I wish....

I wish....
..that just once those I love could feel the pain I have when I am hurting, so they know what I am going through. That they would have the struggle of getting out of the chair, so they know how hard it is. that they would feel the pain standing at the sink doing dishes or at the stove trying hard to get a meal on the table without crying.

..that my daughter would understand when I just cannot hurry or do something that needs done

..that my son would know just how much it means to me when he offers a hand out of the truck on days I just cannot do it alone. or that arm up the steps, or the "mom let me carry that"

..my husband knew just how much he really means to me. words never seem enough. And just how much he is appreciated, again words never seem enough.

..that i could do more of the things I used to do, like going for that walk with my husband, or the bike ride, or shopping in the mall just for the fun of going.


Honestly, No I do not wish the pain on anyone, not my family, not my friends or anyone else. But I do wish for the understanding that I am going through this, and it will not get better, only worse...that some days I just cannot...cannot shop, cannot walk, cannot get up to go look out the door...cannot.

I am thankful that it is I that am struggling though this now, and not my kids, or my husband, or friends. I am thankful that they can go shopping, bike riding, walking. I am thankful for the day that the pain is not so much, that I can go look at the yard, or go to the store, or just go for a ride in the pickup.

People always take the little things for granted...I know I used to. Remember when shopping for Christmas that there are those that would love to go, and cannot. Be thankful you can.

Because I wish......Everyone could.

Halloween bags

Well time flew once again.
seems i never have enough time anymore.
Facebook......thats what I blame. ...well it is my own fault. I got started on silly games. time consuming...and they ate my time up.
Halloween came, and went. We decorated as usual, and although it was raining the kids showed up, and loved the yard.
I handmade treat bags this year for the kids. lots of work, but I like making things for others.

Each one holds 2 kid sized treats.
and try as i might, no 2 faces turned out the same.


Been asked to crochet dishcloths for a friend to use as christmas gifts. So been working on those now. need them done soon. Mind isnt what it used to be so creating interesting patterns isnt working well. guess I resort to a pattern search.
till next time, happy crocheting!

Findings and such

Hope everyone is having a good Labor Day weekend.
Ours has been busy.
First off we decided to go looking for a Shed.
Mind you, last time we were "Just Looking" was just over a year ago when we wanted to see what prices of vehicles were, and fell in love with this:

Saw it on a Saturday, Went back on a Sunday to see it again, and Monday went in and bought it.

So for us to go "JUST LOOK" at sheds was quite funny.
We found one we really like. It matches our house exactly, color and all. It is big enough to store all Hubbys woodworking tools, the lawn mowers, tillers, other lawncare stuff and still have room left over.
Hubby is going to the bank in the morning to see if we can swing a loan.

We also decided to remove the backyard fence. It was here when we moved in almost 7 years ago. it was quite flimsy then, so decided it needed to go. We are talking about maybe putting in a new fence, in a Almond colored vinyl to match the siding on the shed and house.
We shall see.

Found a couple blogs today that are so full of fun things, patterns, recipes and such I thought I would share them with you.
http://mybestfriendcallsmemartha.blogspot.com/
and
http://foothillsofthegreatsmokymountains.blogspot.com/

Check them out when you have time.

Cutest dog

I am currently involved with a friend in a "Cutest Dog" contest.
this is not my dog, but if you wouldnt mind, please go vote for it!!
http://tinyurl.com/m68yj3

thank you!

Country Peaches

I finished this doll today. I am calling her Country Peaches.

I used the basic instructions for the Dumplin Dolls, and improvised a skirt for her.

Mystery Man Market bag

Here is the story behind this bag:

On Tuesday I took dear daughter to one of the temp agencies so she can continue her job search. I stayed in the truck crocheting while she was inside.

I am in the process of making a very bright bag from orange and a red heart yarn called mexicana. vibrant bright colors.

