Friday, January 27, 2012

Stolen Story

I just saw this on Facebook and stole it from Red Heart Yarn. (Sorry Red Heart...too cute not to share)

A Cute Crochet Story ... made me smile!


A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box,... but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000. He asked her about the contents.

"When we were to be married," she said, "my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.

"Honey," he said, "that explains the dolls, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?"

"Oh," she said, "That's the money I made from selling the dolls."
 
 
LOL. Too cute huh? Happy Friday my bloggy pals! We had a heck of a rainstorm this morning early. It has now cleared and is cold. It has been in the 70's (almost 80 here yesterday) and tonight it's supposed to get in the 30's. That means 20's out where I live. I wish it would make up it's mind! Although I've been loving the warm winter. The tulip trees were tricked into thinking it was spring. I hope it doesn't get cold enough to kill them.
 
Anyhow....have a wonderful weekend filled with love. Ya hear???? :o) Cya soon!
TTFN
Kat
xoxoxo
 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Ok, It's Time To Laugh

I don't know if any of you read the blog of JennyMac. She's a lawyer who lives in Atlanta. She is hilarious to read and many a day has me laughing so hard that I have tears coming down. I've told her before that she's missed her calling. Her humor is such that I could probably sit all day and listen to her true stories. She tells like she sees it.

Anyways, this is a re-tell of a story about her mom that I thought you might enjoy. We all need a laugh every now and then and laughter is such good medicine.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Posting on Blogger

I'm still having problems with some blogs and them either freezing up or not able to leave comments on them. If yours is one that I normally comment on but haven't in a while it's because of not being able to. It's too bad blogger doesn't mass email us or somehow contact us through our blogs so that we know there are known issues and fixes when there are problems like this.

A Rose Garden of Some Sort

Happy Monday! Another work week, yippee! (I’m being sarcastic) The older I get the more I don’t want to work anymore. I’m one of those people that could be content to stay at home. I’m not one to get bored too easily. There is always something to do or get into or start.  I have been in the working world since I was 16. I believe that if I hadn’t had to start my life over at the age of 42 that I would be retired or close to retirement. I’m not whining or crying, just stating a fact. Although it sure would have been nice. But life has a way of changing in the blink of an eye, as most of us well know. 

So on to some hooky stuff, after all, that’s why I’m here most of the time. :o) Below is a project that started out as one thing and developed into another. Mainly because I didn’t like the way it turned out. The yarn is Caron’s Rose Garden. And although I love the colors, it’s too splitty to sew to.  I had intended this for a purse of some sort but after going around the top of the lining twice, trying to sew the lining to the outside, I was very aggravated.  So what started off as a purse, quickly became a potpourri bag.  I’m sure it was a combination of my inabilities as a sewer (seamstress) and the splittiness of the yarn that conjured up the aggravation.  I sometimes don’t have patience and when something is going south (bad) quickly, I tend to give up too quick. This was one of those times.

I was proud that I was able to put together the lining on my sewing machine. The bottom was what I was worried about but that turned out to be the easy part. I was a little concerned for the sides but figured out quickly that I could just make folds at the top to narrow the opening to where I needed it to be while not taking away from the inner size too much. (Does that make sense?) 

The bag was easy to crochet. I didn’t use a pattern, just started crocheting.  And while I am on that subject, I want to applaud designers and pattern writers. I suppose I could have written down the steps I took to create what I made, but I didn’t. And thought about it while having a go at sewing that dang lining in.  I was too lazy to write it down. What I made isn’t spectacular or perfect, but I made it, and it does serve a purpose, even though it was intended for another purpose.  In an earlier post I told you that I was writing down the pattern for one of my small thread dolls. And I am……..it’s sitting in one of my bins waiting for me to finish it up. But I’m lazy that way. And I will finish it, but who knows when that’ll be?  Hopefully sooner than later. Anyways……….

