I've Been Cheating !!!

I have to confess, I've been cheating on my crocheting (gasp!) I've wanted to learn how to knit for a long time and I've tried several times in the past 15 years or so, but to no avail. It's not that I don't still love crochet, I do and always will, I just wanted some options. I finally realized that continental is the way I should go and guess what !?! It worked !!!! I found the orginal Stitch and Bitch the most useful, I totally got how to do the long tail cast on and the knit stitch. Now pirl is being a bit difficult, but I'm not going to give up. But let me show you the fruits of my labor.

This is my very first knitting ever !

And just because I'm so proud of myself, a close up of my very own knitting

It only took me about two hours to knit that. I won't be setting any speed records but that's okay.

And to prove I haven't been neglecting Miss Crochet, a look at what I think is a really pretty shawl. I got the pattern from Sweater Babe .com and I used the GGH Soft Kid I got from Spirit Work. The pattern is well written and is an easy repeat so it whipped up quick and easy.

Just a close of of the pattern, isn't it pretty.

I made a second one in black, but this time I used Classic Elite La Gran Mohair, also from Spirit Work. It's still really nice, but due to the "hairy-ness" the stitch definition isn't really there. But it seems as if it will be toasty warm.

I'm also working on this 'gahn , for a wedding gift. I'm using Red Heart Soft in off white for the entire 'ghan. I'm using a new hook too, I saw these earlier this year in one of the crochet magazines and finally decided to try them. While they're no Jimbo hook, they are really nice to work with.

Speaking of Jimbo, have ya heard about International Crochet Day on September 12. If you haven't heard about it, hop on over to Jimbo's and get all the details. I know 'bout the only thing I'll be doin' that day is some crochet.

I have more to add about my knitting, but I'll save that for my next post.

Thanks to Deneen for letting me know how to get these pictures posted. It wasn't blogger at all, it was photobucket. I had to use the direct link thing-y.

Why Can't I Post Pictures ?

I've tried again, yesterday and today, blogger won't let me post pictures. I keep getting a message about my "html". It doesn't matter if I get the pictures from my photobucket account or my computer, the same error message comes up. I don't know why, I haven't changed anything :(

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I've been trying off and on for about three hours to post with some pictures and I can't !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess I'll try again tomorrow.

What Pet Would I Be ?

I got this from Andy.

You Would Be a Pet Cat

Independent and aloof, you don't like to be dependent on anyone. And as for other people, you can take them or leave them. You often don't care. You live your life by your own rules. And you have deep motivations that no one truly understands. Why you would make a great pet: You're not needy or greedy... unlike other four legged friends. Why you would make a bad pet: You're not exactly running down to greet people at the door What you would love about being a cat: Agility and freedom What you would hate about being a cat: Being treated like a dog by clueless humans

What Kind of Pet Would You Be?

Lookie What I Made !!!

