Showing posts with label crocheting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crocheting. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I am just a boring person

So, I keep thinking, I need to blog today! But, I'm just not interesting!! I've just been working and wrangling the kids.

About all the exciting news I have right now is knitting related, and that's not all that exciting! I'm kind of stalled. I've got a week and a half of the Cup left for this term, and then it's break.

Right now, I'm working on my OWL. Since Charlie's sweater grossly underused my stash I'm trying to get rid of (I need to knit/crochet 750 yd for a Transfiguration OWL), I kind of lost my gumption. The pattern said the largest size would use 600 yd. I knit with 1 size larger needles, and it still only used about 384!!! I'm working on it, though. I've got half a baby sock done. I need to finish at least this pair and use up the last of the yarn that matches Charlie's sweater, and I should be pretty close. I've done 2 baby bibs and a pair of slippers to match the sweater already.

I've also got to finish Ari's snitch socks, which I bought the yarn for last year to make for her birthday, and her birthday is in about 2 weeks. I've got about half of one of those socks done, too. Oh, and I need to sew a dress for Muggle Studies. (Thank you prof., for accepting sewn projects, too!) I am also going to try to whip up a lacy soap saver for Potions if I have time.

I finished my Charms. I knit 2 camera cases; 1 for Melodie's camera and 1 for the camera Ari wants for her b-day. I tried to get the camera Monday, because Dan kept the kids so I could go to the store in peace....and they no longer carry 35 mm cameras at Walmart!! At.All. So, I'm watching a few on ebay, as well as some kids digital cameras and hopefully will be able to get one here by her birthday.

I've also finished my DADA homework. I made 2 pygmy puffs. I haven't turned it in yet, though. I'm hoping to get some extra credit, so I'm going to make a little box and poke holes in them and do a label that says they're from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and address it to Ari like they do Harry's letter in Sorcerer's Stone!!

Well, that is me, in a nutshell, in my mundane, boring life. Hopefully when the kids are in school (August 24th!!!!) I'll have more time to at least post fun tips and recipes again!!!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Progress

Well, I've been knitting and crocheting up a storm lately! For the Cup last month, I finished the Wizard of Oz finger puppets; the lion binky holder and Charlie's Gryffindor House Hat for Quidditch; Melodie's Pokeball water bottle cozy, a crocheted hip sling, and a baby mandrake!

I did a Calorimetry for Ari's teacher last night. Very, VERY quick knit! She is just a sub, so she won't be there next year (one of the K teachers was on maternity leave, has quit, but our district isn't hiring right now, so she can't stay.) I wanted to thank her for all she's done to help Ari come out of her shell and learn this past year.
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Charlie had his 1 year check up. He only weighs 20 pounds! We're pretty sure he may have lost a little weight, since he's been so mobile lately, though. He is crawling all over everywhere and everything! His favorite things to climb are over the big kids when they're laying on the floor and to sit on top of Atley's train box! (a plastic sweater storage box.) Right now, he's standing at my desk, clicking the mouse, so if this post looks wacky, it's Charlie's fault! He can say "dog" and he says dada and mama. He waves hello and good bye. I sewed him a sock monkey, which I'm trying to make his "lovie." Mr. Charlie has decided it's not fun to sleep anymore, and he'd rather be awake all night and cry in his crib. So, he's been spending a few nights sleeping in the living room in his play pen. Atley could sleep through a tornado!

Funny story about that, though. This morning, I groggily drug myself out of bed to go check on Charlie (sleeping peacefully in the play pen) and went to go get ready for the day. I walked past Atley's room, and his bed was empty! I went to check the girls' room, and he wasn't there. I asked Dan if he was laying on his side of the bed, nope. I went back and checked his bed, and it was empty. I checked the couch, no Atley. My heart dropped. I ran screaming into our room that Atley was gone! We started running frantically. I went back into the living room to check the front door, and I noticed a big pile of blanket on the floor. Here, Atley had heard me put Charlie in the living room. (last night, he turned the hall light on because he was scared, he said, and that's what woke Charlie up, the one night he actually was sleeping pretty good.) He said he didn't want Charlie to be alone, so he went in to sleep with him. I had forgotten I changed his sheets the other day, and his blue blanket (which I was looking for) was in the wash. I'm used to seeing blankets piled on the floor in the living room, so when I didn't see the blue one, in my half-asleep state, I think I just subconsciously overlooked his other blanket. But, Atley is safe and sound.

Well, that's about all that's going on here! Tomorrow is the last day of school, and although I will have to put up with the insanity of having all 4 kids at home full time for 3 months, I will hopefully get to sleep in some!

