Birth Announcement

This cute little bear is finally finished. I started needle felting it this last year and then stashed it away for whatever reason...who knows. But, I got the needle felting bug yesterday and finished it up. He'll be going up for adoption on ebay this week. Maybe he'll be a loving gift for valentines day. :)

I was having so much fun with wool and needles yesterday and started making a little airedale. The only reason I didn't continue is that I don't have the right size of beads for her eyes and I need to put those on before I sew all the parts together. I'm so happy with it so far though. The ears turned out so cute. Here's a sneak peek...

Still no news about my hip but I've had more and more times that it hasn't hurt much or at all. That's nice. Now I want some warm weather to try riding my bike around. The past couple of weeks I've had awful headaches though and on Monday I ended up in urgent care with the worst headache of my life. It was soooo horrible! The past couple of days haven't been the greatest but it finally broke yesterday afternoon and it feels so amazing to have a pain free head. My hip feels pretty good today too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I've always been pretty healthy so all the pain and weird stuff happening to my body this past year is realllly frustrating. I have very little patience for it. So, sorry for my whining. Hopefully, better times are beginning!

I just finished a great book, "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was so good that I tried to read it slowly to make it last. It was about her year long journey to find peace and happiness. It was so awesome to find out that my questioning brain is normal and not such a bad thing. I learned a lot...even about the cultures of the places she visited. So interesting! I totally recommend it. It's a great read! I can't wait for her next book scheduled for 2009.

Have an awesome, pain-free day!

Pretty Fun!

For my birthday last week I received a Visa giftcard with a nice amount on it and I've been havin' some fun! I heard there was a new quilt shop in Riverside and that they're having a big sale to make room for new fabrics...40% or more off of every fabric in the store! Well, I had to go! I didn't find what I was looking for but I did find these beautiful fabrics... (they're even prettier in person!)...


They don't go with our house...but that's ok cuz they are so pretty to look at...they make me happy. My daughter will probably end up with the quilt eventually cuz they are her colors. I just couldn't resist because the were so pretty and the price was soooo good. I got all the fabrics I need for the top, back, and binding to make a large throw/almost twin size for under $60 with tax. Amazing, huh?!

Last weekend I had just found the last fabric for another set of fabrics I've been collecting (it's in the background and hard to see in this pic) and I'm ready to start that quilt too. Here are those fabrics...

And...well...I wouldn't want to get bored. Right? So...I also spent some birthday bucks on yarn for a vest I want to make. I finished that pair of socks I was working on so it was time to start a new knitting project...oh...I know...I have a few other yarny and fibery projects going but I did finish one so that means I can start another right? Wow! I do have a lot to do! But it's all fun! Yay! I really do think I have ADHD though cuz I'm constantly moving from one kind of craft to another and one project to another. But, I do get things accomplished...just not as often as I'd like...but I'm working on that...and having fun along the way. ;-)

Still no word on my hip. I went to the doctor this week but he couldn't tell me anything because my x-rays hadn't been read yet....that was a waste of time and money. Argh! Just when I think it's getting better it hurts a lot again, like yesterday, but it's not bad today. I sure hope it can be figured out soon and find a way to get rid of the pain.

Hippy Quilts...hee hee

I went to the "Road to California" quilt show last week. I went on my birthday which was pretty cool. The show was amazing! So many of the quilts just boggle my mind of how they were made and how much time it must have taken to make them. Incredible! It was extremely crowded but I think I saw the whole thing and all the vendors. There were a lot of beautiful fabrics and great stuff but I didn't buy anything. I can't think straight in wall-to-wall people to decide what to buy. I wish I had though. I can't get some of the gorgeous fabrics out of my mind and I haven't seen them in quilt shops that I've been in since the show. I'll keep looking though. This weekend I found the final fabric for my next quilt and definitely decided on a pattern...it will be a "mystery Sampler". It should be fun to see it develop. I plan to start on it this week. The show was so inspiring that everytime I close my eyes I just start seeing and designing quilts. Wow! Fun!