Two weeks ago tomorrow my brother, sister and I took a glass paperweight making class. It was held at the Pittsbugh Glass Center in conjunction with Chihuly at Phipps. We met at Phipps at 9AM for a tour, this was the third time we've been there while the Chihuly works are there. If you get a chance, go see his work, it's incredible ! And of course it all looks just as if it belongs, like the glass and plants have been there forever. Anyway, after the tour which ended around 10:30, we drove to Pittsburgh Glass Center, eating our lunch on the way. Our class started at 11:30 and we were excited, the three of us were like little kids ! Our class consisted of only 8 people total and with the exception of a mother and son the others were there alone. We had 2 instructors and we were all ready to make some glass, only one person complained about the heat. Duh, we're going to be working with molten glass(2000*F), did she think it was going to be cold.
After a brief description of what we were going to do and some safety tips, Brian, one of our instructors made a paperweight, to show us the process. Of course he made it look easy peasy and by the way he looked as if he was maybe 18 and Stephanie, the other instructor maybe 21, talented kids.
So now we're ready to start, each of them took one person, so two of us at a time were making paperweights. My brother was the first of the three of us to make his paperweight, so of course I watched very closely. Then it was my turn, Brian "gathered" the molten glass for me and handed me the gathering rod, with the molten glass on the end of it. You have to keep turning the rod or the glass will fall off, so I'm turning the rod and trying to put it in a metal bowl filled with colored glass chips at the same time. Not easy, but fun, just the same. There were eight different metal bowls with eight different colors of glass to choose from, we were to use only three colors. From there, we had to go to the "glory hole", to melt the just added glass pieces, all the while turning the orange glowing hunk of molten glass. Once the pieces have melted, I sat down at the bench thingy(can't remember the name) and started to create my own one of a kind paperweight. I took my tweezers (huge tweezers) and started to pull and twist the molten glass, while Brian kept the rod turning. The glass begins to cool very quickly, so you don't really have too much time to play. Once it had cooled to the point of not being able to manipulate, Brian went back and added some more molten glass, so we could begin to shape and round the paperweight. To do this you use a "block" which looks like a wooden soup ladle with a notch on one side, the block soaks in water all of the time, but it still begins to smoke rather quickly. As Brian turned the rod, I had to keep the block on the paperweight in order to make it round. This is where you really, really feel the heat on your arm, and also where you need some one to hold a wooden shield under your arm. The shield looks like wooden paddle that was used in schools, back in "the good old days"
At this point the paperweight is almost done and you still really don't know what it's going to look like because it's still so hot, that the center is orange. You can somewhat see the design, but not much. So you take the rod with the almost molten glass to another table, hold it upside down over a fireproof bunch of rags and hit the rod with a little bat and the paperweight falls off. Then Brian used a torch to heat up the bottom so it's orange hot again and I took a metal paddle and placed it on the bottom to flatten it.
All done, but it's much too hot to take home and besides that it can't just sit and cool, it has to be cooled in an annealer. This cools slowly so as not to crack the glass.
So the following Tuesday (they are closed mondays), Ralph and I went to pick up all of the paperweights.

And this is my final product

It's sitting on a light that I got at Ikea for a paperweight that I already had

I think it looks sooo cool !! And I made it !!!

And because our class was small, we were all able to make a second paperweight. I made this one for Ralph.

Isn't it neat....................

All 6 of the paperweights turned out really nice. And the three of us are considering taking another one day workshop to make something else. We're not sure if we want to try lampwork or maybe blowing next.

If you ever get the opportunity to work with glass, take it, I know you'll enjoy it.

Not So Local LYS

I have a wedding to go to in late September and while I don't know what I'm wearing, I do know that I want to have a shawl or stole that I've made myself. So I went on a search for a pattern that I liked, first I perused my collection of books and magazines and of course nothing "struck my fancy". My search continued online, first I checked the free patterns, still nothing, okay now on to ones to buy. Aha !! I found two that I liked, one is this shawl and the other is this capelet .

After buying both patterns, my quest begins to find the proper yarn. I really do enjoy going to my LYS, to pet and feel the yarn, much better deals are usually found online. So I begin my search for the shawl yarn first, it calls for GGH Soft Kid, I find it a few places, so now I search for the best price. Which led me to Spirit Work, not only did they have it, it was on sale ! I placed my order a bit tenatively as I always do when I'm buying something for the first time from an online retailer.

Let me tell you what unbelievably fast and friendly service I got ! A confirmation email came it at 1:54 PM that my order was received and another email at 2:13 PM that my order had shipped. The order arrived yesterday, and look at how nicely it was packaged.

This what I saw when I opened the box, a hand written envelope, cute tissue paper and my yarn in a plastic bag all tied up with pretty pink ribbon.
Inside the envelope was a card, with a personal thank you written inside and at the bottom of the yarn bag is a small black box of something I didn't order.

It's a tape measure with the store logo and web site on it.

This is the very first time that when I've received my yarn in the mail that it actually seemed as if I purchased it at my LYS.

Needless to say, I've bookmarked Spirt Work and I'll be checking back when I'm ready to get some more yarn.

All Dressed Up and No Place to Go

We had a water leak in out basement yesterday, most likely it's been there longer, we discovered it yesterday. The ceiling in the basement was dripping on the floor, and it's a finished ceiling, as in it's plaster not ceiling tiles. So that means we had to hammer the ceiling out in order to find the leak. The house was built in the "good ole days" of 1957, back when asbestos and other lovely things were okay to use. Not wanting to breathe any of this or get it on me, I "suited up" for the task.