                                                mels potpourri bag

                                                mels potpourri at a dollar each

So what’s a potpourri bag without potpourri?  I got two bags of potpourri at Wally World for a buck a piece!  I was overjoyed to see it was only a dollar. This birthday present for one of my besties, Mel in FL, cost me about $10 to make material wise (if that). Love wise was priceless. :o)

I worked on a few other projects but only finished one other one this weekend. One of my other besties in FL had to put down one of her babies last week. I got her and her husband a card and made a cross and blocked it yesterday. I was going to put the baby’s name on it but my embroidery skills are even worse than my sewing skills. So I left it alone. It’s just a simple #10 pink outlined in a #10 dark red thread. No pattern was used, nor written, for this project.

                                                         crocheted cross

On the home front, I turned double nickels on Saturday. The day started off really well until I received a disturbing message from my daughter on facebook. Have I ever told you I hate facebook? Well this message as it turns out, was a misunderstanding on both of our parts, and resulted in a rather miserable rest of the day for me. And although it started off with a misunderstanding on her part, it was my fault for not calling her and asking her ‘What the hell???’.  I have this stupid affliction of sometimes suffering in silence because I don’t want to be in the heat of emotion and say something that I shouldn’t and end up regretting later on. We all know that we can’t take words back once they’ve been uttered. I’ve learned that the hard way a few times. But if I had called and gotten clarification early on then the rest of my day wouldn’t have been so bad. Stupid afflictions……..what can I say? Her poor choice of words lead me to a conclusion that was no where near what it actually was. And I reread this message several times. Stupid afflictions. :o(  Nuff said.

One more week and January is already almost over. Geeze.

I hope this Monday morning finds you all well, happy and showered with love. Cya soon!

TTFN
Kat
xoxoxo

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Hump Day!

So I am here busting my hump! Actually yesterday should have been hump day because I truly busted it yesterday AND the day before. But I'm glad it's Wednesday and we're on the downhill slide. I'm not feeling really well today, I've caught some kind of stomach bug. I may not make it to work tomorrow..I've already prewarned my boss. If I don't make it to work that will be a handful of days that I've not come to work for sickness in the last 20 years that I know of. Good track record I think.

So anyways, just a quick post to show you a few things. Just a few hats, me, Bella, and Leo.

Purple granny hat with small floppy brim
I frogged this...it was becoming too wonky. I'm looking forward to starting it again.
A different hat. I was experimenting with trying to make a Rasta Hat. You see I failed. lol
The face behind the hats! Or should I say under the hats. Man I'm getting old. lol. Pammy Sue is doing all those videos so I figured I could at least show my pudgy little face too. :o)
Darla's mommy! Doesn't Darla kinda look like Bella?
And lastly today, my dang pillow stealer. He is either in my chair or on my pillow sleeping. My sister is trying to get me to take one of her inherited 3 since her boyfriend died. I don't think Leo would take too kindly to some small broad taking over his domain.  Maybe he would but right now I think we will leave well enough alone.

So folks.....I hope your week has been good. We are having some very strange weather here in the south. I kind of like it.

I hope the rest of your week brings you lots of love and laughter. Cya soon!

TTFN
Kat
xoxoxox

Friday, January 13, 2012

Dang Blogger And The Passing of a Blogger

Has anyone else had problems with blogger? All day I either can't see the post, it freezes, or I can't comment, it freezes. Is it just me???  I really need to get my other blog going that I started on wordpress. I just haven't had time. I'm just getting tired of blogger and not being able to see or comment, and all the other problems with it. :o(

By the way...I learned this morning from Tamara's blog that Molly Wilson of Crocheting My Best With My Worsted passed away a week ago today. So sad. If you didn't know her, she was a very nice lady. She had MS and for a long time was in a wheel chair. May she rest in peace.

(Sorry for no links to the two ladies blogs but Dang Blogger!)

TTFN
Kat
xoxo

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Darla Is Ready To Meet Her New Mom!

