family Archives - Page 6 of 8

Posted on January 30, 2014 by admin

#11, #12

Confession time

The quilt is quietly killing me. Well, not very quietly, I must admit that there is a certain amount of huffing and puffing as I haul that quilt around, between and through the sewing machine. If you add in the fact that my sewing machine isn’t quite happy to be sewing right now, then you can guess what I am going to say next. After fussing about it to ~~myself~~ anyone who will listen,Â I moved on to crocheting, and modge podging. Something that will actually allow me to complete a project. These photos are just quickie phone photos but they get the job done.

I found this pattern here and it is wonderful.

http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2011/11/crocheted-skinny-scalloped-scarf.html

I also decoupaged some tea boxes with fabric as I was needing some drawer organizers.

Here they are drying.

Talk to you later, My FIL just arrived for lunch!

Karen

p.s. I am in deep trouble. My father in law brought four more tubs of fabric from my mother in law’s stash. oh wow. He said I could make 100 more items…!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by admin

#8 and #9 of the 100 items in 100 days!

Here are #8 and #9 in the 100 items in 100 days!

I’m including the photos of the beginning of the project and then the finished product! Some I list in my shop and some I am using at home!

This is a great cowl. Large enough to pull over your head if you need to but small enough not to be in the way! The buttons are handmade ceramic buttons. The yarn is dark charcoal grey and goes with anything.

Here was the humble beginning of #9 a Head band with interchangeable flowers.

Whew, this Challenge is a challenge but I am wading through it and I hope to get through #20 by this time next week. My sewing machine is acting up so I haven’t really been sewing much, but I am going to try.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 21, 2014 by admin

My Un-Word

My Un-word this year is Procrastinating.

I am working hard at not procrastinating. That is the reason for the 100 items in 100 days. The reason I am working hard at being in the moment. The reason I am teaching myself to not procrastinate. Everyday I ask myself. Is _____________something you are procrastinating? You CAN do this and I break the steps down into little baby steps. I am documenting each and every baby step I take so I can see progress and to keep myself motivated.

If you want to know more about the Un-Word you can read this blog by The Nester here:Â http://www.thenester.com/2014/01/un-word-of-the-year.html

Talk to you later,

Karen

p.s. I am not procrastinating on the blanket that you see above. It is now 11 x 14 squares and well on its way!

Posted on January 19, 2014 by admin

Things I don’t do….

One of the joys of reaching this point in my life is the ability to say “I don’t do that well and I don’t have to prove that I can, or I can survive quite well not doing ___________.” In fact I reached this point one Thanksgiving when a very close and dear friend gave me a recipe to create a 3-d turkey cake. In fact it is this very cake here.

http://www.parentsconnect.com/parents/food/recipe-center/cake-recipes/turkey-cake.html

Susy made it and it was beautiful. “You can do this, won’t it be fun! It is so Easy” she said.When I was finished, my turkey was laying on his back with his little turkey feet up in the air. He looked like someone had blasted him with a shot gun. In fact, I made little turkey feet out of pipe cleaners and stuck them in so that you could see that he was in fact a true Thanksgiving turkey! I still smile about that turkey cake. Will I every make an elaborate cake like this again. Nope, never, ever, ever… I can make a bundt cake from scratch and I can cook good meals. I don’t have to make 3 -d cakes ever again! I don’t have to keep up with the other women in my life…they have their gifts and I have mine!

There are other things that have I have decided that I just don’t have to stress about anymore. I don’t have to have superstar perfect children. Bear with me a minute on this. Then there is the time we were signing some papers and I sent all four of Â the kids 10 and under out the back yard to play. The lady we were meeting with said “what well behaved children you have.” I said, oh they are probably playing in the mud in the back yard. What were they doing…yes, exactly playing in the mud, rolling in the mud, throwing the mud. There wasn’t an inch on any of them that didn’t have mud on it or in it.

Our children are perfect children, and are perfect at being imperfect human beings growing, learning and making mistakes. Don’t even get me started telling you how I know what five rolls of toilet paper dissolved in a bathtub looks like…or how much water it takes on the floor to make it like a slip and slide,or exactly what kittens do when they are dunked in a kiddie pool, or what happens if you put a twist tie in an electrical outlet, or ….well the list is endless.

I don’t have to have a perfect house. Wow, I admitted that on paper. Really, all my real friends really already know, I don’t have a perfect house. It is usually in a state of perfect disarray. It has six visual people that leave things out so they can find them again. A perfectly logical thing to do. We also tend not to see the work that needs to be done, but I will admit that I am working on that. It is getting better and getting cleaner as time goes by but a neat freak I am not. Come on by and hang out.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 17, 2014 by admin

#1 out of 100 projects from my Supply Stash!

