Random Stuff...

I haven't been able to get a good picture of the baby hamsters yet. But the other day (was it yesterday?), I went in there to check on them all. And four of the babies had fallen (or crawled) out of the wheel. So I ran and grabbed my phone. I had to tap on the wheel to wake Mia up so she could come down and get them. I had to do that for each one; because she would come down and get one then, go back up there and just stay there. I think she is exhausted... :( 

Here is another shot of them.  You can't tell very well in the picture, but I think they are starting to get their fur. One looked reddish. :D  A couple of them looked really dark. Which is strange. We'll see how all their fur comes out.

And here is my finished Spongebob. I just finished him this morning. I used the Spongebob Pillow Pal pattern for the body. And for the arms and legs, I used this pattern. Now I have to crochet Gary the Snail.  :P

And look at this. :)  TurtlLvr framed the card/picture Eli drew!! That is just so cool. It made my day. I showed Eli the picture, and he smiled. (Imagine that~ a smile.. :P)    Well I guess it's back to packing... 

A New Blog... And Some Cards We Have Made

Well I changed my blog... "Updated" it so I could add the follower button. I have NO idea what I am doing, so I probably just made a big mess of my blog. :( Now I am going to have to go back in and add all my blog buttons in my sidebar again cuz they all disappeared. Sigh... I like the new background though it looks a lot cuter. :) Anyway~~ I am not feeling well. I think all the stress I have been under wore me down and I got a virus. (Who knows...) Yesterday and today I feel yucky. After I finish this post I think I am going to go lay back down. But I wanted to show the cards I have made, and the kids, too. This one is from "Simply Beautiful Greeting Cards" by Heidi Boyd. I need to get that book someday. I saved my "templates" of the tea cup, saucer, and handle and wing the rest from what I remember. Then I added the flowers & brads, and the glitter edge to the top of the cup.

You can see the glitter a little better in this picture:

Maybe if you click on it, you can.. It fits two tea bags. (Can you guess what my new favorite tea is?... :P) In fact, chai tea sounds good right now... My throat hurts. :(

On the inside, I was thinking about doing a "Thinking of You" stamp. But, I didn't want to mess up what I already had done. (I usually do any stamping first, that way if I mess up, I can start a new one..) Then I remembered my Calligraphy book that I have had like since our 18 year old was a baby... I haven't done calligraphy in years!... So, I kind of did it in pencil first, as a guide; then with the calligraphy marker. (I need a new one, mine is almost dried out..)

Then I wanted to do a turtle card, for someone. But... I don't have anything "turtle", at all. So, I asked Eli (the 13 year old) if he would PLEEEEEASE draw me a picture of a turtle?... So, he did. Then I said, "Can you draw a beach, and water, underneath the turtle?" :P This is what he did. He gave it to me and said "Now you owe me $75." Ha ha!! I laughed, and said "Here's some clean clothes, how about that?" (I just finished folding a bunch of laundry while I was waiting...) I did tell him thank you, though. He used to LOVE drawing, and is really good at it. But he has gotten away from it for a long time. So I always try to get him to draw me things. :P He was accepted at his old school (when he was in 4th grade) out of the whole school, him and one other kid, to go to an Art School. But, we couldn't afford it. :( I wish we could have. And now he "doesn't like to draw..." I hope he is just going through a phase, and will pick it back up again.

This is what I did to the envelope. My Aunt had sent me a letter one time, with an owl "thumbody" on the back of it. I LOVED it!! It was so cute. (I stole her idea..)

And, last, but not least! This is a card Eon made for Rhino. Yes, the hamster. :P It's so funny. He made this card for him the same day Mia had her babies. ("You're a father, Rhino!".. :P Of course, we didn't know til later that night..) Weird coincidence. (He should have made one for Mia, huh?) Anyway, these are some of the stickers that Marsha had sent me. He put some other rodent friends on there, and flowers on the other side. (My husband brought me some roses that day for our anniversary, maybe that's what the flowers are all about...)

A close-up of the stickers..

He made a little "couch" on the bed with all his blankets, and some friends for Rhino, and gave him his card... :P "Oh. A card for me?... Wait, is this a treat to eat, in here?..." LOL He was trying to eat the flowers..

