Gifts for Mom

Not too long ago Mrs. Priss posted a tutorial to make little felt flowers. I thought they were so stinky adorable but what the hell would I ever do with them? I'm not really a flower kind of girl but I bookmarked the post anyway because I knew other people would enjoy them and I could find a use at some point.

Also, as I mentioned here my mom just moved to Arizona a few months ago. When she lived in PA she had a real house and tons of gardens. She had a garden in front of the kitchen that she refered to as her "Old English Garden", it was just a mish mash of lots of beautiful and colorful flowers. I even helped her plant some of them. She also had a lily garden that went all the way around her greenhouse that was SO beautiful!! She even had a shade garden of different ground covering type plants along the fence because it didn't get much light there. In the back yard she had a vegetable garden which I think I will miss the most. There's nothing quite like making a salad with tomatoes your mom grew. Not to mention her greenhouse full of different cacti and houseplants. Needless to say, my mother is one hell of a gardener and has two giant green thumbs. Now that she lives in an apartment in Arizona, she doesn't have her gardens anymore.
When I was thinking of what to make her for Christmas, I remembered the felt flower tutorial! I decided I would make her some little stump work emrboidery hoop gardens that she can hang in her apartment. I chose a theme of all blue flowers because she really loves the color blue, in all shades she loves blue!




Keep craftin' kids!

Jamie

Movie Monday: Harvey

I've done movie reviews in the past but I want to make this a more constant series here for you lovies. I've mentioned it before but in case you didn't know, I live on Netflix. Whether I watch movies or TV shows, it's pretty much all through Netflix and I love it! Lately (since before the summer) I have been on a kick of old movies. Black & White, that horrible color of the 60's and 70's, all just old classics for the most part.

It's kind of great to watch all these movies that are really awesome but kind of forgotten about because we are always inundated with what's out now. I have a few very favorite actors and genres and Netflix is pretty great about suggestions. Plus my sister has the same sort of taste as far as these types of movies go so we are always telling each other what to rent.

I had mentioned to my friend, Jess recently how much I love Jimmy Stewart and she recommended the 1950 movie "Harvey" to me. To be honest when she told me it was about a guy with an imaginary 6'3" white rabbit, it sounded kind of weird.


It was awesome though! I found out through some of the extra features that it was actually written as a play and Jimmy Stewart was in that too!
The movie is really well done and in the beginning you can kind of see why his family is concerned that he has this imaginary friend. I mean he talks to him all day long, they go to the bar together A LOT and he doesn't see anything wrong with it. I'd be more concerned with how much he drinks but his family is mostly just worried about their reputation. Through some funny miscommunications while his sister was trying to admit him into a sanitary, she was admitted! Toward the end you actually start realizing, who the hell cares if he has an imaginary 6'3" rabbit as a friend?! He isn't hurting anybody and he's one of the most pleasant people around, even though he may drink a bit. I won't ruin the ending but it's really good. Not too serious but not too slapsticky either. I highly recommend it!

Jamie

Movie Monday Disclaimer:
I live on Netflix and thought it would be fun to share reviews of some things I watch. I do not stream movies as I don't have internet or any kind of gaming console at home. I am on the 3 dvds at a time plan and love it since I don't have cable either. I watch TV shows this way too but mostly movies. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share!

