October 1st To-Do List

In No Particular Order, a To-Do List

1. Clear off and clean desk
2. Clean off the top of the changing table
3. Assemble more KASSET boxes and think of what to put in them
4. Call and cancel WW monthly pass
5. Put all photos and photo albums in the new cabinets
6. Figure out how to store the purses and bags and totebags that make me insane!
7. Wash out the inside of the microwave and clean the glass plate.
8. Throw out chicken stock and wash pot

sunshine smiles on me this day...

Exciting things are happening. I won last weeks Getting Loopy contest! Getting Loopy is an interactive online radio podcast all about crochet, by a crochet designer and all around expert in crochet, Mary Beth Temple. I listen every week now, although I don't have the free time on Monday nights to log in to the chat room while the radio show is happening live. That's where the real fun is, from what I hear. The listeners get to chat while listening to the podcast, and ask questions so Mary Beth can ask the guest. The prize I won was a free download of one of MB Temple's patterns and some sock weight yarn to make the item. I chose the Field of Flowers scarf! I'll make it for myself and nobody can take it away!

I also won a contest on ravelry's "Crochet Bouquet" group. The author of "Crochet Bouquet", Suzann Thompson, offered to send a bag of yarn scraps to the winner of a contest to come up with ideas for making stamens for flowers. I was the only person to offer an idea for the month of August, so I won by default. I thought that was very kind of her to be willing to still send me some yarn scraps. Her scraps are probably a hundred percent better than my full skeins. I look forward to seeing what comes!

Ravelry has been a lot of fun. I didn't expect to win anything, but it sure is wonderful to see people who love their craft promoting it and having fun little contests.

I also feel like I won because I found some used craft books for really cheap on Amazon. They should be arriving in the mail any day now! I'll wait to share that here. I'll have photographs of some of the best pages!

Excited about my brother's birthday!

I just heard that my brother Chris has a fever so I am hoping that he'll get better before this Sunday and that the rest of the family won't fall ill too. I am totally jazzed about the birthday gifts I got for him. Since he doesn't know this blog exists, I feel pretty safe to talk about what I got him.

1. Thunderbirds 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition Megaset (all of the episodes on 12 discs plus extras bonus features) (I'm happy to notice that I got it for $30 cheaper than it is currently listed as on Amazon!)
2. King Kong vs. Godzilla/King Kong Escapes (2 TOHO Japanese monster movies, very campy but fun)
3. Some new shirts and a pair of pants (boring but necessary stuff)

I'm not sure if they will locate the missing cake pans to make the batman cake. In that case, I might just bake something super chocolately and yummy. I'll do simple decorations in all choco frosting.

Christmas officially starts in October for me!

I was writing a message on the frugal homemakers group (ravelry) and I got to thinking about something funny. I was talking about how wonderful my home is now, after 2 weeks of decluttering, organizing and cleaning. I am starting to get that wonderful feeling of looking forward to the holidays. And I remembered a funny episode from my life. Here is what I wrote (but I didn't actually post this there. I decided it would be better for my blog since it's personal):

"I'll keep working and maybe I'll just decorate for Christmas early, like around Halloween. I did that a couple years ago, and then the apartment manager happened to stop by in the second week of November. She was laughing and remarked about how early I decorate for Christmas (since it was before Thanksgiving, and people traditionally start decorating _after_ Thanksgiving!). I didn't have the heart to tell her that I put up the decorations on Halloween! Because I was stuck home alone and feeling lonely as the only Christian I know that wasn't observing the evil holiday. (Kinda being facetious here, ok! Just a joke.)"

I think I'll make this an annual tradition since we never have Thanksgiving dinner at my house. I suppose that if I were entertaining people in my home for Thanksgiving, I wouldn't want to spoil things for them by having the green and red stuff out. But I simply ADORE Christmastime. And I remember really enjoying getting in the spirit really early. I think I'll do that again since I always end up alone on Halloween. It seems like ever since I got married, my husband has always worked October 31st. I used to go over my parents' house. There is a chance I might actually do something this year since Halloween is on a Friday this year. I thought about maybe taking my daughter over to my brother and sister-in-law's house since they live in a really nice old fashioned neighborhood in Burbank where the kids still trick or treat. In fact, someone does a haunted house across the street, so I think things are pretty busy over there on Halloween night. But let's just put it this way: I'll have to invite myself! Which I am not shy about doing. But I just haven't gotten around to it yet. And a part of me says, no...just stay home and decorate for Christmas. Lonely little Christian lady...stay home and decks the halls...