Hey there! Two posts in as many days....how about that? :o) It's just a quick one to show you Darla's hat before she leaves me today to go to her new mommy. The first pic was taken last night after I made the hat. But this morning before getting ready to leave for work I was thinking that the hat needed a flower. So I grabbed a leftover ball of the yellow that I used for her other set of clothes and a G hook and made the flower real quick after I got to work. I also stuffed $2 in the little purse so she doesn't leave me without her own money. :o)

I'm a little sad to see her go but happy that she is going to a very loving home and mommy.
Happy Hump Day my bloggy friends!!

TTFN
Kat
xoxox

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Picture Post!

Happy Tuesday!! Thank you all for the kind words. I may not know you personally but I consider you my friends. We have this common blog thing going on and our intertwined lives internetally (I know that's not a word and say that phrase three times) give us the bond that we have. I hope to maybe someday meet you all personally....that would just be wonderful to me. You never know! If you see a big white motorcycle with a gray/silver/white haired big woman on it come riding up, a huge hug will be the first order of business. :o)

So....on to the pics of some of the things I have had come off of my hooks since the last time I posted an actual post with pics. (BTW...I still haven't figured out that dang iPad thing. Too much other stuff going on.) For the most part I have been making a lot of hats. I stumbled on the easiest hats to make. A friend of mine called me up right before my two weeks off, that I had previously made a couple of hats for a couple years or so ago and requested 5 hats...for himself. It seems a couple of his others walked off, to not be returned. So I made 3 with the promise to make the last two while I was on vacation. When he picked them up he said the 3 was good for now. So when he left me he saw his doctor friend that he does work for occasionally and the doc snatched one of the hats I had just made him! Well, the doc liked it so much that he told my friend to ask me to make him one and he'd pay me $20 for it. Not a problem. I made it before I left to go south. When I got home I told my friend that I would bring it to work so he could come pick it up and also told him that I had made 4 more since I last talked to him. He called me up not long later and said 'The doc wants all 4 hats and he'll pay you $20 a piece for them.' OMG...you're kidding me! Well I had already given two of the 4 hats I made away, and the other 2 were girly colors. So I got busy and made 3 more manly hats for the doc. I am on a hat roll. They're super easy, super warm, and only take a couple of hours at the most to make. All they are is either single or double strand yarn (depending on the type of yarn) and done in all half double crochet with either 5 or 6 increase rounds, until they reach the bottom of my ears. Then if they are double strand (usually with contrasting yarn) I will do the next to last round in the lighter color and the last round in the darker color and fasten off and weave in the ends.  I am making a bunch up and going to go to this thing they have in Savannah once a month called 'First Saturday' and see how well they sell. Not at $20 each. I thought that was a bit much but that's what he offered and paid for them. I think $8 is fair. What do you think? Look and see some of what I've already done:









There are 4 hats not shown that I didn't get a chance to get pics of before I gave them away. The one brown one that I have pulled up quite a bit in the front (the first pic) was the leftover of the skein from the first brown one I made. I was going to keep it for myself but I took my hats to NC with me to show my sisters and Sue (who lost her boyfriend) liked that one and asked could she have it. How could I refuse? :o)  So what do you think? Is $8 a fair price? I welcome your feedback.

So my next round of pics has to do with Darla. She is my newest baby doll for Bella's birthday this Saturday. She was a labor of love, literally. I couldn't wait to get her hair done. It's so soft and silky. Bella's hair is blonde. Remember when I did Madge for Kylie? Kylie has brown hair. Now each girl will have a doll of their own. :o)




I was just sitting here thinking that I need to go home tonight and make Darla a hat. I think I might have made more clothes for Madge than what Darla has. I only have one more day before I have to send her to Bella.