Anyway sitting there with the windows down, radio on and a man walks toward the truck down the sidewalk. He is scruffy looking. needs a shave, clothing a bit torn. he stops and says he likes my truck, and I tell him we do too thanks.

then he notices what I have in my hands. he asks if he can come closer to look. I had no problem with it. he came over and asked what I was crocheting. So I explained what it was. He said he really liked it. I told him I wished it was done I would have given it to him, and he said no, there is another plan for that bag, you just do not know yet what it is. he then placed his hand on the bag, closed his eyes a moment, then shook my hand, said God bless and walked away.I turned around to say goodbye and he was gone...no where to be seen.

Today I finished the bag.

Update on the bug

I found out what this is.
it is a Hummingbird Moth
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/hummingbird_moth.htm thats a website that shows it.
now we know!!

huge fruits and other happenings

I finally got emails sorted out, what a mess! Had to send everything one by one to myself from incredimail, then uninstall and reinstall incredimail.

but it is all back up and working now thankfully.

We picked one of the cantaloupe from the volunteer vine.

8 pounds 3 ounces. Yes, that's what I wrote. it is huge. here is a photo of it, and one of hubby holding it. it is almost the size of a basketball!!

This strange creature was flying around the Zinnias today. its wings were so fast, like a hummingbird, and it was about the same size as one too. At first I thought it was a Hummingbird, till i took this photo, it is no hummingbird. no idea what it is, never saw anything like it.

we have picked 35 Tomatoes from our volunteer plant. with still many many more to come. I am dehydrating them all.

Drowning in seed....

Wanted to post this photo. its taken through the greenhouse door.

we set tables up in our greenhouse, and are using it to dry seeds.

overflowing with seeds even!!

I have given away so many marigold seeds and still more coming. Need any?

we have Marigold seed, Yucca plant seeds, Zinnia, Mello and not sure yet what else i'll have by the time I am done.

Also, just a note.

I am having major email program issues. my incredimail program is a mess. My Antivirus claims it has a virus so every time i open it, it acts weird. I have checked my machine with 3 other scanners (including a professional network one) and they all show clear. Weird stuff.

But I am going through all my old emails and saving as much as it will let me.

Links I saved for things I like I am posting here:
http://www.myhq.com/public/j/a/janglesfromjo/

Until I get that all cleared up I can't do much with email.

So if you do not hear from me you know why.

Our garden

This Summer has kept me quite busy.

Last summer we built raised flower beds for the front walkway. We filled them with cut grass all summer last year, and into the fall. then left them sit uncovered all winter.

this is what they looked like at the beginning of spring.

This spring I planted a hand full of marigold seed and a few Zinnias in the longest one. They grew...and grew....and GREW!!

27 ft of flowers.

one of the smaller boxes has Love Lies Bleeding,

and the last started out with Mello in one corner and i was going to wait to see what else I wanted to put in it. then, a volunteer tomato plant showed up.

these are the Mello at the end.

We decided to let it grow to see what happened. It got HUGE. we have counted over 50 tomatoes!!

That is hubby in behind the tomato..see how big it is. ONE plant!!

about the same time the tomato showed up 3 tiny vines showed up in the flower beds, so I moved them to the end of the box that has the Tomato. we thought they were cucumber, but they are not., they are a cantaloupe!! We have lots of baby cantaloupe.

this is what they look like today

This is one of the baby cantaloupe. It is starting to get the typical ridges cantaloupe are known for.

so now you know what I am doing.

trying to crochet some too, but seem to have lost the creative ability. most days i just pick up the yarn and put it right back down again.

Anyone know?

I have some things i am needing to know an approximate selling/buying price on and canot find.

Anyone know how much this monkey set is worth?

it is just the face, hands and feet.

Shopaholic's Shopper finished

Well I finished the Shopaholic shopper bag.

original pattern called for WW yarn and an H hook.

So I used Red Heart WW yarn and an H hook and started crocheting.

The sides you work each by itself. following the instructions they seemed quite long, so I stopped before I got to the required number of rows.

I finished off all the pieces shorter than they were supposed to be in the pattern.

