Waddlin' Along

MS Blues Marathon

2009-01-03T21:38:00.002-06:00

Since I didn't have much else to do today, I got up early and went to watch the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson this morning. Although I have run in a couple of 5Ks, I've never actually watched other people run. I thought it would be interesting (and it was). It would also give me a chance to cheer on other runners and be encouraging!!!. So far 2-1/2 hours this morning I stood in downtown Jackson, first at about mile 6 then at just past the 9 mile mark, and I clapped and yelled and woo-hoo'ed!!

And there were lots of runners! I was amazed that so many people were willing to take on the challenge of running at least 13.1 miles for the half marathon. Maybe one year I'll give it a shot, but for right now I'll stick with the 5K races.

This picture is the group of guys in first place. Check it out - their feet are not touching the ground! These guys covered 6 miles in about 30 minutes. I think they were floating.

Finished - Pineapple Heirloom Afghan

2009-01-02T22:27:00.002-06:00

I really like having a nice afghan thrown over the back of the couch. My husband likes having a blanket handy on chilly mornings.

I finished this one a few weeks ago. It is the Pineapple Heirloom afghan from the book 50 Sensational Crochet Afghans & Throws. Don't remember if I've posted about this book, but it has some beautiful patterns in it.

This afghan is made from Red Heart Super Saver, so it will stand up to lots of use and washing. The pineapple panels are alternating strips of white and aran. It turned out pretty good and is a nice size too!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T22:46:00.002-06:00

Well, let's see if I still remember how this all works....
Title - check - that's easy!!
Picture - check - an almost traditional southern New Year's meal. Hoppin' John, cornbread, and, um, well, it is stuffing. It should be turnip greens but I forgot to buy greens when I went to the grocery store. So we had left-over stuffing instead.
Post - check - (I can still blog! Amazing isn't it?) But the Hoppin' John was really good. It's a mixture of black-eyed peas, ham hocks, and rice. Hubby made the cornbread 'cause he does that much better than me.

Posting, Beanies, and Posies

2008-04-13T12:59:00.003-05:00

I admit it - I got so caught up in the wonders of Ravelry that I almost forgot all about this blog. Oops! So here is an actual post!

I finished a couple of things yesterday. These are from the Boy Beanie pattern in SnB's HH book. I think they turned out good.

And if I don't forget about them, I'll give them to my nephew for Christmas next year. Both were made using Plymouth Galway worsted yarn. And, of course, the black and gold is for USM (University of Southern Mississippi). Go Eagles!!

My next major crochet project will be this from the latest issue of Interweave Crochet, The Ring Around the Posie top...

The yarn is a cotton blend in a lovely lilac color for a cute little spring-time top. I'm going to try to keep posting updates of my progress on this. (I'm going to try to start posting my regularly again.)

Finished WIP - Socks!!

2008-01-05T22:29:00.000-06:00

Two of my goals for this year include 1) actually finish my unfinished knitting and crocheting and 2) get a grip on organizing my collection of pattern books, leaflets, and magazines. So with that goal in mind, I have finished the knitting on a pair of socks. I don't even remember when I started these. But I had finished one sock and got past the heel of the second sock when I put them in the bottom of a bookcase and left them there.
Finished project number 1 for 2008 is a pair of Rock 'n' Ribbed socks. Pattern is in the book Knit Socks. They are made from Regia Nation Color sock yarn. Nice socks that fit well but I could have made them just a tad bit longer. It struck me as I started to blog this that the phrase "Nation Color" just might represent some country's flag. Through the magic that is Goggle, I now know that the Nation is Germany. So if I ever go to Germany, I can wear these socks and be very patriotic! (Honestly, I have moments of "blondness" and if I had realized that this yarn was in flag colors I would have purchased the red, white, and blue version to wear on the 4th of July.)
Works in progress include the reindeer tree skirt I started last month. I'm about half-way finished, but we used the half-skirt under the tree anyway. It is going to be nice as you can see in the pic. Miss B there was more concerned with the old toy stash in the corner, then looking cute for my picture.

Dishcloth - X-Stitch

2008-01-02T21:42:00.000-06:00

A new crocheted dishcloth! This pattern is found here and is part of a kitchen set, although I only made the dishcloth. The yarn is cotton Sugar & Cream in the color Creamsicle.

You might notice the slight curve at the bottom of the cloth. My gauge was too tight for the first few rows. That's because I used two different hooks. And the different hooks, both size G, worked up at differently. And why did I use two different hooks?

Well, I thought it would be a good idea to purchase a crochet hook to use just for dishcloths and I could keep it in the bag with my cotton yarn. So I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased this:

It's a Susan Bates Bamboo Handle crochet hook. And it just doesn't work for me - I can't figure out how to hold it properly. The handle just kept getting in my way. I gave up on the hook after a couple of rows and switched to my regular all metal Bates hook. Really, I should have frogged the whole thing and started over, but I kept it as-is as a learning example.

And that's the story of dishcloth number 2!

Random Felted Potholders

2007-12-23T20:53:00.000-06:00

I have an aunt who always appreciates hand-crafted gifts so I try to make something special for her each Christmas. This year, since I had some extra Cascade 220 left in my stash, I decided to make her some felted potholders.

Before felting, this is what they looked like. It's a super-easy pattern. I used a J hook and did 50 rows of 40 single crochet stitches. To make the hanging loop, at the end of the last row I made a loop of 20 chains, turned and did 24 sc in the loop. I used the Random Stripe Generator to create the color scheme.

(Actually, I just discovered the Random Stripe Generator and I've been playing with it all weekend. It's a fun and useful script so I've bookmarked the site.)

I threw the giant squares in the washer with a couple of towels and, using the hot water wash cycle only, I got felt! I ended up having to run the wash cycle twice to get fully felted. They have been drying all day. These are large potholders which I really like. They measure 9-inches high and about 8-inches wide.

I've still got some yarn left so I'm going to make up a few more of these for me. An important note for future reference - When using white towels in the washer with the crocheted item, always put the crochet inside a pillowcase. If you don't do this, you will have lot of white lint to pick out of the felt.

Wednesday Washer - Idiot's Dishcloth

2007-12-19T22:16:00.000-06:00

I've had this idea, that since I have Tuesday Tomes (or books) I could also start a Wednesday Washer with dishcloths. There's a lot of free patterns on the web. I can always use more dishcloths and they are a quick project to do in the midst of the larger projects I've got going.

So I present here **Ta-Da** the first project!! This is called "Idiot's" Dishcloth. I've seen these made by other knitters, it's a basic pattern which can be found here. It's knitted from Sugar & Cream yarn and I really like how the variegated version worked out.

Fashion Crochet by Caroline Horne

2007-12-18T22:28:00.000-06:00

In my never-ending web search for interesting crochet books, I often stumble across older titles that sound good but there's no picture of the cover and no real information about what is in the book. This is one of those books. Really, that is why I decided to just list my books here as I attempt to get some sort of organization to my pattern stash.

Back in 1969, Coats & Clark revised a little British book and brought it to America. It is the book shown here - Fashion Crochet by Caroline Horne. Caroline Horne introduces herself as a teacher of Fashion Crochet and I know she put out a couple of crochet books.

Fashion Crochet contains 14 patterns of "attractive chic clothes". And it does have a good list of items with instructions of how to make a handbag, pants, hat, coat, dresses, and slippers. There's even a pattern for a pair of stockings!

But readers of modern pattern books would be surprised to see how the projects are presented. There's no full-color pictures here. Just black-and-white drawings, although there are also some small B&W photos of stitch samples. And the directions include a period after each abbreviation, something that modern books don't do.

It's an interesting book but I probably won't make anything from it. Although...if I do get really bored one day, I might try the stockings. The gauge is 5 grps. to 2 inches.

Happy Hooker - Debbie Stoller

2007-12-12T22:24:00.001-06:00

Truth be told, I almost didn't purchase this book. I'm not a big fan of the title. I get the SnB thing and the HH pun, but I didn't look at it and think "Oh, how cute, I must buy this."

However, this book contains the pattern for Stitch Diva's Baroque Jacket which I was planning to buy anyway. And there's more really neat patterns inside, including Julie Holetz's Fat Bottom Bag and the most adorable pink fuzzy bunny slippers designed by Shannon Murphree. So far, I've made the Baroque Jacket and the Fat Bottom Bag. I plan to make the Li'l Monkey afghan soon.

Actually, there's 40 crochet patterns here and they are all really good. One pattern, the One Skein Scarf, has turned up as a free pattern on Patons website. There is a major list of errata though and you can find that here. .

And if you want to learn to crochet the first 95 pages are full of instructions.

Calorimetry Finished

2007-12-09T22:47:00.000-06:00

Although I'm still working on the tree skirt, I needed a quick project to take to a get-together at the new LYS in Jackson. (It's called The Knit Studio and it is in Canton Mart. It is a really nice store and Judy, the owner, is very friendly.)

Anyway, I had the Calorimetry on my to-do list and I found some Noro Kureyon in my stash. I know some folks had problems with the width of this, so I went down one needle size and used a size 7. It is still a little wide, but it fits well. And I really don't have a problem with this width, it will keep the top of my head (and my ears) warm should we every have any cold weather here is Mississippi.

Book: our best Baby Afghans

2007-12-04T22:18:00.000-06:00

This book was copyrighted in 1996 and I've probably had it about that long. This is one of my favorite crochet pattern books and is most definitely the one book that I have used the most. It's so well used that it is now falling apart and I'll have to pick up a new copy before long.

