Spring is here, I hope…
March 10, 2008 at 9:16 pm | In Baby, SP11, family, gardening, knitting | Leave a CommentThe daffodils are blooming and some of the flowering cherries are, too! There is daylight to play in after we get home from work/school and grill in for dinner! I trimmed the blackberry thicket while the pork chops were on the grill. I also came home from spring break to find a wonderful surprise from my pal from SP11 (Barbara of Coffee Yarn). She sent me some “bare” yarn and some brown dye even though SP11 is long over. I had mentioned that I wanted to dye some brown and actually had found her blog when I was looking for “dyeing with coffee” instructions. She is such a thoughtful person!
The last week has been full of adventure… we visited Nana and Pappaw S in Ohio. We went to the aquarium in Newport, KY (near Cincinnati) and came home to snow here in TN. Bug threw snowballs at me for an hour on Saturday morning – the snow was nearly gone by Saturday afternoon.
I finished the second pair of alpaca fetching fingerless gloves and gave them to my mom – sorry, no picture of the finished item. They turned out nice. I made them a bit longer by adding an extra cable repeat and a longer thumb.
My SP is the best SP ever!
December 3, 2007 at 9:36 pm | In Baby, SP11, baking, family, knitting | Leave a CommentBug and I arrived home to find a giant box at the door. It had been a long day of work, then errands.
This box was sent by my SP11 pal, author of Coffee Yarn. I actually already read her blog, which I stumbled upon because I was interested in dyeing yarn with coffee. She is the best pal ever. She sent so many wonderful things.
A beautiful box
filled with lots of thoughtful goodies including:
a woven scarf, a knitted bookmark, 2 patterns (one toddler skirt and one vest), yarn (dreamsicle cotton and blue-green mohair blend), espresso-infused dark chocolate, a sock blocker key ring (with tiny pattern) , bath salts, post-it notes, paints and detangler for Bug. I know it may sound strange, but I don’t have many hand-made items. I give them all away and rarely make anything for me. It is very special to have someone make something for me.
To top it all off, she made this beautiful card! What a thoughtful person she is!!!! I’m not sure that I should even join SP again because I’m sure that no other pal could live up to her… 
Thank you so much!
Bug enjoyed every bit of opening the box, opening the presents inside, and playing in the peanuts inside….
She got very upset when we finally cleaned them up and she couldn’t play in them anymore.
In other news, I finished my socks. The ends need woven in and washed.
Also, I made Sheri’s Truffle Cake for work except I used pomegranate seeds instead of raspberries for decoration. It was a big hit!
Crafty update
November 26, 2007 at 9:21 pm | In SP11, knitting | 1 CommentI finished the clogs for my sp11. This is her last package since SP11 ends on Friday.
I made some significant progress on DH’s clogs – the second sole and cuff are left besides the felting. His are the men’s medium for an extra wide foot.
Thanksgiving already?
November 19, 2007 at 10:21 pm | In Baby, SP11, bellydance, knitting | 1 CommentTime seems to be passing so quickly. I can hardly believe it is nearly Thanksgiving. We will be traveling to Ohio this week to visit Nana and Pappaw S. My sister and her family will be in from Virginia, as well. My brother and his family only live 5 minutes from my parents, so we will all be together. I really do miss having any family close.
In crafty news, I have nearly finished the second pair of clogs. This pair is for my SP11. Only the sewing the soles up and felting are left to do.
I was very surprised at how long it has taken for my mom’s pair to dry following the felting. I bought some blue yarn to start a pair for DH. I know he will like them and I’m going to try and get them done over Thanksgiving break.
Bug’s attitude has been better this week. We had to step up the discipline. Here are some of the good times….
bellydancing Bug
sleeping Bug
Bug’s penguin cookie
Have a great Holiday!
My great-grandmother’s legacy
October 26, 2007 at 9:37 pm | In SP11, crochet, family | 1 CommentAnother SP11 contest brings this topic up.
What was the first thing I knit (or crocheted)? My mom taught me how to do chains when I was small, but I really learned to crochet from my great-grandmother (Elizabeth) just after I learned to drive. My sister and I had a standing appointment on Thursdays to go visit and learn. She started us on a lace edging.
We learned how to read the crocheted item itself to replicate the item. Later on I learned how to read patterns, and just now am learning how to read diagrams. Anyway, she died only about 10 years ago. My family has always been close (literally and emotionally) and long-lived. I miss my great-grandparents still. They were spunky!
My sister and I are the only ones who crochet in this whole extended family, so naturally we got her projects and her hooks, needles, and shuttles. In looking for my first project, I re-found this… her unfinished project.
It was to be a very large bedspread – currently measuring about 10 feet across and 4 1/2 feet wide. She had 3 blocks finished but not added and two more nearly done. There is also a bag of crochet cotton. I feel both blessed and sad to have it. I’m glad to come from such handy and talented folks, but I am sad that my daughter will not be as close to her grandparents because we live so far away.
I have the best SP ever!
October 15, 2007 at 7:57 pm | In SP11 | Leave a CommentMy wonderful secret pal sent me a package of oh so terrific goodies!