(oh, and for anyone who misses it, I've got 2 "injuries of the day" from last week I never posted about.) Last Friday, the kids were playing outside after school. I've told them millions of times not to spin on the swings. (Ari's gotten kicked in the face before.) Well, of course they didn't listen, and Melodie comes in screaming about her finger. She got it pinched in the chains. Any harder, and she probably would have lost a chunk of finger. It was darn near devitalized. Then Saturday, we went to the park, and she ran up ahead of us up the steps that go into the woods, and came running back down crying. Here, she fell through a weak part of the step and scratched her leg all up. My wonderfully clutzy Melodie. We don't leave home without at least 1 first aid kit!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Sunday Morning, Comin' Down

The snow, that is. Again. God, I hate snow! Ohio, why do you have to snow so, so much? Can't you just snow for the holidays and then stop and go back to being 40-45 until spring? I'd be happy with that, ya know.

Anyhoo, I still haven't gotten my yarn I ordered. :0( (I know, it's not like they have those tube thing from Star Trek to beam me yarn.) So, I took Ari and Charlie and went to Joann's at 8:00 last night to get some, instead! :0) Plus, I got so excited to order my sock yarn, that I forgot to order yarn for Charlie's socks. My friend Lori and I have been talking about the construction of the "perfect baby sock." And I didn't have any boy-approved sock yarn! So, we picked up some Sensation Soles and More in Green and Blue for Charlie and in a purple and pink for Ari. (I had 3 coupons....I had to use them, right?) And I also picked up a skein of brown Wool Ease Chunky to do a test bonnet for Charlie. I had picked up some Homespun at Wally World, and I HATE it! That is the WORST stuff to crochet with. I will knit a bunny blanket buddy with it, because the old ladies at the LYS that used to be right across the street from my house said it's much easier to knit with. (Of course, they unfortunately went out of business about 6 months before I learned to purl. :0( My sucky luck!) Oh, I had also gotten some brown sock yarn for Charlie off ebay, but again, the zapping thing and my impatience got the better of me. Especially when I needed other yarn. And had coupons. (I love Ron "Tater Salad" White, and I just can't say the word coupons enough. Coupons.)

Yes, I'm a little giddy today. Dan took Melodie on about a 2+ hour shopping trip to the parts store today, so I've got the nice, quiet, well behaved children at home while I work. Yay!

So, I got Sway's capelet done last night. I haven't taken any pics yet, though. I'll probably do it after work tonight. Then, onto the next project! I think I'll do my arithmancy homework next. I'll be using my numerology numbers to do a striped bag for my drop spindle...or a DPN holder. I'm still undecided.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

On the Hook

Last night, I started a capelet for the dog for my Care of Magical Creatures assignment for the House Cup! I'm doing it in Gryffindor colors. I'm about half way done with it. Hopefully I'll finish it tonight!!

Yesterday, I ordered some new sock yarn! I got Knit Picks Palette in Hyacinth and Tidepool heather. I'll be doing the Tidepool heather in Crusoe and the Hyacinth in Tidepool. I'm probably going to do a sock between the higher one and the anklet, and I'll be doing the toes with my leftover Wicked Witch!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Wacky Wednesday

Poor Ari, my little antisocial, ever angry, nonconformist bean. Love that child to death. She is very angry that today is Wacky Wednesday. She didn't want to not match! Of course, Dan said last night to give her a pack of M&M's for not conforming because she also didn't want to enter the poster contest, which of course Melodie was up at 6 AM working on to finish this morning. Melodie, of course, is so worried that she might not win first place (I couldn't bear to break it to her that she most likely won't.) Let's just say, she is definitely more on the avant garde, modern, inventive end of the art spectrum, and I doubt a big purple poster with BM on it will win top spot in a boy's locker room! (That BM is for Beat McKinley.) She also took careful planning in her wardrobe and hairstyle.

It's also fundraiser time. They are selling insanely overpriced crap. Some of the food stuff, it's $11 for basically a pack of sugar, cinnamon, oatmeal and a few tablespoons of flour. You still have to provide your own apples and pie crust! $11 for a strudel topping!?! You surely can make that for 75 cents from your own pantry. And of course, both of them have to sell. I suppose I could combine them and make them split the prizes, but that never works. Plus, the classes are competing against each other for a pizza party. To win anything worth anything, you have to sell 25 items, and that's for a soccer ball...times 2! I'm sorry, but I'll just buy the soccer ball, thanks. It's cheaper! Actually, the top selling prize is pretty nice, but you have to sell 90 things to get it. You can choose between a portable DVD player and an overnight stay at a local indoor water park for 4. They say not to go door to door, but who can sell that much? I have a HUGE family, and we will be nowhere close. We won't even be close to getting them both a soccer ball.

Well, last night I almost got Charlie's baby donkey-dragon done for his costume! I've got 3 legs and the wings to do, then the assembly. I need to get started on my transfiguration homework for the House Cup, too. I'm making a felted DPN holder...my first felted project! Well, hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go. (If not, I'll never get done today, and I have to finish at least one costume tonight, or I'll never get them all done in time!)

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

It's raining, it's pouring......

The old Wednesday is boring.........

