Murano Glass & other thoughts

So as this year quickly comes to a close I am enjoying memories of my trip to Italy this past Sept. I'm getting closer to finishing Adriana's afghan. I've got a pattern in mind that I wanted to share with everyone but just because Caron has a contest going I thought about expanding the scarf pattern into a baby afghan. Once I have the stitch count settled I think I'll work it up for January's charity challenge. (I belong to an online crochet group and we have charity challenges from Jan. through Oct. & have expanded to an unofficial Nov. cc.)
Anyway as I deal with my crocheting and my reading (currently into JoAnna Carl's Chocoholic mysteries) and attempting to stay on top of things has been fun.


We had arrived in Venice and had our time to ourselves to settle in & get ready for dinner after a wonderful dinner we had a good night before our next day ... we were told what time to meet following breakfast and we all gathered together in time to get on a boat (you either travel by water taxi's or you walk over bridges lots of stairs & lots of walking around Venice) but to get to Murano Isle you must take a boat. When we arrived our guide met us and brought us through to explain how the furnace's were dealt with before the availability of gas furnaces. How the wood was brought and stored and handled. Then he explained that the whole family was involved. When he was a child of 10 yrs his job was to ck on the furnace & make sure it was burning hot enough. We saw some piles of rejects (yes they too have items that they tried and either did not have the design work or something else caused them to reject it) so an area where there was lots of broken glass. While he was explaining things to us we were standing outside in a courtyard and there were beautiful mosaics hanging on the outside walls. This first picture was hanging inside just as we left the building to enter the courtyard. The next 4 pictures were taken outside and the last picture you see our guide.

So after this we had a great time inside another area where one of the glass masters put on a demonstration for us. More pictures to follow later this week.

Wishing you all frog free projects :)

Less than a week to a Brand New Year

Are you frantically wrapping up this year of 2008? Are you looking ahead to all the possibilities of 2009? Can you believe how fast the year flew by? Seems to me that as a child I always thought the year dragged by until finally Christmas arrived in all of it's glory. As a young adult I noticed how it seemed to speed up a bit but now (and for a while the truth be told) I believe you can blink a couple of times & have the entire year fly by... why you merely get started and before you know it spring time rolls around with all the "spring cleaning" (which I might actually do this year! LOL) As you take the few minutes to admire the flowers just beginning to bloom you'll notice that Summer arrived unfortunately Summer doesn't seem to stay as long as we want it to and it isn't always as warm as it has been in the past. Makes using the swimming pool a bit hit or miss depending on the actual warmth of the day. Just as you decide summer really did show up & might stay a while Autumn rolls on in with a bit of cooler air making using the swimming pool more of an adventure than it should be and the cooler air has you already thinking of all the landscape work that needs to be done in order to prepare the yard for winter. Don't want to be caught unprepared! Next thing you know Winter shows up with force. Colder temperatures makes clothing choices for you and you begin to dream of Christmas with all it's wonderful traditions.

For me Christmas became way too commericalized years ago. I stopped decorating. I stopped caring about all the hoopla that was associated with Christmas and began thinking only in terms of this is more about the Birth of the Savior of the World and less about what someone gives me or I give someone else. Don't get me wrong I still see the beauty of giving a gift to someone and sharing the love of God with others in this manner but I don't think every toy that makes the top ten list needs to be under the tree for the kids nor does every new gadget that comes out just in time for Christmas need to be under the tree for the teens/ or even the adults.

With our youngest son's birthday January 1st I always look forward to the beginning of the new year. His only request was that we don't do anything fancy this year ~ he'd rather rest if possible. He's always busy with something and he'd like a really low key kind of day for his birthday. And I agree with him he should have the kind of day he really wants.

Well I just rec'd a text message requesting I do something so that requires me to actually get my day underway. I'll post some pictures Monday and tell you about my visit to Murano Glass in Venice then.
Meanwhile I hope you enjoy your post Christmas bargain shopping & all your projects should be frog free so you can get more accomplished.

Merry Christmas Yay that's today!!!

Before we leave to go see Adriana open her gifts and then head over to see Kyla & Kami open theirs. I thought I would wish you all a wonderful day. A day full of love & joy. With the economy the way it is I understand many will be having a day with less gifts or perhaps with no gifts to open. But if the true meaning of this day were being celebrated then it won't matter about the gifts or no gifts what will really matter is being able to spend time with someone we love. It is more about how we treat one another with thoughtfulness, kindness and yes common courtesy. All to often we allow the holiday season (whether we celebrate Christmas or not) to be an excuse to be frazzled and exhausted and all out of sorts with our own emotions that we strike out at our loved ones and then feel like the day has been ruined. Which it can be simply because everyone gets overly tired and all we should do is take a deep breath and relax. Let everyone else off the hook for rude behavior and forgive them for being overly rushed & exhausted, forgive ourselves for being that way too and then look beyond all of that to give ourselves the chance to enjoy the time being spent together.

In spite of all the rushing around and the "pressure" building up yesterday I managed to get the laundry done, along with 6 pies before leaving to watch the girls. While there I did manage to fall asleep almost every time I worked on the afghan. Last night I had gotten the afghan to the size I had planned on making it all I needed to do was trim it and be finished. But to be honest with you I found it lacking. Yes it was the size I had planned on but I just felt it was too skinny. I wanted it larger. So I made the decision to continue working on it until it is a more acceptable size. I finished the scarf for Kyla and packed my tote bag with the afghan & extra yarn. So out of all the things needed to be done yesterday I finished all but 2. I still need to work on the afghan for Adrians until I like it's size. And I need to finish her new snuggle square. That I can probably finish today.
Tomorrow I will pull out the pictures and share with you about our visit to Murano Isle. That was so much fun!!!
For now I wish you all a very Merry Christmas & a relaxing day spent with loved ones.
(and of course frog free projects LOL)

Christmas Eve Morning....

Do you feel the pressure? Last night instead of finishing up my crochet projects I went to my son's house to deliver the ham & turkey my hubby purchased for our Christmas day meal (which my son will prepare and we will all enjoy at his house)... but once we arrived there we were invited to go with them to see the "Festival of Lights" (light display done in Albany, NY for charity) ... we've done this with them the last 2 years so this makes our third venture to "see the lights" and of course how could I say no to Kyla & Kami who both asked us to go with them???

So today's agenda includes all of the crocheting that I had planned on finishing lastnight along with the pies I planned on making for tomorrow, laundry, and now I have an idea for the Caron Naturally Baby contest ... the one I just read about which was supposed to be over but they extended the deadline so now I have until January 31, 2009 to purchase & make a baby blanket to help support Project Linus & possibly win the contest. Ummm well maybe the scarf pattern won't be available for a while. I do see potential in turning this simple scarf pattern into a larger project, say ... ummm, like a baby afghan.

Maybe I'll escape all the pressure (oh did I fail to say we have to go babysit for a part of the day and still accomplish everything listed above??) with some memories of Venice. Ahh yes I remember it well. We landed in Venice & were met at the airport, where we waited while our entire group was gathered together, with our large piece of luggage taken care of we were responsible for our carry on luggage. We walked (about 10 minutes) to the dock and caught a boat to our hotel. About 30 minutes later we arrived at our hotel ... very nice digs by the way! The only complaint is that I'm really out of shape and therefore much heavier in weight, body shape than I should be and the shower was a teeny tiny corner thing that I just (and I mean JUST) fit into and out of with a bit of care. We had the rest of the day to relax go explore as we wished until dinner when we would have an orientation meeting and then walk to a restuarant nearby. Everything was delightful. And the information was very interesting in that it was a way to get to understand most of the paper work we were sent in advance & most people read but did not really "read" ~ you know how your excitement can keep you from really processing the information you are looking at ~ like you know what they were telling you but oh did you know that? Was that in the paperwork?? Really? Oh I guess I didn't see that when I was reading it all earlier.

Anyway I loved it all and enjoyed it all and would do it all again in heartbeat. Well with a few minor adjustments of course but I'd still do it all again.

Here is a quick view of one side "street" canal of Venice & below that is a picture taken just outside the local restaurant we ate at for our first dinner in Venice as a group. The food was yummy.

