Happy New Year!

Ahhhh....the holidays are over. I really dreaded them this year and wanted them to just go away. Unfortunately, I've realized that's not possible...even though I tried. There are so many traditions to Christmas that just don't make sense to me anymore. As if there isn't enough to do in everyday life...at Christmas a huge ton of extra "stuff" is added to the list. So much of it seems silly....like the gifts...we all pretty much have what we need, don't need more "stuff" and so much of the time we don't know what to get each other so it ends up just being "stuff". Money is tight for a lot of people too so that adds to the "why?" of it all. Then there's the pressure of pretending we like the odd "stuff" that we get. I'm soooo bad at that. I wish it was more about just being together and not the gifts. Being together is a great gift since we're all so busy that we don't get to just be together much...friends and family...in fact, I didn't get to see my brother and nephew once over the whole holiday season or much all year. We sent gifts (food instead of stuff....that's good...but fattening) but being together would have been a much better gift. And cards...this was the first year I didn't send any out. Weird but it felt good to take the pressure off of myself and just believe it was ok (although I've been questioned by some as to why they didn't get a card from me). I usually do hand made cards (except the past couple years) and a newsletter about our year. Then...the decorations....we did that but it never seemed fun to look at this year and I couldn't wait for it all to be back up in the rafters. We finally got it all put away this past weekend. Ahhhhh! It's over! On to a new year! I'm hoping this one will be great. Last year had some great stuff but a lot of tough stuff too. I'm determined to get off to a good start (so far, so good) and keep it rolling.

So far this year...I've gone through my craft stuff (and other things) and got things re-organized; finished a knitting project (scarf); finished a sock and I'm well into it's mate; got going again on an afgan I'd started last year; did some sewing with my daughter (she loved it and doesn't want to stop...she's on to new projects and doing more and more on her own. I'm so happy for her and proud); I've exercised several times so far; and, we're eating better...still eating cookies from Christmas (we wouldn't want to waste them!) but we're eating lots more veggies, fruits, etc. Also, right after Christmas I went to a knit/spin group and had a wonderful time with some other people who love fibery stuff...it was scarry because I've spent so much time at home this past year that I feel scared to socialize now...in fact, I almost chickened out when I got to this meeting and went in to make sure I was in the right place that when I went to get my stuff I almost left instead....but I was brave and went back in and I'm so happy I did because everyone was so nice and we all had so much in common. I felt so happy and inspired when I left and it lasted for a long time. I want to do that more often. So that's one of my goals is to get more involved in groups and stuff this year...to be brave and socialize! I just have to find things that work into our schedule and get to them. We even went to church yesterday and I wore something I knitted last year...a vest/shrug kind of thing. It was fun to wear it and it was warm and cozy. Here's a picture of it on my daughter...

Wearing it made me feel even stronger about wanting to knit a sweater this year. I'm not a new knitter but I've just knitted scarves, hats, a poncho, and I'm on my third pair of socks. I want to be brave and try more challenging things. I'm looking for a pattern that I feel I'll actually wear. Even though the process is the best part of knitting...I do always want an end result of something I'll love and use. I want it to be a challenge but not so much that I never finish it. So...I'll keep looking. I'm sure I'll find something.

Oh, yeah...I'm going to try to post more often too.

I'm off to a good start today...I had a good breakfast, exercised, and I'm posting! :) Time to end this long post and get back to work/play! :)

Happy new year to everyone. I wish you excellent health, happiness, and great success with all your goals for 2008!

Surprise Guest Star....

We found out who the surprise guest star is in the Nutcracker... It's Danny from this last season of "So You Think You Can Dance". He performed as the Prince last night and will again tonight. If any of you watched that show this year you know he is an amazing dancer. My daughter got to talk to him last night...which was quite exciting for her since she's such a fan of that show...she said he was really nice. The bummer is that I have tickets for the show this afternoon instead of tonight so I won't get to see him perform. :( Oh well....it's much more important and exciting to hear my daughter play her harp. There are two harps performing with the orchestra and they are alternating who plays "Waltz of the Flowers" and she'll be playing it this afternoon. :)

Nutcracker

If anyone is interested in seeing the Nutcracker..... My daughter is a harpist and is part of the San Diego Civic Youth Orchestra (they are amazing!) and they will be performing the music for the Nutcracker at the California Center for Performing Arts in Escondido (a huge, beautiful theatre) tonight, two performances on Saturday, and one on Sunday (12/21-23). There are surprise star guests in the show tonight and Saturday night (I think it's those two shows). You can get specifics on times and prices by calling the box office. Just google the theatre for numbers and directions. I expect it will be awesome....I know the music will be. :)

Hat for Hubby

It's been a while since I posted a blog but I am knitting again. I made this hat a few weeks ago for my hubby. He has several others in various colors and stripe patterns from the past few years. He loves wearing them when it's cold...even in the house. I started a pair of socks a few weeks ago but with everything going on I've only been able to fit in a few rows here and there so I'm still on the foot of the first one. It's looking good though.


Here's a picture of that freeform crochet bag I worked on months ago. It was so much fun to do but it turned out a cross between really cool and really funky. I haven't decided what to do about handles. When I draw it up where I put holes for a drawstring it doesn't look good. So, I think I'll take it to JoAnn or somewhere and see how it would look with wood or plastic handles or something. Hmmmm? Hopefully I'll come up with something that works well with it. Only problem is that my daughter wants to steel it! I guess that's a compliment. :)

Too much fun....

