SEAT BELT COZIE

After figuring out that neither my husband or my budget would allow me to knit the CAR COZIE (I would not only had to purchase 135 skeins of yarn, but I would have had to purchase a real VW car) . . . soooooooooo . . . I did the next best thing . . . I made a SEAT BELT COZIE!!!! . . . I saw this a couple of months ago on someone's blog (sorry I don't remember who's) that I was checking out during Secret Pal 8 and knew that I had to make one for myself as I am vertically challenged (meaning 5'2") and tired of having seatbelts cut into my neck . . . this is a very very very simple pattern and for those of you who knitted the Plymouth Heaven blanket it is the same pattern, just has button hole s(yarn overs) and knitted buttons (bobbles) . . . you can find the free pattern by going to www.magknits.com and looking for "Seat Belt Snuggles, by Chris Behme" . . . I used some very very very soft yarn that I had in my stash (label no longer on yarn, but I know that I bought it a couple years ago at WalMart to make a scarf . . . this was before I knew the way of finer string s0 please forgive me) . . . hmmmmmm . . . I think I may make a few more of these to color coordinate with my clothes . . . what do you think? . . . got to get ready for work so TTFN and ladybug kisses . . .

WANT TO COME TO DINNER!

This post is in respondence to Joan, whom I will be gifting shortly with all kinds of chocolate goodies! . . . the next time Lily brings you a squirrel . . . you throw it in the freezer (of course you have to skin & clean it first-hey this may be a project for the boys!) and when you get four of them this is what you do . . . you invite four of your best friends over to dinner and serve them this (being sure to give them lots and lots of wine before you eat) . . .

BAKED SQUIRRELS
4 squirrels, 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons onion juice, small bay leaf, 1 can bouillon, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, clove of garlic, salt and pepper to taste . . . flour squirrels and brown in roasting pan. Add all other ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Reduce temperature and bake slowly for 45 minutes or until tender. YUMMMMM!!!!!

Actually, I have never fixed this . . . even though I have been told "its mighty tasty!" . . . whenever I am asked to contribute a recipe to a cookbook this is the one I give . . . so far people are still coming over for dinner, some even come back more than once . . . hummmmmmm . . . I have to host a knitting get-together one of these days . . . I wonder if they would be willing to try this or have they all suddenly become vegetaarians . . . OH DEAR . . . I am afraid my sick sense of humor has just kicked in . . . I think I need a VACATION!!!!!! . . . so for now ladybug kisses . . .

SOCK VIRGIN NO MORE!

Well the deed is done, the sock goddess has been appeased and despite all the pokie thingys sticking out it was fun!!!!! . . . thank you to Roni, Brooke, Amanda Cathleen and Robin for showing me the light (even though at the time I could not understand your enthusium - I do now!) . . . I don't know what I was afraid of as it was a lot easier than I thought . . . it seems each item I had knitted before had been preparing me in some way for this adventure in "sock making" . . . especially knitting the baby sweater and "road kill" . . . I COULD READ AND UNDERSTAND THE PATTERN FOR MAKING A BASIC SOCK ON MY OWN . . . YAHOO!!!!! . . . actually the sock is completed . . . of course I had to wear it and show it off at a meeting last night (some people probably thought I was strange running around with one sock on) and I am now beginning work on its matching bud and will post a picture of completed pair soon . . . I just couldn't wait to show and tell everyone what I did . . . I am that excited . . . so until later . . . ladybug kisses and TTFN . . .

LITTLE RED BAG

I finally finished the red "Romantic Ruffles Felted Handbag" . . . YAHOO . . . it wasn't difficult . . . it was a little weird though. . . first you knit the middle . . . then you pick up stitches at the top and knit the ruffle . . . then you pickup stitches and do the bottom . . . weird!!! . . . the only reason I can figure out that it took so long (started July 10-finished September 3) is that I kept on letting myself get distracted by doing other fun things . . . lesson learned here . . . time to stop knitting purses for awhile and do some other fun stuff . . . like a sweater for myself, a seatbelt cozy or maybe I will even try knitting a pair of socks (gasp and give of my title of "sock virgin" - I don't think so) . . . or better yet for right now I think I will just put the knitting aside, put my feet up . . . grab a good book (Roni I am almost through with the "Yarn Harlot" you loaned me) . . . and try that chocolate tea again with some chocolate this time! . . . so ladybug kisses and TTFN . . .

CAN YOU SAY "SWAPS?"

Yes that's right "swap" is plural . . . I had soooooo much fun participating in the Secret Pal 8 swap that I had a feeling of lost when it was over (yes I did sign up for SP9 as soon as sign ups opened) . . . but never fear. . . friends emailed me about another fun swap that was going to be starting shortly . . . the CHOCOLATE SWAP! . . . for this one you not only have to love knitting/crocheting - you also have to love chocolate (duh!) . . . so while I was waiting to see if I was accepted I went exploring different blog sites and found another swap that would be starting shortly and sounded like fun . . . for this one you again not only have to love knitting/crocheting but you also have to love tea (I finally confessed to the general public that I LOVE iced chai tea) . . . both the chocolate and tea swaps are short term swaps and look to be lots of fun . . . so when you have a spare moment you might want to check out these sites and possibly meet some very interesting people . . . btw . . . I did get accepted to participate in each one . . . YAHOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Chocolate Swap: chocolate-swap.blogspot.com
Knitters Tea Swap 2: knittersteaswap.blogspot.com
Secret Pal 9: secretpal9.blogspot.com (still have time to sign up for this one)

ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE WEEKS!!!!