I'll leave you with this as I go and prepare pies before the day gets away from me!!! Oh wait I'll throw in a wash load first then prepare pies. (Thank God they are easy pies!!) Pumpkin (the canned pumpkin where you add two ingredients mix together & bake in an unbaked pie shell and the other is a bit more time consuming but easy none the less ... Chocolate pudding pie. Cooked pudding is the only kind for me so I will be stirring a lot for about half an hour!!! But it is so worth it in the end.

Wishing you all a great day (oh rats I just remembered not a single gift is wrapped yet.... the list keeps growing!!!) and of course a very Merry Christmas tomorrow, Frog free projects too!!!

Progress update & random thoughts

Adriana's small afghan is almost done ... meaning I have a couple more color bands to work before trimming (about 3 hours work? left??) ... I like it more as it grows so I may have to revisit this pattern for some of the baby gifts I need to make.

I want to share about my trip to Italy. First off I managed to sleep on the plane on the way there which is really unusal for me. For the first time I traveled & did not suffer from jet lag. We (meaning my mom) had booked our trip through a travel agent and through their discussions it became clear that the trip my mom wanted could be provided by Gate One. Most of our fellow travelers had booked through Gate One directly online. I found our trip to be excellent from beginning to end. And yes there were the usual bumps along the way but they were not happening to me. One couple had problems with their luggage being destroyed enroute which required them to deal with replacing one large piece of luggage before we left Venice. They said that their clothes were fine just the luggage was ruined & could not be used for the rest of the trip. Then as we progressed he was fighting a cold. I felt terrible for them.

But enough about someone else's trip!!LOL

Venice was just as beautiful as I remembered. It was so nice to sit in the lobby of the hotel and look out at the water, and boats. Ahh I can almost picture myself sitting there once again. I really enjoyed everything. (I did manage to avoid the smells that can accompany living so close to all that water!!!)

Above is one view of the lobby ... those are fresh flowers in the glass vase. And below is one view looking out of the lobby.

And yes it was beautiful weather while we were there. The one thing is that it was a whirlwind of activity and exhaustion. LOL well from my way of thinking. I'm out of shape and there is no getting around that. So for me all that walking was fine as long as I didn't have to stand around too long inbetween all the moving. And more importantly as long as I was able to rest afterwards with my feet elevated. (allows me a fighting chance against the edema)

More to follow. Pictures too. I had so many to chose from it is difficult to put them all here. :)

I thought I'd spruce up the old blog page yet again trying to find what works. The first attempt at making my blog stand out got to me, the second attempt took longer to get to me but all the colors was just too busy. I'm going to give this simple straight forward look a chance & see what happens.

Again I'm looking for readers so if you're out there please let me know. Still not one comment ... I've ck'd and everyone should be able to leave comments I hope you haven't had any problems.

I'm happy to report that Kami's scarf is finished, Kyla's is underway, Adriana's snuggle square & very small afghan are both underway as well. With all the snow we've had today will be another day of cozy snuggling in my chair with my crochet projects ... need to finish the girls things before Christmas morning.!!!! The pattern I wanted for Adriana's afghan is missing in my piles so I opted for the granny ripple. Every other time I attempted to work this pattern something didn't work out correctly (my errors of course) and I never got past the first two rows. Which is strange because once you work the first two rows the pattern is established & you repeat the second row until the aghan is finished. Then you trim all around. So currently since this will be a very small afghan (about 44 length x 28 width) for a toddler bed it will be finished on time.

Again the free pattern will only be posted if I get 5 or more comments so please take a few seconds to speak up & let me know you are out there.
Wishing you all frog free projects.

Comments = pattern

So far not one person has left a comment so I guess no one wants a free scarf pattern. Or because it is so close to Christmas everyone is preparing for the holidays so they couldn't leave a quick comment.
I will post a free pattern for the scarf I'm making for my granddaughters (which could easily be worked for an adult simply by making it the length you want) if I have 5 to 10 comments (yes from different people not 5 from one person!!!)
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year ... if you don't celebrate Christmas then I wish you well for this Holiday season.

Creative thoughts flowing freely ...

So I've finished Kathleen's beret & two scarves with flowers. Lost the little booklet that has the pattern I planned on using for Adriana's afghan. Picked up (from my stash) the yarn to make a scarf for Kyla... and all of a sudden had a wonderful idea on how it should look. Will take pictures and possibly share the pattern. If you want me to share the pattern leave a comment. If I get between 5 & 10 comments asking for the pattern I will share it with all of you.
I love how it looks right now and since it is for a 4 yr. old it only needs to be about 44 inches long. Even though she wanted "red" I had to go with what would work with her coat (red not really a factor) so I plan on using some red in the fringe.
Anyway leave me some comments & I promise to post the pattern for this cool scarf.

16 days to the New Year....

and what do you have to accomplish before that? Well around here we have Christmas shopping & crocheting to finish up. And some how some way we need to get our priorities set so that everything that is really important is taken care of before time gets away from us.

Lost my mind trying to understand some things but found my mind when certain things were brought into proper perspective. Lost my mind around the hustle & bustle but found my mind again when the hustle & bustle belonged to someone other than myself.

Christmas is not about the gifts we give or about the gifts we receive ~ at least it should not be about them. Christmas is about the ultimate gift that our loving heavenly Father gave to a lost & dying world. Christ was sent from heaven above to live the life of a human man from birth to adulthood to know what we go through and to set the example that we can live a Holy life if we chose to follow Him. We need to decide what is this "holiday" season all about and how will we handle it for our own lives & families. Now as for gift giving I'm not saying don't give gifts ~ after all our example came from God Himself who gave His only begotten Son that we may chose to believe and have eternal life & not perish. Since God has given all of us the ultimate gift we can show our love for others by giving thoughtful gifts to those around us. Christmas isn't anything with out Christ! Gifts don't need to be expensive to be "good" ... they can be simple gifts from the heart. Last year my granddaughter made me a "book" ... she drew the pictures and told her mom the story, her mom had her write one word on each page. It is one of my favorite gifts that I have ever received. It came straight from her heart and was such a delightful gift to read. I hope she thinks of me that way again. With the economy so low and everyone hurting moneywise I think we need to get back to simpler ways of celebrating. Baking and sharing our baked goods can be very thoughtful gifts along with basic needs being met through our gift giving. Practical gifts that meet a need in someone's life is a great way to go ...after all that is the example of our Loving Father ~ He gave the world His only Begotten Son ~ nothing more practical than a way to be forgiven of our sins so that we can spend eternity with our creator.

I see the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 as a way to stop & reflect on this year and to decide how I would like to see myself living in the new year. What changes will you make to see your dreams come true?
Wishing you all a very thoughtful day full of joy & happiness.

Ice Storm Hits close to home...

Thank God we are very fortunate! All last night we heard the sound of cracking branches & trees as they came crashing down all around us. At one point my husband (who tends to be a light sleeper) jumped up & said he couldn't see if the tree that just crashed down hit his car (oh woe to have only a one car garage for a two car family). Of course it's so dark outside you can see that something had fallen & it was so close to the car that it certainly could have landed on the car & you wouldn't know until daylight.
As dawn arrived and the sky started to lighten up so we could see more out of our windows (mind you still no incentive to clean my windows) and there seems to be lots of branches down all over. Not just in our yard but in some of our neighbors yards as well.
So of course that is not all one sees when looking out at the yard. Everything is coated in ice. Even the grass blades are ice coated. The tree branches look so different when coated in ice.
Everything shines and glimmers and yet in spite of how pretty it may seem the danger is very real. Now that things are calming down the aftermath is still being dealt with. Downed power lines, downed trees and branches and those that are falling still due to wind or finally the weight of the ice topped with snow taking it's toll.

We were very fortunate. Our power did go off but came back on fairly quickly considering how many people are still without their power. And although branches and a tree have fallen they have managed not to damage our property (so far & God willing it will remain that way)... I express my prayers for those who ended up with property damage due to this storm.

On to crocheting so of my day away. Wishing you all everything you have need of and may you find this time of year full of joy, peace & goodwill towards all men!

hello is anyone out there?

I'm seriously wondering how to encourage people to leave comments. Especially with questions in them regarding crocheting.
I guess the dynamic of my blog has completely changed since it had to move from Lion Brand's site. Perhaps I have ventured to far into what is/has been happening in my life aside from the crochet projects?

Currently I have finished the beret and one scarf for Kathleen working on the second scarf then will make the flowers that adorn the scarves.
I donated 3 baby sweaters for the community outreach and still intend to make at least 2 chemo caps since they (the caps) are the primary focus of the outreach this year.

