Wow Has It Been Over a Month?! :0

I don't believe it.... :P Well I have been gone for a couple weeks. And then my Mom was here for a week. So, I have been busy. I haven't even crocheted much in the past month at all~~ That's how busy I have been! :0 Well, I got a very nice package while I was gone. I hardly ever get anything in the mail, so I was surprised when my husband said, 'You got a package'. I asked him who it was from. He said he didn't know (it must have been downstairs, he must have been upstairs... :P). He said 'Do you want me to open it?' :0!!!! 'No,' I said, 'I want to be surprised'.... :D Well I was so surprised when I finally got home and did open it!! I don't know if the person who sent it to me wants her name mentioned here or not, but I can show you what she sent me!! I love it!!: A pretty pink envelope inside the mailing envelope. Inside it were a bunch of 'yummy goodies' (none technically edible, but... :P A rolled up papyrus (?) paper, tied with twine (cool!!) and inside it was a beautiful doily (her own pattern, too!) she made~~ I love it and will have to find a special place for this one. A postcard of a local airport (cool-- I like postcards!!) And a pink satiny pouch. Inside it was a tiny bottle of perfume (photo below-- it's been so long since I posted I must have forgotten how to do the photos....) :P She also sent me the coolest t-shirt (I have already worn it twice, today being the second day).... Here's a picture of me wearing it (see how good it fits!) I meant to have my head not in the picture (not a good hair day) but oh well.... (The sun was blinding me, too). It says, 'Old School', which is totally me. I like to do things the 'old-fashioned' way. I have to ask my kids how to do everything. (I am 'getting there', though...) And here is the lovely little bottle of perfume. I love the scent, I don't wear perfume much, but when I do, I love this scent!!

And, a cell phone purse she made (also her own pattern):

I love this one, the color is perfect for me!! I wanted to make one I could put on the OUTSIDE of my purse, because I can never find my phone buried inside this tiny purse all the time. (Not to self: don't buy small purses no matter how cute they are.... the plan to not carry so much stuff in your purse never works....) :P Well I looped the little strap around the purse strap, and then put the phone through it so it could be on the outside, I LOVE it!! Thanks SO much, my friend from far away. I love it all. :)

Here is some crocheting I did before I left for my vacation. Four squares to send to Lesa for a comfortghan for her daughter who is on the liver transplant list. :( She loves Mickey Mouse and I saw some squares that someone else had made with little Mickey heads on them and tried to do some, too:

You can see the finished afghan here. I posted how I did the Mickey heads here. For some reason I kept thinking about pancakes while I made those.... ;P Every time we (me or my husband) makes pancakes we make Mickey Mouse ones for the kids. Fun. :P  ETA: I posted how I did the Mickey Mouse heads here.

My Mom was here for a week. I took her to the airport this morning. Can you say STRESS? :( I have never driven to the airport here myself (it is aninternational airport and bigger than any airport I have ever been to in my LIFE... ) I did go to this airport once, but my husband was driving, so I didn't pay attention; or care. I am surprised I didn't get hit. People should NOT tailgate people in the airport. (Grrrrrr...) Getting into the parking structure was the hard part. Getting around inside was pretty easy, and leaving was super easy. I even got kind of lost and still found my way home. Not bad for a newbie. I am going to miss my Mom, but maybe we will see each other again soon. I don't know how, but... you never know what might happen.

Well that's all for now. Maybe I'll have some more to post soon. I am in a slump, I guess. I have been trying to be good still, and not start anything new. Well I also don't want to finish any of my old projects.... so what am I to do? Bake? :P Well TTYL everyone~ have a nice day. ;)

Lamb Sweater Progress....

I finished the front!! I am a LOT more pleased with how this looks. I can tell it is pulling in a little on the right. But I think it looks kinda cute, like it is supposed to look like that, maybe? (I am talking about the lamb, by the lamb's head...) I have to give it eyes and ears still. But I wanted to post what I have so far.

And the back. Which has been done forever. But I took another picture so I didn't have to search for it in my photobucket album... These will have to be blocked. I have never blocked anything other than a doily. I will have to see if there is any special thing(s) I am supposed to do...

I have also cast on for one sleeve. I wanted to do both together to save time. But. I only have one ball each of the blue and green. And I figured by the time I split them both up and all it would probably take as much time as just doing them separate.... :P One of my old clients (aka~ someone I used to clean house for :P) told me how to do both sleeves on one needle. I remember looking at her like, 'What are you talking about?' I seriously did not get what she was saying. But after she explained, 'you cast on separately, but on the same needle' I was like, 'Cool!!!!' Hee hee. I was really new in knitting then, so don't be too hard on me... ;) (She probably thought I was a total wacko....) :P (Actually, she was a really nice lady-- kind of like a Grandmother to me.)

