The last day of the year!

Wow it is hard to believe that it is the last day of the year. I like to think about my progress and if things in my life have changed since this time last year. My crafting really has not progressed , still knitting a lot of dish cloths and baby washcloths. I did finish one knit baby afghan.  I have read 29 books this year, listen to I think 5 audio books and started 3 books that I have not finished yet. No progress on becoming a better blogger. I blog less this year than last. I did not go to any crafting events this year. It has been a really long hard year. I had to buy have a new roof and just scrapped the money together to get a new hut for my hot water heater. It is on the outside because the house is so small, it has to have a metal structure to keep it dry and unexposed to the elements. Spent a day or two with out hot water. I hope next year goes better and I have a less to  repair. I have a bottle of champagne chilling ready to toast the new year! Happy new years eve crafting!  

Merry Christmas!

Why It's Christmas Day! I hope everyone across the world that celebrates Christmas has a very Merry Christmas. I have had a great Christmas and weekend. My daughter and her boyfriend are now engaged Sunday morning before they went to church he asked her to marry him. She said yes of course and I will have a son soon. We had a great day at their house with family and friends. The only bad thing that happened was I dropped a lot of stitches on a baby afghan that I was almost finished with one that I have been working in since the early part of the year. I can't bring my self to rip it out. I really cant figure out how to fix my mess. This is not a hard pattern, I don't know why it has caused my so many problems. I was on the brink of finishing. Some of the stitches slipped off the needle while I was taking the afghan out of my project bag. I thought I had all the stitches picked up and place back on the needle but I did not and I screwed it up tried to pull that out and then dropped stitches. My last day off is tomorrow and It's back to work on Thursday, well at least it's only 2 days.          

Off work for the Holiday's

I a very tired but also very happy. Today at five our office closed and I don't have to return until next Thursday. Our office is closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after!!! Finally downloaded The Fifty Shades series to my kindle. I downloaded the book from Audible.Com, I started listen to the first book in the series this week. Audible is a great way to go if you are working or crafting. Finished listening to Knit One, Pearl One: A Beach Street  Society Novel, by Gil Mcneil. I really enjoyed it.  I have knit my daughter two potholders from a very easy pattern I found on Lion Brand.com. I found a copy of a very hard to find knit pattern book,  Knit Ultimate Book of Dishcloths & Pot Holders Designed by Ann Emery Smith. Finished listening to The Hobbit enjoyed that also I did it to brush up before I go see the movie. Finally I am almost finished with the Diagonal Comfort Blanket that I started this spring. Happy crafting.      

Another Check in!

Well here I go again, with another monthly post. I am  still reading A Fatal Fleece, by Sally Goldenbaum after starting the read and putting it down for a few months. I am letting go of my all Amish kick at least until the first of the year. I am knitting Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth's and Dandy Duck baby washcloths. Once again I fear that I have spent the entire year on beginner knitting and not progressed.  I have downloaded The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien through Audible to listen to in preparation for the movie coming out on December 14th. I read the book a long time ago while I was in High School. It was not a required reading I just thought it would make a good read.  When I was young and if I can remember correctly it was during either the Thanksgiving holiday days, an animated movie based on The Hobbit came on tv and I loved it. Last Sunday I meet a friend from work and went to see part two of Breaking Dawn, it was great and I think the best movie out of the series. Well that's it no crochet for the month of  November. I need to step it up and get back into my crochet and knitting habit.

Hello

I have not posted in a long time. I think this is my worst year yet. I have been reading a lot of  novels about based on the Amish I love the books. I have started knitting baby washcloths. Maybe November will bring more time to knit, read, crochet, and blog.

Autumnal Equinox

It is the first full day of Autumn. I am happy about the change in season.  It is raining at this moment. It was a not to hot day today.  I am knitting a baby wash cloth and reading  The Betrayal, by Beverly Lewis. The fall garden is going great.  All of the  greens and collards are coming along. I did not think it would rain today but I am happy that it did. It just a few weeks we should be able to harvest the kale. Happy Crafting.

Mother and Daughter Day

Great day my Daughter and I took the day off from our jobs and spent the day together. We met each other and then traveled to Charlotte. We made out first trip to Ikea and wow it is huge and has lots of nice stuff.   After Ikea we went to  3 yarn shops the first Yarnhouse they had a great sale and I brought 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran, it was on sale for 60% off so 3 balls cost just a little over what one skein normally costs.  The second shop was Basket of Yarn and the lady in the shop was so nice and I loved the shop, she had great yarn I really want to buy this great yarn, I don't remember the name because I did not write it down, I can't remember a thing if I don't. The yarn because of the texture made just a simple knit stitch scarf look like a complicated pattern. The third and final shop of day was Charlotte Yarn this was a quick trip it seemed like a nice shop and when we arrived there was a group sitting on the chairs and couches working on projects and talking, it looked like everyone was having a very good time. I did not get to spend much time in the shop because my Daughter does not knit or crochet and she was getting bored looking at yarn. I hope to go back again one day. Then it was off the Cheddar for lunch and a quick look around Concord Mills. I had a great time and enjoyed spending time with my Daughter.  One the reading front I am reading The Covenant it is the first in the Abram's Daughters series by Beverly Lewis. I  am on a Amish kick at this time. No crochet projects at this time and all knitting seems to be on hold.           

