Long time, My how time flies

Hello Fellow Bloggers and Friends n Family!!!!

Been busy on the home front. Not going to say all of it is 'constructive' but busy. I have managed to get in a little knitting here and there, a tad of tatting, a bit of crocheting,,, gardening, having a BLAST with the grand babies!!! And learning some strategic games online. Otherwise you will likely find me in facebook.

However,,, I have a couple of friends are working on me, getting me back into the tatting mood. The past 9-10 months have been a little rough, dealing with some issues. Hopefully they are subsiding, would be better is they would disappear completely :)

Anyway,,, I'm going to try to make an effort to do a little more blogging. A couple of ppl have told me they miss me blogging. :) Thanks ladies!

Well about all for now. I do have tons of knitting pics, some tatting pic, from my last tatting exchange I think to post when I get to it. And a little crocheting.

Miss you all here in blogging land!!! Have a great week and STAY SAFE!!! Many Blessings!!!

WoW Very Interesting!!!! And So RIGHT!!!!

People, read very closely, this man was a genius! One very smart man Thomas Jefferson in some cases could be called a prophet. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .. Thomas Jefferson The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. Thomas Jefferson The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. Thomas Jefferson The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Thomas Jefferson To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson Very Interesting Quote In light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802: 'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. 'WE ARE ALMOST THERE

I'm a WINNER!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!!! WoW!

Well I can't say now that I 'never' win anything! Just after I seen on TattingChic's blog about the giveaway she was doing, I enter, then went to check out a little more about this : One World~One Heart giveaway that was taking place.
Next thing I am entering a bunch of them (word of warning after entering a bunch of these, don't check the 'receive mails' for the message. One's box fills quite quickly. LOL!!!

Well,,,I got up this morning to find a message waiting for me, I had one one of the drawing!!!! WHOOO HOOOOO!!!!
You can go here to see what I won! Thank you soooo much Lori for drawing my name!

A Handy Dandy Site!!!!!

How many times do we come across some pretty awesome patterns or articles, we would like to print out (for personal use ONLY), but run into the problem of a lot of unwanted stuff too,,,,

Well check out this pretty neat site I have recently been using:
http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/print?url=www.printwhatyoulike.com%2Fdemo

You can also save your pattern, etc in a pdf file or HTML as well!!!

Update On My Little Pom Buddy!

Wanted to post a quick update. Peach is now home! We got her home yesterday afternoon. She is definitely almost back to her old self again. It is so great having her home!
I am a little upset with the vet's office. The told me over the phone I had a little credit coming,,,,, LITTLE is RIGHT, a whole whopping .72 cents. They made it sound like it was definitely more than that. Then there was NO instruction care at all, just 1 bottle of anti-biotic and 1 bottle of Vitamin K pills to give her,,,,,,and then they left the 'IV' needle (stint) in her leg still. And like I said not a single set of instructions!
At least she is OK though!
Here is a picture of our furry baby!
This is a few years ago it was taken though. She hasn't really changed any.

It is also snowing today. At least we had a nice break from 'new' snow. Though the last week almost 2 we didn't have much melting as temps stayed pretty cold. This weekend is when another 'artic' front is coming and it is suppose to get back down into the single digits again! UGH!!!
I won't get it done today, But I'll try get all of my latest tattings, and knittings posted this weekend.
Hope everyone is ready or is having a GREAT WEEKEND!!! Stay warm all of you in COLD areas!!!
Blessings N Thank you for your prayers for our little dog. Please add our youngest son to prayers now!

I must apologize,,,,

I must apologize to everyone who takes the time to read my blogs. I didn't get the tatting posted for a few reasons. First we ended up getting our grand daughter for the weekend. The got to also have 'Mom' 'Dad' and 2nd grand daughter for Sunday afternoon. Besides I was working on finishing up a couple projects I had going and now today,,,well today our little Pomeranian isn't doing too good. We don't know what is wrong with her. I am praying she will make it through the night and I can take her to the vet in the morning. We don't have the money in anyway,,,so I don't know if they will even look at her. If there was a way I would take her right now. But this little town,,,I doubt we could get someone to look at her anyway.

