And AK returns, finally

I am so sorry that I haven't been here. I missed it, really. I was sick and just thought I'd take one day off to rest up, and it turned into four. Oops. I am still recovering from what I guess was a sinus infection, hopefully it will all be over by today.

While in bed (and not so patiently, I might add)waiting for my yarn to arrive I have been working on making butterfly squares. I want to do all the borders in white, which I am out of, so what I have been doing is making the brown center bodies and then making the butterfly wings. When my yarn is delivered (please God, let that be today) I will start doing the borders around them. The butterflies really work up fast, I'd say about 10 to 15 minutes tops for each one, and that's with me watching TV too.

Here is a picture of some of the butterflies I have finished... in another bag I have about 100 brown bodies still to sew on wings too, but that picture would have been boring. LOL



Then last night, I suddenly had to knit up a mitten. Why? No clue. For who? Got me. But I did it, only one, in a bright green chunky yarn... here it is.



LOL. Pathetic huh? I suppose I can make the matching glove and maybe a hat to go with it and donate it somewhere.

I have still managed to stick with my eating program and the weight has been dropping off again. I have been here before and usually something happens in my life to throw me for a loop. This is no exception. I told my mom yesterday I feel like a bowling pin, I get up after getting knocked down but they just keep throwing those stupid balls at me. Okay, if I have to be a bowling pin can I at least be the 7 or the 10 pin? At least maybe the ball will miss me and not choose me on the split everytime. I always seem to land in the headpin spot though. God says to whom much is given, much is required. He has a plan for me, I guess it's in my best interest to let Him have His way now so I can get on with it.

What have you all been up to while I have been MIA? Decorating for the holidays? Working on Christmas gifts? Shopping?

I just got a phone call, Adam will be coming today instead of tomorrow. I am glad, I do miss him when he isn't here.

I promise to try to continue blogging daily, I always have something to say. Right now though, I want to find a nice small glitter Christmas picture to put on the blog.

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers, I really needed them.

AK

I SURVIVED

Well the wedding was very nice, small but beautiful. Of course my sister was the sunshine that day. She was very happy.

Gary and I were both sick, (as the picture shows) but we still had a nice time. The brunch buffet was very good. I managed to stick with ym protein and veggie only plan and still had plenty to eat.



This picture is my sister Erin and her son Colin, he walked her in and gave her away too, it was so cute. Just before this picture was taken Colin ran in all by himself almost tripping and landing into the grooms lap. Then you heard the minister say "Colin, you are supposed to walk your mom in" and like a flash Colin ran back out, we all laughed.



This picture is as they were saying their vows. There is a huge golf course in the background. The girl in the red dress in my niece Autumn (maid of honor) and the other girl is my other niece Hannah (flower girl). And of course the groom is Tommy, Bride is Erin and Colin on the side.



We ended up picking up Adam after the wedding as they were all sick at his house too and they needed us to take him. I just brought him home a little while ago, and now I am ready to put my body aches and stuffy head under the covers and take a nap.

Been working on butterflies... I am going to make up a bunch of them first and then sew the square borders on afterwards.

I should be back tomorrow... with some pictures of my mom and other sister maybe. They'll probably kill me for it, LOL.

Black Friday/White Wedding

Oh I remember those days when at 5am I was out at the malls. My mom and my sisters would all go too. We'd have the flyer's divided between us all, each with a different store assigned, then we would all meet up in Walmarts at the end. Haven't done that in years.

But now Black Friday has another meaning... it's my baby sisters wedding day, well at least this year it is.



In fact the wedding is in about 3 hours so I can't post too much. I am definitely full blown SICK today as well. I have been denying this cold all week, but it's here in full force today.

How was every ones Thanksgiving? We ate at my sisters, and it was a nice time. My favorite part is always to see the special holiday carving Dayna fixes up for us. She says she was up until midnight carving out this baby, but I don't believe it for a minute, LOL.



After dinner and dessert (which I did not have any, yay me) we watched a DVD together. Last night it was "Hairspray" with John Travolta. it was funny. Even my mom watched it.

Now however, I am going to try a hot shower and some steam to clear my head. It will work, right?

Have a wonderful day, and if shopping may you find all you are looking for and more.

AK

HAPPY THANKSGIVING (USA)

Thought I'd brighten up your day with a couple Thanksgiving pictures I received in emails this year.





==================
Yes the mittens and hat came out pretty good. I made the hat first and quickly realised I didn't have enough blue to make 2 mittens that's why I decided to split them half white and half blue. The pattern for them was from Crochet Central
The mittens (Bev's marvelous Mittens) were here http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bevs-marvelous-mitts.html
The hat (Bev's Family Hat) was here http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/sa.html

Thank you for the Twinkletoe's link. I just love them. I am a little nervous though as I have never used double pointed needles. But as soon as I get a pair I am going to try them. I wish I could try them before Christmas.


