Better Days..

I haven't been having any more days like my last post, anyway... I thought I would post some pictures and a video I made, the last time we went to Bass Pro Shop. The boys love going there. There is a huge aquarium (two actually, one isn't so 'huge', but has a lot of bigger fish); sometimes they have a mermaid in there. (See video below... pictures/video didn't post like I thought they would..) This time there were two guys in there, fixing things. The only thing is, they allow smoking in the casino which is right by the aquarium. I hate that. But, it is peaceful to watch the fish, and the stingrays (you couldn't pay me enough to swim in there with those things-- they must have 'de-stung' them or something...). They have a 'shooting range' where you can shoot all kinds of things. We had planned on going here this day so I brought lots of quarters. :) That's the main reason--besides the aquariums, the boys like going there... besides, we always get candy there, too. :P

It's not the greatest video, and no sound (need a real camera...) But, it's better than nothing. :)

Hope you are all having a good day. :)

Apparently, today is...

... "Annoy The Living Crap Out of Tina" Day!! Arghhh! It started at 1 am this morning. I woke up (sleeping with the 7 year old in a twin bed because he won't sleep alone is not fun...) and went into my own room. Well I couldn't get back to sleep, then. I layed there, my mind wouldn't shut off... Then I hear noises. "What is that?" I thought, "I would bet anything Eon is in here somewhere..." I couldn't see him, but finally figured out he was under our bed!! Ugh... I tried pulling on him to get him out from under the bed, without waking up my husband. He wouldn't get out. I said "Well I'm not going back to sleep any time soon now..." So I got up and went out in the living room. I worked on my Spring Drew-strings purse. I finished all I could without my sewing needle (which was in the bedroom..) Meanwhile, Eon came out from my room and went in his own room, got in his bed and went to sleep. Grrr! (Why couldn't he just do that the night before?...) Well I still couldn't go to sleep. So I got the coffee pot ready for my husband and went in the room and looked at the alarm clock to see when he had it set for... Started the coffee pot. Went back to my crocheting. I worked on my button-up book cover by Turtlelvr I had started a while ago. I am about half way done with that now. Well, I did go back to sleep then got woke up at 8:30 by my phone ringing from Texas?... Then, the kids get up.... "Can you drive me here? Are you going to do this?..." I won't even get into it all.... Drive the 17 year old to the place he wanted to go, (this is about the third time we have taken him here) he still does not fill out the application for this place!!!! Take him to Walmart (even though we were just there last night!! Grr...) Go to the post office, since it was closed yesterday. The line is long, and only one person behind the counter.... Ugh... Then, a family with boxes of candy come in right behind me. They keep putting candy in their mouths in the most annoying way, smacking their mouths, talking while smacking their mouths-- UGH!!!!! Is there even food allowed in the Post Office? Oh my God!! And it was a grown woman, too. Finally, I get home. I make a cup of decaf coffee (don't want to interfere at all with my sleep tonight!!). Sit down to try and relax... Just then, Eon spills a half a can of pop on my Drew-strings purse. (Who said he could drink pop in here, anyway?....) Clean that up, rinse off my purse.... Sheesh!!

I have so many projects going it isn't funny. I wasn't sure if I should make the title of my post "Why Can't I Finish One Project?" or "Apparently today is..." Sigh... I thought I would list them here just for myself/future reference:

~Bear Pillow for Eon (was supposed to be his 'New Bed' gift, but I wanted to sew a pillow for the insert, and since my sewing machine doesn't work, I am putting it off....) I think I am pretty much done with all the crocheting on this, but for the pillow part of it and sewing it together...
~A Baby Snow Dragon also for Eon. This is almost done. Got three 'spikes' to crochet, and the arms and legs to crochet and sew all on to. The rest is all done.
~Central Park Hoodie (sigh....) Sleeves are done. Blocked the back, and one front side. I need to sew the shoulder seams together (and block the other front side, and sleeves...). Then I can move on to the hood, and the front band.
~Lamb Sweater; that I decided I was going to send to my nephew Corbin. If I ever finish it!!! I blocked the front and back, need to sew the shoulder seams and block the sleeves/sew those on. I started the hat, need to finish that too. I hope I can finish it in time for him. He is two. It's a size 4...
~Pressed Flowers Afghan II for my husband. This one I am not super stressed about. I told myself it was going to get done when it got done, when I started it..
~Shalom Cardigan Vest. I need printer ink so I can work on this one whenever I want. I am on the yoke part (I guess?)
~An Afghan with no name, that my husband's Great Aunt sent me a drawing/diagram of one that she is doing and I tried to do what I thought she was doing (turns out I did my own thing LOL Hey, maybe I have my own pattern when I am through?...) It's squares... Don't know when this one will be done, either...
~Barbie furniture for my friends daughter that I promised to send... long story (I sent her a dishcloth & her daughter tried to use it as a Barbie rug in her Barbie doll house. I said "I can make her furniture for her doll house!") Ugh... Big mouth me... Actually, the Barbie doll stuff is almost done, it's her brother's stuff I am stressing about... A G.I. Joe type doll camping set, a sleeping bag (which is easy, I made one for Eon) and a tent. The tent is what I am stressing about.... So, I haven't even started it. Sigh....
~A heart pillow from CrochetMe
~A million other years old projects I don't know if they will EVER be done, ever.... :(

I keep seeing new things at Crochetville or Ravelry and "Oh, I want to crochet a hanger cover, that's so cute!".... "I haven't crocheted/knitted a dishcloth/hotpad in a long time, it's just a quick project..." "OH, look at that cute new bookmark pattern, and I've been wanting to crochet a new bookmark pattern..." "OH MY GOODNESS! Someone crocheted a Strawberry Cow from Farmville!! I HAVE to have that pattern!!" :(

Well, I guess I should be happy... Hubby is making dinner and he brought it to me! Awww.... Hopefully I will get a full night's sleep tonight. Otherwise, I might have some FO's to post here tomorrow. :P

I recently got a bookmark pattern book in a swap, "3 Dozen & One Bookmarks" by Annie's Attic. And, I also joined the 2010 50 Books Challenge at Crochetville. Well, long story short, I have been crocheting bookmarks to send as RAOKs (with old books I don't want but someone else does on the same group...)

I started a new purse (I need another project like I need another hole in my head... sigh...) But, we were going to St. George Utah this weekend and I wanted to bring something that wasn't a huge project, like my afghan that I need tons of scraps for, or my CPH.... Or my Shalom Cardigan Vest (which I don't have the pattern printed out for anyway). So I brought this. :D

This is the said afghan I mentioned just now. A second Pressed Flowers afghan. For us. Sorry the picture is so dark...

Well this is a quickie post just to let you know I'm still here. TTYL Hope you are all well...

I'm Still Here...

...maybe I need the Bad Blogger Award now. I don't post as much as I used to. With Facebook, Ravelry, Crochetville, and all the other places I post all my stuff it's getting to be a pain to have to post things everywhere. I like Ravelry the best. Just post your picture and a link and your done... Anyway. I have still been crocheting, and knitting, and baking! :P This is a slouchy purse by Drew Emborsky that I recently finished. I want to line it. But it's a funny shape; so I don't know how that will work out... Maybe I'll just line the part underneath the button. It's also kind of small for me. So maybe I will send it to someone. I love how it looks, though.

I did two hat and scarf sets. The Durango Hat, and this scarf. I think I must have been crocheting too tightly on the hat, it seemed kind of snug.

On the second set, I tried to loosen up and it helped a lot. :) They both went to the Pine Ridge reservation. I signed up for a teenage girl (the light blue set went to her), she already wrote me a letter and sent me a bunch of pictures of her and her friends. :P

And, progress on my Central Park Hoodie!... (I know, I don't believe it myself...) The sleeves are done. I have the back blocking (as well as one sleeve of my Lamb Sweater, which is all done except the hat which I am currently knitting.) I will probably finish them both not too far apart. (Maybe...) I still have to sew the shoulder seams of the CPH, then do the hood, and the buttonhole band and the rest of the sewing it up....

