Yarn Ball Wreath

I decided I needed a new wreath for my door. I love knitting, I love yarn, so what better decoration than a yarn ball wreath ?

I made this using styrofoam balls and some scrap yarn I had. I found an extra set of bamboo knitting needles and ta-da! My yarn ball wreath was born!

Wrap scrap yarn around styrofoam balls - glue the end when done with the ball (I used a hot glue gun)
Arrange balls in a wreath shape (just lay on the table or floor)
Insert a toothpick between the balls to help hold them together
Glue the sides of the balls together
Insert knitting needles, hang and enjoy.

Geese Ornament Prayer Vigil

I just love where I work - I have some wonderful co-workers. . . who also have a fun sense of humor.

One of them was unwrapping the ornaments to put on the tree a couple of weeks ago and found one little goose that was broken. He felt so sad for this little ornament so...

he decided the rest of the geese needed to gather around it and had the little angel ornament to lead them in a prayer vigil.

Every time I walk by this display I smile.

AARP Games - who knew?

No cracks about my age - I'm nowhere ready for AARP (not that there's anything wrong with that) but who knew that AARP's website had games?

Here is a cute one - who doesn't love kitty cats and balls of yarn?

Try it, it is kind of fun - YARNZ

Bake Cookies Day !

December 18th is Bake Cookies Day so I decided to make December 19th Eat Cookies Day at my office. I sent out a flyer asking people to bring cookies if they so desired. I ended up make 3 kinds.

First, the easy ones, which I packaged in cute little Christmas patterned Chinese Take Out boxes. I gave these to my staff, along with a card and a restaurant gift card.

White Chocolate Dipped Fortune Cookies



Next were the:

Peanut Butter Double Delight



This is a really good and simple recipe - it was good enough to win the last Pillbury Bake Off - to me it tastes like a cross between a Snickerdoodle and a Peanut Butter cookie.

1/4 cup Dry Roasted Peanuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Confectioners Powdered Sugar
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled

Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls.

Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls.

Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray; press into remaining peanut mixture. Flatten each ball to 1/2-inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough.

Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered.

Now... onto my favorite one:

Mrs. Field's Chocolate Dream Cookies



These are very good but are a bit time consuming - but oooh so worth the time. I don't believe I can post the recipe here because it is published in the Mrs. Field's Cookie Book and I assume, therefore, it is copywrited material. I love this cook book - I've made many of the cookies out of it but these are my favorite.

It is kind of like a butter cookie with a chocolate ganache filling. I do think there is some kind of misprint in the book though. It says to use a 2" round cookie cutter, which I do. It says it yields 2 1/2 dozen. I double this recipe EVERY time I make it and still only manage to get about 16 or so cookies and that is with the recipe doubled ! That means I would only get about 8 cookies with a single batch - not even a full dozen.

So I'm not sure if the size of the cookie cutter is wrong or if the yield is supposed to be 1/2 dozen instead of 2 1/2. Either way... if you ever make this - double the recipe - you'll be glad you did.

Dialogue In The Dark

So, after going back and forth about deciding if we wanted to try this, we finally decided to go to Dialogue in the Dark. This is a world-wide exhibit (over 6 million people in 25 countries) that has now made it's way to the U.S. Me and four other friends were a bit nervous about it but looking forward to it as well.

When we first arrived, we were given a cane along with a few instructions on how to use it and then lead into a room with light boxes that we sat on - slowly the boxes dimmed until we were in complete darkness (and I mean COMPLETE darkness - we could not see anything at all). We were then introduced to our guide, who is blind, as all the guides are. She instructed us to follow her voice which lead us into a room.

Right away I could feel grass beneath my feet and heard birds chirping so I knew we were in a park. She said we had to find the park bench and meet there. Using our canes, we walked around, over a little bridge, and I found a trash can, some trees, a pole and a wrought iron gate/fence and the park bench! It is pretty amazing that you knew exactly where you were by the sounds and feel of things. After everyone found the bench, she instructed us to follow her voice again and we went to another room.