Last week I went into NYC and met with two online friends ... had a bite of lunch and hit the Smiley's Yarn Sale (held in the Holiday Inn on W57th Street in Manhatten)... only intended to purchase some much needed baby yarn but went a little overboard and then saw the ribbon yarn in a lovely purple which made me think of my sister in law so I purchased that as well with thoughts of making her a simple wrap. The time spent with friends was the absolute best! Meeting Connie in person for the first time felt so strange since I already felt that we knew each other so well from all the online communication & phone calls. I had the honor of meeting her beautiful daughter and wonderful husband briefly before we ventured off for our day together.
Of course Maria was with us ... really loved seeing Maria again as I had met her a couple years ago (& not for the yarn sale) when I had brought my mom & one of my sister in law's to the city for some shopping in the diamond district. Maria was able to meet up with us at John's (great pizza place!) So with Maria as our guide off we went. I'm still working out the kinks my body took on itself while I lugged my great buy until we stopped & I purchased a small shopping cart to put all the yarn in then dragged that behind me. As I told my husband when I got home the cart was a necessary purchase or did he prefer they found my body dead on the streets of Manhatten? LOL Seriously if I didn't have Connie & Maria with me I would not have been able to manage. They were super company and I look forward to when we can meet again. Maybe next time we'll arrange to meet at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio? Who knows???

Current wim's for Christmas still ... small afghan for Adriana (alot of the yarn I purchased was for her afghan & snuggle squares) and a new snuggle square ... one of hers is slowly being loved to pieces. An afghan for Kamryn who turns 2 this Feb. (she is already being potty trained and doing an excellent job of it!!!!) Sweaters or some other baby item for the new babies expected this spring. (My niece and several friends all due in or around March).

Current wip's that have been on hold : my shrug which should not take forever to finish, Angie's sweater that really needs some serious attention paid to it!!

Wishing you all frog free projects.

Crochet plans & other delusions ....

So yesterday I did not go shopping with my mom ... that would mean I would accomplish more with my crocheting right? Not! I did begin the beret and did manage to get to the tenth round.

I just need to be more realistic in my plans and as in all things not procrastinate. Well then there you have my major delusion. Me not procrastinate? Not likely.

Anyway today my plan "& I state that loosely" is to spend the day crocheting. Until someone calls & says I need you can you do .... whatever fill in the blank accordingly.

A true procrastinator does not need the phone to ring in order to find any excuse to put off a project. Hence my house looks like a it should be demolished & rebuilt ... I need to really just throw away all that junk mail & other garbage that has been allowed to take up residence in my home because I've been too busy to deal with it just yet ... but then again I never know when I'm going to need that for some odd reason or other?...

Delusions of accomplishment or deadlines I'm not sure which but I do know I will manage to finish my most important projects because I will work on them and get them done. (that is easy to state because they are easy enough projects and not some major afghan sized project!!!)

Second day of the last day of 2008 ... make the most of it won'tcha ya?

Wishing you all frog free projects and still waiting for those ?'s or comments.

The Last Month of 2008

December first what shall we accomplish on this first day of the last month of the year? Well I don't know about you but my plans are to help my mom with her purchase of a new VCR or getting a DVR from the cable company & installing whichever one she selects. Anyway that is the morning's activity plan.
This afternoon I fully intend to settle into crocheting I have 3 things I need to make for Kathleen & today I will begin those items and possibly finish two of them if I'm left to myself.
I hope my "plans" remain my plans without the usual interruptions but what good is having a plan if it can't be changed around as life dictates?

I hope you all have a great 1st day of the last month of the year! Accomplish something wonderful with your day. Make the most of each day we have left to 2008 ~ 2009 will be here all too soon.

Wishing you frog free projects :)

Thanksgiving behind us & Christmas ahead ....

I hope if you celebrated Thanksgiving that you were with those you love & enjoyed a wonderful meal together. I know we have been blessed. Our son has hosted the holiday meals for a few years now. Our daughter in love is a blessing to our family. They certainly have the gift of hospitality.

It is a time for reflection and thought. Some times this reflective thought process can be pretty decent other times it can be distressing. Today I was thinking about how we communicate with one another. How the words we speak may be heard & yet misunderstood. They can be spoken and yet go unheard. They can be meant with love and full of good intentions & yet received as judgement or belittling or out right criticism. A lot of communication is unspoken so you need to tune into the body language as well as the spoken words. But when someone is screaming at you and you know that they are expressing themselves with a lot of anger how do you respond in the least harmful way? How do you get your true intentions across to them and restore peace? Or can you restore peace?

What if you decide you don't want to restore peace? What if you are tired of the miscommunication and the nonsense that goes with it? What if you just are too tired to be bothered with making the effort to restore peace with those you love and yet can let them be in their own world until the day they wake up realizing that they let you go when they should have been making peace with you instead? I've had these kinds of conversations ... the ones where ugly, angry words are spoken in haste and some that weren't so hasty but were just as ugly & angry. I don't care for these conversations. In fact I really find them disappointing. Especially my part in them when I have been the one misunderstood. But still there comes a time in life when you just get tired of the pain they cause.

I recall vividly the time I had this type of conversation with my dad, (God Bless him may he rest in peace) it was sad ~ really, horribly sad. We did make up of course. But too many families go through times like this. Where someone feels like they aren't being heard and then the holidays arrive with all the "warmth & good cheer" messages and some people handle them well while others scream to be heard for a change. Is that how you feel? Do you know someone who feels this way? Any suggestions for improving your communication skills? I know that some people recognize their problems and work on fixing them. I also know some people just remain quiet while they seethe inside. (not healthy at all) And I know that some people will respond if they were yelled at and still others may start the fight just so they can 'break the tension'.
So what does all this have to do with crocheting or happy holidays? What will all this "reflective" thinking do for anyone?
Most likely nothing at all. In the off chance it helps you drop me a comment to let me know. My hope is that we all learn how to be heard and understood at the same time. Especially when we are communicating with our loved ones. If you think before you speak & realize that what you are about to speak will cause more harm than good by all means "bite your tongue" and keep those ugly thoughts to yourself!!!

Okay so I'm going to relax and crochet a while. See where my thoughts take me tonight. I hope everyone had a wonderful & very happy thanksgiving yesterday, anyone shopping on "black Friday" I hope you got all the best sales for what you needed/ wanted to purchase.
May you all have a great weekend with frog free projects! Stay warm if it's cold where you live and stay cool if it's hot where you live :)

What a difference a day makes & sad news...

So I have no updates on my crocheting. Yes I am still busy with many projects but nothing to report on for this post. My last post came before my heart breaking news. When I returned from my most enjoyable time with my friend (we had lunch & then crocheted the afternoon away at the library) I had spoken with my daughter. She was telling me how she had not felt the baby move so she had gone to the doctor. They could not find the baby's heartbeat, and the ultrasound confirmed that the baby was "gone". The shock and anger and denial was strong and furious feelings... emotions I didn't know I had ran through me and all I could think of was if I felt like this how in the world did my daughter & son in love feel? Needless to say we were all greatly distressed by this news. On Friday Sarah was induced and the baby was delivered, they were able to hold him and kiss him and tell him they loved him and say their goodbyes. They gave him a name. Joshua Paul. He was already 1lb. 6 ounces & 12 & 1/2 inches long. (She was 23 weeks along.) He will never be forgotten. They took photos, we don't have to wonder what he looked like because we can see how incredibly precious he truly was. His hands & feet, all 10 fingers & toes. He is safe with Jesus and will never feel any pain or know any distress or sorrow, and he'll be there when we arrive. The emotions are not as raw right now and so I can share this news with you.

I went to a beginners quilting class on Sat. morning at my church and I am making my first quilting project. It will be a memorial wall hanging. I have my 9 patch square ready for embroidery. Now I need to design & layout my embroidery portion of this project. I believe I want his name in the center sq. with the date & weight & inches. (if it will all fit nicely there) then the four corners will have something embroidered on them. I just have to make the final decision as to what I want where & then get to stitching. Once that is done I can then add the lightweight batting and the back (which will be a solid piece of fabric matching one in the square) and then I am supposed to "quilt it" which is the fun part I guess. I will learn what to do when I'm done with my stitching.

What a difference a day makes. And all the life & love & emotions that are wrapped up in each day is a gift we should not take for granted. We should make the best & the most out of each day we have since we have not been promised tomorrow.
Wishing you all frog free projects.

