Baby Dolls & Bad Boys

 

Happy Friday Eve! I haven’t been able to post because I’ve been swamped at work and could get snippets of time to try to read any blogs at all. This is end of month, end of quarter and end of fiscal year for work so they’re trying to stuff as many orders as they can into my days. This week has flown for me. It’s good to be busy though instead of idle.

I started another doll but this is a very little doll, she fits in my flannel shirt pocket. And she is made solely out of #10 thread. I made her for Bella, my  youngest granddaughter, for Christmas.  I wasn’t real tickled with her hair but it’s kind of grown on me. I think she’s a blonde with an attitude. :o)

 

     <<< This is what she ended up from this:             Somehow the eyes give her the attitude look. Can you see how the smile is more of a smile without the eyes?  Or is it just me?  I thought that was weird.

The blue pile of crochet behind Miss Attitude is a cowl I’m working on for someone for Christmas.  That’s one of my wips that I will do a couple of rows on then get bored and want to do something else.  The same with the Elise Shawl that I am working on. Which by the way, did I mention before that the Elise Shawl is basically the same as the South Bay Shawl? I discovered that fact while going through my patterns looking for a certain heart pattern.  I didn’t take the time to look for the difference because I was in a hurry but I kept the other pattern out to find the difference, when I pick back up the one I’m working on.

So anyways…….I’ve covered the Baby Doll. Now on to the Bad Boy.  If you’ve read my blog for any time you know that Leo is getting up in his years.  He will be 14 in March.  I have been having a problem with him peeing in the house lately and it’s only gotten worse. I was to the point of every day coming home and searching out his desired place of vengeance for me leaving him at home by himself.  And that’s exactly what it was, vengeance. There’s nothing wrong with him other than he has a bad case of separation anxiety.  And he proved it once again the other day.  I have tried everything I can think of and nothing has worked. I even crated him and he peed in his crate and then laid in it. So you know what that meant right? Coming home after a long hard day at work and having to clean the crate and give him a bath, before I could sit down to enjoy a nice glass of iced tea.

Well, a few weeks ago I decided I’ve had enough. So I started making him stay outside all day while I’m at work. I have a fenced in yard and the only thing I was worried about (two things actually) was him digging out, which he hasn’t attempted, and snakes, which it’s getting colder and they are hibernating now (for the most part).  Anyways, he gets highly upset when I go out the gate and he jumps up on me, getting me dirty, and then barks his head off…..the ‘I know you can’t leave me out here all by myself’ bark. 

The day before yesterday I left, went out the gate, got in my car, started it up and started down the driveway when I discovered I didn’t have my glasses. Dang it…I’d left them in the house. And there was no way I could go to work without them. So I had to back up, turn the car off and go back in the gate and to the house. Well, Leo was right there like ‘Cool! I get to go in the house!’ Which he did and when I got my glasses and headed back out the door he was like ‘No way…..I’m not going back out there!!’ So I had to scoop him up (which he ran from me) and put him back outside. He was 10 times worse than normal.  He wanted back in the house so bad that this is what the little snot did:

                     

This is vengeance with a passion!!  What you’re looking at is the back door, with a hole dug into the wood.  Granted, I have some rot going on, the wood is soft, and that’s why the two by fours are in front of it, to keep it from getting worse until I can get it fixed, which he’s accelerated, thank you very much Mr. Lick Lick. But he pulled that two by four out with his paws and proceeded to dig a hole to try to get back in the house.  My Leo is smart but I think he’s also losing his mind. Can you see his thinking behind it?? Dogs are not dumb. His little pea brain’s gears were definitely smoking, wanting to get back in the house.  And me??? I was highly pissed when I got home and saw it.  I don’t know what I’m going to do. I think I may get another enclosed fence within my fence and put one of those igloo houses inside of it and put him in there when I go to work.  I’ve done everything else I know to do. Nothing has worked. And if I didn’t love him so much I’d put him down. His destructiveness has caused me much stress and anxiety, on top of my other life stresses. But I can’t put him down for so many reasons. How can that sweet little face that I have tattooed on my leg be the cause of so much stress????  He’s killin me.