Once in there, I smelled a citrus like smell and wasn't sure where we were until I started feeling around and felt a bag of rice and then a juice bottle. I realized we were in a grocery store. I found some beans, an open container of coffee beans, an open container of spiral pasta (and felt some crunching on the floor), I then could tell that I was touching a package of napkins and wrapped roll of paper towels. Someone said "oh, suckers" and put one in my hand to feel and I could tell it was a dum dum pop. Then we followed her voice again.

We were now in another room and this one was a bit more tricky (the rooms got more difficult to navigate as you progressed). I realized I still had the sucker with me but there was no way I could go put it back - oh well. This time we had steps to walk up and had to find a seat and we found were were on a boat. There was a boat captian that asked us where to go and we shouted Venice so he started the boat and you could feel it swaying (I was getting a little sea-sick feeling) and then you heard the seagulls and felt the water spray on your face a bit. Then we had to get off the boat and walk down the steps. Again following the voice of our guide.

Now this was the most intense room - very noisy - lots of traffic noises, cars honking, concrete drills, people talking - senses overload. I stepped up onto a sidewalk and found a mailbox and a garden hose and then a bicycle and some netting that felt like netting on a construction site. I found the front of a car and headlights, among other things. I eventually found a rail and a trashcan. She said the rail should be on our right side and it was when I faced one way but when I tried to walk around it, I bumped into a wall. If I went the other way, I bumped into a trash can that I couldn't go around. I heard the voices getting more and more distant and thought I was being left behind. I decided to just go under the rail.

Now we were in a bar/cafe. We could order drinks and a few ordered some soft drinks and we heard a money identifier (you put the money in it apparently and it tells you what kind of bill it is) I never saw it, of course, but just heard it. Once seated, we could ask the guide any kind of question (personal and all). She lost her sight 13 years ago as a result of not taking care of her diabetes. She had to go through 2 weeks of training and learn the path/rooms backwards and forwards, etc. She did mention that because of her diabetes, she had numbness and such in her hands. I can't imagine. One things I discovered is that I relied on my sense of touch and hearing much more, especially my sense of touch. I don't know what I would have done if I could feel around to get my bearings. She said she relies on her sense of smell the most.

It was quite an experience and I recommend it - it really does make you more aware of your senses and the kind of things that blind people must deal with.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake - Happy Birthday Sis

About 3 or 4 years ago, I decided to make my sister a gooey pumpkin butter cake for her birthday cake.

She had gooey butter cake before and loved it. Plus, she is a pumpkin freak and loves just about anything containing pumpkin - so I figured she would love it. And she did !! So every year since then, she has requested this cake for her birthday. It is pretty simple to make and it is very good.

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Cake
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon *
1 teaspoon nutmeg *
* This year I substituted the cinnamon and nutmeg with pumpkin pie spice

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350.
2) For cake: combine cake mix, egg and melted butter with mixer.
3) Pat the batter into a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking pan.
4) For filling: Beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth.
5) Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together.
6) Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg (or pumpkin pie spice) and mix well.
7) Pour pumpkin mixture over cake batter, spread evenly (save a little on the spatula to taste for yourself)
8) Bake 40 - 50 minutes. Do NOT overbake - it is a gooey butter cake after all, you want it to be a little gooey, plus it firms up a little more after it cools. I bake it exactly 40 minutes.
9) Give to sister and watch her enjoy - Happy Birthday Sis !!!

Fun On-line Game

Here is a fun game - but be forewarned - it can be addicting

Breaking Bricks II

My Awesome, Incredible Osmond-Filled Vegas Vacation

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Words cannot describe how amazing my trip to Las Vegas was. It was probably one of the greatest moments of my entire life! This will be a long posting - so you might want to get a cup of coffee before you start reading. Let's see...where to begin.