Dress for my niece

As you may or may not remember, my first niece was born in January last year. She is the most beautiful, happiest, sweetest little thing! When I started thinking what to make her for Christmas and looking on Ravelry and Etsy for crocheted patterns for babies. I fell in love with all the tiny hats and booties and thought I could make her an adorable little set! At Thanksgiving I mentioned it to my step mom, Lonnie and she said it was a great idea. My Dad chimed in though that at the moment it's impossible to keep a hat on her let alone anything on her feet. Apparently she's always taking her shoes and socks off, bummer! I had noticed quite a few little crochet dress patterns during my searches but some were just too frilly and ridiculous while others looked really difficult. If it wasn't Christmas and I didn't have a big ol' list of other stuff to make I might have felt more confident with spending a lot of time on one. However, with all the other stuff I was making I knew I'd run out of time. Lonnie thought a dress would be perfect though, DOH!
I asked what size she is wearing now since I always hear that babies don't actually wear the size that goes along with however many months old they are. Good thing I asked because she is just about to be a year old but is wearing 18 month old clothes. I searched and searched some more for a dress pattern that didn't look impossible or too freaking frilly. I mean I get that she's a little girl but she's not a doll! Anyway, I kept going back to this one dress from Crochet Garden...it is just so cute! I thought it looked so beautiful in the bright red so I used Vanna's Choice in scarlett. I got to work on this little gem and was so pleasantly surprised at how easy the pattern was to follow. It's worked from top to bottom and is almost all one piece. The straps are separate pieces you make afterward. I stuck with white ribbon and little roses. I also decided to buy a little white turtleneck she could wear with it.
When I went back to the ER for my pancreas I brought it with me to work on because I figured I'd be waiting a while. I'm glad I brought it because I got a lot done and it actually sparked a conversation between myself and some other people in the ER waiting room. I was sitting all by myself when all of a sudden a big group of people, a few years younger than me came in and sat all right around me. I came to find out the one guys mom was in a car accident and rushed to the hospital. All of his friends came with him for support which I thought was wonderful, they were like a family themselves. Well we were all sitting there and after a while one of the girls asked what I was making. I held it up and showed her it was going to be a dress for my neice. At that point the top was done and I was about 1/3 of the way through the skirt. She of course "Oooed" and all the other friends looked and they started asking all kinds of questions. How did I learn to do that? How long does it take? When do I find the time to do it? And what not. It was kind of nice to talk to them since we were sitting right next to each other and were all in kind of crappy situations at the moment. Plus they were all what I refer to as "gangsters". I mean they aren't really, they're just all spanish kids who grew up in Allentown, ya know...like urban and hip hop kids. So, we're really different people but we were talking about crocheting, it was funny to think about afterward.

Anyway, once I finished the dress I have to say I was pretty impressed with myself. It's just so beautiful! Jeremy kept commenting on it as well which definitely means something. I was so excited for Christmas Eve and everyone to see it. Basically only Lonnie, Jessie and Jeremy knew I made it. I didn't even tell my step sister, Karyn or my brother in law Keith that I was making it. Before we opened gifts Karyn was talking about how she has been looking for a dress for Lindsay's first birthday party but hasn't been able to find anything she's liked. Lonnie and I both looked at each other and giggled. Karyn was saying she really wanted something purple since the baby is always in pink which was kind of a let down. Once they opened it, everyone was so surprised! My Aunt even said that it's a family heirloom which kind of made me almost cry. I mean that's a pretty serious thing I think. Everyone went on and on about it and asking me all kinds of questions about it too. Later on Karyn told me that they are going to have Lindsay wear it at her birthday, that means so much to me!!!
I can't wait to see her in it and get pictures. For now all I have are the pictures I took before I wrapped it. (LOTS OF PICTURES!)







Isn't it the cutest little thing?!
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you're having an awesome day!

Jamie

Gifts for Jeremy

Ever since the scarf I made Liz for her birthday in September, Jeremy has been "subtly" hinting that he could really use a scarf too. I wanted it to be different from Liz's but at the same time I am in love with cables, I just think they are so classy. After trying to find a pattern for him with no success, I decided to make his almost the same as Liz's. The only difference is I only added one cable on the outside of each edge instead of two for his. I also wanted it to be a pretty neutral color. Jeremy and I are similar in that we both basically only wear black, grey and other dark or neutral colors. Plus he just got a really nice new Dickies coat that is black so I thought a grey scarf would look nice with it. I got to work on it and then realized he needs a new hat too. He's been wearing the same striped visor beanie since last year and it's pretty tattered looking now. I looked all over Ravelry to find a hat for him. I couldn't decide whether to make him a hat that matched the scarf or not, he's not exactly a matchy-matchy kinda guy but sometimes a hat and scarf combo can look really nice. After not being able to make a decision I realized, why the hell not just make him two hats?! I found the first hat with the cables patterns to match and according to the reviews the pattern was pretty easy to follow. I didn't like the brim on it so I just omitted it. This thing is SO thick and warm! The pattern said it was "one size fits most". Well apparently Jeremy has a big head because it's kind of tight on him. He said he doesn't mind though and I think it'll stretch after a while. The second hat...well...I don't knit, right? But I REALLY love fair isle patterns. I think they are kind of kitschy but so cute at the same time. I have the Son of Stitch & Bitch book and there is this awesome hat and mitten set with fair isle skulls that I would love to make for Jeremy. I was on the hunt for how to crochet fair isle patterns. After searching and searching I came across this post on Craftster. I did a few test swatches but didn't really like how they were turning out, the pattern ended up really large and it just didn't look right. Back to the drawing board I went...well back to Ravelry actually. I found this pattern for a skull beanie and thought it would be perfect! I didn't like the crossbones bit so I just didn't do them. It was kind of a challenge at first with the color change and carrying the grey yarn along with the black when not in use but after trying, frogging, trying again, etc. it turned out great I think! It's kind of big on me but it fits Jeremy so that's all that matters! I made sure to use the same grey yarn as the scarf for the skull so they'd look good together too. So, without further adieu...

