Is It Spring Yet?

There have been no new adventures really to speak about other than work, work, work. Until last Friday night that is. There I was just having changed into my 'it's Friday night and I don't have to do squat' clothes when the phone rang. It was my mom and she was not feeling well at all. So badly in fact, that she wanted to go to the emergency room. 8 hours later, they admitted her and I crawled back through my door at 3am. She's ok, but they want to monitor her for a few days as they found something on her EKG. She's 91 years old, it could be just about anything ~ parts wearing out, bad mix of medications, you name it. Anyway, not a fun adventure. Needless to say, by Saturday I was a worn out, wrung out, wet dishrag and still haven't completely come back to life even though it is now Sunday. Sitting for 8 hours in a hard waiting room chair can wipe you out beyond all reason. I did manage to crochet several squares toward my 'Moroccan' afghan which went a long way toward maintaining sanity in an emergency room on a Friday night :o\ There's a lot to be said for having a small project bag ready to go as you run out the door.

So while I wait to hear what they're going to do ~ keep her or release her ~ I be surfing and I be buying patterns.

Because I LOVE LOVE LOVE Patricia Kristoffersen, I had to pick up her latest doily book Exquisite Doilies. I just love all of the texture she puts into her designs!



Then off to Annie's Attic for more doilies of the old fashioned sort.



And more doilies ~ this time called placemats and hotpads as size 3 cotton is used for quick results. And we're always looking for quick aren't we?



I will likely never make this afghan due to the extreme number of color changes, but isn't the Cathedral Rose Window Afghan gorgeous?



Then it was off to e-Pattern Central cuz I hadn't been there in forever to see what they had. I picked up a pattern for bullion stitch hearts. Not sure why, I just thought they were cute. Or maybe it was because the pattern is only 99 cents.



As I was evidently not done, I then went to Amazon and picked up this afghan book ~ 50 Sensational Crochet Afghans and Throws. I was inspired by the color choices of a member at Ravelry. It had been on my wish list for some time, but the color choices put me over the edge and convinced me to hit the Buy with 1-Click button.



Since I now could delete this book from my wish list, my list was looking rather empty. So I added these!





I was then apparently done with crochet pattern shopping. But strangely not done with typing in that atm card number, so after reading a MooNie update, I hit his website then MooNie and Broon's website and picked up their DVD. These guys are a riot ~ although I have to admit that if MooNie hadn't joined forces with Broon, I probably would pass on Broon, but together they are quite funny. I first saw MooNie at the Southern California Renaissance Faire several years ago and haven't missed his show there since.



Was I done yet? HECK NO!!! Cuz I obviously realized that I don't have enough Teresa Wentzler cross stitch charts! I learned that she is now able to make her Best of Fantasy charts available for download at Patterns Online. So since I was still in surfing and buying mode, I went there and picked up these charts:



I didn't have the Sun Dragon chart so I picked that one up. Nor did I have the Needle Guardian chart. Since I love dragons and all, not downloading these was not an option.



The neat thing about Patterns Online is that your purchased charts are stored online, so should you ever lose the files, you can always get them back. The downside ~ if you want to consider it one ~ is that you need to install their pattern viewing software in order to print your charts. It's a read/print only version of PC Stitch. I don't see this as a problem, but if you don't want to install more software on your machine, you need to know this before you purchase!

Just so you know that I do occasionally make something from the myriad of patterns that I buy/download, I did manage to finish this doily, but have not gotten around to taking a picture of it yet :oP

I hope you're having a great weekend!

Off-Site

One of our projects at work is taking a bit of a left turn, so the core IT team and I decided we needed to escape the facility to regroup and come up with Plan B. And what better place to escape and regroup than the San Diego Wild Animal Park (which is really in Escondido)?

We spent the first 4 hours hoofing our way through the park with the remaining time doing what one would consider actual work. Here are some pics of the more interesting part of the day ;)


Pretty Kitty!

My favorite critter is the cheetah. They are sleek, they are pretty and they are deadly. You just have to admire something that can take down their prey in 60 seconds or less!