I'm still alive & well... just crazy busy

Hi everyone ~ I hope you are still reading this blog. Anyway my mom called me last week and had to share about the free custom photo book Oprah's viewers had the chance to order from Snapfish... which meant I had to really focus on getting some photo's worthy of a custom photo book gathered together & uploaded so I could then "create" my photo book. Well my mom wanted to get a free book also which meant I had to create her account upload photos for her and create her free book as well. Thankfully there was such a great demand that they ended up extending the deadline for creating the book (not for getting in on the deal) ... whew I just finished my photo book ... my mom's I finished first ... I figured she deserved it more since she told me about the deal in the first place. Thanks Mom!

Crochet wise I still have a million & one things to do ... okay so I don't have a "million" but I do have an awful lot to get busy with. Status of blue newborn sweater ... it is still waiting for the second sleeve to be worked. Status of the hexagon newborn sweater in sport weight white & yellow assembled & waiting for trim edging to be worked.
Chemo caps for charity outreach at my local public library ... two started but I really don't care for the pattern at all so may have to frog & begin yet again.
By the way I'm also reading for the book discussion group and one book just for pleasure & one other for research ... yeah I'm a little busy.

Today I will go out for lunch with a fellow crocheter (and she is my friend's mom) then to the library so we can settle in for some crochet time. Hopefully that means something gets accomplished.
Wishing you all well ... and frog free days.
I wish you knew how important comments really are to a blogger!!!

The finish line is in sight ...

So I have only to work the second sleeve since I have officially finished the body of the sweater. Once I have that done I will trim it all around and be happy. Meanwhile I began another infant sweater using the Hexagon pattern ... I think I used to small of a hook with my sport weight yarn but my thought is if I did then I will have to work it a few extra rounds before folding and joining etc. Mainly white with a yellow stripe and then will trim in yellow. Right now out of the 6 or 7 babies being expected (I think I'll hear of one more or I've lost count somehow) I know two will be "surprise" since the parents don't want to know in advance, then I've been told the one due soon is a boy, and out of the rest I've heard that 2 are expecting girls. So I will make some thing more "boyish" in color tones and even though I am using white & yellow I think it will be something that can work for either gender. Anyway I had an hour's drive yesterday morning where I was a passenger so I brought along the white & yellow yarn & my E hook ... since then I have noticed that the pattern called for a G hook (I think) so we'll see just how small my infant sweater turns out ... thankfully I have 2 dolls to try baby items on to get a feel for what size to call the finished item. (one is small like a newborn baby and the other is approximately the size of a 3 to 6 month old baby) I am fairly certain this little sweater will be infant sized (meaning newborn) I have the first motif worked to the 7th round so far and the second motif is at 5 rounds waiting for me to get done with the white so I can get back to it & finish is off too. Everyone was wactching me and asking what are you working on now? (I love that ... never get tired of telling people what I'm making)

So the drive ... my mom had donated a tree in my dad's memory and the chruch in Northville was having a memorial service and following that service they were dedicating the trees in memory of the loved ones who have gone on ahead of us. It was very nice from beginning to end. It allowed me to get the 2 motifs to the 5th round on the drive there & back.

Okay need to get the infant sweaters done so I can start on Kyla's sweater and snuggle (which I still need to go shopping for the yarn) when I asked Kyla what 2 colors did she like the first thing she said was, "pink & red" then when I asked her what other 2 colors she liked she seemed to have colors paired off ... black and (almost any color here) yellow and green orange and yellow orange and black ... and the list went on ... so basically I can pick any two colors that will work well together and she will be happy. Of course the main thing on her mind is that I find her a wand for her birthday. A princess wand and not some small baby one either but a nice one in a nice size. She told grandpa all about a pink scooter that she thinks is so cute and she would like it so he's shopping for a pink scooter. I think we need to go to the store & find it and see if it is really something a 4 yr. old should be playing on/with.
I really do need feed back ... if you have any questions about crocheting I will do my best to answer!
Wishing you all a frog free day :)

Just Crazy busybusybusy

So the lovely newborn sweater is not finished yet. It took several visits from dear friend "Froggie" to finally get the stitch count figured out right! Now just a little more to complete the section I'm on then I can work the second sleeve & then trim all around and then take pictures.
Thinking of the snuggle I need to make for Kyla's birthday ... her other 2 have been "loved" to pieces literally. And also I wanted to make her the hexagon sweater I am thinking of trying this pattern using Lion Brand's Lion Suede prints and a large hook. But I'll know more about this once I begin the first hexagon.

We've got Christmas right around the corner and I am thinking that perhaps I could manage 3 child sized afghans for my grand daughters ... but with all the baby items I still need to make I'm not sure how I can be thinking anything of the sort. Time will tell. If I pace myself perhaps I can manage it all.

I've got a project underway that has nothing to do with crochet but is very time consuming all the same. So lots to balance right now.
Wishing you all the fun of crocheting without any of the "frogging" ... unless of course you have to get your stitch count correct! LOL

Crazy busy around here ....

Finishing up the newborn sweater in blue (using the DMC size 3 cotton I picked up in Italy) which required me to make adjustments in order to have it come out the correct size... I think I finally have this correct so that I can finish the body section & then go for the sleeve and then trimming it won't be too bad. Knowing I have to finish this one in order to move on to several others I took on yet another project. As some of you may recall I volunteer my time teaching crochet at Alpha Pregnancy Care Center to some expectant & new moms. One came to me with her sons um mm well since I don't really know how to spell their word for it I will end up calling it his blanket. It has been loved on and one small section had become separated completely from the rest and that left a few rows unraveling. No miracle worker here but I do think I can get the unraveled row or so reworked and join the section that came off, then go to the area where it is unraveling now & get it more secure.

This leads me to my soap box.... Please when you are working on gifts and your yarn has a knot in it from the factory don't be lazy ... cut it out & make your work join as you would in a color change ... leaving enough to weave into the work so the tail winds up woven back into itself if possible. If you really can't bring yourself to not work with "knots" then knot the yarn but leave a long enough tail on both ends to weave into the work hiding the knot in your work. Most instructions that even bother to deal with this issue state to never work with knots in your crocheting because knots have a way of becoming undone causing unraveling (usually while in the wash!) and a loss of all your hard work. The best suggestion I've seen is that you should always work your yarn to make the switch in a yarn color or a new skein of the same color happen at the end or beginning of a row. Being practical as I try never to waste yarn most of mine are somewhere in the body of the work I'm on... only a couple of times did I ever adhere to that suggestion. One other suggestion comes to mind for when you are working large afghans ... you just randomly lay a strand of yarn over the work & work your row as normal this hides repair yarn into the work ... I did this on my daughters college afghan but to be honest with you I think it would take a miracle to find that repair yarn if it was ever needed!

Okay thought I had a couple of photo's ready to share with you & discovered they haven't been saved in the correct folder so not today but soon!
Wishing you all frog free days :)

Baby items

Gender Neutral please ... we want to be surprised! So using the green (I know the picutres make it look blue but trust me it is a mint green) and yellow & white yarn that my daughter purchased I made the baby blanket & then the smaller one with the left over yarn. Then I used the left over yarn from both of those for something not pictured here yet. I used the left over yellow & green TLC yarn (3 ply sport weight) for the newborn baby sweater (the one I mentioned the other day Toni's Newborn sweater found at Bev's Country Cottage ck out yesterday's post for the link to the pattern) so the green for the sleeve switch to yellow for the body when it was time to work the back I switched back to the green then back to the yellow and then back to the green for the second sleeve ... & I love it! .... and I used the size 3 thread I picked up in Italy to make the yellow & red (I know it looks orange!!! but that is the red next to the goldenrod yellow making it appear orange) ... hexagon sweater & I simply trimmed it plainly since my daughter thought the post stitches made the sleeves too puffy & therefore too girly looking.
And if you caught the little green hat in the photo showing the above mentioned items all together good eye! Yes I used the Lime TLC for the newborn sweater & for the hat (I designed it but am not sure it is ready for sharing ... I may need to fine tune it just a bit.)

I do have more pictures to share (and as we all know I haven't even posted any of my Italy pictures yet... Yet being the operative word here) ....

Anyway for today let's be satisfied with what we have :)

Wishing you all frog free projects!!!!