Anyway. I'll post things when I get the chance. And update you all. Right now, I just can't focus too well.
Catch you later, Blessings,
Connie

Rosebuds After Below Zero temps

Here are some photos I took of what was left of my rosebuds during our 'below zero' weather we had in Early Dec, late Nov.

Knitting

Well during all those snowfalls,,,, as most of you know I have been doing knitting, tatting and crocheting. Here is a little of what I got some recent photos of that I have done.

This Blue Heron I made special for a friend as a 'Get Healed quick" gift along with these two tribbles. All in her fav colors. She LOVES blue herons, so when I first found this pattern free, I couldn't resist making it for her. The 'water' line I couldn't quite get to turn out right. But as long as the heron did, that is what counts! (A tribble is the small round scrubbie thing)
This "skate" is our Jan Knit-A-Long for a group I joined for making these dishcloths. I used a smaller yarn for it. Most use a 4 ply worsted cotton yarn. I happen to have some 3 ply sportweight and thought I would give it a try. I really like the way it turned out.
This one is another, using the the same 'single rose' I did awhile back in pink. Only this one was done again in the 3 ply in a pale yellow, though it didn't turn out in the photo. My light wasn't quite right.
For my Dec KAL,,, the pattern was a snowman several people had problems with the pattern. After ripping it out and starting over several times (I think close to about 8 times) I decided to use the graph that was with the pattern (at the end of the Knit along that is). Took some doing, but I figured it out.

This dishcloth below is the mid-Dec KAL. I didn't do it, it was using techniques I haven't done, besides I was too busy with other projects that were needing done. This one was done by my neighbor who is teaching me and joined too. I had gave her this yarn, since she didn't have any cotton yarn. I was surprised when she gave me the end product. Isn't it GORGEOUS??? Yep this one is definitely 'too pretty' to use as a dishcloth. I will use this one as a doily.
Sorry I didn't get any of my dishcloths/washcloths blocked before taking the pics. Hope you enjoyed looking at them anyway.

Happy Knitting And Blessings!!!!

Tomorrow I'll post some tatting!!!

Winter's Blankets!!!

Here are some winter pictures I've taken just from our snows starting about mid Dec.Here is one of the places where hubby works. I went on a ride with him through the boss' place. This first pic looks 'foggy' but actually it is the snowfalling hard and huge snowflakes!

The fresh truck tracks we just made through the field.

Can you see the HUGE flakes falling???

Here is the middle of our yard from the first heavy snowfall.

Poor bird seeking refuge & food!

This was the next heavy snowfall we had! Remember on south of us only about 20-30 miles they got about twice the amount of snow each time!!!

These are some 'after dark' shots I got of our daughter and our porch. This is the snow fall we got just as temp were FINALLY warming up after almost 3 weeks of below zero (Fahrenheit) temps. You can also see how REALLY HUGE the snowflakes got!
These below are some pictures I got today after having about 3-4 days of melting. Today we hit a HIGH heat wave of 42 degree F. We are almost at t-shirt weather LOL!!! It sure feels like anyway. This is what I have been keeping busy shoveling our of our parking spots, walk ways (for us, to critters and for our renter), besides keeping the roof of our double-wide trailer cleaned off. Thankfully most of the snow until the very very last one was all powder snows so it was pretty easy to keep shoveled. Definitely getting my exercise this year. They have said we have even broken records this year going back to the 50's or earlier this year. This really ISN'T a normal winter here. We usually don't get this much in one snowfall, let alone 3-5 like we got this winter. And usually around here we only have about one week 'maybe' of temps that get below 0,,,not 3-4 in a row.

Is anyone ready for the tropics yet LOL we sure are!!!

Round Robin Bookmarks #2

Hello all!

I do hope everyone is having a great week! I have been busy spending this last week catching up blogging, checking out blogs of fellow tatter, trying to catch up some of my lists, etc, not to mention replying to comments. I still have several to catch up with yet (on comments, I think anyway) LOL! Besides that, I have been busy using the snow shovel, clearing paths, parking space, mailboxes, and today helped our son clean off our roof. That was a little spooky since it has been YEARS since I have been up on a roof! I think I surprised our son, hubby and to be honest, surprised myself LOL!