Our Best Baby Afghans is put out by Leisure Arts and contains 54 crochet patterns for some wonderful baby blankets. There's small blankies and larger afghans, one-piece patterns and motifs to sew together.

This is the book I go to again and again when I need a gift for a new mommy.

Challenge Done!!

2007-11-30T22:30:00.000-06:00

Today is the last day of the NaBloPoMo challenge. And I made it!! Yep, I have posted to this here blog every day for the entire month of November. Yippee!

It feels good - I've finished the challenge, I've crossed that bridge.

I probably should challenge myself more often. But I am glad that this one is over. I will keep up posting more to my blog and that's good because I almost let it die over the summer.

Waiting for '08

2007-11-29T22:52:00.000-06:00

Well, the Christmas Tree Skirt has really put me on a tight schedule so I've had to put aside all the other projects I'm working on. But, since I had the yarn, and the needles, and the pattern, I just had to see how difficult the Shell Lace knitting was going to be.

And Taa-Daa! I knitted up (and blocked) the right front piece. I'm really pleased with how this looks, especially since there is one stitch on each shell that is a purl 15-loops together.

This will be a nice project once the tree skirt is done. It's a wee bit advanced for my knitting abilities and I'm going to need advice on a couple of things. But I do like challenging myself now and then.

No Pics - Too Busy

2007-11-28T22:17:00.000-06:00

No pictures tonight, but I've been busy. I've got the front half of the Shell Lace Jacket blocked out (and I will have a picture of it tomorrow). And I'm almost finished with the third triangle of my tree skirt.

I'm also almost finished with the NaBloPoMo challenge of posting every day for the month of November. All I have left are two more posts after this one!!

Rolled Brim Hats

2007-11-27T22:22:00.000-06:00

Well, it is starting to get a bit chilly here so I made hats for hubby and me. I found the pattern on Ravelry. You can find it here.

The hats are made with Galway worsted yarn. Mine's the blue one, hubby picked out the tan yarn for his.

I followed the pattern working the hat part as a spiral but I changed to rows for the brims. That gives the stitches in the brim a slightly different look. (And since you can't really see that too well on the photo, you'll just have to trust me that there is a difference.) Hubby wanted a wider brim so I worked two extra rows on his.

Quick, easy projects like this are great to do, especially when I have another large project going. And the status of the Christmas tree skirt? I've got 2 of 9 triangles done and sewn together. A third triangle is in progress. I'll post a picture at the half-way point.

Interweave Crochet 2007

2007-11-26T22:35:00.000-06:00

By no means have I finished going thru all my books, but today's Monday Book is a magazine. I found the Winter 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet in my mailbox today. I've only had a quick glance thru but it looks like a good issue.

Doris Chan has an article inside on bust, waist, and hip shaping, which I'm looking forward to reading. You can get a good look at the patterns inside here on Interweave's website. I really like all the shawls, especially the Flowers for Eryn Wrap.

This is currently the only magazine that I subscribe to. (I do buy other crochet and knitting magazines, but I usually pick them up at the local Border's - gotta support the bookstores, ya know.) And I really like the direction that the magazine is taking.

Marbled Chocolate Treats

2007-11-25T22:43:00.000-06:00

Fixed this tonight for church. Chocolate covered graham crackers!! And they are good.

Found the recipe here at Kraft Foods. Just thought I would share with everyone out there.

Hope ya'll all have a great week!!

But will she finish??

2007-11-24T22:30:00.000-06:00

Hubby put up the Christmas yesterday. I decided it was time to start on the tree skirt. So the big question that I am asking myself is "Will I finish before Christmas?" There's a good chance I might, although hubby's afghan might well become an after-Christmas present.

This pattern is in the Nov/Dec 07 issue of Crochet Today. It's really cute I think. I've got one panel done and I'm almost finished with the second one. And there's only nine panels and five reindeer, so I'm good (I Think).

You Did What???

2007-11-23T22:54:00.000-06:00

So I was talking with an older gentleman earlier this year. And he mentioned a few things that he always wanted to do but didn't. He had put things off, figuring he would have time in the future to make it happen. And now, due to life circumstances, he wasn't going to ever be able to do those things. It was a statement of regret and a giving up of life-long plans.

The conversation stuck with me and sadden me. Now I have list of things I would like to do someday, a list of things that I think would be fun to try. And as we were planning our vacation to Chattanooga this summer, I stumbled across the chance to actually do one of the things on my list. I thought of that gentleman and his lost plans, and made the firm decision to Go-For-It.

Want to know what I did?

I went hang-gliding!! And it was so much fun. Lookout Mountain Flight Park is just outside Chattanooga. I took a tandem glide with a wonderful guy. The photo above was taken by a camera attached to the wing. We went up to about 2,000 feet and then slowly (and safely) came down. Hubby watched from below. I really enjoyed it, the feeling of being totally free and being able to look around at miles and miles of scenery. I could even look down and see birds.

Did I mention this was fun? If I lived closer to Lookout Mountain, I would take lessons. I hate that I haven't found anywhere local to learn hang-gliding. But it is something that I want to do again, maybe on our next vacation.

Turkey Day!

2007-11-22T22:06:00.000-06:00

A good day today. No pictures (left the camera at home).

But there was family togetherness, a Thanksgiving buffet, bread pudding with caramel sauce, chilly weather, a little knitting and a little crocheting.

That's about as good as life.

Holiday Reminder

2007-11-21T22:26:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. So sometime between the food, the parades, the football games, remember to be...

God has blessed me so much over the past few years. I have a warm dry home, a loving husband, a good job, and wonderful friends, both real-life friends and internet friends. I haven't always had these things in my life, and I haven't always appreciated these blessing. But I am so glad to be blessed.

Book: Crocheted Baby Blankets

2007-11-20T22:30:00.000-06:00

From the Vogue Knitting on the go! series, this is Crocheted Baby Blankets. It's a collection of 24 crocheted baby blankets. And they are nice!!

I love making baby blankets. They are a pretty quick project and I keep a stash of baby blankets ready to give as gifts to any new mothers. (So along with my yarn stash, book stash, and hook stash, please note that I also have a baby blanket stash.) The duckie blanket on the cover is, of course, my favorite project in the book and I plan to make it sometime in 2008.

A few of the other patterns I really like are pictured below.

FO: Waffle Lattice Shawl

2007-11-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

Waffle Lattice Shawl designed by Elin Nybo. Pattern is in the Fall 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet. I used 5 different colors of Cascade 220 for this felted shawl.

This was really a different type project from what I usually make. It's the second time I've felted anything. The shawl is made from a series of 80 connected chains. And then the whole thing is felted. And this yarn felts wonderfully!

And now for a revelation that I've never had to make before about any of my projects -- I'm not sure I like it. There I've admitted it and I feel better for it. I messed up on the colors, the reds are just too red and too similar. Really you can't tell that there are two different shades of red in this shawl. I should have gone with more brownish shades to contrast with the green. And it doesn't really fit comfortably. I wear my shawls a lot and I just haven't figured out how to wear this one well. It's basically a large felted net and tends to scrunch up in the front. I'm hoping it will grow on me though.

But...The felting part was a success! And I've got a good bit of yarn left so I think I may try making some felted potholders for Christmas.

Check back tomorrow!

2007-11-18T22:47:00.000-06:00

Honesty time! I'm posting for the sake of posting. The shawl I've been working on is all felted, but my picture-taking man has gone to sleep. So I'll post pictures and descriptions tomorrow.

I've started knitting the Shell Lace Jacket today. It is going pretty well. Hubby even mentioned that my knitting speed has increased. He's right and I should actually be able to finish this jacket within this lifetime.

But I really need to put it aside and work on the afghan I would like to give him for Christmas.

So many projects! So much yarn! So little time.....

No More Chains!!

2007-11-17T22:56:00.000-06:00

Please, no more chains! I'm so tired of chains. Feels like I done 2,473 chains in the last week. And I just can't do anymore.

Okay, that's not exactly true. There's only 80 chains in this shawl, but they seem to just go on and on forever. However, I finished the crocheting part of this Waffle Lattice Shawl. I'm doing the really easy part now - the felting! I should have pictures of the completely finished, felted shawl tomorrow. So stay tuned!

The Wall

2007-11-16T22:41:00.000-06:00

There are some strange things to see in this world. Things that most people never see, either because the oddity is located in a rather obscure location or because people just don't really look at their surrounding. But sometimes you can be driving along, say in rural south Mississippi, and you turn down a long gravel drive, go around a curve, and find -- The Wall.

My parents have erected a wall at the edge of the woods outside their home. It is a rather useful wall since my mom apparently has a large collection of birdhouses. But still, it's a wall, standing in the yard and was totally and completely unexpected. I love it!

Half-way!

2007-11-15T22:45:00.000-06:00

I've met a goal of sorts today. Well, really I've met half a goal today. I've been taking part in the NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month. Which means, I blog every day for the month of November. Since today is the 15th, I have made it thru half the month and posted each day! Yeah for me!!

Loop-d-Loop Yarn

2007-11-14T22:22:00.000-06:00

My yarn has arrived!! Nine balls of Moss Loop-d-Loop yarn. This will become the Shell Lace Jacket from the fall 2007 issue of Vogue Knitting. (At least, that is what I planning right now.)

The yarn is 85% extra fine merino wool and 15% nylon. It's soft and a little bit fuzzy. And the first thing I thought when I grabbed a ball from the bag was slippers.

