Friday, July 29, 2005

book review

before i start about the book, wanted to answer a few questions
YES - i will be forwarding the mail, and we still own this house... there should be no problem with my mail. we are taking our time putting the house for sale. i will be doing some painting here and other things.
and, regarding my extension cord - i have a gas stove, so the electricity only runs the clock/timer and the spark for lighting the burners... so it's not a big a hazard as it seems :)
thank you all for the concern of our safety. a little more about the house. it is so beautiful. i LOVE the layout, the original 1940's oak floors, baseboards and crown mouldings, the original 2-way swinging door from the dining room to the kitchen, my coffee/yarn room. yes, i have a room in my house that is specifically for drinking my morning coffee and storing my yarn/wool. bye bye brand new bathroom - sniff sniff i am going to miss SO much about this house. i'm sad to go.. but excited at the possibilities of what is to come.
like this: FalconClub ahhhh the amenities
anyhow - life isn't all bad ;)

on to the book:
about a week ago i received this book
maran book
as a gift from the maran's of maranGraphics

first the good, no - the fantastic
if you are wanting to:
learn to knit
learn how to correct errors
find different textured designs/stitches
increase/decrease
knit in the round
change colors
finish off
add embelishments

OH MY - this book is definitely what you have been looking for!
the pictures and written descriptions are absolutely by far the best i have come across in any of the "learn to knit" books i have seen before.
when it comes to a craft like this, i think just about everyone is a 'visual learner'. this book definitely satisfies the need to "see it done"
this book also includes quick, easy and cute patterns at the end of the chapters to help further the understanding of the learned technique.
the only thing i could suggest to better the knitting portion of the book would be to list the weight/size of yarn used for patterns. living in a town with no yarn store and a very limited selection of 'good stuff' at my local hobby stores... i had to do on-line research of yarns used to know what weight each pattern calls for. the patterns list the brand,type and how much of each to purchase and all - but does not say (or other sport weight.... blah blah)
i have referenced this book several times in the week i have had it.
BRAVO! a very well done instructional book for knitting.

in my opinion, worth every penny of the $16.49







now, the bad:
as a crocheter, i have come to expect to be disappointed in teaching and pattern books of this beautiful craft. this book was no exception. the descriptions and pictures, however, are wonderful. i absolutely believe someone could learn to crochet using this book as a guide. the crocheting portion was only 59 pages long. versus the 183 of knitting. what?! and only 2 patterns - 2... of guess what - scarves. come on!
at the risk of sounding like a whiny 6 year old (i have one of these - and i know how they can whine), i am absolutely tired of the lack of credit given to crochet. as a designer (yes, i'm holding out on you all, dear readers), i know the wonders of a hook. the elegant laces, sturdy rugs, the deliciously textured fabrics to be used for sweaters, bags, afghans....

in my opinion, if you are looking for a book of crochet techniques, patterns and advancement, i'd pass. but definitely useful for someone wanting to learn the basics of crochet.

i'll jump off the soap box and continue on with the creations of my own patterns to hopefully fill this void one day in the not too far away future. - this is an open invitation for any publishers out there to contact me rebecca@ewedevil.com ;)

that said... i'm off. gotta go do some serious scrubbin' and spacklin' on what will soon be our new home.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

moving!

looks like i will be without a computer for several days - maybe even a week or more

you see - i own the money pit. everything that could possibly go wrong with a house has gone wrong with this one. in the 2 years that we have owned this piece of American Dream, we have replaced the hotwater heater upstairs. which, of course, leaked through the floor and down into a wall on the main floor hallway. The heater went out. Which, as luck would have it, was not merely just a heater, but a heat pump. So, ya know, much more expensive than any regular 'ol heater. Several times every summer the air-conditioner freezes up because it is much too small for a house this size. and then, add a second floor - well, major problems.
We, through a oh-so-joyous experience (i'll spare you), discovered the electrical wiring is 'jerry-rigged' to the point of... well, it's just comical.
oh, how i could go on and on... but i'll stop with our most recent disaster.
at 6:45 this morning, i opened the back door for my puppies to go potty and discovered a lake of disturbing size in my back yard. i walked around to the alley and saw water flowing - not leaking - from the little man-hole cover thingy above my water spicket thingy (hey, i'm no plumber). i phoned the emergency water repair people who came out, shut the water off and gave me the wonderful news that it is on "our side" of the property line YAY!

and well, a girl has to have her limits. mine has been reached. hubby's grandmother owns a house that is empty so we are moving in this weekend and putting a "For Sale" sign in the front yard. i'm done.

i don't know how long the move will take and when we'll be getting the internet connection going at the new place. everything is just happening... no plans, just 'winging it'.

so just how 'comical' do i mean?



see the extension cord.



see the extension cord run.



see the extension cord scurry behind the refrigerator.



the extension cord is still running.



where could it be going?



whew! the extension cord is tired.




aaahhhh - providing electricity for the stove. good extension cord.

wish me good luck. i'll post again as soon as i can.