So that has been my week. Busy, busy and busy. :o) The weather has been oh so nice. Very cool at night, warm during the day. I wish it would stay this way.

I hope your little piece of the world is filled with love and light today. Cya soon!

TTFN
Kat
xoxoxo

Marbles, Spider Pads & Wrist Splints

Happy Tuesday!  As you can tell by the title, not much crocheting has gone on. Some, mind you, but not a lot.

Another lovely weekend passed in which I felt pretty good because I got a major job on my plate done.  My shed has needed to be cleaned out for a long time.  The power company sent a notice with the last few bills that they  had contractors in the area to pick up old refrigerators and they would send you $35 for an old working refrigerator picked up by them. So I jumped on that bandwagon, and it was the push I needed to get my butt out there to clean out a bunch of stuff. Which I did……half a truck bed load of stuff to chuck out!!  I can now get in there and move around and do some wood burning again! I am psyched about that.  I also wanted to take a pic of my marbles to show you what 400 pounds look like. Although after I took this pic I realized I had 4 more boxes behind a rolling cart. I said the heck with it…you get the idea.

So, in my last post I told you about my carpal tunnel and what they want me to do for 6 weeks until I go back. Below is my elbow spider pad for my left arm, I have a matching one for my right arm. These, to me, are doing more harm than good. They itch like crazy, they hurt, they make my arms and elbows raw and hurt. I’m supposed to wear the pads on the outside of my arm (as in the pic) during the day, and then turn them to the inside to wear at night.  And the wrist splints (second pic) are just to be worn at night. The splints are ok and I can deal with them fairly well at night but I can’t stand the spider pads. 

Frankly, I think that insurance has a lot to do with why I am having to wear them.  Glor left me a comment in the last post saying that she’s worn the splints at night for years I think.  And Vikki asked about how I was crocheting. Well to answer Vikki’s question – I haven’t been doing a lot of crocheting, but as much as I can handle until my hand/wrist starts hurting.  I’m starting to get behind on my Christmas crochet. That’s not good.  And Glor – I’m wondering, not to be nosey or anything, but do you have insurance?  I think that they can’t just operate because the insurance company wants the doctor to not be so ‘cut’ happy and try an alternative first – such as the pads and splints.  And I truly understand that, but seriously? I can’t see it getting any better because I’m on a computer all day at work, then go home and crochet til bedtime (minus a few chores).  I’ve been on a computer at work for over 12 years now… 5 days a week….and I will be that way until they kick me out the door. There are days when my hand is killing me trying to hold the mouse.  Sigh………. I just want it to be over with and not hurting anymore. 

What little bit of crochet I’ve done in the last few days is minimal. I did start a shawl for my ex-boss/co-worker for her birthday. It is the Elise Shawl and I am using Paton’s Lace.  Midas, I think, is the color I’m using.  I wasn’t thrilled with the Paton’s Lace at first because it’s so fine and splitty. But I’m getting the hang of it and I love how the shawl is looking. I haven’t taken a pic of it yet, I want to get more rows done on it. Other than that I’ve not done anything since messing with my marbles. ;o)

I hope this week finds you well and happy. We are about to get some rain until tomorrow when it will clear up and be ‘cool’…or so the weather man says. I’m betting I will have to turn my heat on at night. We’ll see. We need the rain. We have a deficit of 9 inches presently. As long as it’s a soaking rain it’ll be ok. I don’t like the torrential downpours that we sometimes get.  Anyways…..ya’ll have a good one. I’ll be back soon as I can. Cya soon!

TTFN
Kat
xoxoxo

Finally Friday!~

I went to the doctor on Wednesday for my carpal tunnel.  They gave me a script for prednisone and spider elbow pads and wrist splints. And I need to go back in 6 weeks. It seems I probably have it in both wrists, just that the other one hasn’t popped yet. So we’ll see what they say in 6 weeks. I know it’s bothering me and the spider pads make it all hurt worse.  Sigh……

 

I don’t have a whole lot going on.  I’m still messing around with marbles. I tried to take a pic last night of the fob I’m working on.  It’s black thread with yellow marbles inside.  The top one has a face in it and it looks like a Ninja. It looks better in person. :o) But I think I’m going to make this one long…like at least 5 marbles high. I like how the  yellow and black go together. Though I’m not a fan of black thread, it’s hard to see the stitches, even with my readers on. But the  yellow just pops out.