With all of that I have even managed to get in a little tatting. Not much knitting though.

To start with here is a neat goodie package I recieved from Karen (some vintage thread) THANK YOU Karen!!! AND it included a SURPRISE!!!! A TATTING SHUTTLE!!!! yippeee!!! Yeppers it didn't take me long to fill'er up either and start using it!!!! These threads are all JP Coats, and Coats & Clarks along with one DMC and a couple with missing labels. All look to be size 80 thread or 70 as they are 'tatting-crochet' threads. I have another bookmark all planned out using these threads!


Here is what I made using my new shuttle and thread!!!!

This was my bookmark for round number 2 going to Lynn. Yellow is her favorite color. The pattern is from my new bookmark book I recently posted about. Called "Beginner's Choice" by
Barbara Foster (adapted from Modern Priscilla book 1) .

Here is the bookmark I received for round 2 from Cathy.
Thank you Cathy! Very nice.

Remember I posted awhile back I had received another goodie package of thread samples???? Well I just HAD to try the beautiful yummy colored Olympus thread from Maggie!!! I REALLY like that Olympus thread!!!! Well here is what I made, using again a pattern from my bookmark book,,pattern by Jill Hanna called "Flowers" and then I used a tassel idea from our wonderful Wally Sosa (who I miss hearing from. I am quite worried, it has been so long). Where are you Wally????

I ended up trying two different techniques here I have never tried before,,,so ALL comments are welcome (good and bad). EXTRA EXTRA long picots and tatting a chain surrounding a ring! Course the twisty tail was a little more trickier than I expected as well. I kept this bookmark because the thread was a little thicker than we were to have for our exchange, and it was also on the short end. Besides I really like it myself.

Well I think this almost catches me up now. I have a couple more bookmarks to show you, but I have to get them downloaded from the camera first. Then I will post my bookmark round 3.

And another 'goodie' package I got! I have been sooooo blessed by fellow tatters,,,I just can't THANK YOU ENOUGH!!!! I feel soooo honored ladies! Again Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart!!!!! (Including you Abby!!!!)

Oh one last note,,,on knitting,,,my neighbor's hubby was gone for a week, so we had plans to do some knitting (more dishcloths) and she was also (still planning to) teach me spinning using a drop spindle. She can't find just where she put it, since she uses her spinning wheel for spinning. Oh I guess I did do some knitting. I knitted a dishcloth with a blue heron on it for a friend of mine who was thrown from her horse just a couple days before Thanksgiving. I'll post a pic of it too when I get the pics downloaded from the camera.

I pray everyone is having a wonderful and safe week! Keep warm those in cold climates. We have ourselves now about a total of about 16 inches of snow, just in this month of Dec. And it is still snowing outside. At least we are finally warming up and hit a heatwave of 25 degrees F today!

Blessings everyone!!!!!

The Employee Party Update!!!

Hello Ladies N Gentlemen!!!

First of all I would like to thank each and everyone of you that replied to my blogs n guest book and give me TONS of support!

No on to how the party went (Hi Sheryl),,,, Here is a photo of all I had in my gift package (except for the 3 pints of homemade jam I put in, 1 caramel apple jam, 1 plum elderberry jam and 1 plum apple conserve):

