ClusterPuff

Where does the time go?

2007-08-16T08:09:00.000-04:00

8 months has just flown by. So many things have happened that I've totally forgotten to come update.

The girls spent the summer with the grandparents, the neighbors from hell moved in next door, the baby was diagnosed with 'failure to thrive' and then rediagnosed as normal, just small. I got little to no crocheting done, but I did purge the downstairs of many many boxes of books and magazines and purged the kids' closets of clothes that don't fit anymore. Sheesh, there's really just been too much going on. Hopefully I'll get back to updating this on a regular basis again.

Clarity

2006-12-21T09:48:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while in the midst of my hectic life there comes a moment of such clarity that it makes me pause. Today I had one of those moments. While I was holding the baby, and my son was sitting on the floor playing, and my 2 oldest were tearing up the kitchen in their quest to make breakfast it slapped me in the face how truly blessed I am. I have 4 beautiful, healthy, intelligent children. No...they don't always behave. No...they don't always clean up after themselves. Yes...they drive me absolutely bonkers. But all in all they are truly wonderful and in my day to day life with all the work and frustrations of trying to raise 4 kids on just one income, I tend to forget. Thank you God for blessing me so.

And as the oldest 2 start fighting and the youngest starts crying, the moment is gone as I hunt down the toddler to make sure he's not dumping shampoo or taking the ornaments off the Christmas tree...haha

Finished Sweater

2006-12-18T00:24:00.000-05:00

I finished the sweater and cap! Can't believe I finished it this fast, but I actually got a couple of hours of almost uninterrupted crocheting in today! I haven't tried it on the baby yet as I didn't want to wake her, but when I do, I'll make sure to take a pic and post it for all to see how it ended up fitting.
Now I just need to find a good (read easy) pattern for booties that is similar or figure out how to make them myself.

Reunions

2006-12-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

It's always fun having reunions with long lost siblings! The girls' oldest sister came for a visit this weekend and they had a great time with her. The last time they saw her was almost a year ago. She recently moved closer to us to go to college, so hopefully we'll get to see her more often.

Poor thing, I thought they were going to run her over when she got here. (We didn't tell them she was coming so it would be a surprise, kind of an early Christmas present!) I think they stayed up most of the night playing games and watching movies. Here they are hamming for the camera.

While she was here we braved the seasonal madness of the mall to get her a dress to wear to a semi-formal party. It was crazy there and I swear I'll never go back during a holiday season.

Making progress

2006-12-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

I'm finally making progress on Allie's sweater and I think she'll actually be able to wear it for a month or so before she gets too big for it. I finished the first sleeve (finally) and got about halfway through the other before I had to stop and get the kids ready for bed tonite. Hopefully I'll get it finished tomorrow. Just need to finish the last 2 inches of the second sleeve, edge the body, and get some cute buttons for it. Of course there's still the little cap that goes with it, but I should be able to finish that in one or two evenings depending on how needy the little ones are.

Sweater in progress

2006-12-09T12:27:00.000-05:00

I'm finally finding some time to crochet again. I'm attempting to make a sweater for the baby. I've never made a sweater before. The closest I've come to making wearables are scarves, hats, and ponchos. Nothing that difficult. This poor sweater on the other hand. I've frogged the sleeve several times because I keep forgetting to turn at the end of each row rather than working in the round. I'll post another pic when it's actually finished.

I also have a queen size afghan that I'm working on, but there are no photos of it yet.

Camera frenzy

2006-12-06T12:44:00.000-05:00

All you parents and grandparents out there know how it is when you have a new baby in the house. The camera comes out and every little moment has to be captured! Seems like the first few months in a baby's life they get photographed more than the rest (at least in my house).

So anyway, my camera has been getting a pretty good workout but it's been difficult to get all 4 kids in one place while they're all awake and somewhat alert. A couple of days ago I finally managed to do just that and got the resulting pic.

Finished projects

2006-12-01T12:33:00.000-05:00

I actually did some crocheting while I was pregnant. Not a lot, but a few items. Just thought I'd share them here.

This is a poncho I made for Amber after someone stole her other one.

This is Allie's very first baby blanket.

This is Amber's afghan done in the colors of her choice. There's a photo of Alicia's somewhere back in this blog. Now I just need to make one to fit JW's new bed.

This is a rug I whipped up right before Allie was born to put next to my bed. I hate getting up in the middle of the night and putting my bare feet on a cold floor so this was my solution. It looks better now that the ends have been woven in and it's been washed and blocked.

2006-11-16T21:42:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted here. A lot has happened since my last post. We've moved back on post, the girls started the 5th grade, JW has grown like a weed, I've completed an afghan, another poncho for Amber, a couple baby blankets, and 3 weeks ago gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!!

Pineapple doily

2006-04-14T09:05:00.000-04:00

Well I finally finished it (a couple of weeks ago!) This is the doily I did for my swap partner in Luxury. This is the first doily I've done with anything smaller than size 3 thread in over a year since the accident. I think it turned out quite nice.