(Oh yeah my car looks like new I should show you an after picture ... but it's been cold, rainy & even some snow flakes (big wet ones that I dislike so very much) so no pictures of my car have been taken & to be honest I probably won't get around to it any time soon. So suffice it to say & to know my car has been repaired beautifully. )

Okay really going now ... have crocheting at the library this afternoon (and I boldly told two young ladies that I expect to see them there this afternoon to learn how to crochet ~ one has a little one & the other is expecting!)

I hope they both show up... I'm off to gather crochet supplies :)

TY for comments/ & Hello I"m home again!!!!

I have returned safely home again. And I just browsed the blog here for comments to see if I should get back to my writing ... and I want to thank Sherri & anonymous & Jaye for your comments. I have so much to share with you all. I will have to try & organize my photo's & my narratives. But as always I would love to do my best to help anyone with their crocheting so Jaye and anyone else reading who has a ? for me regarding crochet I will do my best to answer you so you can progress with your projects. But I can't help anyone if I don't know what you need help with so please feel free to contact me or leave a comment. Once I'm aware of your need I will do my best to help.

Also need to share two baby patterns that I recently worked up and loved! While I was visiting with my daughter I completed the baby afghan, and made a small receiving sized blanket that will fit over a carseat just right if needed, also a hat, and a newborn sized sweater & another baby sweater to leave with her. I will make more things now that I'm home & bring them with me in March. Also since I am aware of at least 6 women all expecting between late Nov. & March I will be in baby mode for my crocheting projects. While with my daughter I did make 2 other baby sweaters but due to my way of thinking they will go to someone else (my thought is that it will be too warm where they live by the time the baby could actually use the sweaters so I'd rather make more size/ age / weather appropriate items).



I got both patterns from Bev's Country Cottage ... the first one is a hexagon baby sweater ... it is so easy and quick and I loved working it up! The second one is Toni's newborn sweater ... it too is very easy & quick to work up. I'm working on a second one right now but had to modify the pattern to accomodate the yarn I'm using. The pattern is really easy to follow however I decided to make this one with a size 3 cotton so I had to increase my beginning stitches to equal the size made when worked using a 3 ply baby yarn with a size K hook ... I'm also working with a size F hook with the cotton so once I managed to get the length correct I had to work 2 rows to equal 1 row in the pattern to match the height of the stitches. So right now I am almost half way through this baby sweater & I love how it looks.



Then I could not be in Jacksonville, NC and not visit with Freddie!!!! She has moved and is considering changing her yarn store's name from Phootsy's Yarn Cottage to something else. She is now located in downtown Jacksonville NC at the corner of Chaney & Ruth and I pray she has increased business due to all the work involved in making the change of location. I showed her the things I had been busy making while with my daughter. She loved the hexagon baby sweater & went to see Bev's site & the original & that lead to the real original and we were amazed at how easy this pattern is and you can trim it anyway you want to. I have made this sweater in 4 ply ww acrylic yarn, and in 3 ply sport weight yarn and in size 3 cotton yarn. Loved all 3 of them. My daughter has the cotton one & I will be giving away the other two here in the Northeast where I believe someone will get better use out of them.



Okay so back to work ... so much to do & so little time!!!! Also need to get my photo's organized and posted this week. In the meantime here are the links to the patterns I mentioned



http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/tonis-newborn-sweater.html



http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/hexagon-jacket.html



Go check them out & see if you don't enjoy the easy way they work up. I'll try to post my pictures of them soon.

As always wishing you all froggy free days :)

I'm leaving on a jet plane ...

and I won't be back again ~ Until late October that is...
And although I'm leaving & going on a plane I am not sure it is a jet plane LOL. I haven't packed yet ~ the clothing portion of my packing won't be a problem but my yarn & projects will cause me some concern. I am sorry but I have trust issues. I am not sure I trust my projects or my yarn to travel in my checked bag. So I want all of my projects to be in my carry on/tote bag. Then my concern is that it may end up weighing way to much for me to carry. I have a lovely yarn tote bag on wheels but I think it won't meet the carry on size requirements. I have to double ck & it it meets the size for carry on's then I have to see if everything I need to carry will fit inside.
I should return with pictures of all my crochet items to share. My batteries are dead for my camera or I would have already shared my shrug in progress. So that too will wait for my return.
I wish you all frog free projects!

Check this out!

http://www.mychurch.org:80/blog/30635/coolest-video-ever

This was too cool not to share it with all of you... I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

After the accident ...

Here is what my car looked like after the accident... I was driving home (after my uncle's funeral we left his grave to go have a meal with the family & friends then I dropped my mom off at her home and headed home myself) ... waiting for the light to change I was driving straight opposite me a young woman was also waiting for the light to change... when the light went green she saw green & just went ahead with her plan of making a left hand turn at that intersection. Meanwhile I was driving straight. When I realized she wasn't stopping I veered to the right trying to avoid her hitting into me but that failed. She managed to hit my car and as the photo's show it will now need two new doors.

I'm fine. She is fine & her car does have some minor damage compared to mine. But the main thing is that cars can be fixed while people need to be okay & not need repairs after an accident!!! I pray that she is fine & will continue to drive only more aware of her surroundings.

I have a rental car so I can still get around however I will be changing it ... the one they had for me is one I really don't care for! It is a Dodge Caliber ... looks great, is brand new (only 3500 miles on it) however even though I am short (5'3") I hit my head getting in the low ceiling of this car... once in the driver's seat I can not see the front of the hood. I don't know about other drivers but I was taught to know my boundaries ~ that means I need to see the end of the hood both on the left & on the right front. I can't see any of the hood basically in this "car". I shouldn't have taken this one home but I honestly felt better to have something in case of an emergency then nothing at all. Now I don't want to drive it even in an emergency. Hopefully one of the cars that I would be more comfortable driving will be returned & ready for me today really soon :)

So I guess that counts as my review of the Dodge Caliber ... I wouldn't want it but you might like it... after all everyone is different.

Looking ahead ... I plan on sharing my photo's (some that is after all I took 3500 pictures while I was away & upon review the first 100 outdoor pictures I took were no good. They were all blurry ~ which you can understand since I took them in a moving boat!) and as brief a write up of my trip as I can manage (LOL if you've been reading my blog then you know I write the way I talk ... so basically wordy ~ although I have been trying I promise you to keep it to the facts & really important info only). I also hope to have a photo of my shrug ... it is now at a stand still since I have to decide just how I want to proceed ~ I have the back exactly as I wanted it so that is excellent and that is all you'd see when I finally get the photo taken to share w/you. I have something in mind for the sleeves however I just haven't worked out the execution of that idea yet.

Wishing you all frog free projects & accident free driving!!!

House lovers enjoy this pic...

While enjoying the sights in Italy one of the squares we walked through had many artists set up showing their work and I couldn't resist capturing this picture ... I'm a fan of the show House and for all the other fans out there I thought you'd enjoy seeing this too :)

You will be missed Uncle Bud!!!

It is with a sad heart I write that my father's last sibling has departed this earth. I didn't realize that I had been holding on to my uncle's existence as a comfort in my dad's absence (my dad died Dec. 18th 1997)... but God is gracious and while I was admitting to myself that I had been holding on to a piece of my dad in the comfort of my uncle's living, He (the Holy Spirit) washed over me during our church service yesterday morning and wrapped me in His love. Reminding me that my Heavenly Father hasn't left me nor forsaken me and will always be with me. It was very powerful, extremely emotional and cleansing. The experience allowed me to be refreshed and renewed.
Aunt Shirley my prayers are with you and the rest of the family (as always) but especially now in your time of sorrow.
So I share with my readers the loss of my uncle as way of explaining that posting about my fun filled time in Italy will wait for a few more days. The funeral is this Wed. morning. And as much as I would love to share with you some great photos and tell you all about my adventures I simply don't have my brain wrapped around those things at this time. I'm really blessed that God saw fit to remind me of His presence and His love while I sat at His feet at the altar at church. It really did help me to unburden myself there in His presence and to be able to walk away confident in the fact that His love will sustain me.
I needed that extra love showered on me at the church's altar yesterday since I had no idea I was holding on to my dad emotionally through the knowledge that his brother was here for me.
It was almost like losing my dad all over again ... not fully but close.

I thank you all for your patience and your understanding. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Before I leave again...