Had to get in at least one post for August

It has been a long time since my last post. I think this year will be worst than last year if I don't get any better at posting. I final have the new roof and it is great it looks so much better and I feel much better about getting rain. It has not rained since the roof has been finished. No crochet this summer and not much on the knitting front. I have added a few rows to  a scarf I am working. I put down baby afghan and for some reason I just can't pick it back up.  I will I am sure. I have spent a lot of time reading. Mostly books about the Amish. I have a nice long weekend coming and I am glad. Yet another summer has come and gone and no vacation. Maybe one day I can afford one. Started Zumba again. This time it is two day's per week at my job provided by a woman at work who is certified in Zumba. I am really enjoying this class much better than the classes I started off taking. I feel less pressure to be perfect. Maybe it is because I feel the need to be less perfect with the steps among my fellow co workers. The fall garden went in this week 2 varieties of Kale, a mustard-spinach, a rape, a mixed green, a turnip, and lettuce. We are thinking about adding beet just to see if it will do okay. If we don't get beets the tops are good too.

Trying To Enjoy My Days Off

I will not call it a vacation , I have days off and I am not enjoying them. First the office was closed yesterday for the 4th, my Daughter and her Boyfriend and her dog came to the house for a cookout. We put ribs, chicken, hot dogs, and kelibsa sausage on the grill. A new grill that Kendra's boyfriend had to put together. That was not so bad. Then before all of the eating could begin my Mother decides to call my Aunt to see if she wanted to come to the house. Well she could not come she needed to visit a friend in the hospital. My Mother talks her into letting her babysit her grandchild that she's raising. She is 8 1/2 and not that she is a bad child but if I had my choice I would not spend a lot of time with little children. I have raised my one and only child and that's all I wanted to be involved with.  The next time I take days off and I don't do anything but sit at home, I will make sure my Mother is visiting her sister and their Mother so I can be alone. I finished reading  The Half-Stitched Amish Quitting Club, by  Wanda E. Brunstetter today it was a great read. Try to start a scarf today but did not get to far. Worked on my dirty bedroom today. I made a little progress, but I still have a long ways to go. I could be on an episode of  Clean House or Horders Buried Alive. I finally have the money togethter for the roof, I need to get one more estimate and then I will go with the man my friend at work told me about. Only asked for another person to come by because my Daughter kept nagging me to see if I could find someone cheaper. I wish I would have waited until after the man I want to do the job was finished and then told her about the roof. The weather is still really hot and dry so my garden is not doing very well. Happy crafting and gardening.      

How Hot Is It!

Okay it is hot in the State of North Carolina. Today we made it to the mid 90's tommorrow according to the reports we will hit 100.   I am half a step closer to getting a new roof. Hopefully by sometime next week I will have enough money to get the roof and maybe enough to get the two dead tree's cut down.  We shall see.  Still working the Diagonal Comfort Blanket, slowly but surely maybe before the summer ends it will be complete. Just finished reading A Hand to Hold, by Kathleen Fuller. It was the third book in the  A Hearts of Middlefield Series, I really hope it is not the last but the end makes me think it is the last for the charactors in this series. Sunday I picked up a new book by Wanda E Brunstetter it is The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club. I think I will start reading it tonight when I go to bed.  I have downloaded my first Audio book to my Kindle, at least I think it downloaded  if it did download I might listen and do a little knitting add a few row to the blanket. I really need to get a crochet project going.

Need's and Wants

I need a roof and I want to go to the beach. I don't have the money or either one. It is a sad thing to be almost 50 year old woman with a full time job and not be able to with the income I earn take a vacation and do the necessary repairs to my home. When I say we need a roof I mean we really need a roof. We are in the process of trying to get a loan. On my job I am not allowed to borrow money from my mandatory retirement. I can from my voluntary 401k but I don't have enough in this retirement to borrow the entire amount. I don't think I will be able to get the loan. The loan officer at the bank was not very encouraging. I have not been to the beach since 2006 and it was during Christmas. I have not been to the beach in hot weather since 2005 the year my Daughter graduated from high school. She now finished college and in graduate school. I don't feel that I am living I feel that I am just existing. I know before anyone brings up the point I am in a lot better shape than so many people never the less it does not make me feel any better. I am sorry to whine but that's the way I feel. I am unhappy and depressed. I am still working on my working on the Diagonal Comfort Blanket, do far things are going okay. Please believe me when I tell you the pattern is not hard, but if you are watching tv or drinking a lot of wine you will mess up. No crochet at this time. I have finished reading An Honest Love, by Kathleen Fuller and started reading A Hand to Hold, by Kathleen Fuller. I have for now put aside A Fatal Fleece, by  Sally Goldenbaum. Today while I was at Walmart I picked up a new book The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club, by Wanda E Brunstetter. It has been a hot but good weekend. My Mother and I meet my Daughter at Costco yesterday to do some  shopping and the we went to lunch at Olive Garden, I love Olive Garden. I had my favorite soup and salad. A trip to Whole Foods and I have decided to start buying our meat from Whole foods. Every time we go to the grocery store and look at meat it has been injected with a solution.   So many things to think about. Oh well True Blood it's Sunday night.

