Woo Hoo!!!

Guess what?! I won Michele's give away on her blog Calico Daisy!

She was celebrating her Blog's one year anniversary [or in blog terms... blogiversary!] I was the winner of her generous gift give away. I have been reading Michele's blog for a few months now, I think I was introduced to her back in March when I had my own blogiversary, but I'm not exactly sure if that's when, anyway, it was really cool to find someone from SC, the state I was missing. I can't believe it's been nearly 2 years since we packed our house up and moved to VA, but time flies and so it has been.

Needless to say, I still miss SC and all the beautiful places and smiling faces [is that what the license tags used to say? LOL! I can't remember, it's been too long since I've seen one!] and Michele is going to make me a tote bag for my "Nannybird Crafts" with some reminders of that great state on it for me. I did request it have something that will remind me of her blog too... but I also told her I want her to surprise me, because I know I will love anything she makes, because I know she will be making it just for me and it will come from SC! I can't wait to be able to show it off. Michele has a great Etsy shop too, and makes custom ordered items you can see if you go to her blog there is a link. So go give her a visit and see the great work she does!

Recycled Purseability Purse Pattern

Here is a link to HOW TO MAKE PLARN if you don't already have one or know how to do it.


Also, you don't have to use plarn if you want to make it with regular yarn, I would suggest bulky or chunky weight to get similar results or doubling up on worsted will give you a larger purse if you hold the two strands together or you could even use one strand with a smaller hook, I want to make one with wool and felt it, but I haven't got any wool right now that will work, if you want to do that, let your own tastes dictate what you choose to use.
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Recycled Purseability Purse Pattern

Materials:
Plastic bag yarn, strips cut to 3 cm width approx. 1 1/8”
wide
Size J crochet hook this will create a nice dense fabric
All stitches are Half Double Crochet [HDC]unless other wise
noted
To create the decreases over 2 stitches, insert hook and
pull up loop twice, then through all 3 loops in other words
don’t YO as a regular HDC stitch.

The base is worked by joining each row with a slip stitch
then the body is worked in the round, I will point out when
to change and when to begin using a pin, stitch marker or
scrap of yarn to mark beginning of each row.
You will achieve best results if you stretch and shape the
plastic fabric as you go.

Row 1:
Chain 21
Work 2 HDC in second chain from hook.
Work HDC stitches across 18 stitches.
Work 3 HDC in next stitch, turn work to continue working the
opposite side of unworked part of the chain.
Work 18 HDC stitches.
Work 1 HDC in space where first 2 HDC’s were worked, Making
sure you skip over the chain one of beginning of round, join
with a slip stitch in top of first HDC worked. [42 stitches
total]

Row 2:
Chain 1, work 2 HDC in same stitch as joining slip st.
work 2 HDC in next stitch.
Work 19 HDC’s
work 2 HDC’s in each of next 2 stitches.
work 19 stitches , join with a slip stitch to first stitch
worked.
[46 stitches total]

Row 3:
Chain 1, Work 2 HDC’s in same stitch as joining Slip St.
*[Work 1 HDC in next stitch, work 2 HDC for an increase in
next stitch] repeat work between [ ]'s once more. *
Work 18 stitches, work 2 HDC in next stitch, repeat from *
to * once.
Work remaining 18 stitches, join with a slip stitch to
first st.
[52 stitches total]

Row 4:
Chain 1, Work 1 HDC in same stitch as joining slip stitch.
*Work 2 HDC’s in second stitch, [work 1 HDC in next
stitch, then 2 HDC’s in following stitch] repeat the work
between the [ ]'s 3 times total*
Work 19 HDC
Repeat from * to * work last 18 stitches, join with a slip
st. to first st. [60 stitches total]

Row 5:
This row will be worked as Single Crochet Stitches using
the back loop only, to form a base ridge.

Chain 1, Work 1 stitch in same stitch as joining slip
stitch.
*2 SC in next stitch, [work 1 stitch in each of next 2
stitches, 2 SC in next stitch] repeat the work between the
[ ]'s 3 times total*
Work 20 SC remember, back loops only
Repeat from * to *
work 19 SC join with slip stitch. [68 stitches total]

Row 6: This is the last increase row, and where you begin
working in the round also where you will need to begin
using a marking on the first stitch of each round.

Chain 1, work 1 HDC in each of next 2 stitches. [placing
marker in first stitch.] *Work 2 HDC in next stitch. [work
1 HDC in each of next 2 stitches, Work 2 stitches for an
increase in next stitch.] repeat work between [ ]'s 3
times more for a total of 5 increases*
Work 21 HDC stitches, repeat from * to *
Work last 19 stitches. Do NOT join, do not chain one. The
end stitch will be off center, and should be.
[78 stitches total]

Row 7 - 11: Work these 5 rows evenly in HDC
Moving pin or marker at beginning of each row. [Making sure
to keep your marking in the very first stitch of each round,
if you forget and try to move it later, it will effect the
stitch count at the finishing.] Your beginning stitch for
the round will gradually move right, and it’s suppose to.