Anyway~~ This and my CPH are the only things I am 'allowing' myself to work on. I think I will be finishing this first, as I want to give it to my sister when I go to Michigan and that is coming up soon, here. Have a GREAT DAY, everyone! :)

An Old WIP Made New Again...

Remember this sweater? I must have really been digusted. I haven't worked on it for three years! I have thought about just throwing it away at times. (In one post I said I wanted to take my scissors to it!) But I didn't. It has just been sitting there, collecting dust. (Well, the bag it was in was collecting dust...) I don't know why, but last night I was looking through all my FCEK magazines. I started out looking for scrap yarn knitting projects. (I was being bad, because I probably would have started a new project if I found something I liked!) Well then I started looking for baby sweaters to make for my nephew to be. I remembered the little fishy sweater I made our son before he was born. (I never took a picture of it, it was pre-internet, pre-digital camera, and pre-blog days...) Well actually I did take a picture of it. I suppose I could get it put onto a disk someday.... Then I saw a tractor sweater I could make. Then I *remembered* the sweater I practically have half way done, but stopped because it was so frustrating. Well I dug it out and sat there and ripped out row after row. I tried looking for a fluffy white yarn I could substitute from my stash. (I didn't find anything...) Then I decided to just double the yarn I have been using. This is the result. I think it looks a lot better. It is a *little* bit pulling in on the right side, but I am okay with it. It is a LOT better than the way it was. I hope the rest will turn out okay. This is not the best picture; but you can still kind of tell, no? And, I didn't *technically* cheat on my WIP pile thing I have been trying to get a handle on. This IS an old WIP, in fact, one of THE oldest. So no guilt there. Yay! I guess it definitely won't fit our youngest son (since he is in a 5/6 now!!) But it will definitely fit my nephew, who is not even born yet. :P (That is, if I finish it... which, I definitely think I will, now that I am doing it a lot better...)

I have been working on another WIP, too. The Central Park Hoodie. I finished the left front!! Yay!! I typed in Central Park Hoodie at Ravelry and :0!!! There was over a thousand of them. (That motivated me to get mine out and work on it...)

Sorry about the bad picture. I am not in the mood to fix it though.... (sorry.) I just need a better camera.

And, I.... started the right front!:

If I keep on working on it it will be done soon. I hope it will fit. I have been reading through the posts at Ravelry, and noticed that a few people have said this pattern runs small. And, I am making the size that will just fit me. So.... we will see.

I have also been on a quest to find the knitted version of the Baby Hexagon sweater. Well... (I should have known!) Elizabeth Zimmerman created the Baby Surprise Sweater in 1968. Someone posted about it in my thread at Crochetville. I asked her for more information and she posted this!! I thought at first that it was the pattern for it, but it's not... But, if you go all the way to the end of the page, it does tell you where to find the pattern. That sent me on another quest to find it. I went to ebay and found one of the Knitter's magazines it is in. And a few of the books, but there was already bidding on them.... Soooo.... I bought a 'Buy It Now' one. (The Opinionated Knitter.) I thought I would rather have the book than just a magazine... Well I also found a link (on Ravelry) where you can buy just the sweater pattern from Schoolhouse Press. (Which, I did. But, I still wanted the book, too.) The Baby Surprise Sweater (on that page I linked to) is 1B. It came in the mail today. (I SO badly want to start one, but... I am being good.) Really, I actually don't want to start one right now. I am getting too much things going on, and it's really starting to get to me. So I want to finish them, first. One thing I noticed was, I paid $2.50 for shipping, and on the envelope it said $0.42? What's up with that? It was just like two pieces of paper. If I was to mail that myself, it would only cost one stamp. Hmmmm. Oh well. Anyway, back to the Crochetville thread.... Someone else also posted (in a different thread, that I found-- I don't know how...) a similar knitted sweater (not exactly the same, but somewhat similar) pattern online, too. Well stay tuned for some FO's soon, hopefully!

Another Hexagon Baby Sweater

And another WIP to cross off my list. (I decided to not do the booties for either set...) It will make my stress load a lot lighter as far as that goes.... This one, I *think* I did in an F hook and fingering weight yarn. I wrote it down somewhere (sigh)... Anyway it is a true newborn size. I don't think it would have fit any of *my* newborns, as big as they were... But. The hat is the trusty old FCEC magazine (Fall 2006) hat I have done with a lot of sweaters. I am going to save this set for my sister and her husband since they're having a boy. Hopefully it isn't as big as mine were! (I got my big baby gene from my paternal grandmother..... and, we have different dads...)