I want a pair of moss Loop-d-Loop slippers. I know I've seen a pattern for knitted ballet-type slippers somewhere on the 'net. I'm hoping there will be enough left over from the jacket. If not, well, I'll just have to buy more.

Chained Up!

2007-11-13T22:43:00.001-06:00

HELP!! The duckies and I are trapped behind this huge woolen net. I'm not sure if we will ever get free. The net just keeps growing larger.

As you tell, work is continuing on the Waffle Lattice Shawl. Even though at times it seems that I'm doing battle with a giant red octopus, I am enjoying this project. I like to do new and challenging things occasionally.

I'm really torn between projects now because my yarn for the knitted jacket came in the mail today. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see it but the yarn is really nice.

Amazing Crochet Lace by Doris Chan

2007-11-12T22:52:00.001-06:00

I love Doris Chan's patterns! I'll thumb through a magazine, find a pattern I like, look for the designer's name, and, of course, it will be -- Doris Chan. This happens quite often. She just seems to design things exactly the way I like them.

That's why when this book showed up in my local Border's, I didn't have to think twice about buying it. I knew I would like the patterns and I was right.

Now I haven't actually had a chance to make anything from Amazing Crochet Lace yet, but it is one of my frequently browsed-thru books.

A.C.L. contains 19 patterns. There are dresses, vests, shawls, jackets, and shrugs. The Rissa Robe made with Microfiber Ribbon is one that I do hope to make sometime next year.

The book is geared towards crocheters with a bit of experience. But a determined beginner should have no problems working through the patterns. And as a bonus, the patterns seem to be correct. The published errata, which is found here, is very short.

Chains & Video

2007-11-11T23:05:00.000-06:00

These are the 40 base chains for the Waffle Lattice Shawl I'm making. They almost completely cover a full size bed. And I thought I would finish this project today!! I didn't.

I'm usually pretty good at reading a pattern and visualizing the work involved. But I totally underestimated the size of the shawl before felting. And is going to be big, big. I have started on the cross chains and I do think I'll be happy with the finished project. But it's a lot of chains.
And tonight at church we made videos. Here I am in the back of the closet, in front of the green screen (which was very, very green) and surrounded by lights (which were very, very hot). We talked about the ministry we are involved in - I'm a leader in the Celebrate Recovery program - and about the changes that God has made in our lives. I had never sat down before a camera like that before, but it was a lot of fun.

I tried to find some volunteers for the video project later. I was surprised at how many people really seriously don't want to sit down in front of a camera and talk.

New Yarn! New Stitch!

2007-11-10T22:59:00.000-06:00

I currently have six projects going. One, a butterfly blanket, almost finished, that will probably be put aside until after Christmas. Two, a knitted shawl, half done, that is also probably going to wait. Three, a shawl I started today. Four, a jacket that I'm waiting for the yarn to get here. Five, a Christmas tree skirt that I have some of the yarn for. And Six, an afghan that I haven't started and don't have the yarn for and would like to give my husband for Christmas. I think I'm going to be very, very busy over the next couple of months.

This is six balls of Cascade 220 and they are not quite as bright as in this picture. I've actually started this project today. I'm making the Waffle Lattice Shawl in the Fall 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet. It's coming along pretty good and I have high hopes of finishing it tomorrow.
The fall 2007 issue of Vogue Knitting includes a pattern for a Shell Lace Jacket which I have absolutely fallen in love with. The VK jacket is red but I'm going to make it in green. I've got the yarn on order and I'm having to endure the hardship of waiting for it to be delivered. But since I do own a pretty hefty yarn and needle stash, I did some practicing on the cockleshell lace pattern today. This includes a purl 15-stitches together maneuver! Not something I do very often, so I figured the practice would be good. You can see that my second try came out much better than my first.

Geometrics by Ruthie Marks

2007-11-09T14:53:00.000-06:00

This is a neat book. Ruthie Marks uses geometry principles to create some really interesting patterns.The book focuses on three geometric principles, dragon curves, golden ratio, and fibonacci sequence. And if, like me, your comprehension of these principles is a little rusty, there's an understandable explanation of each one.

But I have to admit that it was the star afghan on the cover that caught my eye. It is an example of the golden ration and is worked entirely in front post double crochet which gives the blanket a very smooth appearance.

Geometrics includes a wide range of patterns - scarfs, rugs, afghans, wall-hangings and pillows. There's one shawl pattern in the section of dragon curves.

I plan to adapt one of the rug patterns to a blanket for my hubby as soon as I can buy the yarn.

Rock City Waterfall

2007-11-08T22:56:00.000-06:00

Hubby and I took a trip back in September to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We had a wonderful time. I'll post a few pics as time goes by cause one must have a break occasionally from books.

Chattanooga is really a beautiful city. And there are lots of things to do there. There's Ruby Falls, an Inclined Railway, the Chattanooga Aquarium and Imax, dinner cruises on the river and lots of beautiful scenery. And of course we had to See Rock City. I had been there once as a child and it was neat to go back as an adult.

This is the waterfall near Lover's Leap at Rock City.

Scarf Style

2007-11-07T22:49:00.001-06:00

This book of knit and crochet patterns is one of my books that I just love to browse through. Scarf Style has 31 patterns, mostly knit, although there are four crochet patterns included.

Some of the scarfs are more shawl than scarf and two of the patterns are really shrugs. But there are some beautiful patterns in here.

Some of the earliest printings have errors. There's a list of corrections at here.

I do wish that knit and crochet books would make more of an effort to even up the mix of knit and crochet. Twenty-seven knit patterns and four crochet patterns is really not fair to the crocheters who buy this book.

And as long as I'm on this soapbox, I also wish that publishers would note on the Contents Page exactly which patterns are knit and which are crocheted.

Home Again!

2007-11-06T23:01:00.000-06:00

Hubby keeps mentioning that I haven't put a picture of our new dog on my blog, so here she is! This is Pepper Doodle, a medium-sized, mutt-type dog.

We acquired Pepper when she showed up outside hubby's office looking for a new place to stay. He scooped her up and brought to our home (after a brief detour to the vet's office).

She's a young dog, still full of all that happy peppy puppy excitement. And she is incredibly friendly. I really don't think she was homeless for very long.

She has managed disappear once by creating a hole in the wood fence in the back yard, leaving a puppy sized hole in said fence. She stayed gone all that night, and the next morning crawled back through the hole and showed up at the back door like nothing at all had happened. (And we were so worried about her being all lost and all alone.) Hubby has since covered the hole with some plywood and there have been no more escape attempts.

She's also a thief and loves to grab things and take them outside. She steals shoes, towels, CDs, and coffee cups. She even managed to steal hubby's power drill and take it out back. We are looking for ways to discourage this thievery thing she has going on.

But I think we will keep her. She is slowly starting to settle down and become part of the family.

Jean Kinmond's Crochet Patterns

2007-11-05T22:35:00.001-06:00

Just to prove that my obsession with collecting pattern books is not a recent thing, here's a book from 1969.

(Note: I did not actually purchase this book in 1969. I was only 6 years old and my prized possession at that time was a green plastic Disney Jungle Book bag that I proudly carried to school each day.)

I picked up this slightly used copy somewhere and it's not a bad book although the print is really tiny. And it still has the original dust jacket!!

Crochet Patterns was written for the more refined lady of the sixties. There's no groovy hippie-type patterns here. The thread color used falls mainly in the white/ecru family. And each pattern starts with the charming phrase "Commence with xx ch".

There are patterns for tablecloths, mats, runners, and chairbacks along with a few wearables. Actually, there is one pattern for a tailored blouse that I hope to try one day.

The patterns are all for thread crochet. Obviously, Jean Kinmond designed for Coats because each pattern calls for Coats Mercer-Crochet thread in various sizes. And a quick google of her name brings up several different books for Coats.

Toilet Roll Covers

2007-11-04T22:40:00.000-06:00

Yes, I own this book. What else can I say? I thought the cover was very cute and even my husband laughed when I showed off my new purchase.

It's a real book - with patterns - of toilet roll covers. And it's English, as in East Sussex, from way across the Atlantic ocean.

Now I don't have anything against English people or products, but they just don't use the english language in the same way that we Americans do. So reading the book is slightly odd - what with the mentions of colours, stocking stitches and double crochet that isn't a dc stitch at all.

But, all in all, it is a cute book and I may actually make a piggy TP cover one day. The book has patterns for 30 different toilet roll covers, there's sweaters, polar bears, keyboards, and drums just to name a few. Nine crochet patterns and the rest are knitted.

2007-11-03T20:48:00.000-05:00

And now for something a little different...
Over on Crochetville, some of us in Mississippi have been talking about meeting up, for real, in person. And we actually did it!!
Meet Craftytoo, CD Bear, and me! We spent the day in downtown Columbus, MS (a very lovely spot). We talked, we ate lunch, CD Bear taught a class, and we played with yarn. The afternoon just seemed to fly by. It was lots of fun and I made new friends!

Did I mention there was yarn? We met at Yarns Downtown. And there was lots of yarn to pet, and comfy chairs to relax in. If you are ever in Columbus, be sure to drop by.

And you know I came home with a bag of yarn and another book (of course).

Vogue Knitting Crocheted Shawls

2007-11-02T22:22:00.001-05:00

Now I absolutely love shawls, so this book was a must-have. It is from Vogue Knitting's On The Go! series and is a small book packed with some wonderful shawl patterns.

Although there is a small how-to-crochet section, this book is best for crocheters with some of experience crocheting and reading patterns.