I started to put it together and oh no it is HUGE!! almost twice the size of the original pattern dimensions.

I was talking to a friend about it, and telling her it was big enough around after i put all the sides together to be a shirt.

I was so upset, almost in tears. I really wanted this one to be perfect and it flopped badly. But I finished it.

I Improvised handles for it, not using what the patten called for.

Here is the finished item, filled with 12, yes 12 giant rolls of paper towels!

This is hubby's hand holding one of the big rolls of towels we put in the bag.

Yes April, it will carry Toilet paper quite nicely (or laundry).

I hope you enjoy the bag.

Anniversary Fun.....NOT!!

After a beautiful lunch on the riverboat for our Anniversary last year, we decided to take the Horse drawn carriage ride downtown ...with not so good results. Part way through the ride something on the carriage breaks, and we are stuck. 2 miles away from the truck, 96 degrees outside. I am already feelign ill from the heat. Driver calls a Taxi which never showed up. Thankfully a nice couple that lived where we broke down offerd to take us back to the truck. We got our money back, and told them we would try again some other time..

well this year we decided to try it again.
Nothing could go wrong the 2nd time around could it?
Yep it sure could, and did...
Here we go...Round 2!

We left home yesterday afternoon with the intent of taking the carriage ride, something I have wanted to do since the first time I saw it.
Park at the visitor center.
Steve goes to buy the tickets for the 3:30 ride. (last ride of the day)
We walk across to the Fudge Factory for an ice cream.
the lady talked us into a sample of fudge..oh my that stuff was good!! had to buy some.
we sat on a bench outside the Visitor center eating ice cream and waiting for the ride to start.
The gentleman giving the rides told us to go ahead and board which we did.
it was a 4 seat carriage 2 persons per seat.we chose the 2nd from the back seat and wait.
While waiting we chatted with the driver about last year.
He went inside for a moment to let them know we were ready to go.
Up comes a young woman, maybe early to mid 20's asking if me they could have a ride too. I told her she had to ask inside.
She asked if we minded that they join us, her and her friends. Well of course not it was not our place to say yes or no.
there were 6 of them. the guys went inside and then came out and said that inside told them they had to make reservations.
so the driver went in to find out what was going on and told them to go ahead and buy their tickets. (What no one knew at the time was the ladies inside knew they were drunk and were trying to stop them from riding.)

Once they came out and got on the carriage you could tell they were drunk...you could smell it ..the longer the ride went the worse it got. it was nauseating.
they talked constantly, bad language and all, not shutting up. the 2 that sat behind us passed out! yep passed out cold.
the one gal kept waving and hollering at the people walking on the street. and the entire time the poor driver is trying to talk over them, trying to get them to be quiet, telling them that we really wanted to hear the history etc and it did no good. we had to hear all about shoes they bought, their version of the history of George Washington and all sorts of other, riddled with foul language the entire way.

over half way through the trip, we passed a Wine bar...the 4 still awake asked the driver to let them off. he asked about their 2 friends and was told to let them stay there.
so on we went, minus 4 of the drunks and 2 in the back still passed out.
A little farther on down the road the guy in the back wakes up, jumps off the cart and heads to a portapotty on the side of the road...
driver keeps on going.
we finish the trip, pull back up to the visitor center. one still passed out in the back. Driver helped us down and asked us to wait while he called his boss. he was quite upset about the events of the trip.
I tap the girl in the back on the hand, told her her friends all bailed out on her...she wakes long enough to get off the cart, go to a bench and pass back out.
We went into the visitors center. they were very apologetic about everything too.
They called the police on the passed out girl.
The driver came back in, gave us our money back and invited us back ..says 3rd time has to be a charm right?
He said that is not how that carriage operates and he wished he would have realized just how drunk they were or he would never have taken them.

All I wanted was a nice Carriage ride to listen to the history of the town, take a few pictures and spend a nice afternoon with hubby.
It is not what we got.
Again.......

