Just a quickie

Well, I've been busy crocheting and getting boxes ready to mail these last couple days. I finished up that baby granny 'ghan, the finished size is 24" square.

Here's a close up, just in case you've never seen the granny stitch before, LOL...


I've also made great progress on my second blanket for the Little Blankies CAL, one made using Beth's Little Star pattern. (thanks to Marvie for helping out with a link to that pattern!) I really love this blankie, although the way the points are curling makes it looks starfishy, but that's okay!

I'm hoping I will have this finished up by tomorrow, then will start on a lavendar one with more yarn from Bunny's stash. I've decided that these will be going to Children's Hospital in Detroit, because that's where I had my surgery when I was a baby! My mom says one of the best pediatric neurosurgeons in the country operated on me there. So, I'm really glad to be sending them my things, thank you so much to Ro for hooking me up with an address!

Also...

Congratulations to Deneen, who won my first ever blog contest! Not only was she the only one who ventured an answer, but she was correct, too! Her package was one of those that will be mailed out tomorrow, click here if you'd like to see what she won! Thanks for playing along, Deneen, I hope you enjoy your prize!

I'll also be mailing out my secret pal's second package tomorrow, but of course, I can't give away details!! I'll just say that I think I had more fun with this box than the last, and I'm sure she will love it! In other secret pal news, I've recently received two lovely letters from my pal, she's just so sweet!! She says her next package is coming soon, and I'm so excited!

Alright, I'm off to float around the 'net a bit before bed, g'nite all!

Sunday, Snowy Sunday...

What a day it has been already!! Kris and I woke up this morning after a nice night of hanging out with friends, to a dusting of snow and a smashed vehicle!! Look:

This is his truck, the marks start an inch away from the front bumper and run ALL THE WAY down the side.

Here's where the other car got stuck and pulled back some metal:

And here's where my hunny's bed was rusting out and is now all screwed up:

Wanna hear the story? If not, just scroll down, LOL, it might be worth it. ;)

Begin: After freaking out for a mintue or two about his truck being smashed, Kris starts to check out the [extensive] damage. There is blue paint all over his truck, even on the tires and wheels! His mirror is broken, that panel is folded back, all the rusted metal was knocked free, and a piece of his bumper was laying about 5 feet down the road. Luckily, while doing his inspecting, Kris finds a piece of teal plastic from the other car laying on the ground beneath his broken mirror. So, he decides to take me to my house as we'd planned, then come back and make a police report.

Well, as we are pulling away, I remember a teal Cavalier hangs out at house known for making trouble down the street, so I ask him to go in that direction, but we are already headed the other way. He decides to go around the block to turn us around, as the snow has started to pick up and the roads were getting slick. As we are reaching the end of the block and starting to turn, we both happen to see a teal Ford Probe parked out on the street. So Kris backs up the truck and pulls forward to take a look.

Wouldn't you know it, as we pull up to this car we see that it's missing it's drivers side mirror and has red paint all down the side. Plus, the plastic piece we found fit right in among the missing mirror parts! Kris immediately takes down the plate number, and we call the police. They inform us that a hit and run report was just filed a little while ago for the same car, and that they were sending an officer right out.

At this point, Kris is all pissed off that this asshole hit his car and is gonna try to deny it. The officer showed up quickly, and we go out to meet her and see what's up. We showed her the damage and she sounded skeptical until I walked up and handed her that plastic piece. Her attitude toally changed, and she took the plastic piece and told us she'd just taken the report for THAT CAR an hour earlier, right down the block! She thanked us and drove right to that house.

Then, a short while later we get a phone call from the police department letting us know that the other car has been impounded, and that the driver's gonna have charges brought against him for both the hit & run and for filing a false police report. Kris is glad that we found the guy and he'll hopefully be getting some money to repair his truck, since he only has liability and not collision insurance.

Here's a picture of him (my hunny, not the perp!). Isn't he such a hottie!


End.

