Friday, April 28, 2006

Wrap it up!


Just finished another wip. I used the delta stitch for this and made a rectangle wrap instead of the triangle Jessica style shawl. It came out better than I thought it would. I have made so many of the Jessica shawls that they are starting to look a little tired to me. I do like the look and feel of this wrap. I was going to give this to a friend who has been asking me for a Jessica shawl, but I don't know. It feels so comfy with jeans and a cami, I may have a hard time parting with it. It seems my friends can't seem to get enough of this pattern. My next shawl is going to be the Sweat Pea from the Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet The Happy Hooker. I'm pretty sure that is going to be my next favorite. I ordered Endless Summer yarn in peach whisper for it. Haven't seen it yet but it looks so pretty on line. Just can't wait to start it. Thing is I am already looking for yarn for the second one and I haven't even started the first one. That's why I end up with so many ufo's!

Sunday, April 23, 2006

2 More Done - Yay



I think I got my mojo back! I am starting to take projects out of the bag and finishing them. First the star and now 2 sweaters. The first one was suppose to be my grand daughter's valentine gift. It's called "Baby it's Cold Outside", from Crochet Me magazine but now it's warm outside. I'm hoping she will get a chance to wear it before she outgrows it. Maybe on a cool evening when she goes on vacation. The colors are really pretty. The colors are called sienna and merlot.

The next one is called Palm Beach and I got the pattern from Crochet for Tot's. I love this book. I have made a few things from it as gifts and for my grand daughter. The patterns are easy to read and work up quickly. I used Bernat Satin in Ivory. I am really happy with the way it came out. It is really soft and feels really rich. She is going to a birthday party tomorrow and will wear it over a pretty pink dress.

Thursday, April 20, 2006


I made this for my grand daughter. Not happy with the way it came out. I had a real problem with the joining stitch on each round and really should have frogged it. She loves it and drags it around with her everywhere. Let's see how it holds up in the wash. I will try another one because I just love this pattern for babies. I will also try the round ripple. I think I will have a better time with that.

Easter



Ok, I always talk about my little pumpkin pie and here she is on Easter. And a picture of my beautiful daughter with her beautiful daughter. What can I say, I love them and they give me joy so to me that is beauty.

Say cheese - Photo Time



I finally got around to uploading some pictures off the ditital camera and thought I would share.



This is me and my honey. We took this by just holding the camera in front of us and clicking, I didn't think it would come out this good. And my dh relaxing, which he very seldom gets a chance to. It's nice to see him this way.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

What I did on my spring vacation!

Got home in time for Easter and it is nice to be home but another week would have been perfect.

Abaco is the perfect place to unwind. It is a small island without any of the usual tourist commercial attractions. The ocean, a few local restaurants, and simple homes on the beach. There are a few million $ developments on the island. But I have no reason to go there :)

We arrived at the tiny airport and were greeted by island music. It immediately puts you in the tropical mood. We check into our little villa (just a bungalow) and immediately head out to 1 of the 2 food stores on the island. We walk since it is only about a mile away and it gives us a chance to take a look around and see what's going on and what has changed. Right away we see that Snappas one of our favorite hangouts has been rebuilt. Turns out the original was swept away in a hurricane 2 years ago. I am really glad they rebuilt it. Great place for a Kalik (local beer), grilled fish and a bag of chips. Nothing fancy; music and an ocean view are all you need. We buy a just few things like coffee and cereal since it is very expensive to food shop here. A 64 oz cranberry juice is almost $8 but a liter of Bacardi light is $9, so why drink juice! We carry our groceries back in our backpacks and get ready relax. Make ourselves a drink, get my book and vacation has started. The next day, Sunday, is the weekly pig roast at Nippers on Guana Key. I look forward to this all year. It is about a half hour ferry ride to an even smaller island. Golf carts greet the ferry and take you to Nippers, but it is less than a 5 min walk. You can hear the music as you approach and see people dancing and drinking and really having a good time. And eating, wow, roast pork, mac and cheese, potato salad, peas and rice (a local dish) bahamian bread and drinks made with many kinds of rum. Heaven. So after a few hours of this I need to leave or I will probably puke on the ferry. Back to our place for a nap, a shower and out again for dinner. There are a few restaurants within walking distance and that is usually what we prefer to do. Local food mostly, which is grouper, conch, catch of the day (tuna or dolphin) peas and rice, fried plantains, mac and cheese. If you don't eat fish there is usual some chicken or steak on the menu, but I love the local food. After dinner, we stumble home and sleep to the sounds of the ocean.