I like this book and several of the patterns are very high on my to-do list. Crocheted Shawls has 21 patterns from mohair to ribbon, spiral to box, mesh to snowflake, triangles to rectangles. Honestly there's only 1 pattern in this book that doesn't appeal to me and I've already figured out a way to "tweak" that pattern to my liking.

Crochet Flowers

2007-11-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

So it is National Blog Posting Month. And there's a contest, which I've joined for two reasons. One, I would really like to get back in the habit of blogging. And, two, I've thought of a theme. I've been wanting to get some form of organization to all my crocheting books and this is a perfect excuse to catalog the books that I have.

I'll start with a brand new book that I just got today - Nicky Epstein's Crochet Flowers. It's a beautiful book that I'll be browsing thru for quite a while. The book contains patterns for over 40 different flowers. There's also several project patterns including a felted purse, a hat and a bridal bouquet. And there's a great shawl that I hope to get around to soon.

Directions are given as both written patterns and symbol patterns. (Yea for the symbols - that's my favorite way to read a pattern!!) The only negative thing I've found is that the measurements of each flower are not given. And it would be really useful to know just how wide that pansy is before I started.

But I do like the book. And since flowers don't use much yarn, it is a great excuse to buy one skein of some truely wonderful yarn!!

Half-way!!

2007-10-21T20:15:00.000-05:00

I've been miserably stuck at home for the past 4 days coughing and sniffling. I've had nothing but time on my hands and I've done some crocheting and some knitting.

I alternate between crocheting and knitting. I'm a much better (and faster) crocheter, but I'm determined to learn to knit. I've been (slowly) working on A Beginner Triangle from A Gathering of Lace.

And I hit the half-way point this weekend. I'm just thrilled with this tiny little point!! It's taken forever to get this far.

(Not the best of pictures, but I'm sickly...)

Published, Ravelry, & Purchased

2007-10-09T21:51:00.000-05:00

I've heard that good things come in threes and it must be true.

Good Thing #1 - On a whim, I submitted the pie picture below to allrecipes. The recipe didn't have a photo and I figured mine was pretty good, even though it is a tiny bit fuzzy. So I checked today and, well, the picture you see here was taken by me. That makes me a published photographer, doesn't it? It's a small thrill for me.

Good Thing #2 - I finally got my Ravelry invite. I picked the user name "Duckie" over there. (Just 'cause I think ducks are cute.) Haven't done anything more than lurk around the site, really haven't had time to do much more. But it looks interesting and I'm sure I'll post a few things there later on.

Good Thing #3 - I got a package in the mail. Amazon may well be my downfall. It's a whole website full of books and other neat stuff, gold box specials, and the ability to pre-order crochet books that haven't yet been released! I check Amazon every day. And the package was one of the books I had pre-ordered.

What can be cuter (and more useless) than a toilet roll cover shaped like a pink pig? Yes, I bought this book because I thought the cover was just too cute. So, I've got my late-night reading covered for tonight.

Gotta Go - Have a good one!

Puddin' & Pie

2007-10-07T09:40:00.001-05:00

I cleaned out one of the kitchen drawers yesterday. Does anyone else stick miscellaneous items in kitchen drawers? We do - strange little doo-dads, notes to remember, and hubby saves wire nuts.

I don't know why he saves wire nuts. But he's like a squirrel hiding acorns when it comes to wire nuts. Little piles turn up here and there around the house. It's one of the strangest things about him. He's an addiction counselor - why does he need so many wire nuts?

Anyway, one of the kitchen drawers had become so full that it no longer opened smoothly. We were having to grab the handle and JERK to get it opened. So I dumped the whole thing!

And amongst the wire nuts, doo-dads, rolling pins and cloth napkins, I found a recipe all folded up. A recipe for which I just happened to have all the ingredients. So we now have one well-organized clean kitchen drawer and we had pie last night. And it was all very good.

The recipe is Grandma's Butterscotch Pie from allrecipes.com. I even made the crust from scratch! And served it up with a lite dusting of nutmeg!

Boteh Scarf

2007-08-26T11:53:00.000-05:00

Finally finished, blocked and photographed my Boteh scarf. The pattern, designed by Kathy Merrick, is in the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet. I used Lorna's Laces Shephard Sock yarn in the color Gold Hill. I thought the variegated colors would make this a nice fall scarf.

And it did turn out very nicely I think. I made it just a good bit shorter than the pattern so it is a bit more wearable for me. There's a closer shot below of the pattern repeat. This was a fun and quick project.

Baroque Jacket

2007-05-25T20:29:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Baroque Jacket

Designer: Stitch Diva

Yarn: Brown Sheep's Cotton Fine

I bought the Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet book because it contained this pattern, although it is also available from Stitch Diva's website. Picked up some yarn and I finished this several months ago. But it looked so bad that I tossed it in a drawer and left it there. Now I am trying to finish all the unfinished projects around here, so I pulled this back out and blocked it. Wow! What a difference blocking made (and I apologize for the lack of a "before" picture). It is really a nice jacket and I've already worn it.

The original pattern calls for ribbons to be woven through the lace and tied in front. But I opted instead for raiding my button stash and adding some loops for button holes.

The yarn is a 80% cotton/20% wool mix and looks great but it was a pain to work with. It just kept splitting and I almost gave up. But I think this project was well worth it.

Lacy Treasure

2007-05-18T19:35:00.001-05:00

Well, the shawl is still a work in progress, but I did finish a baby blanket.

It's from the book Keepsake Baby Afghans and designed by Kay Meadors. I used Bernat Coordinates for this and I have to admit it turn out gorgeous! The yarn has a bit of nylon in it and the finished blanket just sparkles. So pretty!! But the same bit of nylon made the yarn a bit tough to work with because it kept splitting. ARGHH - hate in when that happens. This blanket is going to my newest step-grandchild. I just know he will love it.

She Still Crochets!

2007-05-02T18:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is true. I'm still crocheting but somehow, the blogging thing isn't going quite as well. Here's a quick update on recent projects.

Here's a true confession - I hate doing fringe. I tend to do it slo-o-owly. I've spent more time on this fringe than I did on the entire shawl and I'm only half-way done. But the shawl is gorgeous and really needs the fringe to hang properly. So I'm giving myself one week to finish this. Watch for an update next Wednesday!!

I'm working on the Boteh Scarf from the latest issue on Interweave Crochet. The yarn is a variegated shade of Lorna's Laces sock weight that I picked up on eBay. Did anyone else notice that the written directions and the stitch diagram in this pattern were ever so slightly different? The diagram is correct.

Finally, during a brief spurt of spring cleaning I came across this doily. Isn't it cute? It's Irish Crochet and in desperate need of blocking. I vaguely remember doing this but I have no clue where I found the pattern.

More about the Sunflower Afghan

2007-02-20T19:26:00.000-06:00

Perhaps the most popular thing I've made is the Sunflower Afghan. I'm still getting comments and emails about it!! It is gorgeous and challenging and is one of the few blankets I've made and kept.
So here are answers to what I get asked most often:

1. As far as I can determine, the pattern is available only in the kit from Mary Maxim. I have seen one copy for sell on eBay.

2. I am not interested in selling my pattern at this time. I plan to make use the center motif to make a large circular afghan one day. I also am a BIG Supporter of crochet designers and their copyright. I will not make you a copy of the pattern and email it to you. (That would also be illegal)

3. The yarn I got in the kit was Red Heart Super Saver.

4. Here is my version of the errata for this pattern. (Thanks to Rita for the Rnd 12 point directions, because I forgot to write down what I did there.)

Sunflower Motif B:

Rnd 9: Join Color 2 with sl st in any ch-2 sp, ch 1, 2 sc in same sp,...

Rnd 12: Join MC with sl st in last st worked, ch 1, sc in same stitch, sc in each of first 4 sts, …
Also the directions for the point on Round 12 are incorrect. It should read “dc in each of next 6 sc, (dc, ch 3, dc) in ch-2 space, dc in each of next 6 sc, …”

Rnd 13: Join Color 1 with sl st in first st worked,…

Rnd 14: Join Color 4 with sl st in next ch-2 sp, 2 sc in same sp, …

Rnd 15: Join Color 2 with sl st in last ch-1 sp worked, ch 1, 2 sc in same sp,…
Rnd 17: Join MC with sl st in first st worked, …

And that's about it. I do thank you all for the comments and emails. Let me know if I've forgotten anything.

63 Squares Afghan

2007-02-19T22:55:00.000-06:00

I've somehow managed to almost forget about this blog. Promise - I'll do better! It's been rather busy around here.

I have been doing a lot of crocheting. And not so much picture taking so I'll fix that too! As a matter of fact, the afghan that I started last summer has been finished.

Sixty-three 7-inch squares and each is a different stitch pattern. What a challenge it was! The individual squares were not that difficult (with a few exceptions). But by the time I would get comfortable working the repeats, the square was finished and then I had to learn another pattern.

But I think it turned out pretty good! There's yellow and four different shades of green, since I ran out of one color and couldn't find the same shade at any of the local stores. And it is pretty big - the full photo is spread out on a queen-sized bed.

I gave it to my Aunt when I saw her at Christmas. She loves it so much that she even mailed me a hand written thank-you note the next week! That note was the best thing I got for the holidays. It's great to be able to give love and happiness through crocheting.

Poor Blog - All Ignored

2006-09-21T18:30:00.000-05:00

With the ups and downs of Summer 2006 it seems that the blog has been ignored. And now Blogger is giving me a hard time about uploading pictures!! So this post is in two parts.