Here is my first project for the 100 things from my stash challenge.

Honestly, I had started this before I started the challenge and I have been working on it off and on for several days. Here Â are some photos of the beginning of the project. I was inspired by different photos on Pinterest and blogs that I read. I try to decorate a little for each of the different holidays but I was wanting something new.

This vase with flowers and sticks is fromÂ http://mijnindiansummer.blogspot.nl/2013/02/vintage-altijd-bloeiende-bloemen.html.

Michaels version of sticks in a jar. Â http://www.pinterest.com/pin/364158319839146292/

So I started with the sticks in a jar.

Ok, a little reality here. The sticks are from Â my yard. The curly ones are honeysuckle vines that came down in the storm. The jar is an old spaghetti sauce jar that someone felt we needed to keep. The plaster of paris holding the sticks upright in the jar is leftover from some school or scout project. The crochet is made up from the tiny balls of yarn and some granny square extras left over from a blanket. I painted the sticks in about ten minute sessions over a couple of days. So, it wasn’t a big time waster.

The felt hearts I had made up about six years ago to put in a bowl on the same table. They simply looked awful and I put them in a zipper bag and forgot about them. Originally they were simply one color of felt on the front and looked blah. Quite frankly, the felt was collected over the years. Some of the felt, I used in grade school. My Mom gave it back to me when the girls were in scouts.

I pulled out my embroidery floss and felt bits. I Â used the floss bits that I were too short to keep. No, really I had a bunch of bits and pieces of floss that were already separated and cut from the skein.

I used my infinite supply of buttons too small to use on anything on the front and sometimes the back to add a bit of interest and sparkle. It has turned out better than I expected.

Here it is finished and ready for Valentine’s Day!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 16, 2014 by admin

Way back when…

I made these both in the 70s when I was a girl.Just a glimpse into the past. The granny square blanket I made for my Mom and the stripe I made for my Dad for Christmas. The stripe was my first original pattern and I did pretty good for a young teenager. I am trying to come up with some new patterns for the shop this week and it is a struggle.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 9, 2014 by admin

Crochet Project Life Cycles

This is meant to be funny but often times hits closer to home than I intended it to. I hope you can enjoy the spirit in which it is meant.

The life cycle of a large crochet project.

Personal experience tells me that there are at least 5 distinct phases of a project. There is the Â dream phase, the beginning phase, the please let me finish this phase or Mount Everest, the I can’t wait to finish this or the downhill phase/ dreaming of a new project, and finally the I can’t believe that it is finished phase and I can’t wait to start the new project.

The dream phase is incredible fun. I tend to surf the internet looking for patterns, styles, colors or just plain inspiration. I will pull out all of my yarns and make a huge mess while I play with it. I have been known to start and stop, frogging the trial swatch several times before I hit on the perfect project. Pinterest is huge fun at this point. Dreaming about all of the projects, colors, styles and incredible possibilities. Â I am full of enthusiasm, excitement, and a bit obsessive.

The dream phase has enough enthusiasm and excitement to carry me through the beginning phases of a project. I am thrilled and happy. I am brilliant person for picking that particular color combination or pattern. How wonderful it is to be working on this project. Look the colors just sing! This Â phase is accompanied by Â stretching out the blanket and showing how beautiful all the colors are and much required admiring remarks from the family. This all sounds like bliss, until we hit the dreaded middle of the project or Mount Everest.

Mount Everest is the middle of the project where you aren’t quite half way. I have committed a fortune to the supplies for this monster. Yes, monster of a project and I am just not- Going- To – Quit. This is often muttered under your breath while your family sits on the opposite side of the room and says things like “Would you like chocolate while you work on this? Would you like to watch a movie and eat chocolate? How about some chocolate? Yes, frequently chocolate does help, but the bigger the project the larger and longer this Mount Everest feels. Quite frequently this is also where a project can become a WIP (work in progress) or PIG (project in grocery bag) and quietly put aside. My final thoughts on a big project are “please,please, just let me finish this before I die.” Which is silly since I am not on the brink of death and I will finish this project. Great background music is Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia (the original production). Followed by the Ava Maria as you pass over the middle of the project and slide down the back half of the project.

