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Archive for March, 2007

The End of March

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Wow! The end of March is here already. I’ve been busy this past week or so. I drove to Middle Tennessee, where my daughter Rachel lives, last Thursday, drove back home to Indiana on Friday (about 750 miles round trip), then drove up to the Ft. Wayne area on Saturday, back that afternoon, back to Tennessee that night & back home again at lunch on Sunday. Needless to say I was exhausted! We estimated I drove/rode about between 1700 & 1800 miles in 4 days. Yikes!! I drove the trip twice by myself (my daughter can’t drive manual & we took my husband’s Honda). I drove part of the way on Saturday night but my husband drove all the way home. But it’s over except for the aftershocks.

I finished a stuffed animal exchange last night, a teddy bear. Here is her picture. When I was making her I accidentally sewed her tail on her face. It took me awhile to figure out what was wrong. It has been many years since I made a stuffed animal. But I think she turned out great. I think her name should be Annabelle or something like that. She looks like an Annabelle.

I am working on some knit squares. One has a heart and the other a dragonfly. They are cloth patterns but I intend to make a lapghan. I am making a plain square to go between. The patterns are here so you can see what they look like: http://www.purpleduckie.com

This evening I am going to work on a crocheted duck fridgie & a small stuffed duck for my sister Sara for Easter and a bunny fridgie for my sister Melissa. I don’t make really big things for the holidays anymore–just for Christmas and really special occassions. Sometimes they are not as appreicated as I would like them to be for the amount of work I put into them. I’m sure all crafters have those moments.Well, I better get busy. Haven’t eaten much yet and my body is letting me know I should fix that right away. My husband got a new desk and half his junk from his NASCAR room–John’s Pit Stall–is in the middle of the living room. Need to do something about that, too.Happy Crafting!
: Crochet Projects,Random Stuff

Michigan

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This summer we took a trip to Michigan. We went to the peninsula on Big Bay de Noc just west of Manistique. It was the first time Kaitlin and I had been, but as a boy John had gone every summer until he was about 16. His dad was from Garden, MI. Here is a photo of the water tower in Garden. It is a fairly small town and it seems as if you have to drive hours to get anywhere even though the peninsula is not that large.

We had an amazing time and I can’t wait to go again. This was something that we had wanted to do for a long time and just never seemed to take the time or have the money. One day my husband came home and said “Let’s go to Michigan over the weekend.” I was totally shocked and after I thought about I said why not. We went for three days, driving all night (11 hours one way). It was worth it. Here are just a few photo’s of what we saw.

The Mackinac Bridge pronounced like MACK-in-aw, note the silent “c”, and affectionately known as the “Mighty Mac” or “Big Mac”), is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the non-contiguous upper and lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. It connects the cities of St. Ignace on the north end with Mackinaw City on the south. For more information visit here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Bridge

Here it is at sunrise on the day we came home. I took this photo from an overlook in St. Ignace just before we crossed. It was super windy that day and traffic was only allowed to move at 20MPH

Here is a close-up of the suspensions and supports. It was humongously large!

I took this photo just as the sun was rising. We were on our way home and were just east of Manistique.

This is one of my favorite photos. We had stopped to get some pictures of the sunrise. My husband was videotaping. It was very windy and the sound of the waves crashing to shore was loud. The air smelled clean, cold, & very wet! It was just glorious. The clouds were stupendous. My daughter used up the last of her camera photo’s and we filled the memory card on the digital camera. All I have to do is watch the video and listen to the sounds and it takes me right back to that wonderful day.

: Vacations

First Completed Knitting Project

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Knitted Tote
My Very First Knitting Project!
Here is my first completed knitting project. It is a pattern from the Stitch ‘n Bitch book called “Zeeby’s Bag”. I changed it just a little. I crocheted the front and back together, used a blanket stitch for the top trim, crocheted around the handles before sewing them on, and made a 6″ crochet square to decorate the front called “Gem Star“. I lined it with material that my sister Sara gave me for Christmas. I made this bag for myself and I use it to carry knitting projects. I have a small plastic case that I use to carry scissors, needles, stitch markers, etc. that I might need when I’m working on a project away from home–there’s also a piece of chocolate or two!