Hi again everyone ... someone besides me does read this blog right? I know my friend Connie does because she told me but come on people if you like my ramblings or have ?'s for me please leave a comment or two! I'd really like to know if I'm wasting my time here or not. Wasting my time in the sense that I try to write as if someone is really reading about what I'm sharing and if no one (besides you Connie) is reading then I might as well simply update Connie by email directly than taking the time to share my thoughts, experiences & joys & frustrations here.
When I first started my blog here I had no idea what colors or template would look best or best reflect me so I picked what I thought might be easily read ... I looked at my blog this morning & was totally not into it at all the white type over the black background. It seemed harsh & glaring and I just couldn't leave it like that any longer ~ so change this & that & voila` a whole new look ... so speak up if there is anything you really don't like about it (yes including my writing) doesn't mean it will change instantly but I am open to suggestions for improving my blog so more people can enjoy it.

I share all that but must warn you I leave in a few hours for the women's conference & I won't be back for a couple of days. When I get back I promise to share my photo's and comments on my trip & my crocheting (yes I did crochet all over Italy!) and Loved it. In fact one very nice comment about my crocheting ... while we were staying with family they came to know very quickly that I crochet a lot ... by the end of the week they had actually come to say what have you made today? What are you working on now? While there I made 6 scarves and gave them all away as gifts. ~ I even managed to work on my shrug while there!!!

So speak up ... let me know you are out there reading so I know if I should bother to continue. Thanks if you are out there!

The tours

We were on a Gate 1 tour ~ their 8 day classic Italy tour to be exact. We flew into Venice and we were met at the airport by our tour coordinator. She was pleasant and helpful right from the start and she remained pleasant & helpful throughout our entire tour package. In fact as we neared the end of our tour and my mom & I would soon be "on our own" as per the plans we set up through the travel agent I was most concerned about how we were going to get to the bus station and get the correct bus that would bring us to Pescara so our family members could get us. Our coordinator spoke with our cousin to determine which bus company she expected us to use (that way we would be sure to be on the correct bus), she also spoke with the staff at the hotel to get information on the bus schedule for the Sunday buses going to Pescara so we could get on the right one, and she arranged for a boxed / bagged breakfast since we were entitled to breakfast but would be departing before that service began in the hotel. From some of the negative reviews I read before traveling with Gate 1 I wasn't entirely sure we would have such care given to our needs once it became clear we were "on our own" for the remainder of our time in Italy. I am most happy to state our experience was not like any of the negative reviews I read prior to our travels.
In fact as I wrote yesterday one of my mom's biggest complaints was all the walking & talking. The talking referred to was the informative guides that showed us the sights and gave us the history & brought to our attention the details that made what we were looking at so important. Several times I felt like asking why they didn't just hand us a brochure so we could spend more time "seeing" the sights rather than listening about them. This was never more true than in Rome when we were ready to see the Sistine Chapel. We spent so much time outside of the chapel where the guide went on & on about every detail of the ceiling ... of course she did this because we aren't allowed to speak inside the chapel and she wanted to make sure we all understood all of the details that went into the workmanship of the Sistine chapel. When we finally got inside I felt cheated on my time I could have spent the entire time we were outside "listening" about the important details inside just staring at the ceiling & walls. I can always read about the details she went on & on about! So yes that was a negative however you pay for an informative guide you expect that they will know their history and share it with you not just talk for a couple of minutes & send you on your way.
So many things words fail to give the full beauty or impact the actual being there in person and seeing with your own eyes does. For example I've watched on television the way glass is made at the Murano Isle in Venice Italy. I saw how it was handled, the processes the glass master went through to yield the end results. But being there in person & watching first hand the way the glass looked as it was processed was incredible & far outweighed the feelings evoked from watching it on t.v.. Nothing compares & honestly reading about it would not give the same emotion as was evoked in the first hand viewing of the process.
Our tours happened in a what seemed like a whirlwind. And yet I managed to have gelato every where!! ;)

More when I can ... after all I leave Thursday morning for a women's conference & return late afternoon on Sat. ... then I'm home (busy to be sure but home) until Oct. 7th when I fly to NC to spend some quality time with my daughter & son in law. So my friends I will be gone almost all of October too.

I'm Backkkkkk.....

Whew! I'm home again. The trip was fantastic. I loved it! I can't speak for anyone else, only myself and from my point of view it was a great trip beginning to end.
I know you all are wondering what I liked best & where I would like to go again or perhaps some of you are really wondering what I crocheted while I was away or if I crocheted while I was away or maybe some of you are thinking she posted without pictures? How can she let us down that way??? Well my friends I have over 3000 pictures to go through to pick only the best of the best to share with you and while doing that I will need to be very selective so that you get the taste of the trip without overload or gasp dare I think it? boredom setting in from too many photos!

I don't know what I most enjoyed after all we spent time in Venice, Florence, & Rome before spending time with family in Francavilla (near Pescara) (near the sea). Each location had it's good & truth be told drawbacks too but the good far outweighed the negatives for me... perhaps my mom had a different opinion from mine ... I say that since she seemed to complain about the cost and the walking & the talking (I'll explain this soon) and over all she seemed to have some high points but her immediate expression all through the trip & on the way home seemed heavily pointed on the negatives with very little promoting of the positives.

We traveled via a shuttle service from Albany International Airport (just because that is the name doesn't make it a true international airport!!!) to JFK in NYC to catch our international flight to Venice, Italy. (non stop flight thankfully) My mom's first complaint was over the food (she had told the travel agent that she does not eat meat... which in turn made her food options vegetarian ~ ummm not all vegetarian food choices are that exciting when traveling by plane) she would have been better off not saying anything and making her selection based on the regular options since they weren't all meat options. On the way home was even worse (since I can't recall what we ate on the flight over but I can clearly recall the options on the way back I will share that with you). We were given the choice between chicken breast or a pasta cheese & spinach. My mom looked at that menu and was happy she could have the pasta since it didn't have meat. Oh wait she had a special food choice of vegetarian... her meal came & it was a rice with peppers and some spicy tasting sauce to make the rice not bland. She said it was okay but she would have preferred the pasta. Later on the flight our menu sheet said we were getting a personal sized 4 cheese pizza ~ (yes I'm serious here) ~ again my mom was happy to see that option since again it was meatless but no her food came & she was given ~ a roll with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, grilled zucchini slices (small) more roll then veggies & a package of crackers (nothing else) how unfair!!!! She certainly could have eaten the pizza choice & she could have enjoyed a cookie but no they handed her a roll with a very small amount of veggies on it & some dry crackers with nothing to add to them. She was most unhappy with that!!!

So all of that said to warn you if you don't eat meat and are going to be flying anywhere that will have the airlines feeding you you may not want to actually inform them you don't eat meat before you board the plane as your actual food choices may meet your needs better than if you request the vegetarian option.

So much to share and not wanting to overload you all at once so I'll leave you for now & probably write again (later today no doubt LOL) soon!
p.s. I did indeed crochet while with family!!!!!!

Stoles side by side :)

Pictures as promised ...

The 2 stoles side by side & the scarf on top.

Re-packed and ....

now I believe I have it exactly as it should be... I had run an errand and while out & about I met a woman who has just returned from Italy. She told me that it was extremely hot there & when they close down for a rest in the afternoon to make sure I take full advantage of resting. With this now in my mind I was thinking my two options for my "travel outfit" would not be good choices at all as I tend to run hot to begin with. So that meant a change of outfit and going into my packed bags & rearranging things. Now I have my travel outfit all set and my checked bag weighed in at 48 pounds on my scale so even if it's off I don't believe it will be off by that much and I'm only allowed 50 pounds total in that bag. With that bag being rearranged I also rearranged my carry-on bag and now it weighs in at just under 20 pounds (the other day it was 20 even) so I am fairly confident that I will be very comfortable in Italy (added 1 full extra outfit and an extra top)... With my new walking shoes proving to be as comfortable as any confining shoe can be I also went out to find the shoelaces that you don't need to tie... and I did find them I'll let you know what I think of them when I return home. When I went into the shoe store to purchase them (so glad they had them) they were called springs ... the laces you don't tie... and I asked the salesman if they could replace my regular laces & he told me yes. Then I told him I wanted them so I wouldn't have to tie & untie my shoes at the security ck point & he told me understood he uses the same laces for that very purpose when he travels. So hopefully I will enjoy them. (but with feet that swell up like mine do I don't know what to expect)

Now my last minute to pack / bring along items are : phone charger, hair brush ... I have everything else packed completely. I'm a bit in shock. I will go work on the ruffled stole that is well over half way now ... I should be able to complete this before we leave... leaving me to work on my other two projects :)
Wishing you a wonderful evening and frog free projects!!!

