Tape Measures!

Peppermint Swirls! (Of course I would have to do this one first~~ How Cool is That?!) A cute little bee, too. :p A ladybug! Oh my goodness, it's so cute! Here is a whole page of cute ones! A snowflake?! Another whole page of cute ones. A rabbit with a carrot? I'm not too sure about that page... (I don't know if you could actually buy it there?) Actually, you can order that rabbit one from the first 'whole page of cute ones'... Nautical tape measure. It's from Pottery Barn. A cake! And of course, the ever popular sheep tape measure..... Wow. This could keep me busy for a while... :P

Knitting and Gingerbread Men...

It sounds so exciting... doesn't it? :P Here is another cap and sockies set I have finished. Woo hoo. This is definitely a newborn set. Which is what I was going for. But I didn't know if the hat would turn out a newborn size or not.... It did. One of those times when it all worked out right in the end. Yay. ;P It will be going to Pine Ridge, too. I have also almost finished with the fringe on this baby blanket. I cannot wait til it is done. (I am soooo done with it!) I'll take a picture of it when it's completed. I've been trying really hard to not start a new project until the one I am working on is completely done. I am doing good so far. I finished the hat and sockies, and am trying to get the fringe done now. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up. But...

Here are some gingerbread cookies the kids and I made a while back. Can you believe I have never made gingerbread cookies in my whole life? They really weren't hard at all. No harder than sugar cookies. And yummy, too. They weren't super sweet, the icing just made them perfect.

Here are some the kids decorated. :P I did the stars and heart, and the bottom snowman. I think they made one of every single cookie cutter I have. Of course, I had to make at least one gingerbread man!

I looked at every single store around to find a gingerbread man cookie cutter but I could not find one. So, I used an old metal one my mom gave me that was kinda bent.... I didn't think it would look good, but it came out pretty cool. I should take a picture of the cookie cutter so you can see why I didn't want to use it.... But it came out fine. Well I'll see you all next year. Hee hee... Be safe!

Recycled yarn

I want to try this someday. I saw it on Stitch N Locks blog today.

http://www.neauveau.com/recycledyarn.html

Some Works In Progress...

Or should I say 'A' WIP.... (One of many, anyway...) This is a sockie I have started. Remember this post? (Scroll all the way down...) And here's another pair I did. I have made a blue set just like the green set, too.

Well I suppose this will be the 'white speckled set'... I just got the urge to make a pair. (This, folks, is why I never finish anything...) ugh. I also started a pair of socks last night. But I didn't like the way they felt and I cut off what I had done.... I also did a gauge swatch for the Central Park Hoodie but (di di di... or however it is spelled...) All you need is worsted weight yarn for this sweater. I have never worked with the yarn they had suggested, so how was I to know it is WW? I am also not good with needle size/ gauge, and 'just knowing' these things. Yet. (Or ever.) So. I got some 'Frosty Green' Red Heart. Yes, it is about one fifth the cost of what the other yarn is. But. I don't think it is going to make for a very comfy sweater. I don't know what else to do. Wool makes me itch like there's no tomorrow. One time I wore a wool sweater all day; and kept itching all day.... looked in the mirror when I went to the bathroom, and had red welts all over where the sweater touched my neck. (Isn't that called 'hives'?) If that isn't allergic, then I don't know what is? Or is it 'than'? Hmmm... anyway. I have not been feeling well it has been 'one of those days'... I think I have some kind of mild flu. I made lunch for the kids, and all of a sudden felt like I was going to vomit. (TMI?) I felt dizzy, and shaky. After I got their lunch ready, I went and laid down. When my husband got home I asked him if he didn't feel good. (He was laying on the couch.) He described every one of my symptoms. (Whew!) I was so relieved. I was beginning to worry it might NOT be the flu. But a 40 week long thing... :P Anyway that's about all for now. Have a nice weekend everyone.

I Got a Package from Australia Today!

And, I finally took a picture of the card that Mary Jo sent me, too. :D She put one of the new 'Holiday Knits' stamps on it, too. My favorite one~ the teddy bear. Thank you again for thinking of us and wishing us good luck in our new home, Mary Jo.

