I Painted My Nails

Now I can pretend like I'm a yarn snob...  When I go to get my Red Heart yarn from Walmart.. :P

Stocking Stuffer Swap Package

My swap partner Tonya received her swap package, so I can blog about it all now. :)  This is the stocking I made her. With an unidentified furry yarn (held double) in my stash, for the cuff. And I had to order the Red Heart Holiday yarn. It's the Holiday Cheer Stocking from Lion Brand site, that I have been using for almost all my stockings. I think I have the pattern almost memorized now. :P

And this is a towel potholder set I made for her, with the same yarn.

I got a bunch of these towels and potholders to make for almost everyone this year. Myself included. I love them, they're so cute.

And here is all her stuff, together. The wrapped present is a book by Anne Rice, a flamingo with a Santa Hat, KansasHookers Santa Ornament, two angel ornaments, a bookmark that says "Nurses have a heart of gold", the towel set, and some dinner mints that I *think* she wanted. I also sent a book of stickers, a box of Christmas cards, and a chocolate Santa.  :D

My Mom is here visiting for the week so I might not be getting on the puter much...  Have a Great Week, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!!



I hope you all have a wonderful day visiting with family or friends!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3



Santa Hats

Eon had been wanting a Santa Hat (and I had been wanting to make Mimi's Playful Santa Hat pattern).. And now that all my stockings are done, I finally got around to doing it.  :)  (I forgot to post that I finished my last stocking.)

I made one for me, too. I used Red Heart Holiday yarn for mine, and Bernat baby something (it has a shiny strand in it).

Look, Mimi's Santa Hat for her Dachshund Ami, fits our hamster perfect. :P  

Stocking #7 is Finished

I know it is non-traditional..  This one is for our 14 year old. The white "thing" is supposed to be a lightning bolt. I used this Lightning Bolt Scarf pattern as a sort of guide to do the lightning bolt. I only increased to 4 hdcs, and then sc'd all around it when I was done.  It's supposed to be an "AC/DC" stocking. I'm thinking about sewing some black letters (AC/DC) on the cuff. But.... I really don't like sewing by hand. Maybe I will get in the mood to, before Christmas..   Now I only have one or two more stockings to go. My husbands', and *maybe* one for Jetta.   Plus my swap stocking. I am still waiting for the yarn to get here, for that.. 

I also finished doing the French Knots on this Santa Ornament from the KansasHooker's blog.  How cute is this? I love it. :)  She has the cutest ideas.

And, another picture of Jetta~ from this morning. :)  She's getting big. I don't know if she will get much bigger than this, though. She's almost ten months old. So...  She might be almost full grown.

A Fur Baby Giveaway..

Paula of Crochet and Cross Stitch Pattern Slut fame, is having a Contest/Giveaway today!!  If you have a fur baby, or know someone who does that would love a fur baby stocking, go enter to win! :D  I probably shouldn't have entered, but... What the Hey..    I have been wanting to crochet that stocking anyway so if I don't win I still can. :P   Since this post is about fur babies, I thought I would share more pictures of our Talented Monopoly Playing Dog, Jetta... ;)    Did you think I was giving *my* fur baby away, from the title of my blog post? :P  I guess it does sound that way. But, no... I think we'll keep her. ;P

I think she would have tried to climb right up on the table if she could.   Do you like our Monopoly pieces? :P  Lego stormtrooper and horse?  :P 

Look at that cute face :)

I Got My Central Park Hoodie Out....

...and cast on for the hood. Alert the Press!!  :P  This looks like a knitted garment for a member of the Addams Family. :P  I must have blocked the pieces at least twice, each piece. But they still curl.  Annoying.   It has only been over three years since I started this sweater.  I wanted to knit a cabled vest for Eon, for the Christmas Concert at his school. I spent like a whole day looking for patterns online, and in my magazines and books.  Then when I got him after school, I asked him if he wanted to wear something nice for the concert and he said "No."  Soooo....  I guess I'm not going to waste my time knitting him a vest that he won't even wear. I miss the days where they loved me making things for them.  Oh well. I still have the Snuggie to finish that Eon still wants.   Anyway... back to the Central Park Hoodie...  I was still in the mood to knit, after Eon said he didn't want a vest; so I dug this out and started working on it again.  After I finish the hood, I think all I have left is to knit the band, and sew it up.   I'm amazed I've even gotten this far on it. :/   And don't ask me why I dug this out when I still have to finish all my Christmas Stockings.  Especially when there is only a little over one month left until Christmas!!  Only 37 More Days Until Christmas!!!...  :0

I made some muffins this morning. I used to make muffins all the time. When our kids were younger, one of them used to call them "Muddins". So now whenever I make them, I say "I'm Making Muddins".   And everyone who is in our family knows what I'm talking about. :P   These muffins are called "Muffins From the Big Apple".  I got the recipe from a Muffins cookbook I got from a Pampered Chef party, like a hundred years ago. ;P  Here is a recipe for  Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins. Not exactly the same as the recipe I used, but close enough...   