In my crochet world:

I've been working on more little blankies for the CAL. Right now this is what I'm doing, it's a basic granny blanket using leftover Mainstays yarn:

I love how it goes so quickly! I'm hoping I should have it wrapped up by tonight.
These are my two most recently finished hats, and also the blanket I made for the Cuddles project:

I've really needed to do some stash busting, and this has been helping.

I also picked up a great vintage crochet booklet at the flea market this morning! The vendor had a ton, and it was so hard to choose, but I only had a few bucks, and though some were cute they weren't good for anything but looking at. So, I finally decided on this one, Style in Crochet and Knitting, copyright date is 1936:

It has a bunch of cute patterns, mostly crochet. There is a great blouse, and a really retro skirt suit that I love. And here's a dress called "The Grecian:"


I got an email from my secret pal the other day, and a card with get well wishes. She seems like such a sweetie! I'm so glad I signed up for the secret pals swap, cuz it's so much fun feeling like someone is thinking about me, and also alot of fun plotting surprises for my pal! I've been working on gathering things for her next package, and think I'll send it out around the end of Feb. I got one of her things in the mail the other day, and I'm going to turn in into a little quiz for you guys!

The package I received the other day had the following picture on it's mailing label:



Leave me a comment trying to properly identify where this package came from. If you get it right, I might draw you to win a prize! (Although I don't know what yet, I swear it will be good!)

Have a great day!

Excuse me if I leave you for the toilet...

Cuz I've been puking all morning. No yukky details, just I feel like crap.

I called my professor to let her know I wasn't coming to class, I'm hoping she'll let me retake the test I missed. And I called into work already, guess I was the second one this morning.

Damn! I'd done so good not getting sick. At least it's not an upper respiratory thing, though, I really hate those. (Haven't gotten one since I quit smoking, knock on wood...)

On the up side, I now have a chance to catch up on my much neglected blog!

Even though I haven't been at the computer much, I have gotten a bit of crocheting done, in an effort to clean out my stash. I have those metal crates to set up for yarn storage, but no where to actually set them up yet, so I have to clean a space, and one thing led to another; before I knew it, I'd made two more hats and almost another mini blanket, but not finshed cleaning one thing...

I've made two little baby hats and one small (about 18in square) blanket. The hats are going to the shelter whenever I get down there, but I keep making more so I'm stalling. I'm finally at seven hats. I made some with little ear flaps, and they're so fricking cute, but I'm not sure that they're practical... Could be a safety issue with ties or a button, so I was think Velcro or something, even though that would cling to the yarn, it's safe... The little blanket is my first contribution to Ro's little blankies CAL, (I'm getting the link up later) and will go to a snuggles shelter, don't know which one yet. I used some bright blue acrylic yarn that I saved from Bunny's stash, and did it in a tight alternate spike stitch so no paws will get stuck. All I have left to do is finish crab stitching around one and half sides.

I also want to buy some yellow Wool-Ease and start making a star blanket for John and Megan's baby-to-be. I guess they will know it's sex in a month or so, but I think a yellow star would just be cute, and I'll make another one in girly or boyish colors. They are so excited to be parents! They're like the first ones of Kris' group to 'grow up,' I'm really happy for them. I'll be glad to play with their baby and give it back when it's time for a diaper change, I'm in no hurry to have my own! It will be fun to have one around to spoil though - I guess Megan thinks it's a girl. I'll finally have a kid to make cute stuff for, yay!

I was RAOK'ed again this past week!! Karla sent me a great issue of Tea Time magazine! This magazine is so much fun, I've read it cover to cover and so has my mom! It's also got adds for a bunch of great websites. Thanks so much for the thoughtful gift, Karla! That was so sweet of you!

I also received two packages from Adagio this week. One was sampler of their Englilsh Breakfast, which is so yummy, as a thank you for linking to them on my blog. The other was my order, containing a simpliciTEA teapot, which is so CUTE and I just love, and some more of my favorite tea, caramel. I just have to say here that Adagio is a really great company! They are so great and fast about getting back to you with questions about your order, and so friendly and helpful. I found out about them before Christmas of last year and have already placed seven orders, they certainly deserve my business (and yours too!).