I just don't like Wednesday's. It takes me so long to get into the swing of things on Wednesday's. And, it's raining. I hate rain in the morning. Rain in the morning means I have wet, whiny children to deal with, and still try to get to school on time (which we've done every day so far this week *knock on wood* so take that state BOE!) Now, we'll probably be really tardy the rest of the week. That's my luck.

I whipped up a little hat for Charlie last night! It's so cute. It's a pumpkin hat pattern from Rav (and Lion Brand or Bernat, I think), and I put it in my projects as "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Cash!" I've been dying to say that, but my MIL made a rude comment about Atley looking like Charlie Brown when he was a baby (which he completely doesn't, and pissed me off) and I hate mentioning Charlie Brown in reference to the boys...but I just couldn't resist!

Speaking of the in-law's....we're going there for their city's trick-or-treat night...which means I have to get costumes made a week early! Good Grief! (In the words of our fair leader, good ole' Chuck.) Four kids, 4 costumes, 2 weeks....can it be done? Charlie is getting a little green beanie with ogre ears, a white turtleneck, gray or brown pants, brown booties with fur, and a little felt vest. I'm also going to crochet him a little donkey to hold. I just decided that last night. No even better, I'll crochet him a baby donkey dragon to hold! He's going to be a Shrek baby from Shrek the 3rd, which we have decided he looks like in all his fatness, shown here in new pumpkin hat:

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Ari is going to be Princess Fiona. I've had (most of) the fabric since last Halloween for her dress. She wanted to be Fiona last Halloween, but the mean old ladies that cut fabric at JoAnn's prevented her from being Fiona last year by pissing off the stressed out pregnant lady when she went to try to get just 1 more yard of green satin because the original old lady significantly underestimated the amount of said fabric that would be needed to make said Fiona dress! So, Ari was Hermione last year, because she had Hermione clothes. I did get the rest of the fabric a few months later, and other than that, I have not bought fabric from there until yesterday, when I got this year's batch.

Melodie is going to be an Indian girl. Thank god! She wanted to be a Pokemon, then she wanted to be the Whomping Willow. Tan felt, feathers, and ribbons are ready!

Atley had his mind set to be a blue T-Rex (because you know how prevalent blue T-Rex's are, and they're quite different from the perfectly usable green T-Rex costume I made him last year that still fits, but I digress...) until he saw the Batman mask. He is now going to be Batman. Mask bought, black felt ready for wings, yellow for the bat oval, and we're debating what version of Batman we want to do. I was thinking of Dark Knight and was going to purchase black pants and long sleeved T-shirt. Dan was thinking trad Batman, with gray fixin's. Atley wants a blue Batman. We'll have that figured out by next Tuesday when I go to the store.

Chunky Monkey is just being very stubborn. I started to work on him for a little while after I finished the hat last night......and he broke my G hook! I even bought him real safety eyes yesterday, and he still had to act up on me again. I've got aluminum hooks in F, H, I, and every other size, but not G. So, I'm stuck, and I went to Joann's and Walmart yesterday before said hook broke, so I'm torn. Do I frog (it's only been about 6 rows) and start over with a different sized hook? Do I wait until next week and pick up a new (aluminum) G hook? Do I concede to Chunky Monkey and let him win this war I've decided to declare on the primate that refuses to be? Decisions, decisions.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Not much to say

It's the weekend, so no exciting morning down-to-the-wire mad rush to make it to school posts. This next week should be interesting, though. They sent a paper home that the state is keeping tabs this whole next week on attendance, late arrivals and early dismissals, etc. this week having to do with funding. Let's see if we can go tardy-free all week!

My cousin found out yesterday she is having a little girl. Yay for little girl knitting and crocheting! I have a 100-year old Irish baby bonnet pattern in my queue I've been dying to make.

I was the first one done for my Potions class for the Harry Potter Knitting and Crocheting House Cup on Rav! I'm going to start my Astronomy assignment tonight. I'm doing Moonlight Slipper Socks...for me! Imagine, knitting something for myself!?! I'm also going to do a Baby Grab Ball for Charms class (for Charlie for Yule), dye some yarn with walnuts for Herbology, and then make a felted DPN holder out of it for Transfiguration. I've never dyed or felted, so that should be interesting! I have been wanting to try dyeing since we went to Pioneer Days at the museum, though. We have a black walnut tree, and I'm going to fight the squirrels for some nuts to dye with!

I've decided to try Chunky Monkey again. This time, he will be done in crochet in an amigurami (sp?) style. (Which I understand just means crocheted around in circles.) Hopefully, I'll have better luck with him that way. I had been kind of off crocheting since I learned how to knit, but I whipped up a pair of Chucks styled baby booties for Charlie, and I miss doing it, so I thought that might be a better way to go with the Chunk until I'm more confident in my knitting designing.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Pagan Baby....ideas

I'm hoping to work on a line called Pagan Baby. As a pagan mom, I've always been dismally disappointed in the apparent lack of patterns for pagan babies (and kids! That will come in time too, I hope!) I've got some ideas in the works AKA my brain. If you have any ideas you'd like to see, let me know!