My Traveling Socks Have Returned Home

Our Traveling Sock group is on the Knitters Brewing Company's Ravelry group. As of now there are 14 groups with 8 knitters in each group. Everyone is having such a good time knitting on each others socks, and then having their own socks returned finished.

Way back at the end of September I sent my knitted toes out to travel to the next person on the Traveling Sock Sockinistas group list. Each of 7 more ladies knit about two inches or so to make my socks grow. Here it is the end of January and my socks returned home.

I haven't decided yet whether to join another group now that my socks are home. My carpal tunnel is just starting to improve so I may wait a bit before committing myself. I had a wonderful time knitting on the socks so I'll probably join again.

Here are my beautiful socks. Wish the photo was better but it's a gray day here.

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 4

I'm still using left over Christmas materials to make my cards. Thank goodness I have those supplies because it's difficult to find anything Christmasy now that the holidays are over!

A friend sent me some really nice papers prior to Christmas (they are not left overs but full sheets!) so I am using the papers on the Week 4 card.

Credits:
Papers--White Lattice paper by Mambly Screen Prints
Hollyday Red Suit by American Crafts
Die Cuts from Anna Griffin 2011 Collection

Look Up, Look Down

Today is a beautiful day but still very cold--20 degrees F. When I woke up this morning it was 10 degrees F so it did warm up some.

My looking up photo today is of the gorgeous clear blue sky. The looking down photo is of lichen and moss covering the trunk of the maple tree on the front lawn.

52 Week Card Challenge -- Week 4

Our challenge this week is to use paper from a paper pad that for some reason hasn't been used up. Several sheets left in one pad fits that criteria.

One is a text sheet, one a sheet of music, and also the reverse of the music sheet. I also had some butterfly stickers that seems to be ideal for this card.

My Week 4 card can be used to send to a friend I haven't been in touch with for a while, or it could actually be used for a sympathy card. Never seem to have one of those type cards when I need it.

Credits:
Papers from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found paper pad
Stickers from Tim Holtz's idea-ology sticker pad
Stamp from Clear Stamps

Look Up, Look Down

I decided to participate in a photography exercise on Helena's Creative Maven blog to improve my photographing skills. The exercise is to look up and photograph sometime and then look down and do the same thing. Helena does marvelous photography and if just a little bit of that rubs off on me, then my scrapping will improve exponentially.

So my choice for UP is a view of the sky looking up through our trees:

...and my DOWN choice is my pot of Hens and Chick plants as they appear in the winter:

They may not be brilliant choices but our yard is pretty muddy now and, at least, it is a start.

52 Week Card Challenge -- Week 3

For the third week, our challenge is to use really bright colors. Myself, I love bright colors but I don't have many in my stash. My intention in doing this challenge is to use only my stash. Because of the conditions of this week's challenge, I am doing a general card but not a Christmas card. I may play catch up on the Christmas card later in the challenge IF I run out of stash. Ha!

It is amazing I have the stash I do since I am a digital scrapper. Most of it is hand me downs or gifts. It helps that I love making cards so I am using paper products and not digital. Seems strange to have glue and ink all over my fingers!

Here is my card for this week. I made it a birthday card because one of my very best friends has a birthday at the end of the month.

Mystery Sock V KAL--April Showers

The knit-a-long at the Knitters Brewing Company Ravelry forum started by releasing the first clue on January 11, 2013. I'm doing the socks one at a time (I usually do them two at a time) on Magic Loop but my carpal tunnel has been acting up so I'm taking it a bit easy for this KAL. I cast the toes on the 11th using US Size 1 needles, and finished up the first sock today on the 14th.

The yarn I am using is KBC Sockaholic Sweet in colorway Sweet Butter--It's a really lovely shade of yellow. After finishing the first clue, I decided this pattern is the most fun of any pattern I've knit in quite some time. Now off to start the second sock.

Here's my finished first clue for the first sock:

52 Week Card Challenge -- Week 2

So far so good, I am finished doing catch up for the first two weeks of this challenge and can relax until Monday when Week 3 starts. This week we were to concentrate on clean and simple.

Here is my general card:

Credits:
Paper is from Cosmo Cricket 6x6 Cubierta Miniatura
Butterfly raised die cut from stash--no longer have package it came in

...and here is my Christmas Card:

Credits:
Paper MME 6x6 Christmas Stack
Anna Griffin 2011 Christmas Collection die cut

52 Card Challenge -- Week 1

I often find myself needing a card and have to stop what I am doing to make one. That's not going to happen ever again. And, I'll never run out of Christmas cards either!

I joined Kool Kitty Musings for the 2013 52 Card Challenge.

Each week we are given a prompt to make a card, and also a challenge to make a Christmas card. We have the option of only using the card prompt if we want and not do the Christmas card. That would defeat my purposes so I will do my best to complete two cards each week--one a general card, and the other a Christmas card.

The first week is to make a card with something new--like this...

New stash
A new arrival
An announcement of some wonderful news
A card for someone new in your life
A new home

Here is my week 1 general card using new patterned papers:

Credits:
My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 6x6 paper pad (new)
Die Cuts from my stash (lost the designer--sorry)

Here is my Christmas card:

Credits:
Cosmo Cricket 6x6 paper pad Cubierta Miniatura (new)
Anna Griffin's Christmas collection from 2011 (and other left overs)

My Most Precious Item

For my 30th birthday, my whole family chipped in to gave me a hot air balloon ride. This was something I had dreamed of doing ever since I was a little girl and had watched a balloon pass over our house. As a momentum, my husband gave me this glass balloon to keep the memory alive. Here is how it happened…

The morning of my 30th birthday started out as a normal day but by afternoon that changed. My husband suggested we take a ride and shortly thereafter we arrived at a local airport used for small planes. This is something we often did just to watch the planes take off and land. After parking, we noticed a commotion on the runway and walked over to see what was going on. Upon seeing us, the balloon pilot came over and introduced himself and asked if I was the birthday girl. I looked over at my grinning husband and saw he was barely able to contain himself. Soon after the balloon was upright and ready for lift off. We climbed into it along with the pilot, and his first mate and drifted off into the sky.