BEFORE
AFTER
SURPRISE!
She knitted me an illusion washcloth!!!! Do you see the candy corn, do ya, do ya? Ha ha ha ha!
There was a tremendous lot of stuff in there besides the washcloth:
caramel tootsie pops, chocolate bar, chocolate covered espresso beans, a Moosewood cookbook, a little white board, vanilla hand lotion, vanilla body bath, vanilla body lotion, and vanilla foaming wash, Dora cookies and 2 pairs of halloween socks for Bug…
I really do have a tremendously thoughtful secret pal! Thanks again!
I’ve been gathering up stuff for my pal, so I’d better get it in the box and send it out.
Stash photo and “baby cow”
October 2, 2007 at 8:55 pm | In Baby, SP11 | Leave a CommentFor SP11 we have to put up a picture of our stash.
You’ll see three totes in the “Stash Collage.” One has yarn and completed projects, one has only yarn, and the big blue tote at the right has doily crochet cotton and my prototypes.
The last photo (bottom left) is a box containing a pitiful UFO that I may not finish. I like the project, I like the idea of the project, but it is icky scratchy yarn. It was meant to be an afghan for my mom. It has been years since I touched it. Maybe I should start out with some soft yarn…
In funnier happenings… we saw lots of cows at the fair and saw a small black and white Holstein-like dog that she called a “baby cow.” ha ha ha ha ha!
Another week gone?
October 1, 2007 at 8:38 pm | In Baby, SP11, family, knitting, travel | Leave a CommentWork and Bug have been keeping me really busy this past week. Also, we went to the fair this weekend and just drove back this morning. I’m going to try to post some more this coming week, but they will likely be short posts, including the “stash” picture for SP11 (Hi Pal!). Now for some fun.
Bug enjoyed the fair – seeing the animals (here baby chicks),
and big pumpkins (largest was a meager 105 pounds, we’ve seen >250 some years),
and sitting on the big tractors,
and some of the crafts.
There are lots of crafty things at this fair (the Brown County, Ohio Fair). I’ll post some more general pictures – maybe try a collage later. Here are some of the unusual sightings…
a hot dog cake…
a ladybug pumpkin…
a scarecrow with straw hair that any goth kid would kill for … (my dad is in the middle there)
and a mutant, multi-headed sunflower.
I got some knitting done in the car as we traveled.
Progress on the DNA scarf… love the yarn!
Progress on the first sock of pair #2 (mine). I think I like the length of the cuff, so only the bind-off remains.
I wish there were a few more hours in the day… If only I didn’t need sleep.
Birthday week zoomed by
September 23, 2007 at 9:45 pm | In Baby, SP11, family, knitting, teaching | 1 CommentIt seems that the week just zoomed past me. I was and am very tired for some reason. My wonderful SP sent me a book for my birthday: Hip Knits. It is chock full of lovely patterns! Thank you (again) SP!
DH is going to get me a swift and ball winder, or at least that is what I requested. He also gave me a lovely card and some purple mums. We didn’t get to go out because he teaches from 8am until 9pm on Wednesdays (my birthday). We’ll go some other time, though.
I’ve been able to make some progress on some work things and some crafty things.
Tests are graded! Wa-hoo!
Sock 1 heel is done!
DNA scarf for DH is started. It is the illusion scarf called Rosalind from MagKnits. It is baby alpaca and man is it SOFT!!!
Cranky Pants has been out and about quite a bit – many parks to visit swings and slides. I think she is either having allergy issues or is getting a cold.
We also visited a handmade craft store in Christiana today called Honey Bunny. They had a lot of interesting items and I bought some Emu Oil bar lotion for DH and some for my SP11. I also bought her a pair of tatted earrings. I’ve wanted to learn to tat (read tried to teach myself), but it hasn’t ever “stuck.” This lady tats with much smaller thread (really, thread) than I’ve ever tried. She also had classic-style aprons. Bug particularly liked the small dolls and their rocking chair.
Glad it is Friday
September 14, 2007 at 8:51 pm | In Baby, SP11, knitting, work | Leave a CommentBug, DH, and I went to an Ice Cream Social at school yesterday. There was music and ice cream and Bug loved them both. She was extremely tired in the evening from all of her roaming and dancing and even slept an hour late this morning. She spent all of yesterday in “big girl panties” with only one accident at nap time! Yippee!
This week seems to have been quite long and I’m glad to be on this side of the school-week. Although, I’ll have to do some more preparing over the weekend for my presentation on Monday and the exams I’m giving on Tuesday.
I have made it almost to the starting point of the gusset increases for my first sock. Socks are still kind of stressful, not mindless, for me. I’m feeling the need to finish some more things, but all of my projects are moving kind of slow. I think I need a good small project, maybe crochet, to get it out of my system.
I sent my SP package out this morning. I’m excited to see how she likes the yarn I dyed for her and the other goodies in her package.
We ate at the Indian restaurant for lunch. I like Indian food, but it will intermittently give me really bad heartburn. My stomach was not feeling well enough to go to knitting this evening (sad face). Maybe DH will take care of Bug on Sunday afternoon so I can go then.
Happy Weekend!
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