I've got a baby blanket and an afghan on my hooks at the moment and just finished some squares for a 12" square exchange. Maybe now I'll find more time to post. We'll see.

Goodbye Sweet Gram

2006-03-21T22:46:00.000-05:00

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere, 86, died Monday, March 6, 2006 at Rosewood Court Adult Foster Care Home in Brookings of natural causes.

She was born April 29, 1919 to Joseph Alexander and Mary Ethel (Vincent) Currie in Eugene, Oregon.

Mrs. LeClere was raised and schooled in Eugene and Springfield where she spent most of her life working and raising her family.

She married Joe Prociw in Springfield in 1937 and they raised three children together. She later married Leonard LeClere about 1953 and they also raised three children together.

Mrs. LeClere was employed as a waitress at Seymour’s Restaurant in Eugene for a number of years before beginning at the University of Oregon. She retired from U of O in 1975 after being employed as the Housekeeper for the University President for about a decade.

After retirement she worked closely with the Springfield Police Department to develop a Neighborhood Watch Program. She attended a number of specialized classes and received various commendations from the police department for her involvement.

Mrs. LeClere was an accomplished seamstress and very good at needlework. She enjoyed crocheting, knitting, and cross-stitch and won first prize for her work at the Curry County Fair some years ago. She also liked hand-decorating ceramics and was very skilled at doing custom hand-drawn designs. She loved to read and was a fan of Louis L’Amour. She also enjoyed vegetable and flower gardening and specialized in growing irises.

She is survived by son, Larrie and wife Beverly Prociw of Roseburg; daughter Bettie Gaye Ridl of Anchorage, Alaska; daughter Donna and husband Jim Blunt of Brookings; daughter Cecelia and husband Layne Worlton, also of Brookings; son Dwayne LeClere of Kodiak, Alaska; and son Tim and wife Pamela LeClere of Winston, Oregon; fifteen grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren; and also twin brother Bert Currie of Anaconda, Montana.

She was preceded in death by her two older sisters and three older brothers, Wilma Roberts, Letta Bloom, and Arthur, Keith, and Ralph Currie.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 11, 2006 at Redwood Memorial Chapel, Brookings. Private entombment will be held later at Springfield Memorial Gardens in Springfield, Oregon.

Think Pink!

2006-02-22T19:49:00.000-05:00

Well I did it. I signed up as a Mary Kay consultant. This is not something I ever thought I'd do, but I'm having a blast!! Today I put in my first order, for $600!! How cool is that. This from me, a person who never thought they could sell water to someone dying of dehydration!

This is also been a way for me to start meeting people around here since I haven't gone back to work yet. (On that note I have an interview tomorrow!)

So far it's been a good week! I've been truly blessed.

If you're interested in MK products you can visit my MKwebsite. Drop me a line and let me know what you think or even if you just want more info.

Going Crazy

2006-02-04T20:24:00.000-05:00

I can't find my hooks. I've been working on squares for an exchange and both of the hooks I've been using have disappeared. I saw one on the floor this morning and I'm sure one of the kids moved it, but when I ask I get the usual answer...."I don't know, mom." GRRRRR

Famly time

2006-02-02T12:57:00.000-05:00

We had a surprise visit last weekend. My daughters have an older sister from their bio-father who is 18. Although we talk frequently on the phone, we haven't seen her since early May, 2001. Last weekend we were pleasantly surprised to find out she was in Raleigh for the day. So we all piled in the car and went up to spend the day with her. I took more video than pics, but here are a couple of stills.

In other news, I spent a week doing a workshop to relearn how to write my resume and brush up on my interview skills. Turns out I know a lot more than I thought I did, unfortunately the job market here is slow and the pay is a lot lower than what I'm used to. Maybe I'll go back to school and THEN look for a job. We'll see.

I'm still working on my crochet and PSP. It's hard to decide which one to do when I do get time to do them. I haven't completed any crocheted items since the last blanket, but I am working on squares for an exchange I'm in. Once I get them caught back up I plan on starting Amber's blanket, but I'm still looking for the right pattern. I might just have to come up with my own for hers. Any suggestions? I'm open to ideas!

Finished

2006-01-17T12:06:00.000-05:00

Well I finally finished Alicia's afghan. It took longer than expected, but life has a tendency to interfere with crafts and hobbies. I still have to start Amber's, but I've been more focused on looking for work and daycare.

DH got a nice shiney, new truck for Christmas and although we could afford it on one income if we cut out some of the extras.... I Don't Want To! LOL, I LIKE having extras. Extras make life easier and sometimes even more enjoyable!!

So anyway, I had to take the computer in and have both drives reformatted recently. What a pain. I lost so much, but on the other hand we were able to save a lot as well AND it runs so much faster now. I got the tech to only charge me a flat fee of $40 to back up several files and 27g of music files! LOL, their normal fee is $20 per gig. DH asked how I managed to do that and I simply told him I played the 'dumb gurl' card!! lol

Happy New Year...yeah right!

