Here's our Christmas Tree! Isn't she lovely? Not bad for the $24.99 Salvation Army special, eh? 

Christmas 2010

I stumbled across this Crochet Flower Hot Pad on Ravelry.  I still had some of the Bad Acrylic Yarn left (okay, I'll be honest there was still a lot of the Bad Acrylic Yarn left -- I swear the stuff must be multiplying when I'm not looking because I feel like I've made thousands of projects with it already).

The pattern is easy enough to do once you figure out how to fold the darn thing.  I do have to admit though that mine definitely don't look as nice as the ones posted in the photo section on Ravelry.  I think mostly because a) I didn't use 2 or more colours and b) because my stitches were too tight and left gaps.  All the pretty ones have no gaps and lie so nice and flat.

I have been crafting like a crazy person for the last few weeks in preparation for Christmas. I have so much to share with everyone in Blogland.

I've made:

• a scarf & wrist warmers (aka fingerless gloves)
• countless potholders (& by countless I mean 5)
• all these little perler bead creations made to look like Mario characters
• Most of Andrew's name out of these perler beads (only the W left)
• about 4 dishcloths
• a few market/grocery bags - 1 looks awesome and the other 2 not so much
• and I'm in the process of making a scarf for Andrew (& hopefully I will have enough time to make him a pair of mitts and a toque as well).

If I have time (Hah!) I also want to make these baskets using old Christmas cards and a scarf for my young cousin.  Times a wasting!

**I started writing this post on December 11th...and I'm only finishing it now...on December 20th.  What can I say?  I'm super slow as molasses.**

It's been a long time since I've posted and much has happened since I last posted.  I'm not very good at regular posting.

•  My Mom sold her house and moved to an apartment.  It's been a relief not to have to worry about the house and her being in the house in the winter.
• I am still waiting on that job that I posted about almost a year ago.  The job was posted in December 2009.  I went for the test in April, the interview in July, they checked my references in October and a couple weeks ago I got an email about the position.  It told me that I met all the essential qualifications and that I was placed in a pool that may or may not be used to staff the position, blah, blah.  I can check the job poster to see if the position has been filled and so far it's still open.  So, I guess I'm still in the running?
• My Discernment Committee recommended to my Church Council that I become a Candidate for Diaconal Ministry!  The year long discernment process is over! It's mostly official now.  It still needs to be approved by Presbytery and I have to sit two candidacy interviews, but I am pleased that things are moving along.  If all goes well I can do the first module this May/June.  I hope to post more about the program I am undertaking and what it all involves.
• I applied for another position in a different department and I've gone to write the test for the position. 
• I've been super busy making things for Christmas.  I've got so many pictures to take and upload for everyone to see.  Andrew is super excited about Christmas this year.  He woke Husband and me up at 6:15 AM this morning to tell us that Christmas is coming in 4 days!  lol.

I've been a busy busy busy busy bee these last few weeks.  So much has been going on and I've been madly crafting for Christmas.  Before I post about all the deets of the last few weeks, just a teaser post.

I finished the box stitich scrapghan for my Mom a few weeks back.  I think it looks divine.  I hope my mom likes it.  I sure like it.

In the end I could have made it a few more rows. I still have scrap yarn leftover. But it's hard to estimate how much you will need when you're in the thick of things.  Looking at it as a finished object, I wish I had had more blues and purples and not so heavy on the pinks and yellows.
I already want to make another one.  But, on the next one I make I want to play with colour and have an actual colour pattern that i follow.

It's from this patten that I found on Ravelry.

I think I did not so bad on the costume. I made the hat and the overalls; the sweater is his.  We went to Boo At The Zoo on Saturday so it was our Pre-Halloween trial with the costume.  It was all great, except the overalls are about 8 sizes too big (even with pants on underneath) and the fleece straps stretched quite a bit (& quite quickly too).  I cut a big wide belt and slapped it on and tied it as tight as it would go.  I rolled the pants legs and did a horrible horrible hemming job.  With those fixes in place we headed out to the zoo. 

Overall the costume held up well through the evening.  the hemming job gave out close to the end, but the belt held him up.  He was definitely warm and definitely more stylish then the store bought Mario's and Luigi's.

There's the Kindergarten Halloween Party on Thursday and Trick Or Treating on Sunday, so I plan on doing a much better hemming job (I don't want to cut the material because hopefully he'll wear it next year too--or is that wishful thinking?) and maybe sewing the belt on?  We also need white gloves.  Forgot about the white gloves.  I'm not sure what to do with the stretchy straps though.

So, would I make another costume?  I don't know.  It was a lot of work and it wasn't any cheaper then a store bought one.  (although I have scads of leftover green felt and blue fleece--probably enough to make a super hero cape for Christmas) 

Super Mega Close Up!