Don't ask me why my right eye looks crossed, it must have been the way I was looking at the mirror. (ralph wouldn't take my picture, so i did the best i could) I'm wearing my workin' in the yard shirt that's about 10 sizes to big, but it keeps stuff off of me. Anywho the leak wasn't that bad, just a pipe that had been capped off years ago had a pin hole. A call to my wonderful BIL and it's fixed !

I forgot to post this picture earlier in the week, I did this over the weekend. This is from Amazing Lace Crochet ,the Anisette Vest done in Cascade Rio. It looks much better on than it does hanging on the door.

Now back to some laundry...........

Oops, it's the Abydos Vest ! Thanks Deneen.........

This and That

After reading one of Deneen's posts, I thought, what the heck, let's see if I can get a Senseo too. It worked ! I got mine almost a week ago now. Yep, no gimmick, just the $15 postage. I found decaf pods at my local grocery store(yes!), it really does make good coffee. Thanks Deneen !

I've been crocheting too, working on a tapestry crochet bag. It's going to take a while to complete, using 3/2 pearl cotton and a size one steel crochet hook, all single crochet. It's one of the patterns in this book, look in the second row, second one over and you'll see what I'm attempting to make. I really like the way Carol Ventura writes her books, no guessing at all. Everything is written out and counted out for you, even though the charts are included. She even gives you some history of the craft.

I'm also crocheting a felted Entrelac Bag, it's from Webs. It's not done the way other entrelac crochet is, they've made it much easier. Pictures to follow, I'm using differnt brands of wool, dangerous for felting, but it's using up my stash.

My second Tote Exchange partner got her bag, so it's safe for me to show you what it ended up like
The pattern called for a zipper, but I'm not a good "zipper-putter-inner". So I opted for a button in the middle and two magnetic snaps, one by each handle.

The pattern came from Interweave Crochet , the Larger - Than - Life Bag done in Sugar 'n Cream. I really hope that she likes it !

I'm also waiting for my first tomato to finish ripening, it should be ready in another day or so.

MUST SEE video by a 15 year old girl

Just wanted to share this, my brother emailed it to me earlier today.

The following is the hottest thing on the internet and on Fox News today.
Lizzie Palmer, who put this YouTube program together, is 15 yearsold.
There have been over 3,000,000 hits as of this morning.
In case you missed it, here it is
http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay=1

More Tote Exchange Goodies

Earlier this week I got my tote exchange bag from Deneen and I'm finally posting pictures ! Deneen really spoiled me, below is almost everything I got, missing is a ball of #8 Cannon thread she got from Mimi, which I'm trying out. The bag is really beautiful, it's fulled or felted, which ever term you prefer. She also sent a vintage booklet of potholders and some really nice roaving, and a couple of small hand creams.

Here's a better picture of just the tote

And the lining that she stressed over. I think it looks good.

And last but not least a close up of the cool button she chose for the closure.

Thank you sooo much Deneen. And I promise both you and Cat to finish lining your totes and to get them out.

Exchange Tote Bag

I just love getting packages in the mail ! Especially when they have really nice stuff, like this tote bag. It was from Cat, one of my partners in the Tote Bag Exchange at Crochet Depot She said she'd never made a tote before and didn't even use a pattern ! It's lined really nicely

There is even a pocket on the outside

And because she's so sweet and remebered that I like vintage pattern books, she also sent me this
I've only glanced through the book, but I saw a few things I'd like to make.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Cat !

And one more picture, just because it's the first day of summer. I cut these this morning, the daisies are growing wild in part of my yarn and the fern is one that I planted a couple of years ago.

Happy Summer !

I Know I Should Have Been Crocheting But..............

I really wanted a purse and I really like the jeans purses I've been seeing and I really wanted to take just a tiny break from crocheting and I finally found a pattern for what I wanted to make. So after finding this pattern on ebay yesterday, here is what I ended up with. What once was my most favorite pair of Levi's, that no longer fit, is now this





And lookie, it's lined and everything, as per the pattern.