The last half of the project or down hill from Mount Everest is filled with anticipation of the next project. My thought processes are filled with dreamy thoughts about how wonderfully the next project will go and how happy I will be to complete it. Â It will go so quickly and be so completely fabulous that I will finish it in no time…etc… Â I may even order the yarn or spend time flirting with the yarn stores on line by putting items in my shopping cart one day and removing them the next or even a week later. Finally, good sense will take hold and the $30 per skein specialty yarn will get evicted from the shopping cart and I will decide to work with what I have on hand already. My husband will give me the look by which he means… “You already have five laundry baskets of yarn downstairs and two upstairs and you mean to say that you can’t use what you already have?” All the while I crochet happily away thinking and saying to myself “I am SO DONE with this project. Why did I pick such a large size blanket? What was I thinking about making so many color changes and look at all the ends I am going to have to weave in at the end?” Â About 25 rows from the end I start estimating how many rows it will take to finish it and how many more nights I am going to spend crocheting. It looks like this.Â “Ohhhh, look I only have 15 rows left, surely I can get this done tonight. Surely I can just crochet faster and get it done by 9 tonight.”

My Husband finally looks over at me after ten and says… “Aren’t you going to sleep tonight”. Â So I grudgingly put it away and finally finish it up the next night.

The next night will show me doing a happy dance. As I show off the beautiful finished creation full of beauty and Â of course loose ends that aren’t completely woven in. So, I sit down for the next two or three nights weaving in the ends of the project as I struggle to really finish it off right! Enthusiasm for the next project might shorten this weaving in phase or it might eclipse it altogether as I head off in the blissful beginnings of a new crochet blanket, or the middle of Mount Everest. Which is exactly where I am right now on this project.

Happy and obsessed is the crocheter that never runs out of yarn, because there is always a little bit left over to crochet with!

talk to you later,

Karen

So sorry about the bad photo at the end but I am a bit obsessed with finishing this one. I have another project on my mind that I already have yarn for, and the yarn for the project after this one is on it’s way in the mail! :0)

Posted on January 7, 2014 by admin

January 7, 2014

The weather was bitterly cold for our part of the world. Oklahoma is not known for the temperatures in the teens. The snow is pretty but under the snow is a nice coating of ice.

This is the view off of my front porch.

Here is the back deck and yard. The ice isn’t as bad as it was last time but it is colder.

I stayed in and thought about goals, deadlines, chores and menus. Then I thought of this!

Yes, I am procrastinating on my cleaning! A basket liner for my favorite large yarn basket. It has turned out better than I thought. Â Why is it that the New Year starts and we all get the organizing bug! Anyway this isn’t much of a tutorial more of a how to do it Â yourself for your basket. The tutorial will come tomorrow.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 1, 2014 by admin

Looking Forward!

A new year is here and staring me in the face. Â I can’t get away from the fact that another year is starting, with it comes all of the hope of a new start. So as I get out the new calendar there are things I want to improve or change.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/73146917/now-is-the-time-inspirational-art-prints

I have two Jon Acuff books that I want to read. They won’t take long and will inspire me toward more change. I also have several Beth Moore books that I want to read as well.

I have a some crafty things that I want to make for my house.

There are some home improvement projects that are “needing” to be done and some that NEED to be done.

I have a ton of crochet patterns that I want to write.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/168758302/black-fridaytypography-printblack-white

Blogging that is crying out to me.

A boy to graduate from high school and send off to college, which will put us down to one child at home.

College applications to send.

A house to clean, and dogs to care for.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/157870226/8×10-pattern-inspirational-quote-print

Friends and family to spend time with and two quilts to sew.

Some college kids to feed and listen to while they are here for Spring break and Thanksgiving.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/173613259/8×10-a-friend-loves-at-all-times

A garden I want to plant, sow, harvest, can and eat from.

Some computer skills that need to be learned.

Some bills to pay off.

2 sets of braces that will come off this year.

So my year is going to be full to overflowing and yet time marches on. I need to be careful that I spend time doing the right things or the busyness of life will overtake me and the important things will get lost in the shuffle of papers.

Â https://www.etsy.com/listing/75996440/adventure-time-block-print-in-bold-blue

It is time for the adventure of the New Year. Are you ready?

I must go and get ready…

Karen

Posted on December 29, 2013 by admin

2013 in Review

Looking back at 2013 so many things were accomplished and marked off my list. I feel so incredibly productive. I keep a running list on my computer of what has been completed and what is left to finish. The list is enormous, but here are some photos of the year.

These are some of the blankets that I crocheted this year. Some are not in the collage and the other items from the shop are not shown at all.

We drove to our daughter’s college in Texas and back – 5 times. We had one trip to Kansas, and one trip to Houston, Tx, and one trip to the Waco, Tx area.

We had one wedding, one wedding shower, one major surgery, 3 months in a boot or cast, one set of wisdom teeth removed, and all the love and laughter that comes from living in a family of six.

It has been a spectacular year and I have loved almost every moment of it. There were some hard times but there are always some hard times in every year.

Thanks for sharing it with me,

Karen