poncho

2005-01-09T20:22:00.000-05:00

As I type this, my niece's poncho is packed in a box and moving toward Florida though not nearly as fast as she would like it to be. She might be a teeny little bit impatient for a 6½ year old, but I love her just the same. My mother told me she asked the other day if I could crochet "anything else". If she loves it I think I'm going to be in trouble.

If she loves it I will survive and do my best to whip together whatever other goodies she might like.

The colors are RH Light Orchid and Bernat Eye Lash 'Cool'. They don't really match, I'm not sure what I was thinking but it was a spur of the moment purple decision after I bought the eyelash yarn. I used a V stitch throughout and lived at this page until I was fairly certain I had the measurements right. Any error in the sizing will not be on Janelle's side but a mistake on mine, and I will sing praises at her forever (which will probably make her think I'm a crazed internet stalker rather than a grateful aunt) for putting the instructions together.

Thread Thursdays

2005-01-06T18:57:00.000-05:00

Here is my first official Thread Thursday FO. The pattern is January Thaw, following shamelessly in Dawn's footprints after she stitched a beautiful one with the same pattern earlier this week. I started this one months ago but never finished it, and after seeing the one she made I was inspired to start it over.

I used J&P Coats Royale thread, size 10 with a #7 hook. The color is Bridal Blue, a really soft blue that I want to try for a few snowflakes too. I'll make a companion doily for this one and send it as a birthday gift due by the 23rd of this month. A different pattern though, I think, one that will be a little bit bigger. I'm really happy with this, it's very delicate and lacy.

Snowflake Mondays

2005-01-03T23:17:00.000-05:00

That is going to be the rule around here. Mondays are for snowflakes. With that in mind I made three snowflakes today, here is one of them.

A few days ago I had made mention of my snowflake board which a few people emailed me about later, so I took some pictures of my board today after I pinned out the snowflakes. It isn't anything particularly fancy and not even my own idea. I took the suggestion from Noel's excellent site, Thread Crochet and Snowflakes. This site is a must-read for anyone just getting started with thread, whether you intend to make snowflakes or not. I have learned so much from the website, more than I thought possible in a short period of time. It's packed with tips on everything from stiffeners to how to clean snowflakes.

(The thing that strikes me the most, as it always does, is how many pins it takes to block out a snowflake. The clump of pins in the center was for the snowflake I pictured above.) The board is two sheets of foam-core poster board. I taped them together on each side and placed six of my blocking guides on one side of the board. Wax paper on top of that keeps the snowflakes from sticking to the guides and is easily replaced.

I love the board. It's portable, I can pick it up and lean it against the back of the sofa and turn a fan on in front of it. I'm impatient, I want my snowflakes NOW. I can flip the board over and lay the flakes on it to take pictures. It stores away neatly and is ready in an instant as soon as I need it, without having to drag out anything heavy or make room for it. The only drawback is easily remedied (and I will the next time I go to town), I need to have a colored background to pin the flakes out on.

As you can see, it is nearly impossible to see the flakes on the white background. I can remedy this by making copies of my guides on colored paper - I'm thinking lime green or a soft blue. Maybe even red. Something the black of the guide will still pop out from so I can step back and make sure I haven't missed a point that needs to be pinned.

I would also like to make a board for blocking doilies. I don't plan on stiffening them unless they just need it. Granted I've only made one so far but soaking it with water and pinning it flat on the board to dry worked great. The snowflake guide wasn't the ideal solution for the doily though, I'll come up with something else to use because I definitely like having a guide. Did I mention it's Thread Thursdays here too?

Stitch Diva

2004-12-31T19:20:00.000-05:00

Today and tomorrow Stitch Diva is donating the proceeds from her pattern sales to the International Red Cross to help the tsunami victims. So go get that pattern you've been debating about for the last couple of weeks. It's the perfect excuse!!

Stitch Diva - click it!

Earthquake & Tsunami Help

2004-12-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

I'll start out with a few links…

The South-East Asia Earthquake & Tsunami blog

Tsunami Help Needed

How to Send Help from the USA

Donate to the Red Cross through Amazon.com

US Attorney General Offers Tips for US Donors

There are so many links and near constant postings at those first two sites it is nearly impossible to keep up.

Tsunami gif image I have only seen it on this site. Unbelievable!