Shopaholic's Shopper

I started this Shopaholic's shopper bag this afternoon.
http://crochetkitten.com/files/Shopaholic_s_Shopper.pdf
it is so easy to do! if you havent tried it, you should.
I think the pattern would make a good afghan too

My Yardsale deal of the day!

Today hubby and I went to yardsales for the first time in a long time.
I really don't need anything but it is fun to go look.
and look we did.....
and found too...
at one of the sales we went to the lady had binders put out on a table, and they were full of crochet patterns. Fibre Craft, Annies Attic, and others.
All for crochet Dolls.
over 140 patterns in 3 binders.
and one large box of sets of doll heads and hands, full body craft dolls and much more.
And I bought the entire thing for $10, patterns and the box.
I think I got a great deal!
in going through them, some are duplicated, and some I already had, so I will probably do some trading or maybe sell the ones I do not need.
I do not have a photo yet, will try to take one tomorrow.

Newest bag from recycled yarn

This is the newest bag made from the red, white and blue recycled yarn. It looks lots bigger than the last one but infact is pretty close to the same size.

Stitch used in main bag is Triangle stitch from the perpetual calendar 365 Crochet Stitches a Year.

it is an easy stitch to make. below is closer up detail of the stitches.

Rain, Work, and Wonder

Haven't been doing much lately. So tired of the rain, seems like it has rained for weeks. raining yet again today making it a damp and dreary day.
I've been working on a new market bag, using the red, white and blue recycled yarn again and a stitch called a Triangle Stitch. it is working out well, although ended up being larger than i planned on it being. Just have the carry handles to finish then will photograph it and post the pictures.

It amazes me how much yarn i have accumulated over the 6 years hubby and I have been in this house. boxes, bins, totes and bags full.
I have even considered sorting out a bunch and freecycle it, as i feel I have too much around.
I have been sorting things in my kitchen, clearing out and downsizing, freecycle what I no longer want. Feels good to be able to actually see the counter tops now. The kids keep asking my get rid of this or that since it is used. Well it is used maybe once a month, why keep something around that is not used often enough to make it a useful to have item.
silly to me.

What I did with:

Here is what I ended up with using the red, white and blue recycled yarn.

not the prettiest bag, but it is useable. holds quite a bit.

As you can tell I just used the yarn as it came, not worrying about where it started and ended.

I have enough of this yarn for 2 or 3 more of these bags too I think.

Meeting a friend

Ever met someone you have known a long time, for the first time?
I have known Bren for what seems like forever. She is close to me like a sister, we know so much about each other. We met online, and emailed a lot, helped each other out as we could with things. I help her run her yahoo group, and she helped me with mine till it was no longer a busy site.
We call each other, email, about our families, our lives, our shared love of crochet, and our furbabies.
But we had never met.....Until...
On the way home from Toledo we were going though Columbus. So I called my daughter, and had her look up Bren's number for me. And I called. SURPRISE...we are coming through town, would you want to really honestly meet for real in person TONIGHT??!!
she was so excited, and so was I. We arranged to meet at a restaurant not far from where she lives, and have dinner together.
I was in the bathroom when she came in (Go figure) but I knew her the moment I came out. I would know that lady anywhere.
After much hugging and tears we sat down to enjoy a lovely dinner. looking over the menu, I kept going back to the same entree. I decided on what I was having and when I asked her she had decided the same thing, exactly the same! Her hubby and mine laughed, and said we are too much alike.
We chatted through dinner, then they invited us to Dessert at a cute little ice cream shop down the street. again we ordered the same thing. it was so fun.
We enjoyed the evening, and it was so hard to say goodbye..
My one regret is no photo. I forgot to grab the camera till they were pulling away!

What can you do with:

If you were given recycled yarn that at one time was in a granny square afghan of 6 inch squares, what could you do with it?
the colors are red, white and blue, and each granny was started with a different center color (one red, one white one blue) and each one went in sequence of red/white/blue twice in each square, making the yarn pieces very irregular lengths. it is acrylic yarn.
You cannot combine all the red together, all the white and all the blue.
you must use it as it came off the afghan.
So what could you make?
please be specific on what you would make, stitches used etc.
you might win something fun for your reply

Been gone

We've just returned home from an emergency trip to Toledo Ohio.