2006-01-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

We live in a condo. Not the most ideal place for a family of 5, but it's really not too bad. The problems start with having your front door so close to others. Our building has 9 condos in it, 3 of which are currently vacant. Let's do the math, that leaves 5 other families/tenants including us.

Now let's think about this. You live in a building with 5 other groups of people, no matter how unsociable you may be, at some point you will meet your neighbors, right? Right. I can't tell you everyone's name, but I can tell you how many people live in each unit and I can even somewhat describe them if I needed to.

My point? My point is, some dirty bastard stole my WET umbrella from in front of my front door! Our doors aren't near any place where someone just walking by could access them. You actually have to walk through a parking lot, up a ramped walk, over a little bridge-like apparatus, and up some stairs just to get to the first floor. I left my umbrella slightly open in the corner by my front door for no longer than 20 minutes (something both I and the kids do often) and when I was getting ready to leave again it was gone! I'm not really angry about it, umbrellas are relatively cheap, but it's the principle of it (or lack of). I'd like to assume it wasn't one of my neighbor's, but maybe one of their guests BUT there were no strange cars in the parking lot when I got home!!!

Oh the stupid things some people will do. Geez, I'd have probably given it to them had they just asked! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to use one of the kid's for now...

Separation Anxiety

2006-01-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

I'm suffering from it. I never thought I would at my age but I am. My husband and son are staying at my inlaws this week and I've been miserable since I left them there yesterday. Ok, it's not really THEM I'm referring to. It's my son. This is my first time away from him and I'm not handling it well. I woke up 6 times last night because I thought I heard him crying (it was probably me...lol).

The girls were 4 and had been in daycare since they were babies the first time I spent the night away from them so it was very different. By then I was ready for a break, but I could talk to them on the phone and they'd talk back. JW won't talk on the phone, he just listens...sorta. He thinks it's a game. Funny thing is, the girls are missing him terribly as well. Like I told my dh on the phone last night, even though there are three of us here, the condo seems so empty without JW running around.

Only 4 more days to go. I'm sure we'll be ok, and I've got plenty to do to keep me busy. I just pray it will go by quickly!

Mom's Gift

2005-12-28T09:07:00.000-05:00

Now that Christmas is over I can finally post a pic of the shawl I made for mom. I did the Serafina Shawl pattern using a rich chocolate brown chenille and it turned out just scrumptuous! I really wish this picture did the shawl justice, but I guess it will have to do.

Now that Christmas if over I'm working on afghans for the kids and a baby blanket for a friend of mine. It looks like I might be rejoining the workforce in the near future so my fingers need to fly if I want to finish these projects anytime soon. Only problem is I've also found a new hobby that cuts into my crochet time. I recently started playing with PSP and can literally spend hours doing it!! Oh, btw, for those of you who don't know what PSP is (it's not a drug!!) it's PaintShop Pro!

Brrrr....

2005-12-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

We've been blessed. Most of the bad weather has completely missed us here in NC. But this week is different since our heat isn't working. This morning it's 32 F outside and our heat pump is blowing cool air. The heat/air repair place called and told me they can't get here till tomorrow. Guess we'll all be sleeping in a couple layers of clothes tonite! lol

Oochy Ouchy

2005-12-15T07:38:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting much, matter of fact I haven't been on the computer much lately either. It's just been too painful to sit in this chair for very long. I finally saw the doc yesterday and he gave me a program to do to loosen up the muscles at the base of my skull, so hopefully I'll be back to posting on a regular basis soon.

In the mean time, I finished another hat and scarf set. This one was for me. It's 'New Flame Red' with a single black stripe. The yarn is something I found on sale at Hobby Lobby for $0.86/3.5 oz skein. Not a bad deal! I'm still working on afghans for my daughters and a baby blanket for a friend, but with the holidays coming I'm just not having much time to crochet. I've decided I'll not be getting the girls' ghans done in time for Christmas, but hopefully I'll have them finished in time for their birthday next month.

Busy Hooker

2005-12-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

Wow, hard to believe it's been over a week since I last posted. I've been busy crocheting, trying to get things done for Christmas. I finished another afghan, this one for my other sister. It really didn't take long, but I procrastinated about sewing all the pieces together. It's done holding 2 strands together throughout and it turned out very soft and cushy. I really hope she likes it.

I also finished a hook case and started an afghan for one of my daughters and a baby blanket for a good friend of mine. Now if I could just keep my son from stealing my hooks out of my projects I'd probably be working on the baby blanket rather than sitting here. I can't work on the afghan for my daughter because they're home from school now. I figure I can work on it while they're at school and in bed, hopefully I can get hers done and do one for her sister before they get out for Christmas break. That means I have until 12:30pm on the 19th as they have early release from school that day. Wish me lots of luck and flying fingers as I'm going to have to work hard to get them finished in time!

2005-11-28T23:01:00.000-05:00

This is the most recent square I've done for my AIAY group. This particular square will be going to Mimi. I'm excited, next month is my month so I'll be receiving 10 squares from the other members in the group! Hopefully I won't take forever in putting them all together! lol

12" square for Mimi

Embarrassing moments...

