And the winner is.......

Tanya904!! Thanks so much for entering my giveaway! You can keep checking back here or through my Ravelry store, if you're on Rav, and let me know when you see a pattern you'd like! I can also contact you when I have some crochet patterns up.

Puss Ann Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

ANOTHER awesome giveaway! A chance to win a set of matching mommy and daughter shoes!

Puss Ann Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

Free Diapers!

I found this link on one of my fellow House Cup participant's blogs! Cool stuff. You call the phone number, they send you free diapers! There is a number for boys and one for girls. They don't have any size 4's for boys right now, but they put me on a list to call when they have some available. How cool is that!?!

Here is the info from her blog:

for girls call
1-888-342-7372 ext. 646

for boys call
1-888-342-7372 ext. 634

Arquest (the company doing the testing) sends you free diapers. Fill Out Survey when done with diapers. You will get a call back from Arquest then receive check for $10.

Or you can click on the title linky-do to go right there.

PSA: Bubblegum

Atley would like the world to know, he was allowed to have a Blow-Pop and actually chew the bubblegum. He is making a list of people to tell, so I told him I'd just put it on the computer, so the whole world could know he had bubblegum. ;0) We don't usually let the kids have bubblegum. (Case in point, Melodie got some from V-day at school, and promptly ground it into her pants the other day!)

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Another awesome Grosgrain giveaway!! How cute are these skirts!?!? And, she has a link where she got the instructions and her added info to make construction easier. Even if I don't win, I think I see puffy skirts in the girls' futures! I may just have to put down the needles and break out the sewing machine again!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Giveaway!!!

Well, I have entered enough giveaways, since I've been blogging. I even won twice in the big giveaway bonanza at the beginning of the month!! (A wonderful "Notes To School" notepad and a super awesome bag provided by Chunk-a-Monk. It's just the right size for an on-the-go mom. I highly recommend checking them out! It's got enough room for my phone, keys, wallet, checkbook, changing pad, travel wipes, and a couple of diapers to make a run to the grocery store. LOVE it! It's much cooler than the diaper bag.)

My 1-year Rav-aversary is coming up on February 27th! (Again, thank you Lori, the most awesomest knitting guru there ever was for introducing me to the wonders of Ravelry!!!) I know it's not much, but we're broke, so to honor the day, I am offering to give away 1 pattern from my Ravelry store! You can choose whatever pattern you'd like. If you don't knit, I'm working on some for sale crochet patterns. So, if you'd like a crochet pattern or don't really like the current knit ones, I'd be more than happy to give you an IOU to be used at a later date. Trust me, I've got zillions of ideas swarming my brain. If you like VW's, some of them will be right up your alley, especially if you have kids or kids who like VW's. Most of my designs are probably going to be baby/kid/toy related. Maybe some housewares, fingerless gloves, hats. If I get really confident, socks. I doubt I'll ever do grown-up sized garments, though. Sorry! :0)

Anyway, if you're interested in entering, please leave me a comment! For an extra entry, blog about this giveaway! (For fellow Blogger users, you can click "Create a Link" at the bottom of this post.) For another entry, follow me! It makes me feel special when people follow me. ;0) I will draw a winner by random number generator (a.k.a. Melodie) by 5 PM February 27, 2009. (I have to wait for the random number generator to get home from school.) For each extra entry you do, please leave another comment. The random number generator might be a mathematical whiz, but mind-reader, she ain't! (That's Ari, and she's not so good on the numbers yet!)

Thanks for checking out my giveaway! I hope to give away more things of substantialness when we're not quite so broke! :0)

Guacamole

Until recently, I have never had guacamole. It's green and smooshy and veggies and green. (Yes, I'm a big baby about eating veggies. My children ask for spinach and cauliflower. I dread putting peas in soup!) I just never wanted to eat guacamole. Then, we had those loaded nacho things that Taco Bell had for awhile. My god, those were awesome! Dan made me try the guacamole, and I was hooked. (He always makes me try things, damn him. I have always hated pickles and Swiss cheese. Guess what I have to have on my hamburgers now and what my fav kind of grilled cheese is?) Anyway, I bought some at the store the other day for the taco salad we had last night. Yummy. That was lunch today. Chips and guacamole. (Hey, I already said I'm a bad example for eating! That was a chaser for my breakfast of the last slice of that chocolate cake!)

Green things, yicky. Broccoli, peas, asparagus, Brussel sprouts, spinach...yuck! I can eat spinach in quiche. I can eat broccoli and peas in stuff like pasta primavera or chicken pot pie, or broccoli and cheese soup. Mmmmm...broccoli and cheese soup. Must put that on the menu for next week! BTW, if you want to get your grocery bill down, start making a weekly menu before you go shopping! Better yet, use your sales circulars and / or coupons to base your menu from. I can usually get a week's worth of groceries for us for $70-80.