Here is a picture of some of the banana stuff I was baking... I also made a double batch of banana bread. I had 25 bananas in my freezer. I only used up less than a third of them, too. I should start making muffins once a week again.

We are supposed to get our truck back this Monday. I have about three million doctor/dentist appointments the coming next two weeks. (Sigh...) I don't know why I scheduled them all together like that. I need to take the 12 year old (soon to be 13!!) to the pediatrician, for his asthma check-up. And a week before that I have to take him to get a chest x-ray. That's two of the appts. Two dentist appts, and a gyno appt (yearly) for me (fun.... NOT). Guess I'm starting out 2010 with a lot of appointments. :P

Some Paper Stuff...

I got in the mood to make a card the other day. But, as usual, I had to help the 7 year old to make his card first... (sigh) I can't really remember how it all happened. But I actually made the envelopes after I made my card. Oh well. I made an envelope to fit my card, since I didn't have any the right size. I didn't take a picture of the card or the envelope I am talking about. But I made the envelope out of (what my husband calls) "slider paper". The paper you put on the floor when you are painting. :P I liked the color, it's kinda stiffer, and I have a whole roll of it! :D Then I showed my son the envelopes I made out of magazine pages (a loooong time ago). Well, then he wanted to make some. (Translation: Me making some for him.) It was fun, though. (Mostly) The wolf one is my sons'. Then later, I made another card:

This is my renditon of a card I saw in a magazine I have. I need to put one more button up in the left hand corner.

I have been baking some more. Gingerbread cookies. I was making the icing for them, and after I sifted the powdered sugar, it ended up looking like this. I thought it was cool so I took a picture. :P Of course, it looked better in RL. It was all shiny. Reminded me of snow or something.

These are the cookies "we" made. Yeah. "We". Well, the 7 year old did help me cut some out. I was not in the mood to have him help me. So I ended up doing them all myself.

You can see some of the faces on the gingerbread men... LOL I made an angry one and a sad one. Then a shocked one. I got some new snowflake cookie cutters this year so I made some snowflakes, too.

The other half of the dough is still in the fridge so I have to make more. (Sigh...)

I started another Pressed Flowers afghan, too. I actually started it right after I finished the first one. I'm not sure who this one will be for. I have a couple ideas.

We are kind of wishing we never moved to this house. It has been nothing but problems since we moved here... :( First our truck accident. (We saw some police lights down at that same corner last night, we think there was another accident there.) Then, two days later, I saw a rat in our pantry. I ran in the bedroom and woke my husband up (he wasn't really asleep yet), "There's a RAT in the house!" He got up and killed it. I felt bad almost right away. (Not that I want a rat in my house, but...) It wasn't a RAT/rat, it was a kangaroo rat. He was kinda cute. He was grey, with round ears. He (or she?) looked more like a gerbil or hamster. I had never heard of a kangaroo rat before this incident... And from what I have read, and seen pictures of online, I wonder if it was a kangaroo rat? It didn't have the tuft of fur on the end of it's tail. And it was grey, not sandy brown. ?? (Update: My husband said he found the rest of it's tail and it did have a tuft. I also forgot to mention that he left the door open while he was chopping wood, and it was raining out that day. So the rat probably was trying to find a place to get out of the rain. From what we have read and everyone we talk to around here, they say that kangaroo rats never come in to peoples' houses...) Well, anyway, we called the landlord. They said 'We've never had a problem with mice or rats there; blah, blah, blah...' The landlords said they would bring some rat traps over... Well meanwhile, we noticed there was water under the sink. My husband was putting one trap under one of the kitchen drawers, and noticed mold all over.... (sigh..) Pulled everything out and found out the garbage disposal is leaking, the dishwasher is leaking.... Ugh!! And there was a dead mouse behind the dishwasher. (No.... no mouse problems here...) The landlords are actually really nice, it was probably just a random mouse that got in. We are in the middle of the desert here. Someone is supposed to come out tomorrow to look at all the leaks. My husband has been spraying bleach water underneath there and it smells up the whole house. It's making me sick. It burns my eyes, gives me a headache and just stinks!! I hope they don't have to do a major overhaul. The floor is probably rotted underneath there, too. Maybe we moved into a lemon house. :P We are just renting, and it's a month to month lease~~ thank goodness for small favors, eh?... What is that saying? I just don't want to move again!!!! :( (Unless it is out of Nevada, that is...)