Row 12:
Work a decrease in the first 2 stitches [decrease as stated
above]
work 22 HDC crochets, Work a decrease
Work 13 stitches, Decrease once
Work 22 stitches, Decrease once
Work 13 stitches. [74 stitches total]

Row 13:
Reminder to keep the first stitch in each new row marked
with pin or contrasting yarn.
Work all stitches evenly in Half Double Crochet stitch, [74
stitches]

Row 14:
Work 5 stitches, Decrease once
Work 10 stitches, Decrease once
Work 23 stitches, Decrease once
Work 10 stitches, Decrease once
Work 18 stitches. [70 stitches total]

Row 15:
Work all stitches even. [70 stitches]

Row 16:
Work 11 stitches. Decrease once
Work 33 stitches, Decrease once
work 22 stitches. [68 stitches total]

Row 17:
Work 5 stitches. Decrease once
Work 10 stitches. Decrease once
Work 20 stitches. Decrease once
Work 10 stitches. Decrease once
Work 15 stitches. [64 stitches total]

Row 18:
Work one row even

Row 19:
Work 4 stitches. Decrease once
Work 12 stitches. Decrease once
Work 16 stitches. Decrease one
work 12 stitches. Decrease once
Work 12 stitches [60 stitches total]

Row 20 and 21:
Work 2 rows even

Row 22:
Work a decrease in first 2 stitches
Work 20 stitches. Decrease once
Work 6 stitches. Decrease once
Work 20 stitches. Decrease one
Work remaining 6 stitches [56 stitches total]

Row 23:
Work one row evenly.
This is the end of the body of the bag, it will be uneven
looking, but it will even out in the next step.

Keeping pin or marker in place, for ease in following
which side I am explaining, work 8 "SINGLE"
crochets, chain 1, in next stitch switch back to HDC, work
6 stitches, chain one and turn. [These 6 stitches SHOULD be
on the half way mark of the bag and will form the handle if
they do not align correctly, adjust so they are centered, this is
where error can be from not keeping the first stitch marked
properly.]

work 6 Single Crochets [use SINGLE Crochet on all inside
rows, the inside row being the side that will be against your body, the outside row is what is visible.] Chain 1, turn
Work 1 HDC, decreases Twice, work 1 HDC Chain 1 and turn
Work 4 Single crochets, chain 1 and turn.
Work 1 HDC, decrease once, work last HDC stitch, chain 1 and
turn.
Work 3 SC, chain 1, turn
Work 1 decrease using stitches 1 and 2, then work another
decrease using stitches 2 and 3, chain 1 and turn.
Work 2 SC chain 1 and turn
Decrease once, chain 1 and turn
Work 1 SC, chain 1 and turn the “right side out, facing
you.
slip hook into base of stitch just worked, pull up yarn, then slip through
stitch and through the ch 1 on hook.

Chain 20 to 28 stitches, depending on length
of handle you will want. [keep in mind, this will be half
the length]
In second chain from hook, work SC down length of the chain
and continue SC down handle base and across the 22 stitches
of the body of the purse to the opposite side of bag. [the
pin should be facing you as you work down the length of the
chain for the handle.]

Repeat handle base formation and chain length for handle,
making sure the side with out the pin is facing you, work
down the chain and handle base in SC stitch. continue SC
across the 22 stitches of the body of the purse, that have
not been previously worked, and that are now facing you
that HAVE the pin or marker in it. Continue back up the
first handle section working on the opposite side of chain
with SC stitches.

When you reach the end of this chain, break yarn, thread a darning needle and sew the 2 handle pieces together, making sure the 2 "finished" edges match. [I break the yarn leaving a loop on the working end, so the ball of yarn can then be reattched with out a knot by removing the broken yarn and start with a whole loop. Reattaching in the same manner as when you looped them together to make the yarn.]
work SC stitches down the last remaining side of handle that is
unworked, continue down the base of the handle and work 2
slip stitches at handle base to join to the stitches of the
body side with out pin.

At this point the handle is done and can be tucked into the
body of the purse to keep it out of the way as you work the
flap.

Chain 1 then work 18 SC across the body of the bag, [these 18 stitches should be centered between the handle bases.] Chain 1 turn [when right side of purse flap faces you, use HDC crochet stitches, when inside of flap faces you use SC
stitches, this technique will eliminate the bars showing on
the front that would show if you use only HDC throughout]

Work 18 HDC, chain 1 turn work 18 SC, chain 1 turn, repeat
these 2 rows 5 times total.

