Life & Times of Lady Val

Easy Fingerless Mitts

2012-01-28T16:14:00.000-06:00

Earlier today I finished my first pair of fingerless mitts. Woot!! They will come in very handy due to the fact that I keep my house on the cooler side in winter in order to save money. I do keep it warm enough so my pipes don't freeze, but it's not a big deal to me to put on an extra layer to be warm. These will be great when I want to be crafty!!

It's really hard to be your own hand model. LOL!

The yarn is 100% wool from Manos del Uruguay. The colorway is # 107. The pictures give it a more blue-ish cast when it's actually shades of purple.

The pattern is Easy Fingerless Mitts by Maggie Smith. The link will take you to the Ravelry page. These were very quick and easy to knit. I really enjoyed working on them and will probably use the pattern again in the future.

TUSAL - January 2012

2012-01-23T21:15:00.000-06:00

Today's the new moon so it's time to post a picture of my ORT (Old Ragged Threads) jar for the first TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long) of the year.

All that is currently in my jar is yarn from a scarf I knitted my niece, two dishclothes, some face scrubbies and reuseable cotton rounds. Didn't get any cross-stitching done, so I hope to add some embroidery floss next month.

For a better explaination of the TUSAL, please visit Daffycat's blog.

KAL - Moss & Leaf Cloth

2012-01-22T15:05:00.000-06:00

This morning I finished up the dishcloth for the mid-month KAL at the Monthly Dishcloths Yahoo! group. The design is called Moss & Leaf, designed by Andi Worthy. I think it's very lovely for a dishcloth. It was definitely fun to knit!

KAL - Side By Side

2012-01-16T19:30:00.000-06:00

For a few years now, I have been a member of the Monthly Dishcloths Yahoo! group. Twice a month there is a KAL (knit-a-long) where for seven days, about 10 rows of a dishcloth pattern is posted daily. I've really only been a lurker, occassionally knitting one of the dishclothes.

This year, I decided I wanted to complete the year's worth of KALs. The KAL that started January 1st produced the Side By Side dishcloth. The group leader says the name comes from the cloth looking good from the front and the back.

Here is my Side By Side dishcloth.

Front

Back

DIY Face Scrubbies & Reusable Cotton Rounds

2012-01-15T12:42:00.001-06:00

Something I knit frequently are dishcloths. I really like how they are both gentle and tough. Great scrubbing ability and still useable on items that you don't want scratched. Plus, they make great quicky knitting projects!

Like most projects where yarn is involved, dishcloths always leave remnants that aren't big enough to make a full sized project. Here are a couple of things I ran across on the web that are very practical and use up that leftover yarn - face scrubbies & reusable cotton rounds.

The pattern for the face scrubbies came from this video:

The pattern for the reusable cotton rounds can be found here.

Sewing Pattern Organization

2011-11-27T10:46:00.001-06:00

One of the things I'm always on the lookout for is attractive ways to organize my home. With my house being older, storage space is at a premium, so I need to find ways to attractively store things out in the open.

Yesterday I ran some errands and decided to see what Office Depot had on hand. I got lucky and found a box that I liked and didn't cost a small fortune.

I brought it home and stuck my sewing patterns in it. But another issue I have is knowing what patterns I have when I'm away from home. There have been several times I've stopped into Joann's when they've had pattern sales and didn't buy anything because I wasn't sure if I already owned it.

This morning I came up with the idea to scan the patterns I own and upload them to my photobucket account. Then in the future I can pull up my photobucket app on my phone and see what I already have. I think this will be great for future pattern buying!

Here's Callie checking out my new pattern box.

Nibbles

2011-11-22T00:19:00.001-06:00

Fifteen years ago after work, I came home to find my then husband sitting on the sofa watching television. I then noticed that sitting next to him was a tuxedo kitten. Now, I'm a huge animal lover & cats are my favorite, but Loser Boy (as I refer to him since the divorce) should not have brought this cat home for a number of reasons. Even though I was extremely mad at him, I fell in love that baby kitty.

Over the years, through all my ups and downs, was Nibbles. She could have quite the temper, but she was also very loving and would lay in my lap whenever she could. She would also curl up with me at bedtime, better than any teddy bear I ever owned.

A few months ago she started having problems with severe constipation. She wasn't eating and she lost weight. The vet removed the impaction and put her on a regimine of stool softeners and mineral oil. Nibbles coat became oily, but you could tell she felt better as she started eating again.

Then she stopped eating for the most part. She began losing more weight. She stopped grooming herself. She started losing fur. She lost strength in her back legs.

I did the ugly cry, laying on the floor, on my stomach in my bedroom with my hand laying on Nibbles as she was curled up in her pink bed with the satin bow.

After I had my meltdown, it dawned on me that she might have pneumonia. The vet instructed me to be very careful when giving her the mineral oil, because if it got into her lungs, it could turn into pneumonia. I managed to get Nibs a follow-up appointment & off we went.

That was two months ago today.

Nibbles lungs and heart were clear, it wasn't pneumonia. Her blood work, however, showed that her kidneys and liver were failing. She was in the process of dying. It was time to let her go.

That day I made one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make. Even though logically it was the right choice to have her put down, my heart breaks because I feel guilty whenever I think about it. I gave the order for her execution, escentually.

I think part of it is because she was still mentally sharp. The last two nights of her life, she managed to drag herself out of her bed to sit by mine, and let me know she wanted to sleep with me. She hadn't slept with me in a long time as she had difficulty in her later years jumping up.

Nibbles also liked to be held on my left shoulder like you would hold a baby. As I sat in the exam room holding her, she kept pulling herself higher up my shoulder. It felt like she was trying to hug me back and didn't want to let go.

I miss her.

Callie is a sweetheart, and I love her dearly. I'm so grateful to have had her through all of this. She just can't fill the spot in my heart that belongs to Nibbles.

TUSAL 2012

2011-11-16T22:18:00.001-06:00

For those who follow my blog, but do not follow the stitching community, you're probably wondering what a TUSAL is. Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long! Daffycat is hosting the TUSAL for 2012 again. I've followed the progress of many stitchers that have participated and thought it was very interesting to see how much floss trimmings could be accumulated over the period of a year.

I've also been in a bit of a stitching slump, distracted by knitting, belly dance, sewing costumes, reading. Too many hobbies... NOT! But, I have been neglecting my cross-stitching, so I thought this would help give me some focus with picking up my needlework again.

What should you expect to see? For a full explaination, check out Daffycat's post here. In a nutshell, at the time of the new moon (I light my torch and wave it for the New Moon on Monday) , sorry, my Duranie side took hold, I will post a picture of my jar containing the snippets of floss that I've collected from working on my cross-stitch.

Happy stitching!

Calais Shawl

2011-11-07T21:50:00.001-06:00

I've wanted to knit a shawl for a while. Tonight I cast on the Calais Shawl. The yarn is by Spunky Eclectic in the colorway Joshua Tree.

Duran Duran & Swarovski

2011-11-05T11:42:00.002-05:00

Duran Duran teamed with Swarovski on their new video Girl Panic. Here is a little behind the scenes look.

Witches & Riding Hood

2011-11-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

The witch is done! I've been steadily stitching at lunch time on her and I finished her yesterday. Seems appropriate since yesterday was Halloween.

Friday night I helped my sister & her daughter pass out candy at a Trunk or Treat. I've never been to one before, so it was quite an experience. There was a trunk competition, and we came in third! Here's my sister & niece. Aren't they cute?!

See! I Did Sew Something!

2011-10-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share a photo from this year's murder mystery party. I'm the one on the left wearing the gown I made on my new machine. I'm very proud of it! The chemise I made a few years ago, and since I didn't have time to sew one that was more period appropriate, I grabbed it out of the closet and made due.

The other ladies are my friend, Jeanna (middle) and my niece, Rhiannon (right).

Back To Stitching!

2011-10-29T21:51:00.001-05:00

I picked up Midnight Ride this week and have managed to get more of the witch stitched. Please forgive the bad lighting, causing the colors to look a bit washed out.

Viking Invasion

2011-09-16T15:31:00.001-05:00

I took a day of vacation today for a few reasons. One being I need to use up some vacation time. The others being sewing related.

Since my Singer bit the dust, I had been borrowing my mother's vintage Singer Featherweight. It's been a dream to use, but I can't keep it, and I need a machine to do more than just a straight stitch.

So, off I went looking at machines. The first one that I liked was a Bernette 20. But, I'm old school when it comes to sewing machines & have to test drive more than one.

The second store showed me a Janome something or other, I don't remember the model number. It was ok, but I didn't love it. Then they showed me a Viking Emerald 118.

It's mechanical, which I was fine with. Both a local high school and a university use it for their sewing programs, so you know it is durable. It makes decent one-step buttonholes, can handle multiple layers of denim like it was nothing.

It was a little more than the Burnette, but this machine just felt right to me. So, meet my new machine!

Vintage Sewing

2011-09-13T05:55:00.001-05:00

Sunday my friends that I bellydance with came over to my house to work on costuming. I have a Singer sewing machine that my mom bought for me when I was a junior in high school.

It's been dying for a while. The motherboard went out a few years ago, making it to where I could only sew straight & zig-zag stitches. It finally bit the dust.