Packed & ready to go!

I have never been packed this early for a trip before in my life! I'm so very excited ... yes I do realize that I have a couple of last minute items to place in the bag before leaving on Sunday morning but I've got my list & I'm checking it twice :) to make sure I don't leave anything necessary behind.
I am amazed because I am only allowed 50 pounds for my checked bag and I have it weighing in under 45 right now with only a minor light weigh additions to go in still ... and my carry on bag weighed in at 20 pounds ... lucky for me I just have to wheel it and not actually carry it around.
My personal bag is a third piece of my matching luggage and it has all my most important items ... my crochet projects are in there!!! along with my camera, phone accessories, and batteries & memory cards and stuff. So my must remember to bring list includes : phone charger, neck pillow, travel size toothpaste ... well I'll go double ck my list again to make sure I haven't left out anything (like my hair brush!) LOL
good night ... pleasant dreams :)

Second view of dresses

I can't wait for Sunday to arrive!

I haven't finished packing yet in case you were wondering. My two sundresses are ready to be packed. I really don't care for either print however they were the only 2 options I had when I was shopping for the fabric and since I really believe sundresses will be easiest to wear while I'm away I decided to go ahead & get both. Out of the two my "preferred" one is the dots ... in any case they are finished (yes hemmed or trimmed) & ready for packing.

I went to a professional seamstress & asked her for help in cutting the fabric for the second dress & showed her what I did with the first one ... she told me to fix the first one (she didn't like it at all) and she took the time to pin the fabric and then show me how to sew it (verbablly) so I could take it home & do it myself... she also told me not to make my straps with elastic to make straight straps and how long to make them to begin with so I could sew to the back & then bring to the front & see just where they needed to be sewn there. I am so very happy with the results. And even though I didn't want to "fix" the first one I did as I was told & have to admit I am much happier with the results.

I was so happy with my new walking shoes but I failed to tell you how I purchased them 1/2 size larger (when my feet swell they SWELL) but the next morning when I put them on (and they felt so good) within a very short period of time it was obvious that they were too big for me. I ended up going back to exchange them for the correct size (which I'm wearing right now & loving how they fit & feel). They did not have a second pair of the walking shoe in my size so I purchased a pair of cross trainers in my size that I can return later if I try them on & don't care for how they fit. (I won't be using them & I haven't even tried them on yet when I return I'll see how they fit & I will exchange them then if necessary.)

Now that I have my walking shoes & my dresses I'm ready to actually pack. I wish I knew which outfit to "travel in" that hasn't been decided yet and comfort is the main key to my decision. In any event I will pick something and be ready on time.

As for my crocheting ... the one ruffled stole in lavendar is about half way finished. When finished I will concentrate on the other one in progress... I have enough time between now & the time we really meet up with the family to finish these gifts so I am not worried about it ... I just would have preferred to have them completed before traveling so my take along project could have top priority while at the various places I would be waiting. I plan on bringing my shrug along to work on ... I might continue the baby afghan for my grandbaby due in March. All of this will be decided when I pack.

Wishing you all a great day ... I'm sure I'll post again before I leave (knowing me I might even post Sunday morning before I leave I wouldn't put it past me LOL) ...

And may you have frog free projects!

Labor Day stories ....

One of the blogs I follow along is The Diaper Diaries http://thediaperdiaries.net/ and she described her "labors & deliveries" then asked for her readers to play along & give the scoop on how their labor & deliveries went (all in honor of Labor day so sorry this is late) ...
My children now 29 1/2, 27 1/2, & 25 1/2 yrs of age : their stories in a nutshell:
A- water broke, went to hospital, no physical signs of labor Dr. asked the nurse to "check" and see if my water really broke! Sat up on the bed (was told I would need to take a walk) and a gush of fluids escaped ~Yep her water really did break... an hour later labor pains showed up, 4 hours later our first born arrived!
Dr. in the delivery room following the birth : do you have any other children? me- no I'd remember if I ever did this before! Dr. - it was such a short labor, that is usually found in women who have had at least one child before. (so you see he was born at a hospital and delivered by a doctor) as for drugs ... something called a caudal block (spelling?) and it basically was like Novocaine to either side of the cervix...

S- water broke, went to hospital ... however after an exam Dr. discovered I had a full bag of water so determined I must have had a sac on the bag of water that broke ... c. block given & worn off just before delivery so my sweetheart was born au natural as they say, she arrived just 6 hours after the sac of water broke. Doctor did threaten to use forceps however I didn't want them used so had to find the strength to push harder... managed to do so and was much happier that she was delivered without the use of forceps.

J- woke up in middle of night to go to the bathroom, while sitting there groggily noticed my stomach tighten up & then relax ... thought I was dreaming... saw it do this again and in a short period of time yet again.... yes painless contractions were taking place. Called the doctor and he said get to the hospital ... arrived at the hospital and within 2 hours delivered my last child. Did have the same c. block and no "prep" work done on me as the nurses said they had no desire to have the baby arrive in the toilet ... back labor with this delivery.
Same doctor delivered all 3 (he was our family doctor not a gyn he took care of my children after their births also, as well as my care)

Hope you have pleasant memories of your "labor days" and go to the diaper diairies to play along :)

Have you heard about????

The scarf project for the Special Olympics? http://www.coatsandclark.com/Crafts/Crochet/Features/Special+Olympics.htm

This sounds like so much fun. What a cool way to support the athletes. I believe this will be one of my projects when I am back from my trip. I already know just how I want my scarf to look ~ yay. So when I return I will share with all of you my scarf plans.

Yesterday was a very exhausting day of shopping & searching for a store that carried a walking shoe by New Balance in a wide width. I finally found it (late lastnight) and it was on sale too! What made it even better was at the check out they informed me that they could use a coupon for $5 dollars off my purchase & give me another coupon for $5 off another purchase of New Balance shoes only I have to use it by Sunday. I think if I can get back there this week I will go alone & hopefully in the morning when my feet are almost normal size. I know it sounds foolish to purchase another pair right now but I think I would like very much to puta pair away in my closet until it's needed... especially since I had so much difficulty in locating a store that had them in wide width to begin with, and it was on sale ~ that does make me think I'll be back to that store for another pair.
So much left to do and so little time ...
With that in mind I'm wishing you all frog free projects & a great day

Hellooooo September!

I leave in 6 days ... I am not packed ... I still have to get one dress cut & sewn, the other dress still needs straps and to be hemed... the crocheted gifts are not finished (not even half way!) I still need to find a decent fitting pair of walking shoes (that means New Balance since so far they have been the only brand to fit comfortably with my one foot that swells) ... this task should be fun since the last week now my feet/ankles/ legs have resembled elephant legs.
I did find a pair of jeans and they are in the washing machine now. I did manage to pick up some snacks to bring along (for survival if necessary) ... I do plan on packing at least 12 bottles of water in my checked bag... More if I can get away with it between my stuff & the weight limit.
Oh stink I just realized I haven't washed my new pj's (thanks mom) that should be packed & they would have washed with the jeans just peachy ... now I have to remember to wash them & pack them.
Welcome September ... an incredible & busy month for me and now I will go search for where I put my pj's.
Wishing you all a wonderful crochet day ... frog free projects & a great time before school begins ... that is if it hasn't already!

One dress...

minus straps! I fixed the blunder and it is wearable (both my husband & I don't really care for the print on this fabric) ... wearable is exceptable at this point in time! I still need to make the straps for it and since I have very limited fabric left for that purpose I don't dare cut it and end up with nothing for straps!!! The dress has been tried on and I can wear it with the shirt (acting as jacket) that I had originally planned so that makes it better ... once the straps are on & the hem is taken care of I'll be much happier.
As for the second dress I'm going to see if I can get some professional help in cutting the fabric properly in order to just have to sew the seams (yes the second one I want cut into a front & back panel with 2 side seams I believe that will take care of the excess needed to fit my ample hip area) ..... perhaps some help with the straps as well??? I have two ideas in mind so I'll see.
Meanwhile I need to get my hook flying on the two ruffled stoles I have underway. Time is running out!!!
Will keep you posted. And pictures when the dresses are finished.

Sewing prayers!!!!