2005-11-28T17:35:00.000-05:00

We all have them. Those moments that everyone else finds exceedingly funny, but we just wish we could roll time back and undo them. I know, this may not seem so embarrassing to most, but in MY family...ugh.

This weekend we went to my inlaws for the day. While there, my MIL pulled out a stack of photos for us to go through. (In my defense; I'll just say that I was tired and I really wasn't paying attention, but I do remember wondering who the cute little girl next to my neice was.) So anyway, my husband hands me a picture and says "they look like they could be brother and sister". It's the same photo, I look again and ask how they could be brother and sister when it's 2 girls. OMG, it was a picture of my son from 5 months ago before he got his first haircut!!! (My dh will never let me live this one down!)

This first picture is from the same day as the one mentioned.

The second is from a couple days ago. There's a big difference!! lol

Cheating

2005-11-24T11:32:00.000-05:00

Let me start by wishing Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it.

Now, to explain the title. Unless I've had Thanksgiving dinner at someone else's house, I ALWAYS cook a turkey (or my dh fries one). This year we cheated and let Bojangle's do the frying for us!! lol We really wanted to fry our own, but since we're living in a condo right now we don't have any "safe" place to set up the turkey fryer and as much as I hate this place I don't want to be the cause of it burning down.

We're not having the large crowd this year that we usually do. Only 2 soldiers and the 5 of us. We usually have at least twice that number, but we've only been here 5 months and just haven't had time to make the connections I guess. Anyway, back to the kitchen I go. Ya'll have a blessed day.

Migrating old blog entries

2005-11-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

I want to migrate my old blog posts off the other blog here before they're lost forever, but I can't seem to figure out how. As I mentioned in my first post here Myblogsite.com will no longer be supporting blogs. They gave all their members the option to migrate everything over to Blogharbor and it was very easy, BUT after the first 30 days they want $8.95/month. I really don't feel the need at this time to pay for blog services when there are so many free sites out there.

If there's anyone reading this who knows how to migrate or save blog entries from one site to another I'd appreciate a comment with tips or instructions. Or an email would be helpful as well.

Off my hook.

2005-11-22T21:10:00.000-05:00

I haven't been crocheting much the past few days, but I have finished a few projects. I made hats and scarves for the girls, finished a couple of 12" squares for an exchange, and started an afghan for my other sister.

I took the girls to AC Moore over the weekend to their Winter Madness festival or whatever it was called. We all had a good time. I restrained myself to only purchasing 2 pounders in cream to finish the ghan I'm currently working on. The girls got to be crafty and they loved it! They made cards, gift bags, pipe-cleaner candy canes, cinnamon stick reindeer, learned how to etch glass, and brought home free lady bug counted cross-stitch kits. Their dad is the one who taught them how to cross stitch. Was nice to see them all sitting together figuring out the pattern. I brought home one too, but he took it. He's about 1/2 way finished already!! shhh, don't tell him I told you though...lol

Moving again.

2005-11-16T14:50:00.000-05:00

Once again I'm changing my blog address. My old hosts have decided they no longer want to support blogging and are closing it down at the end of November. I'm trying to decide if I want to somehow salvage my old posts and photo's or just let them go to bloggy heaven. It's not like there's anything mind blowing or earth shattering in them, but since I'm one of those people who really doesn't like to write, it seems like such a shame to let them just disappear.
As with the last move, I've joined several different blog sites to try and find one I like. The last one just seemed to 'fit'. I liked the editorial freedom I had. Oh well, I'll get it figured out (hopefully before the end of November).

Help me find a new blog home!

2005-11-14T19:27:00.000-05:00

After not being able to access my blog for a few days, I've just received an email stating that MyBlogSite.com will no longer be offering blog services and I need to move my blog or risk losing everything on November 30.
This is a chance for you, my blogsphere companions to voice your opinion on what site you think has the best blog hosting service. Come on now, don't be shy, voice your opinions now!!

Off and on my hook.

2005-10-31T19:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a pic of a hat I finished for my son last night. I used the Remebering Gage pattern at Head Huggers. Instead of Caron SS and an H hook though, I used Homespun and a J hook.
I've been meaning to put some progress bars on my blog so I can keep track of what I'm working on (and what I plan to do), but I just haven't had time to do it yet. What I'm currently working on is the Seraphina Shawl using a rich, chocolate brown chenille for my mom for Christmas. I've also got some hats and mittens going for the girls, mittens for JW, getting ready to do another ghan formy other sister, a pair of slippers, and a rug for the bathroom.
How many days are left til Christmas?

Passing on/sharing the art!