I hope one of the babies (at least one-- Eli thinks she had 12 babies!!! I don't know how he can tell. They are all inside the wheel, and they all just kind of blend in together, to me..) First he said 10, then 11, no 10, then 12... So, we'll see when they get bigger (and out of the wheel!~ Hopefully soon). They are going to be too big to stay in there, for long. I think she is just "protecting them" right now. Which is probably a good thing. Shows she is a good mama. :) I just hope they all survive. That is a lot of baby hamsters, esp. for a first litter! And a Dwarf Hamster!!! :0 Oh, I forgot my first sentence. (See?) I hope at least one of the babies is a long haired boy. I just love Rhino, he's so friendly. Mia, too. But I want a long haired one. (They never have long haired ones at the Pet Store by us, and anyway now we have enough to choose from..) I am still trying to get a good picture of the babies, so stay tuned for that... Til next time~~

Hamster Babies Are Here!!

I couldn't get any good pictures of them yet. So I am posting pictures of Mom and Dad. :P Mia, in her Hamster Hut I made her when we first got her. And Rhino, I think when we first got him, too. Yesterday, (last night) I was talking to my brother on the phone. I went into Eon's bedroom to check on Mia. She was moving around really funny inside her wheel. I thought I saw something 'else' underneath her. Then she lifted up even more and I said "Oh my God!" my brother was like, "What?" "She had her babies!"... I didn't think she was supposed to have them until this coming weekend. I read that Syrian hamsters are pregnant for 15 days, and Dwarf hamsters are pregnant for 19-22 days. I guess she isn't a Dwarf hamster. Although I though she was. A Dwarf Teddy Bear Hamster. I don't know. I'm just so excited they are here. I tried counting them but I can't tell. Eli thinks there are 11. :0 That would be a lot, especially for (what I thought was) a Dwarf Hamster! I thought they were only supposed to have 5 or 6 babies. Well, we will see for sure, later; how many she had. I am kind of worried she had them in her wheel. I had been noticing her in her wheel sleeping a lot, and just earlier that day said "I hope she doesn't have her babies in her wheel." Well, she did... And, she blocked off the hole so no predators could get to her babies. :P She's such a good mama hamster. I am hoping she brings them out in a few days. They'll get too big to stay in there for too long. Plus, I hope there aren't any dead ones in there. :( (That's why I am worried about them being in there, mostly..)

I have been reading Kathy's Kritter Tales blog. She has a journal of her Hamster Babies. Her hamster had 13!!! :0 It's really neat, and she got some good pictures of the babies if you want to see what they look like. :) It's been really helpful for me. Well, stay tuned for adorable baby hamster pictures in the future... :) I can't wait til they get their fur and get bigger! Oh, coincidentally, she had them on mine and my husband's anniversary... How cool is that? :P

Spongebob Squarepants, and a Square :P

I finished Spongebob the other day. I had seen one someone had made, on Crochetville a while back. I finally got around to making one.. (When I showed Eon it, the first thing he said was, "Uh, where's it's arms and legs?".. Brat!... lol ;P) I want to make another one. (One for Eon, and one for Eli.. I also bought them some Spongebob 2011 calendars at Michaels, for $1 each.. And I am going to pick up some other goodies for them, too. Probably candy of some kind. )

This is a sign Eon made. It says "Krusty Krabs". :P

And, I got my first Friendship Square yesterday. I went to the Post Office; to mail out two squares, and a letter that was puffy. I thought "I might as well check my box while I'm here".. and I'm glad I did. I got my first square, from teakaycee's daughter, Jamie. :D Thank you, Jamie! (I don't know if she even reads my blog..) I said "bright colors" for my squares, and this is bright. I have been liking colors that "pop" lately. (Don't know if that makes any sense..) Like teal, pink, red... I am trying to decide what color to edge them with. Maybe black. It would be a nice contrast...

I am working on the other Spongebob doll (before summer is over) and Olivia's sweater, right now. I also NEED to get that tent finished. Well, til next time~~ Stay cool wherever you are! :)

18th Wedding Anniversary

Today is mine and my husband's 18th anniversary. :) Happy Anniversary, Hon!

If anyone is friends with me on Facebook, you know this is my Profile Picture... It's my new favorite picture of us, and I have it in a frame on our fireplace. :D I can't believe we've been married for 18 years already...

Another Bear, and Sweater Progress...

I crocheted another of Becky's Crochet Teddies. I made this one bigger though. For the legs, I chained 11 instead of what the pattern said. Then did 12 rows instead of what the pattern said. Then, 12 rows of the body. Ch 11 for the arms, and did 8 rows. Then 30 rows for the head. I did a patchwork bear. :) My 7 year old said he doesn't like him. (I guess that's good, then he won't want to keep him, anyway).