Needing to get some sewing done & not wanting to rush out and buy just any machine, I called my mom to borrow one of her extra sewing machines. She loaned me her Singer Featherweight machine.

Even though it can only sew straight, it sews beautifully! Look how cute it is.

Scented Birthday

2011-09-12T14:28:00.001-05:00

My 42nd birthday was Saturday, which I had a wonderful time with friends. My niece made my cake, which featured my love of knitting.

Today, a coworker surprised me with a Yankee Candle wax warmer. Can't wait to try it out!

Shine A Light On The Midnight Ride

2011-03-30T20:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday evening I was looking at some new to me blogs that feature some, if not all, cross-stitching. I ran across a post that the blogger was talking about using a headlamp when she cross-stitches. The story was something to the effect that her lighting wasn't cutting it and she didn't have a close enough outlet to plug her OTT lamp in, so she pulled out her husband's headlamp. I thought that was a brilliant idea!

I dug out my headlamp and gave it a try.

It worked great!! I have horrible bedside lighting, and even with the lamp on the highest setting, it is just too dark for stitching. The headlamp made it so easy to see. I apologize to whomever it is that posted the blog, I didn't save the link to share here.

Here is Midnight Ride today.

Books & A Midnight Ride

2011-03-28T19:06:00.004-05:00

While not out of the picture, crafting time has decreased some since I bought my Nook in January. All my life I had been an avid reader. I remember being a child, waiting for the Weekly Reader books my mother had ordered to arrive in the mail. Of course, I had them read almost immediately!

Between regular grown-up life and other interests, my reading dwindled down to almost non-existant. *insert sad face here* Admittedly, I love gadgets, so when the Kindle came out, my interest was piqued. Pricing was way outside my budget, so I just sat back to see what would happen as things always drop in price and improve in quality as time goes on with electronics.

This past year it seemed the ebook & ereader market was really to a point where I could finally dive into the proverbial pool. After researching the various ereaders available, I decided the Barnes & Noble WiFi e-ink Nook was perfect for my needs. I am so in love with this device! I have been reading almost every single day since getting it, and that hasn't happened in years. My favorite feature is the ability to download ebooks from the library. I have enough books on hold that I don't have to wait for something to become available. I am in reader heaven!!

I have several craft items I have been working on since my last post, but tonight I'm only going to feature my cross-stitch piece, Midnight Ride. This is what she looked like the last time I posted.

And this is what she looks like now.

My knitting is such a passion for me, that I sort of forgotten how much I enjoy stitching. I need to learn to better allocate my hobby time so I can do everything I love to do and not focus so much on one thing.

New Three Musketeers!

2011-03-27T10:27:00.002-05:00

I didn't even know that they were making a new version of it. I quite like Mathew Macfadyen & Orlando Bloom!

Bloodfever Review

2010-12-06T21:03:00.000-06:00

My first book is finished towards my December reading challenge!

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this second book in The Fever series. The development of Mac is interesting to watch and the mystery of what Barrons really is kept me drawn into the story. The added elements of new characters, and their involvement, is a strong pull in keeping me interested in what happens next.

View all my reviews

Living Dead In Dallas Review

2010-11-30T19:19:00.000-06:00

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Don't let the length of time it took me to read this book fool you into thinking it wasn't very good. This second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series was very enjoyable and a great follow up to the first book. If you enjoyed Dead Until Dark, be sure to pick up this book.

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Gearing Up For 52 Books In 52 Weeks

2010-11-30T18:10:00.002-06:00

Reading is something I have always loved. Growing up, my mom had a subscription for me to get a couple of books in the mail every month. Each month I'd look forward to the books and read them as quickly as I could get my hands on them. Visits to the library were a frequent practice as well.

Sadly, I've let reading slip to the wayside. I let real life and other forms of entertainment suck up the time I use to spend reading. I have started to listening to audio books while I knit during my lunch break, but other than that, sitting down with a book has been missing from my life for the most part.

On Ravelry, there is a 52 Books in 52 Weeks group that got me to thinking about getting my reading groove back on. Being a member of Goodreads, I was a member of various groups who were always doing various reading challenges. So, with these two websites inspiring me, I thought I would try the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge in 2011.

Now, let me begin my saying, I really do not anticipate reading 52 books in a year. This challenge is more to push me to read again, and if I even get 26 books read, I'll be very happy.

To "train" for this challenge, I have looked through the various group challenges on Goodreads and picked out a few for the month of December. Beginning on December 1st, I will start reading Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning. This is the second book in the Fever series. I read the first book, Darkfever, earlier this month. It was a quick and enjoyable read! The last book in this series is being released in January, so the Fever Series group on Goodreads is reading all the books in anticipation of it.

I have my other challenge books picked out and waiting for me to read, but I'll blog about them in future posts.

Walmart Pulls A Best Buy Stunt

2010-11-26T22:22:00.002-06:00

A while back in this blog I told of how Best Buy had started the practice of doing price matching only after they call the competitor to verify that the advertised item was in stock. Tonight I learned that Walmart has started that practice as well.

I am not a Black Friday shopper. There isn't really anything worth getting up in the middle of the night to wait in line and hope that I be one of the lucky ones to get the deals. That's not to say that I won't pop into the stores after the craziness has died down. Last year in the evening of Black Friday I was able to get Season 8 of Smallville for $9.99 at Best Buy. This year, Best Buy repeated the bargain pricing of Smallville, and since they had tons of copies last year in the evening, I didn't get in a hurry to get to the store early.

Well, for whatever reason, Best Buy sold out of Season 9 of Smallville. Bummer! Later on, I was at Walmart with my shopping companion so she could get laundry detergent, I looked to see if possibly they had a copy of the elusive Smallville DVD set in stock. Eureka! They had a copy.

With Best Buy ad in hand, I go to check out. Walmart's price was $44.99, I hand over the ad to the cashier. She had to go ask a manager about matching it. The manager tells her the sale ended at 1 p.m. Um, wrong answer. So, over to the manager I go and dispute the 1 p.m. So, she jumps on the phone and calls Best Buy.

After she gets in touch with someone at Best Buy, they tell her they are out of stock. She did ask if they weren't out of stock, would they be at the regular price, which they told her no, they would still be at the sale price. When she gets off the phone, she tells me that since Best Buy doesn't have any in stock, she won't match the sale price.

Well, Walmart, all I can say is that you continue to do things that push me more and more away from wanting to walk through your doors.

Mini-Shopaholic Review

2010-11-25T21:43:00.000-06:00

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Shopaholic series is one I love and always look forward to the next one in the series. It's light reading and the main character can get herself into such jams, but it's always entertaining to tag along with her to watch how she gets out of them.

Can't wait for the next book!

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Red Riding Hood Trailer Official HD 2011

2010-11-21T10:06:00.000-06:00

Can't wait to see this!

Cat vs Printer

2010-11-10T06:34:00.001-06:00

I was laughing so hard I was doing a silent laugh. This was too funny, so of course I have to share it.

Darkfever Review

2010-11-09T07:09:00.000-06:00

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I obtained this book back in July when it was a free selection for Kindle, started reading it because I was wanting to try out the Kindle app for my phone, and by the time I was finished with the first chapter I was completely hooked.

This book was a fast read & very entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, and in a way consider myself lucky that the last book of the series (I think, I may have mis-read that information) is coming out soon so I can read the whole series from beginning to end.

View all my reviews

Changing Things Up A Bit

2010-10-27T23:22:00.002-05:00

While I loved the previous layout of my blog, I have grown tired of it. Tonight I found a new template and am in the process of tweaking things to get everything to look right. Unfortunately, I need to put this aside for the rest of the night as I have to get some other things done before heading to bed. Stay tuned as I get everything looking just right.

Jasper's Monkey Socks Are Done!

2010-09-21T21:25:00.002-05:00

They're done! My first pair of socks are done!!

Callie's inspecting them.

Jasper & Alice & Tinkertoys

2010-07-19T18:50:00.002-05:00

Jasper's Monkey socks are almost complete. I totally missed the goal date I set myself of having them completed by the Eclipse premiere. But, I'm really close and plan on having then finished this weekend. I'm past the gusset and into the foot, I'm that close.

Since my Jasper socks are almost finished, I already have my next socks picked out to knit. Can't have Jasper without Alice, so I began winding my Fresh From the Cauldron yarn in the colorway Alice tonight.

Yes, the swift I am using is made of Tinkertoys! I really want a swift & a yarn winder, but for now I'm using this swift that I found directions for on the blog Of Rats & Jen. It works really well!

The pattern I have picked out is Spring Forward. Alice is so bouncey that these socks socks make me think of her.

Picture-less Update

2010-07-06T22:26:00.002-05:00

Somehow, from Ravelry I started looking at drawstring knit bags and ended up looking at Halloween blogs. I, of course, had to add a countdown widget to my blog, and while I was here I thought I'd give a little update. As of right now it's 116 days until Halloween. That is going to be here before I know it. After vacation the first week of next month I will have to start getting serious about prepping for this year's murder mystery party.

