Slacker!

~16 March~

 So, little miss N DID sleep very well on Thursday, and I almost was able to finish the blanket.  Only reason I didn’t finish at work on Thursday . . . I ran out of the “Florals” partway through THE LAST ROW!!!! GAH!  Luckily we were able to find a “skein” of that colourway at Zellers on Thursday, so I finished stitching the blanket that day.

A BIG thank-you to kidneybean!  I don’t know why it hadn’t occured to me to weave the ends in both ways . . . that made all the difference!   Of course, the ones I HADN’T done that way are frayed a little still, so I picked up some Fray Check at Michaels yesterday and that should do just fine.

My next projects are almost finished too.  Of course, they are significantly easier than the blanket.  Baby K, the one who the blanket is for, has 2 big sisters and I wanted to make them something too, so they don’t feel like K gets everything.  So, I am stitching up some quick ponchos for them.  The pattern is essentially my own . . . just 2 simple 60×15 double crocheted rectangles sewn together like this. http://www.timmelfabrics.com/deirdreponcho.jpg

(yarn used ~ undetermined (iow I can’t remember which) worsted-weight brand in off-white)

I wanted to add something to the ponchos to coordinate with K’s blanket, so I did a search for free crochet flower patterns, and came up with this one http://crochet.about.com/od/flowers/ss/flowerwties.htm.  I love how it has ties . . . makes it a cinch to attatch them to the ponchos . . . They are SOOO easy to make and very cute, don’t you think?

I haven’t finished the poncho for little miss S, but since it will be the same as miss Z’s, I think one picture will suffice.

To answer a few questions and incredulities . . . we found Christopher some boots on Thursday.  We found a pair in the correct size, and they rang up at $5 . . . for that price, who CARES if we move somewhere where he won’t use them next winter!  Gotta love clearance prices!

Yes, both my birth sister and I have hearing loss . . . and of the same mixed type, which is unusal enough that they attribute it to genetics, though they can’t trace the loss to anyone in our ancestry . . . I’m HOPING that by this Wednesday I’ll have “normal-for-me” hearing so that the test results can be trusted and the powers-that-be can advise me on what kind of aid(s) I’ll need.  Of course, this means that we’ll no longer be under the “umbrella” of James’ extended health benefits because they expire 2 weeks after his official layoff date . . . and the cutoff date is this Friday. 

Okay . . . I’m going to take a vote.  What crochet project should I work on next after finishing Miss S’s poncho?  A blanket to donate to a friend’s charity auction, or an “elegant lace stole”?  Neither have “finish-by” dates in the near future, so it really doesn’t matter which I do . . .

Uncategorised Ramblings

~12 March ~

So, no picture today.  Little Miss N didn’t nap as long as she usually does when I’m there at work, so I didn’t get much done on the blanket.  Did change back to the variegated colour though.  I have less than 8 rows left to stitch before this blanket is DONE!  Can I get a “woot, woot” people?!? :lol:

In other news, I went to get my hearing tested today, and I have to go back again next Wednesday.  I guess I’m not all the way over this cold yet, and they want to be absolutely sure what my audiogram looks like before they make a recommendation as to what kind of hearing aid(s) I’ll need . . . *sighs*.  Sometimes, I wonder if it would have been easier had my parents raised my younger sister and I as a part of the DEAF-WORLD.  Of course I wouldn’t have the same kind of life I do now, so perhaps that’s a good thing . . . Wouldn’t have met James if I was mostly associating with Deaf people.

I’m NOT liking the weather forecasters right now.  They’re using bad words . . . 4-letter words . . . like SNOW!  GRRRR!  Not happy about that one at all . . . especially since apparently Christopher’s snow boots decided to stop fitting him properly with less than a month (I hope!) of winter weather left of this season, and us perhaps not even living anywhere that has snow next year.  So tonight we went to Super Wal-Mart to see about finding him some replacement boots.  None to be had.  They had winter boots for ladies and men there, but nary a one for kids.  Come on, people . . . this is EDMONTON we’re talking about . . . it can snow heavily here as late as MAY!  (Or even later . . . my mum could tell stories of a blizzard in Red Deer in JUNE!  But I digress . . .)

Back to stitching . . . this time cross-stitch.  It’s a good thing this work project has 6 separate parts to it, and I’m switching colours fairly regularly, because it’s going to drive me BONKERS!  I really should be working on it instead of writing my blog . . . but hey, it’s almost bedtime and I’m sleepy and I don’t want to make a mistake that I’m just going to have to pull out in the morning . . .

And for those of you wondering who I work for . . . http://www.pineglendesings.com/.  Great little Canadian company . . . some pretty cute designs, including a “line” of LDS-themed projects.

Well all, wish me luck tomorrow that N will sleep for longer than an hour, and that she’ll actually let me put her down while she’s sleeping!  I’d really love to get this blanket finished tomorrow!  Gotta love a job where you can stitch pretty much the whole time you’re there!  *smirk*

God Bless!

A New Blog

In my search for free crochet and cross stitch patterns, as well as for various “tricks of the trade”, I’ve come across quite a few stitching blogs, and been really impressed with them.  So of course, I decided to take the plunge into the world of stitching blogs . . . and I’m looking forward to sharing with you what I’m working on!

By the very nature of this blog, it will be heavily pictured, but will not be solely so.  I am going to post every day in a journal-type mode, detailing the day’s escapades in stitchery, and probably even a few of my own thoughts on what the day has brought.  I will probably even leave links for various free patterns I’ve found and used.  I anticipate having a WIP picture once a day . . . but at least every other day. 

With that said, here’s my first WIP picture:

 ~11 March 2008~ 

This is a *baby blanket I’ve been working on for a dear friend of mine.  I was thinking about using it as my contribution for another friend’s charity auction this summer, but I think I want a more gender-neutral blanket for that one.  I think this pattern is turning out pretty well, but I’m having problems with the ends fraying where I’ve stitched them back into the blanket when switching colours . . . any ideas on how to fix that?

*blanket stitched using pattern found at http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/cp2.html, using a 4.5 mm hook with Bernat Satin in “Florals” and “Stardust”