I have been glued to the television for the last five days. Wanting to say something to express our pain for what has happened but not finding any words to express it. I firmly believe the most important thing anyone can do to help out is to donate any amount you can, $5 added to all the other millions of dollars adds up just as quickly as $20, $50 or $1000. Please consider holding off on your next yarn purchase and sending that money overseas. The problems in South-East Asia will last much longer than our national news media will cover it; they are going to need all the help we can give them.

My First Doily

2004-12-27T20:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was so tired and drowsy I knew if I sat to work on anything I could do from my head I'd be asleep 10 minutes after sitting down. And this doily pattern kept staring at me since I'd printed it out a few days ago.

It's the Winter's First Snow doily (size 10 thread, #7 hook)with picots rather than the dc clusters around the edge. My mother who saw it in an email just a few minutes ago said she liked it better with the picots. I just like picots better (but Mom sure did know how to make me blush!). Only 7" in diameter though, I'm not sure why the difference but that it something to work on in the future. I finished it today and blocked it on my snowflake board. Boy has that thing proven itself useful!

New Toy

2004-12-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

I'm practically giddy. I know, I shouldn't admit that but what else is my blog for but to make myself look silly sometimes? If I can have three or four different venues to make fun of myself then I'm a happy woman.

My question is this: If you haven't bought yourself a yarn ball winder what is stopping you? All those balls of yarn and half empty center-pull skeins you have in your stash would be much easier to manage if only you had one. There is nothing so satisfying (this evening, maybe tomorrow or Saturday it will be something different) as watching the yarn flow into perfectly formed center-pull flatbottomed balls of yarn.

So go, now, eBay is open 24 hours a day and there are quite a few for the asking. You'll be glad you did and wonder why you waited so long. Trust me, they make great Christmas gifts (though probably too late by now to get one in time).

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! Eat some cookies for me!

Making Plans

2004-12-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

I'm done. I have been done for a couple of days now, but I've been too stunned to realize it. Plus the hunt for boxes to ship things in made me feel 'not done'. Today I will send out the box to my sister, and with that all of the Christmas gifts are done and finished. There was a last minute change in plans that wouldn't have affected the outcome. The afghan I was working on for one of the ladies at the post office will be completed at a later date, but not because I didn't have time to finish it. The first of the pair is going to Rick's Dad for his birthday. Rick decided he liked the afghan and while discussing the upcoming birthday we decided it should go to his dad. I like the idea. So that meant I couldn't very well give just one afghan to one of those ladies and so I made them each snowflakes instead. The only downside to being done - I don't have a clue what to do next!!!

Snowflakes are still on the list, at least once a week. I'm itching to work with thread more than I have been so I should have a couple of projects going at one time. My sweet and innocent 6½ year old niece found a poncho she liked and asked my sister for one in every color. My sweet and darling sister said, "I'll buy you this one, and let's go home and call Aunt Julie." I convinced my niece that stripes were definitely the way to go, probably dashing her hopes of five different colored ponchos but knowing me, she'll get at least two. I also have another poncho promised for the daughter of a friend, but that is expected around Valentine's Day.

... 'rugs' for a dollhouse
... bookmarks for niece and nephew (the carrot was admired in an email and the request made)
... 63 Squares!!! (I miss it!)
... Rick's lapghan
... a shawl(s) for me
... hats for the Crochetville Hat Swap in January and February

I just know I'm forgetting something.

One of my Christmas presents this year is a yarn ball winder. I didn't peek, I just know it was ordered by looking at My eBay page. I also got two hooks from TOTC, a P and Q hook in Cherry. Photoshop Elements 3.0 is now on my computer (not that I know how to use it yet) and I'm waiting on Amazon for a couple of books. I've been very spoiled this year, but I won't mention that more than this one time.

What's up, doc?

2004-12-17T20:15:00.000-05:00

Can you believe I have nearly finished everything on my Christmas project list? I can't! Today I tackled the carrot after picking at it on and off over the last few days. One of my aunts collects carrots, decorative and collectible carrots so I made her a carrot bookmark.
Even though I winged it entirely, I did have inspiration for the pattern in the back of my mind. I used size 10 thread and a #7 hook. This pattern is pretty darn close to what I ended up doing, though I started at the top of the carrot and worked to the tip, and frogged it four times until I could get the shape like I thought it should look. Had I looked at the pattern I probably wouldn't have needed to frog it and could have finished it in an hour. I'm still pleased though, it is done and not bad if I say so myself. Thank you Donna for helping me remember where the pattern was, even after the fact. May I note how incredibly WRONG it was at first that I was using orange thread? If it isn't white it just doesn't seem right, apparently - all those snowflakes! Next year for Christmas I'll make my aunt this carrot. It's so good to have a plan! If I'm smart I'll make it in January and then I won't have to think about it, I'll already be done.