My son went to get the mail today. When he came back he said, 'You got a package from Australia'. I said 'Are you serious?' (I have not been feeling good all day and have been out of it, so I thought maybe I was half dreaming?) lol... It had cute Koalas all over the outside... (I love them, they are so cute!) I knew who it was from, before I even looked at the return address.... :P Makes me want to make another koala bear... And the inside envelope had them, and a Koala card, too. And some Australian holiday stamps. Thank you, Cupcake!

And she sent a 2008 Australian birds calendar. I love it!! I love all birds, and birds from Australia are even more cool~ Thanks so much. I have also been looking for a 2008 calendar since I don't have one yet... Thank you. :)

And another stamp book! The kids all love this one. With more stamps! Awesome!!

And a shark~'Yikes! He's biting me!' :P When you move the page the mouth opens and closes, it is so cool. Thanks so much, Cupcake!

Central Park Hoodie, Here I Come!

I am diving in head first, and making one of these. Have you seen it? The Central Park Hoodie? It is awesome. I had to buy it. I am taking a tiny break from knitting my gauge swatch, to tell you about it... I don't know if this yarn will work out or not. (Wool-Ease... I have a ton of it in Burgundy Sprinkles.) I so want to make one in the yellow-green, but I think I am allergic to wool. I itch SO bad when I wear it, anyway. So I am going to try to find a non-wool alternative to use. Meanwhile, I am going to see if this yarn will work.... Stay tuned. :)

Peppermint Bears

Here is another peppermint bear I recently finished. The stripes are just a little bit different. :P I am sending both of these for RAOKs.... :D I haven't sent an RAOK out in a long time. It's gonna be fun. I just recently signed back up on the wishlist at Crochetville, and at CrochetMania, too.

I got a cute Mickey Mouse card today from Mary Jo~ Thank you Mary Jo! I also got a thank you card from the person who my friend and I made the comfortghan for. I guess one of her squares (my friends squares) are coming apart. :( I wish I was there so I could fix it, or help her fix it. She doesn't know what she did.

Have a Nice Day Everyone!

Tall Peppermint Mocha w/ Soy, Please?

I got this idea today... don't know how, but I think it was inspired by the Peppermint Mocha I got today.... :P

I posted the pattern on my pattern blog if anyone would like to make one. It didn't take long at all to make.

This is a star flower bookmark I made. My second cousin (I keep wanting to call her my niece... she is the same age as our oldest son...) has been in and out of the hospital with open heart surgery. :( I wanted to send her *something*, even though I know it won't change the outcome of anything... I just wanted to let her know we have been thinking about her, and that we care. I hope she will pull through this one okay.

Peppermint Bear

I was about done with making the striped bears for a while, but....After looking through a book I just recently bought ('Mad About Scraps' by Annie's Attic) and seeing some 'peppermint people'; and seeing Mimi's neat idea on wrapping something like a candy cane.... I got an idea to make a 'peppermint bear'. Or, my kids have been calling it a candy cane bear. I just had to make one. What do you think? I think it's cute, but I don't know if it's just me... I want to get some red ribbon to tie around its neck. I'll probably send this one to someone, too. I haven't decided who yet, though. Probably an RAOK or something... I have just recently read about 'Make a Child Smile'. KristieMN posted about it at Crochetville. So I don't know. Maybe I'll send this bear to one of the kids for the month of December. The link above will take you to that page. (Taryns' picture is not loading fully for me, but maybe it is just my computer...) Have a Nice Weekend, everyone.

Three Bears

Where's Goldilocks? lol. These are three stripey bears I have done recently. You already have seen the one on the far left, (or middle?).... I did another one almost just like her. The ears and tail are a different purple. Then I did a 'boy' bear. I was going to send these to UC Davis; but I guess I missed the deadline to send them. So maybe I'll just save it and send it next time. The other two, I have someone else in mind to send to.

I have been working on comfortghan squares for someone. They are all done, I just haven't taken a picture. I haven't felt like even crocheting much, lately. Just kind of in the dumps lately, I guess.

The Stripey Girl Bear is Done!

Yay! Here she is, standing on her own two legs... :P I love her little round tummy.