Day 1: Arrived in Vegas
09/26/08

Lynn and I arrived in Las Vegas approx 9:30 am, we had no trouble getting a shuttle and heading to the Flamingo hotel. The second we walked in, we saw images of Donny & Marie everywhere - lots of posters. Marie's Dancing with the Star's Bugle Boy and Donny's Joseph's Technicolor Dreamcoat costumes were on display in the lobby. We were soooo glad we decided to stay there. While we were standing in line to check in, we discussed that we should see if they had tickets to the show that night (we already had tickets for Saturday night). We checked in (even our card key holders had D & M on them), then we went straight to the box office to (a) pick up our tickets for Saturday that we ordered back in May and (b) see if they had tickets for Friday night. They did! Balcony tickets, but the theater is small and all seats are good so we got them.

Then we checked into our room and as soon as we got in, we looked out the window and saw a wedding taking place (we saw about 6 wedding procedings while we were there). We changed clothes, went to find the showroom and quickly lost $1 on the slot machine - we had no idea what we were doing. We then went sight-seeing - Caeser's Palace (which was right across the street where we could see the 30 foot photo of D & M on our hotel), the Bellagio (one of our favorites, walked past a new one being built, the Monte Carlo and then New York, New York (Lynn's favorite). After spending much time in these places just sight-seeing, we heading across the street to walk back up the other side of the strip. Did I mention that I found a pair of Ray Bans while walking through the Bellagio - whoo hoo - free Ray Bans!

We went into the MGM Grande (which is appropriately named because it is HUGE!), we wanted to see the MGM Lions and lucky for us they were just about to put them out for display. We watched them for a long time - they were like giant kittens, watching them play with their balls and chew toys. We were starting to wind down at this point and we needed to get back and get ready for the show so we took the monorail directly back to the Flamingo (although as much as we walked in the MGM, we probably could have walked back to the Flamingo)

Once back to our room, we dressed up and then headed down to the showroom, we were on the last row in the balcony (there are only 3 or 4 rows) and there were bar type seats (a long bar/table ran along the row in front of your seats) - the back wall had a huge collage of photos from the D & M show - it was great looking at all those pictures.

We saw a couple of empty spots on the row below us, so we moved down there just to get a bit closer and plus it was on the end so we could stand up the whole time. The show was AMAZING (but more about later) - we were walking on air afterwards. We then went to see where the meet and greet area was but it was set up so you couldn't see D & M but we mostly just wanted to see what the set up was like and how long it would take. What a great first day in Vegas !!

Day 2 - Part 1: Osmond Brother Meet & Greet
09/27/08

We got up fairly early because we were going to The Orleans to meet the Osmond Brothers. We decided to rent a car since it would cost about the same as a taxi would and the Orleans is too far to walk to from the Flamingo. We ate breakfast at Burger King and saw a huge billboard with the Osmond Brothers on it so we had to stop and get a photo of that! (The Orleans Casino/Hotel is in the background)

We got to the Meet and Greet about an hour early but that was good because a line was already forming. We meet some big-time Osmond fans, who follow them to just about everywhere they go (how do these women afford that?). One lady, who as it turned out actually lives pretty close to me, was nice enough to share with us some photos she took at the Pioneer Days concert (their last performance together as a whole family) and some photos she took of D & M at the MGM show back in summer.

The Meet & Greet was wonderful! We sat on the 3rd row and Jimmy, Jay, Merrill and Wayne were all on stage and they answered questions from the audience and interacted with us - it was very intimate and just all together wonderful. Near the end, guess who showed up? Donny !! It was great to see him with his brothers. They gave away some items from their world tour (Donny called out the winning ticket numbers and said that who ever screamed the loudest would get and extra prize.) I only took a couple of photos (without the flash so they aren't great) and we weren't supposed to have time to meet them afterward but all but Wayne hung around and Lynn held Merrill's hand and talked to him for a long time. Merrill signed our cell phones (how cool is that!). The hour and a half just flew by!

By the time the meet and greet was over, we were getting a little hungry for lunch so we saw the famous In & Out Burger and ate there - it was very crowded but the food was really good.