I'm not sure about my sundress ... I have even written to another blogger here at blogspot requesting her advice if she is so inclined to respond to me I would be forever grateful especially if it means I can make my second dress better than the first.

I purchased the ready to make sundress fabric on sale with the intention of simply sewing up the back seam & adding straps. But look who's talking about doing this "simple" sew job? Me LOL ... I know I have done a lot of last minute sew jobs in a pinch that look okay (if you're blind that is) but if it is for me I don't mind since I am not a seamstress & it saved me money in the long run.

Back to my dress ... I had asked at the store how one determined how much to purchase since it was sold by the inch & not by the yard... also keeping in mind I'm a heavy set pear with the emphasis on heavy on bottom while lacking on top... this fabric is already smocked with the elastic threads so there is "give" across the bust area if cut too generously it looks horrible ... if not cut generously enough one could guess that the bottom portion of said dress won't fit around the amply sized bottom it needs to cover. So I actually purchased this with a lot more generousity then necessary.

I found this in two prints the first one I actually like the second one I'm not too fond of but wanted/needed a second dress in this style so went ahead & purchased both. Decided I really can't wait until just days before leaving the country to deal with sewing them so pulled out the machine & grabbed the "eh" fabric and got to work. (mind you I did wash & dry both fabrics a couple of weeks ago ~ always wash & dry fabrics before making clothes out of them is what I was told so that is what I did) ... now here was the fun part ... I measured my bust and thought if I cut the fabric with just a little bit of generousity then I might get away with things. Sewed up the seam and discovered that the top was more generous then even I thought, sewed it some more and discovered I made it worse ... so I can see where I have to fix it but certainly don't wish to experience this with the second fabric. It would be so much better if I can cut it according to how it needs to be cut so that I can simply sew up the seam.

My grandmother (a master seamstress or what ever would be considered the highest compliment in the world of sewing) could look at any style of clothing anywhere & then take the features of any items she wanted to and make her own patterns and have the end result look like pure perfection which it was since it was a custom made garment ~ made just for me! Where is that talent when I need it? ... oh... you must know how to sew? You should work with fabrics & threads & needles? So not me. Talent doesn't just show up because I want it??? I have not taken any classes on sewing in over 27 yrs and the one I took way back when barely got me started on sewing clothes ... my area of fearless fun comes in the world of crochet. In sewing if you mess up you could be out a lot of $$ depending on the cost of the fabric & whatever else it may need/ call for ... in crochet if you mess up usually you just frog it & rework it & you're good to go.

I really would like to have both dresses for this trip to Italy so I'll go attempt to fix my blunder. But I'm not working on the second one just yet. Thankfully there is still some time to get that one done correctly the first time around.

Back to my crocheting once I finish the dress. Dear God HELP!!!! I need to make straps for this too!

YaY sort of ...

LOL well the meeting went very well with the travel agent. She answered our questions and I felt much more at ease about everything and the way it is all set up. From there I went to check on how much I still wanted the new tops. I had actually discovered that I had a skirt purchased in June still in the bag with the receipt that truth be told I wasn't going to ever get around to using since it never made it out of the bag! Returned that item and then tried on everything that I had them holding for me... then tried on a few more things ... did I mention I HATE shopping? Well in the end I asked what the damages were and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to pick up 2 pairs of everyday pants (sport style??) ~ means soft knit material that I can lounge around in or run around in depending on my mood / need at the moment. True one pair doesn't have pockets but still comfort goes a long way in my book. Then I managed to pick a tee- shirt that I really liked and fortunately for me they had it in several colors so even though it is the "SAME" shirt it is in different colors! Purple, brown?, tan, pink/red?, light green, and then a different T-shirt in blue with a bird on the front ... and my favorite shirt ~ denim with a 4th of July theme going on the front yet in a way that I could wear it anytime & not mind at all. (goes great with the pocket less red pants) Oh and the second pair of pants is lavender (light purple) ~ the purple tee might go perfectly with them. I'll have to see. In fact if it works well together it may end up being my "travel outfit". Time will tell.

Shopping Continued

I will be meeting the travel agent this morning (very soon in fact) to just go over our paper work ~ make sure that I understand what I need to do with our stuff ... get clear on just a few things (gee you'd think I never flew out of this country before but that isn't true!!)

From that meeting I will be back at the store (they were holding some shirts for me) the sale is supposed to be an additional % off the already clearanced priced items so hopefully I will save something in the process. The decision has been made that I need to replace my everyday tops so I might as well do so now and in the process if it means I can bring some of those items along on my trip so much the better.

I will still need walking shoes ... shoe shopping is the absolute worst in my opinion. I have one foot that swells and one that can if it wants to but basically I can't wear all the pretty shoe styles out there ... I'm lucky I can handle ballerina style slip ons for the majoritiy of my footwear (they aren't always as easy to find as you'd expect)... and when it comes to walking shoes in a wide width half way decent will cost you an arm or a leg! Hey do you have any idea how much yarn we are talking about here????? Let me tell you it's a lot!



So I've written out my clothing plan for packing and I think I might still have too many items I'll have to really listen to my daughter on this ... she said to put everything on the bed and pack if I have too much quickly decide what is staying home. Make sure what I kept packed will work together and move on to something else.



On a crochet note .... I began the ruffled stole ... that hopefully will work up fast (of course if I don't work on it it can't work up fast or slow) ... I have frogged & restarted the second scarf I had under way ... at least 3 times now. I even brought out my knitting needles thinking what I wasn't happy with in crochet I might care for in basic knit stitch on large needles. Wrong!

So I have decided to frog that yet again & this time I will approach it differently. Hopefully it will work and I won't have a breakdown without finishing all of my gifts in time!

Well time to get ready ... can't go shopping or meet with anyone while still in my jammies! LOL or as I've been known to say I can go but no one wants to see me like this in public!LOL

Wishing you all frog free projects :)

Shopping disappointment....

Shopping for clothes is not my idea of fun. And less when I actually find something I like but hate the price! And as usual I was looking for one or two dresses and instead of finding what I wanted I found new shirts that I need to replace my old ones! (I wear my clothes for years & years & then some more years!) So my old ones are at least 8 to 10 years old (according to some of my pictures anyway) ... yet that does not make me feel more inclined to spend almost $70 dollars on 5 new tops (nothing exciting mind you ... just something to be worn any day of the week knit t-tops if you understand me ... not button down shirts here). The original price made me choke (or I should say would have made me choke had I ever considered spending that amount on an every day shirt! But the clearance price left me feeling like I am out of touch with how much things really cost ... ummm since I wear my clothes for as long as possible yeah I can be out of touch. I mean I could still wear my old shirts for another year and save $$ or I can allow the old ones to be replaced at a cost and then have the old ones to sleep in or camp in or paint in or God forbid I actually think it ... Clean in... OUCH... to have clothes that I can clean in without fear of ruining them... nah that ... um, er... well... let's just leave that thought alone for now and never revisit it unless absolutely necessary!!!
So my plan to wear mainly sun dresses is shattered due to the fact that I can't find sun dresses to add to my 2 that I need to sew... now my thought is if I purchased a basic pair of jeans (traumatic for me to be sure) along with those new shirts? then I could bring along the 2 dresses and have pants with a couple of tops and that would suffice for the whole trip (probably fit most of it in my carry on bag! Oh if I could actually pack just what I needed in a carry on bag for a 2 week trip out of the country wouldn't that be incredible??? I would try that you realize I'm not kidding right!??
Well now I've got to really think things through & decide how I want to do this. If I could manage to pack everything I really need for 2 weeks into my carryon bag I wouldn't have to deal with a checked bag at all. I wouldn't have to worry about anyone going through my stuff and possibly taking anything of mine (yes I've traveled out of the country before & had some small items go missing but worse was a friend of mine her jeans & bras were stolen out of her checked bag!) When you "check" your bag they take it away from you to inspect then they close it & put it on the plane you don't see them going through your stuff at that point ... when they go through your stuff in your carry on that is done right in front of you. Ummm not possible to carry all my clothing needs for 2 weeks & toiletries and gifts for the family ??? is it???

Okay so the one scarf is at the finishing stage and I love it! Not a fringe person but think I need to put some fun edge to it so that is what I plan on doing today and then getting the other scarf finished up. And if possible beginning the ruffled stole in lavender color. That makes me happy.
Wishing you all fun, frog free projects.