2005-10-31T15:17:00.000-05:00

My daughter's have been learning to crochet. They asked me months ago to teach them and I did teach them a basic chain. They both decided that was all they needed to know from me and instead tried to learn from a book I had bought them. After a while Amber gave up, but Alicia went off and did her own thing. After months of work (while not knowing any stitches, but "making up her own") she finished a 'scarf' that she wants to give to a friend. It's got some very interesting stitches, knots, spaces, and textures to it!
They both came to me this weekend ready to have another lesson so we started over with a basic chain. They made and remade chains until their tension wasn't so erratic (they learned this faster than I did!). Then we proceeded on to sc. They both did a couple of swatches before Amber decided it was boring, but Alicia just kept at it and made a LOT of improvement. She's still learning to count stitches per row and sometimes misses a stitch or two, and even sometimes does a blo or flo rather than going thru both loops! All in all though I'd say we had a very successful lesson!

Aztec Sun

2005-10-27T10:21:00.000-04:00

Well I've finally finished the sun ghan! I've been down with a bad head cold today and I was so cold, nothing better than to snuggle under a nice warm blanket. Of course it gave me plenty of time to finish the last few rounds! Although I bought extra yarn specifically for this project when I started it, I ran out of red 2 1/2 rounds from completion. Talk about frustration!! Thankfully AC Moore is having a 25% off sale on their yarns so I picked up an extra skein yesterday and I used most of it to finish! I used a J hook and basic RH yarn, the final measurement of it is 78 3/4 dia. I had to stand on a chair with the ghan on the floor to get most of it in the photo.
When we were kids, my sister painted a big yellow/orange sun on the ceiling of her bedroom and she's such a vibrant person that this pattern literally screamed at me when I saw it and I knew I had to make it for her. Sure hope she likes it!

12" squares

2005-10-25T12:11:00.000-04:00

I sent off two more 12" squares today for my AIAY (Afghan In A Year) exchange. These squares are fun to do and work up fast. I hope the recipients like them as much as I liked making them.
I wish I would have taken this pic AFTER I blocked the square. It looks so much better than this, but I've already mailed it off.
4 more rounds and I'll finish the sun ghan and look where I'm at. Am I working on the ghan? NO, I'm sitting here typing this and AVOIDING it! Ok, off to work on it I go! Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get distracted with more squares or washcloths...hehe

Almost finished!!

2005-10-24T20:42:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm almost finished with the sun ghan that I've been working on since July. I have to admit that I'm rather embarrassed that it's taking so long, but it gets SO boring to work on it. I figure if I don't spend too much time on here or working on other projects I can probably get it done by Wednesday afternoon. We'll see.....

Wish me luck!! lol

Drop Zone

2005-10-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

I sure didn't get much done today, but I had a good time! After school, the kids and I went out to the drop zone where W was working and watched some HALO (high altitude low opening) jumpers. The girls like to count the parachutes as they open and of course watch them come down, and JW just likes to run around and play and point at the men and women falling out of the sky!
After everyone was safely back on the ground, we had to put JW in the back of the truck so he wouldn't run all over the chutes that were on the ground. One of the Sgt's left his helmet and goggles and JW just couldn't resist. Of course daddy helped him ;)
Apparantly, daddy started out jumping the same way. By messing with his daddy's (or daddy's friend's) gear when he was a little boy. Looks like we may have another jumper in the family.
All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good day. What more could I ask for?

Finished poncho

2005-10-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

Well, I finished the poncho for myself just in time for the cold mornings here. I used a lighter weight yarn than the pattern called for, but it's still warm! It's called Woman's Poncho from the Lion Brand website. I also changed the colors, but I think you'll see that they work well together.

Busy Hooker

2005-10-15T22:16:00.000-04:00

Phew, my slump is definitely over and my hooks have been very busy. I mentioned last week that I had joined a couple of charity groups for survivors of Katrina. I've devoted most of my crochet time for the past week to these 2 projects and have come up with the following.
The top picture is 6" squares for Squares4Survivors and the bottom is washcloths for ClothsforKatrina .
Yesterday I went to AC Moore and Hobby Lobby to see if I could find some more cotton on sale. I didn't find any cotton on sale, but I did find Wool-Ease on sale at HL for $1.37/skein so I finally bought some to start a project I've been wanting to make for myself. I also bought a couple of Red Heart Crystallites hooks. I've never used them before but they had the 'L' and 'M' that I've been looking for. What a dream to work with! I've always used Boye hooks and had never tried a 'straight' hook before. OMG I feel like I'm hooking 5x faster now!

Halloween Swap

2005-10-11T09:04:00.000-04:00

Now that I've gotten word that my partner received her swap box, I can post pictures of what I made. I mentioned a while back that I was using FPDC for the first time and showed a pic. Well, I was using this cute pumpkin candy purse pattern and had a blast with it. Here's how mine turned out!

The next thing I made was this cute doily from Annie's Attic - Easy One-Day Doilies book.
The original pattern called for size 10 thread in teal and pink using a size 7 hook with a finished size of 5 1/2" dia. I wanted it to be a little bigger so I substituted size 3 thread in orange and black and used a size 0 hook. If I remember correctly, the finished diameter turned out to be just a little over 8 inches!
I had a lot of fun putting this swap package together and my kids got to help. We added a bag of candy corn, some different types of tea bags, a cute little stuffed witch, some halloween socks, and a leaflet of little boy afghan patterns. I sure hope my partner had as much fun opening the package as I had putting it together!