We decided we needed a bit of a rest before the show, so we went back to the hotel and changed into some casual clothes and hit the casinos - we started to get the hang of things and I ended up winning $22. Lynn was smart - told me to cash out while I was ahead so I did. Now that doesn't sound like big winnings - but for me and Lynn it was - we probably gambled a whole $25 or $30 the whole weekend. But you could put a couple of dollars in a penny or nickle slot and play for a really long time. The way Lynn looked at it, you got free drinks (which cost about $7 each usually, so you really were coming out ahead). I wasn't drinking but diet cokes and water cost the same as beer does out there - not fair! We had a lot of fun and about 5:30 or so, we decided to go up and get ready for the show.

Day 2 - Part 2: Donny & Marie VIP Show

Although we had seen D & M the night before and it was wonderful ! That felt like a preview of what was to come tonight. We both had planned our outfits out in advance (I had to wear purple, of course) and we were so excited we could hardly stand it !! When we got to the showroom, they kept walking us down and down and sat us right in front - our seats were literally inches from the stage - oh my gosh - we could hardly stand it. We got a great photo of the two of us just before the show.

Then the show started - were were so close them - it was UNBELIEVABLE how close we were. Donny came out and I reached my hand out and he shook it, then Lynn's - I about died right then but we sat there in AWE ! They were incredible - simple incredible. During their next number, Marie shook my hand - she is amazingly beautiful. I always knew she was but to see her up close like that - you can really see her beauty. Donny of course was stunningly handsome - he gets better looking every year-he really does!

After they did a couple of numbers together and little bit of brother/sister joking as they have always done, then Marie did her set. It was wonderful. She started off with Paper Roses, she sang "Would I Lie to You" and let me tell you - that girl is not just a little bit country - she has a LOT of rock-n-roll in her - she was rocking the roof off that place. She blew me away. Then she did several broadway tunes and sang opera - Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Requiem" which really showed more of her range - what and incredible voice she has. She was up on top of this platform and a couple of times, Lynn and I flenched at the thought of her stepping off that thing with those high heels on. She did "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and showed off more of her dancing skills.

Then Donny did his set (insert big sigh here). He started out with Soldier of Love and then talked about how Stevie Wonder influenced him so much and he sang a few Stevie songs and showed a flim clip of him and Marie on their talk show with Stevie singing "My Cherie Amor". He did a huge dance number and then sat on a stool to catch his breath, while doing so, he said "I'm getting to old for this" and Lynn shouted out "No you're not, you're wonderful!" - he looked right at her, asked her her name and she told him, then he asked where she was from and she told him and he said "I don't really care, I'm just trying to catch my breath" - of course he was kidding. He then sang a medley of his hits and finished it off with singing "The Twelfth of Never", which left me with tears in my eyes (just like the night before). Oh wow, can that man sing!!

Then Marie came out and exclaimed that at least one of them was "in shape" to which he took that as a challenge and challenged her to a dance off. They were amazing ! They were on stage with these dancers that are 25 years younger than them and they were better dancers. I don't know how they do that 5 nights a week!

They then sat on stools right in front of us - aaahh ! and sang a medley of their hits (Make the World Go Away, Morning Side of the Mountain, etc). Marie told everyone that Donny did not like one song and they started singing "Deep Purple" - he made faces when he hit the high notes - he was so funny. I love how they kid around.

Of course, they ended the show with "May Tomorrow Be A Perfect Day" and their famous "Goodnight Everybody" - even now, I get chills recalling that show - I will never, ever forget it!

Then came meeting time !!!!!! Unfortunately, Marie wasn't feeling well (Lynn mentioned earlier that she noticed her coughing a few times during the show) so she didn't we didn't get to meet her. I was really disappointed but totally understood. Donny didn't want to disappoint us and I knew he had to be extremely exhausted but he took time with us - we had a good 5 minutes each to talk to him and I finally, finally, finally got the hug I have been waiting for my whole life to get - a hug from Donny - the happiest moment of my life! I think Lynn and I floated back to our rooms.

