Vacation

I just returned from Tucson, AZ and a wonderful visit with my Mom, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle and cousin. It is always so good to see them all! Mom's house is like visiting a private spa, she has a pool and each day we would go out and float around relaxing, talking and laughing. I got a perm while I was there, a pedicure and I finished (and started) some new projects. We went out for ice cream and got these huge sundaes! One is my Mom's, I promise I didn't eat them both!


I finally finished the Purple Prairie Star for my Grandma, and she loved it!



I also took a picture of Mom with her Prairie Star I made her last Christmas.



I started Melanie, a PK doily that we are doing in my Ravelry PK Doily group during the Olympics. I am using my own colorway, Sage Rose and another solid color that I have not determined yet. I did a few rounds with a cream color thread that upon closer inspection was too creamy, so I frogged back, and I am trying to find a better solid colored thread that I will be happy with.

It was a great vacation that went too fast! (Don't they always?) Now I am back into my daily routine of work. Have a bunch to catch up on I am sure. Next mini-vacation is at the end of this month for my daughter's 21st birthday! I can't believe she is already 21 and a Mom herself! Which makes me a Grandma...which I still have a hard time calling myself. Which is why I have dubbed myself G.B. for Grandma Brenda, without actually being called Grandma!

Bewitching

I completed another PK doily this morning...Bewitching! I don't know what I am going to do with my pile of doilies and dishcloths I am accumulating, but it sure is good therapy! LOL

I did complete the Between Meals doily as well before I started this one, but I haven't been able to get a picture of it yet. The batteries in my regular camera died, and I need to buy some more rechargeable batteries for it. It goes through regular batteries like crazy! I used the camera on my phone to take this one, and it is not the best quality, but I can't get a good picture of the whole Between Meals doily on it. I have the batteries on my Wal-Mart list for when I go this weekend, because it is just a given that I will end up there at some point this weekend.

I have a long weekend, today is my Friday. I took a vacation day for tomorrow, and of course, Friday is the 4th of July. Looking forward to the time off. Of course, it always goes to fast, and as soon as I leave work today the "I only have 4 days until I have to be back!" sets in. So many things I want to do, and 4 days just won't cut it! I hate that about myself...always counting down the time.

Hope everyone has a safe & happy 4th of July!

Between Meals Doily Pic

Just posting a pic real quick of this doily...it is 21" across right now, and I still have 11 rounds to complete. Completed size is going to be approx 30", maybe even bigger after it is blocked.

I am off to clean my car inside and out before the sun comes around the front of my house and makes that task unbearable (more so than it already is). Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Monster Doily & Long Lost (WIP) Star

I will have to post pictures later, once I figure out how to get the whole dang thing in the picture, but my Between Meals doily is going to be HUGE!

I picked it up over the weekend after a little hiatus from crocheting to learn to knit, and forgot how big it already was, and I was only 50% through with it! I have about 17 more rounds to go, and I would say it is already at least 20-22" in diameter already. Huge. My daughter looked at it and asked if I was making a bedspread. Huge.

I think it will turn out very nice, and I am glad I tackled this doily. I have drooled over other Between Meals doilies, so had it on my alphabetized Ravelry queue list. Blazed through the "A" doilies (mostly Patricia Kristoffersen) early on, and between knitting and the size of this one, it is taking a while.

I ran out of the solid color I was using, and Hobby Lobby was closed Saturday before I realized I was going to run out and I didn't have another ball of Frosty Green in my stash. (HOW in the world did that happen? Luckily, I made it through the round (barely) before I was at the point where I switched to the variegated colorway I was using on the next couple of rounds. So, I have to remember to go pick that up after work so when I need to pick the solid up again, I have it.

I also was put on alert that my grandmother would really like a Prairie Star afghan to show off to her friends while she is at her summer getaway up in Showlow, AZ. She tried to snag my Mom's to take up there saying that it might get cold (she did have snow last week!), but Mom wouldn't go for it. So, Mom asks if I can "whip one up for GG?" Whip one up???? There is no whipping that puppy up. My solution is to finally finish the one I started for myself, I only have half diamond motifs left to put on it and then the border, so I could feasibly have it done in a week or two. I can make another one for myself another time. No, I can't "whip it up", but during the colder months, it is a good crochet project that is warm to work on and easy to memorize...a good T.V. project, and easy enough to pick up at a (much) later date and not be lost as to where you were in the pattern.

I have missed crocheting. I like knitting, but I have to say the crocheting is my first love.

Long Weekend

I just love 3-day weekends! Of course, there is never enough time to do everything I want to do, but I usually pick one big project that I have been saying I will do, and put my mind to it. I have started a list of projects to do when I have a few days off, and this time I chose a fun one one, instead of something icky like steamcleaning the carpets. I spent the weekend dyeing!

I recruited help by telling them that if they prepped some thread, they could dye some thread, free reign, anything goes. That seemed to work (this time)! Both my son and daughter dyed a colorway, and true to my word, I didn't stand over them. I laid it out, made sure they had plenty of color choices, and left the room. Both had great ideas, and it freed me up to do others stages of the process.

Last night, I was happily labeling all of our hard work and had most of it listed on the venues I use. I still have a few I need to put finishing touches on and to take pictures of, but I can do that during the week.

Other than that, we had a cookout yesterday with spare ribs, potato salad, and corn on the cob. I just love using the grill during the summer. It helps keep the temp down in the house, and nothing beats a grilled piece of meat. Naps for everyone afterwards, with full stomaches and traces of bbq sauce smudges on noses or cheeks and smiles of contentment. All in all it was a great weekend, with great weather and some really nice family time.

Now it is back to the grindstone, and looking at the calendar to take some time off from work. A few days off does so much to energize me, I need to plan more instead of just taking the usual holiday days off. Hope everyone else had a great weekend, and hey...short work-week! Bonus!

Dishcloth mania

Since learning to knit back in February, I have accumulated a LOT of dishcloths. I had joined 2 dishcloth KAL's, one is weekly, one is bi-monthly. I have learned a ton about knitting over the past few months by knitting these little beauties. Some I was not so thrilled about, some I made a few of. I have given a few away, but as you can see by the pictures, I still have plenty for myself.

I like the quick satisfaction from knitting dishcloths. One or two nights watching TV and knitting and I have a finished project.

I also knitted one mitt, and need to do the other one. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. So that is what I have been up to the past few months. (Please excuse the wayward shoe and the box in the background)

I haven't crocheted at all since taking up knitting, but I am going to start spreading it out and working on both types of projects now that I am comfortable enough with knitting.

Bon Jovi II

The concert was awesome! I had never been to one of their shows before, and they really put on a good one. A couple of observances...I didn't realize Jon was so short. And...I wouldn't dance with him at a club. The man is awkward. Just stand there Jon, smile your killer smile, and shake your booty occassionally, but PLEASE don't dance. My friend Michelle and I just looked at each other the first time he did some moves with a look of "REALLY???" All in all the show was so good, we forgave his dancing abilities.

It has been a long time since I have been to a concert, and if it wouldn't have been free...holy moly...I woulda had to take out a 2nd mortgage. The cost of everything is outrageous, or I am amazingly cheap. Probably a combo of both.

I have the rest of the week off from work, so today I pretty much did nothing. Tomorrow I have a list of things I want to get done around the house before I can reward myself with catching up on TiVo offerings and knitting. Does anyone else have to reward themselves this way in order to get housework done? Just curious. Because if I don't do it this way, I would never get any housework done.