I'm still working on my Jasper's Monkey socks. Sadly, I didn't get them finished in time for the premiere of Eclipse. I did finish the leg, the heel flap and the heel turn on the second sock. I'm into the gusset, which is basically being in the home stretch. Maybe I'll be able to get it finished before Sunday, when my family gets together for a brunch/Twilight movie marathon. We're gathering to watch Twilight & New Moon, have brunch instead of movie snacks, and then heading to the theater to see Eclipse. I'm really looking forward to Sunday!

Fourth of July was a jam packed, fun filled weekend. Saturday was spent in Branson. My friend, Trish, and I went to see Diana, The People's Princess. It was very tasteful, and the gowns were amazing. I highly recommend it if you ever consider going. The late afternoon & evening were spent on the Branson Landing. The Landing is my favorite spot in Branson. I never really do much shopping there, but I love to look around. That night they had Chain Reaction, a fantastic Journey tribute band, perform, followed by fireworks.

Sunday started out doing things around home and then it was off to my sister's for swimming, grilling and fireworks. It was a lovely day spent with the family. I finished the night by going to a friend's house for a few hours.

Monday, the office was closed and today it was back to work. At least it's a short work week!

18 Days To Go

2010-06-13T08:51:00.003-05:00

This is how Jasper's Monkey socks looked yesterday with 18 days left until the Eclipse premiere.

Jasper's Monkeys & Eclipse

2010-06-09T23:26:00.003-05:00

Do you ever use countdown widgets? I have in the past and at the time of this writing I have one at the top of the blog, counting down the time until the premiere of Eclipse. I have a big vacation coming up that I was wondering how many days I have until it's time to go. So, I started looking around the Android market for an app for my phone and found one.

After getting the widget added to my phone's home screen, I decided I wanted one for Eclipse as well. Since I have 21 days until the release, it occured to me to use the movie's release date as a goal date for finishing my Jasper's Monkeys socks. Makes total sense to me since they are Twilight themed.

Since I'm on the second sock, it really shouldn't be a big deal in getting it finished. My problem has been not wanting to knit as much since it's warmer weather. Hopefully my excitement for the movie will help motivate me in finishing my first pair of socks.

Test Post

2010-05-27T23:24:00.003-05:00

Found an app for my Droid & wanted to test it out!

Shake It For The Cure 2010

2010-05-02T23:11:00.004-05:00

Every year in May there is a belly dance workshop in Buffalo, MO and in the evening there is a Hafla where proceeds benefit the Relay for Life. The featured instructor and headlining performer was Princess Farhana. As always, I'm there with my camera taking tons of photos. I came close to 1000 pictures that night. I'll be kind and only share 65 of them here.

Tonks Has A Heel!!

2010-03-09T18:11:00.004-06:00

My Tonks Socks have been progressing very nicely, and I don't feel as though I have spent much time on them. I'm past the heel on the first sock and working on the gusset. At this rate, I may have this sock done by the weekend.

Tonks Is A Fast Girl

2010-03-07T07:58:00.004-06:00

Usually on a Friday or Saturday night I get together with my friend Trish to hang out. This may be running around town or just staying in knitting or playing cards. Last night was a staying in night. I went over to her house last night to knit & chit-chat. Usually we have something on the television as background noise & I had been wanting to re watch The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. So, I took both of them with me, not knowing if her and her family would be interested in watching them.

Shockingly, they had never seen them! So, we ended up watching both movies while she & I knitted. I worked on my Tonks Socks since they were meant to be my mindless knitting. It went so fast that I actually had to stop knitting, only because I didn't have my DPNs with me to do the heel flap. When I got home last night I did have to start the heel flap. This is how Tonks looks this morning.

Tonks Socks

2010-03-06T08:50:00.010-06:00

I'm still working on my Jasper's Monkeys socks. Had to do a bit of frogging as I somehow ended up with more stitches than what I was suppose to have.

I used two tutorials to do this. In the past I would have ripped it all out and started over. The first tutorial helped me with marking where my stitch marker would go, Ripping Back Without Ripping Your Hair Out. The second tutorial, Techniques with Theresa - Frog Pond Edition, showed how to weave another needle through the project where you are ripping back to. It went really smoothly, I was so happy to not have to start over. My knitting bravery seems to grow with each project.

Thursday night as I was doing some straightening up of the living room, I ran across my Beginner's Lightweight Socks pattern. I had started this pattern a few times and ripped it out as I was getting use to knitting with DPNs & sock yarn. The last time I started them I was using Tempted Hand Painted Glam Grrl, and while I loved it (I actually made it past the heel and into the gusset), the pattern doesn't enhance the yarn since it's all stockinette. I'm thinking about ripping them out and using the yarn for something else.

In my stash I have a few skeins of Opal's Harry Potter Sock Yarn. Since it's self striping yarn, I decided to pull out Tonks and start the Beginner's Lightweight Socks again.

These are going to be my mindless knitting project to work on when I want to knit but have enough distraction that counting is difficult.

I have to give a big kudos to the HiyaHiya circular knitting needles that I've been using. They have made my sock knitting so much easier & faster since I'm not fiddling with multiple needles and trying to avoid ladders.

Jasper's Monkeys

2010-03-03T17:45:00.003-06:00

Remember my lovely Fresh From the Cauldron sock yarn in Jasper? It looked like this:

Well, now it looks like this:

I'm knitting Monkey socks!! This is my first pair of this pattern & I can see why it's the most popular sock pattern on Ravelry. It's challenging enough to not be boring, but easy enough to be fun & fast. I can see more socks using this pattern in my future. And for my first pair it seemed appropriate to use the Jasper yarn since Jackson Rathbone, who plays Jasper in the Twilight movies, has a band called 100 Monkeys. Well, it made sense to me at the time.

My Winter Hat

2010-02-28T13:27:00.005-06:00

This has been finished since mid-January, so I'm a bit behind in getting a photo up of it. The yarn is Lang Mille Colori Big and it is so soft & nice to work with. It does get a little splitty, but that didn't stop me from enjoying knitting with it. This picture of the skein of yarn is from Personal Threads Boutique . I typically don't use photos that I didn't take, but in my excitement to cast on my hat I skipped the step of taking a stash photo. I am not using their bandwidth, I stored the photo in my personal Photobucket account.

The pattern is Classic Ribbed Hat at Ravelry. It can also be found at Cheap Knitting Patterns.

And to finish off the post, here is a picture of Callie sleeping in her favorite spot... my bed.

I'm a (Makeup) Junkie & I Won't Go To Rehab

2010-02-18T18:22:00.026-06:00

Ever since I started wearing makeup, I have basically been a makeup junkie. When I was in my teens, I used a fishing tackle box to store my products. It worked for what I had, but as I got older my collection grew and I decided to go another route with storage.

I had four of these with all of my makeup dumped into each one. I did have it sorted by eyes, lips, cheeks/face, but the downfall was that I had to dig through each container to find what I needed. Sometimes I would resort to dumping the contents out on my bed just to find a particular product. *sigh* Not good.

Recently I discovered on YouTube that there are videos of how people have organized their makeup. The one that really inspired me is this one. The fact that there is an adorable kitten making an appearance doesn't hurt.

So, throughly inspired, I began the hunt for ways to reorganize my makeup. Now, while I don't have everything completely set up, I have to share the progress I have made.

The first thing I found was a bead organizer from Michaels. I have dozens of little pots of eyeshadows from Bare Escentuals that were just horrible to dig through. Not anymore!

I like that the box has a lid because if I want to grab & go, it's easy.

The next thing I did was transfer some non Bare Escentuals mineral eye shadows from their stack & twist container to individual containers in a box. This is a bead box that I found at Walmart.

I decided to do this because the stacked container would work itself loose, minerals would get all over stuff, yuck. Technically this takes up more space, but I'm happier with this new option.

Lipsticks & lipglosses are now in these little kitchen drawer organizers from Walmart.

My pencils, potted lipsticks & glosses, and miscellanious tools are in this pencil caddy from Walmart. Yes, it's the same one that is in the video above.

Now, the thing that I'm most excited about arrived in the mail today... a UNII makeup palette!!!!

The little box opens up and reveals my palette in Twilight. The nice thing is that the UNII comes with magnets for your depotted makeup.

A closer look!

An empty inside.

And now it's filled!

For having depotted for the first time today, I did pretty good except for when I tried to depot the MAC blush, I slipped and gouged it a couple of times. There are tutorials on how to repair makeup, but I didn't bother with that this time.

The tutorial I used on depotting is the following.

For some history on the UNII, here is a video of the creator explaining how she came up with the palette.

Hocus Pocus, Stash Will Now Appear

2009-11-18T22:02:00.003-06:00

It's seems the past few weeks that Wednesday night has become movie night. My Netflix queue alternates between a movie, followed by a television series. The television show DVD is watched on the weekend when there are a few more hours for viewing time. Tonight's movie was "Hocus Pocus." It has been a very long time since I had seen it and since I was a bit busy during the Halloween season, I finally had time to watch it.

I finally managed to take some photos of yarn stash. They are...