My sister is cooking Thanksgiving today. I have a butternut squash here my mom was supposed to take and cook but she never got here to get it. I guess I will see if I can figure out how to cook it myself. If I don't blog for awhile I probably cut off my hands trying to peel the think, LOL.

I saw my niece Autumn for about 5 minutes yesterday, She is home for Thanksgiving and my sisters wedding tomorrow. Looks like when the semester is over she will be coming back home, she doesn't like the college out there and wants to go to a local college here in NY. Same school my son will be going to when he comes home from Chicago in December. Maybe the kids are having the empty next syndrome instead of the parents. Huh?

Well I am off to get some breakfast, find a recipe and watch the parade. I'll check back later to see who was here.

Where's the Turkey Wednesday...

Well did you think I was gonna skip blogging today? Naw, not me. Adam ended up staying overnight so this is really the first chance I have had to get online.

Turns out he didn't have a hat or mittens, well that sure gave me a mission, LOL. So I hurried and crocheted him a hat and mittens, below is the set,



Then I decided to get a picture of him modeling them... of course I forgot he had just finished a fudgsicle so when I went to upload the pictures they sure made me smile.



This picture I plan on making the background on my computer screen as soon as I can remember how to do it, I've done it so many times but it always takes me a hour to remember.



That's pretty much all I have today. A quick hello, and prayers that you all have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Oh one last thing, nit sure if any of you saw the knitted Turkey hat, well my husband saw someone wearing one in our corner convenience store, I told him I could make him one. Hmm maybe I can make one that looks like a deer head to camouflage him in the woods. LOL, with orange horns, of course...

AK

Adam is coming today, hooray

Hello, I finally called about Adam yesterday, I was a missin' him so bad. He has some play groups and things happening with Head start so he is a busy boy now. Really though this is as it should be. He should be home with his mom most of the time during the week and maybe spend a day or two visiting his Gamma and Papa. He is free today though and they should be calling anytime now to have us go get him. Papa must miss him too cause he didn't go hunting yet either so he can see him for a little while.

My mom is getting her hair cut today too, so she will bring Hannah and Colin over to play with Adam while she is gone, Adam will be thrilled. He will go home tonight after dinner, until I am not sure when.

I got an email today from someone who found my Star of David pattern. They have a blog dedicated to the Star of David, it was pretty interesting to read about all the pictures and the stories behind them. He wants to put my picture on there as well, how cool is that. In case you're interested here is the link to his blog...

http://star-of-david.blogspot.com/
(couldn't get the link option to work, grrr)

I sent the crochet butterfly pattern to Wendy and Cat yesterday. Wendy sent me a photo of hers last night, she did it in cotton and all in one color and it looks fabulous. I can see this also being used as a small wash cloth too. I think she noticed a couple pattern errors but I am not sure where they were yet. It was late and I didn't look at it compared to mine yet. But here is the picture of her wonderful work. Can't wait to see what Cat's and maybe Shelly's if she has time, looks like. Thank you very much ladies, it's funny I am usually the one testing the patterns, this is a first for me. LOL



I have been working on smileys yesterday. I have the balls and hats made but haven't made any faces yet. I am saving that for last. I might even put some hair on a few of them too.

Well the phone just rang and we are headed out to get Adam, time for me to go be a Gamma. LOL

Have a wonderful day everyone, I know I will.

AK

Did you survive the weekend?

Isn't that the best picture??? I loved it, and it is so true too.

How was your weekend? Saturday was a bad day, but Sunday improved 100%. Maybe it was being in God's house among other believers, but I always feel refreshed and strengthened and ready to face Monday.

This week DH has off to hunt... but it's cold so he hasn't even gone yet. I just sent him to the grocery store. To spend more bill money of foods I need to have in the house. I needed to get him out of here for a few minutes... he was messing up my routine. That's why I am so late blogging today, LOL.

I typed up the butterfly pattern and emailed it to Shelly to test knit it, if anyone else out there crochets and can open a Word attachment I am happy to send to you as well to test for me. I have never written a crochet pattern so I could use the feedback.

I made some smileys yesterday and a couple yoyo's. I ordered some yarn from Joanns.com my dad sent me $45.00 for my birthday (ha now you know how old I am) and I spent it all on yarn. Maybe it will be delivered today, that would be awesome.

I miss Adam... I wonder if we will even get him this week at all. I am going to call there as soon as I publish this post. I haven't seen him since Saturday last week. Too LONG.

Sigh... I have dishes and laundry to do today too. Seems those things are never done anymore... they reproduce faster then I can conquer them.

Hope everyone is taking time this week (and everyday) to find things to be thankful for. Good or bad God is always there, He always provides and we should be thanking Him without ceasing. His love is enough to warrant that, if you ask me.

{{{HUGS}}} to all
AK

It's Sunday and I am blogging

Well I know I said I wasn't going to blog on Sunday's but I had to show the shower pictures, right? Besides I am up early. My husband (the hunter) couldn't find his cell phone this morning and felt the need to wake me up at 4am by calling my cell phone number instead of his. 30 minutes later he finally found it in the pocket of his pants from the day before. Um wouldn't that be the first place you'd look? He even suggested maybe our son took it, now why would he want our crappy cell phones when he has a razor phone??? I did go back to sleep for an hour maybe but had some weird dreams. I expect to sleep after church today for sure.