Next row Work 1 HDC, decrease once, work 12, decrease, work
1 HDC chain 1 turn work SC across. Chain 1 turn.

Repeat decrease row above, but working 10 stitches between
the decrease stitches, chain 1 turn work SC across. Chain 1
turn.

Repeat decrease row, working 8 stitches between the 2
decreases, break off yarn.

Turn purse so the side with the pin is facing you, the flap
is closed and down, on the left side of the base of the
flap, reattach yarn. [You will then open the flap and
turn the purse to continue. I only explain so you are sure
to reattach the yarn to the correct side] and work SC down
side, ***IMPORTANT! [Skip a space between the sides and
bottom edges to create a rounded edge, or work 3 in the
first and last stitch of the bottom edge for squared
corners on the flap.]***
continue SC across the 12 stitches of the bottom edge and
up remaining side.

Work reverse SC stitch back down and
OVER the SC stitches just worked, break off yarn and work
in ends. The purse is now done, and can be lined, if you
choose to, I usually add a sturdy bottom too, before I line
it. For variation, the reverse SC stitch can be worked on
both sides of the handle as well. Another option is to
eliminate the flap and use a zipper or Velcro as a closure.

Now that your purse is finished, SHAPE it, just like when
you crochet or knit with yarn to get the best appearance of
your finished project you have to block it, no water,
blocking board or pins required, just stretch and shape the
plastic so it takes the shape it's intended to have.
ENJOY!

Busy Work..

Lately I am seeking quick fixes and easy work that gets a completed project done, so I feel as if I have accomplished something. I still haven't worked the edging on the shawl I am making that I can't show you yet, I love this pattern and can't wait to give you the information on it, but since it's a surprise I can't show my hand, but when I can, you will hear all about it!

So, in the mean time as I mentioned last week I was working on more wash cloths. This morning I made a neat project I found on Ravelry, called a Swiffer Cardi, by Tiffany at Tiff's Crochet, I'd call it a Swiffer Sweater, sounds better to me, but alls the same in the end, it's a Swiffer cover. If you want the pattern, click on the highlighted works "Tiff's Crochet" and scan the center column, you will see it under her "down load my patterns on Ravelry" I think you can access it if you aren't a Ravelry member, off her blog with this link.

I made mine smaller then it calls for because I plan in using it wet and we all know how cotton stretches when it's wet! So it was tight getting it on the base, till I decided... "Well dah!!! WET IT!!" Which I did and it went on great, fits snug even wet so it will scrub all those sticky spots of drips and spills that always seem to happen on the kitchen floor.


I then made a hot pad using up some of the left over yarns that wouldn't be enough to make another cloth and combined 3 different yarns to make it, they blended pretty good because you can't tell there's 3 different ones, it only looks like 2 for a contrast. Here is a picture of the hot pad called Starburst Hotpad, on top of 3 dish cloths. The bottom center dishcloth is garterlac by Criminy Jickets, [clockwise under the hot pad] four corners, from Pocket Knitting and Ballband.

I then worked 2 new patterns I have never done before, the round style is new to me.
The one on the left is called a Knitted Lacy Round Cloth The tan colored one is called a "doily style dishcloth"

Then some more of the same that I have worked before, garterlac, Ballband, and the cute lacy one is from Carol's Knitting.




Yesterday, I made a crochet hook case, by Priscilla Hewitt, also a pattern I found on Ravelry.
I'm a member in a group on Ravelry that is one skein projects, they pick a different one for each month and this months was the knitting needle case, I also made one of my own for my double points, not using the patterns they suggested, but using some odd skeins of yarn that I mentioned a while back my mother in law gave me last summer. The months project gave me a goal to get one done for my hooks too. Well that's about it, whats happening on your crafting front?

Parents as Teachers

Silly Stuff

I found this over at Tiff's blog Making Room for Serendipity

57 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

A lot of questions, actually 100 questions, but was kind of fun to think in "vintage" ideals. I would have guessed I would be a poor housewife in that time period, but apparently I'm hard on myself because I polled out to be "average" LOL!

The funny thing is apparently, my husband is a better husband then I am a wife, at least when "I" took the test for HIM, he didn't take this test, I just answered it the way I felt was accurate. Hum... gives me something to think about!

112 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Recent Projects

I have been keeping it simple, too scattered brained to do much concentration on anything too complicated. I am working on a shawl, but it's a surprise so I can't show you anything, I have the body of it done, but haven't worked on it in over a week, all it needs now is the bottom edging lace. That has been the majority of my crafting recently, beside MORE dishcloths! LOL, I know, I don't need any more right now, but they are fun to make, using different patterns I have found on Ravelry as well as remaking some of the patterns I have worked before and enjoyed. It's keeping my busy and out of trouble.