Well, I can fix that 'cause I've been a bit busy. So what did I do over the summer (besides crochet)? Hubby and I did a bit of traveling! Of course, isn't that what summer is for?

We got up-close and personal with a C-17 and some nice young men from the Mississippi Air National Guard. This is one of the military transport planes that flies troops and supplies from the US and Iraq and back. It is absolutely huge! I've watched this plane doing fly-overs and was thrilled to get the chance to actually go inside one.

Poor Blog, Part 2

2006-09-20T18:49:00.000-05:00

We also traveled to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana (also known as the crawfish capitol of the world) and stayed in the cutest little cabin near town. We ate lots of beignets and lots of crawfish - they serve crawfish sauce with everything. We took a swamp tour thru the swamps of Lake Martin. Saw lots of birds, three alligators and a wee little frog.
Then we spent a few days in Tupelo, MS. Tupelo's big claim to fame is being the birthplace of Elvis Presley and there are quite a few Elvis related places around. We stopped by the house that Elvis lived in as a child.

A side trip to Memphis, TN was necessary for Yarn Shopping! Memphis has several yarn shops but I spent all my yarn budget at Yarniverse. Great fun and I'll have to go back sometime soon.

I've been crocheting and I've got a few things to post later on. Ya'll be good now and come back real soon!

Finished objects

2006-08-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

Rolled Brim Hats
Waffle Lattice Shawl
Boteh Scarf
Baroque Jacket
Lacy Treasure Baby Blanket
63 Squares Afghan
Sleeping Bunny
Little Princess Baby Blanket
Bell-Sleeved Pullover
Sunflower Afghan
Elegant Poncho
Decoupage Crochet
Yarn-Bee Topper
Child's Poncho
Kitty Blanket
First Socks

FO Sleeping Bunny

2006-07-07T18:27:00.000-05:00

What could possibly be cuter than a palmful of sleeping bunny?

Pattern designed by Kristen Alfords and available in her etsy store here.

Made with Simply Soft yarn and crocheted tightly with an F hook.

Now ain't that just the cutest thang?!!

Time for Fun!

2006-07-07T18:18:00.000-05:00

Duck

Duck

Goose

Goose

Goose

Goose

Feathered friends at Lakeshore Park! The geese are young Canadian geese. (Canadian geese even though many of these birds will spend the entire year here in Mississippi.)

Little Princess Baby Blanket

2006-06-16T16:46:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Blanket designed by Pamela Wood - pattern is in the April 2004 Crochet World. Caterpillar designed by KristieMN - pattern is here on Crochetville.

Yarn: Caron's Simply Soft

Notes: I started this blanket (maybe about 2 years ago) but put it up when I got tired of doing all those flowers. But, in hopes that a good friend of mine will have a baby girl after 2 adorable boys, I pulled it back out and finally finished!
It is a cute blanket. Pattern has a huge error though - one row was totally left out. It was an easy error to notice so I was able to compensate.
I had yarn left over, so I made a matching toy. I love Kristie's patterns!
Ain't it just a precious set? Gee, I hope that baby is a girl.

DIY Crochetville Team

2006-06-14T19:05:00.000-05:00

Such an exciting day! So many good things to be thankful for!!

First, I'm officially part of the Crochetville team to apply to be on Uncommon Threads on the DIY network. Wow! Now I'm much more of a crocheter than a designer. I so thankful to all the great designers out there who design such wonderful items. And I buy a lot of patterns each year making me a designer-supporter. So Pfft! to all those low-lifes who copy patterns and spread them all around. (Okay, I'm getting off topic here...)

Then, if you go to the post about the finished Sunflower afghan, you'll note that none other than Kim Guzman herself has left a comment! I 'bout fell out of my chair when I saw that. And she has a blog post up today linking to this blog!

So, it's been a good day.

Scarf Swap 2006

2006-05-20T14:32:00.000-05:00

I got a package from the land down under, also known as Australia! Isn't this exciting!! I tore off outer wrapper, then tore through the bubble wrap, and found...happy smiley faces wearing sunglasses. Ain't that just so cute? I stopped tearing stuff, made sure that Hubby properly admired the cute wrapping paper, and took a picture.

Very carefully, I finished unwrapping the package and found all sorts of goodies inside. Let's see, there's candy (and it was very delicious), an Aussie postcard, a souvenior tray with Koala picture, some "g'day"leaves, a flip-flop magnet, and a duck (love the duck). The round thing with the flowers opens up into a very nice bag, which I'm taking on our upcoming short vacation. And the scarf - yellow, orange, and green - to match my blog. With duckies on each end. I love it! I love it! Thanks so much Cupcake!!

FO: Bell-Sleeved Pullover

2006-05-05T19:30:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Bell-Sleeved Pullover from the Tahki Crochet book. Designed by Doris Chan.

Yarn: Tahki Yarn's COTTON CLASSIC, color 3931 (100% mercerized cotton DK/worsted weight)

Notes: This was a wonderful soft yarn to work with. I will have to use it again.
The pattern was well-written and easy to follow. I couldn't figure out how this went together when I first read the pattern. But once I got pass the first 2 or 3 rows, the design began to come together.
And I really like the pullover. I've worn it twice so far. The fit is great and the sleeves are just the right length, that is they aren't so long that the bell part gets caught on stuff. I was overjoyed to find a matching shirt at Sam's! Especially since I was expecting to really have to hunt for what to wear under it.
And this is a GREAT pattern book. There are so many really great patterns inside and I'll be making some of them in the near future. The book is available at Patternworks and also at Dreamweavers.

Hey, my back-yard needs mowing! Any volunteers?

Closet Clean-Out

2006-04-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

Cleaned out my closet this weekend. I don't know how I managed to stick so many things into one closet but what a trip down memory lane it was! Thought I would share a few of the things I found covering 3 decades of my life.
From the 1970's is this afghan made by my Aunt E. If you didn't live thru the 1970's, particularly the year 1976, then you can't possibly understand the excitement that gripped the USA as the bicentennial year drew closer and closer. Everything was colored red, white, and blue. And this little afghan was given to me. I love it and, God willing, I will still own it when I die.

From the 1980's, is something else that I can't bring myself to give up. My genuine Levi 501 button-fly jeans. Never again will I be small enough to fit into these, which is okay because I almost wore this pair out. These jeans were HOT! I happened to be in Atlanta, GA when they hit the market and I immediately bought a pair. The pants came with instructions sewn to the waistband, because you had to "shrink to fit" for a personal fit. I remember spending a whole afternoon in a laundermat washing, drying, and putting on my new jeans until they were just right.

And my crochet habit started in the 1990's. That's when I made this broomstick lace cardigan. I found the original pattern dated 1993. I thought that the border with all the little roses was so cute. I still do but the cardigan no longer fits. This may well be the first wearable that I ever made. I washed it and hung it back up. Some things just can't be given up.

In other news, I finished two things! (Boy, I've been busy this week!!) Pictures will be coming soon, but hubby's socks are done and I've finished the bell-sleeved pullover.

Works In Progess

2006-04-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

WIP No. 1 - The bell-sleeved pullover is coming coming along. This was a great project to start after the afghan. The pattern is well-written and the cotton yarn is so smooth. I'm really enjoying it and it is looking good (if I do say so myself). I do need to find a little top to wear under it because nothing in my closet will do.

WIP No. 2 - I've got a good friend who is having a baby. Now she already has 2 boys, so on the off chance that this one is a girl, I want to be prepared! I pulled out this half-finished baby blanket that I put down because I got tired of doing all those flowers. (Have I ever mentioned that I have lots of unfinished projects stuck all around the house?) I do plan to finish this up before the middle of June. It's a cute pattern with the pink center and a border of pastel flowers.

WIP No. 3 - No picture, but I'm still working on hubby's socks. It's become almost a never-ending project because I messed up on the heel of one sock and didn't notice until I finished both socks. The horror and frustation that I felt upon noticing the mistake, and it was a Big Boo-Boo, almost made me chunk both socks. And, if they had been socks for me I would have. But in the end I got to practice on frogging my knitting, putting the live stitches back on my needles and now I'm just trying to finish.

Future WIP - The Baroque Jacket from HH. This pattern was the reason I bought the book. I had planned to get it from the Stitch Diva's website anyway. The yarn came in this week but I'm not starting on it until I finish one of the three projects above.

So I've got plenty to keep me busy.

Oops...

2006-04-18T21:44:00.000-05:00

So I laid the afghan on the floor, turned around for one minute to grab the camera, pointed the camera at the afghan, and suddenly, there was The Cat all nice and comfy-like, perfectly content to lie there and have her picture took. Now why do cats do that?

But the real oops is that there is a mistake in the Sunflower Afghan!I laid this blanket out many, many times as I was working out and I've spread the finished blanket out a few times to show off, and it always looked fine. It wasn't until I was reading thru my thread at Crochetville that I happened to look at the pic I had posted and noticed a dreadful error! One of the 8 sunflower blocks is upside down! How in the world did I miss that? The dark green front-post double crochet stitches, which should be framing the front of the flower are on the back. I've double-checked on the actual blanket and, yep, it's upside down.
One rainy day when I'm bored and looking for something different to do, I'll pull out the border, cut the seams, and turn that block over.