OK onto pictures...

First off meet my baby sister Erin... she is tiny, 5'2" and small in size all around if you know what I mean... so this picture is probably the biggest she's ever been, LOL


Of course they made the traditional bow bouquet, but not really enough bows so she wore it as a hat, as you can see she is thrilled about this accessory.


No Hannah on the other hand loved the hat and was thrilled to model it for everyone.


This gift is a trinket box, it had other boxes inside and a letter written by my Auntie Lorraine (my mom's sister). This box belonged to my grandmother who died over 20 years ago, and it had been handed down to her, so it's well over 100 years old. It was given by Grandma to Auntie Lorraine and she is handing it down to Erin... Erin is to pass it down to Hannah someday. It was a teary sentimental moment.


Erin loved the pillow, hot off the needles. I was actually an hour late. I got several compliments, several requests for some refrigerator towels and even more for the smileys. I'm gonna be so busy.


There were some nice gifts including a set of pans that are PINK and a portion of the purchase goes to Breast Cancer research. I of course love the pink pans.

I also decided I am going to make either squares or yoyo's for each pound I am losing and when I reach goal I will sew them all together into my victory/goal afghan. I was talking with Shelly about it and we thought maybe a square with a butterfly on it. We searched the web but couldn't find a free pattern we really liked, but there was one in a book for $8.00... I decided to see if I could invent my own version as I am eager to get started. This was my final result...
WHAT DO YOU THINK SHELLY? And everyone else of course. This would be my first original on purpose crocheted pattern.



Well how's all that for not usually blogging on Sunday's??? I am off to shower now and get some breakfast. I am really hungry. It was an emotional roller coaster yesterday and I was so tempted to just eat a loaf of bread to soothe myself but I didn't.

Looking forward to being refreshed in the house fo God this morning. One place I can be sure to feel His presence and love and strength to continue walking forward. I hope you all can find that today as well.

Aunt Kathy

It's "B" Day.... Bridal Shower Day

Well it's B Day, LOL... and the question is, AM I READY? I guess sorta, kinda. The Smileys will probably not be finished, but I will have a few to wrap with a note that they are multiplying as we speak, lol. They just wanted some alone, private time, Hahahahaha

I have a few different dishcloths I have made from patterns I have wanted to try and KAL's too, I also have a matching set of the dish towels I crocheted on election day, and then I have the 2 patterns I wrote yesterday.

The first was made with white cotton, same pattern as I used for my BIL when he got married in August. But I never wrote up the pattern so I basically had to re-create it. It's nice, a little more rectangle shaped then I like, and will be great if you know someone named Erin who is marrying a Tom (LOL) but if you know how to make your own letters that part can be changed. Anyway here is the picture, I know you are on pins and needles, LOL



Then I got to thinking, I had a request from someone looking for double wedding bands, and why not adapt this pattern a little more so it's more generic... I decided to have two hearts side by side at the top, the interlocking wedding bands in the middle and one heart centered on the bottom.

My description... When God joins two hearts together in marriage, they become one.

I wanted the picture to stand out and since I don't know how to block yet, I test knitted this pattern in acrylic yarn, it holds it's pattern better without blocking. I actually used a light blue yarn but I changed the color to pink when I was cropping it, why? Because I LOVE PINK. LOL. Anyway, what will I do with this now? I think I will make another square, all knit or stockinette stitch, the same size and sew them together and stuff for a little pillow. Haven't done that yet, that's my project for this morning. Anyway, all that to show you this new pattern...



Both of these will be posted on my pattern blog as well as my Ravelry pattern design page.

Ok really I have to go knit, no time to play right now.

Have a wonderful day everyone
Aunt Kathy

OMG, is it almost tomorrow?

I decided to blog first, maybe this way I can get it published before noon time. It seems it takes me 3 hours every morning to do my Weight Watcher stuff, emails and blogging. That is a long time. I think I need to improve my skills a little, huh?

Yesterday I made a couple Christmas gifts for two ladies from the NASCAR Weight Watcher message board... they were not on my list exactly but when I finished the project they both came to mind so I am sending it to them.

The first is the dammit doll... initially I made this with Adam's mom Angie in mind, since she is the one who taught Adam to say that word by osmosis, but when I finished it I realized it looked more like a voodoo doll... I am so not into voodoo but there is a girl named Cuda who always kids she has one, I know she doesn't, but I am going to send her this doll with a container of straight pins and the colored cut out numbers of most, if not all, of the NASCAR drivers. LOL. So she can pin a number on the doll anytime one of them crash out Dale Jr, (her favorite driver) hahahahaha

I sewed his legs on backwards, so the seam from the rounds is on the front instead of the back, and all I could say to that when I was done was "dammit!" And hit the doll against the wall. When you check out the link for the doll you'll see what I mean by that.