The scarf.


The matching hat.


A close up so you can see better details.


The skull beanie.


Close up of the skull design.


I'm really happy with how all of these turned out and he loves them too which is the most important part!

Stay crafty kids!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday #1

I would like to invent...

Oh I know EXACTLY what I would invent if I was smart enough to be able to, a teleportation machine! Not a time machine, that seems a little dangerous. People messing with the past or the future definitely could screw things up. But being able to teleport to work or to my Dad's or my Mom's and back home would be AMAZING!! Not only do I get really nervous in the car when someone else is driving or anxious when I'm driving myself somewhere new (thanks to effing car accidents) it is so expensive! Cars cost money to buy, to upkeep, to insure and to keep full of gas. I hate it! Plus they are murder on the environment, literally. I'm sure there would be costs for teleporation, like to buy the damn machines and have them installed in your house or for the electricity it probably would need to power them. I still think they'd be way better than having to drive cars. They would mess up a good ol' fashion road trip I suppose but I've got 3 of those under my belt so I'm ok with that!

What would you invent?!

Have a Fun Friday!
Jamie

Fun Fact Friday Disclaimer:
I found The Imagination Prompt Generator and loved the idea of writing posts based on its random prompts. Every Friday I will share a lil' something about myself based on these prompts. I see it as a means of sharing a bit more about myself with you! It will be a random topic or question and my responses will be pretty free form and random as well. I'll of course edit for spelling and punctuation but I want to just let it flow for the most part. I hope you enjoy and maybe even join in!

Crash!

And now for something completely ridiculous...

