Our local newspaper came to our Jazzercise class awhile back and taped a video. I wasn't there that day, but you get an idea of what we do.
I haven't been to Jazzercise in awhile, but I need to get back. It's so hard to go home and then go back out to class, especially in the winter months, but it needs to be done. Sigh!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Marzipan Yarnballs
Monica Ferris is one of my favorite authors. I love her knitting mysteries. I couldn't get the other links to work so that you could directly link to them from here, so when you click on the link above and get to her web page, click on the large picture and you will get some great pictures of marzipan yarnballs. If you scroll on down you will find a link for a tutorial for how to make them. Just click on the link that says "Tutorials here".
I've done some cake decorating before, but I think I'll just have to pass this time and enjoy the pictures. I think this is a little to much fussy work for me. I love the pictures, though. They are great!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Toothache
I've been battling a toothache for the last week. It's actually been bothering me off and on since before Christmas. It's a tooth that has a really old filling and I guess they don't last forever. I'm sure I've had this one for at least 20 years or more. Last year before the holidays I went to my regular dentist who took x-rays and determined that I have a cracked tooth and that I need a root canal, a new filling, and a crown. Well, I've just been putting it off. Dentists are not my favorite people since I had such traumatic experiences as a child, but for the most part I just brave up and do it. It's gotten to the point that I don't want to deal with the pain anymore, so I'm going to have to make an appointment and get it done.
This afternoon we were doing laundry and our dryer decided it doesn't want to dry anymore. So, we went ahead and washed the clothes and tomorrow Eddie is going to take them to the laundromat and dry them. It's a really bad time for the dryer to go out, especially with a root canal and crowns coming up, but it could be worse, so I'm counting my blessings and not complaining. I guess the hammered dulcimer is going to have to wait for awhile, though, until we get some more bills paid off. We have to put our priorities in order, and the dulcimer is just not at the top of the list right now.
I did have some fun this weekend in spite of my toothache and the dryer going out. This first part actually happened last Friday when I was surfing the Internet for vintage embroidery patterns. I came across some Flickr sites where the ladies collect vintage Aunt Martha and Vogart embroidery patterns. All you do is click on one of the albums and you just scroll through them and when you click on a pattern you will see an "All Sizes" button in the top left corner near the pattern. When you click on "All Sizes" you get the pattern in the actual size. I think these ladies collect vintage patterns and scan some of them and make them available on the Flickr sites for non-commerical use only. I'm really interested in some patterns for pillowcases and I like doing the small ones, too, for pillows. I also like looking at blogs that have lots of pictures of embroidery that they've done using these patterns. Usually, what I do is go to Google and do a blog search for either Aunt Martha's embroidery or Vogart Embroidery and I'll get a list of several blogs that feature embroidery using these patterns. I can also do an Image search in Google using the same terms and can sometimes get links to blogs and photos. I also discovered that I can do a search in Flickr for these patterns and get more albums. It's really cool. I like looking at pictures of what other people are making because its eye candy and it's very inspiring.
I made several pieces of jewelry this weekend that I plan to put in my Etsy shop this week.
I also made a couple of necklaces for myself, but I haven't made pictures of those yet. I will do that and post them later.
This afternoon we were doing laundry and our dryer decided it doesn't want to dry anymore. So, we went ahead and washed the clothes and tomorrow Eddie is going to take them to the laundromat and dry them. It's a really bad time for the dryer to go out, especially with a root canal and crowns coming up, but it could be worse, so I'm counting my blessings and not complaining. I guess the hammered dulcimer is going to have to wait for awhile, though, until we get some more bills paid off. We have to put our priorities in order, and the dulcimer is just not at the top of the list right now.
I did have some fun this weekend in spite of my toothache and the dryer going out. This first part actually happened last Friday when I was surfing the Internet for vintage embroidery patterns. I came across some Flickr sites where the ladies collect vintage Aunt Martha and Vogart embroidery patterns. All you do is click on one of the albums and you just scroll through them and when you click on a pattern you will see an "All Sizes" button in the top left corner near the pattern. When you click on "All Sizes" you get the pattern in the actual size. I think these ladies collect vintage patterns and scan some of them and make them available on the Flickr sites for non-commerical use only. I'm really interested in some patterns for pillowcases and I like doing the small ones, too, for pillows. I also like looking at blogs that have lots of pictures of embroidery that they've done using these patterns. Usually, what I do is go to Google and do a blog search for either Aunt Martha's embroidery or Vogart Embroidery and I'll get a list of several blogs that feature embroidery using these patterns. I can also do an Image search in Google using the same terms and can sometimes get links to blogs and photos. I also discovered that I can do a search in Flickr for these patterns and get more albums. It's really cool. I like looking at pictures of what other people are making because its eye candy and it's very inspiring.