Did I mention my plan for next year? Nothing larger than a hat and scarf set. That's it. Some folks might get snowflakes and others maybe a doily, but for the most part it's hats and scarves for everyone! The main reason for this is the shipping issue - finding a box large enough to ship two afghans or an afghan and a shawl requires some footwork this time of year. I'm not that energetic. Let's face it, I still haven't wrapped anything and it has to go out tomorrow. Guess what I'll be doing tonight.

The last afghan is about halfway finished. I think I can have it done by Monday, but I probably have until Wednesday just to be safe. Thank goodness I don't have to ship it!

Now the big question is, what do I do first after completing my list. It's going to be Snowflake Mondays all year long, and other than that I have no real plans. I hardly know what to think of first.

Do you smell smoke?

2004-12-16T19:28:00.000-05:00

I refuse to use the term ~~burned out~~, instead I'm calling it a "momentary pause in attention". Tomorrow I'll be back to full steam ahead. Monday was my birthday and while today is only Thursday it feels like it was two weeks ago rather than just Monday. I've been running all over the place ever since, hardly home for long enough to make any real progress. This afternoon I tried to crochet on the afghan but ended up setting it aside, already disappointed because no matter how hard I worked I'm only going to get a couple of rows done today. Maybe tonight will be better and I can manage some quality hook time. If I start to drag behind, it will be time for a P&P marathon this weekend and I'll get the afghan done for sure.

I've seen this on lots of other blogs and thought I'd play along. My head might just explode if I attempted the 100 Things About Me list. ;o)

Borrowed from Tiff who found it at Michelle's blog.
Holiday Survey

1. Egg nog - yum or yuck?

I have never actually tasted egg nog that I can recall. Weird, aren't I?

2. Stay up until midnight on New Year's?

Usually yes, though since I quit working we stay up to midnight almost every night. We don't pay much attention until just before midnight, then switch to see the ball drop in New York City and the peach drop in Atlanta on our local channel and have that perfect first kiss of the new year.

3. Prefer white or colored lights?

I'm growing much more fond of white lights than I was as a kid. We have both on our tree but I wish there was more white. Next year there will be. (It shows off the snowflakes better!)

4. Favorite holiday song.

I had such a hard time with this one. So many are wonderful and precious to me and I love them for different reasons. Probably at the top of the list is Silent Night. How can you not love that song?

5. What is your tackiest holiday decoration?

I love it dearly, but my pink plastic gumdrop elephant that I was given by a great aunt when I was born has to fit that description. I'd never buy it today, but I'll never get rid of it either.

6. Do your kids have too much and you wonder just WHY you are getting more??

I don't have kids, but I do think the exact thing about my niece and nephew.

7. If you celebrate Christmas, when does your tree go up and come down?

We bought our tree on the 5th this year, and it will come down on the 31st.

8. Christmas again - open gifts on Christmas eve, morning, or other?

Rick and I don't really exchange gifts, we buy a household thing that we've both been wanting and that's it. When I was a kid though we'd always do the Christmas Eve gift and beg like crazy to open another. (My sister told me this year she'd give my niece and nephew the things I sent to open on Christmas Eve. I'm incredibly honored, just because of those childhood memories.)

9. Favorite holiday tradition?

The big Christmas dinner. Even though it is tons of work I still do much more food than the two of us can eat in meal.

10. What do YOU want for Christmas?

To be able to spend it with both of our families, all of them. We are spread out in Georgia, Michigan, Florida and California. Unfortunately we can't get away from the dogs or our business so here we stay. Maybe some year someone will be able to visit with us (though I truly do love our quiet holidays, I do miss everyone).

Playin' Footsie

2004-12-11T22:03:00.000-05:00

Last night, knowing I was going to blog about the socks this morning I was trying to figure out the best way to take pictures of them. I thought that rather than me wearing the socks I could find some of the sock forms, someday in the future, but that day in the future is too distant to help me right now. I searched eBay out of curiosity and wasn't really impressed. There aren't too many out there and the price wasn't what I had in mind. I found a couple of websites who sold them but the cost was rather prohibitive to me, $24 for one form!! Ack!! Rick and I talked about it and something he said made me remember when some bloggers and folks at Crochetville were talking about making dress forms with duct tape. I wondered why I couldn't do the same thing with my foot?