FO: Sunflower Afghan

2006-04-15T13:51:00.000-05:00

Project: Sunflower Afghan designed by Irena Janiashvili

From: Kit purchased from Mary Maxim
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver

Measures: 50.5 inches wide, 72 inches long

Notes: This was a bear of a project from the get-go. The kit was on back-order for a couple of months, and I had given up on actually receiving it when it showed up at my door. The yarn included was Red Heart Super Saver instead of Mary Maxim's Starlette. I've never used any of the Mary Maxim yarns so I don't know if this was an upgrade or not. (I did get a $5 gift certificate for having to wait so long and I've got several full skeins of yarn left over.)
The pattern has several errors and was a bit difficult to figure out at times. I ended up completely changing the last row of the border. The pattern featured crocheted tassel-things, which I thought looked just awful, and I ended up finishing the ends with a row of shells instead.
All in all, I'm really pleased with the way this turned out. It was a challenging project with lots of different stitches. And The Cat seems to think it is all comfy.

Next Project: The Bell-Sleeved Pullover from Tahki Stacy Charles Crochet book. I'm also still working on a pair of socks for hubby and I want to finish a baby blanket I started a while back.

Elegant Poncho

2006-04-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Poncho from the Fall/Winter 2005 issue of Family Circle Easy Crochet

Yarn: Paton's Divine, 3 balls Soft Earth

Notes: The pattern calls for the knitting to be done in rows and the crocheting to be done in rounds. Nowhere does the pattern mention anything about seams, which I try to avoid anyway. So I got a circular knitting needle and did the knitting in the round too.
This is currently the favorite item I have made. I've worn it several times and it wears well and looks good! (A great combination for wearables.)
And it was fun to make. The top half is knit ribbing while the bottom is crocheted shells.

Remaining soft, fuzzy yarn went towards a kitty blanket (which The Cat refuses to actually lie on).

Circle Time

2006-03-30T22:17:00.000-06:00

And I have finally achieved a Sunflower Circle with 4 corners! Now on to the borders.
This has become known 'round here as the "deviled egg blanket". The first time I spread it out, hubby and I both looked at it and thought "yum, plates of deviled eggs!" Now I can't get the image of eggs out of my mind. But trust me, these are sunflowers - that's what the directions say.

And the Work Goes On

2006-03-18T22:43:00.000-06:00

Work is continuing on the Sunflower Afghan. I've got 8 completed sunflowers and 3 totally completed motifs. This should all connect into one big circle of sunflowers.

I'm really pleased with my progress so far. I am trying to become more project, rather than process, oriented. I started crocheting, and knitting too, because I am just fascinated by the process of taking a single strand of thread or yarn and a couple of sticks or a hook, and creating something that looks nothing like a single strand of thread or yarn. There is just an endless variety of stitch patterns that can be created and I want to learn them all.

So what happens is that I find an interesting pattern and I pull out my supplies and set out working the pattern until I see how it all goes together. As a result, I have way too many works in progress (WIP) that I know I will never finish. Need to break this cycle because, honestly, the WIP are starting to pile up around here.

And that means that I am going to finish this afghan before I start any thing else. Then I'll finish up hubby's socks. Then there's this really neat top in the new Tahki crochet book that I want to make. And I've got yarn for another pair of socks for me. And the list goes on....

Decoupage & Crochet

2006-03-14T20:34:00.000-06:00

So the subject of decoupage has come up on Crochetville and reminded me of these plates I made a few years ago. I had made several mini doilies and when trying to find a use for them, I came up with this idea. It's actually a set of four, but one plate doesn't look that good so it will remain private. I took clear glass dessert plates, centered a small doily on the backside, covered the doily with blue tissue paper, and very carefully brushed a layer of Mod Podge over the entire back of the plate. Sprinkled glitter over it all and let it dry. The glitter didn't become very glittery, but it did come out looking rather snow covered. I've actually used these for cookies and such.

The afghan kit I ordered from Mary Maxim in January has been on back-order but it finally arrived! Joy & glee has spread across the home because I had just about given up on ever receiving this kit and I really, really wanted this pattern. I love this design and I already have a good start on it. It is a bit of a challenge but I'm having fun with it.

Yarn Bee Topper

2006-03-04T12:42:00.000-06:00

Hubby surprised me with several skeins of the prettiest yarn. A bit fuzzy, but the most wonderful autumn shades. I knew I wanted to make a coat and, after a couple of days of searching for the perfect pattern, I settled for the Colorwaves Topper from Interweave Crochet fall 2005 issue.

Yarn is Yarn Bee brand from Hobby Lobby. I've lost the labels so I don't know what the color name is.

I added rows (without the increases) to make this longer than the pattern. I also made a belt to tie at the waist. This yarn is almost too slippery to be tied though.

The coat turned out great. It is soft and a little fuzzy. Kinda has a swing-coat style. I really like it and I've worn it several times.

And another pic just to keep you informed as to what really goes on 'round here:

My Grandma

2006-02-23T20:31:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of my Grandma, Narcie Delilah Magee. It was taken on Christmas day 2004 and she is modeling the hat I made just for her.

She passed away on Friday, Feb 17th, 2006 at the age of 96. And she will be missed.

Grandma was a very honest person and could be quite outspoken with her honesty. She had a strong Christian faith in the love of God and the power of prayer. She firmly believed that one should always do the right thing and never try to cheat or hurt others. And she has left a legacy that will be passed on down.

Grandma loved to sew, quilt, and crochet. I can't even begin to imagine how many dresses, quilts and afghans she made over the years. She was raised on a farm, lived her life on a farm and knew what a hard day of work was.

And she was a pretty good cook! When I was a child, she would make these great big teacakes that I just loved. (And I never got the recipe for those.) She would also make fried apple tarts and the best creamed corn ever. Now she has told me how to make her creamed corn and I've tried it a few times, but I've never been able to make creamed corn like hers. (Gonna miss that corn 'cause she would always make some up whenever I went down to visit.)

But, there are plenty of reminders of her left here. Grandma also loved flowers and her yard is full of bulbs and plants. Jonquils, larkspurs, roses, and camelias will bloom all through the yard. The picture here is the remains of the pecan tree that fell over during "The Storm". The jonquils came up and bloomed last week, growing sideways on the root ball. A remainder that life does go on regardless of the circumstances.

(And I need to remember to dig up a few of these bulbs for my yard.)

Love ya Gran-ma! I'll see you later.

Awww...

2006-02-10T22:38:00.000-06:00

Ain't this just the cutest site? ** http://cuteoverload.com/ **

Funny what one can stumble upon while surfing the internet.

Crochet Stuff

2006-01-26T18:56:00.000-06:00

Child's Crocheted Poncho

Made from Wildflower DK cotton yarn with Fun Fur Trim.

Pattern is in the Annie's Attic booklet Poncho panache!

Not quite the same

2005-12-26T21:08:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from Jackson, MS! It's a pretty skyline.

But we are still dealing with the effects of Katrina.

Here in Jackson there are dots of blue roof here and there.Further south there are big blue roofs everywhere you look.

Big shady yards once full of trees now seem empty and bare.

And just look at what Katrina did at my great-grandmother's house!

Headline from today's Times-Picayune (the New Orleans paper) - "Louisiana gains from neighbor's influence. Mississippi senator pushed hurricane relief package." I'm just so proud of Thad Cochran and Haley Barbour. Nature slams us with a major hurricane and Mississippians roll up their sleeves, throw a tele-thon, get a grant, and then go to work rebuilding!

Katrina's toll in Mississippi (statistics from the Sun-Herald)

$125 billion - Estimated dollar amount of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina
231 - Identified dead statewide
5 - Unidentified dead
67 - Missing
65,380 - Houses in South Mississippi destroyed
383,700 - Mississippi insurance claims filed (Katrina and Rita)
$5 billion - Claims paid (as of Nov. 21)
141,000 - Insurance claims filed in South Mississippi
$1.3 billion - Claims paid in South Mississippi
44 million - Estimated cubic yards of debris in South Mississippi
21.8 million - Cubic yards removed as of Dec. 5
20,447 - Red Cross staff and volunteers in Mississippi
5,543,006 - Red Cross meals served
42,768 - People sheltered by Red Cross
229 - Red Cross shelters opened
$185 million - Red Cross money spent in South Mississippi as of Nov. 30

No, I haven't disappeared

2005-12-21T23:05:00.000-06:00

So I've been asked why I haven't posted lately. Well, the honest truth is that I got bummed out on most everything when Bud-Dog died.

But I'm trying to get back up with taking pictures and writing again. I've done a bit of crocheting lately so - Soon - I promise - there will be a post with pictures.

Hey, here's something, it's a painting I like called 'The Lady of Shalott' by John Waterhouse. It is based on a poem by Alfred Tennyson. I want a nice framed print of this. The colors are wonderful and I am mesmerized by the look on her face.

Sad News

2005-11-15T22:39:00.000-06:00

See that black dot. It showed up on Bud-Dog's belly about the middle of August. It quickly got larger and I took Bud to the vet once I got a chance after Hurricane Katrina. The vet removed the growth and sent it off to the lab. The diagnosis - Hemangiosarcoma. A form of cancer that affects the blood vessels. Not good, not good at all.

Bud died at home, in my arms one week ago today. I miss him so very, very much. He was such a loving little lap dog - that's my chair he is laying in here, waiting for me to sit down and hold him. There is a huge hole in my life right now and I suspect it will be there for a long, long time.

Something new

2005-09-21T19:00:00.000-05:00

And in more positive, uplifting news, I received my doily from Ulla in Sweden! A free-form doily with lots of flowers and leaves. I am so impressed. Thanks so much Ulla!! I Love It!!