Been a few days

2005-10-08T15:22:00.000-04:00

Phew, I think this is the longest I've gone without a post since I started this thing. In my last post I stated that I was in a slump, well, I'm happy to say it's over. I've finished some cloths for ClothsforKatrina, gotten the yarn together that I'm going to use for Squares4Survivors, and finally finished the last 15 fill-ins on the round ripple.
Now I have to weave in all those ends and finish the last 13 rounds. So far it's looking pretty good. Even JW likes it! Although it's kind of hard to tell from his expression!

I think this last pic shows the ghan best.

I'll post pics of the cloths later. For now I need to get back and finish watching The Aviator! lol

In a slump

2005-10-04T11:20:00.000-04:00

Our AC went out over the weekend. Again. It's not necessarily hot outside, but as most of our windows get the morning and afternoon sun it gets HOT in here. (They were here this morning to fix it - seems it was out of freon again, second time in 3 months). To top that off, I had a pinched nerve in my shoulder so I was hot and in pain. Needless to say, I didn't do much crocheting (or anything else for that matter). I did join a couple of programs to help the survivors of Katrina and Rita. One is making washcloths and the other is 6" squares. I did make one washcloth this weekend, but with the pain and the heat it took me all weekend..lol I'll post pics when I have more to add.
Maybe now that the shoulder is better and the AC is fixed I'll get motivated to finish some of my WIPs and whip out some more washcloths and squares, but first I have an incredible urge to make COOKIES!!!!

"T" is for Tunisian

2005-10-01T18:15:00.000-04:00

Maybe I should change that to "T" is for Tension (lack of or too much - it's all the same). I've recently learned Tunisian crochet and I'm finding that I have NO tension control. The more I do, the tenser I get, the tighter my stitches get. I've noticed as I'm working my way across the row that my shoulders start hunching up into my neck and it gets harder and harder to get my hook thru the posts, or if I'm working my way back thru the first loops.
Maybe it's because it's still new to me and I'm trying too hard (couldn't possibly be the stressors in my life). Anyway, is there anybody out there who has any advice on the matter? I'd love for you to leave a comment if you do. I really want to master this type of crochet. TIA

Yet another shrug

2005-09-29T10:12:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure I mentioned that when Amber saw her sister's shrug she asked for one of her own. And of course hers had to be a lot different, she wanted a ruffly collar and sleeves on hers. Well I finally finished the darned thing and am glad to be done with it. She picked the color, the length of the collar, back and sleeves, and where to put the button. She apparantly likes it as she wore it to school this morning.
Forgive the lopsided pictures, it was 'O dark thirty' and I was leaning on the wall...LOL
Here's a close up of the stitch pattern. It really stands out with her orange shirt behind it!

Most loved/hated stitches

2005-09-27T00:37:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago on the CPlist at http://crochetpartners.org/ there was a discussion about what stitches everyone loved/hated the most. One of the most frequent to come up as most hated was the picot. At the time of this discussion (although I didn't partake) I whole heartedly agreed that the picot was a horrid little stitch. Of course at the time I'd only ever done it in thread.
Well folks, my opinion has since changed. Yesterday I started my very first MAM and the complete third round has a picot almost every stitch. NO, I didn't read through the pattern before I started (I rarely do). NO, I wasn't at all prepared for it and YES, I screwed up the first turn in the third round and didn't realize it until I was all the way at the other end of the strip. YES, I had a little frog party (can you say ripppit???)lol. BUT, and here's where my opinion changed...this time it's being done in ww YARN. Yes, that's yarn, NOT thread. With a decent sized H hook, not a tiny little size 10 steel hook. It's soo soo much easier in this medium and goes by so much quicker that I've discovered this bothersome little stitch isn't so bothersome at all....at least until the next time I encounter it in thread!!

Another shrug

2005-09-27T00:25:00.000-04:00

Alicia asked me to make one for her. She wanted a purple one. So being the "wonderful" mother that I am I made her one. I'm not sure I like it, it seems a bit saggy in the back, but she likes it and isn't that all that matters?

So now that Alicia has one, of course Amber wants one too, but she wants a collar on hers ... "and oh mom, do you think you could put a button on the front too so I can close it? And can you make the back come down lower than Alicia's?" (Do you think this child knows what she wants?) Of course I'm making her one and of course I ran out of yarn before I could finish it. Now this is yarn that I've had in my stash for a couple of years so finding the same thing is pretty much impossible. I did find another skein today at A.C. Moore, so hopefully the difference won't be noticable.
On another note - I finished a project I was working on for my Halloween swap partner in one of my groups. A few minutes after I cut the yarn, I couldn't find the remainder of the skein....lo and behold, I have a yarn thief in my house and I caught him red handed!!! (or is that red-toed?)

Maybe we have another crocheter in the family?