Turns out there was no reason that I couldn't. I put on a pair of older nylon socks that I didn't want any longer and started taping my foot. I did several layers from my toes to my ankles, wrapping snuggly but not so tight that I couldn't bend my foot if I tried. It took about fifteen minutes for each foot (yes, I wanted two feet and no, I wasn't bright enough to do one foot twice), and I cut a slit along the inside about halfway down my foot to get my foot out. A little carefully placed duct tape to hide the cut and I had a fairly reasonable copy of my foot. Each one is stuffed with Wal-Mart and grocery store bags to a moderate firmness and then I taped the top shut.

It isn't perfect and perhaps there is a better way to create what I ended up with. But I can't beat the price: $2.97 for a roll of duct tape and I only used about a third of it at most. One old pair of socks that I didn't want any longer and 45 minutes of my time. Considering they will only be used to take a picture to post here and that's it, I think I did okay. Plus it made Rick laugh so it gives another positive in my book.

And Tiff, I still love the hotpad you made me! :o)

Toot toot tootsie

2004-12-11T09:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I finished my sister's birthday socks. I was starting to worry because I'd started them a couple of weeks ago and then the first sat for days and days, only half done. I learned from this pair of socks that if I only apply myself I can have a pair done in three or four days. I should be able to do better than that, actually. The sock yarn is from elann.com and the color is Mediterranean Sea. I love how it striped as I worked, actually I was stunned how well it striped. I used the Toe Up Sock pattern aka 'Ye Olde Standby' and a G hook.

The day before yesterday I got a surprise box in the mail from my mother and CafePress. How she found out about this stuff I'll never know but I won't question her for fear I'll find out I told her myself and can't remember. A sure sign of encroaching elderly behavior. She sent me this tote bag and mug, and for Rick this mug. Now all I need to do is order a couple of things from the Crochet me Swank Online Market after the first of the year. By the way, the tote bag is a great size. It's nice and big and the straps are long so it won't be stuck behind your shoulder if you stuff the bag full.

Back to snowflakes and I still have one more afghan to make. I bought the yarn a couple of days ago so I can start it at any time. Today if we don't run errands I will work on snowflakes. And with that in mind I'm off to do my morning housework so I can get started. I should be able to get one done before we leave, and if we stay home you won't hear one bit of complaining from me.

Two Down - Three More To Go!

2004-12-07T17:26:00.000-05:00

I finished two small projects today. I don't have pictures because at 4:30 I finally put down the third and said "enough already!". My nephew's hat and scarf set is done, hat washed, fringe added to the scarf. I used good BLUE colors of RH SS, I do believe Windsor Blue and Periwinkle. I can just hear my (8yo) nephew now - Boys are BLUE Aunt Julie!!. Yes sir! My sister's scarf is done; the one I had started about two months ago found itself frogged, re-stitched and fringed. Her scarf is one skein of Joanns Sensations Angel Hair (which is discontinued!! WAHH! I love that yarn!!) Now I'm working on the first of a pair of socks for her, just getting to the heel of the Toe Up sock pattern which I have dubbed "Ye Olde Standby" with great affection. This is now my third pair of socks using this pattern and I will continue to enjoy doing it because I can try it on as I go.

You want pictures? Oh all right.

But no sock pictures! Not until both are done. I need the incentive to keep going.

a walking dream

2004-12-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

Even though I'm going to apologize for the really ultra bad night-time picture, it isn't going to stop me from posting it anyway. Rick and I went to a little Christmas parade and tree lighting tonight in a small town near ours and I was thrilled to see the alpacas and llamas participating. Not that they seemed too happy to be there, but they were absolutely beautiful.

It was all I could do to restrain myself from running up and begging the handlers for wool. That probably wouldn't have been too cool. In all there were a dozen or so walking the route, in all colors from black to the prettiest sandy brown color. Three of the alpacas (or llamas - how do you tell the difference?) were pulling those two seat buggies and didn't seem to mind the crowds as much as the ones walking with the handlers. It wasn't nearly as dark as the picture looks and I'm very disappointed at how they turned out, but at least I got one that you can sort of see. Especially now that I described what it was. ;o)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2004-12-03T18:50:00.000-05:00

Here is the dye lot-challenged Christmas afghan. I might sound like I'm complaining, but really I'm not. It will do, I am very pleased with it.