"Spots"~ The Spotted Puppy :P

Well I was doing okay, trying to get caught up on all my WIPs (they are getting out of control, even for me...) Then I saw Alisha's Fen the Spotted Puppy. Our youngest son has been wanting me to make him a dog ( 'A pink Schnauzer' even though when he says it, it sounds more like 'A pink Shawzer'...) :P Well I saw Alisha's puppy (even I thought it was cute!), and showed it to him. He said (and I knew he would) 'Can you make me one of those!?' ('Just like that one?') So I asked to be a tester and Alisha said yes.... Well. You can see the rest. ;) I think I am done making him toys. (THAT is getting out of hand, too... I should line up all the toys I have crocheted just for him, and take a picture....)

Anyway. I wanted to list my WIP "pile" (even though they are not all laying in a pile... :P) So I can try to work on it.... (sigh....) Not in any particular order:

~Central Park Hoodie
~Chevron Granny Sweater
~Navajo Afghan
~Granny scrapghan
~ Bunny scarf, hat, mitten set
~booties for Hexagon Granny Sweater (yellow one)
~hat and booties for Hexagon Granny Sweater (white and blue one, which I haven't posted about yet...)
~ Kewpie doll dress Tampa Doll sent me pattern for
~Diego Bag
~knitted hat and I-cord for booties for knitted sweater set
~Bear ghan cuddle thingy (from Crochet World)

Well that is all I have written down. I'm sure there are probably more I have forgotten about or that are never going to be finished (like my BMC doily....) And things I should make but haven't even started (because I know they will be WIPs forever and don't even want to start them!) Sigh (again)..... Well at least I have them all written down and that's a 'start', eh? :P Have a Great Day everyone and thanks for stopping by. :)

Here It Is With a Hat...

The hat I used is the Granny Skull Cap. I used a G hook and the same baby yarn. I hope it will fit. The hat barely measured to 7 inches wide, the sweater measured to about a 24 month wide (!!!) and only 6 month sleeves? So, I pulled it in a little with buttons and snaps to be a little more narrow. Anyway thought I'd post the whole set... :P

Hexagon Baby Sweater

I finished one today. After the harrowing trip to the dentist I just kind of vegged out today. I saw one of these on someone's blog, then saw another one someone else had done on Crochetville, who posted the link where she found it on You Tube. (It is in Portugese.) So you see how hard it was to "get" this pattern. :P The visual was very good though. And it helped that she counted the stitches (I don't know Portuges or Spanish, but I know how to count to ten in Spanish~thank you Sesame Street!) So after watching and listening and rewinding the videos, I got the basic gist of it. I wrote it up on my pattern blog. (Even though it isn't MY pattern, just for somewhere to put it...) I want to make up a little hat and some booties if I can find some. I think this is approximately a 6-9 months size. The sleeves are more six month but the chest measurement was a 24 month. So I pulled the front edge over a bit with snaps (I hadn't sewn them on yet when I took this picture.). Anyway. I will definitely be making more of these, it was so fun. Isn't it neat how crochet is universal? It doesn't matter what language you speak.

If Four Wasn't Bad Enough, Now There Are Three More!!

Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Can I complain some more? I am so utterly, completely, totally disgusted!! I'm so mad. I don't know at WHO. I certainly have taken care of my teeth. It's not as if I never even brush. Or brush for two seconds. I don't know why my teeth are so bad. I just want to cry. I went in today to have four cavities taken care of. Two of which are still not completely done. And it was NOT fun!!! It was, in fact, painful. I want to go to my old dentist in Michigan. Pain free. And it wasn't as expensive as this dentist!! So much for having insurance, our insurance isn't even covering anything. I am just disgusted with the whole thing. How expensive can teeth be? Well my bill is over $3,000. It's a bleeping crime. Well after my four cavities were done, she took some more x-rays and pictures and~~~ YAY!!!~~ found THREE MORE cavities!!! If you hear someone screaming, it might be me..... :(

Plum Trees

Remember this post? Well those flowering trees are plum trees!! My husband and I were walking one day (a while ago), and I saw some small fruity looking things on the sidewalk. I said 'huh?'. We kept walking and I noticed something hanging from the trees. Plums! I picked one and ate it. It wasn't quite ripe yet and was very small, but how cool!! Some kids (I'm assuming) threw some at our house when we were gone one weekend. My husband said they were probably throwing them at everyone's house. Grrrr. That makes me mad. Someday those plums may be all they have to eat. I want to go pick some. But I don't want to look like the crazy lady in the neighborhood picking plums off the trees by the sidewalk... :P I found a plum torte recipe that looks like it would be yummy with ice cream.