I am trying to be a better blogger

Well I had great plans to become a better blogger this year. So far I am not doing so well. So far my summer seems to be going okay. I have read  books and started a 4th since my last post. I am still working on my baby afghan. Yes I did have to start all over again missed a stitch while I was watching t.v. and could not fix my mistake. So now that I am back on track I try to work on the afghan during my lunch break in my office so I don't get distracted.  No crochet projects this month so far. The books that I read  the last 2 books in the Lizzie Searches for Love Series book 2 When Strawberries Bloom, and Big Decisions, by Linda Byler. Love the series. Then I finished A Man of His Word, by Kathleen Fuller another great read. I love reading books about the Amish. They are easy reads and very relaxing. Now I am reading A Fatal Fleece  Sally Goldenbaum only 38 pages read so far. Had a great weekend. My Nephew graduated from High School on Friday so happy for him. Spent Saturday with My Daughter and My Mother. My Daughter's thinking about buying a house or townhouse. Her rent keeps going up every year and it is now more than my mortgage. She wanted us to see house that she looked at, so we did it was a very pretty house but the bedrooms are small. Then we went to Olive Garden. It was my first trip back to Olive Garden since my birthday in February, and my first time back since I tried to make the Zuppa Tuscan soup. I did the soup and salad and I must say I think I did a good job making the soup at home. My garden is going well I hope yours is too. Happy crafting and gardening.

Another Weekend

Well my weekend was okay. It was pretty quite and I did not get a lot of reading, crochet, or knitting done. Saturday night I went to the airport to pick up my daughter. She spent the week in China. She said she enjoyed the trip but at times it could be stressful. She states so many people and  the food a lot different than the us. She stated that  a lot of people wanted to take pictures of her because most of the people that live in China have never or hardly ever see an African American or Black person and especially an African American woman. She had the chance to ride on the high speed rail. She said it did not feel like you are going that fast. Her school did not include a trip to the Great Wall and she was very disappointed.  All in all she said she had a great time but she was happy to be back in the United States and North Carolina. They toured companies in China to see how things worked.

My Weekend

Well my long weekend started Thursday night.  I had to request Friday off from my job so that I could take my Daughter to the airport. My daughter is in an MBA program at  North Carolina State University  and the had to participate in an international studies program.  So she's spending one week in China. She told me she needed to post to a blog while she's in China. The blog http://kendraglobalbusinessinchinamba.wordpress.com  The class will get the chance to visit several businesses in China and I think attend classes in China. She called me around 1:00 am today to let me know she had arrived in China. I wish I was in China also, I feel like this is a once in a lifetime trip. This week I resumed Zumba because I need to exercise. I hate Zumba I am not good at it. I will continue to go however because I need to exercise. I need to lose weight and get my blood pressure under control. I finished reading The Cat, The Wife And The Weapon  look what the cat dragged in. by  Leann Sweeney. Loved the read it was the first book in the A Cat In Trouble Mystery that I have read.  Still working on the Diagonal Comfort Blanket  it is a free pattern you can find on Lionbrand. It is a very easy pattern but I have had to start the pattern I think 5 times to get it right.  After  the fourth row you repeat the the fourth row over and over again until you have 160 stitches on you needles. Then decrease until you have five stitches. I feel like I had to start over so many times because if you are not careful you can get careless. We are deep into Spring and hot weather here in North Carolina. We have planted five different  heirloom tomatoes We plan to add to the garden in the next few weeks. Happy crafting and gardening.   

Marvelous Weekend

It is Sunday night and my Marvelous weekend is almost over. Yesterday my Daughter and I spent most of the day together.  First we went to an Earth Day thing at the Dixie Classic Fair Ground. I brought 5 Heirloom tomato's and some thyme. Then off to Knit Picky a very nice yarn shop in Winston Salem. Very friendly people. I brought a skein of Malabrigo sock 857 Light of Love.  I have plans to use it to knit a shawlette.  It is the Holden Shawlette, by Mindy Wilkes. Then we went to The Sweet Potato for lunch it was great and I had the best Hot Dog. A picture of the hot dog to follow.  Then home to spend most of the late afternoon and night by myself. I love spending time by myself.  Spent all day today alone well almost alone the cats are here.  Watching tv and knitting. My current knitting  project is a baby blanket, it is a free knitting pattern from Lion Brand  the Diagonal Comfort Blanket. The pattern calls for Cotton-Ease but I am using Bernat Baby Sport, color Funny Prints. Also I am using size 8 29" circular knitting needles. Current read The Cat, The Wife And The Weapon Look what the cat dragged in, by Leann Sweeney It is  A Cats In Trouble Mystery. No crochet project this month.  I am already living for the weekend. I am ready for Friday. The countdown starts in a few hours.    

