Winter blues

I feel like the blog for this week will be a little short. When I look back over the week, it doesn’t seem like I’ve done very much or at least not much of a variety of things.

I’ve been knitting on the afghan and have another varigated strip done. I take it to work and knit on it during my lunch hour so it’s not going really fast like it did in the beginning.

I’ve also been sewing on the quilt. I have one strip done, but can’t seem to make myself sit at the sewing machine.  It must be the weather. We’ve gone a week without sunshine and it’s a little depressing. In addition to this, I’m more in the mood to do my sewing in the Spring. I think it reminds me of when I was in school and we did our sewing projects at that time of year. I was so proud of making myself a new dress or outfit.  Spring and sewing-in-the-Spring brings back wonderful memories to me.

The main thing I’ve done this week is finish a few more items to put on WFK’s blog for her Friday craft sections for the month of March. I’ve been having fun with that because I enjoy making small and quick items. Here’s an overview of them:

 

The slippers were made last year as well as the tote bag. All of the other items are what I’ve been finishing up this week. You can see and read about them individually on her blog.

Christmas is still in the back of my mind. When I cleaned off the sewing machine to get it ready to sew, I came across the kit of cross-stitched ornaments that I started several weeks ago. So I spread them out on my table and have been working on them once in a while when I take a break from other projects or housework. 

That’s it for now. Be happy. Be safe. Give someone a hug. Keep those fingers busy. Until next time. . . . . . . 

A little, a lot

I’ve been knitting on my black and white afghan this week. The new has worn off and I’m slowing down on it a little. It’s nice to pick up when I just want to keep my hands busy but my brain says “no, no, I don’t want to think about anything.”  I have two strips made and am working on the next two. Here’s a pic of what I have done so far. What cha think?  The colors don’t match too well but it’s not like it’s going into the Fair to be judged, so I think it looks ok.

I’m also working on another bunny like the one pictured in my last entry. I found some other pretty colors that I think need to become bunnies too, so soon I’ll have a whole family. They really are easy and quick to make. They’re multiplying like. . . well, bunnies! I got the pattern for the bunny out of the newest Creative Knitting magazine. Try it, you’ll like it!

I had lunch with my good friend, Carolyn, again this week. Because of her influence, I’ve been sewing on my quilt again. The one I started LAST summer. It’s the green sampler quilt with twelve blocks all done in different patterns. I have all the strips and connecting block pieces cut out — and they’ve just been sitting there on the machine all this time. My goal is to have the top all sewed together to take for a “show and tell” next month when we have lunch again. Come on, everybody, cheer me on!

I also had lunch with #1 Daughter again this week. We’re trying to make this at least a once a month affair. I sooo enjoy visiting with her. She and I can talk and talk and talk. We always run out of time before we run out of things to say. She’s funny, too. She tells stories in such a way that makes them fun to listen too. She makes me laugh. If you haven’t checked out her blog yet, and you like to read funny stories, then you certainly need to check her out!

I ordered some more books and got them this week.  

I read one of Debbie Macomber’s books last year and have been sold on her since then. I LOVE the books she writes especially the ones which involve knitting. I found out she had these books with knitting patterns published by Leisure Arts. How can you lose when you have a double whammie — Ms. Macomber and Leisure Arts! All the patterns are simple, classic, attractive and practical. I’ve already picked out several items I want to make! There’s one more book in this series, but it wasn’t available when I got these. However, I was in Hobby Lobby yesterday and I saw it in their book rack!! I didn’t get it then, but I’ll take a 40% off coupon back later this week and get it. I have to have them ALL!

Well, I have the house picked up, kitchen sparkling, laundry caught up again and a little vacuuming done, so I’m going to head to the sewing room. Hope you have some time this week to spend doing what you love the most. Until next time. . . . .

Iced In

This is wintertime, so we shouldn’t be surprised to have winterlike weather. It’s been an up and down winter here in the midwest, but that’s not really surprising either. Our weather can be 60 degrees one day and down in the single digits the next.