Next I made a couple acorns. I will make a few more with perhaps a different face on them. Another NASCAR Weight Watchers friend, Squirrel, has been throwing acorns all week... having some bad days, so hopefully these little nuts will help keep her from going nuts and change a bad day into a good one.





Now that's what I was doing yesterday... I should have been finishing up what I am giving my sister at her bridal shower Saturday, OMG is that tomorrow??? I have balls made up but no hats for them yet or smiley faces sewn on. Plus I have a dishcloth to make her as well, one of my own designs, I made one up quickly for DH's brothers wedding but I never wrote up the pattern, so now I have to do that and re-create it.

Of course somewhere in between I need to pay bills, fold laundry, take a shower, plan dinner, call the DR, call my mom, put away the clean dishes, get my badges on POGO, read some blogs, visit Ravelry and feed the metal monster...
(that's the wood stove of course)

Yikes... I may not get that all done before Thanksgiving...
Where's that dammit doll????

Can't think of a title today, Thursday

I always want my title to be something creative, that might grab the attention of people blog hopping, but I am just running out of ideas this morning.

I added yet another contest for you all, this one is for a someone opening a yarn shop so the yarn is really nice looking. Make sure to check it out.

I was looking at the patterns on Ravelry yesterday, did you know there are 50 pages of patterns? Anyway I found several I am interested in. One was for a "Damn it" doll. Made me think of Adam and how last week, he said "Damn it, I made a mess" so I HAD to get this pattern and have already started it. I am almost 1/2 way done. I love it.

I also came across today a pattern for crocheted hot pads for Christmas, and they are beautiful. Here is a picture of them... and the link to the web site for the pattern.

http://promotions.drgnetwork.com/newsletters/talkingcrochet/pages/TCNL2607_patt.html



I had a ton of hits on my blog yesterday, like 70 or more. It must have been because I was blog hopping yesterday. I think I visited and commented on maybe 20 new blogs yesterday.

Adam never came yesterday and it looks like he won't be coming until Monday. Which actually works out good for me as I have a bridal shower party for my sister on Saturday. So I will keep him Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, he can spend Thanksgiving with his mom and Friday after Thanksgiving is my sisters wedding so I couldn't take him then either.

My blood work finally came back... well actually it has been back for awhile but the DR finally called me last night. Everything looks good, my cholesterol and triglycerides have dropped, my sugar is only slightly borderline but I can work with that with diet and exercise, no meds needed, woo hoo. I do need to go back and have my thyroid checked and my protein count checked as well. But no kidney failure threats this time. God is good, He is a Healing God. I will make an appointment for that sometime next week.

My message went fairly well last night, I think it could have been better, I always think that. I have 2 months before it's my turn again, maybe I'll feel more competent in the New Year. {{{sigh}}}

Ok I have been sitting here a long time, I need to get back to my yarn.

Have a wonderful day, may God bless you and bring you all peace and joy today.

AK

It's Wednesday, do you know where my message is?

I know I know I was supposed to be working on this yesterday. I am such a procrastinator.

I decided to make a few smileys while I watched some things I had on the DVR, and then I remembered an email I received awhile ago from a woman looking for my plastic canvas pattern for the Methodist Church symbol. I made these magnets years ago for my MIL and how this info ended up on the Internet still baffles me. She said she found me from a Christian Web site and I didn't have a computer back in those days. I must have talked about them somewhere though cause she found me. Anyway yesterday I got the itch and decided I HAD to figure this out. So I (now are you sitting down for this?) walked up the stairs into the bedroom closet. I thought maybe I still had one saved in case I ever needed to make another, but I couldn't find it. I did however find some plastic canvas so down I went to get creating. I made one and 3/4 through decided I had forgotten how to work with plastic canvas, LOL, it looked a mess. But I don't give up that easily, unless it's on my diet, so I tried again. I finally finished it last night at midnight. Yes, midnight. Anyway here is the picture of my final project... and of course looking at it now I can see where I should have had white instead of red but I am not going to re-do this, I am not going to re-do this, I am not going to... OK you know I am right? Grrrr



Adam is coming today. His mom is still in Florida and his other Grandma (Janmum as Adam calls her) has an appointment today.

Then of course it's church night and I don't have a clue what I am going to talk about for 25 minutes... well I sort of have a clue but I haven't backed it up with scripture or figured out the filler parts. Does that make sense?

And well, I have to knit something today, right?

CONTESTS- Remember everyone just because I am not running a contest there are still several out there to be played. All a little different... I have links to them all on the right side of the blog near the top. One ends tomorrow so if you haven't been there yet don't forget to go today. Most of them only require a comment to be entered. Thank you Michelle for the link you posted yesterday... I love Thankful contests.

Now if you happen across a contest please let me know and I will add it to the list, OK?

It's a beautiful day in New York today... but tomorrow it's all going to change.