Well, I hope you are all well where you are and staying warm and dry... I better get busy now.

Some FO's~ Crocheting And Baking

See what happens when I don't blog in a while.... Well, I have been busy with RL. My kids hog the computer. They're more addicted to Farmville and Happy Pets and all those games on FB... When I get a chance to get on the computer, it's usually in the morning before anyone gets up (not long-lived), or at night (when I'm exhausted). No one is up yet, so.... Here I am. :P This is another Granny Star Afghan I finished recently. For the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. I was going to do some more, but.... my hands hurt.

I did manage to crochet a pair of socks, though. Not such a huge project... (These are for someone I send things to on PR, too).

Last night I finished this Pressed Flowers Afghan by Kelly Robinson, from 'The Ultimate Book of Scrap Afghans'. I started it for some friends of ours who adopted our 17 year old as their unofficial grandson. To take up to their cabin.

I started it October 31st. I tried not to use white in it too much. (Well, off-white). I did have it in three places. But mostly it is all colors.

Here it is, folded up on one side:

The other side:

I just have to wash and dry it, find a gift bag.... and give it to them. I wanted to finish it before the cold weather is over with and before they go up to their cabin again next time. So, I think I accomplished both of those things.... :)

I have been doing a little baking while offline/since we moved to our new place. I made the Copycat Starbucks Peppermint Brownies. I'd found the recipe a while ago (forever ago, it seems...) and finally made them. They were really yummy. Not too hard to do, either. Just time-consuming. I didn't do the red icing (too much, I thought...)

Here is one piece, so you can see the layers of frosting..... Yummy :P I just noticed they used my photos on the recipezaar page~ how cool is that? :)

Well that's a little catching up. We found out yesterday that the truck is not going to be totalled out. They can't even fix it until the woman answers her phone/they get her insurance information. It wasn't bad enough she ran a stop sign and hit two people, now they can't even get their vehicles fixed because she won't answer her phone?..... GRRRRR..... What is with people? Well, hopefully they will be able to get the information soon; and we can get it all taken care of.... :/ Til next time~~ Stay Safe :)

Nice...

It looks worse in RL. Yesterday we were just sitting at the stop sign waiting for traffic to clear, when some idiot across the road pulls out right in front of oncoming traffic. She (obviously) got hit, then slammed into us, just sitting there... No one was hurt. I was in the driver's seat. We haven't even been here two weeks, and already an accident. (Moving again wasn't enough stress...) I haven't liked that intersection since we moved here. The guy who (couldn't stop and) hit the woman said that's the second accident he's had there. You just can't stop when someone pulls out in front of you like that. He said the first accident he broke his toe. His friend has had five accidents there. Makes me feel real good... (sigh). I am glad no one was hurt, on top of everything else. I guess you can't prepare for accidents.

We just got back online yesterday. I've been doing a lot of crocheting, and some baking too; while offline. :P I'll save those for another post. I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

I got a total surprise in the mail the other day. We were all outside, getting into the truck to go run some errands; when a UPS truck stopped in front of our driveway. I said, "Huh? I never get anything from the UPS..." But I did get something from the UPS... :-D A boxful of scrap yarn for my scrap afghans!!! I had posted it on my wishlist at Crochet Mania. And less than a WEEK later, someone sent me some! Thank you so much, LadyH... :-D

Among the bazillion other projects I have going, I just this morning finished some "pumpkin" scrubbies. I used the Spiral Scrubbie pattern, and an idea Heart posted a long time ago on Crochetville. (The link for the spiral scrubbie is in that link, too... lazy blogger...) They're much cuter in real life...