Wonderful Spring Day!

Cross the County line today and went to Greensboro to meet my Daughter. I wanted to check out the new Whole Foods at Friendly Shopping Center. I love it. My plan is to spend a lot of time shopping at Whole Foods. It was very crowded today. The store was great. They had local products and that is great. Fresh Duck legs and Duck breast. The dry beans and pasta, fresh fish. Then off to Savory Spice Shop also a shop that sales olive oil and other oils. I can't remember the name of the shop. Then we went to lunch. So all around great Saturday. The only thing about visiting stores outside of Asheboro and Randolph County is the fact that you realize how bad the stores are in Asheboro. The variety is very low in Asheboro. Well what can you do. I finished reading Till Death Do Us Purl, by Anne Canadeo great read and I had a feeling about Jeremy's Scarf and I was right! . You need to read the book to find out what I am talking about.  I have several rows of a baby blanket started but I know that I need to rip it out  again and start over. It is off track it is to bad to keep going. I just can't bring myself to do it yet. Happy crafting.

Another Middle Of The Week Post

It's Wednesday night and I am watching America Idol. Still reading Till Death Do Us Purl, Anne Canadeo. Great read and I can't make up my mind about the murderer.  This week so far I have weaved the ends on my first knit afghan. I found a free pattern from Plymouth Yarn Company it is Heaven - F138 it is a Mini Baby Blanket, I did not use  Heaven yarn. I used Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn, the color Pitter Patter. It is a very pretty yarn, and nice color, very soft. I used almost 3 balls. Cast on a new baby afghan on Sunday but it took three cast on's to get it right. On Sunday I was to busy watching A Game of Thrones on HBO. Great Series if you want to give it a try. Well back to the Afghan. You can find the pattern in Leisure Arts Quick # 2894 Knit Baby Afghans by Evelyn A. Clark. I am knitting #5 Whisper Soft. It is an easy quick knit, you use 2 strands of yarn held together. I am using Lion Brand Pound of Love in 101 Pastel Pink and 100 White. I had to buy the White but had the Pastel Pink in my stash. I am trying to take it slow so and avoid ripping the afghan out again. I am on row 7.  Tonight's picture is  the Mini Baby Blanket.         

Good Friday

It was great to sleep in and have the day off.  We started the day by getting up and heading out of Asheboro and Randolph it is one of my favorite things to do spending time out of Asheboro and Randolph. It is like a dark cloud lifts and a weight off my shoulders.  First stop Savory Spice Shop www.savoryspiceshop.com and I found something I have wanted for a long time it is a whole nutmeg. When you live in a small and dinky City there are something you can't find. So the Savory Spice Shop was great place and can't wait to visit again. If you want to find a spice, salt, or rub you should be able to find it at Savory Spice shop. Harris Teeter at Friendly shopping center, next stop A C Moore, then off to the Super G  International Market. I love the super G International. So after all this I made my way back to Asheboro the dark cloud and weight to pay a visit to Walmart and the Bottom Dollar  now transformed back to Food Lion. So 6 stores and after that I was tired and ready to go home to my house that needs a roof.  Tonight I made Pollo en edobo(chicken and edobo) a recipe I found on Youtube. It turned out great.  Spent a little time working a few rows of a baby washcloth.  Happy crafting.

Long Weekend

It's the weekend in baby! I am very happy about this fact. The agency is closed tomorrow for good Friday. So I have a nice three day weekend. After work today went to Zumba it was hell. I hate to exercise. I know I need to and I will continue to go but damn I hate it! I am reading Till Death Do Us Purl by Anne Canadeo it is the fourth book in the A Black Sheep Knitting Mystery Series. So far I am enjoying the read. Cast on a baby wash cloth from Leisure Arts pattern book Baby Washcloths To Knit by Melissa Bergland Burham. Knit Picks is really making it hard to keep my resolve to use all my scrap cotton yarn this year before buying more cotton yarn. I received an email introducing multi colored dishie cotton. Great color's so you should check it out. Craft on.

National Crochet Month

The last day of National Crochet Month. Today I finished another Beth's Little Star Afghan. So I think I had a great  National Crochet Month. Six Hot Hats and two Beth's Little Star Afghan's. At this time I have three books that I have started reading this month.  Blue Collar Blues, Rosalyn McMillan, Running Around (and Such), Linda Byler it is the first book in the Lizzie Searches for Love series, and the fourth book in the  A Black Sheep Knitting Mystery Till Death Do Us Purl, Anne Canadeo. I think so far my reading, crafting, and blogging year is going so much better than last year. Well I brought two tickets yesterday for the big Mega Millions Lottery and of course I did not win. So all the life and soul sucking activities going on in my life will continue.