I was working on the froot loop socks from Knitty and got one done and was down to the heal when I goofed up something furious and can't for the life of me find the patience to take it back and pick up where I goofed up. I have snugly tucked that away for a time when I have more patience with the whole process.

Then there is my pattern I wrote that I am waiting for more reviews from my test crocheters to report before I post it. It is for this bag

I want as many bugs worked out before I post it because I am afraid I don't make the best pattern writer in the world, since I have been just winging it since I started making purses over 3 years ago. I have had so many requests for a pattern for this style bag and I finally wrote one up, tested 3 times myself and came out OK and now am waiting for more feedback on my wording and explanations.

Getting nervous about my role of mother of the bride! I'm not the best hostess in the world. Too scattered I think. What do you think of my dress I plan on wearing?

The first picture shows the color the best, but not perfectly, then I shut off the flash for a close up of the beads and hemline because it was reflecting and blurring the detail, so the color is way off in the second and third pictures.

I thought I'd carry my daughters theme of shades of purple into my roll as mother of the bride. It's not a new dress, but I've only worn it once before 2 years ago for a Red Hats function when the chapter I used to belong to had a roll reversal day, when everyone OVER 50 wore the pink and lavender of the younger then 50s required colors and vise versa, I am no longer in the red hat society, don't know where to get involved here, there is only one chapter in my town and it's not accepting new members. ANY way, I know my dress isn't new, but I think it will do for the occasion just fine. Not much else to report! TTFN

The Fun Way To Growing Older

I usually hate my birthday, I am guilty of trying to make it "just another day" but with little children, birthdays are magical days, filled with fun and are suppose to be an "all about ME" day! Last week, Channon and the grand-babies came to visit and were here on my birthday, I was given a real treat, Channon made me dinner! I think she has grown into liking the roll, if I'm wrong, it didn't show with the time and effort and end results she created for me! Darn, I just realized I didn't take a picture of the feast she created for the day! Grr..

Food aside, it was the little ones that made it fun. Liv was so excited to celebrate, and wanted to get a secret surprise for me. It was so cute to see her whispering to her Momma and see the bright eyes of excitement! I am grinning now thinking about how "INTO" it she got! Until.... she asked "where's the cake?" and I told her I didn't want a cake, the initial look of shock, with the raised eyebrows and bugging eyes, turned quickly into disappointment when the realization set in that there would be no dessert!

Sucker that I am for a crest fallen expression on a child's face, I was quick to agree to make "donuts" for dessert! When I had my in home day care YEARS ago, back when I was "Just a baby"..... I had 5 little boys to feed, and their favorite treat for the week was always these donuts, I would just take refrigerated biscuits, poke a hole in the center and stretch them out, then fry them and after they drained a bit shake them in powdered sugar or sugar and cinnamon, they were always a hit. I made them the first night the grand-babies came and I can still hear Mitch and the way he said "DOUGH-nuts" ringing in my ear.

OK, I am getting way off topic! The point? The little ones made the day, then we got to celebrate Mitch's 3rd birthday with him on Sunday too! So, with out further blabbing on from me, here are some pictures of the past few days. You know, a grandma loves to share her pictures!

What's your Personality?

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions. Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's Your Personality Type?

Mosaic Meme - The Game

My creation
Originally uploaded by nannybird

1. Nanette Fabray, 2. Sesame Chicken Entreé, 3. Letchworth Soccer, 4. A bag for Sarah, 5. Tom Hanks, 6. drive-thru winery........, 7. map_australia, 8. Large Carrot Cake, 9. happy happy..., 10. no matter what... we are in this together!, 11. "Creative Hands" - Mindy, 12. nannybird socks

This took a LONG time for me to make, it wouldn't have been as bad if I hadn't needed to do it twice since I didn't know what I was doing half the time and the other half, only had a trace of a clue thanks to the great detailed instructions from Michele over at Calico Daisy!

Idea:
1. Type your answer into the Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.


The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Nanette
2. What is your favorite food? Sesame Chicken with Broccoli
3. What school did you go to? Letchworth Central High school
4. What is your favorite color? Pinks to Burgundy's
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Guess [the credits to the picture give it away]
6. Favorite drink? Water
7. Dream vacation? Australia
8. Favorite dessert? Carrot Cake
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Happy!
10. What do you love most in life? My family.
11. One Word to describe you. Creative
12. Your flickr name. Nannybird
[it was weird to see only 3 things pop up for this and 2 of them were pictures of me, one I had uploaded, one my sissy Beth did and then the one I had uploaded with a picture of my birds and socks

I found this game on the Calico Daisy's Blog. You can check out lots of other folks' mosaics at The Game.