May 11th Hubbies mom choked on food. she had the good sense to call 911, and while on the phone to them she passed out. The EMT say by the time they got there she was not breating and unresponsive. they do not know how long she was without air. The one hospital they took her to did not give much hope. She was transfered to Toledo Hospital, where they are now doing all they can.
she choked on a large piece of meat, managing to get food into her lungs, and has aspiration pneumonia because of it. they also told us they think but are not sure the original (no-hope) hospital or emts scraped her windpipe below the voicebox while trying to insert breathing tubes or something, which is now causing her airway to swell shut.
She is on a respirator, and will be till the swelling goes down.
We were there till today (Sunday)
We decided to come on home. There were too many people in my opinon at the hospital. 4 of her kids, her brothers and sister and their families and me. and all but hubby and i were in that room constantly, not giving her rest she needed. We went in for less than 5 minutes twice a day, and tried not to bother her, but let her rest.
We are available to hospital staff and family by phone if there are any changes.

Anyway, going to finish checking email, then clean out the truck, never fails it is always a mess after a road trip.
Will write tomorrow about meeting a longtime friend for the first time!

To post or not to post

It has been suggested I keep this blog strictly craft related, yet others I ask say "why not post what you want it is your blog after all".
So what should I do, Post or not.
If i keep it all craft related then I have long gaps (like now) where nothing is posted, if I post other things, then I can post more regularly. I crochet often, but for the last month I have finished nothing, so really nothing to say about it.
dilemma I do not know how to solve.

Hooks and Needles and other sundry stuff

I was talking with a friend and conversation got around to Crafts.

Crochet and knit in particular. And how much we loved to do one or the other.

we then got to comparing hooks and needles and other things used in the crafts.

And exchanged photos of our "stash" of hooks and needles.

here is mine:
Hooks

And Needles and other stuff

till I put them all out here, I had no clue how many hooks I really have.

Time to weed out a bunch!!

My loss...Other's gain

well with the loss of my Blazer comes a gain for others.

In it i had stored a bunch of craft stuff. Artificial flowers, ribbons, wood items, and much much more.

and all of it now needs to be given away.

Some of the ladies on a group I am in are getting the ribbons, I am so glad they can use them. Buttons too.

Floral and wood stuff I am not sure what to do with yet.

Anther dilema I have is now I have $100 in my pocket. What shall I do with it?

I dont need yarn,
I dont need hooks,
I dont need books
and it wont help my looks...

So what shall I do with it?

Letting go hurts...Pt2

Well she is gone. All I have left are the memories and a few pictures.

they came and hooked chains to her and pulled her onto a flatbed towtruck and took her away.

Daughter says "its just a car" guess daughter doesnt remeber the hurt when her dad left all her prized collection of dolls when he moved. I never said "its just a doll" because it is never "just a...."

its your heart, or a bit of it anyway.

I'll be fine...the hurt will go, and the memories will remain. but for today, I am in tears

Letting go hurts

Letting go of the past in many ways hurts as I am sure most folks know.
This weekend is a letting go weekend for me.
When I divorced my first husband, I had almost nothing to my name. I worked cleaning restaruants 7 days a week to buy an S10 Blazer.

She ran me well. I called her my Freedom Truck for the longest time. When I was driving it I felt free. it was the first major thing I bought that was just mine.

Then I met Steve, and moved to be with him. I brought my Blazer with me.

I made the mistake shortly after we married to take it a place to get the oil change I had not been to before, and they messed my truck up. It had to be parked. that was in 2003.

Now, is 2009, it has sat unmoved all this time. I love that truck, and it is heartbreaking but I have to give it up. It isnt doing me or anyone else any good sitting all covered up.