Quick Update

Long day at work, then it was off to Zumba. I made the 5:15 session. It was rough and I could not keep up. The people who teach the sessions and the place you go is great but I really don't like Zumba. I hate exercise and I don't won't to participate. Due to certain circumstances my life or most of it is really not my own. So off to Zumba and exercise I go. I finished reading In the Company of My Sistahs, Angie Daniels. It was a very good read. I think I identified the the most with Kayla Sparks, or at least with her feelings of low self esteem and the choosing of the wrong man. Still working a Beth's Little Star Afghan for Crochet Month which is quickly winding down. Spent a great weekend with my daughter, she came home on Friday and left early Sunday afternoon. We watched movies, talked and ate. I did not cook we went out to eat and ordered take out.

St. Patrick's Day!

Great day today. Got up this morning and made a trip to Costco. I love Costco. It was a stocking day. Had to get Tide,Downy, and dish detergent. Also two 18 pound bags of charcoal. It was our first visit since January. So far no crochet or knitting but I did pay a visit to A C Moore picked up two balls of Berant baby sport yarn, it was on sale and a set of 10.5 29" circular knitting needle's. Still reading In the Company of My Sistahs, by Angie Daniels. In honor of St. Patrick's Day we cooked Corned Beef ,Cabbage, and green potatoes. Found the recipe for the green potatoes on YouTube. My Sister and two of her daughter's and son came over to eat. My nephew did not like the green potatoes but everyone else did. We had a great time. Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy crafting.

Quick Midweek Post

It is Wednesday and hump day two days until the weekend. Last night I went to my third night of Zumba it is not my thing. One I can't dance and just can't seem to catch onto the steps. The only good thing I can say is at least my heart rate was up and I was moving. I hate exercise! I really wish it was not necessary. The class did not start until 6:30 so to make sure I went to the class and not home. I sat in my car and reading a book until time for the class to start. The latest read In the Company of My Sistahs, by Angie Daniels. I really need to get started on my Charles Dickens it is his birthday. I have Hard Times on my Kindle and A Tale of Two Cities in paperback. Spent sometime at lunch yesterday working a Beth's Little Star afghan. My friend Anglea's afghan is coming along, on Monday I got to see how much she had done since Saturday. It looked great. I need to check in with her tomorrow. No Crochet so far today. It has been almost two weeks since I have spent anytime knitting.

Happy Friday

Friday is the best day of the week. I love and live for Friday. Love Friday because it leads into the weekend. This means any time tomorrow if the phone rings I don't have to answer, there is no need for me to smile or do things that I don't want to do. My crochet projects are going well and I have a good start on another Beth's Little Star Afghan. The yarn is from Red Heart I think it has been discontinued it is TLC baby color Giggle. I love the colors and hate the fact that you can't find the color anymore. I brought 4 skeins years ago when Hobby Lobby had it on sale. Happy National Crochet Month

Working On My National Crochet Month Goals!

Seven day in to National Crochet Month. So far things are going great. A huge difference from last year. So far I have on complete Beth's Little Star Afghan, and three starter afghans. Six Hot Hats and two that I need to weave the ends and add the drawstring bow. This is very exciting ! If I keep going at this rate it is a possibility for me to surpass last years crochet projects in just one month. Finished reading A Meeting in the Ladies' Room, by Anita Doreen Diggs. Started reading In the Company of My Sistahs, by Angie Daniels this is my the first time reading a book from this author. Signed up to do two nights of Zumba starting this week and lasting until April 7 . This week I attended on Monday and Tuesday. It was tough but a great way to get your heart rate up. I can't dance and very uncoordinated so I had a hard time keeping up with the steps. So far so good on the no Pepsi or Coke for Lent. Crochet on because it is National Crochet Month, start a new project or pull out a UFO to finish.

Pretending I Can Cook

Today was my day to pretend I can cook or at least follow a recipe. Olive Garden is one of my favorite restaurants. The never-ending soup and salad happens to be my favorite item to order on the menu. My favorite soup Zuppa Tuscana. So today I tried to re-create the soup. A friend from work gave me a recipe so I used that and a recipe from youtube. I feel like the soup turned out pretty good. Spent the weekend crocheting hot hats and reading. Watching Desperate House Wives, and blogging. Once again March is National Crochet month, so take some time to crochet.

Happy weekend!

Oh my I am so glad it is Friday! Happy for the weekend. I have just finished 2 Hot Hats since I came home from work. In honor of National Crochet Month my goal is to crochet as much as I possibly can. So I started off with Hot Hats and plan to crochet a few potholders. The Hot Hat are so easy and quick. We are in for a chilly and rainy weekend. If is was up to me I would not go out of the house. Tomorrow I will go out because I my friend as a going away birthday party for her son. He leaves on Monday for basic training he joined the Army. I am looking forward to the party but I hate getting out in the rain. After the party I will need to make a trip to the grocery store. I want to recreate the Zuppa Tuscan soup at Olive Garden I have a recipe from a friend at work, I am not sure if I will use that recipe or one from Youtube. I will update you on Sunday night about the soup. Still reading A Meeting in the Ladies' Room, by Anita Doreen Diggs it is a great read. Happy National Crochet Month.