What do you think this is?

Answer: Iceland. Isn't it fantastic? I have seen other equally intriguing aerial photographs of iceland. I wanted to post this because recently, on ravelry, someone added me to their friendslist and their name is a town in Iceland. It reminded me of some really amazing photographs I saw a few years back.

Chris' Birthday

My brother is getting up there, but I'm still making him a batman cake for his birthday. Yeah, I know...sure he's over 40, but he's still a kid at heart.



I need to start planning this! The cake pans are lost in the garage somewhere. And I don't know if I have all the ingredients. I believe I do have all the dye, but maybe I need to buy some black gel dye.

Ikea UNG DRILL Frame

I've decided that I have to have this frame

to put some of my poppies and leaves in it

starting your own small business

I've been wanting to start my own small business for a long time. But I am a little scared because I don't want to have to keep track of money and stuff like that. I guess I'd rather just be a hippy about it, and sell things for cash and just pocket the money. But I need to be legal and if I am making over a certain amount of money, I know I have to declare it for tax reasons. So I guess I'm going to keep it in prayer and just start keeping my eyes peeled for the information about how to have a small business out of the home. I want to sell my hand made items, whether that be crochet, knit, soap, greeting cards, children's toys, etc. I guess I would also like to sell my cake decorations, such as my royal icing flowers (and hopefully I will teach myself to make gumpaste flowers too!)

I have a couple of ideas for a name. I think that to get started, I need a storefront type website with pay pal, and also I need to get a rubber stamp made with my store's name and/or logo. Then I might like to have a P.O. box too.

I wonder what I would need to do to get started? Would I be able to do this small scale at first without any insurance or would I have to get insurance? I met a girl at a Wilton cake class who had a cookie business and she bought insurance for like $300 a year. It's just a protective measure in case someone sues you.

International Crochet Day (9-12) Bracelet

I wrote my first pattern for an "International Crochet Day Bracelet"!







Pattern for free (you can even use this to make items to sell at craft fairs!)

First of all, I apologize for how poorly written the pattern is. I have never written a pattern before! It's such a simple little pattern that I am assuming that you will be able to do it. If you are a total beginner, don't worry if this sounds wonky. It is and I'll hopefully rewrite it later today after I have thought about it more.

Gauge is not important. Use any yarn or thread you want, and the appropriate hook for your choice of yarn/thread. Actually, use one size larger hook to make the starting chain. Then switch to your proper hook size.

Chain a length that will fit a little loosely around your wrist. Add 5 chains.

Rnd 1: Crochet into fifth chain from the hook. (You are creating a chain 4 that stands for the first double crochet, plus adding a chain for the first eyelet space). *double crochet in next stitch, chain one*. Do that across until you read the final stitch that you can double crochet in. If you end up with an extra stitch, don't worry about it. You can either unpick it. Or you will just cover over it when you edge the bracelet (this will make sense when you get to the end of your chain!)

Rnd 2. Turn, slip stitch in chain 1 space. Slip stitch in to first double crochet. Make a chain 3 picot [A chain 3 picot is this: chain 3, slip stitch in third chain from hook.] *Slip stitch in next chain 1 space, slip stitch in next dc, make a chain 3 picot* Do this across until you reach the second to last double crochet. Then do the following: slip stitch in dc, slip stitch in chain space following it. Then do 4 double crochets on the side of the bracelet (you are at the side, or should be. You are just working around the side to get to the underside of the bracelet, then you'll work more picots on that edge). When you finish the underside the same way you did the first side, then you'll nearly be done. At that point, you do the same thing in the second to last double crochet: you slip stitch in to it, then slip stitch in to the last chain 1 space, then single crochet four times in that space. Join to the first stitch. Cut yarn and weave in ends.