Jitterbug in Tapis

Fresh From the Cauldron (FFTC) Silver Sock in Edward

FFTC Silver Sock in Alice

FFTC Silk Sock in Bella

FFTC Silver Sock in Carlisle

FFTC Silver Sock in Renesme

FFTC MCN Sock in Michael

FFTC Silk Sock in Sookie

FFTC Silk Sock in Sam Uley

FFTC Silver Sock in Esme

FFTC Silver Sock in Jasper

FFTC Silver Sock in Volturi

James C Brett Marble in Granite

Have you noticed the vampire theme in the FFTC yarns? I was a member of the 2009 Vampire Sock Club. These yarns are beautiful and I highly recommend them. The etsy store is here. The best place to find out more is in the FFTC group on Ravelry.

I almost have my Kudzu Kuffs finished. Ran into a little goof at the very end and have to fix it first. I also picked back up the afghan that I started crocheting last year. No pictures at this time. I already have my next afghan picked out. It will be knitted, however.

Hips Noir 2009 & G.N.O.

2009-10-20T21:53:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite events every October is the annual Hips Noir belly dance extravaganza. The woman who puts it on is my belly dance instructor and this showcase features dancers from the area as well as her own belly dance troupe, Red Moon Tribe. As in years past, this year's show was fantastic. Here are some of my pictures from that night.

Afterwards, the Four Star Club went out for drinks for a G.N.O., aka Girls Night Out. Notice the matching shirts? The moon glows in the dark.

Horror in the Haunted House

2009-10-18T12:17:00.014-05:00

Friday night I hosted my first annual Murder Mystery Party. The theme was Horror in the Haunted House from Host Party. The game description reads:

A fancy dress party is being held by Horrorwood Studios to celebrate the success of their latest film 'Ghouls just wanna have fun'. Owner of Horrorwood Studios, Hal O'Ween, has invited many of the actors, actresses and employees involved in the making of the film. Join them for an evening of fright and horror, some of it intentional, some of it not.

When I was originally searching for a murder mystery party, I ran across this particular game and knew instantly that this was the one. As a major fan of Duran Duran, to run across a game that uses a play on the title of the song 'Girls on Film' is a win. So, with the help of my friend, Trish, I began putting this together.

With this being my first Halloween party & having a limited budget, my decorations were minimal. It was kind of disappointing to me because of all of the wonderful photos I have seen of other parties on the internet. I have to keep reminding myself that it was more about everyone getting together and having a good time, rather than how many decorations I have. At least I have an idea where I am headed with future parties and can work on some things the rest of the year.

Everybody was so enthusiastic about the party. I was very surprised at how enthusiastic they were. I was so afraid that there would be some reluctance, but they were so great. Dinner was potluck with lasagna as the entree. How can you go wrong with Italian? Everybody came in costume and they all did such a great job.

These are my nieces, Devin as "Eve L. Dedd" and Rhiannon as "Carrie Coffins."

Here is Rhiannon again with her dad, my brother, Randy as "Adam Family." They are looking at floor plans of the mansion where the murder took place.

This is Devin's BFF, Elizabeth as "Gora Underfoot."

"Frank Stein" is portrayed by Tyler, and his wife, Cathy, is "Dawn Ovdee-Zombiz."

Here is "Diane Screamin" aka Jeanna. The fogger certainly made the room... foggy.

"Eve L Dedd" watching "Carrie Coffins" play with my cat, Callie.

Looking cute are Keith as "Moore Bodies" and his wife, Trish as "Kat Peeple." I am so grateful to Trish for all of her help. Without her it would not have turned out as well as it did.

A portrait of "Dawn Ovdee-Zombiz" and "Frank Stein." Frank won the costume contest.

My brother-in-law, Virgil as "Drake Yewlarr" and my sister, Debra as "May Cup."

"Carrie Coffins" and "Adam Family" pose for us.

Such lovely young ladies are "Eve L Dedd" and "Gora Underfoot."

And a random photo of "Moore Bodies," me as "Elle Razor," "Diane Screamin," and "Frank Stein."

It was so fun and I already have guests talking about next year. I think that is a sign it went well.

Wow! Long Time No See!

2009-09-08T10:42:00.003-05:00

Geez! Has it really been since June since I have shown my face over here?? I've been busy, but I don't feel like I have anything very exciting to share. Just an update so you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

I'm still bellydancing! WOOT! I am having a blast with my American Tribal Style (ATS) belly dance classes. I am halfway through the Intermediate One classes. We've learned choreography for one dance and have started learning choreo for a second. Our instructor has mentioned holding a hafla (recital) for us at the end of the month, which I want to do as I'm constantly trying to move outside of my comfort zone. It's not definite yet, so I'm not sure it's going to happen.

As I become more advanced with my dancing, it becomes more and more clear that if I want to be as good a dancer as possible, I'm going to have to buckle down and improve my fitness. Cardio is a biggie! My stamina is greatly improved, but I want to kick it up several notches. My biggest problem is that I hate to exercise, so I have to disguise it as fun. Ever hear of Zumba? Starting a week from today I will begin taking Zumba classes. I'm praying I don't die. LOL! I have several friends who just rave about it, so a friend, my sister & I wanted to check it out. I love to dance and Zumba is very dancey. I'll let you know how it goes.

The cat situation is going slow. It's better than what it use to be but Nibbles is still not happy. She did finally decide that she wasn't going to stay in one room for the rest of her life and has started moving around the house. She still hisses and growls at Callie, but it's getting better. Callie is active and ornery, plus she won't leave my yarn alone. It's very hard to knit or crochet when you're playing dodge the kitty. I love her though!

I haven't really done any crafting this summer. I have done just the smallest amount of stitching and knitted a couple of dish cloths. Nothing worth posting a picture of. That will change as the cooler weather moves in and I want to curl up with my projects.

And on a final note, I have changed a few things on my blog layout. I took off the cross stitch designs that have been hibernating. I'll add them back on as they become active. I also added on books that I'm reading and listening too. But the most important thing I've added is a clickable link for The Animal Rescue site. I'm a huge animal lover and I don't do enough to help them. However, by clicking on a link once a day I am able to help provide food for rescued animals. It's free and easy. If you feel so inclined, please help by clicking the purple paw at the upper right corner.

More Midnight Ride

2009-06-13T13:49:00.002-05:00

I've been steadily working on Midnight ride. Her hat is complete and I've started stitching on the moon.

Callie is settled in. She's so sweet & very playful. I'm going to get diligent about putting things away as she likes to get into stuff and sometimes carry it off. Nibbles never really bothered my things, so it became easy for me to just leave things lying about. Here's a photo of her looking out the window.

Is That a Witch I See?

2009-06-11T17:58:00.002-05:00

I have a start on Midnight Ride!! I began with the witch, so all I have is a blob of black stitches plus her face.

I was afraid the black floss on the dark fabric wouldn't show up very well, so I've been pleasantly surprised with how it looks.

Things are progressing with the addition of Callie. On Sunday I started letting her out of the bedroom when I am home. During the week when I'm at work I keep her closed off in the bedroom, checking on her during my lunchtime. She's basically adapted to her new home and is very comfortable. Nibbles, on the other hand is not handling it so well thus far.

She hisses at Callie, she hisses at me even if Callie isn't around. She's just not happy. I expect as much since it's been less than a week. If anything, I expect her to be unhappy for a month. I don't like it that she's upset, but I think in the long run it will be good for her.

Here's a current picture of Callie. Sorry for the lack of technique with the photography, she was sitting still & I was able to get the shot.

Home of a Needleworker Too! - Finished

2009-06-06T22:11:00.002-05:00

It's done! This is my first cross-stitch FO for 2009.

I think my next start will be Lavender Wings' "Midnight Ride." The fabric is 32ct. Belfast linen in the color Gothic from Picture This Plus.

I was messing around with the various settings on my SLR digital camera. Found the B&W setting and took a picture of Nibbles. I'll pretend it looks that way on purpose and that I was being artistic. LOL!

When I woke up today I had no idea I was going to become a two cat household. I've wanted a second cat for years, but due to Nibbles being alone for so long & such a grouch when she's been around other cats, I just didn't want to upset her.

This morning I get a call from my sister. She is a real estate agent & was out showing property. She had shown this particular house a few weeks earlier and both then and now there was this sweet calico cat who was desperate to get into the house. This house was on the market due to a foreclosure.

My sister has a huge heart and a soft spot for animals, so she called me wanting to know if I knew anyone who was looking for a cat. After just a few moments of talking to her, I jumped in the car with the cat carrier and was off to bring the kitty home. The neighbor confirmed that the previous owner's had abandoned her.

I've tucked her away in my extra bedroom. She ate two packets of soft food immediately. She acted like she would have ate more, but I was afraid she would get sick from eating too much too fast. Off to the store I went to get her a litter box and other supplies for her.

She's all set up now. I did bring her out a couple of times to introduce her to Nibbles. They both hissed & growled at each other. I hope this works out. Callie, as I've named her, is so sweet. She settled in quickly and is very loving to me. The picture isn't the best as I took it with my phone. She was chilling out after getting her tummy full.

Home of a Need??

2009-06-02T22:21:00.002-05:00

Just continuing with the funny saying my Home of a Needleworker Too reads as I stitch on the saying. Actually, as of right now it says Home of a Needle, but I had already took the photo and didn't feel like bothering with another one tonight.

The last photo makes the design look like it's distorted. I promise it's not, I was standing over my stitching when I took the picture, which gave it a weird angle.

