Books

I have read a lot of books over th epast year. Some good, some not so good. Below are some of the books I have read. A lot are ebooks. My fave sites to get books are Barnes Noble, project gutenberg, smashwords, and internet archive. This list does not include anycraft or mental health books!

Sixteen Brides....Stephanie Grace Whitson
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children....Ransom Riggs
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne....Kady Cross
Smalley's Smirk.....William Vitka
All that is Beautiful.....Roxanne Tepfer Sanford
The Girl in the Lighthouse.....Same author
The Choice.....Suzanne Woodss Fisher
The Hunger Games Trilogy .... Suzanne Collins
The Call.....Merrill Gemus
Blood, Sweat, and Tea.....Tom Reynolds
The Story of My Life.....Hellen Keller
The Art of Candle Dipping .....Judy Alter
The Help.....Kathryn Stockett
Gods of Green Mountain ......V.C.Andrews
After Dark.....Bryan Lee
Scary Mary.....S.A. Hunter
The Front Porch Prophet......Raymond Atkins
Auschwitz.....Mikios Nyiszli
Freaks.....Tess Gerritsen
2012.....Ted Stetson
The Ripper's Brides.....Julia Vern
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.....Rebecca Skloot
Hide In Plain Sight.....Marta Perry
Plan B.....Joseph Finder
The Sudbury School Murders.....Ashley Gardner
Bubba and the Dead Woman.....C.L. Bevil
The Colorado Kid......Stephen King
Syndrome....Thomas Hoover
Roses.....Leila Meacham
Hysteria......Eva Gale
Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.....Dinah Bucholz
Shapeshifters Craving.....Lee Pearce
The Traitor's Wife......Kathleen Kent
Puppy Dog Tales.....Alice V.
Backstory to Think Twice.....Lisa Scottoline
Think Twice.....Same Author


Well, that brings usfrom where we are back to the end of May. I don,t remember what I read befor ethat. The only reason I remember all that is because it was all on my Nook. Lets see what happens next year!

holidays

Ahhh the wonderfulntime of year. Well, looks like we have survived it. If entries start looking a bit wierd it's because i'm typing from a tablet. Yep, i have gotten up to the current. Things are going easier.


OH, and guess what? I AM NOW A MEMBER OF THE National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR)!!!!! I was installed earlier this month.

I Love Swap Partners and the Mail

So this morning I got my glass grinder back via FedEx.  It went out last week to be repaired and I have it back in working order.  This afternoon I got my package from KnidiotinHavre.  She spoiled me rotten.  Look below and you'll see all that I got.

Packages Coming in

THe latest round of International Scarf Swap is wrapping up and scarves are arriving to their new homes.  I got one today From h2oPaws.  It's a beautiful crocheted shawlette in beautiful fall colors.  I also got a nice shell, calendar, and ball of 100% silk yarn.

My roommate got a beautiful entrelac scarf from Summer-Cat on Monday.  It came with a beautiful hank of yarn.

Winging It

I have a new scarf pattern that I love.  I made it up at the end of last week.  I couldn't find a pattern I liked for the yarns I was working with and decided to just "Wing It" hence the name of the pattern.

With Yarn "A" Chain 252 or desired even amount.

Row 1: DC in second ch from hook and in each ch to end, ch2 turn

Row 2: With Yarn "B" DC in first DC  from hook, chain 1, skip 1 DC, and DC in next DC. Repeat across,  DC in final DC.   ch2 turn

Row 3:  Skip first DC and DC in first chain-one space of previous row, chain 1, DC in next chain-one space and repeat across.  DC in space between turning chain and the first DC of the previous row.  Chain 2 and turn.

 Repeat Row 3 until desired width (I did 4 times).

Last row:  Go back to Yarn "A" DC in all DC and chain-one spaces.  Tie off at end and weave in ends

I Failed to take a photo before packing this scarf off to go to it's recipient, but hope to get a photo eventually.  If you make this I would love to see your creations.

ISS

So My friend L and me received our scarves.  They are absolutely beautiful.

This one is from Just-Do in the Netherlands and is L's.   Just-Do has an awesome blog over here. 

This is my scarf from Msmyrtle in New Zealand.












Both scarves are awesome.

2 Christmas presents down

2 Christmas presents down and it's only the 2nd of April.  Yay!  At this rate I have time to experiment and try and design a scarf.  Won't that be nice.  I got a book in the mail today and found a really cool stitch patter that I am about to try as a scarf.  If I like it, who knows, you may just find the pattern here.  It'll be worked with 2 balls of yarn with 1 color getting carried up the side while not in use. 

I'm making this scarf in alpaca and am going to have toms of fun.  It's going to be in red and black.  Someone I know is going to make a red had to go with it.  Ok, enough talking about it!  Have to go work on it now.

Busy busy

So, the swap is going along well. My scarf is done.  R's scarf is done.  Our first contest is done and prizes will be going out soon.  People are already receiving their scarves. Not much can be asked for.

We have the Etsy shop up and running.  Now to get some sales going on it.  We are always creating items and I have decided to add items on certain days.