They said they were going to fix it

2005-09-23T23:38:00.000-04:00

What is it? It is that ugly thing over there --->>> that is messing up the right side of my blog. I emailed them about it 5 days ago and got a form letter reply Wednesday.
Dear MyBlogSite User,

Some of you may be experiencing issues with the header being right justified to the column as opposed to inserted in the actual header placement. We are aware of this error and sincerely apologize to any of our users that may be impacted by this occurrence. Our engineering team is working hard to correct this problem for you. Your blogs should return to normal by the end of the week. We will keep you updated on our progress. Again, sincere apologies for this disruption to your blogs.

Sincerely,
MyBlogSite Support Team

I mean, come on already. Just go in, fix the code and let me take it off my page again. How hard can it be?

Learning a new stitch

2005-09-20T23:16:00.000-04:00

Ok, it's really not new, just a new way (to me) to do an old stitch. FPDC (that's front post double crochet for those of you who don't know crochet terms). I'm working on a project for a Halloween swap and it calls for FPDC and I really like it!! What a neat way to get more texture into a piece. Here's a pic of what it looks like. Sorry for the fuzziness but my camera just doesn't like to take up close photos very well.
It's kinda hard to see in all that orange, but you get the general idea.

On another note, JW if finally over his ear infection and the sniffles are gone! He's still teething and drooling a lot but as you can see from this pic, he's feeling much better!

He was hanging out with his dad watching football. Can you believe it? Only 16 months old and already will drop what he's doing if there's a game on the tv!

Today was a good day

2005-09-16T20:58:00.000-04:00

to go shopping! I had the unexpected surprise of DH being off work today so I left JW with him and spent several hours in my favorite stores, ie: Hobby Lobby, A.C. Moore and BooksAMillion, all these with a side trip over to Tuesday Morning to check out their new yarns. Oh yeah, I stopped in Joann's too (it's right next to Tues. Mrng) but didn't see anything I just had to have there.
Look what I found at BooksAMillion!!

They had a great selection of crochet mags, but I had to limit myself to just two today. I hit up Tuesday Morning and discovered that not very many people here have discovered they have yarn. I got away with 4 skeins of Spiral (made in Italy) that was marked down from $8.99 to $2.99!
And of course, I had to make purchases at A.C. Moore and Hobby Lobby. A.C. Moore is having a sale on Peaches N Cream cotton for $0.94/skein so I came out with several and another 1lb bag of Homespun mill ends. Much to my surprise HL is STILL having their 1/2off sale on all crochet instruction books and hooks so I bought 3 more books, a couple hooks for my daughter, and a couple misc balls of thread that I needed to complete a project.
All in all, I spent about 3.5 hours out by myself. I think that's the longest I've been alone since before JW was born 16 months ago. I had a great time petting all the yummy yarns and leisurely looking thru all the books. I even met a couple other ladies who crochet and had fun comparing notes with them. I'm kicking myself now for not asking them about starting a local crochet group. :( Oh well, maybe another time.

Finished the shrug

2005-09-15T23:05:00.000-04:00

Using this pattern from Diane Langan which can be found at her website here: http://www.dianelangan.com/crochetpatterns/shrugs.html .

It's the Ivory Slouchy Shrug pattern. I used some leftover Lion Brand Jiffy (about 2 1/4 skeins). It worked up fairly fast although I did have some problems at first so I emailed her and she answered fairly quickly and I was off and running.

Here's the pic of my finished product. I decided not to add the collar as I felt it would be too hot on my neck. Both of my daughters have asked me to make one for them and they like the collar, so the next ones will be done with it.
LOL, not a very good pic, the left arm looks funny but I think it's just because it's not hanging straight on the hangar. I was holding my son when I hung it and while I was taking the pic, made things a little difficult.
Anyway, you get the idea. I think it turned out ok, but I think when I make them for the girls I'll use a lighter weight yarn.
Tell me what you think.

Sleep Deprived

2005-09-15T15:11:00.000-04:00

Funny thing, when we moved here we said we're not going to live in another apartment. We're going to get a house this time. We're tired of having neighbors that close.
I sure wish we had done that instead of moving into this condo. Our neighbor upstairs is getting ready to deploy so is cleaning out her condo. Last night at 12:15 it sounded like she was having a party up there (where are the kids?) so I decided to go up and politely ask her if she could turn her music down a little. I rang the doorbell and waited...and waited...and waited...and rang it again. I figured she couldn't hear it over her loud music and horrid singing so I decided to knock. So I knocked and waited....and knocked again and waited...and again...well, you get the idea. When pounding on her door didn't get a response I started back down the stairs and that's when she finally answered.
So I turn around (trying not to look as pissed as I was) and said "I don't know if you realize, but it's 12:30 at night and your music is kind of loud. Do you mind turning it down?" OMG, you'd have think I just told her she was the ugliest cow in the world and her kids were horrid little brats ... she completely flaked out on me. If you know me, you know I'm really not the type to stand around and take verbal abuse from someone, but you'd be proud of me. I just asked her again to keep it down and if she didn't, I wouldn't bother her again, but I'd be sure to have the police get involved. At that point, I turned away and went back in my own place, locked the door and had a seat.
I think I really pissed her off - although I'm not sure how asking someone to turn the music down would be such a problem. She had to be throwing furniture or boxes or hitting the floor with a sledgehammer. A couple of times I thought she was going to come through our ceiling. She managed to wake up all 3 of the kids and my husband. Oh, let me back up, yes I DID call the police about 5 minutes after coming back in since that's when she started her petty little noise fest up there. It's difficult to believe this woman is almost 40 with 4 kids (I'm still wondering where the kids were, but I haven't heard them in days, so maybe they're with a saner member of the family?)
Anyway, she either finally quieted down around 3 am or I was just so tired that I slept through the rest of her noise. I do know that 2 of MY kids have been up since about 3am because of her noise. I guess they'll sleep well tonight, won't they?