Weave a ribbon or perhaps a crocheted length of chains through the eyelets. Tie on your wrist and show it with pride! Happy International Crochet Day!

p.s. Here is my original post about "International Crochet Day"

p.s. p.s. If you would like to learn to crochet, here are some crochet video tutorials! Feel free to ask me if you need some help!

Why today is a good day

1. I woke up feeling great, like I got a sound night's sleep.
2. I don't have a pain in my shoulder anymore (I think I got it from an overly goofy joyous aroebics exercise session the other day!)
3. I ate awesome healthy whole foods: chicken with a homemade teriyaki sauce, sweet potatoes (plain!), and green beans. I snacked on fat free popcorn and diet soda which have been my main indulgences. Oh, and some ff/sf pudding.
4. My daughter has been in a great mood. Yesterday she whined a lot for some reason. But she got a great night's sleep and now all I hear is giggling and babbling.
5. I got some great emails from an old friend! Pics!
6. My husband gave me some "big hugs" and my daughter squirmed her way in the middle so we had a whole family hug before he left for work.
7. I'm actually tackling some monumental foolishness in my kitchen (I think I heard Neicy say that in my head!) I created a challenge on a forum that I moderate. So I am feeling a little more optimistic that I can tackle this.

Sept. Mumsy Crochet Along from "Crochet Bouquet"

I haven't started my mumsy yet! I tried starting it once and I got really OCD about it, so I had to quit. ;-) There are a zillion repeats in this flower. But it is really cute when you're done!

Poppy Crochet Along in August 2008

I made 2 poppies! Here is the first one I made:

embroidery book by nora hana 1975 amsterdam

embroidery book by nora hana 1975 amsterdam
Originally uploaded by superminx

Maybe it is actually embroidery. Here's the book they are from, I think!

embroidery book by nora hana 1975 amsterdam

embroidery book by nora hana 1975 amsterdam
Originally uploaded by superminx

Here's another example of the embroidery on fabric which looks a bit like crochet slip stitches.

Embroidered Table Runners

Embroidered Table Runners
Originally uploaded by superminx

I think this is amazing. I just wanted to remember it as I am trying to figure out if it was done with crochet. It looks like surface stitches of slip stitch.

I'm serious! I'm going to make a big change!!!

Yesterday I was convicted of my utter lack of discipline and organization in the home. I think that I am a great wife and mother because I sincerely care about my family's needs. But I always feel like I am scrambling to do what I need to do because I am disorganized and undisciplined. Here's the low down:

1. Too much clutter: makes it hard to get tasks accomplished fast.
2. Too much clutter: can't find things when I need them.
3. Lack of planning: leads to last minute decision making and trying to figure out how to get it done (time waster)
4. Lack of routines: I just suck at that!

So I'm praying about this today, and I am going to dedicate time to tearing it all apart and putting it back together again. I need to come up with some plans (meal plans, routines for the day, etc.) I also need to just roll up my sleeves and tackle some clutter.

Pray for me! This is something that really makes me feel "ICKY" when I face the issues.

International Crochet Day

REMEMBER the 12th of Sept. this year is "International Crochet Day"!

To celebrate the day try one of the following:

~Crochet in public
~Teach someone to crochet
~promote International Crochet day in your blog
~wear something crocheted made/bought with pride

I found that information on the internet. I would like to add something to this. If you are going to buy crocheted items, always buy from someone who actually made the item. Most people don't know this but unlike knitting, crochet can not be done on machine. So when you buy inexpensive crocheted items from stores like Target or Walmart, please know that those things were made by some poor person in a poor country, and they were paid pennies for their work. It's not very nice. I actually get sad when I see a beautiful crocheted bag or hat in the store and it has a price tag of $2.99!

So let's raise awareness and do it in a way that honors crochet as a wonderful craft that must be made by human hands!!!

really angry cat photograph

I thought this was really funny. If you visit this web site (and laugh, chortle, then scroll down the 80's knits photographs), you will see a picture of a cat who has been encased in a knitted sarcophagus (for lack of better term!!)

pretty boise photo

For my friend who lives in Boise, Idaho