And I've actually managed to knit my first pair of socks. A month or so ago, I bought the book 'Knit Socks' and some Cascade 220 yarn. I've been working on these little by little every since. I'm amazed that once I bound off the yarn and wove in the ends, there were actually two socks and they fit! Hubby has requested a pair of himself, so I've got the yarn ready to go for his pair. We will definately have warm feet this winter!

Another view of a complete sock, just because I am so thrilled that these came out as real socks!

FYI

2005-09-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

www.mississippirecovery.com

Some photos from the Mississippi Gulf Coast - http://dancingwithkatrina.blogspot.com/

Closer to Normal

2005-09-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

Life is turning back to something closer to normal here in Jackson, MS. The 3-hour gas lines have disappeared much to the relief of us all. I walked into a local convience store yesterday and was impressed by the fully stocked shelves - rows and rows of soft drinks, chips, gum, candy bars, even doughnuts and sweet rolls! Amazing how I've always taken stuff like that for granted but, after more than a week of stores with very little on the shelves, it sure did look good. Restaurants are opening back up, even if they don't have a full menu. The local Burger King, which sustained a bit of roof damage, is selling burgers again (don't order a fish sandwich because they don't have any).

One of the stranger after-effects of Katrina has been the failure of the 1-800 phone systems. I've been doing buying for the hospital this week and we are still having difficulties getting through on vendor's toll-free numbers. I can pull up their websites but I've been amazed at how many companies do not post their local number on the web. Been having to get rather inventive to get in touch with different companies.

I traveled south down highway 49 over the weekend to check on the folks and saw so many vehicles headed south with supplies. There was a military convoy, 4 Cobra helicopters, RV's and motor homes, and all sorts of out-of-state service trucks that I couldn't even began to identify. Although if you know about Shaw Electric, they were staging in Mendenhall. (I think they may have been a little lost but I'm not sure.) Then there were the trailers filled with weird, complicated looking equipment, including several trailers filled with multi-colored port-a-potties.

And the news from the country folk - Cell service has been set up back in Lone Star and now Daddy no longer has to go up to the top of the hill to make a call. Cellular South has really done a fantastic job getting service back up through the state. While we were there a truckload of ice from Maryland pulled into the local volunteer fire department. I've never quite figured out how news travels so fast out in the country, but there were a lot of people coming up to get some of that cold ice! There has been a give-away of MRE's. Daddy says they are pretty good once you figure out how to open them without burning you fingers.

We went on over to Collins to survey the damage. Collins had a lot of older oaks, many of them hollow, and there are trees down everywhere! (I forgot my camera at home or I would have pictures here.) Anyway, the local grocery store has suffered a lot of damage, including all the front windows being busted. So, the store is now set up in the parking lot and there were quite a few customers as we drove by. There was another ice give-away going on at the Collins Fire Department. The local Sonic opened up for business with just potatoes - they had french fries, tater tots, or hash browns. It is good to see how people have banded together to help one another!

There are still thousands of evacuees here in the Jackson area. It's just so sad how many people have been left with no where to go.

Random Thoughts

2005-09-04T23:13:00.000-05:00

My mind keeps jumping from one thing to another. So much has happened lately and I'm having trouble processing it all.

My dad called me yesterday on his cell phone!! If he goes to the top of the hill, he has cell power, apparently from the tower in Collins. They still have no power but the pumping station in Collins has been brought online so he has been able to get gas. Yeah! I did call the power company yesterday to see if they had any idea of when the power might be back on in the Lone Star community and was told probably 2 to 3 weeks.

Dad called me again today but our phone service here in Jackson has been screwy today, both the cell and wall phones. So I wasn't able to speak to him but my cell shows it as a missed call.

Our church is sending supplies to Hattiesburg, MS and people to help clean-up. The Hattiesburg-Laurel area was hit pretty hard. There's a good article about Jones County here. The church has two large 18-wheelers that is being filled with supplies today. Response has been great. (Started to say overwhelming there, but I've been using that word way too much lately.)

Interesting web site here. There are satellite images from the NOAA. Click a box and you can see a detailed satellite image of how different sections of the Gulf Coast look now. My husband and I traveled down to the Gulfport-Biloxi area twice this summer. I'm still trying to comprehend the total devastation down there.

Stopped by Wal-Mart today to get some baking soda to get the odor from the fridge. No baking soda and very little bleach, no frozen pizzas and very few canned veggies, but they had plenty of some fancy labeled Organic Cane Sugar. For some reason that really irritated me.

I need to stop watching all the television coverage of this because it is really getting to me but I can't. We keep turning the TV over to Fox. I've got a soapbox here I could really climb on about how this is all being reported on but I'm not. I have a roof over my head, food & water in the fridge, and air-conditioning. I know that my family is safe and sound. I am blessed.

A few pictures

2005-09-02T18:54:00.001-05:00

Monday, August 29th, Hurricane Katrina arrives in Jackson, MS and the screen door to the back is already being pushed inward. I had left work about 11, picked up hubby, and the power went off as soon as we walked inside the house, about 12:30.
Rescued The Cat who was sitting inside next to this screen getting soaking wet.

I actually had to rescued The Cat two more times from the wet. Poor kitty was just fascinated by the wind and flying debris.
I stepped out front once during a short lull to try to figure out what were the large dark things flying through the air. Discovered lots of shingles from our house lying in the yard. This also explained the popping sounds we kept hearing on top of the house.

Fourteen hours later it was still raining but we told ourselves that the wind had subsided a bit and went to bed. Woke up a few hours later and stepped out the survey the damage.
Our yard was, well the back yard still is, covered with debris, including this large limb which had been stripped of leaves.

Bud-Dog absolutely refuses to go out so we give up on that and try to figure out what to do.
Power is still out and I can't get anyone on the phone so we decide to drive to work and see what was what. Going down Highway 25, there were lots of snapped power poles like this one here.

This is the street light outside my office. Obviously Katrina didn't like caution lights! This particular light has still not been fixed.
Roads are full of leaves, sticks, and downed trees. One woman died in the neighborhood near where this photo was taken when a large oak tree fell on her house.

Everyone tries to find somewhere to get gas. Gas lines have become a fact of life here but many, many areas do not have gas so we are lucky on that score. Police are now posted at all gas stations and only allow cars to enter the pump area as pumps become available.

The line for the station above. Notice there are no prices posted. I don't even look to see what the prices are at the pump. You got to have gas to get to work so we all just take what is available and hope we have enough money. I filled up on Wednesday, getting in a line at 5:37 am and pulling away from the pump with a full tank at 7:04 am.

Work sent me back home, so these are from my neighborhood. This is the view of my back neighbor's yard as seen through the newly acquired hole in our fence. We have since put some chicken wire up so the dogs won't roam off.

The dock on Oak Street. Power lines down over the entrance. There is a truck and trailer there, but I can't imagine why you would want to go boating with all that was floating in the water.

Another view of Oak Street. This street did not get power on until today.

A two-for-one special that I'm sure this homeowner didn't appreciate. Actually, it was a three-for because there was also a tree down on the other side of this house.

Downed trees sitting on power lines all over the place. This is at Arrowhead Trail.

A cut power line on the ground in front of the fire department.

Low power lines over the road.

My parents, my sister and her family, my grandmother and aunt live in rural Mississippi. I was able to get down there Thursday with three 20lb bags of ice, some water, batteries, and canned goods. This is the only picture I took down there and is a pecan tree behind my grandmother's house. I remember being a little girl and picking pecans with my grandfather under this tree.

While a lot of media attention has been given to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast (and Lord knows those people are in really bad shape), Mississippi and Louisana are still mostly rural areas and the country folks are facing some hard times. They have no power and it will be another 2 to 3 weeks before power will be able to be restored in some outlying areas. The really lucky communities have someone with a generator and gas to run it. In my parent's area, two generators are being shared from house to house to try to help people out a bit. (Thanks Joel!) Clean drinking water is running short and once folks eat what food they have, there is no way to run up to the store to buy more. There's no phone service, no gas, no power and no TV so they are really isolated and do not yet fully understand the enormous impact of Hurricane Katrina.

I want to thank the American Red Cross for all they are doing and all they will continue to do in the future for this area. If you want to help, please make a donation to their hurricane relief efforts. I'm also very grateful to Brookshire's grocery stores. They have been bringing in truckloads of ice and giving bags away (1 per person). This is how I got the ice to take to my family. And Jackson radio stations Mix 96.3 and MIS103. Mix 96 got us through the storm by airing the television weather coverage all day. Country radio 103's signal was reaching as far south as Hattiesburg. They gave up their music format and became talk radio as people from across the state called in and gave what information they could.

It's just all so overwhelming, and sometimes, it quite frankly seems hopeless, but we southerners will survive!!

Tired, Dazed, And Confused

2005-09-01T19:22:00.000-05:00

Still living with the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina. I'm working on a larger post, but I am here!

Oh Baby!

2005-08-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

Here's the newest grand-baby! My step-daughter had a baby. Chance Avery arrived Thursday just past lunch. A tiny baby, but oh so cute. I've held him, fed him, burped him, and handed him off to Mom for a diaper change. There's nothing quite like a new-born baby. God really did a wonderful job with the baby thing.

And on a completely different topic, I learned a very important lesson this week. When I make a project for a swap, I need to make real sure that I have a great picture before I mail out the item. But...this is the doily I made and sent out for the Crochetville doily swap. I didn't notice this glare on the pic until I started to upload it which, of course, wasn't until after I had handed the package off to the USPS. So, okay, lesson learned.

We got a new baby in the family. What do you have new?