Well, maybe some little kid might like him. I'm sending it (along with the bears in my last post) to the yahoo group I mentioned.

(I think he's cute.)

And I guess I got over not knowing what to do about the sweater. I looked up a bunch of different size four sweater patterns (mostly knit, but I thought it would still be the same no matter if it's crocheted or knit). Some were even bigger than this one. So... I decided to just keep going with it. (Even though I ripped a lot out.) It didn't take me long to catch back up. I really like this sweater so maybe that's why. Did the neck shaping on both sides.. The back is done.

And, started and finished the left front side! I took this at night, so it's not the greatest picture...

I meant to post about a tray I bought at the Goodwill a couple weeks ago. I've been trying to do things that I used to like doing. (Going to the Goodwill and just looking, is one of those things.) I made tea one night in a big teapot for my husband and I, to bring into our bedroom. (He was watching tv in there.) I put a towel on a baking pan for a tray. :P I thought, "I should see if I can't find a nice tray somewhere". I don't know if this is a "tea tray" or not. But. It works better than a cookie sheet with a towel on it. It's not exactly apples, or roosters. But I still really like it. Our 7 year old was with us, and he got a "mini" Lava Lamp that says Las Vegas on it. :P That's what he wanted.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. I'm feeling a little better than I was in my last post (which was earlier today, and off and on for the past two or three weeks..) Maybe I am going through something. I don't know. I usually don't talk about what I am feeling, on my blog. But.. I don't have any friends here at all. We've lived here for almost three years now. Well~ Til next time... :)

I Think I Am Going Crazy!!!... :(

I have finished up a few things I had on my list. I should feel better about "my list", but I don't. I can't stop starting new projects. I already feel scatterbrained enough with everything going on around here (long story short, my husband wants to move AGAIN~ I am NOT happy about it.) Plus, I already have been feeling like I am going crazy, or something. I don't know exactly why. I can't think straight, can't concentrate. I forget stuff all the time... :( Those are just off the top of my head. I can't think straight; so I can't think of any other reasons why I feel like I'm going crazy. Beside hating it in the desert, hating this town and the whole state I live in; and school is going to start back up again in another month, and I am dreading it.. (Although I will like the peace and quiet~ besides the 18 year old being here :/ Which is another whole story in itself... Grr!!) I know I shouldn't complain. I know a lot of people have things really hard right now. Health problems, etc..

So, anyway... here are things I have finished up.. The picture above is something that wasn't on "my list"~ I saw a minion that Tampa Doll had done, on Crochetville: Manny the Minion. She just made hers up, from a picture. But someone else said there was a pattern on Ravelry for one of these. So, I looked it up and made one. I don't even know why. :/ The kids had seen one in the machine at Walmart (you know the machine where you put 50c in and the claw comes down... Or is it a dollar?), and were talking about it. So I figured they would like one. (They always like the newest toy or movie, or the newest toy from the newest movie... So..) Anyways, it's done. Mamaoso made one from the same pattern, too. Hers is on the 3rd page, I think, same thread as Tampa Dolls... Here is the direct link to the pattern for the minion. From a blog, so in case you don't have a Ravelry account.

This is a bear that I had done forever. I just had to embroider the face on it. Then I thought it looked too plain, so I embroidered a heart on it. But then I thought "A black heart? That isn't good..." (Again, what was I thinking?...) So I filled it in with red. :P It's Becky's Crochet Teddy pattern. I have started another one of these, making it bigger and all different colors.. Why??? I don't know... I'm supposed to be working on my (Great?) Niece's sweater which I frogged some of, because I was going to make it smaller; but then looked up different patterns in magazines to see what a size four should be, then decided I would just keep going with it. But now, I ripped a lot out... Ugh... What is wrong with me? :(

Here are two more Scrappy Bears. I thought this pattern was gone online forever, but I just saw it on Ravelry yesterday (looking for the above bear pattern, cuz I couldn't remember where I got it...) I love Scrappy Bears. Oh, all these bears are for the "Don't Be Afraid, I am Here" Bears group I am in on Ravelry. (It's also a Yahoo Group.) The bear on the left wasn't completely done. I had to sew on the one leg, and finish the other leg and sew it on. Then crochet the two arms and sew them on, and sew on the ears and make the little tail (it's so cute), and sew that on. Then, because all the bears you send are supposed to have a smile on them, I embroidered smiles on them. (I think they look stupid. But.. At least they are "smiling"..) The bear on the left looks ok, the bear on the right looks a little goofy.

