So Cute

Well....I finished my noggin, but she's not according to pattern 100%. That's mostly due to I am not a sewer (not sue-er - it's so-er) lol. I had the most difficult time putting the feet, legs and arms on. The ears were relatively easy compared to the others. I made my own eyes, which I wrote down how I made them, but when I sewed them on they took on a shape of their own. And the nose was ok and the mouth is a 'remake'. All in all she's not bad. Kylie will love her because - a)motorcycle granny made her
b)she is of the purple species
c)she has pink on her

I don't know if anyone has written an eye pattern before but here is what I did -
using brown -
ch 2
6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with white
ch 4, turn
sc, hdc, dc, sl st in 1st brown sc
sl st in next brown sc
ch 4, turn
sc, hdc, dc, sk 1 brown sc, sl st next brown sc, sl st next 2 brown sc
sl st next 3 on bottom side of white to end & fasten off. leave tail long to sew on.

They looked great before I sewed them on the noggin. Oh well.

Don't forget Paula's giveaway Confessions of a Crochet Pattern Slut . She's got some great stuff! (I know, I've been a swap partner with her!!)

Hope your Tuesday has been wonderful and that wonderful will continue on to tomorrow!!

TTFN

Kat

xoxo

PS/I forgot to say that I put the arms like that because I'm going to send a note on the noggin that says "I Love you thissssssss much!!"

So There I Was

Don't you hate when something starts out like that? It grabs your attention and you just have to read what follows. :o)

Look what I won from Miss Pammy Sue's giveaway!! It's a gorgeous mandala! Besides being patriotic, the color of red that she used is a little deeper than the normal red and I just love it! For now it's under my porcelain tree until I make a new home for it. (I have two spare rooms that need to be cleaned out so I can bring my plants in for the winter. ) Thank you Miss Pammy...it's very much loved!!

I am so, so, so glad it's Friday. I live for Fridays. :o)

I am currently working on a Noggin from the latest Crochet! magazine. I'm not sure how I feel about it. The body doesn't look near like the pics in the magazine, but it's not all done and put together either. I've not had a problem with it until I reached those dreaded toes. Holy cow...the first foot was so aggravating I didn't even work on the second foot last night. I picked up something else to work on. So I started on the other foot today and it's laying here on my desk with only two toes done. Two more to go. :o) Then all I have to do is the ears, nose, eyes and pocket and put it all together. The ones in the book are made with Caron Simply Soft Brights. I had a skein of Lilac Bud Caron Simply Soft Eco. She will be for Kylie for Christmas, as she loves anything purple. I'm sure I'll have her done by the end of the weekend so I can take a finished pic and post it next week for you to see. But you can see what I have done so far.

I also pulled out Kylie's clown because I had to finish weaving a couple of ends and I wanted to tack down the legs and arms to the body. You would have thought I'd done all that before putting it away until time to send but I must admit....I was lazy. :o( Anyways, I got the pattern for the clown from Enfys on Ravelry. Although I just checked out a book from the library that has a similar clown pattern in it. That one doesn't have the head and feet that this one has. Same principle on putting it all together though.

Last but not least, I am a pinup girl!! :o) The pic you see is me, (Miss September) with Bella's blankie that I have been working on. And although I appear nekked, I am not. I have shorts and top with my straps pulled down behind the blankie. We (Bomber Girls) put together a calendar for sale as a fundraiser to send packages to the troops. Some of the calendars will go in some of the boxes to the 60 soldiers currently being sent packages. And normally I am NOT photogenic, but this photo of me turned out rather well I think. And Shirley of Fancy Pants Photography did a wonderful job and a big thank you to her for donating her time to put up with us girlys and taking our pics. She was so easy to work with.....I hope we were just as easy for her to work with.

So it tis the weekend. I hope where ever you are that your weekend matches no other and is wonderful beyond your dreams!!

TTFN

Kat

xoxox

Happy Monday!

I so did not want to get up out of bed this morning, even though I woke up at 3:20! I could have stayed in bed with Mr. Lick Lick. I love this fall weather we are having. I kept my doors and windows open all weekend. It would be wonderful if it was like this year round. It's perfect weather.

I think my hummingbirds are gone, though I did see one straggler Friday afternoon after I got home from work, but I think he was headed south and just stopped to fuel up some more or hang overnight.

I spent quite a bit of time outside this weekend, although I did some wood burning (not leaves and branches and such). I had forgotten how much I love to wood burn. It's too hot in the summertime to be in the shed burning. So yesterday I spent a couple of hours burning on a new piece, ready to burn on another piece. I actually got two pieces penciled out in letters and only one of them burned. I brought my last finished wood burning in the house yesterday. That's it up there. Whatcha think? I love it, I just have to find a place to put it up. It's made of red oak. I actually finished it in July, as that's the date I burned on the back of it. Just forgot to bring it in! I did the whole thing......burned the front piece and then put the finish on both pieces, then attached the back piece to the front piece and attached the hooks. I was pleased with the results.