Now for how the party went,,,,
First we all caught a bus at the office, which took us all down to a guest ranch in Sandpoint Idaho. There was I think probably between 25-30 of us. After arriving, we all went for a sleigh ride (first one of the season)!!! It was pretty chilly as it was a moon light clear evening (yep it was after dark). What a BLAST it was too!!! I think I would really like to get a horse drawn sleigh!
Then we went back to the lodge, where we had appetizers until the meal was ready, which was really delicious! Prime rib roast, grilled chicken, roasted red potatoes, steamed veggies, home made hot rolls, fresh tender green salad, and then for dessert there was a choice of blueberry cream pie (sort of like a blueberry cheese cake), dutch apple pie with ice cream, or pumpkin mousse (I think it was). I had the blueberry which was really tasty!!!
After that we had the gift exchange. Wouldn't you know it, I drew like one of the very first numbers (number 3), so since I was so close to the beginning, I chose my own gift. The boss's wife almost stole it from me, but in the end a 'massage' set won out. Oh well,,,I ended up giving her the scrubbies (she had mention she wanted some, when she was considering 'stealing' my bag), and I also gave her one of the 'tribbles' bath pads, which really tickled her pink!
When all the gift opening and stealing was over with, we got tables all our and (after some 'after the gift exchange' did some gift swamping LOL) we played a really AWESOME game of Bunco, which hubby won second place (cash prize too)

Truthfully, I thought I would be kind of down when no one took my gift,,,,but I really wasn't. I think it had a LOT to do with all the wonderful support from all my online friends!!!! THANK YOU so much. I also know that I have plenty of close friends around here too, that love the things I made.

Soooooo on that note,,,,THANK YOU ALL again soooo much for all of your support!

I know I don't celebrate Christmas,,,but all the same I do wish each and everyone you a HAPPY and SAFE season!!!!

Hugs N Blessings from my house to yours!!!!

Playing catch up

I realize some of you have already seen this,,,,

Awhile back in November I posted a photo of a doily asking if it was 'crochet' or 'tatting'. Well the answer I posted later was 'crocheted' .
Then a WONDERFUL tatter took the same pattern an TATTED it!!!! She gave me permission to post it on my blogs. I am just now getting caught up on a lot of answering, replying back etc. So please forgive my tardiness LOL!
Here are the photos:
The top one is the crocheted version from the pattern

This is the tatted version by Wanda aka tattrldy, You can find more about this gorgeous tatted doily by clicking on her name. (Thank you Wanda for sharing your beautiful tatting and permission to post it!

Please stop by her blog and leave her a comment!

Round Robin Bookmarks

Well here I am again behind in posting, after I said I would post my newest tatting in a couple of days. I have been so busy trying to get more knitting done for the upcoming party gift exchange. That and cleaning house as our two oldest sons are coming with one daughter-in-law.

So without any further delay,,,here is the GORGEOUS bookmark I received from my Winter 2008 Round Robin Bookmark exchange partner - Abby

Abby made this beautiful bookmark from a pattern by Debbie Arnold and used Opera size 20, which seems finer than size 20.

Thank you Abby, I LOVE it!!!! The green ribbon looks just like this adorable seahorse is swimming among the sea kelp!!!

And here is the bookmark I made and sent to my partner Bonnie:

This bookmark I made using DMC size 80 in variegated pinks (or rose). This pattern is by Ellen Lai aka Singtatter the name of the bookmark is Dancing Kristine. My ribbon unfortunately is kind of on the 'wide' side. But I didn't have any that would better. Feel free to change it Bonnie if you would like.

I also got to order me some thread (LOL my once a year order). I got some DMC Cebelia threads in size 30 and one ball of DMC size 80 a varigated purple, along with a book of bookmark patterns. Here is my order:Then I had inquired in Here-Be-Tatters if anyone could tell me much about Olympus thread and would be interested in trading some samples. Bless Maggie's precious heart,,,She sent me some WONDERFUL samples of not only a YUMMY Olympus thread size 40, but also some Altin Basak - size 50 in teal, green with metallic, and a yellow/orange along with some Oren Bayan -size 50 in green variegated and red & pink variegated, and also some Omega -size 30 in the wonderful colors red n white variegated and a light turquoise. I have already started working on something with the yummy colored Olympus, you will have to wait and see what it is when finished! LOL! THANK YOU MAGGIE!!!!

I would also like to Thank you all of those that replied to me in HBT about the Olympus thread! I think I will be working on saving up to order some of the Olympus along with more DMC Cebelia and DMC size 80. This bookmark exchange has helped me remember just how much I like the size 80 thread. I just need to practice TONS MORE on using the 'magic thread' technique.