National Crochet Month

March is National Crochet Month. So in honor of National Crochet Month my plan is to crochet as much as I possible can during the month. Tonight I started and finished a Hot Hat. I you love instant gratification crochet a few Hot Hats! You can find the pattern on Ravelry.com . Reading A Meeting in the Ladies' Room, Anita Doreen Diggs. Last Night I finished the Beth's Little Star Afghan. So happy with the way it turned out. Watching American Idol. Its Friday Eve and I am looking forward to the weekend.

Leap Day

It's Leap Day!, I hope everybody had a great Leap Day. My day was filled with lots of hard work. Now I am at home watching American Idol and adding the last round to the Beth's Little Star Afghan I started a few weeks ago. Reading A Meeting in the Ladies Room, Anita Doreen Diggs great read so far. Last night I downloaded Hard Times, Charles Dickens onto my Kindle. The group I belong to on Ravelry The Charles Dickens Group started a read along in honor of Dickens bicentenary. I did not start the first book and will have to go back the and read the first book A Tale of Two Cities. It was so cool to download Hard Times on my Kindle only .99 cents.

Gray and Soggy Monday

No snow or sleet this weekend. Unlike last Sunday it was dry mild weather. Today it was gray cloudy and rainy. Tomorrow promises to be sunny and warm. My plan for last weekend was to meet my friend from work so that I could help her with the baby afghan she's planning to crochet for a friend. I received a call from her on Saturday morning and she could not make it to the library so now we have to reschedule. Our library does not open on Sunday and I am not sure most of the restaurants around here would be happy about two crocheters hanging out most of the afternoon never spotted any crochet or knitting in the mall or restaurants in Asheboro. I know Asheboro has knitter's and crocheter's but I think most are in the closet. Finished reading The Choice, Suzanne Woods Fisher it is base on the life of the Amish. It is part one of the Lancaster County Secrets Series. Great read. Part to and three are out and books a million has both. Pay day on Wednesday so I will pick up part to on Wednesday. Current read A Meeting in the Ladies' Room, Anita Doreen Diggs just started during my afternoon break at work so only on page 3. My first knitted afghan off the needles and now all I need to do is weave the end's. Still working the Beth Little Start crochet afghan. Already added a round since I got home from work.

My Sunday Afternoon

The day started out cold and rainy. My Daughter planned for us to go out to eat to celebrate my birthday which was on the 16th since that is a day through the work week I did not want to go on my birthday. What I did not know to start with was she had invited almost 14 other people! 3 of my very good friends. My Aunts and a few Cousins. We went to Olive Garden. I love Olive Garden. I had the soup and salad. My Cousin Nicole Jones made and decorated a cake for me it was beautiful. She has started a business making cakes, and cookies. She make cakes for birthday's, weddings, and all sort's of event's . The cakes are homemade not from a box. The time spent with family and Friends was great. I am still working on both the knit and crochet baby afghan's. Still reading A Plain & Fancy Christmas, by Cynthia Keller. We had a little snow today so my ride home from Greensboro was a little rough and slow, slide just a Little but it was not bad no damage to me or the car. It took me an over an hour for me to get home normally it's only 30 minutes. What can I say it's North Carolina and it's snow.

Going On To The Next Round

My work on the Beth's Little Star Afghan I started continues to progress. Almost finished with round 16!. The afghan looks great. Added a row to the knitted afghan, watched American Idol. My plan is to spend sometime reading tonight. It is hump day and I am on the downward slide to the weekend.

My First Knit Afghan

Last night I started my first Knit afghan. Over the weekend I brought 5 skeins of Bernat Baby Blanket in Pitter Patter. A very pretty color. It is a chunky soft yarn . Friday night I tried the Beth's Little Star and did not like the way it looked, then tried The Crazy Stitch did not like that either. So last night on Ravelry I did a search and found a few projects using the Bernat Baby Blanket. The project that stood out for me was the diagonal blanket you can find the pattern on plymouthyarn.com it is a free pattern number F 138. You have to use circular needles. Even though I learned to knit in 2007 I have never used circular needles to knit straight or in the round. I have used double pointed needles. So after reading the pattern and what you needed to get started, so I went in search of size 15 24" or larger circular needles. Found them in my bedroom. Took a deep breath and cast on. Went to youtube to find a video to make sure I was going in the right direction. I feel like I am off to a good start. Added two rounds to the Beth's Little Star Afghan. My friend Angela called me tonight to help her with her Beth's Little Star Afghan. Tomorrow at work I will help her and make sure she is off to a good start. The Afghan is knit like a Grandmother Favorite Dishcloth you cast on four and knit two rows after that you knit 2 yarn over and knit to the end of the row. You repeat this row until you have 62 stitches on the needle. Over 40 rows end and so far so good. Getting ready to go to bed an read. Happy Crafting.

Great Day for Reading and Crochet

Spent the day reading and crocheting. Picked up a book at the library yesterday, and started reading last night. The book is A Plain & Fancy Christmas, by Cynthia Keller. I Know a Christmas theme book well what can I say it appealed to me. So far I am enjoying the read it is about the Amish and I love books involving the Amish. Working row 10 on the variegated Beth's Little Star Afghan. Marvelously long week ahead of me and I am trying to prepare. All crafty people craft on!