Day 3 - Part 1: Sight-Seeing
09/28/08

We were still a little high from the concert the night before but decided to do a little more sight-seeing. We decided that since we were going back to the Orleans to see the Brothers perform later in the evening, that we'd keep the car and go see Freemont street at night after the show.

We saw lots and lots of cute little wedding chapels along the way, including the "Say I Do, Wedding Drive Thru" and we pondered which chapel Brittney Spears got married in that time.

Anyway, on the way to Freemont street, we passed the "World's Largest Gift Shop" near the Stratosphere so on the way back to our hotel, we stopped there and shopped a bit.

We drove down and parked at the Mirage because we wanted to see the White Tigers. Much to our disappointment though, it cost $15 to see them. As much as we wanted to see them, we didn't think it was worth $15 just to look at some white tigers who were probably sleeping anyway, so we walked through the Mirage and down to Treasure Island (which wasn't impressive to us), then we walked across the street to the Venetian - which WAS impressive. I could have spent most the day in there.

Then I got a wild hair and just had to find the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign so we could get a picture of it. I took one but with Lynn's camera so I don't have a copy to post yet, but I think it came out pretty good. We saw the Luxor and The Excaliber (just from the car) and then decided it was time for lunch so we saw a Del Taco and thought that sounded good since we hadn't had it in a long time because they closed them all in our part of the world. After eating there, we decided to go to a little gift shop and then to the giant 4 - story M&M store - so cool. We almost didn't do that but now glad we decided to stop in there. Lynn bought some M&Ms - purple ones of course!

We then walked down to Paris and I fell in love with that hotel too. By now it was getting later into the day and we both wanted to take showers after being in the Nevada sun all day (98 degrees!!) so we went back to the hotel and got ready for the show!

Day 3 - Part 2: Osmond Brother's Concert

We drove down to the Orleans, and the parking lot was packed. We found a good spot though and of course had to take some photos of the Orleans sign with the Brothers name and pic on it (using Lynn's camera still since the battery had long died on mine and wasn't cooperating to be recharged). We waited just a bit outside the showroom and were thrilled when we sat on the 3rd row - on the end - center of the stage !!

They all looked AWESOME - dressed in cool black jackets - some with logos. They did all their hits - Crazy Horses, Love Me For A Reason, One Bad Apple, etc. They also did some songs that I have never heard them sing live - such as I, I, I and At the Rainbow's End - it was just too AWESOME for words - it really was. At one point during the show - they came into the audience - Jay stood right in front of me and gave me a big ole' hug - I almost fainted I think. Then Lynn got a hug from him too - she almost got one from Jimmy but he got pulled away by someone else. The show was just wonderful - even more than I dreamed it would be !! I didn't want it to end. After the show, we hung around a bit (we are turning into such groupies, I tell you !!) and we got a hug from Merrill (who signed a picture for me) and Wayne (who also signed the picture for me). Jay and Jimmy must have slipped out some other way because we never saw them. I really wanted a hug from Jimmy to make my Osmond-hugged filled weekend a complete success - oh well - guess I will have to get that from him NEXT time.

After the show, we drove down to Freemont street, because I just had to see it all lit up and was set on seeing the famous Vegas Vic (I mean, I was not going to come all the way to Vegas and not see that!). I also wanted to see the 4 Queens and The Golden Nugget. I would have like to have gotten out of the car and go into some of these places but Lynn seemed tired and we had had a very full weekend and had to get up early the next day. Plus that part of town was a bit scary so we headed back to the hotel and it was about 1 am or later before we got to bed - still reeling from all the excitment from seeing the Osmond Brothers!

Day 4 - Heading Home
09/29/08

Wow, oh Wow! What an amazing and unforgettable weekend. Lynn and I just had the time of our lives - we were hugged by 4 different Osmonds - saw 3 Osmond filled shows and talked to Donny face-to-face. It was hard to leave and go back to the real world. We had a wonderful time. Lynn and I played the slot machine one last time at the airport where I quickly lost $2 and she quickly won $6 - go girl! We had a nice flight back home and took off Tuesday (09/30) to rest up. We showed off our pics with Donny when we got back the office.