I've decided that I love the library.

When I was a kid my parents and I went every 2 weeks. I would take out dozens and dozens of books of all different kinds. Mostly too old for me, I was always trying to challenge myself. Sometimes it worked. Most times it didn't. I was all over the place in the library, from Sci Fi to Fantasy to Biographies to Romance to Picture Books (hey, sometimes a picture book was what you needed when a kid). When I was 12 or 13 I discovered that I quite liked the author Harold Robbins and novelist Jackie Collins was soon to follow. I was always allowed to take out whatever I wanted. I cannot recall ever having my reading censored by my parents. I don't really remember ever liking classics, looking back I mostly read trashy, forgettable fiction.

My mother always took out Mysteries. Always. It was rare for her to take out a book of another genre. My Dad liked spy novels and computer magazines.

As I got older we went to the library less and less. I don't really remember why. My Dad was often working nights or evenings, My Mom was busy being involved with the Church, and I had a busy schedule with Ringette. I suppose all that together made for less library time and less family time.

As I got older it became something of a thing for me to OWN books. We never really had money so I spent a lot of time purchasing books at garage sales and used books stores. I loved being surrounded by books. I discovered a lot of authors between the ages of like 15 and 20. John Saul, Robin Cook, Carol Shields, Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Alice Munro, Di Brandt, Margaret Sweatman. University helped with that list as well. I took quite a few English classes and added more authors.

I often went to the library at the U of W, but it was different. It wasn't for leisure, it was for school and study. It was different. Libraries changed for me. They became, in a way, a place of work, not leisure. After I graduated from University I just kind of stopped going to libraries. I still had books (frigging a ton of them from buying them used--oh those used book sales were a curse. I'd come home with 15 or 20 books every time) and I still bought new ones.

After I had Andrew, I didn't read for a very long time. I think in his first 3 years I only read the final 2 books of the Harry Potter series. There is seriously no time to read when you have an infant or toddler. 

When I started back to work there was no time to read again.  There is definitely no time to read when you are a new Mom who has just returned back to to work and is trying to manage everything.

That's why I'm glad that this year I have been focussing on reading.  I've had a good mix too I think.  Some academic, some literature (sort of), some fluff, and some stuff for my job.  I love spending time at the library again.  I love wandering down in the stacks and randomly pulling out books to see what they're about and if they're interesting.  I love passing a rack of Fiction and deciding to give one of the books a chance.  I love bringing Andrew and letting him go wild with the books.  I love reading together.  I love that Andrew loves going to the library (even though it's because he gets to take out kids movies).  I love it all.

The only thing I don't love is the overdue fines.  I'm real bad at returning things on time.  I'm trying to look at the fines as my way of donating to the library.  :P  Husband doesn't see it that way though.

Lovefool by The Cardigans
August, 2004.



This song brings me to 1 week after meeting the Husband--maybe even less. We're at Eddy's Garage. Andrea is singing Lovefool as she always does. The lyric goes, 'love me, love me, just say that you love me' over and over again. I'm sitting at one of the high tables. He is standing with a beer in his hands.

I remember thinking, wouldn't it be really weird if he leaned over and said, 'you know I love you'.

And then he did. I will always remember the surrealness of that moment.

The Before

 I went through my stash and pulled out all the little & medium balls of leftover yarn and put them in my basket.  Immediately I realized 2 things:  A)  A lot of my little bits of yarn are not even from things I have made, but rather leftovers that others have given me and B)  I need to do something with all these odds n ends.

The Basket is overflowing.  I also have a75% completed Hexagon Baby Sweater Disaster to unravel and an unused Dog Sweater to unravel.  The Basket has yellows, reds, beiges, black, and white.  There's not too many blues and greens, which I am a little worried about, but I am hoping that it will resolve itself...or that I will find some more yarn in those colors.
My Mom is moving to an apartment in November, so I decided that I should make her a lap blanket for her new place using the Box Stitch (which I am in LOVE with).  I figure it will be a good way to use up all these little bits of yarn, even the ones that only wrap around my fingers a couple times.

This is the beginning...
The During

This is it today.  I've started decreasing.  I plan on doing a fairly wide border.  I think it's looking very pretty.  I love all the colours together.  I think having a rainbow in a blanket is something everyone needs.

Add caption

The basket is also looking emptier, which is nice.  I love destashing and knowing that I am making something cute and fun out of leftovers.

Super Mega Close UP!!!!

I've got 2 metres of bright blue fleece, 1 metre of bright green soft felt, 2 internet tutorials, and a somewhat shaky plan to make this as Andrew's Halloween Costume...

Andrew loves all things Mario and cannot stop talking about going as Luigi for Halloween.  Lets see if I can do this...