House Cup Progress

Here is the progress on my Arithmancy OWL for the House Cup!

Oh, here is also the super-cute Charlie wrestling his new Hungarian Horntail, Hunky:

My 1-year Knitterversary!!!

YaY!!! It seems like forever, but today is just my 1-year knitterversary. Well, technically purlaversary because I've been able to do the knit stitch for years. Thank you, thank you, thank you Lori, for teaching me to purl! (and decrease and do cables and do raglan shaping and for taking me to Yarnia, god that wonderful yarn at Yarnia, and for getting me hooked on spinning and for planning out what I want to use for those thrummed mittens and having someone else to knit with that doesn't think I'm crazy for weilding the pointy sticks!!!)

So, how was everyone's Valentine's Day? Ours was hectic but nice. Hectic, because I was cooking all day. Our dinner turned out great, though! I'll be posting pictures of the cake I made later. You have to see it to believe it. It has got to be THE heaviest cake I have ever handled! Decadent and delicious it completley was, though.

The big kids were in bed at 7. Charlie woke up from his nap at 7. So, he chowed on Cheerios while we enjoyed our meal. We watched the end of "The Transporter" (Dan loves that freakin movie) and the start of "The Transporter 2" on FX. Then, Charlie went back to bed, I nabbed the remoted, and we caught the tail end of "Phantom Menance" and the beginning of "Attack of the Clones" on Spike. What is it with Spike? Why oh why, do I always have to come across their Star Wars marathons? We zonked out on the couch by 9:30, I think. Someone called my cell phone twice, and we even missed both calls. Of course, Charlie woke up around midnight. I tried to put him back to bed around 1, which didn't work so well. He was up until after 3. The only thing he wanted to do was nurse. Man, I wish he would take a pacifier! I could really use a complete night's sleep!

Seeker

Happy Valentine's Day!! <3

So, I've been a busy little yarner lately. My pattern for "Bite Me" is available for purchase! YaY!! I also finished my pattern for "Seeker." I am offering it for free. It's in the process of being tested, but patience is not one of my best qualities, so here ya go! If you try it before Monday, 02/16/09, be forewarned this is my rough draft, not-finished-testing-yet copy!! Errata (if necessary) will be available after Monday. Hopefully not, though. It is really a pretty straight forward, anyone could do this kind of thing! I will be adding stitch counts in each row in the next day or two.

Seeker



Is your baby the youngest seeker in a century? What better way to start them out than with their very own Golden Snitch Bib!

Materials:
- You will need less than half a ball of Sugar and Cream cotton in White and a Golden color.
- Stitch Marker
- Size H crochet hook
- Three 3/4 in white buttons.
- sewing needle and white thread.

Abbreviations:
ch: chain
sc: single crochet
hdc: half double crochet
BLO: Working in back loop only
sl st: slip stitch
st / sts: stitch / stitches

Finished bib measures about 7 1/2 inches from top to bottom of body.

For snitch body:

With the gold yarn, ch 2.

Round 1: 8 sc in 2nd ch from hook. Place stitch marker in first stitch, marking first stitch in each subsequent row.
Round 2: 2 sc in each sc around.
Round 3: *Sc in 1 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 4: *Sc in 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 5: *Sc in 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 6: *Sc in 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 7: *Sc in 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 8: *Sc in 6 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 9: *Sc in 7 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 10: *Sc in 8 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 11: *Sc in 9 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 12: *Sc in 10 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 13: *Sc in 11 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around.
Round 14: *Sc in 12 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * around. Leave marker in 1st st of Round 14. You will now work back and forth for 2 rows, not in the round.
Row 15: Hdc in 13 sc, ch 1, turn.
Row 16: In BLO, hdc in 13 hdc. Leaving stitch marker in place, finish off and weave in ends.


For wings:

Note: When joining with a sl st, join to the gold sc.

With white, join in 10th stitch from marker (include HDC rows plus an additional 10 sc stitches) and ch 6.

Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each subsequent chain across join with sl st, turn.
Row 2: Ch 1, sc in each sc across, ch 3, turn.
Row 3: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch and sc across, join with sl st, turn.
Row 4: Ch 1, sc in each sc and ch across, ch 4, turn.
Row 5: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch and sc across, join with sl st, turn.
Row 6: Ch 1, sc in each sc and ch across, ch 4, turn.
Row 7: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch and sc across, join with sl st, turn.
Row 8: Ch 1, sc in each sc and ch across, ch 6, turn.
Row 9: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch and sc across, join with sl st, turn.
Row 10: Ch 1, sc in each sc and ch across, ch 8, turn.
Row 11: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch and sc across, join with sl st, turn.
Row 12: Ch 1, sc in each sc and ch across, ch 10, turn.
Row 13: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch and sc across, join with sl st.
Row 14: Ch 1, sc in remaining gold sc and end of hdc rows. Turn and sc across in each sc. Finish off and weave in ends.