I am currently working on a teddy bear for a stuffed animal exchange, a duck fridgie for my sister Sara and a bunny fridgie for my sister Melissa. I just finished a knit drawstring bag for my daughter Rachel. I will post photos as soon as they are finished.

That’s all for now. My hubby is sick and I’m worn out from taking care of him.

Happy crafting!
Sherry

: Knit Projects

Freaky Weather and other stuff

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Wow! Has the weather been freaky here or not???? First we have snow–lots & lots of snow. Then we have an ice storm. Then we have a thunderstorm with a tornado watch, which is really freaky when there is still lots lots of the snow on the ground. The temperatures run from really cold to the 60′s. Sigh. I asked my husband yet again–Exactly why did you want to move back here????? The reason escapes me.

John @ his desk

Just so you know who I’m talking about, here is a photo of my husband John, who moved us back to the weird weather North–for a job that lasted only 18 months and he was unexpectedly laid off at the end of October. That really bites. Anyway, here he is with Smokey on his lap. Smokey is our big boy at 11 pounds. He is 7 years old.

 

Rachel

This is my oldest daughter, Rachel. This was taken in 2004 but this is one of my favorite photos of her. She is now 20. She currently lives in Tennessee. She is always asking us to move back home but her Dad says no. I would consider the idea but I would be very particular about where we lived. I don’t want to go back to my hometown but somewhere within an hour or so drive would be okay. This is my one that wants to be a teacher. She will be a fantastic teacher. She really cares about the kids in her classroom and will be a teacher that kids come back to see even after they graduate.

Kaitlin

This is my youngest daughter, Kaitlin. She is 18. She is like me. Interested in too many things to ever have enough time to try them all. Okay–she has more time than I do since she is only 18, but hey, it sounded good to group myself with her. Right now she wants to learn to drive and get a part-time job so she can buy her own things so we won’t have to. Rachel was really good about doing that when she still lived at home and had a job. She bought her own personal things & clothes, which helped us out since I was still in college and money was tight.

So there you have my brood. I don’t have a photo of our Zebra Finch, Charger. He’s hard to get a photo of–he flies around in his cage at the speed of light and all you see in a wingy blur….like my mind on occasion.

I am currently learning how to knit. I’ve already completed my first project, which I haven’t taken a photo of yet but I will soon.

I recently crocheted this pillow as a JIC (just in case) for an exchange group that I just joined. It was quick and easy to make. The back (in red) is made with a simple shell pattern. The front is a wheel lattice pattern that I found at this website: http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/12in_squares.php”>Crochet Pattern Central 12″ Square Directory, which is a really great site for finding crochet patterns of all types. I made the ruffle up myself. I made it the same color of each side using only the front and back loops. I also made the front ruffle in a double crochet and the red in a triple crochet so that you could see the edge of the back ruffle from the front side. I used a 14″ pillow insert.

My current WIPs (works in progress) include knitting a drawstring bag for Rachel, making Easter placemats & coasters for my mom, making a preemie afghan, booties, and hat, and trying to finish a cross stitch project for Kaitlin that I started two years ago. There goes all that time to do things.

Well, I guess that’s all I have to say for right now. It is time for bed. It’s been an exhausting day. My husband had to make an unexpected run to Columbus, OH to pick up his brother the trucker who had been grounded temporarily. The weather here was very bad, but he was driving into worse. It only cleared up when they were about an hour from home. I really worry when they do that. A construction barrel was blown into traffic and almost caused an awful accident. Luckily everyone kept their wits about them and acted appropriately.

Take care.
Sherry

: Random Stuff
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