Oh! I almost forgot...there's a hurricane headed for us. Expected to be at my home early Tuesday. Pray for us all, especially those on the coast.

Time for a new mop!

2005-08-24T21:46:00.000-05:00

Let's just file this under weird stuff.

Now I'll be the first to admit that my mop was getting old and needed to be replaced. But still, every week or so I would pull it out, mop up my kitchen floor, and then hang it outside to dry. That is, I did until I stepped out early the other morning to find that some kind of weird alien fungi had taken up residence among the strands of mop fiber. Looking for all the world like wee little satellite dishes, three tiny grey mushrooms were peeking up skyward from the mop head. I got hubby to snap this picture (which you can click on if you must have a better view). The growths disappeared once the sun came out but I'm not taking any chances. I now own a new mop and the infested one has been retired.

So, what's the weirdest thing you've seen this week?

Ignite! and Bud-Dog

2005-08-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

Ignite was the name of the annual leadership conference at Pinelake Baptist Church which was held last night and today. A great conference and wonderful break-out sessions. We had a guy from Saddleback Church in California, Jeff Hetschel, who had a session on 'Leading A Small Group' which I attended. It was really good and I picked up some tips for when my husband and I start a small group this fall. Hey - if you are ever in the Jackson area on a Sunday morning come by and check us out.

Now I'm working on my picture posting. The following pics should be clickable to bring up a bigger image. (I'm really hoping this works.)

And here is Bud. The last of the residents to make it to my blog but the oldest of our three pets. Bud gets his name because he is my little Buddy and we've just shortened it to Bud, or Bud-Dog, over the years. Bud is getting on up there. We've had him for almost 14 years and he wasn't a puppy when we rescued him. He has a few problems. He got hit by a car which factured his skull. (This is how we got him. He crawled to our door-steps, we scooped him up and took him to the vet for surgery.) So he doesn't quite have all his marbles and is easily confused. He's hard of hearing, he has a cataract on one eye, he's got very dry skin, and he's missing a few teeth. But he greets each day with joy and lives in his own Happy, Happy little world where the big white box is always full of ice cubes and the giant people always come back home. His favorite things are french fries and belly rubs. I love this dog and I thank God that Bud has been a part of our lives for so many years.

I've Been Tagged!

2005-08-13T14:22:00.000-05:00

Ack! I've been tagged by Debi at Deb's Down Time!!

id•i•o•syn•cra•sy - a structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group. Write down 5 of your own idiosyncrasies, then if you wish, tag 5 people.

Hmm, do I want to admit to any idiosyncrasies? I asked Hubby if I had any but he just laughed and refused to discuss the topic. So I'm on my own here. Let's see...

1. I don't like tomatoes, raw or cooked. But I love ketchup!

2. I can't swim and I don't like to get into water any deeper than my waist, but I love to go boating.

3. I've never admitted this to anyone else, but when I'm by myself, I count. Steps, stairs, seconds, whatever - my brain just automatically counts things. There are nine steps on each flight in the parking garage at work. Most red lights will turn green within sixty seconds. I know this because I counted.

4. I tend to be a pack-rat. (I'm trying to work on this though.)

5. I use the word "Well" too much when I'm speaking.

That's my list. And I'm sure there are more, but that's the ones I'm confessing to now.

So I'm tagging Chie at Chie Crochets , Ulla at Ulla's fiber blog , and Jewel at Jewel's Crochet .

Old and New

2005-08-06T22:49:00.000-05:00

A new McDonald's has opened up near our house. And it looks like this. (I know, we need to get better at taking night-time shots.) It's a neat looking building with kinda a retro look but I have no idea why it doesn't look like the other McDonald's around here. They still sell Big Macs and Quarter-Pounders though.

I made kitty aka Patches aka 'The Cat' a blanket from Lion Brand's Homespun. The pattern is on Lion Brand's web site. I changed it up just a bit by doing the whole thing as one piece, because I just don't like sewing squares together and I used different colors for the border.

And just what did 'The Cat' think of her new blanket?

Well, you be the judge!

Ain't that just the cutest thing?

Until next time, ya'll be good and sleep soundly!

Showing Off!

2005-07-23T13:26:00.000-05:00

More projects finished since my last post. I am slowly, but surely, working my way through the large yarn stash sitting in my spare room.

This giant scarf is from a pattern in the archives of CrochetMe . I changed up the stripe patterning. It's made with Lion Brand's Homespun yarn using a Q hook.

You know how much I really need a giant scarf. I live in Mississippi where the temperature is currently 95 F and the heat index is expected to be 105F.

I kept the picture a bit big so you can see the other works-in-progress I've got going. One day I'll finish them all. (maybe) There's also a basket of cotton yarn there and the big brown thing has more yarn inside.

In the tote of left of picture is a baby blanket that I just need to finish putting the flower border on. The folded object below it is a scrap afghan that will one day fit over our queen-sized bed. (It's a rather ambitious project.) The white tote on the right has a wool sweater I'm knitting. I've got the back done and one sleeve almost finished. (See above for the temperature today and you'll know why I'm not working on it in July.)

Crocheted blue bag made with Aunt Lydia's "Denim" thread. The pattern is here . I added a flap so the bag wouldn't always be wide open. I really like this. It's a nice size, perfect for carrying my sock stuff around.

And speaking of socks, I finished knitting one. I'm going to wait to post a picture until I have two though.

I'm almost finished with my doily for the great Crochetville Doily Swap. I've made a few 8-inch squares, but they didn't photograph well so I'll have to post them later.

Other than that, it's HOT & HUMID here. My yard needs mowing and so far I've been unable to get the dogs to help with that chore.

Hi Mom & Dad!!

2005-07-18T19:43:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post in honor of my parents who have finally gotten internet service out there in the country. I've got some pictures of more stuff, but I'll get them posted later. And Dad, the Jackson paper is at www.clarionledger.com . Click on Opinion/Editorial on the left, then scroll down for the letters to the editor.

Love ya both - Julie

Blog Doodlin'

2005-07-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

I made a button! With the ducky face!! (I really like that duck. ) I've been trying to figure out how to make a neat looking button. I came across a web tutorial of how to make a button using Paint Shop Pro. While reading the 3-4 page tutorial, I realized that I could make exactly what I wanted using the Paint program that came with my computer. So I did and you can see the result in the sidebar.

Also, I've applied for approval to join the Crochet Blogs web ring. I think web rings are neat and they can lead to some really interesting places. So I've got my fingers crossed that this blog will be approved for admission to Crochet Blogs. It's still a new blog and doesn't have a whole lot of content yet but I think it will be okay.

More Stash-Busting

2005-07-05T17:58:00.000-05:00

I like to read crochet patterns. I spend alot of time reading patterns online and imaging how the crochet process goes along. In my mind's eye, I substitute different yarns and colors. Just by reading patterns I can crochet countless items over and over without ever actually finding a hook and yarn.
However, this habit is not helping my yarn stash actually shrink. (And I own way too much yarn!) So, I printed out the very first pattern in the very first issue of Crochet Me and voila!!

It's a crocheted washcloth made from Lion Brand cotton yarn. I changed the pattern a bit by crocheting in the back loops only. I like this. It's a nice size and very soft. I haven't used it yet but I plan to make several more to put in a basket in my bathroom. After all, I've got plenty of cotton yarn in various colors.

Gotta Love the Mailman!!

2005-06-29T18:49:00.000-05:00

I got two packages in the mail Monday. The really, really good one was this one here. My order from Webs arrived! Three skeins of Cascade 220 Quatro destined to become warm winter socks. I decided last week that I would learn how to knit socks. Took a trip to Barnes & Nobles and got the book 'Knit Socks!' Ordered the yarn on Friday and I've got socks in progress. Sorry, but I don't have a photo of the WIP because I'm working on them in my office before my work day actually starts. But I'll be sure to post the finished product!

I'm almost finished with my doily for the Crochetville doily swap. I believe Julie said we could make two if we wanted, and I may just do that.

It's Hot in Mississippi and we need rain. (And that five-minute shower we got this afternoon just doesn't count!) How's your weather?

Lady Dog

2005-06-27T20:27:00.000-05:00

"Help Me! Someone please help me! Just because I may have put on a few extra pounds over the winter, the woman thinks I'm fat. It was bad enough that she brought home that food for 'overweight dogs' . It got worse when the man stopped feeding me lots of treats during the day. Now, she is making me wear this harness and leash and is taking me OUTSIDE for L-O-N-G walks through the neighborhood where everyone sees me. Oh, the shame of it all. I would much rather stay laid up in the house under the air-conditioner. Someone have pity on me, please!"

Poor, poor Lady dog. We got her a couple of years ago at PetSmart. She's a lab mix, and is a bit timid. She's unsure about people on bikes, she's unsure about people on roller-blades, she's unsure about children playing scoccer in yards. Walking this dog is an experience, because she is just so unsure about so many things. She's also not big on having her picture taken which is why I have this other photo. Yes, that is a roll of fat on the dog's backside. And is the reason we go walking twice a week.

So, How Has Your Day Been?

Let's post a picture!!

2005-06-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

Yeah me!! I managed to get pictures posted! I'm so excited!

Poncho above is a stash-buster project and I love it. I came across a cone of Lily's white cotton, that I had probably picked up to make potholders with, and thought Poncho!! The pattern is an adaption of one in the Annie's Attic booklet Poncho panache! It's perfect for a Mississippi summer.

First Post

2005-06-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

Gotta figure out how this blogger thing works. So I'm gonna check out the help and get going. This is just a test post more or less.