It's A....

My baby sister is having a baby this year. They just found out 'It's a Boy!' :P I am so happy for her/them. (I would be just as happy if it was a girl, but....) I happen to be a little partial to boys. :P (Being surrounded by them, I guess I have been assimilated.... resistance was futile...) ha ha. Well, this makes it easier for me to decide what to make them. I already have one baby boy sweater and sockies done. I just have to finish a cap. I was waiting to see what 'it' was, first.... And, I want to make a Noah's Ark baby afghan like Janet made. And the one benthyreeders made and just posted today-- cute!! I have looked high and low for the May '08 Crochet! magazine, I have not been able to find it anywhere. I subscribed to the magazine, though.... Maybe my first issue will be that one? At least I will probably be able to ge a back issue... I should look into that today. Well have a nice day everyone.

Growing Your Own Tea Leaves

This is one of those things I wonder about. I don't have much space here to grow anything. But I am still interested in it. I googled (don't you love the internet?) and found a few pages that are interesting. This site has all different kinds of tea plant/leaves. This one is for 'regular' tea. Did you knowyou can make oolong, green or black tea all from the same leaf? This page tells how. (I believe you can get to that page from the first page, but.... I am still not fully awake, so...)

I took all the kids to the dentist (and the 'big kid' went, too.) ;) I was so happy (and amazed) that NO ONE had any cavities!! Well, then I went.... (Insert fuming mad, growling, barking smiley here).... :( I can't believe it. I had FOUR cavities!! ?????????? Why? I am the one who flosses all the time, brushes my teeth three or four times a day. Takes vitamins, tries to eat fruits and vegetables and drink herbal or green tea. Why me? :((( It makes me so mad. Now I have to get them taken care of. I hope it isn't medieval dentistry like one dentist office I went to. Ugh. or.... should I say..... aaargh....

I'm still crocheting. I had been knitting some dishcloths. Mostly the 'idiot's dishcloth'. One four corners, too. I got super bored with everything and started something new. I'm bad. I haven't made a bed doll dress in years!! I was RAOK'd some really cute 'air freshener doll' bed doll dress patterns by a wonderful Crochetviller. I finally am getting around to making one. I had bought a Kewpie doll at Hobby Lobby and wondered if there were any dress/clothing patterns for them. I posted about it at Crochetville. And this doll herself sent me some!! I wasn't sure where my Kewpie doll was. I only had to look in one place, where I thought it might be. And it was. :P (Thank goodness.) I also found two little $1 dolls for cradle purses. Last night I spent way too much time online looking for cradle purse patterns. I had one that another C'viller had made up, but it is on my other computer which is fried. :( Anyway, I do have a couple patterns for that. (I haven't started any, I want to finish this dress first.) Back to the bed dolls, someone at Crochetville had made a 'cool whip' bed doll. Kinda neat. I had never heard of anything like that. I guess her Grandma used to make them for her. She could put her pajamas in the container. With everyone so into recycling now and being green, that is a pretty good idea. :P

Anyway that is what I have been up to. The kids have a well-child visit today at their new pediatrician. They haven't been since we lived in Michigan. :( I am not happy about that, but.... what can you do? No money and no insurance makes for no doctor visits unless there is an emergency. So now they have been to the dentist and after today, the doctor. I will feel relieved as far as that goes. Now it will be my turn. Hopefully no more bad news!! :(

Well I wanted to go to the post office (not really) today so I better get a move on here. I hope everyone is having a good week. :)

Another Afghan WIP....

I haven't worked on this one in a long time. I have just been using it as a lapghan, or to wrap around my shoulders when my husband turns the air on. lol. I looked through my blog to see if I ever posted about this. I did. Way back in March of '06. Sheesh. (I still have not finished that BMC doily yet, either. I doubt I ever will. I hate that thing....) I love this afghan, though. I already told everyone it's mine. :P (I'm the only one that uses it, anyway.) I have only done about six rows since last working on it, but it seems a lot bigger. Maybe it's just in my head. :P Since the last time I posted about it, though; I think I have done about another foot at least. I think it is going to be huge when it's done. It's already almost big enough to use as an afghan (for me, at least). I have been working on it a lot lately. And my Central Park Hoodie, too. I hope to get all these UFOs done before I start any new ones. Or at least get the pile down to a reasonable amount.... :P