Yesterday a guy we know came by. Said he knew of someone that would take her for scrapping out (1986 vehicles are mostly steel). My heart fell. Scrap her? take her apart into pieces and ruin her? no. I can't.

Then as luck would have it I met a guy that runs a Auto repair shop. I took one of our other vehicles there yesterday and while waiting got to talking to this guy. Talk got around to vehicles we own and I told him about the blazer. He wants her! He wants to fix her up, and run her as she was meant to be run.

She...lol...yeah she is my baby.

He wants to take her out into the fields and run her over the hills and through the puddles, just as i did when I drove her.

What more can I ask..a guy that wants to love her and play like I did. Free to get filthy in the mud and enjoy the 4x4 fun she was meant to do.

So, this weekend I am cleaning her out, and letting her go.

My heart is breaking but at the same time glad someone else will take care of her and love her as I do.

New bag to show

In a group I belong to, they are doing a birthday ROAK. members got to post 5 birthday wishes, and others could fill those wishes if they wanted to. How fun!
One of the ladies posted they wanted a grocery bag.
Since I make Market Bags, I thought I would make her one.

But....it is done, and I am not real happy with it. I had no pattern (as usual) only a stitch I liked from a website. I improvised the rest of the bag.

So I am thinking I will give her a choice of two. The above one is the new one. and the one below is the other.

The blue has 2 shorter straps, the brown has one longer shoulder style strap.

Both bags pictured here have plastic grocery bags in them for stuffing to show details.

Let me know what you think.

Job's Tears

Thank you for your question Paulissa.

Job's tears plants look like cornstalks in a way only shorter.

Here is Wilkipedia link to what they are and a photo of the plant.

This is a photo of some of the ones I have. right now they are mostly gray in color, but they can be dyed with tea or coffee to a rich pretty brown.

This is how big a typical Tear is. Naturally they have a hole in the bottom and the plant comes out the top of the seed. You run a needle through them to clean them out to use as beads.

Hope this helps a little!!

It's Back (and other stuff)

My camera is back! I am thrilled. They went beyond what i thought they would do.

it is still my camera, the one I sent in, but they replaced the lense which had a scratch of some sort in it, as well as fixing the original problem. The photos are so nice!

This cardinal was on my back porch rail. Photo was taken today, through a glass door and glass storm door too. neither glass was the cleanest (I havent washed windows since fall) but the photo turned out well.


Yes I am a happy person!!





Other stuff: I have sat in this chair sorting coupons all day long. I have sorted till I cant see the little numbers and am not done yet lol. thats why I am posting, taking a break from tiny numbers.


Want to see what I am doing?

The bin tipped on it's side is the unsorted ones. The rest are sorted by month, and I have lots more to do! each month has to be sorted by day, then by barcode matching them all up, then count them and scan them in. Lots of work. Maybe Sunday the group ladies will be available to help, I hope. In the meantime I keep working.

I am also crocheting another market bag, and a couple other surprises. will post more about them later!

Camera Update

I received an email today from Canon. My camera is on it's way back to me!! I am so excited!! I sure miss my camera. Does that seem silly? maybe to some. But I love taking photos of things that catch my eye, like the big bright red Cardinal that was at the birdfeeder this morning. I reach for the camera, and it is not here.

It will be soon!!

New project finished

I finished the lilly bag yesterday (3-7-09).

it was quite easy.

I decided to give this one to my daughter and make another.


I have met a fantastic group of ladies in a yahoo group. they are so kind, considerate, and they draw in newcomers like they always belonged there. For the first time in a long time I really feel like I belong.
They are much like me, yet so different and so fun. They have fun in the group, yet can at times it seem be serious too. they discuss crochet, and family, and so much more!
I am glad I found them. and wish I would have long ago.

Newest project

I do not normally folllow a pattern for my market bags. I prefer to just improvise.

But tonight I started this one:
www.sugarncream.com/pattern.php?PID=133

So far it is quite easy to do.
I chose a darker green colored yarn, I think (Not sure) that it is Red Heart but not 100% sure on that.
Will post updates as i go along with it.
Unfortunatly I cannot post photos yet, but will when I get the camera back!!