I'm back in the fiber again! In fact, I think I dove in too fast...I have knitted so much this week that I had to take today off because my right hand and arm hurt! Argh! I was doing so good. I had almost a whole sock done in about a day and a half...that's amongst cleaning, errands, cooking...and life. I impressed myself...until I woke up sore this morning. I was having so much fun too!!! Well, maybe I'll get to knit again tomorrow. I knew I needed to give my muscles a break before I do damage and can't knit for weeks. I've done that before. It's no fun. So...tonight I'm having fun looking at other people's knitting works of art and I found an amazing blog...check it out on my blog link section on the left "Glove Knitting". Wow! I really want to try making some gloves. I've never done that. They look so cool. I found a bunch of free patterns on that blog or one of the ones from her site.

I'm still here...

I finally had some time to catch up on blogs this week and realized I haven't posted in a long time. I don't have any projects to show or talk about because life has been crazy/insane lately. So much so that I haven't even wanted to play with fibery stuff. That's really weird because that's usually what is comforting to me when life gets stressful. But...I lost weight through it all. Now I just need to exercise regularly so I can keep it off and firm up. Life seems to be coming back to normal now. I'm trying to figure out a new knitting project. That's a good sign. I even pulled out fabrics this week and worked on finalizing a pattern for my next quilt. I hope things keep improving around here. That'll be great! Then...we just have to get through the holidays! lol I can't believe they're here already!!!

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd put something on today. It's been so smokey here from all the fires but we're ok. Just have to stay inside to breathe. I sure hope the air clears soon. Especially for those with asthma and other breathing problems. It's kinda scarry for them. We've had a lot of extra time on our hands because of things being cancelled due to the poor air quality, and staying home to stay out of the smoke and out of the way of fire trucks and evacuees. You'd think I'd be busy crafting but since I have to stay home I get restless and want to do anything but that. I did manage to weave a rug this week though on one of the days that I had the news on all day. And, my daughter is weaving one right now while I'm doing this. Other than that I've mainly watched news and cleaned the house. I'm going a little stir crazy. My daughter's school is closed today and now we have an open weekend too. Hmmmm? What to do?!

I don't like to post without a picture and I don't have anything new and exciting to show so here's a picture from beautiful Julian, CA taken last fall. They are under evacuation again. I sure hope the town makes it through.

Busy Fun!

Wow! Things have been so busy around here lately...but I managed to get the binding sewn onto my quilt this week. Hooray! That makes two quilts this year that I started and completed. It's such a great feeling of satisfaction. This one is the first one that I've ever made that I had professionally quilted after I did the piecing. There's a back side to it too...I figure that if I'm putting so much time and money into it I may as well make it two quilts in one. The back is mostly plaid with a big pieced square in the middle. I like it. I made this with Moda Charm Packs in the Chocolate series and yardage from the same line, except for the plaid. I made it to hang over our loft wall to add color and warmth to the living room. I'm really happy with it. In fact, I can't believe I did it! It's so awesome to see it with it's handsome quilting (leaves and vines) and the edging came out so nice. Ahhh! Fun! Besides that I've been so busy with my daughter's life. She's playing her harp in her high school production of "Midsummer Night's Dream" as a fairy. So, I had a costume to sew and lots of taxi service to provide taking her and her harp back and forth. Last week she practically lived at school as they rehearsed until late each night and then two performances. This week has less rehearsals so I've been able to see her a bit. There are two more performances. The kids all do a great job. It's a fun show to see. We were able to find some time a couple weekends ago to go out and take some pictures with her and her harp (something we like to do from time to time) and I got some pix of her modeling a shrug-vest thing I knitted. It turned out really cute. I'm just not sure if it's ok to post her picture on here. I know some people say it's not a good idea to do. Not sure why but I guess I'll go along with that, for now anyway.

I'm pretty excited about quilting after completing the binding on this one last night but I need to focus on other things. Especially since Christmas will be here before we know it. I need to really get busy on gifts. So....I think that's what I'll go do right now.

Happy crafting!

Free Form Fun!

Ok...I can't wait...I have to post this strange looking bit of fun that I'm having. It doesn't look like much yet...or maybe it looks like a sun? or a flower?...anyway...it's my free form crochet bag that I'm making. It's so much fun that I'm having a hard time putting it down. It's more time consuming than it might look and I've been working on it so much that my left hand is cramping up. But it is so much fun because it requires creativity every step of the way. Selecting colors, textures, combinging yarns, and figuring out how I want to crochet the next row. So much fun!!!

A Gourd, A Scarf, and a Purse

I'm working on several things right now and nothing is ready for it's 'Kodak moment' yet and I don't like to post without a picture. Pictures make it more fun. So, here's a picture of a gourd bowl that I made a while back. I cleaned, cut, cleaned again, drilled, sanded, stained, sanded, stained, sanded, finished, and crocheted. Now it does a great job of looking pretty on our desk containing all the wires for our "wireless" devices....phones, ipod, etc. I have some ideas rolling around in my head to work with another gourd and incorporating fiber into the design.

I haven't worked on the lace again...yet. My mom is doing a couple of rows a day on hers...probably about all she can stand since it's so hard to knit those angled stitches. So, I've been working on the scarf that was suppose to be a "two hour or less" project...wrong! I have no idea how long it has taken but it sure wasn't two hours or less. I bound off this morning and even though my gauge is right it's too small. So, I get to be creative to make it fit. So I started crocheting around it and adding some little ties to the corners. So far so good. I need to give my hands a rest though. I knitted and crocheted pretty much all day yesterday and my hands are feeling tired and sore. I went to Crochet Cafe and enjoyed the company of some ladies that took a free form crochet class last week and were working on some purses from the class. I was inspired and came home, pulled some yarn from my stash, and got to work trying to re-create what they're making. I got the basic idea of the construction and because it's "free form" there are no rules...that's pretty cool and fun! So far so good...it's looking like the ones I saw yesterday. Right now it looks like a spider but it's coming along. Pretty exciting.