It is RH Holly & Ivy and RH Aran with a P hook, using the Diagonal Box Stitch pattern. The colors are truer in the first picture, and you can see the difference in dye lots in the second. It was MUCH worse before I added the Aran, unbelievably bad. I went a little picot crazy and wondered at my decision to use them so much in the edging, but of course now that it is finished I am thrilled with the result. (To be honest I've done a similar edging before, here, so I looked at it and winged it this time because I was too lazy to dig out the pattern book. Mom loved that edging so how could I not use it for her?) If you were keeping track or curious, I started this on Thanksgiving Day and finished it this afternoon, eight days later. Not bad!

So, now before I do anything else I'm going to finish up my smaller projects, or at least give them a run for their money. I need to do the hat for my nephew and finish my sister's scarf. AND her socks. I'll have snowflake days twice a week with the goal in mind of more because you never can have too many. I still have Christmas cards to send out, after all. I have one more afghan to do also, but that is another finish-in-a-week project (ripple) and it does not have to be mailed.

Tomorrow night we are going to a Christmas tree lighting in one of the small towns in our area. I'm very much looking forward to the outing. Sunday we are hoping to get our tree and I'm very excited about that too.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!

2004-12-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

Our mail delivery is by truck these days. Not a USPS truck but a good old Chevy S10. How the mail lady reaches the mailboxes from it is beyond me, but also not my concern. When I hear the truck door slam though, I know she brought us goodies.

First the details - This is approximately 4½ to 5 pounds of Burgundy acrylic chenille yarn, 1500 ypps (yards per pound). It seems to be a little lighter than worsted weight but I haven't swatched it up yet and I am certainly not going to quibble about it. It is beautiful! I'm thinking shawl or wrap or perhaps even a capelet... shucks, there is enough there to make at least two if not three beautiful goodies with it.

Next, the ~~blame~~ ~~excuses~~ reasons - Elizabeth made me do it!! She made me drool and showed off all her beautiful yarn, and sent me two balls of beautiful chenille that made my heart go pitter-pat. I had to order yarn from Fiber Options, I just HAD to.

If you hear any gleeful chortling coming from the Northwest Georgia mountain area, it's me.

Hey! How do you like the new thumbnail photo option from Photobucket? It's certainly easier on me than resizing my pictures for the blog. Yep, I am definitely happy over here.

I'm still here!

2004-11-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

I feel as if it has been weeks and weeks since I've updated by blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have been able to visit with friends and family just as much as you wanted. Rick and I spent the holiday together, our respective families living too far away for us to travel there or them here. But we like each other and really wouldn't have it any other way.

On Thursday the sun finally came out after four solid days of gray clouds and rain and forced me to acknowledge what I had been trying my best to ignore. The dyelots on the afghan for my parents aren't even close to matching each other. I knew they were off when I bought the yarn but I wanted the color (RH Holly & Ivy) and it was all they had at the time. In the store they looked a heck of a lot closer than they did on Thanksgiving laid out on my bed. So I frogged back three skeins and started over. This time I am working the pattern with two strands (RH Aran with the Holly & Ivy) and a P hook so the apparent differences in the dyelots is not nearly as noticeable as it was. In the meantime I have been stitching like crazy to try to finish the darn thing. I'm beyond where I was when I frogged it and am pleased so far. Another two or three days should see the body of the afghan finished and then I'll just add the border. Something picot-y but I haven't decided for sure exactly how yet.

My dreams of putting snowflakes in all my Christmas cards are fading away. Perhaps I can get some in most of them, but I'm beginning to feel the pressure of time and postal delivery time constraints. I'm hoping that I am worrying too much, and I certainly am going to keep working on them. After all, I've ordered five snowflake pattern books in the last week. I couldn't stop now if I wanted to stop! It's a brand new addiction, and I love it.

Wow!

2004-11-24T15:42:00.000-05:00

Isn't it beautiful? Elizabeth offered to send me some of the chenille yarn and thread she has been using to make shawls and ponchos. I gave a half-hearted no because it was just too generous of an offer, but you can see how successful I was. Elizabeth insisted and I resisted for all of five minutes, at the most. It is absolutely beautiful! I whipped out one of my K hooks and stitched a little motif ~~to stop the drooling~~ just to see how it looks worked up. As I suspected, it will take every ounce of my will-power to keep from working on it before I get these Christmas projects done. The photo doesn't do it justice, trust me. It is stunning, and I can't wait to see what I make with it. Thank you so much, Elizabeth!!