Has anyone seen Crockett & Tubbs?

Flamingos. The more shrimp they eat, the pinker they become. Most of these guys were pretty darn pink so they must be getting their fair share. Noisy weird birds. And there's something not quite right about a knee that bends backwards.


Someday, my backyard will look like this...

I love walking around this park to gather landscaping ideas. Now, if I could just get the hubby out in the backyard...


The Big Kill

You have to give the park designers credit for how they use the funds and donations from the park. They did a great job on the vulture enclosure :D


Can you find the hummingbirds?


What a life!


Offspring of Winston


... and Winston

Winston has been at the Animal Park for as long as I can remember. He's the Big Kahuna in this community being the senior adult male Silverback Lowland Gorilla. In a previous visit where I arrived before normal park hours, the keeper was explaining that Winston hates the rain and actually cries. It is hard to imagine this beastie being a softie ~ lol!

It was a wonderful day and alleviated a great deal of stress. I think everyone should have their off-sites here ;)

PJ Is Doing The Hobbit!!

We knew they'd buckle, but they sure took us for a ride! All have settled their differences and PJ will be producing (not directing, but we're still campaigning.) Even if he doesn't direct, we trust him to keep continuity between LOTR and the Hobbit movies. Yes, movies. There will be 2! Read more here.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go change my underwear. This news took me rather by surprise LOL!!

Picture Day!

OK - I've been negligent a wee bit while I've been off work. So in honor of my last day before I go back to the salt mines, here are pics of things I've been working on.

I picked up Patricia Kristoffersen's Beautiful Baby Borders Blankets booklet and started an afghan for our admin at work. She's another one that thought she was unable to have kids and oops ~ Surprise! So I thought I'd make something a little more special than what I would normally make for a co-worker. The lavendar is Caron's Perfect Match, all of the other colors are Lion's Pound of Love.



First, the pain-in-the-butt squares. Every row is a different color. But the effect is lovely. I have managed to finish the 24 squares that are needed.



Then sl st'd together and edged.



In-between the square strips will be ring strips. There are 28 rings to a strip and they're edged in lavendar like the squares. Again, each ring in succession is a different color, so the work is a little slow-going. And that's it on the baby afghan for now.

Next up is an afghan I have half-heartedly started and work on between projects. I'm calling it the Morocco Afghan because of the colors. The square pattern is the Friendship Jewel Square. I'm not sure yet, but I'm thinking I'll use Drew's joining method (called Dude Assembly) instead of sewing them together. I haven't even thought of the edging yet, but it will likely be rather plain. I'm making this with Vanna's Choice.









Next is a hat that I crocheted for one of CFL's OTW MCALs. It was the last of the holiday MCALs which was for charity. The pattern is Luxury Hat from Woodhill design. I'll be getting this off in the mail tomorrow.



And last up on the picture taking extravaganza is another CFL MCAL ~ Heart Sachets. All were made in thread, the white and pink one in size 3 and the peach one in size 10. A few ribbon roses for decoration and voila! A nice valentine's gift for someone special.



This one will go into a gift basket with some candy for my mom. The color is bridal white which is really a light cream color. What are they saying do you think? lol



Haven't named who this one and the peach one are going to yet.



All 3 of them for size comparison. When made in size 10 thread, it comes out oh-so-dainty to tuck into a lingerie drawer. The larger ones can also be used in the drawer, but I think they look nicer on a bed or dresser.



My hearts are a slight modification from an old vintage pattern which can be found here. I simply make them in 1 color instead of 2 and sew the pillow closed before the edging is done instead of after (what were they thinking?)

And so ends my Christmas vacation crochet! I'll be continuing to work on those afghans and who knows what else. I hope your holidays were happy ones and I look forward to more avid crocheting in 2008!

One-a-Month-Along

You all read me whine about starting too late on my Christmas gift crocheting. Well, Cris came up with a solution for that and called it One-a-Month-Along. Grand idea! If you're interested in joining up for this CAL/KAL, just bip on over to her blog and let her know. Don't forget to snag the button while you're there!

I think my first project will be a men's cap.