Monday, July 25, 2005

recycle!

remember this?





the lining and handles hadn't been touched, so i decided to re-use them...gathered up some wool, dyed it with Wilton's food color, spun it to a bulky weight. then crocheted this:
ca. 1985
it is bright, and i do mean BRIGHT neon colors. not sure why, but i love it!!

the 'prototype' of the Tie One On stole is coming along.

so behind in my posting--
LOOKY at the wonderful package i received from my partner for the Sea of Yarn swap:

yarn
2 skeins Bernat Softee Chunky in a Pale Antique Rose
1 ball Sugar ‘n Cream cotton in Buttercream
1 skein Lion Boucle in Sorbet
2 balls Patons Cha Cha in Bunny Hop
2 balls Bernat Candyland in Tutti Frutti
3 balls Micro Spun (1) Coral (1) Turquoise (1) Buttercup
1 ball Peaches & Cream cotton in Fiesta Ombre
1 ball Bernat Boa in Mocking Bird
2 skeins Caron Simply Soft Brites in Grape

goodies
Handy Hook - K
Annie’s Favorite Crochet – April 2005
Sugar ‘n Cream booklet Girl Talk
Hooked on Crochet! – April 2005
Patons Designer Series booklet HeatWave
Red Heart Fashion Note booklet for Symphony
Blank Journal
Posie Art to Wear Kit
Sheep Applique
Flower with Heart Center Applique
Cowgirl Wallet Picture Book
Flower Pin
Mini Scrapbook Kit for Spring
Hot Pink Pencil Case for crochet supplies while traveling :)
Flapper Lady Laser Buttons
Handmade Bookmark
2 tape measures
AHA Go Red dress pins

isn't this hook cool!?!




can't wait to get something started with it

burt's bees
Handmade wristlet bag
Burt’s Bees
Hand Salve tin
Cuticle Cream tin
Lip balm tin
Foot Crème tube

the buttons are so cool, they deserve a close up!





am i a lucky gal or what!?!

Friday, July 22, 2005

another birthday

today is my baby's birthday. he's 3. my last one.. my itty bitty is a big, mean 3 year old stinky little boy.
yesterday was also an important day around our house. hubby and i had our 10 year anniversary.
TEN YEARS! doesn't feel like that long. guess time flies when you're having fun ;)

mmmmmmmm yarn in the mail! my order from knitpicks came in :)
WHEEE!!
yarn porn!
it is all i hoped it to be and more.
3 balls of Jig and 3 balls of Square Dance
my sockapal2za partner requested a little bit of 'stretch' to her sock... i thought this dancing with 7% elastic would be perfect! she did not have a color preference... so what i think i will do is make a pair from each color and give her the ones that turn out the best ;-P
there is also 1 skein sock garden in Geranium
i bought this for myself!
1 hank of shimmer in Grape Hyacinth this is a lace-weight 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk - yum! it is for my great friend sherry i plan to make her some sort of stole/shawl
and finally, 2 hanks of alpaca cloud in Midnight it is 100% baby alpaca also lace weight - softer than you can imagine - yum yum yum
i will by making my sister a TieOneOn stole for a cruise she will be taking in september. the pattern calls for a complimentary yarn - i'm spinning this. it is jet black 25% silk, 25% baby alpaca and 50% merino- simply divine. i am in the middle of a 'trial run' of this pattern now.... i'm having to do some size adjustments on the pattern so making a prototype of sorts.

i've also made a snowflake for snowflake mondays BUsnowflake along
i had a bit more to post about... but motherhood calls. gotta go for now :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

a good read

well, the good news is - hubby didn't kill me! the bad news is - my tub is still a giant cadet blue emery board.
today is my oldest's birthday! he is 8 years old. crazy! i can't believe he is 8 - he's going to be in the 3rd grade! third grade! that's big stuff! it's awfully early today, so i'm digging into my posting vault:

i think jenny is happy here. she loves to sleep in my wool buckets. silly kitty
jenny snoozing

and a great picture of my kidlets:

reading

my jarod (happy birthday, baby) is reading a book to his brothers and sister :) what a good big brother he is!!

almost forgot: how does everyone reply to comments on their posts? (ooooo deja vu - have i asked this before?) i try but everything comes back to me - humph



have a great day, all!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

warning!

oh no! Oh No!! OH NO!!!
HOLY CRAP! i totally screwed up the bathtub!
the cleaner i used on the toilet yesterday made it so white and sparkly - i thought oooooo, i'll do the tub. bad. BAD. apparently you should READ the 'General Precautions and Restrictions' before the use of cleaning products.

this: Image hosted by Photobucket.com
will do this to your tub: Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

all the parts that are white are nice and bright white - but ummmm.... it feels like sandpaper. the rest of it is this pale grey-blue color. what do i do!?!
this shit ate the enamel off my tub!!

here's the thing: this bathroom was remodeled about 2 months ago. completely gutted. down to the studs and subfloors... and now the bathtub will take the skin off the tender butts of my kidlets!

so, what'd you do today?