Next up is a lapghan that is kinda weird. I had started it a couple of years ago and as usual for me I got bored with it. So I put it up. Well, I got it out determined to do something with it but unfortunately didn't have the pattern with it. So I looked through my books and found the box stitch in one of the Harmony Guides books. Since I already had 3 different colors of purple what's one more? I had a leftover skein of dusty purple which I think was a Vanna's Choice color but the wrapper was gone. It's a rather odd piece altogether but my other sister (I have 4 by the way) loves purple. She loved it. It's warm for sitting on the couch covering up your legs. If I hadn't intended it for her I would have kept it myself! I worked on it during the cold spell we had and it was nice and warm. So half of the lapghan (long ways) was the first pattern and the other half is the box stitch. Different.

Next up is not crochet related but two wall hangings that are in my sisters' bathroom (the one that I gave the lapghan to). I stayed with her part of the time while in FL. She's had these critters hanging on her walls for a very long time. She found them at some craft/art show I think. But I've always liked them. Aren't they cute?

Well, that's my picture show for now folks! :o) I'm thinking I have more but have run out of time this morning. I'm looking forward to catching up and visiting with each of you. Thank you for letting me into your lives and I am proud to know you. May the sun shine down and warm your lives up like you have warmed mine!

TTFN
Kat
xoxox

Monday, January 9, 2012

Life Bites Sometimes

Hey ya'll. Just a quick post to let you know I am still here and plan to post with pics as soon as I can humanly get a chance. I've been very busy at work, backed up from taking two weeks off for the holidays. Then on New Year's Day got a call from one of my sisters, my other sister's boyfriend was killed in an accident New Years Eve. And no, he wasn't drinking. That was my first question. It was a very unfortunate accident in her car. He was only 39 years old. And she told me Saturday that he was to be my next brother in law this year.

A word of wisdom to those of you with paid off vehicles that take off the collision insurance to save a little money. It's not worth it. Her car was a 2005 paid off and worth $8000. She took off the collision to save money and the car was a total loss. She was out her boyfriend/fiancee and her car.

So I gave her my car, a 2000 Impala. And I went out and bought myself a 2012 Kia Soul +. Didn't want the car payment and didn't like it when I drove it home Friday. But actually learned to like it while I drove my car and a friend drove my old car to NC to her on Saturday. Still don't like having a car payment. But my sister needed a car. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for family. I can better afford it right now than she can.

I just don't understand why life has to be so cruel sometimes. I never will I guess. Anyways, that's what is going on with me. I miss you all and hope to catch up with everyone very soon. Another word of wisdom that can't be said enough - tell those you love that you do and show them every day what they mean to you.

TTFN
Kat
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Monday, January 2, 2012

January 2nd - 2012

Happy New Year to all of my bloggy friends! I haven't posted since last year. lol. I know...that's lame right? But it's the truth!! I am going to try to post more this year. I didn't make any resolutions, although I did something that I haven't done for years, I stayed up to watch the ball drop! I haven't done that since 1998/1999. I'm hoping that it will somehow make a difference this year in my life and I will have nothing but good luck all year long.

So I am going to try to post some pics. I tried to send myself pics off of my phone to my email account and then download them to the ipad. Nope, that doesn't work. So I then uploaded them from my phone to flickr. We shall see how that works!! There's more than one way to skin a cat!

Today is my last day home from work. My first day off was two weeks ago tomorrow when Leo had his teeth pulled. I'm happy to say he's doing much better. He's pretty much back to being himself. Thankfully. We went to FL on Wednesday and then came home the following Monday. I am kind of looking forward to going back to work but at the same time I don't want to. :o) But I haven't won Powerball, or MegaMillions so if I want to eat and pay bills I guess I better get up in the morning at o'dark thirty and get back into the work rhythym. :o/

Ok, this is not working. Dang it. I thought I uploaded pics to my post from Flickr and they aren't showing up. I am not going to let it whip me!! So I am going to publish this post and mess with it to get my pics into a post. I may just post a post of nothing but pics. So this is a work in progress. Please bear with me.

I'll be baaaaaccckkk.
TTFN
Kat
xoxo