Other than that I've just been dealing with my hip that has been hurting sooooo much! I'm so sick of it! There are days that it hurts constantly and meds don't help much. I had some x-rays done last week and I will see the doc tomorrow. Hopefully it's just some dumb thing that some special exercises can help. I tried the chiropractor last week and it seemed like it helped that day but it hurt again the next day. Yesterday it was horrible. And, today it's not too bad. It's weird! And very annoying! I'm on antibiotics too for a possible sinus infection. My sinuses are so swollen that my teeth even hurt! Ugh! I'm feeling old lately so I didn't even think about my age on my birthday and I don't want to now. I'm still holding out hope that my hip and sinuses will be feeling great verrrrry soon and I can get back to my new year's goals of getting in shape...lately my shape is just getting bigger and softer.

Hopefully I'll have better news to post next time. :-)

In my effort to post more often...here's the latest...

Since the knit group I visited at church last week I've knitted a scarf and I'm half way finished with another one. The second is a spiral scarf...sounded fun at the time but I'm having doubts about whether or not it was a good idea (if anyone will like it...it is for charity), how it will turn out, and it's not fun to knit. We'll see how it goes. I was a good girl and went to get my mamogram last week (I had plans for it a couple of months ago but life got busy...we all know how that goes) and while waiting I finished the heal flap on my second sock and I'm onto the heal turn. I have so many projects that I want to do it's hard to decide what to work on but at least I'm moving along. Here's another one...it's a rug hooking kit that I bought in Fredricksburg, Texas a couple of years ago. I had stopped working on it because I was using an embroidery hoop to hold it and after a lot of wool fabric had been hooked into place it won't fit tightly into the hoop and that made it really hard to work on. After some inspiration from a rug hooker that I recently saw...my husband made a frame for mine and I've stapled it tightly onto it in hopes that this will make it possible to work on. That's what I'm planning to try today. Here it is..... Kitty likes it....well...she likes all crafts. She's very cool! Cats rock!



As far as some of my other new year's goals...I'm doing good with better eating. We've been making smarter choices and eating lots of fruits and veggies. But, as far as exercise...I'm pretty frustrated. I was trying to walk several days a week and do some light weights but my hip is hurting so bad that it's making it almost impossible to go on walks. It bothers me from time to time but always goes away. But this time it's being very stubborn and hurting more than ever. Most of the last couple of weeks I've been hobbling around like an old woman. I hate this! Yesterday I started taking some ibuprofen to help if there's any inflamation and I took a nice hot bath. I've been avoiding sleeping on that side. It seemed like it was starting to feel better Saturday night and yesterday but I tried to go for a walk today and I had to cut it short cuz it hurt again. Argh! I may have to visit a doctor but that's usually such a waste of time cuz whenever I go in for something they usually just tell me to do what I'm doing or prescribe a bunch of scarry drugs...which I often don't take because the warnings are so strong...and I usually get better. All the advice I read says to rest, take ibuprofen, moist heat and to give it about six weeks. I sure hope it get's better soon. So does our dog Salsa...she loves to go on walks! I guess she'll have to just stick to treadmill walks for a while. She actually loves the treadmill. When she goes upstairs she always runs to it, hops on and stands there waiting for us to turn it on. So funny and cute! Here's a picture of her cute mug....

Hat Question...

Does anyone know if there is a way to calculate a pattern for a knit hat for whatever yarn or needles you might have. I've only followed patterns for hats but sometimes I'd like to make one with a particular yarn but can't find a pattern specific for that yarn or I don't have the size of needles it calls for but might have a size smaller or larger. It seems like it should be something easy to figure out. I've seen lots of hats made with handspun yarn...the thickness of that varies and so a pattern couldn't be specific for it. Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Wednesday and happy knitting! :)

Knitting Group

I went to a new knitting group last night at a local church. Everyone was very nice. The group makes things for various charities...baby blankets, hats, scarves...whatever anyone wants to make and they find people/places that need it. They said that last year the group made and donated over 100 blankets (knit, crochet, quilts, etc.), among other things. Interesting. And, they had big bags of yarn to pick from to make things. That was pretty fun to pick from that. I came home with some gorgeous ice blue/turqouise/periwinkle varigated yarn and I've already made a scarf today. Fun! I have a lot left and plan to make a hat to match or another scarf.

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!