I'm still working on the Christmas afghan for my folks, and the snowflakes are coming along nicely too. I made my first huge mistake on one yesterday. I didn't realize it until I was pinning it out and by then it was too late to fix. I did take a picture of it and put it on the snowflake page, and I'll even use it for decorating, too. I'll just have to make certain I hang it in a prime error-hiding location on the tree.

As for my dessert plate in the photo, while Elizabeth's yarn is certainly worthy of a nice display, it has been raining nearly non-stop since Saturday. We've lost power once today as a strong thunderstorm moved through, luckily the storm left quickly and the lights came back on right away. Everything is wet and soggy. Tomorrow I'll put the plate to a slightly better use, and have pumpkin pie after our Thanksgiving dinner.

Digging

2004-11-22T23:21:00.000-05:00

Laura asked a couple of days ago why I hadn't done anything in autumn colors this year. I'm not sure I know why. My intent wasn't to avoid those colors and in fact I bought quite a bit in warm tones and shades. It just seems that when the time comes to actually start chaining something out, I'm using other colors than what I may have purchased. It's okay though, it all goes in the stash and comes out later as something fabulous.

Her comment did make me think about the Simply Kitty afghan I made for Mom's Christmas present last year. I love that afghan, the colors are rich and matched the leaves outside when I started stitching. It's all single crochet but for the popcorn stitches and took forever to finish. I still loved every minute of it.

Want to know where my mother has it now? Folded up in the hall closet, because she is worried her four cats will snag it and pull out stitches. While I want it to look nice, I made it for her to enjoy and it just kills me that she has it stashed in a closet. I'd rather let the cats snag the you know what out of it and make her another one to replace it.

Well... it did take three months to complete. Maybe she should find a glass front cabinet to put it in to keep it safe.

Happy Friday at you!

2004-11-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

Oh yes, I do like that Bloglines/Haloscan feed... :o)

I got really brave this evening and downloaded the new Mozilla Firefox browser. I say I got brave because 99% of the time I try something new I end up in tears and want to toss the computer out the window. This was great, I had no problems at all. It even asked if I wanted to import my bookmarks from my old Mozilla browser. I still haven't set Firefox as my default browser, though I'm not sure why. By the time you read this, I'll bet I have.

Here is the finished ripple afghan for Joy. Yay! I tried to take a photo of it in the house but it was too gray of a day and none of them would come out right. Since it is just a simple ripple I folded it up and carried it outside.

The colors are RH Windsor Blue and Shaded Dusk, both strands carried together. It's strictly lapghan size, and I'll do one more just about the same in the next week or so. Different colors perhaps, I'd love to find a color to coordinate with the lighter colors in the Shaded Dusk. Oh yes, don't forget the P hook! :o)

Yesterday afternoon I opened the mailbox and for the life of me couldn't think of who I knew in Oregon. Shame on me! I have a few friends online from other websites, and this package was from one of those. I guess I talk about snowflakes a lot. She sent me a Simplicity pattern from 1981 in exchange for a couple snowflakes to put on her tree. I can manage that!

Last but not least, here is part of the view from our back deck. Even without bright sunshine there is plenty of color to be seen. Rain in the forecast for this weekend, I'm afraid it will be gone by Thanksgiving.

I love Bloglines!

2004-11-18T23:18:00.000-05:00

Tonight I discovered a new trick of which Bloglines and Haloscan members might want to take advantage. If you are a free user of Haloscan, such as myself, you already know you don't get email notifies of comments left on your blog. However, if you use Bloglines you can get notified the same as you do when blogs you are subscribed to get updated. Haloscan provides an RSS/XML feed for your comments! Simply log in to your account at Haloscan and select "Manage Comments". Under the "Manage Posts" header you have three options, one of which is "Your RSS/XML Feed". Copy and paste that link to your Bloglines account, the same way you would add a blog to your Bloglines list. Easy peasy!

Now, I haven't had a comment yet to see for certain that it works but I believe it will. And I'm not hunting for comments just to see if it does work, but you can bet I'll be paying attention.

The ripple afghan is done, all but working in the ends. I'll take a picture tomorrow. I've started the afghan for my parents, and the socks for my sister are slowly growing.