I'm in the mood for crafting

But it's going to have to wait until we've moved. We're in the process of sorting and packing a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with full basement and attic. Stuffed with things from my husbands and ex-wife's 20 years of living here. Things that were brought from other homes they lived in and never opened after they were packed there. It is amazing and discouraging and cool all at the same time because we're finding pictures of him when he was little and his family and things he's had since he was little.

One thing I'm definitely going to do is put together scrap books of all of these finds for him. That will open the door to scrapbooking (which I have actually been avoiding as there are soooo many gadgets and things out there for scrapbooks). I will however keep it simple. I want them to be nice scrapbooks, but I'm not going goofy over the geegaws either.

I've also been itching to get my hands back on my quilts again. I've got bunches of patterns I want to make and I'm actually looking at machine piecing some of them just to get them done. When it comes to quilting I LOVE hand piecing and hand quilting, but as anyone who does it knows, it takes a long time. The up side is you can carry your piecing with you pretty much any where you go (unlike machine piecing) but it takes quite a while (depending on the pattern). Anyway, I'm rambling. Colors, patterns, batting lofts, backings and quilt designs are all whirling through my head and kicking and screaming to become reality.

In the meantime I'm working on a quick cross stitch and packing everything else to go.

We're moving to a smaller 3 bedroom 2 bath but no basement or attic, so lots of things are being whittled down. I personally think it's a very good thing. I am so over the clutter.

I will be posting more after the move, we just have to get things done around here. Also, I finally got rid of a lingering cold (FINALLY!!!) and am feeling much better. The Crohn's still rears it's ugly head and I'm working on getting it more under control. It's actually more like an ongoing struggle. I've ordered two cookbooks that I'm hoping will help.

Well back off to more packing. The sooner I'm packed and out of here the sooner I can get to the quilt making.

Here's to a creative and happy 2009

This past year has been a doozy. I haven't gotten as much crafting done as I would have liked, but I got some in.

Lots of personal changes including getting married. (Now there's one I never thought I would do...I'm still a little shell-shocked, but very happy) This year will bring a move to a new city and home. Where? I'm not sure yet.

On the creative front, I'm planning to continue with knitting, but also get back into the quilting and cross stitch. I've got an itch to be creative after what seems like a long "down" time. I've been knitting but I haven't felt ideas spark like they have been lately in a long time. I guess I'm in a better space mentally now and I know from my past that my crafting makes me happy so I'm going to craft.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2009. Things may be tough, but I'm confident we can all make it through. I look forward to continue reading different blogs for inspiration and helpful tips. I just hope I'm able to contribute more on my end than I did this year.

Here's to 2009!!

Four Corners Dish Cloth

In my quest to knit ALL of the dish cloths I have patterns for, here is the latest:



You can find the pattern here. It's a lot of fun to knit and knits up fast. I'm already thinking about pulling some more variegated yarns out to play with since they work so nicely. I'm also thinking about trying some self-striping to see what the effect would be.

The dish cloth in the picture is not blocked but I still think it looks great. Right now I'm working on "A Christmas Story" as it was next in line in my folder ("4 Corners" came before "A Christmas Story" because of the number in the title). I will post when it's complete.

I'm also working on the sweater for Zoe (like George's) and the black pair of arm warmers for my sister. Bouncing back and forth keeps me from getting bored and they move along instead of becoming UFO's.

Will post photos when done.

Bleeech

That's pretty much how I feel right now. I think I'm coming down with a cold. It's floating around our little community and though I've tried to stay away from people who have it apparently it didn't work.

It doesn't help matters any that the Humira suppresses my immune system, so I'm anxious about getting a cold - or anything for that matter. I woke up with a slight sore throat and at the end of the day I'm getting those runny eyes, sore throat, beginning of a runny nose signs that tell me a cold is imminent. I'm hoping to get rid of it fairly quickly, but the people I know who have or have had it said it doesn't shake that quickly. GREAT!!! Just what I needed.

However, the Humira is working way better than I expected. I gave myself my third injection last Friday. I had a follow-up doctor appointment and he was thrilled that it seems to be working so well for me. So am I. The only thing I can think of is that I bruise a little easier now. I'm going to call one of the nurses to discuss that, but I think it's to be expected.

Actually one other thing that tells me it's really working is the weight gain I'm experiencing. I'm actually going to have to start watching how much I eat. It was an eat whatever I can to get some nutrients and now it's watch what I'm eating because I'm gaining too much weight. I'm not really complaining, but the weight always goes to my bust and my butt first and I feel like I'm carrying a whole other body on my rear end when I walk. I can feel the darned thing moving back there and I don't like it any more. Ms. Lopez and Ms. Kardashian can keep it all to themselves, I want my big butt gone again.

It's amazing to me how heavy that extra weight is. I can't believe I carried that around for so long and was used to it. I can't stand it now. Of course, nibbling on candy corn (as I'm doing as I type this) isn't helping any.

Oh well, there are worse things that could be happening to me right now and I am grateful beyond words that the Humira is working for me right now.

Blue arm sleeves

Here are the blue arm sleeves that were made for my sister Lory. They are a little shorter than the green ones, but they work for her as well.

Dish Cloth update

Here are two of the dishcloths I knitted while knitting the sleeves. The first is from the Starfish pattern:


I used the Sugar n Cream Pinky Stripes. I love the self striping yarns from Sugar n Cream. I must get more!

The second one is called Dishpan Bubbles. This pattern was so much fun to make and very easy. It is a purchased pattern from e-Patterns.com. When I saw it, I had to have it. I love the way the variegated yarn works in this pattern.


That's it for now. There were others (a DW cloth made with Sugar & Cream Fairy Tales) and a windowpane pattern that I don't think will show up well on camera.

Lory's sleeves

Well after months of knitting (knitting a little, putting them down, knitting again, putting them down), some frogging and finally getting threatened to get them done "or else", I finished two pairs of the Silk Sleeves from "One Skein" for my sister.

And after they were finished and the seam was sewn, panic literally set in. I didn't think they would fit a small child, let alone my sister. But she proved me wrong. Here's a picture of the first pair. They are made from Malabrigo Lace 100% Baby Merino Wool in Verdes.


You don't have any idea how happy I am to see that they actually look like they are supposed to look on her arm. I also knitted a pair in Malabrigo that was shades of blue (can't remember the name right now) and the next pair will be black. My sisters only request is that I increase the sleeves by 4 more stitches on the upper arm. I'm hoping it won't be too big, but it shouldn't be.

While knitting the sleeves, I also knitted a few dish cloths and restarted the second sweater that was commissioned for a little girl she knows. Seeing as it is months late, I frogged it and went up one size.

I still have to take pictures of the dish cloths. I also have to make batches of peach jam tomorrow. I'm hoping the peaches I bought are still okay to use. It's been about a week since I got them, but something always seems to get in the way of my making them (like being exhausted when I get home).

So tomorrow, my goal is to take pictures of the recently finished cloths and make the jam. Piece of cake! (yeah, right...)