This and That

A wonderful lazy Sunday is here. I just want to stay inside today and knit. Don't know if that will happen. Remember all that sickness with my Mom last year? She had more surgery on Friday. This time for a hernia repair, and all went well this time. Hopefully there will be a smooth recovery and no months and months of hospitalization this time. She is doing well so far.

After the hospital visit yesterday I stopped in Joann's for some fabric! It seems like it's been ages since I was last in there. I bought some cute polar fleece fabric to make my grandson a "Pillow in a Blanket". It's going to be a Christmas present. Time to get started on making things if I'm going to get things done on time. I also found some cute cute cute cupcake fabric! I love it!

The blanket will be easy to whip up. The weather will be getting cooler this coming week so I'll be able to stand having this on my lap while I hem up the edges.

The job climate is bad here in Michigan. My son is in North Carolina this weekend for a job interview. He was offered the job but is not sure if he will take it. The pay is basically the same as he is making now and it's a big move for the same pay. So, he has a big decision to make. Of course I don't want him to go, but he's gotta do what he's gotta do to make a living. I will breathe easier once the plane has landed back here in Michigan.

I did get out to my knitting group the other night. Lots of fun! I took a plate of Rice Krispy Treats to share. I seem to make these a lot. So easy, and they always go over well.

I passed along the Dishcloth Tag Bag. The recipient loved the contents! Here is the dishcloth I made to put in it:

I made it with Sugar & Cream Twist. Now the game goes on to the next person.

I'm still plugging away on the Confetti Yarn socks. Slow progress as I've been distracted with other projects lately. But now I'm back to the sock. About half an inch more to go and I can turn the heel.

I think I'll just have a lazy day of knitting around here. That is, after I go buy some groceries. My daughter is coming home for a visit next weekend, gotta stock up on food!

Cider Mill Season

The weather has been just beautiful lately. Cool nights, warm days. It's just about that time of year to go to the cider mill. I'm feening for some cider and warm donuts. Yummy! And I want to get some apples and make some homemade applesauce. Love that stuff!

I made some more jammies. I'm addicted to jammies. I can't stop making them. The pink ones I made for my daughter and I took them to her when I went and saw her this past weekend. She loves them! Once she tried them on, they stayed on. She said they were very comfy! The other ones are for me.

I'm so glad she liked them!

I've also been working on another little ragdoll and finally got her finished. I love how she turned out! She's very pink. Another little cutie to add to my stuff around here.

I just have to share this next picture my son sent me. It's my son's cat, Smoky. My son is a big U of M Football fan and even the cat has to get in on it. Smoky doesn't look like he's enjoying this too much, lol!

The little sweater did not stay on him long. Long enough for a picture and he had had it, off it came!

Day Trip

I took a trip to see my daughter at college yesterday. It's 216 miles one way, a long drive, but sooooooo worth it. We had such a fun day. And it was so good to see her! And I got to see how she has set up her dorm room in person. Every inch of space well organized. She's doing well! This is the view from her window (never mind that screen). Sometimes she sees deer out there.

It will be real pretty to look out there when the trees change color.

We drove out to a nearby lake she wanted to show me. It's a small lake, but was very peaceful and pretty to look at.

Another view.

One side of the lake was kind of swampy looking.

We had to drive down a skinny bumpy dirt road to get to the lake. The lake side of the road had a scary drop off, no guard rail. Scary. She did well doing the driving in and out. I just didn't look down.

We were looking around in the swamp area and came across this little fellow.

And then we saw this one, even bigger.

We noticed them hopping all over the place after that, little ones, big ones. They were fun to watch. We tried finding some on the lily pads but didn't see any. We did this from the shore, we didn't go in the water.

On our way into the lake area we came across this sign, there was a cemetary across the street from it. Just HAD to take a picture!

We also did a little shopping yesterday. We both love the dollar store by her school and had a lot of fun in there. She bought me some goodies too! Good Stuff!

I had a wonderful day with her. But eventually I had to come home. That's always the sad part. So hard to leave. But I know she's doing well and is happy where she is. We made the best of every minute of our time together!

Cookies!

Sometimes a girl just has to have cookies! I came home from work and made peanut butter cookies. They are wonderful!

Fabric and Yarn

It was such a rainy and humid weekend around here, just miserable. Good weather for staying in and doing crafty stuff. I fooled around with this collection of stuff:

What is it you ask? It's going to be a doll. See, I got her cut out. She will be very pink. The pattern is from Bowls & Annies.

I haven't started sewing her yet. Maybe tonight I'll get a burst of energy and feel like sewing.

I bought some snowman fabric that I just fell in love with at Walmart. It was just so cute I had to have it and I made some pillowcases for it for the extra pillows on my bed. They make me smile.

I love snowmen. I collect them and have lots. Have to rotate the collection at times.

Last night was knit night with friends. We have a thing going on called Dishcloth Tag. It was my turn to be tagged and I got all this!

Lots of fun! Now I have to knit a dishcloth for the next person on the list and replace the two balls of yarn with yarn of my choosing, throw in any little goodies that I want and pass it on. We've had a lot of fun with this. And I love all the stuff I got in my bag! Didn't the person who knit that round dishcloth do a beautiful job!

On a side note, I still haven't heard from my friend in Houston. I'm hoping he's OK and it's just a matter of the power being out.

Ike

Wow, Hurricane Ike is so massive and it's hitting the Galveston/Houston area at the moment. I've been following the coverage of this storm as I have a very good on-line friend in Houston. He stayed in his home and will ride out the storm. He says he will be OK and I'm having faith in what he says. Can't stop thinking about him and I hope he's right and stays safe.