And, here are the five hats I committed (sp?) to for the Hat Challenge at Crafting for a Cause. I am not doing any more. I wish I could but I just have way to much going on and need to start packing and dealing with all the crap that I know is ahead of us. :/ (Did I mention our landlord here is a pain to deal with?... I don't even want to deal with him..) Ugh...

It has been super hot lately. It was 114 one day this week. Today it's supposed to be 108... (I stay inside if I can.) Well, that's enough complaining for one day. :/ We should be having hamster babies this week, so stay tuned for pictures of them. :) (I hope nothing goes wrong with that!...) I hope she has at least one little long haired teddy bear hamster. I want to keep it. (The daddy is long haired, she's short haired..) :D

Mickey Mouse Pancakes & A New Project I Started

I have talked about Mickey Mouse pancakes before, I think. :P Almost every time I make pancakes, I make some for the youngest son. This time I actually took pictures of them. This is our new griddle. Which I love. And I'm glad my husband bought this. Right afterwards, one of our pans had to be thrown away. So I have used this instead, quite a bit.. For grilled cheese sandwiches, and stuff..

Here are the finished pancakes. I make a bunch (regular, not Mickey) each time so I can freeze them and then they can have pancakes whenever they want for breakfast. (Until they are all gone, of course..)

And, I started ANOTHER project!! Ugh... But this time, someone asked me to make their daughter a sweater. So, I am doing it for them. But, (and the reason I said "ugh") even though I am right on for my gauge, it's turning out to be the same measurements as the size 6. (I need to make a size 4--and I *was* making the size 4 pattern...). So... Now I have to find another pattern, and figure out/buy new yarn...

I really like this sweater. Now I don't know what to do. Maybe I should just get some more of the same yarn (in a different color maybe? She likes purple and pink.. Maybe I could just get pink) and make the same pattern, but use smaller hooks? I'm so confused... :(

Look, I am almost done with the whole back! (Well I wasn't in this picture, but I am now.) I just need to do the neck shaping.

What do you think? It's a pattern by Melissa Leapman. I saw another cute pattern I want to do on Ravelry, but I would have to get that book... It looks kind of similar to the sweater I am doing, don't ya think? I went to the library today, to see if they had any good crochet books. (Yeah, right~~ Not this library!...) I kinda wanted to make a hoodie/button-up sweater. [The little girl-who incidentally is my Great Niece?-- She's my niece's daughter. So that would make me her "Great" Aunt? Even though I am only 40... Now I feel so old.. :( Anyway, she lives in the U.P. in Michigan (U.P. stands for Upper Peninsula, and it gets cold up there!)] I have a child's hoodie pattern in an older magazine I have. But it calls for Bernat Satin. I tried doing the gauge with Red Heart, and it felt awful. So. I don't know what I am going to do. I thought I had it all figured it out.. ;) And, I want to get it done in time for Fall. So I don't have much time. I should work on some of my other projects, until I figure it out/can go somewhere to get yarn.. It's too hot to go outside and do anything, that's for sure.. Well, back to work I guess... ;)

Squares for Afghans

In my last post I mentioned an afghan I have been working on. I should have said "squares" for an afghan I have been working on. My husband's Aunt (who lives in Canada) writes me and she sent me a picture (drawing) of an afghan she was working on. (She later sent me a picture of it.. Duh~ I should have posted it here. Oh well. Maybe later, when mine is done..) I wanted to make one, too. :P (For Pine Ridge Indian Reservation) Every fall there is a blanket drive. I figured if I start some now, I might actually have some done by fall to send... Anyway, I had been meaning to make an afghan for every person I send things to there. I have two elders, and one teenage girl. I also send things to two grandkids of one of the elders. (She is raising them, so...) They are called elders on the reservation. I think it is just a respectful way of talking about the elderly. Anyway~~ This is what I had done. But, I have been working on it (them`the squares..) a lot. And this is the picture I took yesterday.

I am even farther than this now, though.. I have all but three of the yellow squares edged. Then, I just have to do all the "flower" squares (the scrap one, bottom left). Then put them all together and edge the whole thing. Yay!!

I also joined a Friendshipghan CAL (?) at Crochetville. I have been looking at wishlists and noticed a lot of people that I want to send things to have these squares on their list. I didn't want any squares myself, but I joined this CAL and so now I have them on my list. Even though I don't really want them. So anyway, this is one square I have done so far. Palms Square (?) I did mine wrong. I didn't read through the whole pattern first and just got the part where it said "The square is worked without the palms" so I figured you make the square and then sew the palm tree on. ?? I am too scatterbrained or something.. Anyway, it worked out okay. :) I made mine 10 inches wide. Well, that's about all for catching up, now... I want to go do something today. I have to go to the post office, and need to go to the store to get TP; since we forgot it the other day. (Gasp!!) And I wanted to just go looking for stuff. We have a thrift store here. I used to love going to the Goodwill. And garage sales.