Spanakopitas

Mini spinach pies in phyllo dough.... This was the only one left by the time I thought to take a picture. I have been wanting to make these for a while. I got the spinach to make them, phyllo dough... and ricotta cheese, mozarella.... When I got the cookbook out I didn't actually need all those ingredients. (I think they may have tasted better with them, though; now after eating them...) The recipe I used was similar to this one. Where I used to work every now and then I would do appetizers & cocktails. The spinach pies were sooo good. (We weren't supposed to eat the food, shhh....) When you stand out in the foyer smelling and staring at them all night, though (and you're starving since you didn't have dinner!) it is almost impossible. (Everyone did it, anyway... You just had to know who not to get caught by...) They threw away all the excess anyway (that was what really burned me...). If there was any extra special cookies or anything, you couldn't take them home for your kids, they just threw them away rather than have employees 'steal' the food.... Anyway!!! Don't know how I got off on that subject....

I have been wanting to make some jam thumbprints, too. I don't like nuts in my cookies, though. I have been trying to look for a recipe without nuts. Someday this week I'll probably make some with the kids. Here are some beautiful cookies on a tray. (Hope you weren't hungry....) Her recipe has nuts, too, though... Here's one recipe with no nuts. (No picture though.) Here's another one with no nuts. And a picture. Not as pretty as the first link, but... Hope you have a nice weekend.

Moon Cakes

I am reading a book I got from the library, take one big guess what the title is... :P Moon Cakes by Andrea Louie. I just like to look at the cover and title of the book. If it looks like I will like it, I then proceed to read the inside cover.... Well I started reading this book and at first I just could not get into it. But, I kept reading it.... And finally kind of started liking it. She talks about moon cakes. I didn't know these were a real thing. (I have never been outside of the U.S...) This is what they look like. If you scroll to the right, you can see the moon cake presses she made them with. Here are a few recipes for mooncakes: at aboutdotcom, dltk or something.., Spices of Life blog (this is the same person who took the picture in first link)~ I think this is the one I printed out.... If you google you could probably find a recipe you like. I went to an Asian Market today. I was hoping to find some moon cakes or a press. But I didn't see either. We have a China town near here I will have to have my husband take me there soon so I can look for Moon Cakes. Maybe they are only available during the Moon Festival.... I don't know. If I find any, I'll be sure to take a picture of them and share them here. :)

Go Speed Racer!

I have no interest whatsoever in this movie, especially since Susan Sarandon is in it!? (What is up with that?) You can watch a preview/trailer of it here, if you want... I was just curious what Speed Racer looked like. The kids kept saying, 'Speed Racer is white, Mom'... Well it isn't exactly 'Speed Racer', but it's a cool little race car that Nutsaboucrochet13 let me be a tester for! It should be up in her Etsy store soon. (I like her bowling set, too.)

Here he is~ already racing! He wasted no time finding the track. :P The little guy pops out, and his helmet comes off. The wheels rotate, too. They don't really *spin*, but I think the whole car is pretty cool beans! Thanks again for letting me test it for you!

Wild Burros Crossing!

When we first moved here, we saw these signs on the roads out of town... I never thought I'd actually see one, though! Well, Sunday afternoon, we did! And more than one. They were on the side of the road, down off the highway. So we turned around and drove back there to see them.

Aren't they cute!!? They're so cool looking. Look at the little black one. He (or she?) was the coolest one. Also the shyest one, the rest just stood there and looked at us. The black one would walk away then look back. I took these pictures with my phone, so they are even more blurry (or as blurry, maybe?) than my regular camera...

I always thought I would see burros somewhere like by the Mexican border, maybe. I guess we are not too far from it, here. I think maybe the burros are used to humans. Which isn't a good thing, probably. The one in this picture just stood there and stared at us for a while before going up on the hill. He probably would have come over to our car had we offered him food. (Which we didn't...) Well I thought I would share these with you. Hope you are all having a good week. :)

It's Done! FINALLY....

One big FO done. This rectangle granny ghan I started.... hmmm.... way back in I don't even know when. I posted about it back in March of '07, and it was quite aways along.... I started it for my Father In Law, and now we'll have to mail it to him... unless we go back to Michigan, any time soon.... It measures 54 inches wide X 64.5 inches long. Wow. I crocheted the last light blue stripe until I knew I couldn't go another whole way around (not enough yarn left). Then, I wanted to at least end it off with one row of dark blue. That's about all I had enough for, anyway. So there she is folks. I have to weave in a few more ends, wash and block (does anyone block afghans?) it.... Maybe I won't block it. Now to finish my Navajo afghan, Central Park Hoodie, Chevron Granny sweater.... I did work on my Central Park Hoodie today. I also need to crochet or knit a sweater set for my sister who is due in October. I am waiting to find out what *it* is, though; first. :) Have a Great Weekend everyone!