Last Day of May, Last Day of Vacation

2009-05-31T20:39:00.002-05:00

On the last day of every month I am amazed at how quickly the time flies. Add vacation on top of that & it goes by even faster. Tomorrow it's back to the real world.

I managed to get a little more stitching in on Home of a Needleworker Too. At the rate I'm going, I may have it done by this time next week!

Fresh From the Cauldron June Shipment

2009-05-30T22:45:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in this post, I am in yarn club for Fresh From the Cauldron sock yarns. She so very kindly sent them out early & I received mine today!! This was what was in the envelope.

Close up of Sam Uley

Close up of Volturi (notice the sparkle!)

I forgot to show a photo of the May shipment. It included the Forks, WA that the Deep in the Pines cowl was knitted with and Bella.

I have no idea what I'm going to make yet with them. For now I'll just pet them!!

Home of Neeu

2009-05-30T18:42:00.001-05:00

Well, that's what it looks like at this point. Was able to do a bit more stitching today.

Home of N

2009-05-29T15:07:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy week around here. I took five days of vacation starting last Friday, and since we had Monday off for the Memorial Day holiday it is more like having ten days off. It's gone way too fast!

Last Friday I went with friends camping down on the Current River. Camping isn't really my thing, but we went on a float trip the next day and I will "suffer" through camping to go floating. The camping really wasn't bad, I did have a good time. No photos of that as I am scared to take my camera on the river, even with a waterproof box. We returned on Sunday.

Monday I went to the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival in Muskogee with my friend, Trish. I just love it down there! It's definitely my favorite festival. It was a light crowd, which was nice for us. Hopefully it wasn't too bad for the festival as they have had a very rainy season. We were fortunate that it didn't rain while we were there. The drives to & from are a different story. Here's a teaser photo of the ren fest that I took at the chess match.

We did stop at the Downstream Casino both ways to take a bathroom break. I spent $5 each time in the slots. Didn't come away a winner, and to top it off, my car wouldn't start when we tried to leave on our trip home. Security gave us a jump-start & we made it back home safely.

Tuesday I dealt with the car. Trish came back over to try to help. We were at first going to remove the battery & replace it. My gut kept telling me that the battery was fine and that it was just the connection. The connectors were corroded and we couldn't get the cable unscrewed. So, we tried jumping it to take it to the garage. No luck. After talking to my sister, who recommended pouring Coke on it, I thought I recalled reading about pouring vinegar on it. Worked like a charm!! Poured some on, let it sit, wiped it off with steel wool & we were able to get it jump-started in one try. The garage confirmed my gut instinct. It was the battery connectors, which they replaced & I'm all up and running again!!

Wednesday had me just puttering around the house. I did begin working on my laptop again, which is/was infected with a nasty virus. After doing lots of research and trying different things, I think that by the end of the day I will be able to say it is healthy again. I booted up my tower PC, that I haven't turned on in forever, so I can do some things that I needed to do online.

In this mix I did find some time to do a little cross stitch!! I picked up Home of a Needleworker Too and did get something done worth showing. Of course, right now it says Home of N.

Deep In The Pines

2009-05-16T13:36:00.003-05:00

I have a finished object to show off!! Today I finished my Deep In The Pines cowl.

The yarn is from Fresh From The Cauldron. On Ravelry she set up a Vamp Yarn Club for six months. The colors are all vampire themed and my cowl is in Forks, WA. Yes, it's Twilight themed. I started it on May 7. It went fast and I love the yarn. It's very nice to work with and the color is just beautiful.

A friend & I went to see Star Trek the first Friday it was in the theaters. We parked on the garage roof and there was an amazing moon that night.

And finally, in April three friends and I got matching tattoos.

We call ourselves the Four Stars Club! We spend a lot of time together (kind of like a midwest Sex & the City group) and just wanted something to represent us and remind us that we are always there for each other. Each on their own is still a star, but together we are better.

Spring Hafla 2009

2009-05-12T23:12:00.003-05:00

Recently I have restarted belly dance classes. Specifically they are American Tribal Style Belly Dance classes. Lots of fun and it's exercise without feeling like exercise. On the 26th of April my instructor held her Spring Hafla (a dance recital.) The slideshow is of the Kirmizi tribe. They are a student group comprised of the highest level students. Someday I plan on being in that group.

She's alive!! Alive!!!

2009-05-05T19:49:00.002-05:00

My poor little blog. I went on a hiatus due to holiday knitting and then have been so busy that I neglected to get back posting. My time has been filled with knitting, reading, hanging out with my friends, and I've started belly dance classes again. I figure I'm guaranteed to get one night of exercise without feeling like I'm exercising.

I hate to be so brief with my comeback post, but I just wanted to touch base. Life is still busy, but getting more into a routine so I should be able to post again on a more consistant basis.

Happy 2009!

2008-12-31T12:45:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy New Year!! I'm going to a friend's annual New Year's party and spending the night there. We'll be eating goodies, playing cards and having a cocktail or two. It's a "come as you are" party and we get to wear our jammies. How comfortable is that!?

See you next year!!!

Christmas Craziness Is Almost Over

2008-12-20T13:19:00.003-06:00

Today is the last Saturday before Christmas and I'm so glad that Christmas is almost here and gone. The craziness that surrounds the holiday makes me wish it was over instead of looking forward to it.

As mentioned before, I am working on Christmas gifts so I haven't had anything to really share. The other night I did take a break and cast on a dishcloth for myself. This is Grandmother's Favorite again, just a different yarn. These whip up so quickly!

Another Reason to Avoid Best Buy

2008-12-15T18:54:00.002-06:00

Yesterday my friend went to Best Buy to get a media manager for her son's PSP. She knew exactly what she was needing, what it was called, etc. after researching it online. She gets to Best Buy and asks a blue shirt for one. He had no clue what she was talking about, said they didn't have anything like that and said to my friend "are you sure you know what you are talking about?" The guy didn't even look on their computer system. She then went over to Wal-Mart, bought the item for $20.00, the same price Amazon had it listed for. Again, Best Buy shows off their lousy customer service.

Merry Girly Christmas!!

2008-12-02T10:48:00.003-06:00

I put my tree up Sunday night. I haven't had a tree up since the divorce nine years ago. My friend, Trish, found the tree and the ornaments (at two different stores no less) and told me about them. I like doing things up a bit different, so why not a pink Christmas tree!

Baked With Love

2008-12-01T13:22:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I had a great day. It was spent at my sister's and the whole family, as well as a few friends were there.

I finished another dishcloth. It's called Baked With Love. I used the wrong color yarn for it as it should have been solid so the design would be more visible. My choice was limited to what I had on hand as I was very eager to start it. This was also the first time I was knitting a design.

Crafting Update 11/23/2008

2008-11-23T14:13:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd start off by showing off the project that has me all into yarn projects these days. This is the area rug that my mother helped me start.

I believe I'm on round 9 of 12. However, on the ends where I did my increases, they are buckling from too many stitches. So, I'm going to rip out a few rows when I pick this back up. It doesn't look too bad in this photo, but it's there and needs to be redone.

I've also finished a couple of dishcloths. I gave the first one to my mother and the second one to my friend, Trish, for helping organize my large room. This is a picture of the first one, the second one is identical. The pattern is called Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth.

I've made more progress on my Neapolitan scarf. Pattern can be found here.

Notice the bowl that is holding the yarn? For those that aren't in the know, it's called a yarn bowl. It's designed specifically for yarn balls to keep them clean and not roll all over the place. I ordered mine from Knit Witch and love it!!

I've also been stashing. I bought two more skeins of the Harry Potter sock yarn in Draco and Hedwig.

I bought some felting wool to make Nibbles a Kitty Pi. I want to get to that fairly soon as she is laying on the heat vents.

And finally I bought a couple of colorful skeins that were on sale at Hobby Lobby to make some of those cute, narrow neck scarves that are being worn as clothing accessories.

Cross stich is put aside for now as I'm working on Christmas gifts. Otherwise, it's back to work for me tomorrow as I have had the past five days off.

I Have Knitting To Show!!

2008-11-18T15:29:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I found a pattern that I liked for the yarn I bought the other day with the intention of turning it into a scarf. It's called Instant Gratification because it's made with a twisted drop stitch that goes very quickly. So, last night I cast on to the knitting needles, had to restart about four times, then finally got the swing of it.

Knitted up, the yarn kind of reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream.

Another Halloween Quilt

2008-11-16T11:53:00.001-06:00

Details can be found here.

Someday I'll get around to trying my hand at quilting instead of just drooling over certain patterns.

My Mommy Made Me Do It

2008-11-13T13:00:00.003-06:00

My mom is very crafty. She sews, quilts, cross stitches, knits, crochets, needle points and even did macrame when it was popular. Well, I go visit her usually on a Friday or Saturday and a couple of weeks ago she was crocheting a small rug. This rug is made out of the cotton twine that butcher shops use to wrap the meat. The lady that gave her the pattern had made some of these rugs for her DIL about 7 or 8 years ago. The DIL washes them weekly and they still look as good as new.