My Camera (good news!)

Today in searching the Canon website for information on my camera, we discovered something interesting. The problem with my camera is a known issue and they will pay for it to be shipped to them, fix it and send it back to me, all for nothing! I am one happy camper, my camera will be fixed!!

I am thrilled!! A photo junkie going through withdrawls. I keep reaching for the camera to take a photo and realize it isnt working..but now I can send it in and have it fixed!

Doing the happy dance!!!

Sunday...Snow Day

its Snowing, oh fun...NOT. Now dont get me wrong. I love the snow. I am just not in the mood for it today is all.

My Job's Tears came yesterday, and with it a flood of memories and emotions. Many years ago I spent summers at my grandmothers home. While there we made necklaces and many other things out of Job's Tears. Among other things. But all these years those Job's tears memories have stayed with me. And Until now I didnt know where to find any (grandmother passed away almost 10 years ago so her plants are long gone).

So later int he spring, when it is safe to plant, I will plant a few Tears...and probably some real ones along with the seeds. I want to pass those memories along to my daughter.

Crochet; this got put on temporary hold. I am so far behind working on coupons. Some days i wonder if i will ever be fully caught back up, or even why I do them in the first place. But I know why...it is to help others save money. and that is important to me. helping others.

If everyone in the world would do one thing per day to help someone else, this world would be a much better place.

Thursday

Sun is shining, wind is blowing..and today I am feeling a little better.

Able to get a load of laundry done today...and working on coupons.

Later today will pick yarn and a hook and start another market bag.

other than that, not getting much done.

Ever get the blahs?

The last couple days I have had the blahs. the "feeling tired, worn out and in the dumps" blah. Tried crocheting, didn't work well. tried working on the "learn to knit" failed badly.

Been making crochet dishcloths, Do not know why, have a mountain of them already done. Guess it is because they are easy to do and fast.

My home is full. overflowing full. Son and his wife living here, and now Daughter has come back from her dad's. My stress levels are through the roof and so is blood pressure. the house is not meant for 5. crowded.

Have been thinking of making up market bags to sell. Everyone that sees them asks where I bought them and seemed quite surprised that I make them. I do not use patterns, just whatever stitch catches my fancy. things to think about for sure.

In the meantime I am still winding yarn into cakes. I will never get done. ever!

On a side note, I am wondering how long I will keep up this blog thing. Have told a few about it, but no one comes to visit it. makes me wonder if anyone really cares.

Broken Hearted

Day before yesterday I took photos of that market bag and wondered why they didnt turn out well.
Well, Today I know why.
My Camera is messed up. Seems the lense is stuck wide open and nothing I do fixes it.

Cant afford to fix it. Can't afford to replace it.

I am a photo junkie! what will I do!!

Newest market bag

I have made abother market bag. My son calls it Chocolate Cake with Icing.

Photo is not the best, will try to get another soon. Bag is worked in chocolate brown with off white top and handle.

Amazing...

truly amazing

that's all I can say................................
about how much JUNK I collect!

first off, son needed to use the closet in their room....the closet that WAS my craft closet...well remove it all, sort sort, holy cow where did THAT come from, get rid of, give away this and that and OMG what is that!

..And off to storage unit with a bunch of crafty stuff.
and then.

External hard drive. 80 gig. Full.

Went to open photos folder to find a photo of bears I make..cannot open, folder corrupt WHAT!!!!!!!!!! Oh no, that's 5 years worth of photos!Long and short, figure out a fix, get the files backed up to another drive and to online storage place. Whew, thank heavens.

HMMMMMM What on earth is all the rest of this...
ohhh Paintshop Pro tubes and stuff. LOTS ....OHHHHHH recipes! LOTS!! hmmm old programing, nope trash. lots of Incredimail letters......unnamed word documents, text documents (what was I thinking!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!)
Dear sweet hubby bought me a new external drive for Valentines. 500gig.such a small pretty sleek black SMALL box...start moving stuff to it, since 80 gig being a pain. move move...delete don't need that move move delete.
Amazing what you collect.

yarn cakes

Hubby working on new swift

testing.