Oh and a PRAISE report too... My mom's brain MRI came back clean and clear, no signs of tumors anywhere. God is so good. I was pretty confident of this outcome, I had such a peace about it. We still need to find out what caused the blood work to be off, but it was a great news day yesterday.

My Dr on the other hand still has not called me about my blood work. I will try again today. Very frustrating. I feel like I need to find a new DR again. There has to be a DR out there that cares, somewhere. I told my mom yesterday, if I wasn't so old and out of shape, I'd go to medical school and become a DR just so I could have a good one, LOL. I'd make house calls for people and wouldn't charge thousands of dollars for the flu shot, etc. Ahh dreams are good, aren't they?

Well I have talked off your ears, I better go now. Have a wonderful day, find a reason to smile, thank God for your blessings big and small, be thankful for the miracles in your life.

{{{HUGS}}}
AK

I've Been Tagged...Tuesday

It's Tuesday and I've been Tagged by Wendy. So here are my answers. I am tagging five people but no pressure OK, I won't be offended if you don't want to play.

38 things about me that you may or may not want to know.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? Shelly

2. What were you doing at 0800? I was on the computer

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Posting on Weight watchers message board

4. What happened to you in 2006? I took a train ride (31 hours) to meet and stay for 18 days with someone I have never met in person... you know who you are... LOL

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? Whatever

6. How many beverages did you have today? so far just a glass of water

7. What color is your hairbrush? Pink

8. What was the last thing you paid for? Pizza

9. Where were you last night? Home, watching TV, talking on the phone and knitting

10. What color is your front door? Off White and Dirty

11. Where do you keep your change? In a dish on my computer, Adam likes to count the COINS (he calls them coins, not money, it's too cute)

12. What’s the weather like today? Rainy now but will be sunny and nice later although cool

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Death by Chocolate

14. What excites you? learning something new (I am after all an old dog)

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Yes if I thought I'd look good all the time. I once went very short and everyone loved it but I felt like a boy. My hair is long now but I keep it up most of the time, I might as well cut it, but I am scared.
.
16. Are you over the age of 25? Oh yeah

17. Do you talk a lot? Depends on who I am with, but I can talk an ear off if motivated. LOL

18. Do you watch the O.C.? No What does that stand for anyway??? Only Crochets???

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yes, the worship leader at my church (oh and my imaginary boyfriend when I was 14, LOL)

20. Do you make up your own words? Yes, and as a spin I usually sing them too. LOL

21. Are you a jealous person? I don't think so, except for ... oh wait... maybe I am.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "A". Alison

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Kathy, really and it's not me either, LOL

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Shelly

25. What does the last text message you received say? I think it was from AT&T but I never opened it. I don't text.

26. Do you chew on your straw? Not on purpose, but it does look a little out of shape. Maybe I need a new one.

27. Do you have curly hair? Yeah... curly, frizzy, gray...

28. Where’s the next place you're going to? To church, tomorrow night

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? My son Joe, close second is my husband

30. What was the last thing you ate? Little Debbie snack Sunday night before I went to bed

31. Will you get married in the future? Nope once is enough

32. What’s the best movie you've seen in the past 2 weeks? I don't think I've seen one in the last 2 weeks

33. Is there anyone you like right now? Lot's of people... might be better to ask who I don't like that list is smaller

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? 5 PM Monday night

35. Are you currently depressed? I'm better today but yes, I am a little on the down side right now
.
36. Did you cry today? Not yet, but the day is still young

37. Why did you answer and post this? Because I was tagged

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.

http://insanknitty.wordpress.com/ Michelle

http://ibbysplace.blogspot.com/ Mary Ann

http://leighsknittinandgardeningescapades.blogspot.com/ Leigh Ann

http://babiesandbitsofyarn.blogspot.com/ Tiffany

http://www.theknitoriousmrsb.blogspot.com/ Mrs. B


Ok There you go...
That took forever, my stupid computer wouldn't let me copy and paste so I had to restart and well let's just say I am frustrated. Grrrr

But it's done... I am off to work on that Lacy Top again today and my message for church tomorrow. Adam comes for a few hours tomorrow too, so today is the day.

Have a great day everyone
AK

Veterans Day (observed)

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all our service men and women who have volunteered to fight for our freedom, past, present and future.

Hello everyone...

I think I have decided to wait until January to start a new contest... Things are just going to be so hectic and I think waiting is a good idea. I of course will still try to blog everyday if I can.

I finished the pencil scarf, I ran out of red yarn but I still think it's long enough for my little niece who is two. Here is the finished product.



I posted the link to the pattern yesterday, and the designer even commented yesterday too. That made me smile... I wonder how she found my blog??? If you are reading again today please tell me, inquiring minds want to know, LOL.

I received a package Saturday from Shelly, so not expecting it. I remember her telling me she was making me something but I forgot about it, and then here it was. A beautiful shrug... This picture doesn't do it justice but you can at least see the color she used. And we all know I love pink. I also like the "Silver" lining... I am thinking that is a sign of good things to come.



Yesterday was my baby sisters birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN.... love ya lots.