This one was taken last night, it was kinda dark so I put her right underneath my lamp in the bedroom...

Here she is with Rupert (our sons' bear). They were fast friends, before I even sewed her tail on! Rupert thinks she is his sister.... this is going to be hard; breaking the news to him, but.... she is going away... :(

I will have to make one just like her, just for me. :D I need to get some more purple yarn, though. Every time I make one of these, my stitches get tighter. I think I got used to doing amigurumi, and now I do it for all my stuffed animals? Well, it really works better for the bears. I am going to see if I can find a teddy bear book and/or coloring book to send with this bear. (Dollar store, here I come...) :/ (They really have some nice stuff there!)

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

Grandma's Scrappy Bear- Work In Progress

That's WIP for short... This is the bear I posted about a couple posts back. I finally got some eyes, and they had different colored eyes; blue and I can't remember what other ones... green, maybe? I think the green ones were 15 mm, though; and 'cat' eyes. I had to get the blue ones! I think this bear is going to be my favorite one yet. I am going to have a really hard time letting go of it. :( Maybe I'll have to make one for myself one day. I don't know if you can see/tell in the picture, but that is snow on our neighbors' roof. This morning we woke up and there was snow on the ground! I could tell it was coooold last night! I was freezing, with the covers on. I kept thinking, 'I should get up and turn on the heat'. I just got another blanket, though and eventually fell asleep. Well this morning I got up and heard the heat kick on, and when I asked all the kids if they turned it on, they said no. So it must have been on already... I must have forgot to turn it off from the last cold spell we had. Hmm. Anyway~ I just have the arms and legs to finish. I might work on it some later. Well thanks for stopping by.

Floppy Friends Bunny

I finished this earlier today... Our ten year old asked me one day a couple/few weeks ago, 'Mom, can you make me a white bunny; with a black tail?' (Hmmm.... oooookaaaay... I thought.) 'Sure' I said. I already had KristieMN's Floppy Friends pattern, and had been wanting to make one, anyway. It didn't take that long to finish the crocheting. I just didn't have any animal eyes. So today I finally was able to go get some. And some poly pellets.

And here's his black tail. ;P I don't know where they come up with things, but it sure did turn out cute. Now the five year old wants a 'blue bunny with a green tail'..... Oi. (He will have to go on a waiting list! All I make is stuff for him...) And, I am currently making him a Diego bag (like the Dora bag I made for our niece.) (Thanks again, Tampa Doll!) Well that's all for now folks. See you soon. :)

Uh Oh... Here I Go Again...

I need to start another project like I need another hole in my head. With two days til we move, and all... (sigh) But, my back went out (sort of...) Wasn't really my back. Felt more like a pinched sciatic nerve. My left leg was numb, I was laying with ice on my butt all day.... I couldn't do much else, so.... I finished crocheting my son's 'white bunny with a black tail' as much as I could; until I buy some more eyeballs. I thought 'I want to make something just because I want to make it.... Not because I am testing it, or someone wants one, or anything....' Sooo.... I started another stripey bear. In GIRL colors! Ha! None of our boys will want this one.... (evil grin).. I finished the body last night. I am having a hard time deciding which color to do next. My kids are helping me, though. I'll post a picture of it when it's done. I am probably donating it to one of the different causes at Crafting for a Cause. I wonder who has the stripey bear I made for KristieMN's toy drive? I hope they love it. I don't know if I ever posted a link to the pattern for this bear, so here it is: Grandma's Scrappy Bear. I went to the Teddy Bear CAL at Crochetville to find the pattern link (someone found it for me, and posted it there)... and saw that the CAL is still going strong! Which is good, since I started another one! How funny. I have the pattern printed out, but wanted to share it with y'all here... ;) Have a great day everyone!

The Comfortghan is Done and So is the Mesh Bag

What do you think? The colors are a little off. It is purples, plums, lavender... My friend made four of the squares. I did have two other people that I asked, but the one said she couldn't... And the other one has been out of town, and... I haven't seen her. I doubt she has a square for me, anyway. I was thinking about putting a border on it, but... 1. I am crunched for time, and 2. I don't want to. :P So there.

