Still Recuperating, and Other News

    Today, I'm still recuperating, sort of. I feel much better than I thought I would. Spending that much time on my feet was... difficult. It got to the point where I had to just keep walking, or I would have fallen right over.


    After I got home, I took some Advil, and put my feet up for a while. I was actually getting cramps in my leg muscles, and couldn't really get comfortable. But I slept well, and got up to find that I wasn't in too much discomfort. I'm still taking it kind of easy today, but I am doing laundry. Up and down the stairs is fun.


    Last week, I went to my mom's to help her pack up some stuff for the move to the new, smaller apartment. I ended up bringing more stuff home than I packed! She gave me a box of kitchen stuff that she doesn't need, and a coffee table.


    Not just any coffee table. This table was a very large part of my childhood. I have memories of turning it upside down, and playing in it. Looking at it now, I couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 years old! Maybe 4 at the outside. Mom has kept it all these years. She, of course, has painted it. It now has two children in olden days clothes on it, all done up in folk art painting.

   Unfortunately, it also has a pretty good crack in the top. I have asked Hubs if he can perhaps repair it with clamps and some glue.


    Here is a shot of the right side of the top, you can really see the crack.

   And the left side, with the matching daisies.

    Perhaps tomorrow morning, when the light is better, I can carefully turn the table over, and  show you my favorite play area.


    I am currently not working on anything, craft wise. Although.... a certain pregnant lady greatly admired the pot holders I made for Sara.... Maybe I can make her a pair. I'll call Sara later, and ask her about color combinations.


    And P.S. - Today is my mom's 80th birthday! She is from a tiny little town in upstate New York, which doesn't actually exist any more. It became overtaken by another town, as it grew. I think my mom is the only person I've ever known who actually attended a one room school house. It boggles the mind, doesn't it?
  

I think I'm finally done with the skull thing...

    Yesterday, while I was babysitting, I finished my second skull potholder. Then I was stuck with a napping toddler, and nothing to do! Anyway, here are photos of the finished potholder:

    Yup, I'm such a rebel, I made the two sides different. Just like the blue/purple one. Here is a photo of the two together!

    Unfortunately, this means I currently have nothing to work on. Perhaps it's time for a break. I will let you know, and keep you updated on the crafting front.


    And perhaps, if I feel up to it, I shall report on the medical tests scheduled for later on today. But right now, I'm starving, and cranky. No coffee this morning, and no food after 8 a.m. I watched Cherub this morning, so I wasn't even home until 8:30!

Busy Busy Day, and Crocheting Too.

    Today was a busy day, alright! I've been up since 5 a.m. I got up to use the bathroom, and couldn't get back to sleep. About 6:30, I gave up, got up and made some coffee. About an hour later, Hubs was up too.


    So by 8:30 a.m. I was ready for lunch, and by noon I was ready for dinner. But I had somewhere to go today. Son's karate school was playing a softball game for charity at 2 p.m. and I was going to support the team, and watch them get their butts handed to them. They were playing a team from Waste Management, who apparently belong to a league, and play on a regular basis. The Karate school team is made up of instructors and parents, and some adult students, who don't play softball on a regular basis.


    The good thing is that all the money raised was going directly to their charity, the Relay for Life to fight cancer. So far, the karate school has raised over $10,000!


    I brought my crocheting with me, but didnt' get a chance to work on it. I was too busy talking to people. I finished the one I was working after I got home, and started the next piece! Here is a shot of the first one I finished, all done!

    Here is the second side. I decided to have them not match.

   Here is the first side of the second one, finished today, I love it!

    The second side will look like the second side of the other one, but in pinks, purple and white. The skull is the same pink as the background of this one. I'm not sure yet what color I will use for the border. I might be thinking the white. Extra points to those of you who can spot the booboo.

The Potholders are Done!

    At long last, the pot holders for my daughter Sara are done! I finished up the last one yesterday afternoon at friend Bonny's house. I have since started on a pair for myself. That is, if my hands don't hurt too much!

  
    As a reminder, here's a photo of the first one -

    And now the unveiling of the second one!

    And finally, a photo of the two of them together!

    May she get good use out of them, and never get burned! I started making the ones for myself, and here's how the first one looks so far:

    I am not caring that the purple in the variegated is almost the exactly the same as the solid purple. It makes it look a bit wierd, and you can't even tell where the nose is! At some point when it's finished, I may take some white and outline the nose.

This Week's Craft Report

    This week, I have been busy crocheting away on the skull potholders for my daughter Sara. The first one is finished, the second one, almost done. I am up to the eyes on second of two pieces. Then I crochet them together, and voila!  it's done.


    I haven't mentioned my knitting project, it was bad, and it's having a long time out. When I feel like working on it again, I'll get it out, and have my good friend Kim take a look at it to see where I screwed it up.


    While I was out with Hubs earlier this week, we were in Walmart, and  I found some more cotton yarn that would go great with some I had already bought. I picked up two balls, and we headed on to the rest of the store. Unfortunately, we decided not to purchase anything else, so all we had was my two little balls of yarn. Of course, every single check out line that was open had at least 10 people waiting. I decided that I didn't want the yarn that  badly, so I put them down in some random place, and we left.


    Now I'm kicking myself, I really want that yarn. But I made the right decision, it totally wasn't worth waiting for so long to spend less than $5.

Tah Dah! One Down, One to Go!

    And here it is, the promised photo of the first finished pot holder!

    I altered the pattern slightly, as it was too short, more a rectangle than a square. I added rows at the bottom and top,  as well as one in the jaw part, and one between the top of the nose and the start of the eyes.