I was intrigued by this. Growing up, Mom would always show me how to do whatever craft she was working on. So, I had some basic knowledge on how to crochet. I had her show me what to do on the rug, and while I was there I managed to crochet a couple of rounds. When I went to visit her this past Friday, she had a spool of the twine, a crochet hook and a copy of the rug pattern all for me!! I promptly started on my rug and over the weekend I managed to crochet 8 of the 12 rounds. So, now I'm obsessed with yarn and yarn crafts.

Crochet patterns now interest me and my interest in knitting has came back as well. Earlier this year I wanted to try knitting (again, my mother had shown me the basics as a child), so I bought some aluminum knitting needles and a skein of yarn at Hobby Lobby. I wasn't very happy with how my stitches were looking, so I set it all aside.

This past couple of weeks, I started looking around at blogs and bulletin boards for crocheting and knitting. I ran across some photos of projects based upon Harry Potter. Thinking that it was a fun and clever idea, I Googled more Harry Potter projects and discovered that Opal Sock Yarn has a Harry Potter collection. I fell in love with the colors!! So, for kicks and grins I looked to see if any retailers near me carried them. Surprisingly, a local yarn store carries them!!

Grant it, I'm a baby beginner when it comes to knitting, so I'm nowhere near ready to tackle socks. But knowing that these yarns were probably going to have a limited run, I figure I better buy them now for stash. So, today at lunch I go over to the above mentioned yarn store. WOW!! So many beautiful yarns!!!! I did not leave empty handed.

I picked up the Tonks & Harry colors of the Opal Sock Yarn, size 1 double pointed needles to make the socks, a basic sock pattern, two skeins of a beautiful wool from Nikki Rainbow to make a scarf, and size 13 needles for the scarf as well. This store offers classes and I plan on taking them after the first of the year.

Baltimore Halloween Quilt

2008-11-13T09:08:00.002-06:00

I want!!!!!!!

Details can be found here.

I think I need to sit down with my mom and have her teach me how to quilt.

My Dirty Little Secret

2008-11-12T16:05:00.003-06:00

You've seen me make mention of FlyLady. For as detail oriented as I am, my house is in CHAOS. Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Do I like living this way? No. I dream of a cozy haven where family & friends feel welcome instead of wanting to get out of my disaster area. Why do I live this way? It overwhelms me, quite frankly. I also get sidetracked easily. I have self-diagnosed ADD. LOL!! So, I never make any progress is straightening it up. FlyLady teaches you how to get your house in order by setting up routines through baby steps.

I've had several false starts at FLYING. I'd start and then get sidetracked, and end up back where I was. As I mentioned yesterday, I will be having company stay at my house in early December. This is the fire to get me seriously working on flying. So, over time I'm going to show you my dirty little secret, aka my house, and the progress I'm making in turning it into the home I want it to be.

All of this information can be found for free on the FlyLady website. I did buy her book to have as reference for when I didn't have the computer on. The first thing the FlyLady has you do is to shine your sink. This is what my sink looked like last night.

I don't like washing pans and plastic ware in the dishwasher, so they have accumulated over time. Now I have to empty the sink, fill each side with hot water and a cup of bleach.

Filling up. Wait... what is THAT coating the bottom of the sink??

GROSS!!!

OK, they are filled and it's time to let them soak for an hour. After that, rinse well, scrub it down with Comet, rinse well and shine it with a window cleaner.

TA DA!!! First baby step accomplished.

A Welcome Sight

2008-11-11T10:28:00.002-06:00

I was just getting my second cup of coffee when I saw this photo in the local newspaper. This makes me very happy! To see the man I voted for sitting in the Oval Office makes it seem even more real that he will be sitting behind that desk, reversing the damage done by the current administration.

Politics have never been an interest for me, I really had never stayed informed as the nightly news depresses me. Since I have issues with depression, it is just easier for me to stay in a self-created bubble. But since this country I love has been mishandled by the Republican party, and would have continued on that path if McCain was elected into office, I had to do my part to keep that from happening.

So, at the ripe old age of 39, I registered to vote. On November 4, 2008 I voted for the very first time in my life. I voted for Obama.

I'm not naive to believe that Obama will be able to turn things around overnight, or even in his first four years in office (I'm optimistic). Nor am I naive to believe that he will be a "perfect" president. But I do feel that he is the breath of fresh air that this country needs. I feel hopeful about the state of our country. And to see that photo above only makes me look forward to January 20, 2009.

Where Are The Pictures?

2008-11-11T08:56:00.003-06:00

I am sad to say that I don't have any to show. First, I would like to thank everybody for their concern regarding my root canal. Other than a tiny bit of soreness from the ulcers on my gums that the entodontist made when drilling into the bone in order to give me additional Novocain, I'm recovered.

Home of a Needleworker Too hasn't progressed much. I did take a break from the green and stitched some on the red flowers and berries. Since it's not much, I'm holding out on taking a photo of it.

I have been crafting, but since they are Christmas presents I can't show photos. Some of the recipients read this blog, I'd hate to give away what they are getting. I will take photos to show later on... I'm really pleased with how the gifts are turning out and want to show them off.

Finally, a fire has been lit under me to get my house in order. I will be having guests staying over during the first part of December & I can not let them stay in the CHAOS that is my home. FlyLady is an advocate of doing things in baby steps in order to develop routines. I totally agree with that, but sometimes I just need the swift kick in the behind to get going and get things done. Fortunately, I already had three days of vacation scheduled next week, so I feel pretty confident that I will be able to get my house in order.

It's Friday!

2008-11-07T09:58:00.002-06:00

It's be a very health oriented week for me. Monday was the dermatologist. He changed all but one of my medications for my Rosacea. Tuesday involved getting my free flu shot from work. Wednesday I went to the dentist to get a crown redone. She took an xray and discovered that the tooth was abscessed. I wasn't in any pain as evidently the tooth had died. She held off on putting the crown on and scheduled an appointment for me to have a root canal. So, yesterday I went to the entodontist to get the root canal. He is fantastic! This was the second time I had been to him and because he did so well the first time, I wasn't freaking out about having this second root canal.

He numbs me up and then tests my mouth with cold. I can still feel the cold in one spot. Turns out I have an extra nerve and the only way to numb it is to inject Novocaine into the bone. Do you know how it gets into the bone? Let's just say a tiny drill is involved. That was interesting to say the least. It didn't hurt, none of what he did to me hurt. Had to drown out the drill with my iPod, though. That sound is just annoying.

Today my mouth is really sore and swollen. I took a sick day from work because I just didn't feel like trying to deal with my mouth and keep up a professional face. I am grumpy when I hurt and it's hard for me to fake happiness.

Watch The Election Results

2008-11-04T10:14:00.001-06:00

What is Loki?

2008-11-03T09:23:00.003-06:00

In regards to my last post, Wendy asked what is loki. Loki is an alcoholic beverage that is found in the Rennie world. I have never seen it, let alone tasted any, but I had been reading about it on a Ren Fest bulletin board that I follow. It intrigued me because evidently the recipes are big secrets. There are even loki competitions. So, being the inquisitive person that I am, I went in search of a recipe just so I had a clue as to what it was.

After utilizing all of my researching skills, I found just a handful of recipes. Based on those, I was able to figure out the common factors between them and devise my own recipe. We've all heard of people making wine, beer and mead. Those require more work and special equipment than loki. Loki is very simple to make, the experimentation comes in the way of flavoring it. As I've seen one person describe it, you are basically just making a custom cordial liqueur.

You're starting off with a large batch of simple syrup, adding grain alcohol, whatever flavorings you want to add, and then let it sit for at least three months. We are going to make two more batches, one at Thanksgiving and one at Christmas as we always gather as a group during the holidays.

Wilderberry Loki

2008-11-02T21:11:00.002-06:00

Halloween night was a blast! We had a taco dinner and then the games came out. The ladies beat the guys in a game of Battle of the Sexes. Then there was several ferocious rounds of Nertz.

Our project of making Loki didn't happen that night as we had too much fun doing other things. So, late this afternoon we got back together and this is what we came up with!

Pretty boring to look at since it looks like tea.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T13:35:00.002-05:00

Today the company I work for held it's annual Halloween contest. I wasn't going to dress up, but since I've been in Ren Fest withdrawal I pulled out my garb. The Business Services department always sets up an area for employees and their children who come in Trick or Treating where they can have their picture taken.

Tonight I'm going to a friend's house to hang out while they hand out candy. We're going to have dinner and then we're going to try our hand at making Loki. Shame we have to wait three months before we can taste it.

The green part of the vines are all done on Needleworker Too.

Who Says Animals Don't Have Emotions?

2008-10-30T13:50:00.001-05:00

This is a video of a soldier returning home after a 14 month stint in Iraq.

Retiring the band & Needleworker

2008-10-29T15:13:00.002-05:00

Back in 2005(?) a co-worker who knows how much I love Duran Duran made me a mousepad with their photo on it. After all these years and daily usage, it's time to retire it. Pretty grungy looking, huh?

It was such a thoughtful gift and I enjoyed using it every day!

The vines are taking over on Home of a Needleworker Too!

Needleworking Monday

2008-10-27T20:32:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend and at lunch today I managed to get a few more stitches in on Home of a Needleworker Too. The chimneys are done and I've started on the greenery.