I've been doing the curly girl thing for a couple months now.  I mostly only use conditioner with the first application being a good scalp rub and the second application focusing on the strands/tips.  I would say I shampoo my hair about 10% of the time.  I don't dry my hair very much.  I put it up in a towel loosely for about 5 minutes and then put clear gel in it.  & that's it.  There's no brushing, no blow drying, no styling.  just condition twice, sort of plop, gel, and go!

This whole thing was kind of slow going becuase for a couple weeks I thought I was using conditioner but it was actually shampoo, even though it sure looked like conditioner.  Then, when I went back to the store I ended up buying shampoo+conditioner instead of straight conditioner.  And of course it took me about a week to realize that it wasn't just straight conditioner.  in all it took me about a month to really get on track.

I love how much life my hair seems to have.  The curls bounce and everything falls where it falls and it feels good!  I love it!

my 'before' shots are here. 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this hot pad.  I found the pattern at Ravelry and blogged about my first attempt.

I'd say my second attempt was more successful, although I cannot figure out how to make the square squiggle pattern that the pattern describes.  Instead I just do my own thing.

My goal for this year is to read 25 books.  I've read 14 so far.

These are them so far:

1.  Mission Shaped Children by Margaret Withers
2.  Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone by J.K. Rowling
3.  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
4.  Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
5.  Reflecting With God by Abigail Johnson
6.  Little Bee by Chris Cleave (I'm almost done this one, I highly recommend everyone read it as it is a beautifully written book with a compelling story)
7.  Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
8.  Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
9.  Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
10.  Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling 
11. Curly Girl:  It's More The Just Hair by Lorraine Massey
12. Leadership Can Be Taught by Sharon Dolaz Parks
13.  I read a book about interviews...but now I can't remember what it was called...it was really good with actual practical stuff to think about.
14.  I also read a silly kind of book about how to survive in a job that you don't like.  It was funny...but I can't remember the title either...

Other Books...

Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling -- still reading this...kind of slow going this time.
Be The Pack Leader by Cesar Milan -- I read about half of this and then kind of lost interest and returned it to the library because it was overdue.
Monk Habits for Everyday People by Dennis Okholm  -- still haven't started this...but somehow we spilled water on it and now it's kinda wrecked.  I guess I owe $25 to minister who had leant it to me.

My main problem seems to be that I read 1/4 or 1/2 a book and then lose interest in it or the deadline for reading it for my Discernment Committee has passed and I don't finish it.  I can think of 4 books so far this year that I've done that with.  I think I have a short attention span.

I love to crochet and I love to make things out of nothing.  I love to wrap the thread around my fingers and I love to feel the hook between my thumb and index finger.  I love to watch my project take shape.  There is so much TO love about handcrafting.

But, there is also so much NOT to love.

I can't stand making two of things.  2 slippers.  2 mittens.  2 booties.  Gah.  The second one never works as good as the first one did.  Or the first one is a schmozzle and the second one looks great.  By the time I'm on to the 2nd item i've practically lost interest and I'm already thinking of what I'm going to make next.  It's hard to stay motivated.

I hate weaving in ends.    I'm getting better at it, especially since I discovered weaving in ends with a needle rather then trying to use the crochet hook to weave which is a pain in the ass.

I hate realizing that you've made a mistake on the 3rd round when you're 20 rounds in.  I know the right thing to do is unravel your project and start over...but 92% of the time I can't do it.  I just can't unravel all that work and start over.

I hate trying to figure out how much yarn to buy or trying to decide if you have enough yarn to make a project.  Most of the time I can never estimate correctly or I will just throw caution to the wind and jump right in and then about halfway through I start to get that feeling that I won't have enough thread and then worrying through the whole project about the amount yarn.  Sometimes I'm right and I run out.  Sometimes though I'm completely wrong and end up with yarn leftover.  Sometimes I try to ration the yarn and will make my tension tighter or drop the odd stitch or start doing HDC instead of DC or whatever.  It's a strange game I play.

What I really hate though is not having enough time to crochet everything that I want to and having to stop crocheting to go to work.  lol.

What do you hate about crochet?  Or if you don't crochet, what do you hate about your craft?

I made these slippers for Andrew for Christmas using this pattern. The yarn is out of my stash.  It's a thick and utilitarian yarn--perfect for slippers.  I'm sure someone gave it to me because they didn't like it.

I've used this pattern before (read about it here) and I love it.  It's full of knobbly goodness.  I wore that pair I made for myself until the soles wore out (mostly from using not sturdy enough yarn).  I also made a pair for my aunt last Christmas (or maybe the Christmas before?) using nice thick yarn like this kind and she is still wearing them and seems to like them.  So, I hope that Andrew likes them too.

Andrew loves it when I make things for him and he has been asking for slippers for years now.  Every time he sees me making  a pair he asks for his own.  & now finally, after like 3 years, he'll have his own pair.