For second wing:

Rows 1-12: Repeat as with first wing.
Row 13: Sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 12 sts, ch 2, skip 1 sc, sc in 3 sc, ch 2, skip 1 sc, sc in 3 sc, ch 2, skip 1 sc, sc across rest of sc, join with sl st.
Row 14: Ch1, sc in remaining gold sc and end of hdc rows. Turn and sc across in each sc, doing 2 sc around each ch section. Finish off and weave in ends.

Finishing:

On Row 13 of first wing, tightly sew on three 3/4 in buttons to correspond with button holes made on 2nd wing. Remember, attach these very securely, and never leave baby unattended where they could eat the buttons!


Please feel free to email me with any problems, questions, or concerns. My email address is: michellesstitchwitchery at gmail dot com

This pattern is property of Michelle Adams of Michelle's Stitchwitchery ©2009. This pattern is for personal use only. No items made from this pattern may be sold. You may make items from this pattern for your personal use, for gifts, or to donate to charity.

A Tip For Valentine's Day!!

Here is a tip I got today in my Gooseberry Patch email:

Dip the rim of a dessert glass in melted chocolate and immediately coat the chocolate with chopped nuts; refrigerate until firm. When it's time to serve dessert, add a big scoop of ice cream.

I'm going to try this on Valentine's Day!! After we get the kiddos in bed, I'm going to make filet mignon (bacon wrapped for Dan), red potatoes, some sort of veggie (haven't decided yet), probably a salad, and a Chocolate Raspberry cake I got the recipe for in the Feb/Mar issue of "Taste of Home." I'll be serving the cake with some Raspberry Rumble ice cream from Schwan's. And of course, we will have wine with our meal. I think this neat little idea will make the dessert very special!

Crochet Survey

One of my fellow CLF'ers has a crochet survey up right now. If you're a hooker, why don't you go give it a look-see! There is even yarn-y incentive for completing it! Here is the link!

inspired mama musings: LoVe your blog! *GiVeAwAy*

Check out this awesome chance to win a free blog makeover! It's an awesome package, offered by Erika, over at Inspired Mama Musings, and the makeover is provided by Blog Designs by Summer!

inspired mama musings: LoVe your blog! *GiVeAwAy*

Chunky Monkey Progress

I worked on Chunky Monkey again a bit last night!! I've almost got the head done. (The only reason I stopped was that Charlie was in bed, and I didn't want to wake him up getting the safety eyes and stuffing.) It looks like I may have a bit of time to work on him today, though. Work is not shaping up to look like a very full day today. :0(

That is about all of the yarn related activity I had yesterday! I got sucked into "A Very Duggar Wedding" last night. They never cease to intrigue me!

I really need to CO my second sock. And find the instructions to finish Ari's second sock. Oh, and get started on my HPKCHC homework, not to mention I have to have 25% of my OWL's done by the end of the month! I've also got my designs that are in the works. Full plate right now!

Tip for the Day!

I got my Real Simple email today, and I thought I'd share this little tip for any of you who might not get their emails!

To clean your dishwasher, put 1 packet of Lemonade Kool-Aid (the only flavor that works) in your dry detergent dispenser and run the dishwasher empty. It will remove stains and hard water deposit build ups. I'm going to try this! I had bought some of the special dishwasher cleaner from Jet-Dry, and it was probably close to $4, and I didn't think it worked all that well. Even if this doesn't work the greatest, it's only a few cents instead of dollars!

And for an update on the yarnin': I finished my first Hedgerow sock Monday night! I'm ready to start working the heel flap on Ari's second sock, too. (I worked on that yesterday because I feel bad I abandoned her socks to do mine!)

Check this out, re: CPSIA!!

Raising Them Green has a nice post about a ruling on the CPSIA! It looks like, for at least another year, handmade toys are safe! WooHoo!!

I know, I've been awfully quiet lately. I've been busting out some knitting, though! I've just finished working the gusset on my first Hedgerow sock. If I get some good knitting time in tonight, I should have it done! I'm hoping to have the second one done by Saturday.

I've also been designing. The pattern for Charlie's teether toy is being tested right now, which I hope to have up for sale soon. Dan and I are also working on some VW Beetle themed projects. Stay tuned for updates on those!

Well, that's about it for me. Work, kids, snow, work, snow, cold, snow.....ugh...snow. Someone needs to take out Punxsatawney Phil, by the way! Stupid groundhog and his 6 more weeks of winter. (I know, they'd be there anyway, but it just makes it feel nicer when he says spring is on its way.)