Last Home Game & a Needleworker

2008-10-25T15:55:00.003-05:00

Last night was the last home game for the high school my niece attends. So, it was the last time for the year that the band was able to perform on their home field. Instead of the dresses & suits worn for competition, the drum majors wore the traditional uniform.

Except for the chimneys, my house is finished on LHN's Home of a Needleworker Too! I can't wait to get on with the rest of the design.

Bentley

2008-10-19T19:09:00.002-05:00

I have a new doggie niece! Her name is Bentley and she is an English Golden Retriever. English Golden Retrievers are white! Never heard of that kind of dog before. She is beautiful and so sweet.

Stitching & Band Competition

2008-10-18T16:37:00.004-05:00

For all the stitchers out there, if you haven't heard of Let's Stitch, you need to go check it out. BeckySC is the brains behind it. Let's Stitch is a blog that encourages stitchers to work on those WIPs that just seem to accumulate. There is a weekly challenge that has a theme, and a Friday night SAL to help get at least one good night of stitching completed. I think it was a very cool idea and I've been a devoted lurker since the blog began.

Even though I am not a member of the blog, I thought it would be fun to follow along and work on my stitching as though I was a member. Now, if anybody from Let's Stitch is reading this, please do not think that I am trying to campaign for a spot. As erratic as my stitching time is, I don't think I would qualify to be a member even if given the opportunity. Having said that, last night I "participated" in the SAL. I worked on LHN's Needleworker Too. Here's the before.

And the after.

Today has been filled with band competition. My niece is one of the drum majors for her high school band, so I had to go cheer them on. The competition piece is entitled "Swing" so the drum majors dressed in 1940's style clothes. When the band is introduced, the drum majors do a little skit.

Here's my niece conducting.

Here are the drum majors accepting the first award won for best soloist.

The drum majors are accepting the second award for second place in their division.

The drum majors after the award ceremony with the awards.

Some band moms, aka my sister and her best friend.

And a final shot of my beautiful niece!!

The band is performing later today in the competition finals. Best of luck to the band!!

And a sidenote. This is the event that led me to breaking down and buying the DSLR. While I was stressed at the time, in the long run I am over the moon with the purchase. I took almost 500 photos and almost every one turned out. The only bad ones were when someone moved into the frame. I never could have done that with the 35mm. I love my new camera and look forward to growing with it in the future.

Star Trek: The Experience to Return?

2008-10-16T22:57:00.002-05:00

When I went to Vegas in 2005, one of the highlights was Star Trek: The Experience. Sadly, The Experience was closed in September. A shame really since the new movie starring Zachary Quinto and some other people (I'm a Quinto fan, in case you couldn't tell) will be out in May of 2009.

Good news comes from TrekMovie.com that it's in the works to reopen it at Neonopolis. I am very excited to hear this! When I go to Vegas again (maybe for my 40th if Duran Duran isn't touring), I want to see the new and improved Star Trek: The Experience.

Hips Noir 2008 - Red Moon Tribe Act I

2008-10-15T21:01:00.004-05:00

This is Red Moon Tribe performing the first of two acts. They have a vampire tale to tell. The innocent victim starts out the performance, then is spotted by the head vampire as she sleeps. She awakes to find herself alone, but... is she? The vampire watches the girl and then entrances her as they dance a duet. The rest of the vampires arrive and terrify the prey. Finally, the head vampire takes her bite as the rest watch.

Hips Noir 2008 - Kirmizi Tribe

2008-10-12T19:47:00.003-05:00

All my life I have loved to dance. As a little girl I took ballet & tap, but that did not last long due to health issues. For a while, in my adult life, I took tribal bellydance lessons. The lady who taught me has a bellydance tribe, Red Moon Tribe, that performs at Renaissance festivals, the local art walk, and various other events.

Last night was the annual Hips Noir held by Red Moon. This showcase features bellydancers from the area, and there is always a featured performer. This year it was Read My Hips from Chicago.

Since I ended up buying the camera I was stressing about in an earlier post, I decided to take it to Hips Noir and play. I ended up taking a lot of photos. Not all of them turned out, but I still managed to get quite a few good ones that I wanted to share here.

The first performers of the night were The Kirmizi Tribe. This is a group that is comprised of students that are taught by Zivah, the instructor, choreographer and leader of Red Moon.

Warning Against Prestige Camera

2008-10-10T09:52:00.003-05:00

This blog truely was intended to be about my cross stitching, but lately it seems to be a place to tell about bad shopping experiences. Let me give you some back story that led up to my dealings with Prestige Camera.

I consider photography to be a hobby of mine, although I spend very little time pursuing it. I started out with 35mm point & shoot cameras and eventually upgraded to a Minolta Maxxum 5 35mm SLR. I really enjoyed playing with my SLR, but the cost of film and processing really limited me. So, along comes the digital camera age. I upgrade my point & shoots to digital, but I still have wanted to upgrade to a digital SLR.

After spending the money I did on my 35mm SLR, I really hated to spend the money on the equivilant camera, only in digital. Minolta was making DSLRs and the 35mm lenses were compatable, so I decided to wait a while.

Fast-forward a few years. Minolta is no longer in the camera business, but Sony had taken it over. The lenses for my Maxxum will work on the Sony brand as they have maintained the lens mount. Cool! My lenses won't go to waste.

Here's where my "drama" really starts. My niece is one of the drum majors for her high school band. At the beginning of this month I went to the football game to see her do her thing. Before the game, the band was performing their entire competition piece. Since I was seeing it that Friday night, I decided to not attend the band competition that was being held the next day.

While at the game, my sister (her mother) asked if I would bring my "big" camera with the zoom to take photos of the band. I informed her that I wasn't going to the competition, so she asked if she could borrow the camera. I had no problem with her borrowing the camera, I would just show her the automatic settings and let her go.

The morning of the competition she calls. She really didn't feel comfortable with borrowing my camera and asked that I go to the competition that is being held the 18th of this month. I agreed, but at the same time I went into a panic.

My photography skills are really not that great. I have the camera, but I feel my ability is barely above a point & shoot level since I wasn't spending the time (and money) to practice with my Maxxum. Because of what my sister is wanting to do with the photos, which is more than just for personal use, I want to have great photos. Add in the fact that I haven't touched my Maxxum in years, I would basically have to stick with the automatic setting and pray that I got decent shots since I couldn't verify it immediately the way you can with digital. So, after stressing myself out over this, I decided to look and see if I could find a DSLR at a reasonable price.

I looked at all the brands and I would have to start in the $400 range to get anything with a lens. Since I had my Minolta lenses I really hated to spend money on lenses. So, I looked at the Sonys again. You can't buy their camera bodies only, you have to buy the kit that includes the lens. I Googled the camera model I was interested in, with the additional words "body only." Prestige Camera came up. Body only is $215. Woo hoo! I felt more comfortable spending that, so I place the order.

I get an email today that I need to call them to confirm my order before they will ship it out. I figured I'd get a sales pitch, but whatever, I can stand firm and end up with only what I ordered. After being on hold for forever, I finally get a person.

Of course, here comes the sales pitch. The battery that comes with the camera only lasts 20 minutes, but I could buy one that will last two hours. What? Everything I read online states that the battery lasts a really long time, not 20 minutes. I asked if they switched the battery. The guy says no, that is they way it comes when you buy a body only. Ok, I'm not buying the other battery. Then he asks if I want the Japanese model or the US model. Of course I want the US model so I can get the US warranty. The US model is $400+ dollars and comes with the long battery and a lens. When I placed my order for the body only, no where does it state that it is the Japanese model. BAIT & SWITCH! I cancel the order.

So, now I'm back to square one. I really do not want to spend the higher dollar amount, but I am not sure at this moment what I am going to do. I can get a Nikon D40 kit for less than the Sony a200 kit, but I need the zoom & I would have to buy a zoom for the Nikon. So, I'm really better off in the long run to go ahead and buy the Sony kit. Did I mention I don't want to spend that much money? Oh, yeah, I did. Plus, I basically need the camera right now so I can get familiar with with it and practice using it. *bangs head on desk* Ok, rant off. I'll leave you with these parting words...

DO NOT EVER BUY FROM PRESTIGE CAMERA!!!!

Celtic Summer 10/09/2008

2008-10-10T08:57:00.004-05:00

Last night I had a really stitch filled night. Celtic Summer was calling me, so I put her in the Qsnaps, mounted it on the stitching stand and spent about four hours working on her.

Fabric for Celtic Summer

2008-10-09T13:54:00.003-05:00

Recently I've had a few inquiries about the fabric I have been stitching Celtic Summer on. It is Iris Garden by Silkweaver, 28 ct. Lugana. This is the first hand dyed fabric I have ever used for cross stitch. When I first started CS I was freaking out because I wasn't sure if it would look right. It was scary for me to just trust that it would be all right. As I've continued stitching her, I have been really happy with how it's looking. The fabric is really nice and I have always had great service from Silkweaver.

Better Photo of Celtic Summer

2008-10-08T18:00:00.002-05:00

Here's a better photo of Celtic Summer. The one in my last post was bugging me, so I took a new one today with better light.

Cooking, Cleaning & Cross-Stitching

2008-10-07T18:15:00.004-05:00

It's a great fall evening here. The temperature is cool, it's getting darker early and we also have had rain off and on today. The drizzle adds to the coolness of the air.