Shades of Purple

My daughter has started her own blog this week. I am leaving this announcement on top as a sticky post for 2 weeks so you will have a chance to see it and go visit her and encourage her blogging pursuit. Channon is my only daughter and means more to me then she will ever know or could imagine. Gushy Mommaness aside, I'll let her introduce herself! Shades of Purple

June Calendar Contest

Lynn over at Never a Dull Moment is having her 2nd year blogiversary contest, and to participate, I am posting the pictures off of my June Calendars!

Today being 06/07/08 is kind of a neat day, isn't it? It was going to be my daughters wedding day, but we just couldn't get it all together in time for that, so it was moved forward to August, and it's a good thing, because there is no way I would be ready for it today! Not to mention originally we were planning an out door wedding and it's in the mid to upper 90's here today! Wow, what a GOOD thing it was changed.

Anyway, I can't just post the pictures of my calendars with out some talking about them, the first one on top is the one my mother in law gave me for Christmas, she knows I love kitties and most every year that is the theme of my calendar for the kitchen. Isn't this a cutie too? I love the back ground colors they picked as well.

My birthday is this week and I always want the picture for the month of June to be a good one, I guess that carries over from being a kid and I am usually blessed with a cute picture to look at for the month of my birthday, I guess because there are so many June weddings? Humm, interesting thought as to why, maybe I am just willing to like the picture, just because it's a busy month, not only my birthday, but my mother in laws, my grandsons and a couple of friends.



The calendar over the desk by the computer is the one my mother in law gave to my husband. It is a tradition of my mother in law to give a calendar to every member of the family for Christmas, that and she gives lots of flash lights and car emergency gadjets. Some times it's a joke, when we get a package to open at Christmas and there are several all of the same size to open them at the same time so we can all see our new flash light at the same time and not know what ours will look like if someone else opens theirs first.


Then over my craft desk, I have this cute little calendar that I actually bought so I could have the pictures for my grand daughter to put in her room since she is so into princess themes. Or was, I noticed the slight chance in her interests and then never gave it to her, so it's over my desk and I think of her everytime I look at it.



So, if you are interested in participating in the blogiversary contest over at Lynn's, go visit her and read her post with the instructions, I just hope I did it right, I sure would like some new sock yarn, I am down to my last 2 skiens with no money in the buget to buy any more with an up coming wedding!! Besides... It's my birthday this coming week... does that count for anything?!! I know, get over myself!

Finished Socks

I finished these socks last week. They are called Cascading Leaves and are in the book "Favorite Socks" 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave.

I enjoyed the pattern, it's good and stretchy, so they will stay up and I liked the star toe shaping, it's the first time I have tried it, I'll be interested to see how they feel after I wear them several hours and if they begin to bug me where the decreases are though, since it's in the 90's now, it will be a while before I have the chance to wear socks again, well ones that are warm like these anyway.

Just Look At THIS!

I just opened an email from a site I subscribed to, "Talking Crochet with Carol Alexander"

As I scrolled down to preview what the topics in the newsletter were going to be, I stopped short here.
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A Crocheted Coral Reef! Holy cow, what some peoples imagination can turn out, it's amazing. Following the picture is what they had to say about the project. It was interesting if you have time to read it. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, you can join by clicking "THIS" link, there is more to offer then just the crochet sight, you might find something you are interested in to join and recieve the emails.


Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef
This incredible crochet sculpture is truly an amazing creation. Using the unparalleled riotous profusion of color and the form of the Great Barrier Reef as inspiration, members of The Institute for Figuring crocheted the Coral Reef as a woolly celebration of higher geometry and feminine handicraft joined together in testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.

The Coral Reef has been on exhibit in several U.S. cities. There are plans to show it in whole in Los Angeles in early 2009, and before then, other configurations of the Reef will be shown in New York and London. Visit The Institute for Figuring Web site to learn more about this one-of-a-kind crochet masterpiece and see some fantastic photos. You can even learn how to get started making your own hyperbolic crochet pieces!

Back To Crafts

I haven't talked much about crafts lately, been side tracked and I have way too many projects going at one time right now too. I finished my first ballband dishcloth, just like I say every time I announce I have made another dishcloth, I will say again, "Like I really NEED another dishcloth!!!" I have so many, I had a good supply of them stacked up, but gave a few away to Channon at Christmas time and then Gail got 6 of them a few weeks ago, that helped deplete my stack of unused ones.