 

Today is no exception. We woke up to an ice box this morning. We’re having icy thunder showers complete with lightning. Everything is white with ice. I haven’t heard yet, but I’m sure schools were cancelled. I have to go to work tonight and I HATE driving on ice — especially with my NEW car! I’m just hoping that the road crews are out with the salt. This is the second year in a row that everything has been covered with an inch or more of ice. This has been really hard on the trees and bushes. Our hugh Lilac bush didn’t recover from last year, but we tried to save it even though Hubby had to trim it back.

 

Do you think it’s worth trying to save anymore? I think Hubby will finish cutting it down this Spring.

Here are some pics of the grandson’s b-day. He was such a good boy even though he hadn’t had a nap all day. Both boys are really good. In fact, all six of our grandsons are good. They have great parents and I’m not just saying that because they’re our children. They really do love their children and  the kids know it even if the parents don’t always tell them. (Which they should — as often as they can! Because you just never know!) 

My FIL is a one-of-a-kind. He gets his kicks out of some of the simplest things. He’s just a grown-up little boy a lot of times, but you can’t help loving him because you know he genuinely cares about his family and friends.

He makes toys and items to give away to whomever he can trap in the house when they unsuspectingly come for a visit. He’s made such treasures as “nut families” from real nuts of different shapes and sizes, “watch dogs” from golf balls and watch parts, “diamond rings” from a dime, a “washer and dryer” from a clothespin and a metal washer, and of course the thousands of “airplanes” and  “windmills” made from soda and beer cans. This is but a few of the many items he’s made. And of course, we are the proud owners of at least one or two of  everything.  This is his latest project:

 

I have to admit I thought this was pretty cute. My MIL told us that he’s made her house a “pig pen” because he’s already made seven or eight of them. They’re all in a row waiting to be given to the next unsuspecting guest.

I’ve been knitting my fingers off this week. I made another scarf on the knitting loom.

This one is made using a strand of blue fun fur and a strand of white worsted weight held together. I LOVE making these scarves! Not just to have them to give away, but to see what combinations of yarn textures and colors I can use. It’s fascinating to me to see how they work up. At the same time, I’m using up some of my STASH!

I’ve also been gathering up some crafts to send to Karen for her Fri. Craft section on her blog. I came across a cute little knitted bunny in my newest Creative Knitting magazine. It was so cute and quick to knit up.

I’ve also been knitting on my black, grey and white afghan. I’m on the third and fourth panels now. I’m able to knit on both of them at the same time because one panel is knit on straight needles and the other one is worked on a circular needle. The one on the circular needle is knit vertically. I work on one for a while, then the other. It breaks up the monotony. Maybe I’ll have a pic of it on the next blog.

That’s it for this time. Keep knitting or crocheting, or whatever your craft happens to be. The main thing is to keep at it!

A New Car!

Because of a goof from management at work, I’ve had five days off this week. It’s been like a mini vacation! Of course I didn’t get paid for it, so my check will be smaller than usual, but it’s sure been nice to have a little time off from work.

 We’ve been talking about getting a new car for about a year. I’ve done a little research to find the best car as far as being economical and the most safe to drive. My results:  Toyota. Since I had all this time off this week, hubby and I decided this was the time to go car shopping. Here’s what we found!

 

It’s a 2008, however it’s a used car. It has 12,000+ miles on it, but was still pretty expensive. But it’s worth it compared to the new ones! We got a warranty that will cover bumper to bumper for 100,000 miles. It has lots of amenities. I even have a CD player! It’s a smoky-grey color, which is just about all you can buy anymore. What’s the matter with color, people?  Anyway, I really LOVE driving it. Of course we had to run over to the in-laws to show them the new car.  We’d mentioned to them over the weekend that we might go look.