Cold and Windy Saturday

Well today has been a cold windy day. Also a shocking day just found out not long ago Whitney Huston died she was only 48. She was a tremendous singer and I feel so bad for her family, especially her Daughter. My day started with me getting up and putting to bags of can goods on my front door step , every year the boy scouts leave bags and come back a week later to pick up donations. Did not have a much to give this year and I really feel bad about giving less this year. The for next year is to be better prepared. Went to the library to meet my friend from work she wants to crochet a baby afghan for one of her friends. So I told her I would help her get started on an afghan. We tried some chucky yarn first and a different pattern than what I thought she was going to use. This did not work out well so we went to a pattern I felt it would be easier for a beginner. We used Beth's Little Star Afghan. I am not sure the website is still up for this pattern, but I think you might be able to find on Ravelry. To me this pattern seems easy and you repeat the same stitch's over and over again. In order to prepare on Friday night I practiced getting started and the first few rounds of the afghan. Then I started one today at the same time she did so she could see how to get started read and work the pattern. So now I have 3 Beth's Little Star Afghan started the plan is to finish all three no need to rip them out. Last night finished reading Behind the Seams, by Betty Hechtman. Great book loved the ending. Can't wait for the next in the series.

Quite Sunday

Spent most of the day in bed watching Say Yes To The Dress on TLC great show I love it. I am watching Dateline on ID love the show. I enjoy watching all the shows about murder and other mysteries. After finally getting out of bed sorted my laundry let the cats in and started watching tv. Finished a Red Hot Hat, so far so good on the use up all my cotton scarps and cotton before buying anymore. While searching for all the cotton yarn I found a lot of I love This Cotton! from Hobby Lobby. It is a great cotton for baby washcloths. It is a very soft cotton. Well I have loads more than I realize once I gathered it all together. When I get around to cleaning out my closet something tells me more cotton yarn will be found. Another goal for the year is to get all the stash yarn organized and use as much of it as possible. Next weekend is the annual sheep shearing at Rising Meadow it is free and open to the public, they will have yarn, lamb meat, and roving on sale. You get to see a sheep shearing in person and help if you want. Would love to attend but not sure due to fiances. The yarn sold at Rising Meadow is beautiful, it is always a temptation. The lamb is great and I hate it when I can't buy a leg of lamb. I have some lamb bones and meat that I need to cook. Just not sure what to do with the meat and bones. Maybe lamb stock with the bones and then maybe soup or lamb stew. Posting a picture of Hermes, don't let the sweet look fool you. I have a very hard time keeping off the counter's.

Potholder's

Crocheting potholder's for my Daughter. Using stash and scrap cotton yarn. Still Reading Behind the Seams by Betty Hechtman. Great book and I love all the Tarzana Hookers. Quite Saturday got up went to Greensboro Public Library to return over due books and books on cd. Then made my way to the grocery store and back home. Killed time watching tv and on the internet. I am watching 48 Hours a Mystery. A rainy day but not to cold. This has been a very mild winter in North Carolina. So far no snow or freezing rain. Very happy about this because this means my heat does not come as much. I love snow and watching it snow but still happy about the mild winter. The time I have spent alone has been wonderful. I used a pattern from ASE Knits 'n' Crochets http://asenc.blogspot.com/ Sunflower Potholder/Hotpad . Posting a picture of my version of this potholder added a lot more petals to the potholder.

Cotton Yarn Stash

This weekend I spent time going through my Cotton yarn stash. When you spend a lot of time knitting dish cloths you have a lot of left over yarn. This weekend I spent a lot of time rolling left over yarn into balls. My goal for this year is to not buy any cotton yarn. I think some of my left over yarn can be used to crochet Hot Hats and potholders. Another plan is to knit or crochet grocery bags. Still reading Behind the Seams, by Betty Hechtman. So far a very good read and I am sure I will enjoy it to the very end. So far no knitting, crochet, or reading today. My Daughter was here yesterday for a visit. She wanted to try cooking Chicken Marsala. She loves the Chicken Marsala at Olive Garden. So she brought half the ingredients and we brought half. She found the recipe online. You need to give yourself a lot of preparation time. Chopping and slicing. My Daughter was not pleased with the final product. She did not like the sauce. She felt like the dish had to much Marsala wine. So I told her maybe she should consider reducing the amount of wine. I liked the sauce myself. I hope she will give the recipe another try or find another recipe. Really enjoyed the time spent in the kitchen with my daughter and our time spent together. I crocheted two potholders for my Daughter and forgot to take pictures of the potholders. I have another potholder almost finished. Plan to start another tonight. The potholder are for my Daughter. After the potholders the plan is to crochet as many Hot Hats as I can out of my cotton yarn stash as I can. Yarn stash picture to follow. Happy crafting.