Bad storms came through last night but after they left the weather has turned nice. Not hot during the day and cool at night. I can’t remember the last time I used my a/c. And I’m going to hold out on turning the heat on as long as I can.

I hope you all have a great weekend! Cya soon.

TTFN
Kat
xoxox

It’s A Rainy Day in Georgia

Happy Monday!  Today it is raining. It actually started yesterday afternoon and hasn’t quit. We needed it badly. Texas too and they are getting rain! Yippee!! Ours has been a nice soaking in rain. I did hear on the news this morning that San Antonio had a tornado. I hope it wasn’t close to my niece. I haven’t heard so I guess that’s a good thing.

The below pics were taken yesterday. I don’t drive my truck on a regular basis because it’s too costly in gas (11 mpg). But I do drive it on the weekends to keep the battery up. When I left the house yesterday before the rain started I was going down the road and noticed this lizard on my hood. He wanted to go for a ride! He didn’t have the sense to jump off before I left the house. Who knows where he ended up. I saw him at the gas station and tried to catch him to let him go but he was quicker than I was.  He made me make a fool of myself!  And yes, my windshield is cracked. It’s been that way for 3 or 4 years now. A tractor trailer kicked something up and it hit at the bottom of my windshield in the middle. The next day I had two cracks come out of where the missile hit, one going right and the other going left. They are both low enough that my vision is not impaired.  As much as I drive the truck I’m not going to worry about it.  And the second pic is a caterpillar that was on my back deck and Leo started sniffing it. After the attack of the saddleback….lol….I wasn’t taking any chances with my baby.  So I put it up on the post to photograph it. It reminds me of a cucumber!

       

I was messing around this weekend with my crocheting (What else is new?). Didn’t get anything major accomplished but managed to make some little doodads.

                              

 

                             

I found something else to do with the 400 pounds of marbles I own. You can see the first one I tried with the big marble in the first pic. I actually made another 3 marble piece but I guess I didn’t get a pic of it. It wasn’t all that great. But I’m super happy with the one in pink. See the faces I made? One is in the second from the bottom and the other is in the top.  I know it’s hard to see but the marbles inside are green. I actually think they are chinese checkers marbles. I have a gazillion of them.  In the top left pic I also love the flower hexagon motif. The pattern for that is out of one of my Harmony Guides books, as well as the pattern for the pink flower with the purple border. That one was kind of aggravating with a bunch of picots around the next to the last round. But it turned out pretty. I think I may make a pin cushion out of that one.

Other than that my weekend was pretty quiet.  Any weekend I can spend in the country with my boy and crochet hooks is a good one for me. I had the doors open all weekend. That’s one of the reasons I love this time of year. Pretty soon the clocks will be turned again and it’ll be dark early and cold again. I’m not looking forward to that. And forgive me but there’s only 70 something days til Christmas. Where is the time going???

I hope you had a nice relaxing weekend too. Let’s hope our week ahead will be an easy one. Cya soon!

TTFN
Kat
xoxoxo

Christmas in October!

Happy Friday!  This wonderful day finds me doing ok, I hope it finds you doing much better!

Yesterday was like Christmas for me.

Last weekend I met a woman who’s elderly aunt had passed 3 years ago and her aunt was a very crafty lady.  She had a craft room larger than most of our living rooms. She did everything from sewing to looming to crocheting, to knitting. You name it, she did it. And when she passed, Sam (the lady I met) and her siblings had to clean out her aunt’s house. Sam boxed up all of the leftover yarn and thread and it’s been sitting ever since.

When I told Sam that I am an avid crocheter, that it consumes my life, she told me about having all of this yarn and thread left from her aunt passing. She asked me did I want it. Of course you know what my answer was. :o) I asked her what she wanted for it, she said nothing. So I offered to pay shipping on it because it was in Michigan.  So I gave her a check and she had her brother send it via UPS. Yesterday I received it at work. It was all I could do to not tear into those boxes before I could get them home.

