Happy Halloween!

So hubby had to work, and got home too late to go with us, so I arranged to meet up with some friend and family to go together. First we went to the parade in town. There were some very good costumes out there!

After the parade, we met up and piled on the hayride and went around the neighborhood to all the houses.
When all was said and done, my kids had raked in over 6 lbs of candy.

Storm passing through

So I woke up this morning, and went to log on the internet, check my email, facebook, etc, etc. And all of a sudden, I notice that the wind outside is blowing really strong. Wow, we might finally be getting some rain. So I check our local news channel on the web, and find out we are under a Tornado Watch.

Okay, I don't know about you, but I am absolutely TERRIFIED of storms. So here I am, sitting at the computer with 3 tabs on showing different weather aspects, pacing around the house looking out of every window, watching the radar and trying to calculate when the main body of the storm is going to hit us... I realize that I tend to go a little overboard when storms pass through. Turns out, all we got out of it was some strong wind gusts, and tiny sprinkling of rain. No Lightning. No Tornadoes. Here my stomach is tied in KNOTS, and nothing happens. My husband laughs at me for being paranoid.... my sister (who I call on the phone), giggles at my paranoia while trying to show some sympathy.

I'm thinking the holiday trip will be cancelled. My sister won't be coming down for Thanksgiving after all, because we won't have a house if a tornado rips through it. I'll have to call my mom to see if she can come home early because the house is gone.

LOL. Yeah, I'm one of those people. But so far so good. Looks like it is clearing out. Good thing, too, because we plan on driving to Jackson today, which is a good 2 hours away, in a car that has bald tires, and a bad wobble. So I'm not looking forward to that. :p

So needless to say, my house didn't blow away, the holiday trip won't be cancelled, and I don't have to call my mom home from the boat...

Still, I don't like storms, never have, and most likely never will. Unless I'm in a securely fortified stone/brick bunker that has no chance of ever being uprooted by wind/rain or other natural disasters. And seeing as how we can't afford anything like that... Yeah, I just pray that it's not storming the day I finally die. Because that would suck.

"Nutty Buddies" Amigurumi Acorns with Oak Leaf

I found a pattern for some cute amigurumi acorns by June Gilbank. (Original pattern here: http://www.planetjune.com/blog/free-crochet-patterns/amigurumi-acorn/)
My husband said they would look better with a leaf to go with them, so I came up with my own pattern. Check earlier blog posts for the Oak Leaf pattern.
I'm making 7 sets of these as gifts for Christmas, and I have 3 done, 4 more to go. All I need to do to finish the last 4 at this point, is sewing on eyes, mouth, attaching the "cap", and putting it all together. So it shouldn't take long to finish these up.

Bookmark for nephew

I made this bookmark for my nephew, based off the "Boo" Bookmark by Lee Mathewson. You can find the original pattern here: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/huggems/boobookmark.html

I changed the "open" filet to closed, and the "closed" to open, because I liked the look of it better, and also because I don't like all the open spots. I'm still thinking about blocking this one, and making it stiffer to be better as a bookmark, but again, this is for a tweenager ;)

Oak Leaf with Free Pattern

I came up with this pattern after a few failed attempts, when I couldn't find a pattern for a leaf that I liked.
I like the curl that runs through it, instead of it being just a flat leaf.
As always, I tend to use whatever yarn I have on hand, and these don't use much at all. I made these using a G Hook.

Gauge: Not important.
Abbreviations:
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
st = stitch
lp = loop
sl st = slip stitch
tc = treble crochet
Piece will curl as you
work, try to hold it flat to make sure you can see what you are doing.

Oak Leaf Ch 20, turn  
Row 1: Starting in second st from hook, sc in next 4 st, ch 2, then work 2 tc in next st, Ch 2, sc in next 2 st, ch 2, work 2 tc in next st, ch 2, sc in next 2 st, ch 2, work 2 tc in next 2 st, ch 2, sc in next 2 st, sl st in last 5 st, ch 1
Row 2: Working in opposite side of foundation chain, work 1 sc in each st across (19 st), ch 1, turn
Row 3: repeat row 1. FO, weave in ends or use to tie to another piece.


If you like this pattern, want to try it yourself, or have problems with it, please leave a comment.

Pumpkin Pouches - with Free Pattern

I made these at the request of my sister, Angelia. I think they turned out rather well, and they also gave me some ideas for other patterns I want to try. These are very simple drawstring bags, and I'm sharing the pattern here. Keep in mind, that I tend to work with basic Red Heart yarn bought at Wal-Mart, and I like working with the G hook. But these patterns are very forgivable, so just grab your favorite yarn and hook, because the gauge really isn't important here.

Note: piece is worked in rounds, no joining.
This pattern should be easily adjusted if you want a smaller or larger bag.

Pumpkin Pouch Begin with a "magic ring", adjustable ring. Ch 1
Rnd 1: sc 6 times into ring.	(6 st)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around.	(12 st)
Rnd 3: 2 sc in each sc around.	(24 st)
Rnd 4: *1 sc in next st, 2 sc in next st* repeat between * 12 times.	(36 st)
Rnd 5: *1 sc in next 8 st, 2 sc in next st* repeat between * 4 times.	(40 st)
Rnd 6-23: sc in each sc around.	(40 st)
Rnd 24: *1 sc in next 4 st, ch 1, sk st* repeat between * 8 times.	(40 st)
Rnd 25 & 26: sc in each st around. FO and weave in ends.	(40 st)

Drawstring:
ch 65 or about 15 inches long.
If you like this pattern, want to try it, or have questions, please let me know.

Painting the Kitchen

So I've decided that I want to redo my kitchen from a pink/blue/tan country flower type decor, to one more to my liking. Keeping in mind that the countertops are a pale blue, I had to work that into my new theme.

So I decided to go with this country bear that I have some potholders and towels for.

So the tan cabinets and blue countertops that are currently in the kitchen will work well with this new theme. However, there is some red in there that I wanted to bring out. So I decided to paint the "backsplash" a nice dark red color. Here's hoping it will turn out ok.

The following pictures are of the same corner of the kitchen, of different stages of my painting project today.

Here is the previous wallpaper that was in the kitchen. It was a light cream background with the pink and blue flowers all over it. Fine for my mother, but not so much for me.

Here is the same corner, after I moved things out of the way and peeled the paper off. It was contact paper, which is different from normal paper, being sticky on the back out of the wrapper. It pulled off fairly easily.
Next I went around with a steel scrubber and roughened up the paint that was there, trying to smooth it out. Then I went over it with a wet cloth to remove the dust I'd created. Next I took masking tape and taped off around the kitchen above and below where I wanted to paint.

First coat of paint, second coat of paint, outlet covers replaced. I think it turned out great!