On an un-crochet related note, my parents are planning a vacation for this summer and I'm so excited! It has been years since we've gone on a real family vacation. It takes a lot more these days, with jobs and classes and Lauren's soccer and our precious (lol) social lives to juggle. But - my mom has pulled it off! YAY! We'll be renting a condo in [Sunset Beach, I think] North Carolina for a week this summer! I wish it was two, but I get to drag Kris along, and Lauren's bringing a friend too, plus my grandma's coming, and I totally understand my parents will be ready to kill us all by the time we leave. Although, I'll have my car with me, so Kris and I will be free to leave whenever, and Lauren's allowed to drive it on her permit as long as an adult (my grandma) is with her. I can't wait, I know this is gonna be so much fun, and we have the hugest, nicest condo! I'm already scouring the internet for local yarn shops! Wonder if any C'Villagers are close to there...

By the way, I was accepted into both the "Village Swappers" and the "Crochet Blogs" webrings! So now if you click those links, they actually take you someplace!

Thanks for reading, everyone! I'm off to now to watch Days... Eeek! Did I really just say [type] that?!? Send some 'feeling better wishes' my way, LOL! Have excellent days, everyone!

Fun Day!!

Oh man, today was such a great day!! What a change from the funk I have been in lately...

It was sunny and warm today, it got over 40 degrees and right now that is warm!! I was so excited I drove around with my window down (not all the way, though). Kris' bed was delivered first thing this morning, and we've got it moved into the new bedroom and are all set up - it's so comfortable and looks so nice!! I love the colors we used in the new bedroom: khakis, blues, and greens. It's really nice and manly, LOL.

I also made my first sale today, YAY, for that army green hat I showed last week. Paul, the recipient, gave me 20 bucks for it today. I was so excited! Plus, I can always use an extra $20, it was like bonus cash since I was not expecting to be paid.

Then, I got home from a good day at work to find a fat envelope waiting for me in my mailbox!!

An unidentified fairy sent me a four pack of the new clickie Sharpies in neon colors, and the cutest little Post-It pack I have ever seen! I 've never said I love Sharpies, but I do SO much! I used to carry the whole rainbow of them in my backpack during H.S.! I've been wanting some of the clickie ones, too! And here's the inside of the Post-Its:

I just love things that come in cute packages, even better if they're office supplies! This has got a pad of the page markers and a pad of the full sized Post-Its. It's adorable and practical all in one! I don't know who you are, Fairy, but thank you so much! These are wonderful gifts, and it really makes me feel so special! I just am so thrilled. I was like a little kid - "look what I got hunny!! Someone sent me Sharpies!! and isn't this cute?!?" Insert hunny trying not to roll eyes at me...

And now I get to pay it forward! That's exciting too, and an ideal time since I have that spare $20... On a related note, I've seen that some of the people I've sent stitch markers to have received them, and I'm so glad! It's great fun to brighten someones day a little, mine has certainly been brightened a great deal by the kindness of someone else, and I love that I can pass that feeling on!

Here's the yarn that I got yesterday:

I can't wait to play with the Carmen, but I didn't finish as many hats as I wanted to, I only got two done, so I am doing nothing but HATS til the end of next week, when I'll go to the shelter and drop them off. (By the way, Ro, I did see your question, I'm pretty sure the official name of the shelter is the South Oakland [Cnty?] Shelter, but I will find out for sure on Monday and get you some contact info. Where in MI are you?)

Finally, this is a picture of the lovely package I got from Dawn a couple weeks ago:

I've been listening to the CDs almost nonstop since I got them, and love these pens, they write so smoothly!

I also wanted to say thank you to those who have kind and thoughtful comments these lasr few posts. I really appreciate it!

Now, I'm off to go enjoy that new bed... :D

OOPS!

I screwed up! I accidently revealed myself to my pal! DAMN! Hopefully she will play ignorant, LOL, but I'm bummed.