I had acquired so many when my mother in law was visiting last Spring and I was trying to find something for her to do to keep busy, since she is not used to just "taking it easy" I don't think that women knows the concept of a vacation or relaxing, she is on the go, go, go, but that is what keeps her young at heart, she is 83, soon to be 84 in a couple of weeks and is more mobile then a lot of people in their 60's. She is an inspiration that one, as is my step mother, she is the same age, and is just as active, but my Mom doesn't have her license any longer and hasn't driven a car in probably 10 years or more, where as my Mother in law still drives, frequently.

Oh, back to the topic at hand, dish cloths. ANY way, I had a lot of extra dishcloths since I set my mother in law down with cotton and needles to give her something to do while she was here since she doesn't know anyone or her way around, it kept her still so her hip could rest, not that it did her much good, she turned around and went home and got too active again and in the past year has fallen 3 or maybe 4 times now, but fortunately never broke anything.

So she made dish cloths till she left and then left the rest of the cone of cotton I bought her here and when ever I get bored with a big project and just want to feel as if I am getting something done, I will make one myself, so, long story ending here, that is why I say I need more dishcloths like I need another hole in my head.

Anyway, here's my first attempt at this pattern, I really liked it, it used up 2 different scarps that weren't big enough for anything else, and made a nice sized cloth and a different looking one then I usually have. Now I want to buy some wool, and make a purse and felt it using this pattern, I saw someone do it, and I really liked the appearance of that, but first I have many other projects I need to finish first. Too many UFO's lazing about.

The Final Chest Shots

These are the last of the pictures of cedar chest items, I had my bridal bouquet in there for over 25 years but with this move, they emptied my cedar chest in random boxes and there are a few I have yet to open marked Master Bed Room/Crafts and it must be in one of those. So anyway, the seemingly never ending chest topic is now exhausted, it did come to an end after all, well until I locate my bouquet anyway, unless of course I find other missing things I can't seem to remember when I do get the rest of these boxes opened, sorted and emptied!

Here are the last 2 items I will show you from my cedar chest, yep, more afghans. I made them to go with the quilt that is on my bed, we use them in the winter as extra foot coverings! Here is a shot of them on the end of the bed posts,


Then of them by themselves.

Some QT's

My daughter NEVER sends me any pictures..... HINT, HINT!!!! ;)
So I had to 'steal' these from her MySpace page!!!! But aren't they some cuties?
Here is Channon with her Fiancé Joe, and then another of Channon by herself.



Here are some of the grand-babies



Now we have the goofy shots,



Finally, the new kitties, Oscar and Daisy



It's hard work being a kitten!



Note to my darling daughter... If you don't want your families pictures posted on my blog, your gonna have to tell me! Other wise, Nannybird watchers are gonna have them in their sights. :) Cuz I love sharing my pictures, being the youngest of 8 kids, there aren't many pictures of the younger kids in my family, I always made sure to take lots and lots of pictures of all 3 of my kids and now my grand kids, a grandma loves to share her babies pictures, ya know?

Good Idea's

I received some really good ideas as to what to do with my husband "birth'in" shirt.

I have been meaning to thank you you all for your input.

Jaye from Just a Mom is an avid quilter and she says I should make 4 quilts and incorporate some of the fabric into each of them, one for each kid and one for us.

Nicole from Nicole Knits, made me laugh she said "That's so lovely, for dad to have a birthing shirt. He must have really worked hard to wear those holes in it!!!!"

Jane from Grammie Knits also agreed with Jaye that a quilt is a good idea but she also provided other options that I liked, she suggested I make it into a pillow, but the one I think I will start with first is the idea of using the fabric as a back ground for a framed baby picture of each child.

I wrote to her and explained I have a picture of each child when they were 6 months old that has been on my walls since way back when and they are in need of re-framing and it would be a great time to incorporate the fabric into a back ground or mat for each picture. She then provided me with another thought in that it would make a neat scrap book back ground too, and it is a goal of mine to do a scrap book for each child eventually so I think I will save some for that future project as well.

Then Maria from Fazendo Arte gave me this link to another idea of cutting it into "yarn" and using it to crochet something. I probably won't do this with this shirt since I want each child to have some of it eventually, but what a really cool idea this was!! I love it and can't believe I didn't think of it before to use up all those old holey T-shirts the kids had out grown over the years! I had saved for a long time all their out grown sport shirts, or school events shirts and Scouting events as well, because I had thought I'd eventually make a memory quilt out of them by fusing them, like Marie from Knitted Gems suggested for this shirt as well, and then working them into a quilt, but I eventually got tired of hanging on to them and when we moved this time, I gave them all to good will. Man, I wish I had them back now! Ugh. Now I sound like my kids and wanting back what I have given away!