And, I just last night worked some more on my Central Park Hoodie. One inch away from the sleeve caps, and I realized, "I did the cable wrong"... :( I did the C chart when I was supposed to do the B chart (or vice-versa?). It was supposed to be a double cable. Woops. Oh well. I'm not re-knitting both of the whole sleeves!

We still do not have any boxes to start packing with. Somehow, I'm not really worried or stressed out about it. (Yet...) My husband has been painting over there. (Our bedroom was hideous!!-- an awful pink/purple with blue splotches underneath.) It's white now. :-D It looks so much better. I hope the smell (from the paint) goes away, it was giving me a horrible headache... We also are going to get the carpet steam cleaned. Maybe eventually replace it? I don't know, it's just a rental and we aren't planning on staying there too long. I just hate stained carpet... Well have a nice upcoming weekend everyone.

Snakes

I am so glad these are finally done. I didn't mind doing the first one. It was kind of fun, stuffing it as I went... By the second one, though; I got burnt out big time. I didn't even work on it for about a week. Then one day I said 'I am just going to finish this and get it over with.' Ugh. I found the pattern in the 2010 Crochet Calender. I didn't know it is also an online pattern. I found that out on Ravelry. (I saw someone else's snake that was the same name as the pattern I used...) Ayame the Snake. These snakes have different names, though.

The black one is a girl. "Her" name is Crusher. Nice name for a girl snake, no?... I guess any name for a *snake*.... would not be a cute, fluffy, adorable name, right?.... :P

The white (off-white) one is a boy. He does not have a name. I don't know if he will get one or not...

I have lots of other things (TOOOOO MANY!!) I have been working on. Two afghans; the starghan and the pressed flowers one, still... I have three potholders going. All at the same time. (Sigh). My Central Park Hoodie is still waiting to be worked on some more.

I got the nicest surprise in my email the other day: A gift eCard (?), to KnitPicks!!! I was (and still am) so shocked and surprised. I couldn't believe it. I have been wanting to knit the "Amused" sweater for some time. I kept dropping hints to my husband that I would like to get some yarn that wasn't (crappy) acrylic... (Well, don't get me wrong-- I think acrylic is good for *some* things. Toys, especially. I use it all the time for afghans. But, I want to knit a sweater with something really nice, and that I will like wearing...) Finally, I came right out and asked him. It actually wasn't as expensive as I thought. (But I still feel bad asking, since money is so terribly tight right now for us, with moving again and all.... [sigh]) But he said to go ahead and order the yarn for the sweater. Well, I wanted to get the Amethyst Heather but it was $2.19 a skein and would have been a lot more. So, I got Fairy Tale instead. Well when I went to check my email later on (I was cleaning all day), there was the email for the gift ecard!!!! Thank you so much again (if you read my blog at all), TX! I know I will want to cast on right away when I receive the yarn, too. Then I will have even more projects going... Which makes me want to hurry up and finish everything right now. But, I'm going as fast as I can with what time I have...

Well, I will try and post again soon. I got another surprise in the mail again today (I will save that for another time, though).

More Afghans...

I started two more afghans. I may or may not have already posted that. But, here are pictures of them... This one is 'Pressed Flowers', from a scrap afghan book I have. Can't think of the name of it right now. This pattern is also called Catherine's Wheel. I think I made a 12" square with this same pattern stitch a few years ago. I started this one for some friends of ours who are my parents age (just about, a couple years older). They have kind of 'adopted' our 17 year old as their 'unofficial grandson'. They have taken him to their cabin a couple of times to help out (and they pay him). He gets to ride their four wheelers; (they ride with him) and have fun, too. I wanted to make them something to say thank you. I thought 'How about an afghan to take to their cabin with them?' It's turning out so ugly, no one would want it for anything but a cabin! lol