Another Lighthouse Bookmark Pattern

I just finished this bookmark recently. I don't know if any of you saw/remember my black and white bookmark I made (years ago....).... I made a revised version, to look like Cape Palliser lighthouse, in New Zealand. It's kind of a mixture between that one, and one I found a picture of in Germany. (Links to see them both are on same page as revised pattern.) Just thought I'd share. :) Hope all is well with everyone and you're having a nice Monday. (As nice as a Monday can be, eh?) :P

Some Non-Crochet Stuff I Have Been Doing Lately...

Paper stuff. My other big hobby.... When I get in the mood. I have been making cards. I got in the mood the other day, (actually this is the second card I did, the first one is below...) Me and my five year old make cards together. (Mostly, I "help" him, and then I finish mine when he is gone from the table...) He loves to do it. I think I've opened up a can of worms, though. Now he wants to make cards every day. And all of my cards are gone.... I'll have to get some more. Otherwise, it's a folded up piece of printer paper for him. (Which I would rather he use, anyway.) I should have taken some pictures of his cards. One is in an envelope, to be sent... Long story.... I could have sent it by now, but he stamped all over the front of the envelope (I told him not to, but.... he's only five...) The other one he made is a cactus (blue :P) one, like mine. :D Oh, I got the idea to make this one from a book from the library, Simply Beautiful Greeting Cards, by Heidi Boyd..

Here is my lame attempt at a lighthouse greeting card. I don't think this one is quite done yet. I want to do more to it, but don't know what.... I don't know why these pictures are so blurry again. They weren't, in my camera.... Grrr. This is the only lighthouse stamp I own. I got it when we went up north in Michigan, at a little drug store, I think. I remember being surprised to see a stamp there. Anyway. It's the Round Island Lighthouse. You can see it on route the ferry to Mackinac Island. I found this site about the Round Island Lighthouse~ which is very informative, I have it in my favorites. :P I have liked lighthouses forever. Just get more interested in them off and on... Lately as you can see, is an "on" time... :D I just finished crocheting one of my lighthouse bookmarks. I looked at a bunch of lighthouse pictures, and revised my pattern a little. I will post a picture and revised instructions on my pattern blog after I block and take a good picture of the bookmark. This is only the second one I have ever made of these. Hmm. Anyway, while I was looking at lighthouse pictures, I added a few links to the bookmark pattern page. Lighthouses that look somewhat like my bookmark. ? (kind of?)

And this is a very bad picture of (a very bad drawing.... :P) I drew a lighthouse. (Insert blushing embarrassed smiley here....) I thought I would post it, anyway. Maybe if you click on it you can see it better. I found directions online on 'how to draw a lighthouse'. I have never been an artist, I will tell you right now. (In case you couldn't tell yourself...) But I got in the mood to draw! (Strange...) My brother is the artist in the family. I always *tried* to draw when I was younger, but gave up after a couple feeble attempts. Our middle son is the artist in our family. Our oldest can draw pretty good, too (if it is a Star Trek ship.... :P) The five year old likes to draw... time will tell.

Last Night I Visited the Frog Pond...

That makes it sound like it was so much fun. 'Frog Pond'.... I actually; in reality, sat on my couch and ripped out all the rows I did wrong, all the way back to where I started decreases... Rewound all my yarn, and untangled it in between..... sigh.... Anyway, I finally got back to where I was. Yay! This looks more like what I thought it should look like. I don't know if I mentioned what colors I am using... Frosty green, camo and dark sage green.

New WIP

Like I need another WIP.... But, now I have one. :P I started the Chevron Sweater. It doesn't seem like it is working out right, though.... Doesn't it seem like the sides should go straight down, like this:

Hmmm.... Well, I shared this picture with the designer, so maybe he will know what I am doing wrong? I didn't feel like working on it anymore today.

I hope you are all having a great weekend. And staying warm or staying cool, depending on the weather where you are.... :P Why is it that cold feels good when it's hot out but when it's cold, you want it hot? I know *why*, but.... it's just one of those weird things I think about.... :) And why am I working on sweaters when it's 90 out?!! I should be making tank tops or something.... I guess I'm just not used to it being this warm in APRIL! It should still be snowy and cold.....