A while back I attempted to make bread the old fashioned way. It was okay, but nothing to get excited about. Plus, the work that went into it didn't thrill me. But there have been so many times that I've been over at my sister's house and my BIL has been baking bread in their breadmaker. Every time I go away from there wanting home baked bread... and a breadmaker. I finally caved and bought my own breadmaker. It was so easy & tasty!! These are pictures of my first loaf.

My ongoing project of decluttering and organizing has been moving forward slowly. This week Hobby Lobby has their baskets on sale for 50% off. I went yesterday at lunch to check out what they had in stock. I found three that I bought to organize some of my cross-stitch stash. The largest basket at this time is going to stay in my stitching area to be my catch-all for my WIPs. The medium basket holds my larger pamplets and the small basket holds my little patterns, such as LHN and L*K. In the background you can see my new shelf and storage boxes to hold A/V objects such as remotes, DVDs, DVD sleeves, Sharpies, etc. It doesn't go with the stand that my television is on, but I'm working towards getting things to co-ordinate.

The second story of Needleworker Too is almost complete.

And finally a long awaited update on Celtic Summer.

Had to edit to add a random cat photo. This is my mom's cat, Spooky. She likes to sleep in my mom's quilting stash.

Best Buy - My Not So Favorite Store Anymore

2008-09-23T13:50:00.002-05:00

I have always loved Best Buy. I love movies, music, electronics and the volume of merchandise that Best Buy carries has been a mecca to me. Today they kind of put me off of them.

When buying DVDs, the best time to get them is the week that they are released if you're not wanting to wait an exceptionally long time to wait for the price to drop. So today the Sex & the City movie was released. Circuit City was advertising it for $13.99, a dollar cheaper than Best Buy. So, I take the Circuit City ad to Best Buy, because they price match. Here's where I became turned off of Best Buy.

I was at the register with my movie and ad when the cashier picked up the phone to call Circuit City. She called to confirm the price and that they had them in stock. So, after she gets off the phone I asked what that was all about. Turns out that Best Buy no longer just honors a price match to the ad. Now they will only give the price match if the retailer that is advertising the lower price has the merchandise in stock. If it's not in stock, Best Buy won't honor the price match.

By now doing this, I felt like Best Buy doesn't want to give the customer the best service anymore. Plus, if they are going to go that much out of their way to hold up the line and confirm that I can spend my money elsewhere for a better price, then I am just going to go to the competitor and not deal with the Best Buy dramatics.

Follow Me

2008-09-22T06:53:00.001-05:00

I've added the "Follow This Blog" feature on the far right of my blog page. Please feel free to add yourself!!!

The Duchess

2008-09-18T09:55:00.000-05:00

I really want to see this movie!!

No Stitching But I've Been Busy

2008-09-09T11:21:00.003-05:00

I haven't stitched in days & it's killing me! Well, not really, as I've been busy to where I haven't had time, but I do miss it.

In my ongoing fluttering of developing routines and decluttering, I managed to make a little progress this weekend. The area in front of my television had become a mess as I still had the air mattress and cooler from trips to the lake sitting in front of it. There was additional things that had landed there & it was time to tidy up the area.

The stand that I have for my television only held the TiVo and DVD player, so my VCR (which I still use from time to time) was sitting on a Rubbermaid tub to the side. Since over the air broadcast signals are going digital, I decided this was a great time to get rid of cable as I would like to get rid of that monthly bill. So, I was going to need additional space to set the digital converter box and antenna and really needed to figure out where I was going to put them.

I found a TV cart at Wal-Mart this weekend for $18.00. After putting away the clutter that was living in the vicinity of the television, I pulled out the Rubbermaid tub and replaced it with the TV cart. The VCR went on top of it and yesterday I bought four DVD storage boxes from Pier 1 to give me hidden storage while still being decorative.

As I can't find a cable that I need to hook my TiVo up to my digital converter box, I ordered a replacement that should be here tomorrow or the next day. The one that was shipped with the TiVo is lost in my clutter and I haven't ran across it in the usual spots it would be. Perfect example of why I should have been more diligent on decluttering, but I'm only beating myself up by dwelling on it. As FlyLady says "you are not behind, jump in where you are!"

It's amazing what a boost just doing this much has given me and the living room! With just a little more work the living room will be cozy and inviting.

First Floor Done!

2008-09-04T11:48:00.003-05:00

I finished up the first floor of the house on LHN's Home of a Needleworker Too!

I didn't get a chance to work on Celtic Summer this past Monday as I was not home a big part of the day. I'll get back into the swing of working on it for the Celtic Ladies SAL this next Monday.

Needleworker Too 08/30/2008

2008-08-30T11:15:00.002-05:00

I finally have something to show on my new start!

The photo doesn't do it justice, sadly.

Stash!!

2008-08-28T16:57:00.002-05:00

New stash arrived in the mail today!!

LHN's "Frappuccino," Shepherd's Bush's "Be A Witch," L*K's "Housework Never Killed Anyone," and Glendon Place's "Monster March."

Caffe Latte Finished!!

2008-08-28T09:31:00.002-05:00

Happy Dance Time!!!

I wish I could get a true representation of the colors. For my first LHN project, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I finished this up last night.

Of course I had to start my next smallish project. Home of a Needleworker Too by LHN.

I started on the house and since it's not very exciting to look at right now, I'll wait a bit to post my first stitching picture of it.

Update on porch kitty!! Turns out it lives across the street from me. I saw it laying out in the grass (with it's new collar on) while his owner sat in a lawn chair close by. I'm very relieved that the sweet kitty is being cared for.

Caffe Latte and Porch Kitty

2008-08-25T09:49:00.002-05:00

I really, really, really wanted to post a finished Caffe Latte the next time I posted a picture of it. Stitching time has been at a minimum since the last post, but I do have more completed on CL. Next time WILL be a finished photo!

The other night I heard constant meowing on my front porch. Being the cat lover that I am, I was worried and looked out the front window. This kitten was out there, so I opened the door. By the time I had the door open, the kitten was off the porch. I could still hear it meowing, so I stepped outside. It had hidden under my car. So, I sat down on the porch, started wiggling my fingers by my feet and made appropriate cat calling sounds. The little thing came running to me!!

It let me pick it up and it was the most affectionate thing. It purred like a motorboat, was face butting me and even licking me! I took it in since it was after 9:00 at night and dark outside to play with it a bit.

I still couldn't get over how lovable it was! Nibbles wasn't too happy to have it in the house and the two kitties had to hiss at each other a couple of times. After about 20 minutes I put it back out on the porch. I was worried that it would hang around, but it left and I haven't seen it since. I did get a picture, even though it was hard. The kitty was a wiggle worm and I had to really hold on to get the slightly blurred photo. Love the markings on it's nose!!

Safety and Stitching

2008-08-11T21:14:00.005-05:00

My brother-in-law came over again tonight to help me install a new door knob. He was over yesterday to cut a hole in my front door and install a dead bolt.

*sigh*

Last month I discovered someone had tried to break into my house. Fortunately the back door had a dead bolt that they couldn't get through. The door just has steps leading up to it, so it would have been really tough for the perpetrator to get any leverage to break it in. They also tried to break in through the window in my utility room, but didn't get any further than destroying my storm window.

I've been doing things to add better security, but I have to do it bit by bit. The high priority things were taken care of immediately, but additional stuff is just going to be an ongoing project.

So, I had bought a deadbolt for my front door and my BIL was just able to install it yesterday. When I went to Lowe's today to get additional keys made, I went ahead and bought the matching door knob and had it's lock re-keyed to only require one key for both locks.

I like to do things myself when possible and went to install the new knob. It was going smoothly until I discovered that the hole was a tad bit too small. I sanded for quite a while and had it to where I could get the knob in, but not all the way. Being frustrated, I called my BIL for help. I hated bothering him, especially when all he had to do to get the knob to fit was sand some more. But, it's now done & I'm very appreciative.

The postman was very nice to me today and brought me two stash packages. The first came from The Busy Needle. They have a LHN design exclusive to them. Since I'm loving LHN designs, I HAD to have it.

The other envelope came from Picture This Plus.

The fabric is Gothic and it is for Midnight Ride. My camera washed out the color, so I horked the graphic of the fabric from PTP to give a better representation of what the fabric really looks like. I've never used PTP fabric before and I am very impressed with what I received. I will definitely be a repeat customer.

The button is for Dear Santa.

I have a stitching update!! I'm into the home stretch of Caffe Latte!!

It's been so much fun to stitch.

Stolen

2008-08-06T06:59:00.003-05:00

I finished Bitten last night. It's the first book in the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. When I decided to read it, I had decided I wanted to try reading something that wasn't my usual fare. A book about a female werewolf certainly fit the bill.

I'm terrible at book reviews, so basically I had a hard time when I started it since it was different from what I was use to reading. It was slow going at first. Then a few chapters in I was hooked. Normally I'm a fast reader, but due to real life getting in the way, it took me a lot longer to finish.

Now I'm on to the second book in the series, Stolen. I'll be reading the entire series (so far) before moving on to another author.

Caffe Latte 08/04/2008

2008-08-05T18:16:00.002-05:00

I have more border finished and a leaf & a half!!!