Hubby bought me a yarn winder and then made me a Swift. so I have been busy making Yarn Cakes!

I have stashes of yarn, lots of it. most came from other people, and most have been wound into balls. While this may me ok, I dont like balls rolling all over. So, I am making cakes. They stack neatly, and make it easy to see what yarn I have at a glance.

Very first Yarn Cake


I'll be at this a LONG time!

Feeling Blah

Yes I am feeling quite Blah today.

Betty received her box in the mail of the market bag and other items, she loved it. I am so glad.

I made a hat for my Daughter in law. The pattern is a Members Only pattern from JPFun.

She seems to like it, and her co-workers do to.

Now to decide what to make next. it isnt that i do not have yarn, because I do, and I have more patterns than anyone should have, but nothing reaches out and says "Make me".

Far behind on Coupon group stuff, and at the moment having a hard time even caring if it gets done. I know it needs done, just do not feel like working on it either. almost 5000 coupons available for members to pick from already. probably that many more to finish scanning and typing up.

Almost forgot

Sunday hubby and I went to ACMoore. I wanted to find a Yarn Winder, but they did not have one. What I did find was a mess. Yep a mess, a big tangled up mess.
They had a table full of yarns, funfur and other. and in everyone moving it around and such a big portion of it was tangled up.
We stood there and untangled quite a bit of it. Then i asked one of the folks that worked there if I could buy that entire tangled up mess cheaply. They thought I was nuts. But they sold it to me, $5.
This is what it looked like when I got it home. a big tangled mess.

Hubby and I sorted, and coaxed and rolled, till it was all untangled.

This is what all was in that tangle. The blue is 2 balls of very soft funfur type yarn, do not know what it is for sure. the smaller furry grey had a pricetag of $8 on it. Lots of new to play with!

Sick

Yuck. When you teach your children to share, I do not think it should mean illesses too.

Granted my son is no longer a child, but 24...and shared his lovely cold with me. So for the last couple days, and probably the next couple days too, I will be on the sofa. Hopefully crocheting between sleeping and freezing.

On a side note. I had to take our truck in Monday for an oil change and a repair to the window seal. They said an hour wait, so I took along a couple balls of yarn and a hook. Busy hands are not bored hands.

It was amazing how many watched me while I worked. I was starting a market bag, and I do not use patterns, I just make them up as I go. One lady kept watching me and asking questions. Of course I kept crocheting all through the chatter, got about 1/4 of the bag done before they said my truck was done.

I was surprised at how many men, as well as the ladies, were watching what I was doing.

Jo

Finished and Mailed!

I finished and mailed the gift for my friend.

I do hope she likes it.

In the package to her i also enclosed Crochet dishcloths, Crochet butterflies, a couple plastic canvas ribbon bookmarks and this:

it is an old shadow box. Full of very old crochet pieces and hooks.

I know she will treasure it.

Time Flies

Time sure does fly.
Seems like 2008 had just started , then it was over.
and I feel I got very little done.

I am learning Hairpin Lace thanks to a wonderful Lady named Judy that lives in Florida that took the time to meet with me while I was there on vacation. She showed me how to do Hairpin Lace and even gifted me a loom. I have been steadily working at it, but feel I am getting no where. But atleast I am trying!

Am working on a surprise for a dear friend of mine. She is a lovely lady, always so caring and considerate. So i wanted to do something nice for her.

Will post photos of what i make when I get it sent!

Otherwise I havent got much done. or don't feel like I have anyway. I made a pile of Crochet dishcloths and such, but thats about all.

These 3 afghans were made for a Charity auction for a little girl that is very ill.

Tickets were sold to raffle these off at $2 each (for each blanket) and each blanket had well over 100 tickets sold!!