And here is the Mesh Bag I tested for Mimi! I really like this bag. I used worsted weight cotton to make it with. I haven't used it yet. But it feels sturdy. Thanks for letting me test it, Mimi!

And here is a teapot my Mom sent me. I forgot she had told me she was sending me two teapots. (See where I get that from?) The other one broke. :( I said, 'You have to write FRAGILE forty times on the box. Otherwise they will drop it, step on it, play catch with it...' I'm glad this one made it though. I have a little black tea pot, but every time I pour tea it spills. No matter what. Now I can use this one. Well have a great Wednesday everyone. Hump day is almost over. :P

Tea Cozy Swap Package!

Well this came last week. I have just been so busy, I haven't posted about it yet... This is my tea cozy swap package from ShawneeOR!! Isn't this the cutest tea cozy ever? I totally forgot about someone making a chicken/rooster cozy out of Cupcakes' Scalloped Tea Cozy pattern!! I had told Shawnee that my kitchen is roosters or apples. I just love this little tea cozy guy. He's sooo cute! (I forgot to pull his nose out, it was flapped under on the way out here...) Shawnee also sent some Stash tea. It is rooibos (one of my favs) and white tea. It's really good. I've never had it before, but I like it.

And look!! :0 She sent practically a whole kitchen set of towels, potholders, and stone coasters!! I LOVE the roosters!! Thank you so much, Shawnee! And chocolates, which were gone before I even got back home... :P

And last but definitely not least, the cutest little apple candles, inside a tin! (They smell so yummy~ we've already burned one.) And, an apple cutting board! It's too cute to cut things on. And the cutest Mary Englebreit card! I love everything, Shawnee~ Thank you SO much! You were an awesome swap partner.

My Friend's Dog Died :(

Well, to be more to the point, she was killed. Someone ran her over. It's been about two weeks now. :( My friend took her with her to her sons' conferences at school. (I don't know how she brought her in the school?) Well on the way back home, she crossed the road. She kept calling Gertie. There were no cars in sight... Well when Gertie finally decided to come, a car was coming, too. The woman stopped and asked this other woman who was sitting in her car on the other side of the road, 'Did I hit something?' She said 'YEAH! You just hit her dog!' She got back in her car, and took off!! (The woman sitting in her car took her license plate and everything.... My friend is too nice, she would never do anything about it, but...) The whole situation is sad. I can't believe that woman just left. She couldn't even have the decency to say she was sorry or offer to take her to the vet, or anything?

Gertie was a Brussels Griffon. I have blogged about her before. She wasn't even a year old. This picture is of her in the sweater I made her, for the Doggie Sweater CAL. I was thinking about crocheting my friend something... maybe a picture frame with a picture of Gertie in it? I don't know if that would just open up a wound that was healing, or what, though...

Quack, quack...zoo pals...

Oink, oink... zoo pals...Oh I think it is waaaay too early, and I need some more coffee. :P I don't know why I haven't been posting very much lately.... Well. I do. But. Anyway. This is one little thing I have finished lately. A duck pin. <-- That would be a link for the pattern, peeps. LOL Get it?!! Peeps? Duck? Or would that be a chicken? Oh man... I told you it is way too early. And I am not a morning person. Weird.... Maybe I actually got enough sleep last night, for once? Anyway after making all those yo-yo keychain critters it didn't take long for me to get reaaaally bored with them. And then I found this one online. So I made it. When my husbands' late great aunt was still alive, she used to make little bunny pins. I don't have the one she made me. It was years and years ago. I kinda wish I would have kept it. Or not lost it. Or whatever happened... I can't remember how she used to make them. It isn't like the one in the link, I know that. (As adorable as that one is!) Anyway.... I didn't have any of the little black seed beads or eyes for the duck so I improvised and used some green beads... It still kinda works.

What else? I have been working on squares for another comfortghan. I need to finish up the one I am making for the person I am making it for... I asked three people to help me. So far only one has. And we have both made four squares (I made six) to the other two peoples none. How hard is it to make one square?! Oh well. I'll make two more and finish it. I'll post a picture of it, too...

Wow it seemed like I had a lot to blog about; but I guess maybe it is just a lot going on in my brain this morning?... (if you couldn't tell...) :P Well have a nice day everyone.