Trying to Have a Fun Summer...

...for little to no money. :/ I should be used to that by now, but.. I used to be a lot more fun person. So. I'm trying to do fun things for the kids... I got some "Star" ice cube trays recently. 2 for $1 at Walmart. I thought we could put Kool-Aid in them and have star shaped Kool-Aid ice cubes. Then I thought, why not even do different colored ones?

Even just water ice cubes is kind of fun..

This is something I used to do when our older two were younger. Make cookie cutter shapes in their sandwiches. I would do one wheat and one white piece of bread and switch them, so they 'contrasted'. (Or even darker bread like Pumpernickel (sp?) would be cool..) I don't even eat bread anymore (gluten) so we just get white bread/ whatever is cheapest..

And we made (I mean "I" made) some colored noodles. I did this before, when our youngest was just two. I would have him string them onto a necklace for his homeschooling project. :P I'm not homeschooling them anymore. We just did this for "fun". They are still sitting on a plate. I don't know what he is going to do with them. I'm going to end up putting them in the closet soon before their dad throws them away.

I knitted another dishcloth. The Two Piece Swimsuit cloth. (Don't ask me why I knitted this one... I will never wear a bikini again..) It was one of the dishcloth patterns of the week on Ravelry..

And I saw this one in the Dishcloth CAL on Crochetville.. I wanted to try it. It was kinda fun, and super easy with the video. Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth.

And a top view...

Well that isn't all I've been working on.. Just some of the stuff. I've mainly been working on an afghan; that I was going to save for another post.

We might be having hamster babies in about three weeks.... (I must be insane!!! I let them mate...) I don't think my husband knows yet. :0 I checked with the owner of the store where we got them both, and he said he would take the babies. So I have good homes for them all already. If any of them are cute enough, I want to keep one, too. (If it's a long haired teddy bear.. :D) Well that's about all for now.

A Q-tip Cozy :P

I have been visiting a lot of blogs (besides Ravelry and Crochetville) lately... (Not a good idea for me, who already has WAAAAAY too many projects she needs to finish.) Anyway, I saw a cute little Q-tip holder someone just made up and posted on their blog. I HAD to try one. I had been wanting to make one for our kids' bathroom, anyway. They keep all their Q-tips in the cabinet (same place the toothpaste is... Sigh..). So, I made this this morning. (I haven't even taken a shower yet... lazy.. ) Excuse the flyswatter on the floor :P (Every time I sit down at the computer, flies come find me grrr!! The windows are right by the computer, and they seem to like the windows?... Anyway~~) So, she said to cut a toilet paper roll tube so I thought this is what she meant. I cut four slits and folded them down and hot glued them.

With the Q-tips inside.

And, the finished Q-tip holder/cozy. :D I guess I should have used a burgundy stripe instead of red. It matches my kitchen colors more than their bathroom, but... I don't have any burgundy. So. Red it is. :P I love making useful things out of "nothing". :D

Don't ask me why I made a matching bathroom accessory for towels that look like this:

(It didn't look so bad folded up..) I don't know if you can see the bleached out spots (lower left side), and the totally frayed edges!! (It looks worse in RL..) I just bought these towels for the older son's bathroom (back when we had THREE bathrooms-UGH..), when we moved to Nevada (three years ago this November). I don't know WHAT he does to his towels. I had towels we got for our wedding, that didn't look this bad!!
It was just a few years ago I turned them into rags. (My husband and I have been married 18 years this month, btw, so you can tell how long the towels have lasted.. :P) Anyway. Yes I talk a lot about nothing. I told my son when he moves out, his housewarming gift is going to be taking the "new" towels I bought him~ that he's ruined already~ with him. (Mean Mom...) ^~^ I'm so mean, I made him a matching Q-tip holder to go with his crappy towels.. :P Anyway. I hope you all have a safe weekend!! Oh! Here is the link to the pattern for the Q-tip holder, at Melissa's blog; "Crazy Crafting Cat Lady" (going to have to add her blog in my sidebar): Cue-Tip Holder I meant to add, I just did a row of backwards sc around the top edge. Kind of similar to my Hamster Tube I just did.. Just realized that. :P