Central Park Hoodie Progress!

I finished the back last night! (Yay!!) I have to block it, but I tried to get it lay out flat as possible... I am so happy. I was watching tv (monk, then Star Wars IV New Hope :P) and knitting and I didn't mess up. I measured it, and it was perfect! I couldn't believe it. Well it should have been perfect, but I always seem to mess things up... I feel like I accomplished something, and did it right, to boot. :P

Then I cast on for the left front. My five year old got up on the couch with me and was being my cuddle bunny. He said, 'Are you making this part?' and rubbed on the front of his shirt. :O A little knitter is blooming!! I said 'Yes! You're so smart!'

I actually had started another sweater last night, THIS one, by Ken Jones. My husband doesn't really like it, but I do! I saw it at Crochetville. (Of course) :P Anyway, I had some variegated that I had actually bought for the middle stripe, but.... I really don't like it. I want to take it back and get some camo. I am not a big camo girl, but I think it will work with this. It's going to be green, too. I'm using the same Frosty Green, and Dark Sage, and when I get some camo, I'll use that for the middle. Well since I couldn't work on it anymore last night, I got out my other sweater I NEED to finish, and worked on it... :D

And Another One...

... Make that two! I made another one last night after the one with white on the top.... And today I finished the pink one. I wanted to make one more like the one that was sent to me.... :D (I will send it to my friend who crochets.) These are so cute and fast and fun. One of those instant gratification projects. And not totally useless, it is a pincushion. I think you could use it for crochet hooks, too. Well TTFN folks...

Thanks, Jodi!!

I wanted the pattern so bad, I posted a thread at Crochet Mania to see if anyone knew what the pattern was.... Jodi posted a couple links and I made one tonight. :D Yay.... I think next time I will change the sc's on the top back to red, but it looks almost identical. Thanks so much, Jodi. These are the two links she posted: Hat Pin Cushion, and the one I made tonight: Crocheted Hat Pincushion Now I'm off to see what other colors I can make...

Mail Call....

I got two more things in the mail today. Another square, from gwenyvarr this time. Thank you Shannan. I think this is my last square. :( I am going to be so bummed when I don't get any mail now... I like the color in this one. If only someone could come to my house and put them all together for me now.... :P Thanks again Shannan, and everyone!

And I got a surprise giftie in the mail from Lynn S.!! Thank you Lynn (if you read my blog at all...) :P It's a cute little red hat. And I'm not even "in" the Red Hat Society. :P I was trying to figure out what it was/is.... It unrolls... I thought 'hmmm.... maybe it's just for decoration?' Then I got a huge brain storm (I need a nap now.... :P) and thought, 'Oh. Maybe it's like a hook holder?' I've seen one somewhere (probably Crochetville?) that was like that and thought 'oh I should make one of those one day.....' Well (if that is what it is, and I think it is....) now I have one! Thanks again, Lynn. :D Does anyone know/has anyone seen this hat or know where the pattern is? I'd like to make one (even though I *have* one....) It would be cute to send out for an RAOK or just for a gift for someone who crochets.... Thanks and have a great day. :)

Recieved Another Square

..and a postcard, from Jodi. Thanks Jodi. I like the snowflake look in this one. And the colors, too. It's nice to have more brown! I was thinking, 'I wonder how many postcards I have now?' So I looked through my junk drawer (nightstand it's all junk drawers, really...) I only found about six (three or four of which were from my brother). I thought I had more. Oh well.

Here's something I have been working on... Grannies daughters. For the April challenge at CFAC. Lynn V said it takes 55 of these to make a shawl. So this is 55 grannies daughters. Enough for one whole shawl. All packed up and ready to go. I will probably not mail them til the end of the week. I have one more square to finish up for the Square a Month Swap. Then I'll be done. :( I've also been working on finger puppets. That's the second half of the April/May Challenge. So far I have five finished. I was trying to go through my blog to see the other finger puppets I've made in the past. I couldn't find any. But I did find about four in our sons' toy box. He saw all the ones I was making and wanted them. I said ('oh no!') 'You already have some, I know I made you some. Go look in your toy box.' I was the one who ended up finding them all for him. None of which he even played with. :/ The challenge is to make ten. I might make it, I am already on #6. TTFN everyone. :)

Ensign Bear: To The Bridge!