My other sister Dayna came home from visiting my niece in Indiana last night, I haven't heard how her trip was yet.

I think I am going to work on that lacy top I started months ago today. I really don't feel like starting a new project, so it's that or more smileys... maybe both.

Having stomach troubles today, they started yesterday... I am frustrated with myself because I know it's my own fault. So today is bed rest, fasting and prayer.

I preach on Wednesday too so I need to work on that message too, but I need to do it without the computer as this aggravates my stomach issues.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you get today off I hope you have some fun planned. Remember to say a prayer for our troops today and everyday.

Aunt Kathy

The Weekend

I think I will use this blog for both Saturday and Sunday... one because I am blogging so late and the other so I don't have to rush around before church tomorrow.

As you can see Adam was having some fun today with Papa playing with bubbles. What a cheap inexpensive way to have fun with the little ones, huh? He went home about an hour after that, so I know he went home happy.

He is starting to show a personality when he talks now too, with some funny expressions. Some of my favorites are... " Nope, not yet"... " Gamma, watch this"... and "Dam it, I made a mess" ( I am trying to get him to say Oops instead... hasn't worked yet) and my favorite is "I used my NOGGIN today".

I finished the Feline Fantasy cat cloth from the 2008 calendar... I think you can buy the pattern from Alli's blog store too http://alliknitts.blogspot.com/



I also started a scarf today for a Christmas gift, I LOVE it. I made a couple small changes to the free pattern I got off of Knitting Pattern Central... http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2007/10/knit-pencil-scarf.html

here is a picture of the work in progress. I hope to finish it tomorrow watching the race.

I haven't heard from prairie Chicken yet with her mailing address... I am going to have to go hunt her down, LOL.

Are we all wanting another Contest in December or should I wait until the New Year... or perhaps I can have it run the 2 months... maybe a little different then the others, not based on commenting everyday but maybe a few other things??? I'd love some feedback especially since we have seen a few other blog contests in action.

I tell you I think I am drinking about 100 gallons of water a day with this wood stove going. I need a humidifier or something. I am just so thirsty and dried out.

Well I guess that's about it for me today. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, don't forget to play in the contests that are about to end.

Thank God for everyday, but especially Friday's

I finished it last night finally... the pattern wasn't hard at all, but I did goof up a few times... mostly forgetting a yarn over and had to undo a few times. However I must be improving as a knitter cause I was actually able to undo things like ssk and k2tog... in the past I'd have ripped out the whole thing and started over.



Sue if you happen to check in today, I really like how it turned out. This wasn't a free pattern but well worth the $2.00 donation in Janet's husbands remembrance. It's called Heartstrings For Janet, you can find more info here...
http://heartstringsforjanet.blogspot.com/

Here's a picture of one of the quiet moments between Adam and Colin... yes there were a few, not many though. But they played good for most of the time.


I didn't get to finish the picture cloth from the calendar that's today's mission.

Norma I wanted to thank you again for including my patterns in your database, that really means alot to me.

If you are looking for some patterns check out all the work Norma has done to gather info for you
http://dishandwashclothmania.wordpress.com/

That said, I need to go get Adam some breakfast and get off of here before I am stuck playing Dora games for 2 more hours, my legs can't take it right now. LOL

Have a great day and remember no matter where you are, what you are doing, God is with you, and He will never let you go. That is definitely something to be thankful for, right???

HUGS
AK

I am here... sleeping but here

Oh man am I tired. I can't seem to sleep good even with the CPAP. Partially because my nose is plugging up and I can't breathe and I guess partially from stress and not eating right.

My mom has to have a brain MRI today so I will be watching Colin for a little bit. Then Adam comes and will be here until Sunday.

I figured out the Ravelry problem. I had to switch from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox instead. And once I did that everything was back to normal. I can't tell you how depressed that was making me. I was so frustrated.

Oh and I have finally been added to the designer database on Ravelry too. It's under my name Kathleen Brundige, as of last night I am on page 21 of the designers so far. 21 is my favorite number, LOL.

I am working on a couple dishcloths today. One is a picture pattern from the 2008 knitting calendar, and the other is a lace pattern that Sue from Harvest Moon made in remembrance of Janet's husband Dave who recently passed away. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Well I wish I had something good for you all today, I am just too tired to think.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes.

See you sometime tomorrow with hopefully something interesting to read.

AK

Did You Miss Me???

Election day was LONG and tiring, but I love doing it. Not sure why? I like seeing my neighbors and I think it is so important to vote and voice your opinions. We should see voting as the privilege it is. It's not a hardship, but a right to freedom.

I brought some crocheting with me, I figured that would be easier to work on as I have to set it down quickly when someone comes in. Knitting is too risky, although I have knitted there before. I had some dish towels, so I crocheted tops onto them, I made 5 and gave two away to voters that said they loved them. I haven't made these in over 10 years.


Monday was my birthday and Hannah and Colin had homemade birthday cards in the folder with their school work... they were so cute, I took pictures of them and hope they will post here in a minute.
This is Colin's Front and Inside



And here is Hannah's Front, Inside and Back too




I also made 3 squares for Janet (the one who lost her husband) I took pictures of them as well.