I am thinking about trying to get my Etsy store going again.  I don't know if it is worth it though.  I only had one pattern that I was able to offer (my cousin made it into a PDF file for me). I have no idea how to create a PDF file. And don't know if it is worth it to crochet some of my things up to sell...  Maybe some of you who have Etsy stores have some advice?     :D    

Have a Great Day Everyone  :)

Random Blog Post.. :P

I went to JoAnns a while ago to look for yarn for my swap partner. (Which, they didn't have and I ended up ordering it online... It still isn't here. Sigh.. ) Anyway, they had some super cute ornamnents. Like this red mitten. I thought, "I could totally make that." (Maybe... lol)  I think it was $8.99. It was probably half off or something. But still.  (Can anyone see the price on the tag?..)

Here is a white one.. It looks like the embroidered stitches are all loose... (Which might be why no one bought it...)  

Look, Our Dog Has Talent!... :P  She can play Monopoly. (Not really.) She kept puting her paws on the board, so we moved the game to the kitchen table. (It's still there, too... It's an ongoing game. :P) 

Today is National Clean Out Your Fridge Day... Who Knew?

I sure didn't. I had two of the drawers out of the fridge today to clean them out, since they were both empty. (And my Mom is coming next weekend, so... :P)  When we got back in the house after I picked up Eli, he said "You're cleaning out the fridge?" I said "Well, I'm cleaning a couple drawers... Why?"  "Today is National Clean Out Your Fridge Day".  Funny. I guess this proves I am a nerd. LOL...  I didn't clean the whole fridge though; so I'm not a total nerd. ;P  Apparently tomorrow is "Have a Party With Your Bear Day", and "National Button Day"? This site has all the different holidays you may have never heard of... :P  

Where Did My Three Day Weekend Go?... :(

My brother came in to town (kind of) today, and we met him for lunch. I hadn't seen him since my Grandmother's funeral (not a good time..).  Two years.   I wasn't really drinking that~ I borrowed my husbands' beer for the picture, just to be goofy. :P

Me & my Hubby <3

The boys (they are getting to the age where they hate having their picture taken... Sigh...) I practically had to bribe them to take this picture...

On the way to meet my brother for lunch, we saw about 15 Big Horn Sheep in the mountain pass. So we stopped to take pictures.  This is only the second time I have seen Big Horn Sheep since we have lived here. (Almost four years now.) The first time, I only saw two. (I was still pretty excited though.)

This one looks like he was posing for the camera. :P

I made some Empanadas one day...  I can't remember what day it was. We had a bunch of leftover Ham in the freezer, from when we had friends over last weekend.  I wanted to try something different. I had been looking in all my old Family Fun magazines, cuz Eon wanted to make something with a paper bag. I didn't find any paper bag projects, but I found a recipe to use up all that Ham:  Ham and Cheese Empanadas Recipe   I made my own Empanada Dough, using this recipe.  So it was quite time-consuming. It made ten empanadas. But,  I read in the recipe you can freeze them unbaked. I might try that another day, for just popping in the oven for a snack. (Teenagers...  :P)     Oh, I used a small plate to press an imprint, as a guide for cutting out a circle. Worked great.  The bottom of the plate measures exactly five inches across. (The plate they are on, in fact... :P) 

Mimi's Dachshund Amigurumi is Finished!

I posted yesterday about Mimi's Dachshund Amigurumi pattern. I still don't know if I am spelling that right or not.. lol  I finished it this morning. I had the dachshund done yesterday. I crocheted the hat and scarf this morning.  Isn't it adorable?  I just love it. :D   It measures five inches tall, with the Santa Hat on.

Here it is next to my phone. :P So you can see how really little it is. I think this is the smallest ami I have ever crocheted.  My eyes were going a little buggy doing the black parts (paws), and the hat & scarf.  I think my eyes are getting bad. :(  Or I'm just not used to working with thread...   

Dachshund Amigurumi by Mimi Alelis

I didn't have any pictures to show for this blog post, so here is a picture of a dachshund. :P  I have been admiring Mimi's little amis that she has been posting on her blog.  I thought they were so cute. I mentioned that maybe she could make a little Santa Hat and it could be a Christmas Ornament; since I have been seeing little dogs with Santa Hat Ornaments everywhere.  Well she made one. It's so cute!! I don't own a dachshund, or know anyone at all who owns one. But it is so cute, I couldn't resist buying the pattern. :D   So, stay tuned for my version of Mimi's Dachshund Amigurumi pattern. Although I doubt it will come out half as cute as hers do.

Mittens

I finished these today. They are "Grow (?) Mittens". Someone sent me a handwritten copy of the pattern, which is kind of old? And she sent me a pair of mittens she knitted me from the pattern. <3  This is the third pair I think have knitted. The color is off. It's really "Carrot". Looks kind of orange-y/ red to me in the picture...   I'm sending these to a girl on Pine Ridge.