Back to Crochet

Another calm quite weekend alone has come to a close. My Mother is back from visiting her Sister and her Mother, my Niece is here so she can have someone to watch American Idol with. That's me I love American Idol. So far it has been okay I think they need to show a few more of the bad and the crazy people. That part had a lot of entertainment value to me. I finished reading The Wedding Shawl by Sally Goldenbaum. I enjoyed The Wedding Shawl it had a great ending and I was shocked and would have never been able to guess the killer. I started reading Behind the Seams by Betty Hechtman. I am 36 pages into the book and I have missed all the characters. The description of the clothes Adele wears is wonderful. If you are not familiar with with this series of books, they are crochet mysteries, and you should start with the first in the series. Hooked On Murder. If you love a great cozy mystery you will enjoy this series. I enjoy the cozy murder mysteries because I am not a CSI person. I don't want all the gory details. I ripped out my knitting project it was a heart dish cloth what else that is all I seem to knit. Started and finished a crochet project. I crocheted a Hot Hat it is basically a pot holder for pot tops. The Hot Hats are very easy to crochet and can be worked up very quickly and easily. The only problem for me was adding the little tie. The pattern states add the tie on the 5th round, I did not mark my 5th round and I am not sure I weaved the tie in the correct round. It still turned out well and on the next Hat I plan to use a stitch marker to the 5th round. I found out about Hot Hats when I participated in a dishcloth swap a few years ago, the person I swapped with sent two Hot Hats one large and one small she also sent me a copy of the pattern. You can find the pattern on Ravelry. It is from the February 2006 issue of Crochet World. The pattern is for a large and a small Hot Hat. I am trying to prepare myself for my work week ahead. I am already counting down until the weekend. It is so hard to fit everything you want to do in a day. I want to get started on another Hot Hat, and read. Adding a picture of the Hot Hat

So we cooked a standing rib roast

Today my Mother and I cooked a standing rib roast. We put a rub on the roast we got from The Chew. When I watched the episode I did not realize you needed to put the rub on and leave it for at least 12 hours, then cook the roast. So I did the rub today and let it stay on the roast for around 30 minutes. We cooked the roast for 1 1/2 hours and I think maybe we could have cooked it for and hour and forty five minutes. I tried a new rice Lundberg Wild Blend A Gourmet blend of wild & whole grain brown rice. One the package it states to cook for 50 minutes then turn off remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. I think I should have cooked for another 10 to 15 minutes. I plan to give this another try also. The butternut squash was great and I have another one to cook. The roast was still very good. We also cooked watercress and bok choy. So a great try new recipes day. So far no knitting and very little reading. I am watching All American Muslin it is the season finale, I love the show. Desperate House Wives was great and I recorded Oprah's Next Chapter. So I am off to prepare for a long hard week, but I am ready for the challenge.

It's Saturday Night

Why does the weekend pass by so fast. It is Saturday night and starting to rain. The day has not been half bad. My Mother and I got up and went to Greensboro we met my Daughter at A C Moore looked around did some shopping I brought a holiday knit dishcloths pattern book, it is from Leisure Arts, 11 projects by Katherine Satterfield. My Daughter and Mother brought Christmas Decoration. Then it was off to Super G Mart and international grocery store. It was wonderful. I found the dried mushrooms. The Super G Mart in Greensboro can be found at 4927 W. Market St. Greensboro, NC 27407. I paid a visit this store because I could not find dried mushrooms and any of my local and not local grocery stores. What brought this search on was the fact that my Mother brought a standing rib roast and I watched an episode of The Chew, on this episode the cook a standing prime rib. They used the dried mushrooms to coat the outside of the roast. It looked great and I thought it would be a good idea for the standing rib roast. I don't think it is to much difference between the standing rib and standing prime rib. Dried mushrooms purchased it was off to Olive Garden for lunch. It was a great lunch. After lunch off to Macy's to return two recalled Martha Stewart cast iron pots. I am back at home knitting a dishcloth and of course posting to my blog. I will do a little reading later on tonight.

2012 Day Two

Back to work tomorrow, at least it's a four days. I am not ready and I wish I had one more day. I am hoping to have a better blogging, crafting, and reading year. However so far today no crafting or reading. Maybe later on tonight. I spent the day looking around the house and I have figured out that the house needs a lot of cleaning. So next weekend my plan is to force myself to start in the kitchen with the cabinets and small pantry. Get rid of all the sour cream and ricotta containers, and any old pots that I no longer use. I have at least 3 pressure cookers and I have not used one in a long time. I will not throw them away just take them to Goodwill. All of this cleaning will be very hard because I am very lazy and I don't like to clean. However I think a nice clean house will help me feel peaceful. So much to do so little time. My Rosemary is in bloom, it is very pretty. I need a brighter new year.

Happy New Year!

Well we had a great day. I think we have started the new year off right. My Mother got up this morning and put the chicken and pork tenderloin in the oven. Later on I put the duck in the oven and my Mother started the blackeyed Peas. Everything turned out great. My Sister and her husband and children came over, my daughter, her boyfriend. My sister and brother in law have been married 27 years today. We had Champagne and the traditional New Year's day meal. So no knitting or crochet so far today. Maybe later and I am happy about the fact that I have tomorrow off so I have a four day work week. Once again Happy New Year!