Tonight is church and tomorrow Adam comes, so I need to keep my feet up today. Still suffering from TOM ( a month now, geez)which is probably why I have been so tired these days, or could it be I am OLD????

Ravelry is all messed up on my computer. All the words are jumbled together and I can't even read messages sent to me. It's weird. Is anyone else having problems?

Oh I found a couple more contests on blogs and they are listed on the right side in the other blog contest section. Check them out, we all love a contest right?

My mom is home and said the trip was wonderful. She goes tomorrow for the brain MRI, praying that they find no evidence of what they fear might be there.

My sister leave tomorrow to go see my niece, the one my mom was just with... it's family week at the college. I would have liked to go, but my life is crazy.

I guess that's about all for now.

Oh yeah... I wish everyone could be a winner... If I was rich... but the really BIG winner through all of this... is ME. I have met some great people through these contests and I am blessed. I pray that even if you don't win my mystery box that God blesses your socks off... or dishcloths... or shawls...LOL

AND THE WINNER IS...

WE HAVE A WINNER... AND I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THE NAME FOR YOU ALL...

CONGRATULATIONS TO PRAIRIE CHICKEN AKA JIL... THEY MYSTERY BOX IS YOURS. I HAVE COMMENTED ON YOUR BLOG ALREADY ASKING FOR YOUR MAILING ADDRESS

My niece Hannah did the official draw, and is also helping me fill up the mystery box for shipping.

I am actually homeschooling my niece and nephew today since my mom is still in Indiana.

Getting ready for election day tomorrow. I work the polls so I will be gone from 5:30am to 9:30pm. I may or may not be able to blog tomorrow. I guess it depends on what time I actually wake up or go to sleep tonight.

So in case I don't make it here, don't forget to VOTE tomorrow.

I will be spending today teaching, washing dishes, and I have a few phone calls to make too. Somewhere inbetween I hoep to finish the dishcloth I started last night and figure out what I want to bring with me tomorrow.

Right now though, I have been sitting here way too long, I need breakfast, and I need to put my feet up for a bit until Colin gets here and I need to start school.

Congratulations again Prairie Chicken.

AK

Sunday, My favortie day of the week

With a smile like that how can we deny that there is a God and He loves us? I was tickling Adam and he was laughing when I snapped that picture. He has gone home already, but we had a good three days.

Time changes... it never gets any easier does it? I went to bed at 12:30 and was up at 4:30, yep 4:30. Gary was getting ready to go hunting again, and well he turned on the TV to some kind of drag racing or something, and all the lights were on... geez. I tried to go back to sleep after he left but it wasn't happening. So I made some toast and here I am blogging.

I will leave for church in a few minutes. It's communion Sunday so it will be a shorter service. The pastor's wife preaches today, I enjoy her messages.

I am pretty sure I'll nap this afternoon, but when I wake up, I will be drawing the winner for the October contest. Who will it be? An everyday commenter, or a one timer? The odds of course are with the everydayers...

I guess that's all I can think of this morning... See I really am tired. I hope I don't fall asleep during church. Yikes.

Have a wonderful day. Take a minute to be thankful for all the blessing and miracles you have in your life. Even if there are some troubles, you can see the good far out weighs the bad. Gos loves to bless His children, and that my friend is YOU!!!

HUGS and PRAYERS
AK

Saturday Cleaning??? Say it isn't so...

Saturday Cleaning... brings me back to my childhood. My mom would have my sister and I working all day on Saturday cleaning the house. This meant dusting, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, changing beds etc. To this day if I am planning on cleaning like that, regardless of the day, I call it Saturday cleaning. Oh I remember the little nick knacks my mom had, hundreds of them, we had to dust everyone. But it was fun re-arranging them again afterwards. I have some Saturday cleaning that needs to be done around here, don't want to though. I'd rather knit.

Speaking of knitting I learned how to use the long tail cast on method yesterday. I've been steering clear away from it, thought why did casting on need to be complicated? OK I have changed my mind. I LOVE it. Once I watched the tutorial video online (3 times) I had it down perfect.

Still working on the smileys (they are crocheted though)Adam thinks they are balls so after he goes home I need to find all the ones he took and threw around, LOL. I also made a couple small squares with a heart on them for a woman in one of the yahoo groups I am a member of, we are gathering the squares and making her a blanket, her husband of 44 years passed away October 31st.

Tried to get Adam to go to sleep last night, he sleeps on the couch, he was in the chair and kept saying "No, I'm not sleepy yet" Well I was sleepy, LOL. I finally got him to lay down just before 10pm. Hannah had him all pumped up playing with him earlier.

I made a beef stew in the crock pot yesterday and it was delicious. I love crock pot meals. That however is part of the reason I need to clean today... I can't wash the crock pot out until the clean dishes are put away and the new set of dirty ones are washed. The dishes just build up. I have no problem washing them all, I just want someone to put away the clean stuff. Looks like that someone is going to be ME.