I did buy her some things today tho! I went to Michael's with no goal in mind, and that is dangerous when I have money in my purse... I wandered around for awhile, found some things for my pal, got another ball of Patons Carmen, and then came upon the yarn aisle - it was FULL of clearance tags! I should've turned aound and walked away but I don't have the willpower... I ended up buying 4 balls of LB PolarSpun in delft @ $3.50 each, and 7 balls of Wool-Ease in delft for $1.75 each. For some reason I was feeling those blues tonight... I had to stop spending, but there was also LB Jamie and Kitchen Cotton on clearance, I wonder if LB is clearing out some colors?

Anyways, my bill came to just under $40, which is no where near what I'd intended to spend, but I've really wanted that PolarSpun to make a pillow for my room... And I can always find something to use the Wool-ease for, especially with the new Little Blankies CAL at Crochetville... Hopefully tomorrow I won't be so lazy and will steal that cute button and get it up in my sidebar...

I've also finally managed to amass three balls of the Patons Carmen in the camel color, which is like a perfect match to the color scheme in honey's new bedroom. I was thinking maybe a round pillow? What are those things called?!? Bolsters, maybe... I dunno, but round and sausage-y, like you would stick under your neck. This stuff is so sensual, it's so nice to pet, I think it might be nice-feeling in a pillow, not sure if it would wear very well, though... I would love to line something with this yarn, it's so sexy feeling!

I hung out with one of my oldest, closest friends today. It was a reuniting for us, it was really nice. I think Ryan is soulmate, the connection we have is so strong, and he is a brother to me, I love him as family. I would drop anything for him, and go anywhere to be with him, and he'd do the same for me, but the last year or so has been rough in our relationship... I didn't much like his girlfriend, and he really started drinking a lot. We fell out of touch and then I heard he was using all types of scary shit... that's just not my scene, and even though I love him I couldn't be around him like that...

Finally he has started to get back together - he still has a long way to go. It was weird, today, cuz we know each other so well, but not at all... I had to get re-acquainted with my best friend. I wish he would stop drinking all together, but at least now he's sober a majority of the time when before it was the other way around... Funny cuz we're only 19, not even aloud to drink legally, but my friends are dealing with alcohol abuse problems... I guess I don't even realize that it is illegal for me to drink, cuz I have for so long, I'm over it already. Seems like I was getting wasted in 9th and 10th grade and even before then, and then I grew up, LOL.

Well, work will come early tomorrow so I'm going to bed, good nite all.

Well, I felt like I should post, but I don't really know what to say.

I haven't been crocheting much. Really, I don't feel like I've been doing much of anything, certainly I haven't been doing my homework... Really gotta start getting on that, but every time I go to grab a book or something I always find something better to do (like it's really that hard!).

I miss having an English class. I used to write a lot but lately I haven't even been journaling. I'm lazy about tranferring my credits from Univ. to Comm. College, so my current school shows me as not taking any english pre-reqs. In reality, I've taken classes that would equal their second or maybe even third year of english... There's a children's lit class I would love to take here, and a poetry class, too - I'm always up for a poetry class, but then I think about that thing called a degree that I'm s'posed to be working towards, and wonder if I ever will get there taking all these electives... especially since I still don't even know what I want to major in.

I guess I don't feel like I'm ready to grow up. I mean, I look at it like: I'm not even able to walk into a bar and buy a drink, so how the hell do I know what I want to do with the rest of my life? And I'm supposed to have it all figured out and be done with school in two years? Yeah, riiight... But, I don't want to live at home forever, I want to get a place with Kris, sooner rather than later... and to pay rent requires a real job, which requires an education... I feel stuck. I HATE this community college, to me it feels like H.S. all over again, and I was NOT very successful in H.S. And so far, I've not been very successful here either, it's just too easy to not do the work or not show up for class (not that that's an excuse...).

So that has been my state of mind lately, I think I may be PMS'ing really badly this month, cuz I've been so down in the dumps the last few days. Kris was sick today and came home from work early, poor hunny. He is one of those types who usually never takes sick time, in his two and half years at his job he's called in only once. So, when he called to say he leaving I knew he must really be feeling bad. Our afternoon was spent laying around watching soaps until I had to go to work at four.