Except for the pig roast, every day is about the same. Beach, rum, fish and ocean and sleep like a baby. I read an entire book, and should have brought another one because I could not find one that I wanted to buy and really did not want to pay almost $15 for a $5 paperback. I know this may sound boring to some, but getting to read a book is a big deal for me. Before I know it it is time to go home. Although I miss my little pumpkin pie something awful, another week would just be perfect. But now back to reality. Pick up another wip and daydream about paradise.

I have not developed my photos yet, since I did not bring the digital. Hopefully, I will be doing that soon
.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Abaco, Bahamas


I AM IN PARADISE - SEE YOU NEXT WEEK

Monday, April 03, 2006

I'm Ready For My Close Up Mr. Demille

The past few days have been full of drama. Some silly drama, some mean and spiteful. I am quite sad at the way things have ended.

When I was growing up I heard that all good things come to an end and no good deed goes unpunished. Well, that seems to be true. A few months back I found what I thought was a great place to exchange ideas, learn new things and display my finished projects. I got really helpful ideas and was inspired to try much more challenging work. Some were more helpful than others and for a while I was at a happy place. It gave me the confidence I had been lacking to show my work, start a blog and open an esty store (more on that some other time). But as the neighborhood started to get more and more popular the happy little village started to get corrupted with urban blight. I would come for a quick visit to see what's up and interesting and to my dismay, I would find that since my last visit, there were over 200 posts. Wow, overwhelming don't you think. Problem is that more and more of them were nothing to do with craft or art of any kind. Long and I sorry, but to me, boring stories about a bad day at the office, a headache or ache of some kind, bad traffic, you name it waaa, waaa, waaa. Okay, so I don't have to read them, but I do have to sift through them to find something of interest. Which takes care of the short visit, since my computer is not the fastest.

Now there are times when there is something serious going on in ones life and you want a little tea and sympathy, right. We all need it sometimes. Well let me tell you this is where the drama comes in big time. It seems that some people have chosen to use the goodness of strangers to run a con. I'm talking real drama, faking ones death, car accidents, brain tumors. So who knows what is true. So one brave sole decides to bite the bullet and out the drama queen(s). You'd think she would be a hero. I as glad to know the truth! Oh no, instead the what is now an urban metropolis starts to kill the messenger. As if that were not bad enough, they start to turn on each other. KGB starts to oust it's officers for speaking out of turn. Spies are going into peoples personal blogs and attacking their 1st amendment right to speak their mind. Talk about a brouhaha! I myself got wrapped in the drama and voiced my opinions on the situation and what happens -- I get deleted.

Well the whole thing has left me exhausted. Time for me to move out of the neighborhood. Find another nice little village to share and exchange ideas on things that bring me joy. I think I have found such a place, an adult community.

In the meantime, it's back to my own little life. Where my grand daughter is so very spoiled and quite adorable, my son is on the verge of flunking from engineering school and quickly depleting our retirement nest egg, my beautiful daughter thinks I should spend less time here and more time with them because it's always all about her. Ah, this drama I can live with.

All of the above is based on truth. Names have been omitted to protect the innocent and avoid more drama. Next week I will not read a single post. I will be tanning on the beach of Abaco in the Bahamas. Maybe I need to find a good book to read.