What a wonderful weekend - I hear Donny and Marie may extend their show for 2 years - I think I see another trip in our future . . .

Countdown to Vegas

Counting Down ....



Click here for our countdown clock

http://www.happycountdown.com/donnyo/index.cfm

Exactly 2 weeks from today...

• I will be in Las Vegas
• I will meet the Osmond Brothers (all except Alan)
• I will watch a Donny & Marie Concert
• I will meet Donny & Marie
• I will be anticipating the Osmond Brother concert (the following day)

Recent Books

My goodness it has been a while since I've updated. I knew I would not update often (besides, it isn't like anyone checks in daily to see if I have any new and exciting things here - LOL!)

I haven't had much crochet/knitting time at all - been doing some contract work for my old company so that has taken up much of my free time these days.

But...I have managed to fit in a little bit of reading. So, here are a couple of books I recently finished.

Stand & Delivery: Adam Ant's Autobiography

I've been trying to get my hands on this book for ages. First it was in hardback but only available in the U.K. I figured it would eventually be sold in the USA, but apparently it wasn't - I could never locate it on any USA web-sites or bookstores.

It then came out in paperback. I thought, maybe now I can get it in the US. Nope, still no luck. Fortunately, I found a seller on Amazon, that had a slightly used copy for sale, so I nabbed that puppy.

It was a good read, especially for me, since I've been a fan of Adam's since the late 70s, early 80s. I knew he went through a rough time with his battles with depression and I was most interested in reading about that time in his life.

He spent the main part of the book, talking about his childhood and the forming of the Ants. I wasn't expecting him to dedicate that much of the book to his young life, since most autobiographies tend to focus on the "after I became famous" - so I found it interesting. I enjoyed reading about his family and where he grew up. I could almost envision the places he talked about, even though I have never been to England. I didn't realize he suffered from hullications, even at a very young age. It sounds like he made it through and has learned to deal with his problems. I wish he'd make a new CD - I miss his music - a lot !

Twilight

My, my, my, what can I say about this book. Yes, I am very late in getting into the Twilight craze, but I'm glad I decided to join in with other vampire lovers and read this. It is written (or so it seems) for the younger adult - late teens, early 20s perhaps but just like Harry Potter, appeals to all age groups.

I think the biggest draw of this book is Edward Cullens - he just sounds so incredibly beautiful - what a shame that he is a vampire and is about 124 years old. But never mind that fact, because he will always be eternally 17. You just love the way he protects Bella. His "family" is great to her too - I want Alice Cullens to be my friend! I love that Bella is somewhat accident prone, since I can relate to that. (Yes, I said accident prone, not clumsy). I can hardly wait for the movie. Although I don't know many of the actors chosen for the part, I think they did a great job with the casting - the actors look pretty much like I pictured them.

The actor playing Edward is Robert Pattinson, who also played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I think he is a great choice for Edward.

Now I'm going to read New Moon, the 2nd book in the Twilight Saga.

As far as the crochet/knitting front goes. I'm working on a prayer shawl for someone, who I don't know real well but know her more through another friend from church. She is a sweet person, who I have finally met IRL and I just feel compelled to make this prayer shawl for her. I pray for her everyday and have been praying over this shawl as I make it for her. I hope to have it finished by the end of next week so I can get it too her and I hope it brings her a little comfort and hope in knowing that people are praying for her.

Baby Dress

Since the knitted baby afghan didn't work out (darn those circular needles and my tension while using them), I decided to scrap that project and use the yarn for something else. This is the result.

I made a crochet Flower Baby Dress from May/June 2008 Issue of Crochet Today! I am really pleased with it.

#1 - I've never made a baby dress before
#2 - It only took about a total of 5 hours to make
#3 - It is really cute in real life.

I really hope the mom-to-be loves it. I believe she is the kind that will appreciate it. I also found some cute little daisy buttons to go on the back.