I had the lining fabric on hand, the only thing that I didn't have was interfacing, but that was no biggie. It was really easy to put together, the pattern was written really well. I don't do much "pattern" sewing, in fact I haven't done much sewing (quilting) in quite some time, but I has this little baby done in a little over 2 hours. That even includes the time it took me to dig out the lining fabric. I used the purse today and I love it !

We had a great time at Phipps Conservatory too. I always enjoy it there, but add in the beautiful Chihuly glass and it was awe inspiring. More than once as we rounded a corner, we all "ooed and awed", as if we were watching fireworks, the glass is truly gorgeous !

The puppet was a hit, but the little stinker didn't let on that he liked it until we were leaving. As most 3 year olds, little Johnny was being somewhat shy, because he doesn't know me that well. So off and on I had the puppet talking to him, but the shy-ness was still winning out. But as we were leaving I took "Woofy" off of my hand and said, he's yours if you want to take him home. Well, "Woofy" was snatched out of my hand and before you could blink, little Johnny had the puppet on his hand.

On the way home I stopped and got what I needed for my second totebag, so tonight I'm getting my butt in gear to finish the first tote.

What I've Been Up To

I've been busy crocheting, I have two tote bags to make for the exchange over at Crochet Depot. I have the first one about half way done and I had a change of plans for the second one, so now I need to get some more yarn. I can't post pictures here because I don't want either partner to see what they are going to get.

I also made another puppet for my great nephew. Meet Woofy, he's made from a kit I got awhile ago at my LYS. It's also available online at Judykits

Woofy's pattern was written very well, super easy to follow. Here's a couple more shots of him.

I'll be giving Woofy to my nephew tomorrow, my brother is babysitting and my sister and I will be meeting them at Phipps Conservatory
in the morning. Since my nephew doesn't know us that well, I thought a puppet was a good way to sort of break the ice.


Oh, I also ordered some roving to finish my needle felted bear, the darker roving didn't look right.

That's about it for now, sorry about the funky font stuff. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

Thanks for stopping by !

It's Not As If a Needed Another Craft

Back in February I went to the 4th Annual Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival and among other things I bought a needle felting kit. I hadn't forgotten about it, I just hadn't pulled it out yet. Well after seeing this post from Ladylinoleum over at Monster Crochet about a month ago, there has been this little voice in my head, nagging me to give the felting a try. So I dragged out the stuff that I bought and here is what I have so far.

Not nearly as cool has her eyeballs, but this little guy was just sceaming out to me.

Every bear should have a bit of a belly, right.....................

And then I hit a snag...................this being my first attempt at needle felting, which I absolutely LOVE, I ran out of the camel colored roving before my little guy could get arms and legs. Now I'm in a quandry, do I make them a darker color underneath ? I have a redish brown roving, I'm planning on putting the gray over top of it anyway. I have to give it some thought.

Needle felting is very time consuming, but I'm finding also very easy, only a few stabbed fingers.

I also whipped up this TP cover from another vintage pattern from ebay.

I apologize for the crappy pictures, I'm still getting used to the camera software.

Now on to decide how I want to finish my bear.

Do You Remember ?

Do you remember this post ? Ever since then I've been on a sort of quest for vintage patterns. I thought I'd share a few photos of some of the patterns I've collected so far. The following pictures are taken from three different magazines. Woman's Day Granny Squares Number 1 with a publishing date of 1973. Woman's Day Granny Squares Number 4 with a publishing date of 1976. And last but not least McCall's Step by Step Crochet Lesson for Beginners with a publishing date of 1970.

Are you ready...........................

First is this lovey Baroque Bedspread

Next is the beautiful Cuffed cardigan

The ever stylish Tyrol Hat ( the little girl looks a bit pissed off to me)

The one of a kind Harlequin Poncho

Maybe the Millefleurs Maxi-skirt is for you

Maxi not your style, then you'll love the Mosaic Skirt, complete with fringe

Need an afghan .............. how about the unique Mosaic Afghan



Every thing old is new again the Patchwork Table cloth has granny squares paired with gingham.