The one productive thing we did today was buy a bed... I have known Kris for four and a half years and the whole time he has been sleeping on futon mattresses - plus he has back, neck, and shoulder problems. (If you've ever slept a few nights in a row on a futon mattress, you'll know why!) So today with his income tax return, we went and bought a nice full-size pillowtop mattress set. We wanted a queen but it would've taken up his entire room, plus his entire return! It will be delivered on Saturday morning, so tomorrow I'm going out shopping for a dust ruffle (that's what they're called, right?) and a new celebratory sheet set, LOL. I'm so excited for him, and us, it's a little landmark - our first big furniture purchase!

I feel pretty pathetic that the high point of my day was buying a bed!

I've Been Tagged!

I was tagged by Dawn with this quiz, so here goes:

Total Number Of Music Files On Your Computer: About 200

The Last CD You Bought: Maroon 5 "Songs About Jane" (really Kirs bought it for me!)

The Last Song You Listened To Before Reading This Message: I don't know! It's morning and I haven't heard any music since last night...

Name 5 Songs You Listen To Often Or That Mean Something To You
1. Moondance - Van Morrison
2. Castles Made of Sand - Jimi Hendrix
3. No Woman, No Cry - Wyclef Jean version, orig. by Bob Marley
4. Hopeful - Twista and Faith Evans
5. F*@# All Y'all - 2Pac (it's my pissed-off song)

Which 3 People Will You Pass This Stick To And Why:

Heather and Rebecca cuz they've not yet been tagged, and Ro, because she's the newest add-on to my list of blogs.

Frustrated

Grr. I'm so pissy right now, I have been in the worst mood all evening... fighting with Kris for stupid things, he got his tax refund back today and to be a nice guy offered to take me and his bro and his bro's girlfriend out to dinner. So he gets home from work and does nothing but hurry me, which infuriates me, and then we all pile in MY car and go to Applebee's, cuz apparently that's what they all decided while I was being too damn slow... nice. Kris dropped way too much on the tab tonite, and they're not the type to return the favor... Pissed me off cuz I had no fucking input on even the restaurant... So bro's girlfriend got a steak on my hunny's dime and I ate a fucking caesar salad. Sweet.

The night has NOT gone uphill from there.

I'll be glad to go to bed in five mintues and wake up tomorrow with it all behind me.

Catching up!

I've gotten pretty far behind with posting, mostly because I was held up by pictures... Due to mine own laziness, of course! I just hadn't hauled my butt to CVS to get pics, I was actually scheduled three days in row this week so I stalled, then Saturday I was sick and slept allllllll day long!! Finally, today I finished my math exam and went to CVS, and waited for 45 minutes for this dumbass lady to finish using the stupid photo thing. I'm pissed I had to wait, plus two pics I thought I'd saved I apparently didn't, so I didn't get those...GRR!

Anyways, here's the lovely package I got from my pal last week:

I can't explain how delicious the tea she sent is! And I've gotten so many compliments on the tote bag, it's so cute! Thanks Pal, the whole box full was wonderful and I loved it all!

I finished up some little things that have been hanging over my head this weekend, like this scarf I started before Christmas for my cousin Michelle:

I got about 2/3 done and ran out of yarn, and both my JA's and Michael's have been out of that color PolarSpun since last week! So I finally bought another ball and finished that up, just in time for her 6th birthday this weekend. The PolarSpun was a pain to work with, but I LOVE how soft it is, and want to make a pillowcase in the delft color to match my room...

I also finished this hat I've been working on for one of the stock guys at my work:

It's made out of lamb's Pride Worsted in Oregano, and will match the scarf I made him for Christmas...it turned out really nice, not as bulky as the one I made for myself, and I decided I'm going to do my charity hats with this pattern. I've FINALLY got one started, and am about halfway done, it will be a little girl's since I used some left over pink Mainstays yarn. I'm hoping to have at least five done by next week, and I will drop them off at the shelter I pass on the way to school.