Before I do anything else I wanted to post a picture of the pink baby "ugh" booties I completed for my granddaughter. I used pink Berroca Suede for the main color and Geisha Microfibra for the white edging . . . the pattern called for Berroco Plush for the edging but I gave up trying to find any after going to 3 different yarn shops in 3 different towns . . . these were my very first booties and were very very very easy to make (I took a class at semi-LYS and we used the suede booties pattern from DIY network knitty gritty show) . . . I sure hope they fit my granddaughter . . . will find out in November!

Sooooooooooo . . . this past week has been very strange . . . it started out normal (whatever that is) and then just plain got weird!!!! . . . Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were pretty normal . . . then on Wednesday heard from my favorite daughter (okay I only have the one daughter - but sometimes she is not my favorite) . . . saying that it looks like they will be out here November 3 . . . Justin is being discharged from the Air Force and they are relocating to the Kelley Ridge area here (less than 10 minutes from our house) . . . I am very excited about them coming home . . . I am going to be seeing my granddaughter all the time (well I do have to share her with the other grandmother . . . I know that's only fair) . . . so it looks like I am going to have a fantastic birthday this year . . .

now on to the rest of the week . . . Thursday I get to work and it's like a dark cave in the offices . . . no power-no backup . . . YAHOO I'm thinking that I get to go home because computers are down, etc . . . but noooooooooo . . . the bosses would not let me go home right away(I could have taken some work home to do) . . . they decided that we should walk to the other side of downtown (small downtown area & they had power) and get some drinks, some food and talk about court cases, etc . . . so we get back to the office after about 1-1/2 hours and drats the power is back on . . . a squirle caused this blackout - it was not done on purpose by PG&E . . .

on Friday I get to work in the morning and see that the back office door is opened . . . hummmmm . . . I go inside and boy does it stink . . . I am not the only one who is smelling something electrical burning . . . so I call the electrician . . . he comes out and agrees that it stinks (duh!) . . . does a little poking around and tells me to call the fire department . . . it appears that we have a fire in the ceiling between the 1st and 2nd floors but he is not sure where exactly (no smoke-no flames) and to tell the fire department this is NOT A CODE 3 (meaning no sirens). . . I didn't even dial 911 I used their regular fire department number . . . well you can guess what happened next . . . hearing lots and lots of sirens heading our way . . . we had 3 big fire trucks and 1 fire chief overrunning our offices . . . now remember there is still no smoke - no flames - just a really bad stinky electrical smell . . . these people are now running up and down the stairs - taking the ceiling tiles out and just plain creating a huge mess . . . they were there for 3 hours and still could not locate the source . . . so at noon they shut the power off to the building and will be turning it back on at 2 pm (on Friday's the office closes at noon so I went home) hoping to find the source . . . in the meantime we in the office are OH SO COOL . . . we just keep on working as if its normal to have all these people in uniform running around destroying the offices . . . and yes they are cute in their uniforms . . . I found out this morning that they never were able to locate the source but they believe that a rat ate through some wiring and blew up starting a small fire . . . which now also leads to another problem . . . so I had to place a call to a pest control company . . . and the people in the other offices that are connected to our building what do they do . . . they send someone over not about a possible fire and should they leave . . . but to find out if one of my bosses had a heart attack . . . geeeez people!!!!! I did suffer a headache and very bad sore throat for a couple of days . . . so I took it easy Friday and Saturday and I was looking forward to meeting with the knitting group I belong to on Sunday afternoon at the semi-LYS. . . but I was sick all Saturday night and didn't get to sleep until about 4 am (and yes Roni I did wash my hands!!!!!) . . . soooooooo that about sums up the past week . . . .

I did find out who my pal is for the "Chocolate Swap" . . . it's Joan and she lives in New York . . . I am looking forward to knowing and spoiling a fellow chocolate lover and needless to say I will be shopping for anything and everything chocolate this week to send off to her . . . that's about it for now . . . so ladybug kisses!!!!!!

FINAL GOODIES FROM SP8 PAL

Okay . . . my computer, dital camera, internet and I have been having issues this past week and I have not been able to post until now . . . sooooooo . . . WOW . . . would you look at all the neat stuff I received from my Secret Pal Liz!!! . . . Liz gifted me with two skiens of Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky yarn in hunter green, two skiens of Peruvian Baby Silk (baby alpaca & silk) in a dark mossy green, two skiens of multicolored Esprit elastic yarn (that's right it contains elastic) in shades of blue and burgandy, the "One Skein" knitting book and a card telling me a little more about herself . . . I didn't guess who Liz was - she blocked her blog site for the simple reason that I would have been able to guess who has been spoiling me right away as she had recently been in an auto accident (she came out of if okay-her car didn't - but she did) and I knew this from an email I had received from her . . . so check out Liz's site at http://dancergrrlliz.livejournal.com . . . she is one "cool" girl . . . THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU, LIZ!!!!! You have been a fantastic secret pal and anytime you get the urge and want to gift someone - you have my address . . . okay so my fingers are just itching to get started on working these yarns into some fantastic items from the book . . . but the real world (meaning job) is calling . . . so till later . . . ladybug kisses!!!!!