Oh before I forget, I got some weird emails that I think were spam, but they looked like they were notices of someone commenting on my blog. So for awhile I am making all comments moderator approved and word verification. I am so sorry for the inconvenience, but it was spooky. I got 5 or 6 of these emails and there was nothing in the comments of my blog anywhere. Hope you will all still comment so I know you're out there.

Sounds like Adam is about to wake up. So I am going to sign off for now.

By the way my avatar is finally knitting for me. I wonder if my security was blocking her for some reason??

Have a great day.
Aunt Kathy

TGIF... I Guess

Here I am sleepy eyed, trying to blog without waking up Adam. So the TV's off, the lights are off and I am typing slow so the keys don't make too much noise.

I managed to watch Survivor last night and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader... I love that game show. First Jeff Foxworthy is funny all by himself and then you have adults stumped on a 1st grade animal science question, cracks me up. Last night Regis was a contestant. He makes me laugh too, so it was entertaining for sure. By the way Regis is not smarter then a 5th grader.

Oh I sat on the cat again this morning! I think CAT, or Alex as my sister thinks he should be named, has a death wish. Only I could have a suicidal cat, Geez.


My mom leaves today to fly to Indiana to visit my niece in college. She will be back sometime Monday night, so I will be watching Hannah and Colin (niece and nephew) on Monday for her. They are excited for some strange reason they like coming to my house. They are 6, but they love Adams toys. Hannah of course will want to knit. I have been teaching her.

Have any of you sent a spouse to the grocery store? I sent mine last night and for goodness sakes he was having a hard time finding the stuff... I had to map out the store for him over the cell phone... ok... walk to where the yogurt is, now turn to the left, take 10 steps and right there in that HUGE bin is the $1.00 bag of fruit loops cereal. Honestly I am not exaggerating, this went on for 15 or more items. LOL
Gravy? Yes I want beef gravy... savory beef, brown gravy, turkey gravy? Beef, Beef... just a cheap bottle or can... Do you want the good stuff? NO, just a $1.00 or less can of brown gravy. OMG!!!!

Oh by the way while this painful phone call was going on, Hannah was also behind me combing my hair and styling it. Can we say OUCH, it was all I could do to keep from crying out cause this would have confused my husband even more. LOL.

So anyone wish they were me last night?

I worked on making the balls part of the smiley ornaments for my sister yesterday. I got about 12 balls made and stuffed. Ran out of yellow so moved to pink, then I'll make some green ones, and white ones and blue ones. Once I make all the balls then I will start decorating them with faces and hats, I might even give some of them hair...

Did you all see who won Mrs B's loose change contest? Our very own Shelly (Kadezmom), that's who. Isn't that awesome. I guess having that link on my blog paid off, huh? So make sure if you find any other contests out there you let me know so I can link them.

I think that's all I got this morning. I hear the baby moving so it's perfect timing. I will draw the winner after Adam goes home this weekend and will post the persons name on Monday.

Have a great Friday and don't sit on the cat. LOL

November 1st... The contest is over

Well it's done... I feel a little lost this morning. LOL

I will have another contest in december for sure. I am enjoying them. But I think I need a month to get my brain restored, LOL

I was hoping to get 2000 hits for the month of October and we were short by 273, we had 1727 hits... good news is there were 8 more then we had for the August contest, so it's an improvement, LOL. Maybe we can make the goal in December... now that I'm on Ravelry maybe it will generate a few more visitors, right?

I will make sure I have all the comments accounted for and then draw a winner hopefully this weekend... I will post the winners name and contact them on their blog as well (if you have one)to get mailing information etc.

I still have a few items I want to include in the mystery box so that will be mailed within 2 weeks, at least that's the plan.

Is my avitar picture knitting? I changed her to knitting (saw the option on Melanies blog, thanks)but when I look at my page she isn't knitting. Weird? Just wondering if she is knitting for all of you to see.

I never got to vacuum yesterday, so I hope to try the new machine out today.

Adam comes sometime today too. I am pretty tired, I think maybe it's from the flu shot I got last night.

My legs hurt today too, I did alot of walking yesterday, so they are screaming for a rest day today. Can legs really scream???

Been working on transferring my projects and stash etc. to Ravelry... trying to spend 20-20 minutes a day getting photos to flickr.

I think I mentioned yesterday I made a Scottie Dog pattern, well yesterday I made a second version. The first pattern is done with pattern stitches worked on both directions, and the second pattern has a knit across row every other row. I prefer the 2nd version myself, but some like the other. They are both on the pattern blog if you want to see how they came out.

My sister is getting married the day after Thanksgiving and she wants be to make her smiley face ornaments for her Christmas tree this year, so that's my new project, the bridal shower is November 17th... so times a wastin'...

Sorry this is short today, I really am tired. I might go back to bed for a bit before Adam comes.

See you all in the morning.

Aunt Kathy

HAPPY NOVEMBER