I made several pieces of jewelry this weekend that I plan to put in my Etsy shop this week.
I also made a couple of necklaces for myself, but I haven't made pictures of those yet. I will do that and post them later.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Inspired by Garb-oobles Soup's sock monkey, I remembered that I had a UFO that I started a couple of years ago and had put it back. I think one of the legs came out smaller than the other one and, well, it doesn't take much to discourage me in a project for me to just put it away and deal with it another day. Then I thought, "why a dress would cover that up!" So, here is the result:
She was really fun to make, but in all honesty, I don't think I'm going to make another one any time soon. I'm glad I have this one, though.
Another thing I'm working on right now is some needlepoint of Pinky and Blue Boy. About 5 years ago, I bought a set of them that had the main design already stitched. All I had to do was stitch the background. Easy enough, right? Well, for some reason when I started Blue Boy a few years ago, somehow the stitches didn't look right to me, so rather that take it all out, you guessed it, it went into my ever-growing UFO pile. I dug it out about a month ago and started on it again.
The picture below is not very good, but it gives you an idea of what I"m doing. I haven't finished Blue Boy yet, but I thought I would put the color of yarn that I plan to use next to Pinky so you can see what it will look like. My plan is to put these in oval wooden frames, so I hope they will be antique looking.
She was really fun to make, but in all honesty, I don't think I'm going to make another one any time soon. I'm glad I have this one, though.
Another thing I'm working on right now is some needlepoint of Pinky and Blue Boy. About 5 years ago, I bought a set of them that had the main design already stitched. All I had to do was stitch the background. Easy enough, right? Well, for some reason when I started Blue Boy a few years ago, somehow the stitches didn't look right to me, so rather that take it all out, you guessed it, it went into my ever-growing UFO pile. I dug it out about a month ago and started on it again.
The picture below is not very good, but it gives you an idea of what I"m doing. I haven't finished Blue Boy yet, but I thought I would put the color of yarn that I plan to use next to Pinky so you can see what it will look like. My plan is to put these in oval wooden frames, so I hope they will be antique looking.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Practice Makes Purr-fect
It's a well known fact among my friends, family and coworkers that I love animals. Especially cats. I was looking around today on YouTube for videos on learning to play the mandolin and one of my coworkers sent this video to me. I think it's just adorable!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Rosette Brooches
Last night I made some small rosette brooches. I created this design because I wanted to make a brooch that could be worn for Valentine's Day, but then realized that these can be worn any time and can be worn as a brooch or on a hat. I put them in my Etsy shop this morning and I have all colors of yarn in my stash, so I can take special orders too. As I make more, I will be posting more pictures.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Superbowl Sunday
Since it's Superbowl Sunday and I had a football cake pan that I had bought a few years back when I took cake decorating classes, I decided it would be a good time to try it out and make a football cake. I'm not a professional cake decorator by any stretch of the imagination, or not even a semi-professional, but I thought it came out decent and I'm proud of it. I mostly decided to use my limited knowledge that I learned in the class and just wing it. That can be a bad thing, though. Usually I have just enough information to hang myself and have someone else bail me out, but it was really fun decorating this cake.
We've had a fairly good weekend so far. Yesterday Eddie got out of the house after more than a week of staying in with his pleurisy pain and today he's feel badly again. It just takes alot out of him and the pain medication helps the pain, but it also knocks him out. I really think that the pain medication is just a bandaid for the real problem. Neither of us knows what it is (other than pleurisy), but I'm concerned. Maybe this is normal for this type of thing, but having never had it before and not knowing much about it, it's a troublesome thing. We're beginning our 4th week with this. I'm beginning to wonder, is this really what he has or is it something more serious? That's my main concern. His VA doctor has scheduled him for an appointment next week to see a pulmonary specialist in Murfreesboro, TN, which is about one and a half hours from here and maybe a little longer. I'm thinking that once we find out what kind of treatment he needs, we should find someone closer to home. It's just too far to drive when you don't feel well.
Other than that, I've been cleaning house and yesterday I made a hat using this pattern, but I think I must crochet really loosely because it seems like it came out alot bigger than the other hats I've made. I think it's because of the yarn I used. It has a more coarse texture than the other yarn I've been using and it requires a larger needle. Well, trial and error. That's how it is with crocheting and knitting. The good thing about crochet is that you can rip it out fairly easily. but it's not so easy with knitting. I really like the pattern, though, and the way the hat came out. I think I'm going to try it with a different yarn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