Speaking of the in-laws, Hubby and I took them for a ride on the weekend by the old house they used to live in and by a few other places they hadn’t seen in a while. They don’t get out much anymore and I think they enjoyed the outing. I wished we’d had our new car then! Well, there’ll be another time, I’m sure.

I got all the felt Christmas stockings done — yes, all twelve of them. I was getting pretty tired of making stockings! They’ve been put away till Christmas. I’ll forget all about them until I get my stuff out and there they’ll be. I can see it now. . . . . the smile on my face remembering making all those little stockings and especially having them all done and ready to give away!

 I got a comment on my last blog entry from Marcia. She wanted to know what knitting loom I used to make the scarf I made in the shades of blue. Here’s a picture of it:

As you can see, it’s a plastic oblong loom. I have another scarf on it right now and I’m only using part of the loom. Just using a certain number of pegs will determine what size your scarf will be. I hope this answers your question. Here’s the scarf after I took it off the loom:

The above section was written a week ago. I don’t know why I didn’t get it published for all to read. Unless it was because I got side-tracked with making crafts for Karen to show on her blog. I really had fun with them. I’m attempting to make something for each week for the whole month to send her all at once. Then I can take a breather for a while. One week at a time really rolls around fast!

We made a trip to KC this weekend for the youngest grandson’s birthday party. He was born Dec. 27, but they didn’t want to have it so close to Christmas. They said he wouldn’t know the difference. That may be true now, but when he gets older, it might be a problem. I worked with a guy whose b-day was the day after Christmas, and he said that he never got a party like his brother who had a b-day in the summer.

But back to the trip. I got to drive my new car all the way to KC.  What a rush! Have I mentioned before that I LOVE my new car? It handles like a dream. I had to use the cruise control because it has a lot more power than my other car, (or maybe I’m just not used to it yet.) I was going 75 and didn’t even know it! Hubby had to mention to me once in a while that, “you’re going a little fast.”

 We went up Sat. night and stayed all night at a motel. We went over to their house for a couple of hours Sat. night. Son’s MIL was staying with them for a few days so she was there also. We had a good time visiting and playing with the boys.

Sun. afternoon was the party and they had it at Son’s place of work. He’s partnered with a couple of other guys at Digital Eye, an advertising firm. It’s a “Print Graphic Design Firm, Video Production Company & 3D Animation Studio…all in one.” They have a new office with lots of room, so all the 30 or so people they invited had lots of space to spread out.

We took lots of pics, (I’ll have some to show next time), visited, watched the kids play, ate cake and ice cream and had a great time. Hubby and I left around 3:30 so we wouldn’t have to drive a long time after it got dark.

After I got the little crafts done for Karen’s blog, I started another afghan. I was looking through old books and magazines — I LOVE looking through my shelves and shelves of books and magazines — and I found a picture of an afghan made with black, grey and white yarn. I remembered some yarn from my sister’s stash that I “inherited” after she passed away. (Actually, I think the book was her’s also.) It’s a black, grey and while varigated. There’s nine skeins of it, but none of the skeins have a sleeve to tell me what kind of yarn it is. From my experience with yarn, however, I’m pretty sure it’s a worsted weight acylic yarn which is what I needed.

The pattern for the afghan has the varigated yarn knit with a ripple stitch in veritcal strips and separated with other strips made with solid colors of black, grey, white, grey and black knit in horizontal strips. It looks very impressive and rich! Of course, if you know me, you know I get obsessed with a new project, especially a knitted one. So I’ve been doing a lot of knitting on it. I already have a strip and a half done so far. It’s a very easy pattern, so it’s “mindless” knitting. That’s the best kind of knitting when my brain has been on overload the past two weeks with getting a new car, a trip to KC, and making little crafts with a deadline haunting me. (It’s my own fault I make a deadline out of it. I can get more accomplished, but it’s hard on this ol’ lady! Thank goodness I had five days off from work!!)

Better get this published before it’s another week gone by. Why does time have to go so fast!?! Hope you have time to do a little knitting and/or crafting. Till next time. . . . . . .