Eons' Pillowcase

...is done! I was only going to cut out the fabric tonight; but I ended up sewing it together, too. :)    He said "Can you put it on my pillow?"  <3  So I put it on his new pillow. (We had to throw his old one out when he was sick a while ago. It was so old, anyway..)  

Here it is, laying flat.  Not bad for an old sheet, eh?  :P

Although, I didn't realize... This sheet had a bunch of holes and rips in it. :(  I tried to get the part with the least rips (and stains-looks like someone spilled Kool-Aid on it or something). But I still see some holes in it.  I don't know if you can see the rip in almost the middle of the picture.  I'm thinking about making some "patches" and applique them on. I don't know what shapes, yet, though. There are holes in "odd" spots.    Oh well.  Not bad for a free pillowcase. :)

And, I'm making progress on my Christmas Stockings, too! #6 is done. All my "gift" stockings are all finished now.  And, I have the perfect idea of what kind of stocking to make for Eli now, too. 

My First Sewing Project

...with my new sewing machine, that is.  :)  I finally watched the DVD and figured out how to thread my machine. That's the hardest part for me. (Well besides getting frustrated so easily when something goes wrong with sewing...)  I finished a set of pillowcases. We have been needing pillowcases, badly. We only had about one set. So every time I would change the sheets; I would have to wash the old ones, so I could use the pillowcases again.  Well I got an email from my husbands' Aunt, telling me how to sew a pillowcase. She said you can use old sheets. Well, I have some of those (thank goodness for saving everything, lol..)  These are from a Full size sheet set I think (I'm almost positive) I had in high school.  When we got married, we got a bigger mattress than a full size. So I hadn't used the sheets in forever.  But they came in handy for fabric for pillowcases.  :)

Here is the new one, with the old pillowcase on the bottom. You can see how threadbare it is. (I will still probably keep it, though, until it rips and falls apart, lol...)    

I still have lots of other old sheets I can use; since we still need more pillowcases. I am going to cut fabric out for one for Eon next.  I also got some black fabric to make a pillowcase for Eli for Christmas (hopefully).  Using this video.  :)  I want to get some black and white print fabric for the edging, and plain white for the little strip.    I wanted to make an Angry Birds pillowcase for Eon, but I can't find any fabric for that anywhere. So... I might just have to make a colorful, kids pillowcase for him. :)  

Oh, to sew the basic pillowcases here; I cut out two pieces 40x32 inches. Then with wrong side facing you, fold down an edge 2 1/2 inches wide; pin, and sew along the long edge of fabric. (This is the pillowcase opening.) Then with wrong sides together, sew the long seam- then the short seam.  That's about it. Easy Peasy. Which is about all I can handle, when it comes to sewing. :P

Only 52 Days Until Christmas!!

I guess I can blog this, since Walmart has a Christmas Tree up the DAY after Halloween.... ??  I think that is kind of a little bit much. They had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas stuff all out at the same time.  Weird... It seems like you used to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put up your tree.. Oh well. I guess it's never too early to start getting ready for Christmas, right? I started crocheting for it, in July. :P 

Stocking #5 is done!  Here they all are, so far...   I am crocheting my Swap partners' Stocking right now. But, I would like to get a special yarn for her stocking. Which means I will *have* to go to JoAnns...  ;P Which I probably won't be able to do until this weekend.  I guess I could start another stocking, meantime.  I only have one more for "gift" stockings, then the rest are for us.  I still don't know what kind to make for Eli. He keeps saying "I don't even want one".  (Sigh..)  I told him "I have to make you one. What else am I going to put all the coal in?" lol....

This was my cake my husband bought me for my birthday yesterday.  He did the lettering himself. :P  Yup, I'm 42 now...  :(     Yes it was Carrot Cake. In case you wondering why there is carrots on it... :P
I got lots of birthday wishes and a wonderful eCard from Mimi~ Thank you, Mimi!  <3   

It's a Monster Mash...

Here are the boys' costumes before we went out Trick or Treating last night. :P  The Grim Reaper, and Frankenstein. :P  I think they had fun. Eli kept saying "This is boring", and "This is too much work for just a little candy"...  (Sigh... Teenagers)   They got a bucketfull each, and then we went home. Eli wasn't feeling good (none of us were, except Eon~ for once).

Jetta was pretending to be a real dog. (LOL...)  I'm just joking. I almost was going to crochet ~ or buy  her a costume. But 1. I don't think she would have liked it, and 2. We didn't have enough money to buy her a costume, and 3. I have enough on my to-do list to crochet, as it is. So I said to her, "Do you want to be a *real* dog for Halloween?"  :P   
She still has some issues... But I think she is getting better. She's only 9 months old; so she is still technically a teenager puppy, right?  :)   Our neighbors' dog was a cowboy. Hee Hee...  He had a Halloween bandana on; and she said he had a cowboy hat, but it kept falling off..