Monday, July 11, 2005

misc. blather

i have a tiny little project that i need to block. i'd like to stiffen it a wee bit as well. what is the best way to do this? any suggestions or on-line resources?

i worked on another knitted dishcloth for my mother last night.. although didn't get much at all done. we're on 4:00-5:00pm of the 2nd series of 24... OMG! i LOVE this show. we watched the first series in regular time during the actual season... somehow missed the first 3 episodes of the 2nd... we're just now catching up. if you haven't seen these yet...definitely a must!!

watched another movie the other day. i'll work up a critique on that later. it was The Forgotten. have you seen this? ick - it was bizarre, good, but weird.

woohoo - the man next door backed into his drive-way with a Uhaul today! my neighbors are moving! why am i happy? several reasons. they are LOUD - weird - LOUD at like 3 in the morning LOUD, they have a 7 year old son that would never come play...isn't that just bizarre? my neighbor on the other side has 4 kidlets,2 doors down 1 kidlet, my 4 kidlets.... that's a whole lotta kids out playing - we always invite him(through the fence), he'd accept and then never show. just weird. don't know if he was shy or if mom said no. and (i'm going to get grouchy mail over this) they have a pit bull that they allow to sit on their front porch. although i will never own this kind of dog, i had nothing against this one... until it attacked the postman. from then on... anytime it's out, i have to make my kids come in or go in the backyard. he went after the postman when he was in my yard, by the way, not his... so i worry about what he considers to be "his" property and i'm scared about him seeing my children as a threat or prey. just a scary breed.

so i'm cleaning the bathroom today and a thought occurs to me. everyday hubby comes home from work, i ask his day went and he asks about mine. "what'd you do?" course, i can't ask him (gov't security and all that).... anyhow... here i am, in my ratty headband 'comfy clothes' --
come on, you all know THOSE kind of clothes that i'm talking about, right? hole in the butt shorts with paint splatters, too stretched out elastic, a bra that has definitely seen better days, a t-shirt worn so thin (why-even-bother?), no make up and my favorite blue rubber gloves. so here i am, scrubbing the toilet (yes, literally) thinking to myself...."how am i going to answer this question today?"
there is nothing at all positive about the answer "scrubbed the pot" i know he knows it gets done... but this just isn't something i want him to picture me doing.
of course we did other things today, but this was my thought at the moment.

go help maureen out - she's made 2 sweaters and is on the fence as to which to gift... give her your opinion

so how will i answer?
"oh, i blogged and read blogs, jumped on the trampoline with the kids, we read some books... you know daily stuff"

so, what'd you do today?

Thursday, July 07, 2005

wher've you been?

yeah, i know it was me that's been missing - sigh

just been busy. how do you everyday posters do it? i'm thinking you cheat. have a posting vault somewhere hidden in the corners of your computer... that's it, isn't it!?! hmmm.... sounds like something i should do :)

what have i been up to? well, LOTS of stitching for my kitchen and bathroom swap pal.
Crochetville Kitchen and Bathroom Swap

i went to the knitting group and got lots of one-on-one by the wonderful Melisa who taught me how to knit & purl continental. it's coming along. my purls are still very loose, but i'm figuring it out. i really enjoyed my time with her. we had great things in common and i'm very excited to meet up with her again :)

a little project i knit:

little lamb
it came from "Kids Easy Knitting Projects"
yessir, i'm using a book for kids! hey, beginning projects for a beginning knitter :)

i've been working on fulling (felting) swatches and have become too ticked off to mess with it for a while. well, maybe more this afternoon. i wish i could get better wool yarn locally HUMPH!

i have dyed several more batches of wool. i'm very pleased with how it is all turning out. i will hopefully be borrowing a drum carder from a lady i know in a week or two to begin blending and carding all my fluff. the fair is coming up and i'm considering entering my spinning...... thinking about it.

i'll leave you with a picture and some advice:

if you plan to be away during the 'bangs' and 'booms' of a 4th of July celebration - kennel your dogs. it's scary for them --- and they'll take it out on your handbag, well- mine did :(

once a really cute bag

i'm pretty sure it was this one: joshy
looks guilty, don't ya think?
 

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