I also finished up a project I've been working on for my secret pal, although I don't want to post pics in case it would spoil my surprise. It was something new for me though, and I'm happy with how it ended up. I know I'll be trying it again! I can't explain the joy I'm getting from plotting her gifts, it's just so much fun to get things that I know will make her happy!

Saturday I was all sick and pukey... left work early cuz I felt like shit, and came home to a big envelope stuffed in my mailbox! It was a package from Dawn that I wasn't expecting til next week! She sent me THREE Ani DiFranco CDs, which I have been listening to and loving!!! (My boyfriend not so much, but oh-well!) She also included a pack of neon colored pens that write beautifully, and some adorable little butterfly stickers! Dawn is so sweet for putting together these CDs after reading a comment I left at her blog, and I'm so glad she did because I'm really enjoying them. Unfortunately, one of the pics my camera ate was the one of her gifts, so you can just imagine til I get one, right?

Superbowl Sunday was fun, I guess. I'm not a football fan at all, but I watch and laugh at the commercials! There was a get together down at Kris' grandpa's, and that was nice, except for his Aunt Cheri, who's insane... She just says the most rude/hurtful/uncalled for/inappropriate things to everyone, by the end of the night the whole family is ready to jump down her throat. Thankfully we left about halfway thru the first quarter! Grandpa also gave me some more of Bunny's books and crochet things that he'd dug up from somewhere, there are some older Magic Crochet issues and two LA "A Year of Afghans" books, which have a lot of nice patterns. (The other pic that disappeared!) It's so nice that they feel I am enough a part of the family to have some of her things!

The last thing I did this weekend was make stitch markers... I made about five sets to send out as RAOKs, and got them off today. I know they're not big, but it does feel nice to get some gifts out. I think the "pay it forward" idea is great, and that's what I'll be doing, but since these are so small I figured I would just go ahead and send them, and not wait to be gifted, y'know?

I'm off for now, I think I'm gonna go browse thru my books, cuz I want to get a few more afghans done before it starts to warm up. I also HAVE to finish my charity hat tonite, and hopefully start #2...

I have the best pal... nah n-nah nahhh

I received the first package from my pal, and was it ever packed full of good stuff!! I should have a pic of it all tonite, if I can get my butt to CVS before work, but I just wanted to share with you all that my pal is the best!!

She sent a tote bag with a cute sock monkey and "Natalie's Crochet Bag" on it, plus 2 skeins of Wool-Ease in blue mist, the smaller set of Crystallite hooks, and pair of folding scissors, and a little sparkley blue box to keep it all in. PLus, She included a bag of the most delicious tea, called "Market Spice," I really love this stuff...

Gotta go for now...

I hate titles

I can never think of a good title, I always get stumped...

Don't have much to write today...

Went to the big Sal. Army near me to buy some sweaters to frog. They were having a five for $5 sale, so I bought 4 to frog and one to keep, here are the 4 for frogging (more pics here):



And here's a pic of my hunny and his plow truck during the big snow we had awhile ago, although you can't tell how cute he is:



Here's a pair of slippers I made a week or two ago, I've since finished them and am wearing them everywhere. They're from Lamb's Pride, and are so so warm:



And finally, here is my Lopi bag, but it's really eggplant not black:



And a close-up of the dandruff problem (also closer to real color):



My pal has emailed me to let me know I have a package on the way, I'm so excited! I can't wait to see what kind of goodies she's chosen for me, I'm sure I'll love them!!
And speaking of mail, Dawn - I sent a package to you today, let me know when you receive it! I hope you like-y!

For some reason these last two days or so I've felt particularly loved... It's hard to explain but I just feel like there are people who care about me and it's really nice. LOL, it's cheesy, I suppose, but Kris has done some super sweet things lately, my sis and I hung out (which we NEVER do, aren't quite old enough to get along yet), I got back in touch with an old, wonderful friend whom I've missed so much, I've had some great emails and notes from great people... Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, y'know? It's a good feeling.

Guess I'll stop there, that's a nice place to end. G'nite all.