    I am pleased with how it came out, and have already started the second one. Yesterday, when we were out, I had Hubs stop at A.C. Moore and I ran in and got a different color for the second one. I am keeping the bright pink for myself.


    I worked on the second one last night, when I couldn't sleep. I went in to bed, tossed and turned for an hour, then came back out and took a med. I sat here, watching TV and crocheting until I finally felt sleepy. I think I went back in about 2:30.


    If I didn't mention it before, this project comes from The Happy Hooker, Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet, by Debbie Stoller. The actual potholders were designed by Kacy Fallon.


    I decided not to post photos of the second pot holder, to keep the color combo a secret, as my beloved daughter reads my blog...

In Which I Have Skulls on the Brain

    Before the relatives decended the other day, I was talking with Sara, and showed her the cool pot holders I've been working on. I am only making them for lack of anything else to do at this point...


   Anyway, she really liked them and asked me to make her a pair. She wants two different color sets. No problem! I went to Michaels craft store this morning, and picked up some colors to use with the colors in my stash. See, I can stash bust with this project!


    I stopped and took photos a couple of different times. It really went quickly, to my supreme delight!

    That one was just before the row where the eyes are started. The next one shows the first one all done!

    I have already started the second one, then they are crocheted together, and voila, they are done! The second color combo I will keep to myself for now. I'm not sure if I like it. I may have to go back and exchange one of the colors, to one I think Sara will like better. I will take another photo when the whole thing is finished.

Crochet Project Update and More

    Well, you may be glad to know that I figured out Kim figured out where I had gone wrong with my crochet project, and it has since been remedied and the first part finished. Here is what it looks like!

    I have started a second one, but it's different than this one. I feel that if I were to make another one exactly like the first, right after finishing the first, I would just lose my mind. So I started the first of another pair.

    I was supposed to have company today, to go swimming. But when I texted to see if they were coming, I learned that Cherub was fighting with her mother, and mother didn't feel that Cherub deserved to do anything she might enjoy. I totally understand that logic. It's like: You talked back to me and were very bad, now let's go swimming!! Kind of rewarding bad behavior. So I swam by myself today for a while. Here is what I saw from one corner by the fence:

    That building is empty, it belongs to the local water district. They used to have offices there. It's right at a bend in the creek.

    Then this is the view from my Queen Chair, looking across the shallow end of the pool.

    That's my lemon slice float. I used to have an orange slice too, but it's gone missing. Underneath is Hubs' mattress float. This hasn't been a very good year for our poor pool. First we had a hell of a time getting the chemical balance right, then Hubs had double ear infections, and I got a new tattoo. One more week until I can sped some serious time in the water.


    Not only did we have a hard time with the chemicals, but we had to get a new pump too. The old one, which wasn't all that old, began making loud noises last summer.  It was even worse this year when we turned it on. We had seriously considered just filling in the pool, we'd discussed it for two summer seasons now. I'm concerned that I'm the only one that really uses it. I know it's a lot of work for Hubs.


    I guess we are committed to at least a few more years now, since he spent the money and got a new pump... And he might be willing to get a new liner too.


    In closing, I would like to point out that when considering getting a tattoo, don't get it in the summer. Especially if you like to spend lots of time in the water!

I've Hit the Wall, Knitting Wise

    I sure have. I screwed up my lace stole project a few days ago, and haven't figured out yet where I went wrong. I haven't frogged it, I still have hope that either I can figure it out, or my friend the knitting expert can.


    In the meantime, I have been crocheting. I'm trying again to do the skull colorwork potholders, from the Stitch n Bitch Crochet, The Happy Hooker book. I tried once before to make these for my friend, but I wasn't happy with how it looked. Since then I have watched her make some, and decided to try again. So far, I am happy with how it looks. Even though I'm using my least favorite hook, the size G. This hook size, I consider my nemesis.


    So for now, I am crocheting. I will post photos of my progress. I am really not too happy that to make the potholder, I have to make two of these fracking things. Grrrr.

    And for a double Grrr, as I am looking at the photo, I see the eyes are off center, which means I have to frog the last row that I did. I didn't notice until I looked at the photo! Oh well, at least it's not a whole bunch of rows...


    Tattoo update!! It has now been 8 days since my tattoo, and the last little bit of crust has finally come off. It's still itchy, and I'm still lotioning the shit out of it. I know it seems early, but I have always healed quickly. I am told the color looks awesome. I can't see it myself without mirrors. I think I'll ask Hubs to take another photo of it.


    Crap, I see it's almost midnight. I better get my crap assembled and publish this, or it will show up with tomorrow's date!!

Shawl Progress and Skull Making

    This morning I didn't really feel like knitting, so I went into the patterns for skulls that I found on the internet. I picked one out, a neat one designed by Sandi Marshall. I got out my hook, and started crocheting.


    On the first attempt, I got as far as round three, with no problems. When I started doing round four, the grinning teeth part was being placed next to the first eye, not under the nose. So I frogged it, back to the beginning of row four, and attempted it again. Going slower, and reading more carefully this time.


   Nope, the teeth were still lining up with the first eye. I frogged it again, read the pattern again, and decided just to wing it myself. Here is what it looks like:

    I may have another go at it, I'm not entirely happy with the teeth area. And, ad you can see, I changed my mind about the color, I think black would look better than light gray on the dark gray shawl body.


    When I was babysitting for Miss Malia today, I got quite a bit of work done on the shawl while she napped. I think I did about 6 rows! Then I stopped to take some photos. Here is a photo of how it looks now:

    And here it is with the skull in place:

    The shawl is getting small enough that I could put it on a shorter length needle, but I can't find one. They must all have WIPs on them. Working on a 60" needle is getting  

crazy! It's getting tangled up in itself!  Oh, well, I shall just have to persevere.