I also started another Granny Star Afghan. I kind of stalled out on working on both of them. My hand is hurting. Today I tried working on the pressed flowers one, and had to rip out a row because I did something wrong (couldn't figure it out), then re-did the row completely. Then realized, 'DUH!!!' I crocheted only one blue strip, and finished the 'flower' with brown. (You do two rows of one color...) I knew that something wasn't right, but couldn't figure out *what* it was... I'm such a ditz sometimes. Too much going on in my brain right now, I can't concentrate... :(

We are moving (AGAIN).... :( I am really, really, really getting sick of moving!!!! I should just say no! I can understand we need to find a cheaper place to live. But, it's only $100 cheaper a month. Is it worth all the hassle to move? Ugh... Technically, I guess it is. If you look at it this way: That's $1,200 a year we will be saving. But... Ugh. The house we are moving to is on the other side of town. It's on two and a half acres, and has 4 bedrooms. I am really hoping this will help alleviate some of the bickering between the 12 year old and the 7 year old.... Although, I can kind of see it already: "Get out of my room' 'Can you tell him to stop coming in my room?'.... So, I don't know... One of the bedrooms is technically an 'office', but the only thing that makes it an office is that it doesn't have a closet. So, they will have to share closets. Not a huge deal. Maybe I can use it to my advantage with the 'fights'.... =^^= (Catty, no?...) Well, that's about all the news. I hope everyone is having a great 'hump day'. :P TTYS or L.... :P

It's Been a While...

I'm still here, though... My husband bought me the Bearista Bear! Isn't he adorable? I just love him. I haven't thought of a name for him, yet. Don't know if I will. I still kind of want to crochet a pumpkin bear. I need more time to make everything I want to. (Sigh...)

I finished one thing, though. The Chakra Purse. Yay.

Stuffed with a couple of skeins of yarn. :P

And the lining. (Sorry, blurry, pre-coffee picture this morning...) ;) Trust me, you wouldn't want a good picture of it. It looks like a seven year old sewed it in. I am not good at sewing. I will still use this purse, though; that's for sure.

I started a new (big) project. An afghan. :0 Can you believe it? (I can.) We only have to pack and clean this house to move in three weeks, but I am starting an afghan. That's me all right. Why do I do it? I don't know. To distract my mind from what is really going on? Who knows. :) This is Sami Jo Fitzgeralds Granny Star Afghan, it works up super fast. I'm just using colors I had in my stash. I looked through star afghans at Ravelry to see if I could find any good color scheme ideas (since I am brain dead that way). I saw a really cute one Vashongirl made; in the exact colors I am using. I am going to try doing mine that way. I will probably have to go get some more yarn before this is done, but... I have a good amount to start with, anyway. :)

Well that's about all the news. I have had some kind of a bug the last two days, I think. My husband was home sick Monday and Tuesday. Then Tuesday I started feeling kind of sick. Sneezed about a hundred times, my nose would not stop running all morning. My ears hurt. Kinda sore throat. A little bit head achey. Then today it was my stomach. :( I feel a little better now. But not well. Anyway~~ I hope you are staying well where you are. No flu allowed! Anywhere! :P

Pumpkin Bears and Pumpkin Muffins...

Well.... I couldn't find any 'Pumpkin Bears' to post a picture of... But I want one! Yesterday we went to Starbucks, and I got a Pumpkin Spice Frappucino. Yummy... While we were waiting, I was looking around and saw the cutest Pumpkin Bears. Well, more accurately Bearista Bears. With the cutest little pumpkin sweater on. I want one! My husband said he will buy me one. We'll see. :) But now I am on a mission to crochet one or knit one, too. Not that I don't have a gazillion other projects to do right now. (Sigh...) I know what I want, but don't know if I will be able to come up with a cute enough real life version...

Then I started craving pumpkin desserts. I wanted a pumpkin streusel coffee cake. But I couldn't find any. I found some pumpkin streusel muffin recipes. I might try one (of the recipes).