May is Over . . . Already?

Where did May go? It seemed to fly by. I realized I haven't even made a blog entry this month.

I got frustrated with the baby afghan I was knitting - the tension doesn't seem right (too loose in places). I may knit a few more rows just to see how it is coming along and if I don't like it, then I may ending up crocheting it after all.

Speaking of crochet, I'm starting to teach my friend Lynn how to crochet - we had our first lesson yesterday. I hope I can teach her - I know she can do it, no problem with that but I am NOT the best teacher in the world. I hope she doesn't get frustrated with me - I know once she gets going, she will love it!

I did finish 2 more Malabrigo squares and started another one with a cable, but I think I have done something terribly wrong - it just doesn't look like the picture. I wish I had someone to show me how to do it. I tried knittinghelp.com but can't get the video to play because my dial up at home is super S-L-O-W. I think I followed the instructions correctly, but it looks like a twisted mess on that row. I may end up frogging it. Oh well...

Knitting & Crochet A.D.D.

Seriously, what is wrong with me? I think I do have Knitting & Crochet A.D.D. I swore to myself, promised myself that I would NOT start another project until the 4 I already had going were done.

What did I do though? Yes, I started yet another project. I couldn't resist. But I feel like I have a good reason for this one - really, I do!

My friend Alison is expecting her first baby. It is something we have been praying for and God is answering those prayers. She is having a girl. I have no idea what they plan on naming her, but I keep hearing the name "Elizabeth" in my head. I guess I just want her to name the baby that.

So...I decided to knit my very first baby afghan. I have crocheted many baby afghans - so many I have lost count but have never knitted one. I really wanted to make a pink one but figured she would get lots of pink things so I decided to go with my next choice - yellow. I just love baby yellow. She is due in early August so I have to get started on it if I want to make her anything, right? Especially as slow as I knit. I could crochet her one and probably have it done in about 10-14 days but I just want to try a knitted one for a change.

The pattern seems pretty easy. It is called Pretty Fans and Feathers and is from Leisure Arts "Our Best Knit Baby Afghans".

Why oh why, do I start a new project before I finish one? It must be Knitting A.D.D. - there really is no other explanation.

Mmmm, Cake !

Okay, I have not had much time for knitting the past couple of weeks (although I'm really, really wanting to get back to my skull scarf).

Anyway, I was poking around on the internet looking for a recipe and stumbled across this.

The person that posted it said they were having a going away party for Suzanne. The boss ordered the cake from Walmart and told them to write on it "'Best Wishes, Suzanne' underneath that 'We will miss you'". This is what the cake looked like when they picked it up.




I guess they almost wrote what they were told too!!!

Humor of the Day

Stay Fly

My friend, Bonnie, who has a great sense of humor, discovered this little store which is located near her office. "Stay Fly". As if the name isn't enough, you can see that you can not only buy clothing there - you can also buy tire rims. We all know that is a big, big need. I can't tell you how many times I've been shopping for at my favorite clothing store and thought...'Oh if I could only get me some rims while I'm here, then this place would be perfect!'

What we also found quite amusing is that you can buy clothing AND apparel - at the same store! Wow! What a great concept. Now Bonnie and I always thought clothing and apparel were the same thing - guess we were a litte confused about that.

The Frito Bandito

It is funny sometimes - the things from your past that pop into your head for no reason at all...

This morning it is the Frito Bandito song...

Ai, yi, yi, yaaaa,
I am the Frito Bandito.
I like Frito's Corn Chips,
I love them I do
I want Frito's Corn Chips,
I'll get them from you.

Where in the world did that come from? Somewhere way, way back in the 1960s section of my cerebrum. Thinking of this song also took me back to the 2nd grade. All of my classmates had the Frito Bandito eraser. By golly, I wanted one of those SO BAD ! I especially wanted the yellow one for some reason. I think they came in blue, red and yellow and green.