Yay! It's here!!

2005-09-14T16:00:00.000-04:00

It finally arrived, and right after I was complaining about the delay!
The kids and I were getting ready to go to the library and Amber says "Mom, there's a package at the door" - to be perfectly honest, I just about bowled over all 3 of them to get to it and I think I actually growled at them..LOL! It's a good thing my kids have a good sense of humor.

Doesn't this all look so pretty? I can't wait to start using it, but I promised myself I was going to finish the shrug first. At the rate I'm going today, looks like I won't be playing in the new yarn till late tomorrow or Friday

Where is it?

2005-09-14T12:28:00.000-04:00

Where is my order from Herrschners? I ordered it on Sept 2, it should be here by now. OMG I just can't STAND waiting any longer!!! It's driiving me crazy. I just tracked the order and the last entry was in Charlotte 2 days ago. I KNOW it only takes about 3 hours if you're driving slow to get here from Charlotte. Oh why do they make me wait so long?????
Look at this:
6
*CARON SAYELLE OFF-WHITE (013075-0319)
$
6
*BERNAT HANDICRAFTER CTN/5 PUMPKIN (016013-3132)
4
*BERNAT HANDICRAFTER CTN/5 WARM BROWN (016013-3130)
5
*BERNAT BERELLA "4" PL TAP GLD (711640-8887)

Wouldn't you be anxious to get it too? 21 skiens of yarn in such wonderful warm colors. Oh gosh I can't wait, I hope my mail person knocks on my door with it today. I'm so excited to get it that I'm almost bouncing off the walls. Poor kids can't figure out what's wrong with mom!! LOL!

She's a slow one

2005-09-14T10:47:00.000-04:00

Moving at only 6mph, Ophelia is really taking her time. So far we're just on the outer edges and if she goes where the projections show, we won't get too much of her. It's a little windy here with sporadic bursts of rain, but so far it's relatively quiet and I like it that way!

This is kind of a smooshed up picture, but it gives a good idea of where we are (Fayetteville).
I thought this would be a good time to get some crocheting done, but with the kids home from school (one is grounded) it's not working out that way. Neither of them want to do chores so I have to go "crack the whip" bleh.

Ophelia

2005-09-13T22:49:00.000-04:00

I've had three calls today stating that school will be closed tomorrow due to inclement weather. Seems we're battening down and getting ready for Ophelia, but looking at the projected path, we're just going to get the edges - if anything. http://www.weather.com/maps/news/atlstorm16/projectedpath_large.html
I keep telling my husband that I'd rather go thru another earthquake than a hurricane (I've been thru one, not the other). Earthquakes sneak up on you, shake you up, and are generally over fairly quickly. Watching hurricanes creep up on you is another thing entirely and not something I'm very comfortable with.
Oh well, we'll see what happens. The kids are just happy to get an extra day off and although dh's jump was cancelled, he still has to work :(
g'night

2005-09-12T23:20:00.000-04:00

Ok, I think I got it now, but this one is just a test.
This is what that other entry was supposed to look like. This is JW and Alicia sitting on the sun ghan I'm making for my sis.

And this is the shrug sleeve and the frogged mess I was talking about.

On my hook

2005-09-12T18:55:00.000-04:00

My hooks have been busy lately. Besides the skully I made for my husband (pics are at http://spaces.msn.com/members/jwamblicia/) I've also been working on a shrug on which I miscounted somewhere and had to frog it back to the 11th rnd :(
I'm also still working on the sun ghan that I thought would be perfect for my sister. As the rounds get bigger they take longer to finish and after a while I get dizzy with all the round and round! lolI hope she likes it, as you can see JW and Alicia sure do! I guess one way or another it's going to find a home..

New blog home

2005-09-12T18:36:00.000-04:00

After all the downtime at MSN , I've decided to move my blog/space. I've tried several blog sites in the past few days and this one seems the easiest and has the extras that I like so I'm gonna rest here for a bit. If you're at all interested in my past posts you can find them at http://spaces.msn.com/members/jwamblicia/ . That is - if they're not down again and you can get in.