I made this as a square to be part of a patchghan on a forum i particpate in.  It's really supposed to be a hot pad, but I thought that it would be neat to make it as a patch for the ghan.

I used super thick yarn (more of that 'bad' yarn) and it turned out...interesting.  I could not figure out the squiggle pattern for the life of me...so I just kind of did whatever.  I think it turned out neat.

I've already made another one with more appropriate thread and with a better 'squiggle' pattern and it looks smashing.

Andrew's first day of Kindergarten was actually last week, but as usual I am slow with this kind of stuff.  I was at work, but Husband reported that Drop Off and Pick Up went very well.  He wasn't all that into getting his picture taken...but humored Daddy. 

I love the uniform.  Not too casual, but not over the top.  I can't believe I have a school-aged child!

I know, I know...I am super late at this.  But, better late then never.  I can't remember what days we did things anymore, but this is all in the right order.

I wanted to go to Bath, but it was very expensive to stay right in Bath so we spent two nights in Newport, Wales.  I really liked Wales and wish that we had got to see more of it.

We stayed at a Premier Inn.  It had a Beefeater Restaurant (pub?) attached to it.

It was at the Beefeater that I had this meal which was awesome! It was a vegetable risotto with grilled chicken. Note the Whole Red Pepper cut in half and grilled.  It was so good I had it twice.
This is what Husband had.  Some kind of Steak And Ale Pie with Peas, Chips, and Gravy.  Typical English Fare.
Here we are in Bath.  They were having some kind of exhibition with Pigs and there were Pigs like this everywhere you turned. They were all decorated differently and popped up all over.
We spent a good 2 hours in the Roman Baths Museum. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

I love this shot because it shows so much history in one snap. you can see the Roman Baths right at the bottom, then the medieval building just above, and the modern building with the window that opens.  Also Bath Abbey is in the background.
This is the square just outside of the Roman Bath Museum.  The people on the other side of the wall are in the Museum.  There were wonderful musicians that would come and play for half an hour and then trade off.  Bath definitely had a very sophisticated and artsy feel to it.
The Royal Crescent, which we had learned was built as private homes for the rich and were mostly rented out for individuals wanting to take part in the Waters.  There was a small museum with very knowledgeable staff.  It's rumored that Nicholas Cage owns one of the apartments.
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This is a Weir.  I had never seen a Weir before and was not expecting to turn the corner and look over the bridge and see this.  I think I may have gotten a little excited and started shrieking at Husband to come look at this most beautiful and wonderful thing in the water.  He was not all that impressed.  I guess weirs are fairly common in England.  Read about Weirs here.

Here we are the next day at Abbergaveny Castle in Wales.  We mainly picked this castle to visit because it was free, but I'm so glad we choose to do something out of the way because it was gorgeous in Abergavenny.  The sky was so blue and it was such a nice day. 
The castle is in disrepair, but that did not detract from the history of the location.  We got the impression that the castle had been sacked and burned numerous times over the years.

In Wales all the signs were bilingual:  in English and Welsh.  I quite liked this sign.
This is the building that houses the present day museum.  I just loved how ivy and the flowers were growing up the side of the building.  Everything looked so organic.

Here we are back in England.  This is a pub on the way to the Lake District.  The sky was Grey, but it wasn't rainy. 

This is the back side of the pub.  There was a little brook that ran right behind the building.  Another beautiful, lush, green snapshot.

After lunch at the Pub we headed on up to Windemere, the first lake in the Lake District.  Another gorgeous spot in Northern England. 

Andrew hanging out at the Pier.  He desperately wanted Ice Cream at this point and did not want me to be taking pictures..  lol
The day before we left we went to Bowland Wild Boar Park.  It was very kid oriented and the animals seemed quite happy in large enclosures.  There were baby chicks that Andrew got to hold and stroke.  (In true English fashion they called it Chick Stroking)  He was having a great time until the baby chick pooped on him.  That didn't go over well.

Anyways, so that is the gist of our trip.  We all had a marvelous time and can't wait to go back.  It was a great idea having Husband and Andrew go ahead of me so they had a longer time with the ILs.  I quite enjoyed visiting all the different attractions.

Next time I would like to make it to France or somewhere on the Mainland.  And maybe visiting London.

Cheers!

And it's only just finally started to look like something...

I estimate a completion date of March 12, 2014.

I made these 3 hats for someone I know. I think they turned out adorable.

I found the patterns on ravelry. When you wear this one the part with the chains looks like a butterfly. It's hard to see until it's on someone.

Another beanie! I had to actually think of gauge while I was making these hats.  Gauge is usually something I never worry about when crocheting so these hats were quite challenging for me.  There was a lot of unravelling. 

I am absolutely loving this cabled hat pattern.  Too bad it doesn't photograph very well. :(