I never got one though - I just had to sit in the classroom with envy and watch all the other 7 year olds with their little Frito Banditos sitting there on the tops of their pencils. Ai, yi, yi, yaaaa

Must have control . . .

My Catheral Rose Window Afghan pattern book from Annie's Attic arrived in the mail yesterday. This is an afghan that I have oohed and aahed over for about a year or more. The pattern was out of print so I just accepted it since I didn't have time for such a big project anyway.

Well...they recently re-released this "vintage" pattern. Not sure that 1996 should be considered "vintage" but I think I once read that with clothing, anything over 10 years old is considered "vintage" so maybe the same holds true with afghan patterns.

Let me tell you, I wanted to just to toss everything thing aside, run to my nearest all-night Walmart for 1 skein of yarn and get started right away. But then I heard the sound of screeching breaks in my mind and remembered...oh yea, you have to finish those WIPs before you can start anything else - in addition, you really want to do those WIMs that you already have bought the yarn for. So...needless to say, it will probably be a while before I allow myself to start this afghan (even though I want to start it right NOW!)

I must have control...I must have control...finish what I started first. Speaking of which, I'm making progress (slowly, but surely) on my illusion skull scarf. I only have an hour a day of knitting time, sometimes not even that.

Do you see the skull and crossbones?
















How about now?

First Completed 2008 Project

I have so many crochet and knit projects that I want to do. In the knitting/crochet world these are referred to as either a WIM or a WIP.

WIM = Works In Mind are the projects that are on your "to do" list. These are the things you probably already have the pattern for and in some cases have even bought the associated yarn to complete it. Sometimes it is just things hanging in the back of your mind.

I have several WIMs - a ribbon scarf, a purse, a baby afghan, a ballband dishcloth (well there are few dishcloths I have in mind actually) and a cross-stitch project.

WIP = Works in Progress are projects that you have actually started. I try and usually I only have one WIP at a time. But, right now I have too many going on. Until yesterday, I had a feather & fan dishcloth in progress, two scarfs, a cross stitch project, a crochet afghan and a knit afghan. The knit afghan is part of a Knit-A-Long (KAL) and basically I only knit a few squares a month and will join into one afghan at the end of the year. That will be an on-going project this year.

However, I can do something about the other ones that are started but not completed. So, other than the knit squares, I decided that it is time I finish all of my WIPs before they totally get out of control.

So, here is the first one. It is a Feather & Fan Dishcloth. It was a little scary for me at first because it is the first thing I made that wasn't your basic knit and purl - it had decreases and yarn overs but really, it wasn't that hard. I'm happy to say that I have one WIP done with 4 more to go.

Rescuing Sprite

I just finished reading Mark Levin's book "Rescuing Sprite". If you have ever loved and lost a dog, then you should read this book. It will really touch you.

Once you've had a special dog in your life and you are the only person responsible for his protection and care, you form a bond that can never be broken.

You and your dog love each other, unconditionally, and you would do anything for his happiness and well-being.

There is so much in this book that I could relate to, there were times when I was smiling and times when I was crying. I received this book as a Christmas gift and I was a little nervous about reading it (although I wanted it) because I was afraid of the emotions it would stir up.

It did stir up some bad memories, but it also stirred up some good ones too. Anyone that has ever had a dog as a member of their family will be able to relate to this book.

First Post - 02.15.08

Well, I had no idea how to create a blog and in the past, I've always wondered why people would even have one (I prefer to journal the old-fashioned way - with pen and paper). But since I've been a member of Ravelry, I've seen so many people that use blogs to post their lastest completed projects and I love browsing them, getting ideas and in general just seeing the kind of things other people are knitting or crocheting.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I will really like blogging or if I will be actually keep it up, but I figure - why not give it a try. So here it is my first post.

I decided that I should include a photo (if I'm going to try it, might as well try everything, right?) I suppose since this will primarily be a place to show my craft projects, that I should post a photo of a scarf or afghan. Well, I decided instead to show off my Red Velvet cupcakes that I made for Valentine's Day yesterday.