So anyway, once I FIND my 3 pictures that always have had a special hanging spot before this move, I will prep and make an addition of some of this fabric into the mat, background or foreground, I haven't decided yet which, then I will prep segments of the shirt to keep for the scrap books I want to make, maybe as the back ground of the picture of Cal holding each child for the first time IN that shirt! Then I will see about salvaging enough to make a block for each for a quilt at some time in the future, so THANK YOU, thank you one and all for the great ideas on how to pass the love down that this shirt has stood for!

The Pineapple Edition

A while back, I told you about how I had turned into an old lady because I liked the things I didn't used to like now. One of those things were doilies. Oh, I guess I always liked them, but never wanted them in my own home, because I thought of my grandma and how she had them on so many surfaces, not just tables put pinned to the arms and back of chairs and sofas too. Then there was the period of time when I didn't use them when my kids were small because I was afraid they'd get dirty to easy, or if they were under a lamp, they would knock the lamp over if they pulled on the doily.

I showed you some of the things I now proudly use in my house, under my lamps! On my coffee table! With the TV stand! and the silly powder room accessories I created with pineapple crochet work. I know there is so much more to doilies then pineapple, but it was what I had patterns for so it is what I made, now here are some more pictures of other pineapple crochet, but these are stored in my cedar chest. Why? I don't have any place to put them!! I did put the crocheted butterflies back out on my dresser, they used to always be there, just to brighten my day when ever I looked at them, I always smiled and still do! So, todays cedar Chest unveiling is the rest of my pineapple work. Yup, I'm goofy like that!

Read To Me Night-light

In the bottom left hand front corner of my cedar chest, I found wrapped in many layers of old newspaper, this night light that was given to me at my baby shower when I was expecting my oldest, by my Aunt Val, [who was a WWII war bride from Australia, and who's voice I was always charmed by when she spoke.]

It was in my children's rooms when they were infants for all the late night breast feeding sessions, and the last minute before I went to bed peaks into the cribs to watch the angels sleep.

Later it would help word off the boggy man attacks and keep him at bay because everyone knows he doesn't come into a room as long as there is any light, right?

I am a strong believer in reading to your children and my attic is proof of that with box after box of children's books on up to young adult when they would read to themselves. None of my 3 children are big readers today, but I think the love of reading is still there, it's mostly a time issue. My youngest reads at night some times, but then he gets too interested in the story and can't go to sleep! [thats just like me, if I read in bed before going to sleep, I end up staying up too late, getting caught up in the plot and wanting to know what happens next!]

But to go back to the night light, it is a treasure I should pass on, but don't want to risk it getting lost or broken! Not a very good place for a children's night, light, sitting in the bottom of a cedar chest, but I just can't part with it and it's many fond memories.

Only One Word

Zuleika got me, I read her post and she said I would repost this... now I have to!! LOL, I got this same MeMe from a friend by email last week and she picked me as one who would answer it, this reminded me that I never did answer it! Yikes, I am behind. so, here goes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ONE WORD ONLY!

Not as easy as you might think. Now copy, forward, or post this and change the answers to yours and pass it on. It’s really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? ………….. desk

2. Your significant other?………………….. Cal

3. Your hair? …………………………………….. straight

4. Your mother? ……………………………….. Passed

5. Your father?…………………………………….. Passed

6. Your favorite thing?……………………….. family

7. Your dream last night?………………….. strange

8. Your favorite drink? ……………………….. water

9. Your dream/goal?………………………….. happiness

10. The room you’re in?…………………….. computer

11. Your ex?……………………………………….. none

12. Your fear?…………………………………….. fire

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?…….. family

14. Where were you last night?………….. home

15. What you’re not?………………………….. skinny

16. Muffins?……………………………………….. banana

17. One of your wish list items?………….. sneakers

18. Where you grew up?…………………….. Castile

19. The last thing you did?………………….. phone

20. What are you wearing?………………….. jeans

21. Your TV?……………………………………….. big

22. Your pets?…………………………………….. cats

23. Your computer? …………………………….. old

24. Your life?……………………………………….. quiet

25. Your mood?………………………………….. happy

26. Missing someone?……………………….. Joey

27. Your car?……………………………………….. Prius

28. Something you’re not wearing?…….. shoes

29. Favorite Store?……………………………….. craft

30. Your summer?……………………………….. busy

31. Like(love) someone?…………………………….. Cal

32. Your favorite color?……………………….. pink

33. Last time you laughed?……………….. today

34. Last time you cried?……………………….. Channon's

35. Who will re-post this?…………………….. Jaye?

OK, that was hard, I want to explain a lot of it, but in one word, it's not allowed so you'll just have to ask if you are interested in any of the answers. ;)

Birth Days News

All Three of my children where born in Rex Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, the first two were actually born in the same room, the last was born in their new birthing suites facility.