Peppermint Bark

And, an updated photo of the keychain critters. With the mouse (bottom right, if you couldn't tell.) ;) I have been sending these out as RAOKs lately. Well three, to be exact.... And technically, one isn't sent yet. But it's ready to go.

And here is the peppermint bark I made last night. It's super easy. Just like making the chocolate hearts and roses I have made in the past. Just crush the candy first. I bought candy canes for 88c. And the almond bark was $1.78, I think. I saw a tin of peppermint bark for $6.99 at WalMart, so the price is way better. (I haven't tried the other bark, so I can't tell you taste-wise, which is better.)

Here it is, all broke up into 'bark'. I am hiding it and divying it out a little bit at a time, or it will all be gone in one day.

I also made some in litle molds. I have no idea where I got these molds, or what it was from. I want to say from an Oreo cookie container, but some of the molds are a little bit smaller than the others. So I don't know. They look like eggs to me, except with a red middle. :P Oh, I forgot to post the link to the website where I got the recipe!: Peppermint Bark I get a lot of recipes there. Or the cooks dot com one...

Here is a close-up of one, not that it makes that much of a difference. I hate how my pictures look all blurry. I have tried everything. I think my camera is just a piece of junk. What do I expect for only $100 eh? Oh well....... Have a Nice Day everyone!

A WIP and an FO

That's a Work In Progress, and a Finished Object. Just in case you didn't know... :P This is a Baby Scrap Ripple Ghan I have been working on. I started this one a looooooong time ago. I don't even remember when. I pulled it out and decided to finish it. I wanted to do only medium brighter colors (about the first five colors of the afghan from the bottom...) but I didn't have many left like that so I guess since it's a 'scrapghan' anyway I will have to improvise and make it work... I think it looks pretty good for all scraps. Incidentally this is my own afghan design. You can find it in 40 Favorite Ripple Afghans, by Leisure Arts. It is the afghan entitled 'Baby Love'. You can also find it in the booklet, 'Ripples for Baby', also by Leisure Arts. I originally designed it to use up scraps, and with the white in between. But when they bought the design, they did it their own way....

And here is a Baby Cotton Hat I tested for Mimi. :D Thanks for letting me test, Mimi. You can see Mimi's in the link.

And a close-up of the flower. I had wanted to make this for my niece, but it turned out too small. So I don't know what I will do with it now. Wait until someone I know has a baby girl, I guess. ;P Have a Nice Day everyone....

Nuttin' Honey...

Not much to post about today. The kids have a four day weekend. I didn't actually get to sleep in much today, though. My husband came in the bedroom and WOKE ME UP! He said 'here's your coffee'. I said, 'There's no school today. They have a four day weekend.' I should have told him that last night, eh? Then, the stupid garage door would not shut. It is SOOOOOO annoying. He tried closing it at least six times. I did get back to sleep for a little while, but woke up at 7:30. (Does anyone really care?) :P We (I should say *I*...) had conferences last night with both/all of their teachers. The oldest has seven. :o Thankfully I didn't have to meet with all seven. (For example, the gym teacher, and the study hall teacher... and one of his teachers wasn't going to be there.) And, by the time I got to #4, the sign up sheet was backed up for another hour (and was probably running late, too.) So I said, 'let's go'... It was his Spanish teacher. Not a high/top priority, is it? Our fifth graders' teacher said she wishes she could have fifty of him, and she would be doing all right. The high schoolers' teachers comments ranged from 'Can you clone him?' to 'Can I keep him?' :D Yes, I am beaming... Then we went out for a while just to go somewhere. To Borders and WalMart. Can you believe they didn't want to buy hardly anything?! Funny, when you actually have money, they can't decide and end up going away with hardly anything... (The ten year old did get a Star Wars Lego kit, and some mechanical pencils.) Hmmm I guess I do the same thing. I can't decide on the one thing I want the most, and usually walk away not getting anything. :P Saves us money that way, though.... lol

Anyway. I am still working on yo-yos, and yo-yo keychain critters. I posted the pattern at Crochetville, under 'Original Patterns'. I also posted it at my pattern blog, too. There isn't a picture of the mouse one. I did make one, finally; but haven't taken a picture. I'll probably take another picture before I send them all out, and re-post that one... (instead of the picture I have up there...it's kinda blurry, anyway.) Well that's about all my boring news for today. Hope you all have a nice weekend coming up. Take Care and thanks for stoppin' by. ;)

I Am Making a Comfortghan

All by myself. Well, I am putting it together. I am having a friend help me make squares. She made the purple granny ones, and the striped granny ones. Now I only have three more to go.