I Got My Calender, and I Got My Orders...

I got my Crochet Pattern a Day Calender (although it isn't a 'pattern a day', anymore. I guess it is the 2010 Crochet Calender. I don't know... There was a mix-up with my address (even though I sent my new address several times...) Anyway~~ I got it, finally. It wasn't any hurry. My 12 year old son, just a few days prior to getting the calender; had said to me, 'Can you crochet me another snake? Really long?' They had one I had crocheted years ago. But I think it got thrown away since the stuffing was all coming out of it, and it was ratty looking. It was the 'Guard Dawg and Sentry Snake' pattern. I don't know if it is an archived pattern now or what... Well when I got the calender, I said 'Hey!'... and showed him the snake pattern. Well, you can guess the rest... And, little brother wants one, too (of course). ;) I haven't crocheted a toy in a while and it's fun for me, so... I don't mind. :P Here is the 12 yr olds':

He wanted a 'white snake' with yellow and black eyes (he drew me a picture). So I have been googling white snakes. They're kinda creepy looking. (Well, aren't all snakes? But..) I think it's funny, my big 200+ 6'1" dad, and my tatoo artist brother are deathly afraid of snakes. Here I am, crocheting them... :P When my brother came to our house for my Grandma's funeral (we flew out together), there was one of the kids plastic snakes laying in the garage, and my brother thought it was real and jumped. It was kinda funny. I was just standing there, going 'What?...' :P

I am also making progress on my Chakra Purse. I finished the front. I had the whole back and front flap all done, but my heart was slanting so I ripped it all out and am going to re-do it. I am on the strap and gussett part, now. I bought some fabric to line it with. I could only find one teal colored fabric that I liked at all. So I guess I'll use that. I also bought a bling-y button but I don't know if I'll put it on there, or not...

I'm also making progress on my CPH sleeves, too. I'm almost to the last increase on the sleeves then I just have to work straight til they are long enough. I have so many sweaters in my que (sp?) at Ravelry. (Among other things!) It took me a while to figure out, but I think that is supposed to be things you are actually working on? I have been using it to keep patterns that I *want* to work on, somewhere where I know where they are... Oh well. :P

Well that's about all folks. I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We didn't do much, my husband worked Saturday. Just hung out around the house... :) Til next time~~~

I had forgotten to take a picture of the potholder I crocheted for a recent swap on CrochetMania.... This is it. She said her kitchen was a 'rainbow' of colors. I thought of this variegated for some reason. It's got bright cheery colors... Then when I was crocheting it, it was turning out way too big. So I frogged what I did and chained only 45 or 40. It started turning out like a rainbow! I thought that was so cool. :P

I recently joined the Chakra Purse CAL in the Crochet in the Philippines Group I am in on Ravelry. I don't live in the Philippines at all, but Mimi invited me to join the group (and the CAL :P), so I did! This is what I have so far on the purse. It was all going well til I did the flap. :( I think it is the pattern. I followed it exactly, and it is all wonky and lopsided. It is also 'pulling'... I noticed someone else's Chakra purse on Ravelry did the same thing (I searched for other ones people might have made...) There was another one someone else did that looked perfect, though. Sigh... Maybe once I get it all finished, it will work out. Maybe if I try blocking it.

I started the front last night. I think I need to slow down. In between my shoulder blades has been aching. My wrists and hands have been aching... I thought it was from knitting, since I have been working on my Central Park Hoodie recently. (Knitting too much hurts my hands..) Who knows. I should start slowing down, though..

Here is a picture of Baby E, in his Fishy Sweater I knitted for him before he was born. :) I was really into knitting sweaters back then for the kids. I don't know why I got away from it. Probably because they never wore them, and the ones I knitted for other people I felt were never appreciated (or worn) either... Now, it's too hot where we live to wear sweaters! I guess I'll stick to knitting them for just me. :D (CPH...)