P.S. I'm down to 1 cigarette a day! Wahoo!!

Last One!

This is the last of the larger crochet gifts I needed to complete. Woohoo!! Anything else I start at this point might get done by Christmas, might not and be saved for next Christmas. I'm done stressing :P



This is the Baby It's Cold Outside Sweater. I modified it to fit a size 2 ~ which was really easy ~ and made it with Patons Be Mine instead of the recommended Homespun. It came out soooo soft! The cap is a simple pattern called Gotcha Covered that I got from Coats & Clarks old site. I met my girlfriends for our annual Christmas breakfast yesterday and it was a hit (just made it under the wire too ~ whew!)

So now, all that is left is the wrapping of the store-bought gifts. I agonized over what to get my husband as he has everything. Then as I was cruising the local Walgreens looking for stocking stuffers, I got a look at the price of razor blades. Have I just not been paying attention? At what point did men's razor blades go up over $25 for a pack of 8?!! Who is Shick, Gillette, et al, trying to kid here? Well, I wasn't having any of that so I decided to spend $100 on a nice electric shaver for hubby instead of the traditional razor and pack of blades. It may not produce as close a shave as blades, but he's retired and not out to impress anyone anymore (particularly me LOL!)

Oh yeah, here's the latest on the smoking adventure... Chantix is a freaking miracle drug! My husband jumped the gun and started his routine before me. He has had a grand total of 2 cigarettes in 2 weeks. I started 4 days later and am taking a slightly different approach and weaning off instead of quitting cold turkey. I'm currently down from 1 1/2 - 2 packs a day (30-40 cigarettes) to 5 cigarettes a day. The true test was yesterday when I was out with my girlfriends who smoke. I was with them for 6 hours and they smoked like fiends (funny how you notice when you're trying to quit) and I did not go ballistic! I was able to calmly sit there while they puffed away and it didn't bother me and I did not smoke, nor did I want one. How great is that?!! So my official 'quit' date is next Monday. I'm not going to jinx the effort by saying it's in the bag just yet, but if you know of anyone that has been painfully unsuccessful at quitting, do them a favor and let them know about Chantix.

That's it for now. Merry Christmas!

Co-worker Gifts

Since I decided to do "store bought" for co-workers, I did manage to get some crafting in. I made up goodie mugs for 14 people.


Before wrapping. Each mug gets hot chocolate/marshmallow/sprinkle cones enough for 2 mugs, a chocolate dipped pretzel, a smores stick, 2 candy canes, a bottle of coffee liquer, a bottle of Baileys and 3 kisses. I used Wilton icing bags to make the hot chocolate cones - worked perfectly!


After wrapping. I found ornaments on a stick at Michaels which I thought were sweet. They're made of that old fashioned plastic that toys used to be made with. A little ribbon, a little shrink wrap, the blow dryer and I was done!


Some of the inventory.

I still have to put hang tags on them. I made them, but still need to cut them up and tie them on. This is the artwork for the tag I worked up real quick in Illustrator. They will also serve as a card because I'm not handing those out to everyone this year.



The mugs and ornaments were on sale at Michaels for $1 each, the candy canes were on sale at Target for $1 for 12, the chocolate sticks were about $3 for a jar of 12, the liquers were about $2 each - so adding in the ribbon, wrap and shred filler, I think the whole mug cost between $5 - $6 each to make. (If you don't count the weirdo looks I got at the liquor stores when I bought them out of those particular items. They made me feel like a wino - LOL)

I'm starting to feel like I'm going to finish everything in time, so I'm a little less stressed - YAY!!

Edit 12/13/07

All finished!

The Rebel Is Out Of His Yell

What a goober! I think I'd rather hang with the ape :D



Merry Christmas!

Gorilla Drums

Sorry P.J., but this ape beats the fur out of King Kong for coolness ...

1.20.11: Updated to replace the video that had been removed.
6.18.20: Updated to replace the video that had been removed.

Cool Crochet Tips

I snagged this video from Michele's Heart. Considering how I hate to weave in ends, I love the techniques that are shown here!