Everything else is going great.  The cold I had is going away finally.  I'm so happy about that because I have missed glass class 2 weeks in a row and really want to go back.  I just haven't wanted to get a certain someone sick at the class.

Now to get cracking on a rug I'm knitting and some Christmas gifts.  Yes Christmas gifts.  It's March and I'm already working on Christmas gifts.  I've finally gotten smart and am getting a leg up on the knitting.  There's an ulterior motive.  The summer is coming and I plan on getting some serious weaving and spinning time in during the summer.

International Scarf Swap and Police (unrelated)

So in a fit of insanity moment of bright ideas I started a scarf swap.  It's over at Ravelry at this group.  We're coming down to the wire on sign-ups and we've already started to do the matching up.  It's going pretty well.

Oh and for the police bit... we ("R" & Myself) got stopped by the police today. The trooper asked us where we were going. The reply with a straight face… “To pick up some yarn.” His expression…ok, that’s a new one and so bizzare it has GOT to be true! 

Bucket List

So last year I created a bucket list.  I was reviewing it and noticed that I have actually done a few things.  In all honesty I completely forgot I created this list.  Below are the things I have done and how they came out.

23.  Work again  --  A work in progress.  Did a 4 week work eval.  Had fun doing it, but didn't like some of the things said afterwards.  It all comes back to not being a mind reader

26.  Quit Smoking -- R and I quit using the e-cigs.  It went well for a couple months.  Then We ended up at each others throats.  End result...Smoking again

27.  Spin wool with a spinning wheel -- I have my own wheel (given to me for Christmas) and have made a 60 yard 2 ply hank.  I've also spun single ply yarn, but my 2 ply one is my favorite so far.  Will definitely keep spinning

35.  Get off Spenddown --  Spend down is like a deductible when on Medicaid.  I got off it for a while.

36.  Finish my Aran Sweater  --  Finished then stolen.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

46.  Sell jewlery at a craft fair (not compete with a friend though)  --  R and myself started with craft fairs by helping a friend out and then did several more during the holiday season.   They were fun and we learned a lot.  Can't wait to do more.

58.  Read the Anne of Green Gables Series -- Read and loved.

63.  Go on a random Road Trip -- Went on vacation and a few days we'd hit the road and see what came out way.  Only a couple days were planned out as we had to be certain places at certain times.

Overall got part done and looking forward to doing more.

"R" = My Roommate

My roommate is a wonderful person.  We get along like 2 peas in a pod.  Well except when I'm PMSing, but that's just me being disagreeable with everyone including myself.  We met about 10 years ago and just clicked. 

We clicked so well that when we became roommates I moved my yarn stash first (before clothes or cat) and she didn't say anything.  We now share the yarn we buy.  You know you click with someone when you can move in and they don't say anything about your yarn stash.  Then when they start knitting you can share your stash with them with NO PROBLEMS!!!

We're both creative.  She wants to learn to use regular knitting needles, but her job caused her to have carpal tunnel and she can't hold the needles.  She usedsthe looms to knit with and man is she good at it.  Okay, so the hooks are a little small to hold on to, but we fixed that.


We also work with glass and share that with NO PROBLEMS!!!  Once we get a duplicate set of tools she's going to learn to needle felt.  If I ever finish my current weaving project she's going to try that out and if she likes it we're going to figure out a way to have 2 looms in 1 apartment with 4 cats and all our other crafting sh**  stuff.

She's the cook and I'm the cleaner. It works out good.  I'm the driver, she's the car owner.  She's Lucy & Ethel...wait so am I.  Oh we're always getting into some sort of mischief or another. 

Getting another convert

Ok, so I knit, crochet, weave, spin, and needle felt (for fiber arts).  My roommate uses the looms for knitting.  We were talking to another friend of ours last night and she made the mistake mentioned that she would like to learn to knit, but doesn't have the hand eye coordination to knit.  Next thing she knew we were inviting her to the local Alpaca farm today to learn to use a Knifty Knitter. 

We (roommate a.k.a. "R" and me) went out last night and got her a new loom, yarn, and crochet hook to teach her today.  Today we all got together and "R" started to teach her.  We're getting another fiber convert.  I love life!

Crafting in the works

What crafts are in progress???

Knitting -- Potato Chip Scarf
                 Scrap yarn Rug

Crochet -- Sideways scarf

Weaving  --  Rug on 24" rigid heddle.  It's woven with raw wool tied in every so many rows.

Spinning  --  Some brown wool on an Ashford Traditional

Glass --  Fused jewlery

Other Projects:  Moderating a Travelling Scarf Swap
                         Organizing an International Scarf Swap
                         Organizing 2 informational fairs on Self Injury
                         Organizing a celebration of people in recovery from Mental Illness at the State Capitol
                         More that can't be thought of at the moment

Almost a year

Okay, so it's been 3/4 of year since I last posted.  Quite bluntly...I forgot about the blog.  Things are still busy and enjoying life.  All the usual activities are still going on  plus some.