I also finished a new bookmark for my daughter's birthday. I was really pleased at how Ms. 'Bugged' Bunny turned out. I call her bugged because of her eyes. Those were the smallest buttons I could rustle up. I thought I had some smaller but couldn't find them. No biggy, these actually look ok, just bug eyed. I hope she likes her. She is made from the Drops Design pattern. I made a different one for my sister that I already sent to her in a book on Friday. I made him all to pattern (Drops Design) except that I didn't add his feet like on Ms. Bugged. And I liked him so much that I made her. I embellished on her face and ears but other than that she's to pattern.

And what do you think of Bella's wrist pal? I just whipped her up. I am not proficient at sewing faces. For some reason they all turn out like they have angry faces on them. What's up with that? lol. I made this for Bella because Jen's birthday and Kylie's birthday are 5 days apart so I'll be sending theirs both together. Bella is almost 3 (in her terrible 2's) and I couldn't send Jen and Kylie something and not Bella. I know....she needs to learn but she's only 2.

So anyways...my weekend was pretty full and relaxed. I love my weekends home, which there aren't a lot of them. I could hermit from the time I got home Friday afternoon til I go back to work Monday morning.

Hope your day is everything you hoped it would be!

TTFN

Kat

xoxoxo

Fall Friday

Ahhhh.....finally it's nice weather. Cooly in the mornings, nice breeze and warm, not HOT during the day. I actually had my door open yesterday because it was cooler outside than it was in the house! It's going to be a wonderful nice weekend too. :o)

So anyways...some of my hooky goodness that I've been dabbling in, I just had to show you. Bella's blankie is getting there slow but sure, but I think more slow than sure. After putting it on the floor to snap a pic of I think I like the colors and how I've placed them. Now I just need to finish it.

The basket I made one night and morning for one of my Bomber Girl sister's boyfriend. He is so nice. He gave me a purple harness for Leo and one of those thingys you hook into the seat belt of your car so that the dog isn't all over the place. Leo hates me for that, let me tell you. I tried it on him. He would stand next to me but when I went to pet him he moved to the passenger side of the car. As if to punish me for doing that to him. Well.....I have to go to FL in December and to have to ride 6 hours with him wanting on my lap was not my idea of fun. Now Mike has made it possible for me to relax a little bit and not worry about having to try to restrain Leo the whole way. So I made the basket for him and I gave his mom (who I had just met and she was from close to where I was born - it's such a small world) the cupcake pincushion I had in my done stash. She makes quilts. She was really nice too.

And last but not least - I started on the Kaleidoscope Blossom by Terri Simon and was happy with how it was turning out......that is.....until I discovered that the flat part was BACKWARDS!!!! Oh I was so mad at myself. So after I discovered it I dropped it and left it for when I feel like picking it back up and tearing it apart...oh 3 or 4 rows...to fix it. And the yoyo's in the pic are I think Teresa Richardson's??? of how to join yoyo's. I'll have to look again when I get home. I could be mistaken. I can't remember sh** anymore.........errrr sorry......but it's true.

So anyways....hope your weekend is very comfortable and good. See ya next time! :o)
TTFN
Kat
xoxox

PS/I won a mandala from Pammy Sue's giveaway! How cool is that?? Red, white and blue - patriotic. Thank you Pammy Sue...it will definitely be loved!

PPS/I published the post without my pics..........bad, bad bad...........

Clara's Giveaway

Clara is having a giveaway in honor of her 100th follower. What she is giving away is a secret inside of a lovely black and gold bag. She will reveal what is in the bag when the winner is picked. You can find her at http://clarascrochetroom.blogspot.com/2010/09/claras-crochet-room-giveaway-other.html .

Checkerboard madness

Hey there! Gee, it seems like forever that I've posted. Time seems to slip away from you when you're busy in your life. And I've been pretty busy. At least trying to keep busy to keep my mind occupied. August was a really bad month for me and September started out bad too.

I lost my dad in August, then lost my aunt and cousin at the beginning of September on the same day. Not together though. He was in FL and his heart gave out on him, and she was in CO and age gave out on her. She was my dad's sister. My cousin was my uncles' (my dad and aunts' brother) son. That basically leaves my uncle with no immediate family. I feel really bad for him.

I am so ready for this year to end.

Sooo....on that note, I just finished up with a swap. Shown is what I made (a microwave runner and coasters)and I was so enamoured with the finished product that I have started another one in maroon and a pastel pinky/orangey color for my daughter. The color combination is awesome! But then again so is the green and red that I did for Paula.

This particular 'stitch' pattern is in the Interweave Press book of 250 stitches. It's called 'basic patchwork'. It took me a while to get the hang of it. As a matter of fact I had the first one halfway done when it finally clicked in my brain and I pulled the whole thing apart and started over. Which was a little daunting because you're working with two colors of yarn so then you pull one color apart for 5 stitches then you come to the other color for 5 stitches and so on. The yarns get very tangled up. And they tangle while you're crocheting too. I had to stop at the end of every row and detangle the balls. Working with two strands, holding one while working with the other is not an easy task if you've never done it before. But it was worth it in the end. I love the finished product!!

