Ravelry

I used to belong to another online community, but rarely go there anymore. There was a whole nasty blowup and I felt some people were treated unfairly. I have been venturing to Ravelry more often. I don't tend to post much...was for awhile on the Completely Arbitrary thread, but need to back off from the swaps and purchasing of yarn. They were baaaaaadddddd influences! But got my first Wollmeise through them (had never heard of it before)Now I tend to visit the Blog Hub the most. I've made some new blog friends there. I am still writing this for myself, but it's nice to know someone has stopped by to read and leave a comment...MOM - there at the bottom!

I have been logging my stash and am trying to keep up with it. Now I am onto my projects. But it's hard sometimes to remember yarn, etc. for older projects. I also lost a bunch of pics when computer crashed a couple months ago. Thankfully many were on photobucket...

I am stashing and logging at the moment, since there is no Survivor on right now (yeah Sandra!)

Rainy Days...

I am always so tired on rainy days...yesterday was a perfect example. I did not want to get out of bed, the sky was grey and yucky. But kids could care less, here are some feet shots from recess yesterday...Today I sat on a bench with a child snuggled up to me, as she did not feel good. Strep is hitting our grade level right now, wonder if she'll be there tomorrow...It was gorgeous, with bright blue skies, but I sat with the child who needed some snuggles.

I've Got That "Shopping Feeling"

Whoa-oh-whoa that shopping feeling
Take back that shopping feeling
and it stays, stays, stays
whoa-oh......

I do have a shopping feeling, I will need to shop the stash when I get home...

Now it's off to work in my school sweatsuit, cuz it's cold, rainy and grey and I can roll like that!

It has our old school logo on the shirt and the name of the school going down a leg. I love it! So comfortable...

and I'm sneezing like crazy already...have a great day all!

Yarn Review

I've been thinking of doing a weekly yarn review. I love yarn and have plenty of it. Most yarn reviews seem to come from knitters, so thought I'd offer my hooker thought on things...I'm gonna review high-end, low-end, independent and small farms yarns...Whatever strikes my fancy...and when I have no new projects to show...

I'm gonna start with the old workhorse Red Heart...Red Heart has been a staple of my yarning years, as it has many others. It is 100% acrylic and can be very rough, but gets softer with washing and use. It seems to have gotten rougher over the years. The variegated colors tend to be a bit softer. I am using Red Heart now. Why would you use Red Heart? Well it's sturdy and durable. It also has a good range of colors. I am using Peruvian Print and some coordinating shades because that's the closest colors of the nursery.
Now many people claim this is "baby melting" yarn. But has a baby ever been burned by it? I don't recall hearing of any stories. Don't natural yarns burn too? I understand that acrylic burns and melts, but if any blanket on a child was burning, the child will be injured. It's easy to care for and that's why I use it for some items. Although my husband is annoyed by the squeak it makes on my aluminum hooks, so I try to use my bamboo hooks with it.

Now another yarn that I love (I don't necessarily love Red Heart, but it has it's place) is Creatively Dyed Yarn, who is an independent dyer. I first bought some of this yarn at last year's Rhinebeck Festival. I had caught part of a conversation on Ravelry and decided to check her out. She was polite, nice, laughed alot and seemed to be overwhelmed by the response at Rhinebeck. I bought more of her yarn at Stitches a week later. I have only used her Beaches yarn. It is a Fingering 4 ply 100% merino. Very easy to work with. The color that I chose is a multi. I walked by it earlier in the day and it caught my eye. It was the only skein. When I came back later, it was still there, so it was destined to be mine...It has all of my favorite colors, autumn shades, in it. It was a color that she did for Rhinebeck and does not have a name.
I have made a pair of wrist warmers and a cozy for Hubs nook. He picked out the yarn. I still have a good sized ball left. Maybe a hat to go with the wrist warmers, hmmmm. I have some other CDY waiting in the wings. I also gifted some in a swap. I think I had about 6-8 skeins at one time. Can't wait to try Woodbrook next. She was my first independent dyer.

Ole Homestead

The Hubs has borrowed my camera a few times to take pictures at his parents house. At one time they had about 36 acres, but they have been selling off parcels of land. The house lot is still quite large. The building is the goat barn that Hubs built in high school. He decided to raise goats and did it for a couple of years. His parent's place would be perfect for alpacas. However, it's much too small for all of us to live there, as his sister lives at home and helps take care of things. The Hubs goes out once or twice a week to help. He is there now doing some kinda domestic/agricultural things. It was either making pies or I think something with the driveway. Here are some pics he took last week.





The rhubarb is growing!

And what I'm working on now...the blanket to go with the bear..

Baby Shower Gifts

I've made lost of items for baby showers lately. Today I had my friend Keira's shower. I am making her a blanket, but it is no where near ready, as I just started it. I had previously made her a sweater and today I made a bear. The room has a bear theme and I wanted to make something else since the blanket is not ready. I started it this morning and finished it with an hour before I had to leave. (Mind you I still was in pj's, so had to shower and get ready) It came out cute and will match the eventual blanket.




The expectant parents....

The eventual blanket:

"I've Got a Golden Ticket

I've got a golden twinkle in my eye

I never had a chance to shine
Never a happy song to sing
But suddenly half the world is mine
What an amazing thing

'Cause I've got a golden ticket"


I won a Golden Ticket at the debut of my niece in "Willy Wonka Kids." I won a box of Nerds, but traded them to her for her chocolate bar.

I love Willy Wonka. I've read the books and I enjoyed both movies - although Johnny Depp's Wonka was creepy! I also love musicals.

It was alot of fun and the students did a great job! She was an Oompa Loompa, with some pretty cool socks, that she got to keep....


She is in the middle of the picture with the pink hat and pigtails:



It runs in the family - here is her brother, at age 4 (I believe) in a production of "The Wizard of Oz" My all time favorite and a favorite of his...

This picture ran in the newspaper.

Now he is with his mom and sister after we went for ice cream. I love these guys and love spending time with them..