Hee Hee.... You have probably seen my Stripey Bears, and my Peppermint Bears.... Well now meet: Ensign Bear! My son came up with the idea while I was crocheting a peppermint bear (being the trekkie that he is....). :P He drew me up an example, and I finally got around to starting one. We had been bidding on some tricorders on ebay and kept getting outbid. He was getting kinda bummed, so I thought 'I should crochet him that bear that might cheer him up'... (We still plan on getting a tricorder, someday....) Here he is, ready to fly off into the Delta Quadrant, on a never-ending search for Earth.....

Random Stuff...

I finally got around to taking a picture of the Navajo afghan I started for the Smoke Signals CAL. It's getting there... I'd say maybe halfway there? It's pretty wide.

I made some cookies tonight. I got an overwhelming urge to make lemon cookies. So I googled.... (easier than trying to look through cook books). Plus I found an easier recipe than is in any of my cookbooks: Italian Lemon Cookies. They're pretty easy to make, too. (And yummy.) I never used to like lemon flavored anything.... Maybe I'm turning into my mother. :P

Catching Up...

It seems like I never get to go on the computer anymore lately... I haven't blogged in a while. We did get a new computer, I don't know if I said that in my last post... The kids seem to be more addicted to the computer than me, lately. Anyway~ I got an RAOK!! :D I couldn't believe it. I thought it was something else I was expecting (a square, for the Square A Month Swap at Crochetmania...) But then I looked at the package, and it said 'Crochetville RAOK'!! Woo Hoo! I said 'I got an RAOK!' to my son (he brought the mail upstairs). He said 'What's so big about an RAOK?' I said 'It's like a present, you weren't expecting'. :P From Amyjk at Crochetville. Thank you so much, Amy. You don't know how you brightened my day. I have been kind of depressed lately. I don't know why. I have nothing to be depressed about. I think it is hormones, to tell you the truth... Anyway I didn't mean to get off track, there... Amy sent me notecards, envelopes, a journal, two pens, stickers (yay!), and a bag of my favorite candy, Werthers!!

A picture of the stickers (FIVE pages of them!)~~ Thank you again, Amy.

This is a chicken hotpad I just bought on ebay. I saw it through Crochetville, had to buy one. You can find more chickens (and other cute potholders, too) here. Then I bought this pattern book, which has a pattern for one that is very similar. I made one, but it's in the closet and hubby's asleep right now... I am not going to be using this one for a hotpad, I want to get a couple little hanging hooks to hang on the side of the fridge to 'display' them.. :P

And here is a bag I am working on for our five year old.... (oi) It's Diego. I am glad this side is done. I have been feeling SOOOO ADD lately. Scatterbrained, can't concentrate, can only 'take' so much, then want to stop (crocheting)...... I just need to get some graph paper or 'make' my own, to graph out the other side to say 'Eon's bag'. I asked him, 'What do you want the other side to say, Eon?' 'I'm cute' :0 (He IS cute, but wow. That was funny and also one of those, 'hmmm' moments....) I said "What about 'Eon's bag'?" 'Just Eon'. I finally talked him into having it say 'Eon's bag'.... (Any other suggestions?) Eon is pronounced like 'Ian', by the way... :P Anyway, I made a Dora bag a while ago (in case you aren't sick to death of hearing about my Dora bag....) :P So, I thought, 'I should make a 'Diego' bag, too!' Thanks to Mary Jo, I was able to do one. Thanks so much, again; Mary Jo (and John, too!) :)

And last but definitely not least.... I got some more squares. :) This one came today, from Dragonflymom. They look kind of like little spiderwebs, don't they? I like it, it's kind of lacy but not too holey, either. Thank you Aurora!

And this one, from StitchnLocks, I can't remember what day it came (sometime in between today and the last time I blogged?) ;P Thanks so much, Aminah! I really like this one, too. (Well I like them all, but...) :P I like how the stripe pattern goes. And it is ALL the colors I posted; I think. Anyway, it's great and thanks again. :)

And this one came from Libilou! I know this one, it's Waldo's Puzzle. (Not sure about the other two, though...) I have done this one before, in green. For a comfortghan. I don't think I have a picture for it. Hmm.... Well, it's called Waldo's Puzzle, I think I found it on either Heartmade Blessings or CPC. Oh, by the way, Kathy, if you read my blog again.... I tried to leave a comment but apparently it didn't work so I will just post it here.... I am not sure what all the squares were, in my last post. I know the one on the top (the brown and red one) is 'Kingcup', and is from the 200 Crochet Blocks book. The other two might be found on either of the two sites I just mentioned (CPC and HMB). :) Hope that helps. I hope everyone is having a nice week, wherever you are. :) Oh and thank you for the stickers, too; Libilou! I have already used two or three of them writing letters. Thanks so much to everyone.