Feeling a bit romantic............how about the Romantic Victorian Vest

These last two I've included mainly for the model. I can't be positive, but this sure looks like Susan Dey, styling in her Bubble-Stitch Dress.

Another look at her, this time looking toasty warm in her Striped Scarf and Hat Set

So there you have it a short trip back to the good old days. Ahhh, the '70's....................

In all fairness to the designers, the color choices then were really awful ! Just what on earth were we thinking then !?!

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane of crochet.

I Really Do Crochet !

I thought I'd post some pictures to prove that I really do crochet ! I have more to post but I'm not too good with the camera software on the laptop. With our old desktop, I just used the scanner/printer to edit the pictures. I can't do that now and I've been messing around for about an hour with the camera software.
Okay, I've had enough for one afternoon, but I did manage to get three photos from the camera to photobucket to blogger !! So consider me a happy camper.

Here's what I ended up with.

Meet Al E. Gator, he's made using a vintage puppet pattern I purchased on ebay, with only minor modifications. The original had both upper and lower teeth and no tongue. I made Al for my great nephew as part of his birthday gift for birthday #3.

Just another view of Al.


I also made another star throw, this one is for another nephew. He got a fantastic job in New York City at the beginning of the year and is finally moving into his own apartment. I'll post more about the details next time.

I've got to run, things to do ! Have a great weekend !

Just Grin and Bear It

Well, it seems that Nationwide won out in the end. After dicussing the savings with Ralph and talking to a few people, that knew people that have Geico, we decided to stay with a "better" company. Why ? Well even though we were getting our information second and possibly even third hand, we were told that yes, Geico will honor their claims. However, they aren't too speedy about this. So pen in hand, I forced myself to write the check to Nationwide, as I could see skeins and skeins of yarn just waiting to be purchased with the extra money I could have had. Oh well !That's life I guess, I'm just happy that I'm in spot in my life where I had to make that choice. There was a time where it wouldn't have even been an option, I had to go with the less expensive company and take my chances.

See ya later..................

CAR INSURANCE !!!!

Yes, it's that time of year again, the car insurance is due ! I understand the need for car insurance, but I can't help feeling really taken atvantage of when it comes to the cost. Currently we have Nationwide as our carrier and have for about 6 years. We have 3 vehicles, the newest is a 2003, then we have a 2001 and a 1997, no accidents or tickets at all and of course the premium has gone up. Why, you may ask, well, when I called my agency I was told by a very sweet woman that as the cost of car repairs increase so do the premiums. Okay, so we as consumers get screwed again, I thanked her and hung up the phone.



Well lo and behold in my mail today is a letter from Geico (don't cha love their little gecko) and it says that I can get a quote online. Well this is all me, I don't have to talk to anyone and I can see how much I'll save. It was really easy, especially since I have all of my current info on the renewal stuff that Nationwide sent out. It took me maybe 10 minutes to fill out the info on the Geico site and just a couple of minutes for their quote to pop up. And are you ready for this..............are ya sitting down..................Geico's rate is almost $400.00 a year cheaper ! Now I don't know about you, but to me $400.00 is a nice chunk of change, just think of all the yarn you could buy ! But here's my dilemma, no one I know has Geico insurance, so I don't know if they are really any good. So is it worth $400.00 a year if they suck as an insurance company ? I know that they've been around for a while, but so have lots of other "rip off" companies. Hmmmmmm, I'll have to discuss this with Ralph when he gets home.



Oh and on a complete different note, did ya see who commented on my last post ? Why it was Linoleum Lady herself !! Isn't that cool !?!



Until tomorrow............

Where does time go ?

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I've blogged ! And I only have a few minutes now.

I haven't been online a whole lot lately, our desk top died. The blue screen of death appeared about 3 weeks ago and Ralph was using my laptop. Some of the photos that I had planned to post were still on the hard drive of the old computer and no place else, so they are gone-zo. But I promise that I will have more by next week.

So anyway, have a safe Memorial Day weekend and don't forget say a thanks for our fallen heros.