The ride was everything I thought it would be. The air was so still I could hear chickens clucking below me. We leaned over to grab leaves off of treetops, and heard people shouting up and waving at us. It was like gliding on air—well actually, that’s what we were doing and it was wonderful. This was the most thrilling time I’d ever had.

Too soon it became dusky and the pilot said it was time to head home. We never did land back at the airport because darkness came faster than he expected. We had to make a bumpy landing in a farmer’s field just missing overhead high tension wires. After landing he popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and toasted me for my birthday.

We got into a van and were driven back to the airport leaving the crew, who had been following us, to deal with packing up the balloon. When we arrived at the airport, I got out of the car and heard clapping behind me. I turned around to see my entire family! They had been hiding while watching me take off in the balloon and waited there until we got back just to see the look on my face when they surprised me.

It was the best birthday present I could have imagined, and that’s why the glass hot air balloon means so much to me. By the way, when the sun shines on the glass balloon, it acts as a prism and sends rainbows all around the room.

Doll Clothes

Even as a child, I loved making doll clothes. I must have been 8 or 9 when I started. First, I learned how to sew the doll clothes by hand, and I did my own designing. Then doll clothes were the first items I learned to sew on my mother's old Singer sewing machine. From doll clothes, I progressed to making my own clothes.

My doll clothes were designed for the Little Miss Revlon doll. She is smaller than Barbie, but more muscular and not so tiny waisted. My older sister also helped by sewing some of the clothes for me--the more elaborate ball gown type. I still have the Little Miss Revlon doll, but the clothes have all disappeared. I have no idea what happened to them. Here is what Little Miss Revlon looks like. She's a Google image--not my doll she's packed away because eventually we are moving. Please, please, let it be in 2013!

Today, I make doll clothes for the 18 inch American Girl Doll. Since my daughter is now 48 and now longer desires doll clothes, and I have no grandchildren, I make the doll clothes for my own AG doll. She is Molly a 1940s era doll. I got her because she has brown hair and wears glasses and pigtails. Since I was born in 1940 and wore glasses and pigtails, you can imagine why I chose her. Here's an image of Molly--again, not my doll by a Google image just so you can see what she looks like.

I also make AG doll clothes for my best friend's granddaughter, Lily. Lily has a multitude of AG dolls and loves and appreciates any doll clothes I send her--even if the stitches are crooked and the sleeves have little pleats in them. She doesn't care and that's why I make them for her.



Here is my latest creation (sorry the photo is so bad--it's not very sunny today.) A pair of PJs made in yellow and white striped flannel with an off center closing for the top and trimmed in lace. Eventually, I will make a robe but I don't have enough of this fabric on hand. Perhaps I'll be able to match it at the fabric store but if not, I'll just make it in a solid color.

I'll bet I'm not the only one who still likes to make doll clothes!

My Silver Sneakers Group

On Christmas Eve day, after our MSROM (muscle strength, range of motion) class at Silver Sneakers, we had a little get together in the classroom.

I had a good time chatting with all the friends I've made there, and filling my face with the good food. The instructor mentioned that she would have liked to have taken photos of the event. I had completely forgotten that I'd slipped a camera into my coat pocket before I left that morning. Quite a few of the class members had already left by the time I remembered so only got two photos taken.

The first one is of all the people still there. I am the short one in the orange top--in case you were looking for me!

The next one is of the instructor with all the men surrounding her. She is a real dear and clearly enjoys teaching all of us seniors.

I have improved my range of motion and muscle strength since starting these classes and thoroughly enjoy meeting up each session with all the friends I've made. We are a fun loving group.

No Real Resolutions for 2013

I stopped making New Year resolutions many years ago. I was just kidding myself into thinking I would keep them. It never happened and probably never will. So I am making myself some promises this year instead of resolutions.

My first promise is to be happier with myself. Stop trying to be a perfect person and instead be a better person. Yep, I've been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I also bought the five-year One-Sentence Journal that goes along with it. My diary writing has suffered in the past years but I can do one sentence a day. I'm looking forward to completing a year and then, in the second year and future years, looking back on what I've written for the previous years.

My second promise is to not only read the blogs I follow in Google Reader, but to respond to them. I figure if someone has taken the trouble to write a blog that interests me, I should have the courtesy to comment. I mostly do that but not all the time if I am in a hurry.

My third promise is to myself. I want to update my blog at least on a weekly basis. I have been very lax lately in updating it. It's not that I have nothing to say...believe me, I tend to run my mouth off about the least little thing so that's not a problem! Since our only child lives clear across the country from us, and we have no grandchildren (or the prospect of ever having them,) I sometimes think my life is not that exciting. It really is to me but I often wonder if others see it that way.

Lastly, I promise myself to increase the days I go to my Silver Sneakers program. This is an exercise program just for seniors. Right now, I only go two days a week so I think I'll add yoga to my program. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I do the range of motion and stretching classes so I'm adding Thursday for yoga.

That's it for me this year--no resolutions just promises.