Thank you all for coming by and looking at my work and for those that leave me all of your wonderful word of encouragement. I do appreciate it tremendously!

Blessings All!

I'm In A Dilemma!!!

I need some suggestions please!!! Hubby boss is having their yearly party on the 13th of this month. They have a gift exchange and have set the $ value to $40. per guy's gift and per lady's gift. I thought this year I would try something a little different and make something handmade.

Here are a couple of problems I'm dealing with:

1. I don't know how well the 'handmade' will go over, so I am finding myself second guessing everything.

2. I REALLY feel I am lacking in 'goodies' as what I have put together so far. Need more help here with some ideas. Here is what I have so far:

(2) dishcloths, knitted- one pink with a rose, one ecru with a seashell

(2) scrubbies, crocheted - one pink, one ecru (both made from nylon netting)

(2) potholders, crocheted- one pink, one ecru both to match the cloths.

(2) tribbles, knitted- one pink, one ecru again to match the cloths. (a tribble is like the scrubbies but made from the same 100% cotton yarn the cloths are made from.

I thought about making matching hand towels, but not sure I would have time, or even that I could get the 'rose' and 'shell' patterns centered right. I also thought about making a 'sack sock' combining the two colors in like a striped sack sock. I am currently thinking about making 2 more cloths using the same colors only no pattern. One more thing I thought about adding in, is a 'natural' colored doily I have crocheted using the 'pineapple' pattern.

Oh I am also going to include a couple of pints of my jams.

Here is a photo of what I have so far. (sorry the photo isn't the best. Will take another today, since we actually have sunshine!

Here is the photo of the doily:

Sure looking any suggestions you can give me. If you think it would be better to scrap this idea and buy something,,,PLEASE let me know.

Thanks!

Late Happy Thanksgiving!!!

WoW time just seems to be in warp drive lately. I am beginning to think that is just 'normal' for the age I am at. The older I get the faster time seems to fly by.

I finally got the last tatting exchange I join caught up. I won't tell you which one, as I am so embarrassed I got so behind. It is in the mail. I have been also doing a little tatting, crocheting, and knitting. This blog posting will be rather long,, I hope I don't bore ya all to death. AND if I repeat any of it, I do apologize.

Where to start LOL I'll start with what I have been tatting, since I originally started these blogs for my tatting.

I can't remember if I posted this before or not. So I do apologize if I did. This is a bookmark I got from this summer a bookmark exchange I was in. This beautiful bookmark was tatted by Dorcas Newkirk. She got the pattern from an old Workbasket. She also sent me a beautiful ball of DMC size 80 tatting thread and some matching beads! THANK YOU Dorcas!!!! I have used the thread on a bookmark in my round robin. I'll post a pic of that in a day or so. I have to get the pics downloaded from the camera first. Sorry I don't have a link to Dorcas so I don't know if she has a blog or not.

This is a tatting exchange I received back in August. This lovely snowflake motif, bookmark and card with tatting on, is from Dr Tammy Turner. She also sent me some beautiful lavender beads and DMC Cebelia thread that matches. She and I both really love tatting with DMC Cebelia thread. Just wish they had more colors. Smaller sizes would be great too. Oh well, I was very tickled to get my goodies. And bless Tammy's dear heart,,,,she did her best to stay away from pink LOL! I think she did an awesome job THANK YOU Dr Tammy!!!

This is a motif I did by Jon in which I still need to practice this a lot. This was my second try. I like how it turned out even though I do need more practice. I now have more colors to do it in as well. The purple thread I got from my tatting exchange back in August. The thread is a size 20 DMC Cebelia, and Ecru in the same size and brand. Thank you Jon for the beautiful pattern!

This pattern was designed by Heather Isn't it just beautiful! I didn't realize it until I was cruising through Heather's patterns, I have done several of her patterns. So many children as well as adults love the little teddy bears of hers I tatted when first learning to tat! I really enjoyed making this fan. Though mine isn't quite as nice as Heather's is. I can tell I kind of got out of practice this summer, by not hardly tatting. So now I am trying to play catch up. I made this fan using some of my Rubi thread that I received from BJ in New Mexico. (Still enjoying my thread Bev!). Thank you Heather for the wonderful patterns!!!