I have gotten this 'hat bug'. I want to make hats. A lot of the patterns I've looked at and tried are mostly for 21" heads. So I'm thinking that I need to go up a hook size or two to come up with the right gauge for a 23" head (mine). (I know...I have a big head..lol) I've even used the right hook but added a row or two. They always end up bigger than the 23" then I have to decrease and add rows to make them fit. What's up with that? And if I don't know someone's head size....how do I know how big to make them so they fit? Does anyone know of a universal pattern that I can make that will fit almost any size head?

I'm asking for a couple of reasons: 1)I want to be able to make hats for presents and 2)I want to make hats to give as door prizes for our runs. If I had a quick crochet hat that would fit almost anyone that would be wonderful!

So that's what I'm presently up to, besides trying to get Christmas done. I have a couple of people that I just don't know what to do for them. Men....they're not as easy as women. Other than that it's coming along nicely. I have a couple of hours after work every day to crochet and a couple of hours on the weekends. Life is full.

And I think fall is FINALLY here. After that front went through yesterday it's supposed to be in the 50's at night and high 70's during the day. To me that's the perfect weather. But somehow I don't think it'll last too long before the COLD sets in. I guess we'll see.

I hope your corner of the world is full of love and laughter today.
TTFN
Kat
xoxox

Blah

I am having a hard time with the blahs. The month of August was the pits, starting with dad leaving us. I lost another friend, two of my friends lost their parents (one lost her mom the other lost his dad) right behind me losing my dad.

AND THEN I get home from work on Tuesday and in the mailbox when I open it, is this big envelope. I see it's from a friend of mine who has had/is having a really rough life. I had sent her one of my heart shell motifs a few months back hoping to put a smile on her face. Well, she returned it.

On the outside of the envelope were a few written things and one of them said 'This is my way of saying GOODBYE'. I thought...what the heck??? So I open it up and inside was the motif with a letter written on the backside of my letter to her. And she explains that maybe someone else can better use it and at the bottom it says again that this is her goodbye. I am freaking at this point.

So I go in the house and grab the phone, looking for her number on the caller ID. I call it. I get a message saying it's no longer in service. Now I am in panic mode. I don't know what to do! I am so frantic that I can't remember anything - what her sister's last name is, her brother's first name, her other friends last name. NOTHING! By this point all I want to do is get in the car and head south 370 miles.

Then it hits me - my sister lives in the same community as my friend and she's only a mile or so from her!! So I call my sister up and ask if she can go check on my friend. She says she can so I give her directions to the house from her house. She says give her 10 minutes or so and she'll give me a call when she gets there. Huge sigh of relief.......somewhat.

The call comes....no answer at the door. All curtains are closed. She goes to the neighbor next door and the neighbor is certain she saw the mailbox flag up the day before and a light on the night before. I'm freaking again. What to do? Does my sister need to call the cops? No...need to get ahold of a relative first. The neighbor next door was the 3rd cousin to the other friend that I couldn't think of her last name. Go figure huh?? Small world. So she's going to call her and in the meantime I will do some digging to come up with a relative's name so I can hunt down a number.

Now mind you....my friend's relatives are not on very good terms with her except for one that I am aware of. This other 'friend' has been described by my friend to me as 'taking advantage' of her. (My friend has several severe medical problems and has to use a walker to walk - obviously she does not work - she's basically sitting in her home waiting to die. This is my observation of when I last saw her at Christmas) Anyway I get online and I start searching obits in the area (hoping to not see hers), anything to try and remember names. FINALLY.....

I remember her brother and sister-in-law in Gainesville. So I look online at the white pages. VOILA!!!

After another hour of STUFF........and to make a very long story shorter than I want to type today.....I finally get her on the phone. She's alive and I am in tears.

I have had so much grief this past month that could last me the rest of my lifetime. I am so wiped out by it all. Thankfully I have my Mr. Lick Lick to talk to and hug and love on. I don't know what I would do without him.

Since the beginning of August I have been pondering life. All aspects of life. Why we are here, the cycles we go through in life, the end stages of life, death, where we go when we die, why we can't talk to those who have left us. I have examined it all and keep examining it. Thinking death is a daily thing for me now and I'm literally sick to death of death.

I never really thought about it too much except for those I've lost to death through the years, and mostly because it was in my far-off future....right?? Not to the extent that this last month has brought death to the forefront of my being. It's getting more and more frequent. And now I am fearing death. I don't want to die, I am selfish. I want to stay here forever. I don't want to leave my loved ones. How crazy is this.....I have been trying to finish up all of my unfinished crochet WIP's so that if something happens to me they're done. I know it's not really that crazy but it's crazy to the point that it's making me crazy. I have been crocheting at least. I guess that's a plus.

I won't go into the religious aspect of life and death....my views on religion, as I know it, are another very long post.

I haven't been able to post because death is on my mind constantly and it's consuming me and I have just been eaten up with the blah's. And nevermind that the 2 year anniversary of my best friend's death is Monday.

I keep thinking and hoping for some respite. I wish I had a switch in the back of head that I could just turn off my brain sometimes so I wouldn't have to think.

Hope I haven't brought you down. I also hope very much for you that life in your corner of the world is very bright and wonderful!!!

It'll get better...........
TTFN
Kat xoxox

PS/Love my little fellow up above....he's my whole world.