On the day the kids were born, my husband went to the gift shop and bought a newspaper from that day, so we could save it and eventually give them to each of the kids. One day, I really do want to read the news again from those days, and look at the sales ads and compare the price of things that were advertised, such as cars and furniture. I just haven't done it yet, but I will before I give the paper to the child it belongs to.

The Birth'in Shirt

The next set of object to come out of the cedar chest are going to be related to my kids, and todays item is what my husband lovingly calls "His Birth'in Shirt"

As you can probably guess by it's title, it is the shirt he wore for every one of our 3 kids births. He even tried to wear it on our granddaughter Olivia's birth day too, but I think it was too small, hum... I'll have to go back and look and see in the pictures of that day if he did end up wearing it! [I just looked, and nope, he didn't wear it, I didn't think so because I thought I remember the subject came up and he tried it on, but it was too far gone and too small as well.]

Here is the shirt as it exists today:


He wore it when our oldest was born, and just by chance still was able to wear it when the next one was born 5 1/2 years later and actually remembered it and went and changed into it when I told him it was time to go to the hospital. Then it just had to be saved and when the youngest was born, he even wore it under his scrubs top again. So how could I get rid of something that had so much history to it? For him, who is not very sentimental, to give a shirt that much importance, well... you can see why it's now a part of our family history and important to me as well. I want to eventually cut it into sections and make something for each child to keep, but I want it to be something good and can't decide what to make out of it. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated and honestly considered and evaluated.

Of course all the holes in it are going to have to be taken into account when I do cut it into sections to be able to make something out of it, here is the neck and the front stomach area where the worse of the damage is.

My Last UFO

Well, the last one in my cedar chest anyway! I have plenty of others lurking about in various stages of unfinishedness, but any-who, this is the last one that I pulled out of the chest.

It is so close to being done it's ridiculous, I will even admit that this winter when it was REALLY cold once, I was looking for a sweater and I actually wore it as it was, just tucked the one hanging tail under my bra strap. Now that's being honest here! Wow, I can't believe I even told you that.

This sweater was one I designed myself, just playing around, with no pattern, because they were all in storage, I had some free time that was just killing me because I didn't know anyone after our move, I didn't have my stuff since we were living in limbo in a temporary arrangement while we were searching for a home to buy and for our home in SC to sell.

So I bought some really cheap acrylic yarn and a pair of knitting needles at Wal-Mart and figured I'd play with it and see if I could design a fit for myself that I once had a long time ago in a sweater I had made when I first learned how to knit.

I wrote it all out and kept it, but I couldn't find it now if I looked unless I did some major searching, so why did I even bother to write up a pattern?

It is a cuff to cuff top and just a rectangle section for the front and back under the bust line. Nothing complicated, after all I WAS just playing around with it, remember? All that's left to do is pick up the stitches around the neck edge, and knit a border then weave in that last tail. LOL, how LAZY can I be?

Well... it's for me, that's the problem! If it was for someone else it would have been done by now. This project isn't as old as the other two, it's only about 15 to 18 months undone. Big sigh....

Another UFO Of Mine

Here is another project that I had considered working on a few months back when the Cedar Chest topic began. I have had this sweater in the works since Channon and Olivia moved to Alaska, it was the project I started to keep me busy since I missed them so much, that was 5 years ago this month, right about this time actually. I knew it was going to be hard to adjust to them being gone and not knowing how long it would be before I saw them again, so I started knitting to keep me busy and help me adjust.


I guess at first I thought I'd make it for Channon since it was going to be so cold in the winter and I knew she would use it more then me being in SC, but then I got more of it done and knew it was going to be too big so I decided to make it for me. I got it all knitted up except for the neck and button band, and all I have to do is finish that then sew the pockets section and add the sleeves and side seams. Here is a picture of the color closer up, it's more accurate to what it actually looks like as far as the color goes.


Now that I could actually use it more that we are further north in VA, I still haven't finished it.... Well Mary, at least it's not as old as your unfinished baby sweater, but at this rate, it might be on hold for as long!

Return of the Chest Shots

If you remember, I was exposing my chest a while ago... that is my CEDAR Chest Contents! Then there were contests and Blogiversaries to celebrate and I never got back to finishing up showing you all the things I have been hiding in my cedar chest.

I had to get something out of it today and that is what reminded me I never finished showing you what I have stored in this beloved chest. I finally took pictures of all of the rest of the things that were of interest or that I wanted to share, there is still a lot of things I won't bother with tucked in side, things like clothes that are too small that I keep thinking ONE day I will get back into, and other not as interesting items.

I have decided to try and post one each day till I get them all exposed... The main reason this all started was I thought I would get in and get some of my UFO's out and see if I could get motivated to finish them, um.. they are still unfinished and since this is the main one I had considered working on, and what brought about this line of blogging, I will show you the q