I started this one, it is the Ribbons and Roses square. I've made this one before. I want to lighten it up a little, so it's not so dark. I was also thinking about making the Irish Rose square. Do you think that's too many flowers? I wanted to do Maggie's Square, in some lighter shades. But my friend already made the two stripedy ones.... I don't know!! Waaaaa! And then I have to put it together. I am going to screw it up, I just know it..... :( Well I will finish my squares first, and then worry about the rest. I do need to get some more of the light lavender for the one I am working on... and light sage... sigh. I might just start the Irish Rose one for now until I can get some more yarn.
I'm waiting for a package today, so I don't want to leave until the mail comes.... :P

And, here is something else I have been working on. I had an epiphany on Sunday to make some little critter faces out of the yo-yos, what do you think? From the left: A cat, a pig, and a teddy bear. I also was thinking I could do a mouse, and maybe a rabbit. If I can figure out it's ears... I need to get some more eyes, too. My list keeps growing... Well have a nice Tuesday everyone.

Fall Colors

This is the tree in our backyard. (Taken from my bedroom window.) It looked like it was almost glowing yesterday, the way the light was hitting it. It was so pretty. I know the camera didn't quite capture it, but I took a picture anyway. Last year this tree didn't turn colors at all. The leaves stayed green until they fell off. This year it's so pretty. Today it isn't so pretty, though; it's covered with snow!! :o And all wilty. :( I don't like it snowing in October. It still is. It looks like almost two inches on the ground now. It's supposed to be back up in the 70's though, later this week. I hope. That will do wonders for my sinuses.

Here are some yo-yo keychains I have finished. I actually made ten all together. But I took this picture before I did four more. :P I have them all ready to be shipped out for the CFAC store. And it looks like I will be making some more yoyos, too; as there isn't going to be enough like expected... That's okay, I was kinda missing the little buggers anyway. :P

Yo-Yos

Here are 100 yo-yos I shipped off to be made into a lapghan or an afghan, today. It's for the yo-yo drive at CFAC. It takes a lot of yo-yos just to make an afghan. But, on the other hand, if you have little bits of yarn they are good for using up scraps, too. I could have probably made a purse out of these. But I can make more where they came from. Besides, I already have enough on my plate as it is. :o)

Our ten year old asked me 'Can you make me one? I want one that is half black and half red.' I said 'What are you going to do with it?' 'I don't know.' I said 'How about a keychain?' So that's how this one came about....

And of course, his little brother wanted one, too. ;) He wanted one I already had made, so I crocheted a different color blue around the edge to attach the keychain ring. Or should I say rings? I don't know why they need two on there.... Anyway~~ I am making a few more of these to donate to the CFAC store to sell. It will raise money for the propane fund on Pine Ridge. They only take five minutes or so to make, so I should be able to get a lot done.

My New Sugar Bowl and Creamer

My husband bought them for me. :D They aren't anything *big*, he got the set at the Goodwill for a total of .98 cents plus tax. ;p I washed them up (the creamer looked like it hadn't even been washed, and the sugar bowl had wax in it like someone had put a candle in it?) But I cleaned them up and they look pretty nice. A lot nicer than a jelly jar. :P And I don't think I have ever had a real sugar bowl or creamer. Someday I will have a whole set of dishes and all the extras.... But this will work nicely for now. Just thought I'd share. ;) It's the little things, anyway, isn't it? (By the way, the "Non dairy" creamer in the background.... has milk added. ??? Obviously it is not "non-dairy"? (That is why I bought it, because I am lactose intolerant...) It doesn't really bother me, but it is false advertising, don't you think? Just saying. :) Well have a nice day everyone.