I hope everyone is having a good week so far... I suppose I should get busy here and start the day. :)

Catching Up...

I have been neglecting my blog for a while... Sorry. I have been crocheting some, though. I'm trying to get caught up and finish some of my projects I should have finished a long time ago. (Sigh.)

I did finish my Simply Striped Shrug, finally! I was worried I would run out of thread (which I did, in the end...). I had a second (less than half ball--well, they were both not full) ball, and no wrapper inside so I wasn't sure if they were the same red or not. But then when I started crocheting with it, it looked like it was. But then I started getting close to the end of the ball and knew I was going to have to finish it. It was a little tight (I tried it on that night with a bulky shirt all bunched up underneath it, though). It fits good without a shirt on under it. :)

Sorry for the blurriness in this one. My husband was taking the pictures.

You can find the Simply Striped Shrug pattern on Mimi's mycrochetstuff page, or on Mimi's Ravelry page! It is a fast simple pattern (fast for anyone on earth other than me!) ;)

Here is an old, old project I did. (The picture I just took.) :P I crocheted this Clint Eastwood Poncho for our now 12 year old. He NEVER wore it, maybe three to five times total. :( Well a couple nights ago, the 7 year old (he's not 6 anymore...) said, 'Can I have the ??? poncho?' (I couldn't understand what he was saying...) I said 'Do you know where it is?' He did, and then we had to go through a huge long process of reasoning with his brother, to let his little brother have it. I finally just said, 'You never even wore it, and it doesn't even fit you anymore, anyway. I made it, and I'm giving it to Eon'.... Why can't older brothers just be nice to their little brother once in a while?

Here he is, with his cowboy boots and hat...

I started a new CAL on Ravelry, and a new purse. The Chakra Purse. At first I wasn't sure I would really like the pattern stitch. But, I do. I'm making it in Red Heart Super Saver in Turqua. It is kind of curling up on the sides (I had to force it down for the picture). I hope that isn't going to be a problem later. I could not find out what kind of yarn Caron Spa is. I *think* it is a light worsted. Kind of like Caron Simply Soft? The pattern said to use a D hook, but I am using an F. I almost wanted to use a G. But maybe it is supposed to be a little stiffer. I don't know. It feels good, for a purse.

I have quite a few tops this purse will go with. I was going through my closet yesterday (trying to find a tank to wear with the SS Shrug), and so I started putting all my tank type tops in one spot on the rack. I have three or four of this type color. Plus a couple other tops, too... I am trying to wear more bright, cheery colors. Not so much black or grey...

And last, but not least, my Central Park Hoodie progress! I dug this out and started working on it again after only what, eight months?.... (sigh...) At first I couldn't find my notes and almost started getting angry. I guess that's one other reason why you shouldn't let so long go in between working on a project... But, I found them, and all was good. I just have the sleeves and hood. I was looking through Ravelry to see everyone else's CPHs. Some people did theirs with no hood. They looked nice, but I want the hood on mine. :P If I do another one, I will buy some nice yarn in a nice brighter color (maybe a bright green, or pink/purple?). I figured if I mess up on this one, I am only using Red Heart and didn't waste a fortune on yarn with it. This is the first adult sweater I have ever knitted. I used to knit baby/small child sweaters, and was getting pretty good at them. I found a picture yesterday of a baby sweater I knitted for Eon before he was even born, and I scanned it. I'll have to post a picture here of it. It's on my Ravelry page, though. If anyone can't wait. :P I also posted the Zip-Neck pullover I knitted (on Ravelry), too. (I didn't put a zipper in mine, though...)

Well I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Last night we went to a Going-Away party for two families who already left; that ended up getting turned into a 'Glad You're Not Going Away' party, for someone who's staying. :P LOL Our oldest son brought his guitar. It was really fun. We brought home cake we do not need. Ugh. If I can just keep away from it until it's gone. ;P It is "Italian Creme Cake", with coconut and walnuts (yuck, yuck...) but that didn't stop me from eating TWO pieces last night! :0