What I don't understand is why are the gas stations raising the prices so drastically? Yesterday the gas stations were packed, and anywhere that had gas under $4 a gallon had lines into the street. The hurricane hadn't even hit yet but of course a chance to make a profit and rip off the consumer happened. There is no shortage. The governor made a speech that anyone who is caught price gouging will be fined. A local station was found to be selling unleaded regular for $4.49. Come on! Really? $4.49 a gallon? That just pisses me off so much.

In the meantime we are going to have a rainy weekend here in Michigan. I plan on staying inside and relaxing. I have some sewing I want to do. Got some more jammie pants cut out. I want to cut out another doll. And I've been working on my glow in the dark ghost. So far it looks like a dishcloth, but that's how it will look until I finish and put it together. I'm still working on the socks too, but they are on the back burner for now.

Very easy knitting. I rented some videos from the library to watch, so I will knit and watch movies and listen to the rain fall. A very relaxing weekend it will be.

Glow in the Dark Yarn!

When I was up north I saw Glow in the Dark Yarn in the store. It interested me but I couldn't think what I would make with it and didn't buy it. Then after I got home I found a pattern for some little ghosts. I wanted that yarn! Found out Michaels carries it and off I went to buy some. How fun! It really does glow in the dark. I held it up to the light for a few seconds then shut the light off and it did glow in the dark. Gotta make some little ghosties for Halloween!

I was so glad Michaels still had some left!

I must be in a Halloween mood or something. Such a fun little holiday. I got the witch done that I made to hang on my door. I just love her!

I haven't hung her up yet, just a little too early in the season.

And I've been working on my sock. Good TV knitting, it's all stockinette stitch for a while until I get to the heel. Just good old mindless TV knitting.

I love the color of this yarn! So I'm off to the couch to knit and check out the new 90210. I loved that show when it was on way back when. Now it's back!

Lazy Sunday Morning

It's a lazy, rainy, quiet Sunday morning. A good day to stay inside and work on crafts. I made some progress with the witch yesterday. I'm loving her so far!

She's going to have pumpkins hanging from her at the bottom. That's what I'll work on today.

I did start another sock. Just a plain, simple, easy sock. The pattern is from the Yarn Harlot's "Recipe". I got the yarn from an etsy shop not too long ago, the color is called "Confetti".

My Mom went to a garage sale the other day and bought this box of yarn for my sister and I to share. I love getting goodies! Not sure what I'll make with any of it. I'm thinking of making a shawl with that light blue on the bottom, which is a nylon/acrylic/mohair blend. Really soft!

When I went to pick up the yarn, my Dad gave me a bag of homegrown tomatoes. Aren't they beautiful! Can't wait to eat one. I see BLT's, and grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, and a pasta recipe I want to try, and maybe even stewed tomatoes in my future.

My tomatoes did not do well this summer, so getting these is a real treat!

Halloween is Coming

It's hard to believe next month is Halloween. Time just flies by. School started this week. My daughter is in her sophomore year of college and my grandson started kindergarten. Where does the time go?

I started a witch to hang on my door at Halloween. I had a lot of fun working on it last night. Lots of details in this thing. It will be so awesome when it is done. Here's what I have so far:

A head. It took me a couple of hours just to get that much done. I still have to work on her face and some little details then I will move on to her body. I haven't made anything like this in ages and it was a lot of fun to work on her!

I really haven't been knitting much lately. I've had a nasty cold and just have had no oomph to do much more than sit on the couch and read. I've been reading the Twilight series of books by Stephanie Meyer. Have you read them? Good reading! Hard to put down.

When I was up north I did finish a dishcloth, the pink one. It has a cupcake on it, made with CottonTots yarn. And I finally got the striped one finished that I started up there, good old reliable Grandma's Favorite, made with Sugar & Cream Stripes. I just can't make enough dishcloths. They're my favorite things to make.

I want to make some more dotee dolls too, so hopefully I'll get back to making some of them soon. This cold is almost gone and I have a little more energy. I'm so glad it's the weekend, more time to play with all my stuff!

Souveniers

When I went away on my mini vacation I spent a lot of time in the craft store and bought some fun stuff to craft with. I always have to get some kind of souvenier on a trip! I bought some fabrics from the Walmart. The large pieces I'm hoping to use in the rag quilt that I'm planning to make some day. The remnants are Halloween fabrics, just had to have them!

And, of course, I had to buy yarn! The craft store had Sugar & Cream in colors I didn't have and that I don't see around here, so two balls fell into my basket. I also bought a ball of sock yarn for some future attempt at making socks.

I had a grand time in the craft store! I could spend hours and hours in there and go back the next day and do it all over again. I bought a few oddments there for doll making, some wonderfully scented Yankee Candle tarts, and some Eucalan to wash woolen things that I knit.

I love all my souveniers!

Mini Vacation

I'm back! After all the commotion of getting my daughter ready to go back to college I was tired and I needed to get away. So I booked myself a room at a resort up north and away I went. I left at noon on Friday and got back on Labor Day. It was such a nice relaxing weekend! I've never gone anywhere by myself before, and boy oh boy did I ever need that. It was so peaceful. I did a lot of nothing. I took some knitting with me and worked on a couple of dishcloths. I took a book to read. I'm reading the Twilight series. I got a lot of book 2 read while I was there. I sat on the beach and stared at the water and people watched and watched boats. I ate when and what I wanted. I even took naps! The weather was just gorgeous all weekend, warm in the day, cool at night. I sat at the bonfire at night and met new people. I shopped at the big huge craft store and bought some fun stuff! I would definitely do this again. I saw some beautiful sunsets. It was wonderful. I went to Houghton Lake, the biggest inland lake in Michigan. My favorite place in the world.

I can't wait to do this again some day.