The majority of the yarn was wool and was made for rugs or tapestry. There are some yarns that I will be able to make a blanket I think, those that are piled in colors. I had to separate them in type and color. Those are the Parisian yarns below. The rest left over sitting on the loveseat are mostly dark colors. But my best present of all was this box below, filled with threads! Christmas!!! I couldn’t believe it.

The yarn brand names I have never heard of. Bucilla is the name of the OD Green (Avocado), Orange, Brown, & Blue Below.  The yarn in the bag on the right behind the maroon yarn is German yarn.

  See this thread in the pics below? The thread is knobby – for lack of a better word.  I have never seen thread like this. Yarn I have but not thread. I think the name for the yarn like this is Boucle?  Well I tried to crochet with it last night as you can see by the little swatches in the first pic. It’s not easy. So I picked up a blue thread about two feet long I had laying on my table and combined it with this thread and it was much easier to crochet with and the stitches were better defined.  I think there are at least 8 balls of this thread in that box. I think it will work well as hair for dolls but other than that I don’t have a clue what I am going to do with it.

 

And lastly on the glorious Friday – here is Leo laying in mom’s chair while she sorts out her Christmas packages.  He could care less about thread and yarn….only thing he cares about is being in mom’s chair where he’s not supposed to be. 

Have a wonderful weekend! I’m not sure exactly what’s going on in my world but one thing that’s a given is crochet. Cya soon!

TTFN
Kat
xoxoxoxox

Hump Day

Good morning!  It’s not a good morning for me. I woke up with stomach cramps and 3 hours later I am still having them. Not sure what’s up with that but I must have caught something somewhere. I’m at work but I seriously thought about calling in this morning. But I am here. The conscientious employee that I am. :o) Seriously, I think I have only called in sick 3 times in the last 12 years. Shouldn’t I get an award for that??? Oh, yea, I have a job. That’s reward enough I guess. lol.

 

Anyways, I wanted to show you what is and has been on my hooks lately. Not a lot but wanted to share these with you. I have 3 babies coming that I need to crochet for. Well, one was born this weekend when she should have waited until the 11th. She was anxious to meet her mom, dad and two brothers! This blanket is for her. It’s made out of the box stitch. It took a little getting used to but once I had it down pat I have been sailing. It makes a very lovely fabric, wouldn’t you agree? I think that I will just keep going with it as it is and not do the decrease to turn it back around and make the square.  It will be a triangle blanky and I will do a border on the two straight sides. Something different. No one will have a blanky like it!  I love the mint green color.  I think I might do the other two blanky’s in the same stitch. It’s quick and easy and I love the drape of it. 

And I have been tinkering with key fobs. I showed you the initial one in an earlier post. These are so quick and easy to make as well. I made two others but they have found homes and I didn’t get a pic of them. One was a star and one was a fancy heart. I so love doing little stuff.  The little star man is kind of a weird little thing but I think he’s cute. He’s 3 dimensional. He was kind of hard to do too. It started out as a six pointed star but after the 4th point I decided to put a head on him. lol. Works for me!

So that’s all I have going on at the moment. I hope this finds you all well and happy. Have a wonderful hump day ya’ll! Cya soon!

TTFN

Kat

xoxoxo

PS/ I’m using Windows Live Writer for the first time on this post. IT recently upgraded my Outlook to 2010 and when I send myself pics it’s not like it used to be so this popped up this morning! I know Pammy Sue uses it so I figured I’d give it a whirl. Not sure about it…I’ll let ya know.

Winners!

Edited to add - My email linky isn't working for some reason...stupid blogger! My email address is hdvixen@aol.com.  Cindy I need your address.  Bev - got yours and deleted the comment.  Thanks!

 Cindy Bee & Bev! 

Congratulations ladies! If you would please send me your addresses I will get these in the mail to you. 

What fun this was.  I'll have to do this again sometime soon! 

Cya soon.
TTFN
Kat
xoxox