On the SECOND DAY of my new job I was rear ended on the way to work! I mean it was the worst luck EVER! I was slowing down to a stop on the exit ramp. There was so much traffic that the cars wanting to exit were stopping up on the highway still. Well the dude driving behind me (who had cut in super close behind me to begin with) did not see all the traffic??? so he slammed right into me. Since the traffic was starting to stop up on the highway and there is an entrance ramp in the same lane as the exiting one, I was sort of pulling toward the shoulder so people could get onto the highway behind me. Luckily I was not pushed into the car in front of me but I felt my head whip forward and slam back into the head rest as I screamed "NOOOO" at the top of my lungs and slammed on my breaks to try and stop my car. As soon as it stopped I could feel shooting pains in my neck! I got out and went to the back of my car to look at what this jack ass had inevitably done to it. The guy came over and asked if I was ok and to look at my car too. My car seriously looked fine, like maybe a few scratches on the bumper, if that (keep in mind it was 6:45 in the morning, the sun wasn't up and he had turned his car off so the headlights weren't shining on my car). I told him my neck hurt so he insisted on calling 911. I sat in my car and started crying and called Jeremy. He told me that if my neck hurt that I was absolutely to go to the hospital and to not worry about the job, they would understand. I was so worried because I was going to be late on my second day of work!!! Since I am a temp, I only have the phone number for the temp agency and they don't open until 8:00 am. The people at Nestle would have no idea I was going to be late and would just think I wasn't coming back! Thank God for rational boyfriends who can talk you off a ledge when in a shitty situation, I was really freaking out!! When the cops showed up, one came over and stuck his head in the window to ask if I was ok so I told him my neck was hurting. He stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs "NECK!" and then the ambulance guys came running over (they had parked behind the other car so were talking to him first). An EMT guy got in my back seat and held my head straight until another guy showed up with a neck brace. They put that horrid thing on and put me on a freaking stretcher. They took me to the emergency room where I was poked and proded. At some point my pelvis (yes, my pelvis) started hurting at the spot that sometimes bothers me from my previous accident. When I mentioned that, they wanted to xray it as well as my neck to make sure nothing there was injured again. After a few hours, blood work, pee work and the xrays I was declared fine to go home but not back to work for the day. I had to wear that lovely neck brace for the remained of the day. I seriously felt like some kind of shady, cartoon character in that thing! Like I was about to try and sue somebody! I walked out of the ER to get into my sisters car and she couldn't stop laughing at me. I had also been in touch with the temp agency and of course they were understanding. Now all I had to deal with was finding my car (they towed it), the insurance company, getting a rental car, and the cops. UGH!
When I woke up the next morning I was extremely sore on the whole left side of my body, my back, my arm and neck. I called the temp agency and they said I could take that day off as well since apparently every one is usually more sore the next day and she was expecting to hear from me! I also had a horrible pain in my stomach and believed it to be really bad gas (I once went to the ER when I was 18 because I thought my appendix burst but was told it's cholic). I get it every once in a while, essentially I have gas in my stomach and it won't come out. I lay in bed, rub and massage my stomach til I either burp or fart (very lady like as you can imagine) and it goes away after a while. I never really know what it's from but I knew I had eaten a stupid amount at dinner the night before so just thought it was that. However, it didn't go away AT ALL. For the whole day I just kept burping and was all full of gas, it was really uncomfortable. I tried to figure out if I was allergic to anything I ate or drank but mostly just tried to ignore it and deal with all the car stuff. Then Friday morning I woke up with the same horrible pain right under my ribs and was all gassy...again I just thought it must have been something I had eaten. Well by Saturday it hadn't gone away and everyone was hounding me to go back to the hospital because "What if you tore an intestine or something?!??" so I did. Turns out I had an "Inflammed Pancreas". There isn't a whole hell of a lot they do for you with that other than give you some pain killers (not even any good ones) and make you eat a bland diet until it goes away. It was almost another week before I was back to normal AND I found out that my car was MUCH worse off than I had thought. Almost $5000 worth of damage! Essentially the entire trunk of my car "accorrdioned into your back seat" the adjuster said. I still have a damn rental car and won't get mine back until January 8th!!
Of course I am lucky that nothing worse happened and I have had the best experience with all the people at Progressive. They really made everything as easy as possible for me. The rental car isn't too bad either, it does have heated seats but I miss my automatic starter, CD's and the thing I use to listen to Pandora on my phone through the car radio (I hate the normal radio).
Plus...tell me I don't look so silly in that picture!!

Have a great day and drive carefully out there!

Jamie

It's a New Year again

For 2012 I have set 3 more crafty goals for myself.

1. I will finally crochet myself a cardigan!

There are few patterns I have saved on my Ravelry account over the past year but I think I only searched for Free patterns. I need to go back and look again for any kind of pattern, as well as search on Etsy. I received a subscription to Interweave Crochet magazine for Christmas so maybe I will find a pattern in there. Do you have any suggestions for other places to look for nice crochet wearable patterns? Some of the ones I've been coming across are kind of bulky and not too cute.

2. I will crochet a few items to donate to charity.

I have found a great list of charities that accept crocheted items over on Crochet Concupiscence. Do you have any favorite charities that you donate handmade items to? I am trying to decide whether to find local charities to donate to or just any charity that means something to me. Maybe I'll do a little of both, who knows?!

3. Open an Etsy shop.

I've been talking about this for over a year and I really need to just do it already!!! I don't care if it is super amazing and well thought out and organized at first. I just need to make a few items, open it and go from there! I can pretend that I am "planning" and "organizing" all I want but really I'm just procrastinating because I am scared it will be a big failure. I just need to do it already because I will regret never doing it if I don't.

4. Is probably obvious but...get back to blogging on a more regular basis, I miss it so much!

Do you have any resolutions?!

I hope you all have a wonderful new year!

Jamie