This is a bookmark I gave recently to a friend of mine who shared her art booth with me a couple of weekends ago. This pattern is by Ellen Lai aka Singtatter the name of the bookmark is Dancing Kristine. I had so much fun with this one, I also tatted it twice. I'll post my second one tomorrow. As I used the variegated pink from Dorcas on it, and it is my first bookmark exchange in the Winter 2008 Round Robin BookMark Exchange . Thank you Ellen for the beautiful bookmark pattern.

Oh BTW while at the Art N Craft show, I was sitting there tatting, and had several ladies comment on it. Then I had two different ladies come in real close, to see how tatting was done, and they both want to learn. One got my email addy so I could try to find someone in her area when she is ready as she wants to tat her wedding veil whenever she gets married (right now she is in training for RN). The other lady took my number and gave me hers telling me to call her, IF she doesn't call me. She wants to LEARN tatting!!! LOL later I was doing another demo for a couple of knitters, and ended up messing up my bookmark (working in size 80 LOL) so of course when I got home where I could concentrate better, with a magnifying glass, I had to frog it, (half a chain and a ring). All in all it was a pretty great day, considering I was just going to give my friend some support and nothing else! I even made a little cash!

Here is a photo of the vest back to the vest I am learning to knit. This is my first ever vest!!!! The pattern is by Lion Brand Yarns, it is the Vest-In-A-Jiffy. I have knitted many simple dishcloths, one afghan (before now) and a scarf before. Now I am branching out. I can't wait to see the finish result. My wonderful neighbor/friend who is a spinner, knitter, crocheter, etc (fiber artist) is helping me.

Here is the first part of the vest front. I am currently at a stand still, as I am to the next part waiting for her to help me. But as I have a dumb cold, and her hubby has respiratory problems, we aren't about to chance passing this on to him. So for now the rest of the vest is in Limbo. Oh the yarn I am using is Red Heart 4 ply worsted. The color is Dark Orchid.

This is a 'row' counter I made with beads. I got the idea and directions from a new friend on a knitting community I just recently joined. I made up a couple of these and gave one to my neighbor (who doesn't really like the stitch/row counters on the market), which she fell in LOVE with this. The idea is you can pin it on your work, clipboard, or chair arm,,,and just slide a bead down when ya finish a row. I used two different color beads, so one would be for like the knit rows, and the other for the purl rows, etc. I was told I should make up more and try selling them. I don't know if it would be a good idea or not. They are really handy though.

Here is a Prayer Shawl I have been working on for about a year or so. I started it I guess last winter so it hasn't been quite a year. This I am knitting out of 100 % cotton yarn by Peaches & Creme in the 'Shaded Denim'. Not really using any certain pattern, just putting together some of the skills I learned in knitting my dishcloths. I am getting more anxious to get it finished now.

This is what I have done of a leg warmer I started this late summer, when I knee first started hurting so bad. None of the leg warmers I have are large enough, so I thought I would just make my own. At first it was moving along pretty fast, but then it kind of got laid off to the side. I am using Red Heart worsted 4 ply. The color is Heather. I need to finish it up, before it really does snow and gets cold. Pattern again is just what I have come up with using previous skills in knitting.

This is an afghan I have finally finished (except weaving in the tails) I have been knitting off and on for the last 2 years. It is made from Red Heart Bulky and Lofty yarn I think it is called. In Citrus Lemon, I think the color was. I found the yarn in the discontinued aisle at Wal-Mart back when our first grand baby was born. At first I thought I would make it for her, but then the further I got, I though, nope this will be a great 'grammy snuggle grand babies' blanket. Sooo Yep I'm keeping it. It sure was warm too when the temps dropped down to 20 degrees F.

Ok. I'll end here, if I haven't already put you to sleep LOL! Or if you stayed with me this long. I'll try to get the rest of my posting all caught up tomorrow with the pics. Which will be more tatting, knitting and some crochet.

Hope everyone in the US had a great HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!