U G LY they ain't got no alibi!

What are some people thinking??? Crochet has become a rage here in Europe - everywhere I look I see something crocheted - shawls, ponchos, hats, scarves (bundles and oodles of scarves) you name it, and you can find it crocheted! Which I must say I find wonderful! On the other hand you never actually see it being done! I have only ever seen one other person crocheting in public, and that was the lady in the metro station a few weeks ago. Anyways, while I find it refreshing that there is so much attention being paid to crochet versus knit what I am not happy about is what half of the things actually look like! While there is plenty of fun warm soft pretty items being made, there are plenty of items that make me cringe, shudder, and flinch in pain when I see them....and what makes it worse it that people are actually wearing these items! I posted about the ugly earring, key chains and necklaces found at H&M....well on the way home I saw someone wearing those monstrosities! I will try to get back to the store this weekend and sneak a picture....Play the innocent tourist! tee hee hee

I have a migraine coming on I think....eyes are tender to touch (I had to take my contacts out....I just don't go around touching my eye ball to see if they are sore!) head is a little bit achy, my stomach is not really too happy with my dinner and I just feel blah.....all of the classic signals I seem to get when my migraines decide they want to warn me they are coming! I just popped an imitrex and now its into bed to hopefully go to sleep and avoid the whole pain issue.....migraines are the pits! If I wake up tomorrow and its still here, I am not going to be in a good mood!

Have a good night y'all!

Pulse check........still beating?

I think mine is...A bit erratic, but its still going! Busy weekend filled with work, merriment, tram crocheting, square making and even some cooking for a change! Details to follow....

First the work - can we say ugh! I have worked both Sat and Sunday this week....After not leaving Friday night until 10pm, yesterday worked from 6pm until 11pm and then worked on and off today. Crappy deadlines and crappy work!

Tram Crocheting - I am using the Caron Jewel Box yarn that Jessica (my SP from the Summer Secret Pals round) sent to me, to make a cream winter scarf. I am about half way done. I got some weird stares this weekend as I was crocheting on my way to the office....plus the usual snicker or two. I am seeing crochet in all of the stores here - berets, scarves, hats, sweaters, pin accessories, earrings, really ugly dangly key chain thing-a-ma-bobs at H&M (tried to take a picture and got yelled at....mean Be-otch!)



Square making - I have now finished 13 of my 35 squares - pictures are available here: 35 Squares WIP

Princess Frog - Need some advice here...I keep looking at her poor little mouth and thinking that I need to fix it but the more I look at it the less I am actually thinking that! Here she is (along with the part of her body I have finished) - what's your opinion on her mouth?



Merriment - As a stress relief after leaving work at 10pm on Friday night I joined a group of friends for dancing. We started off first at a Latin bar where we did a little bit of salsa dancing. Then we headed to a club for some really bad techno, trance and hip hop mixes (Even I could not really dance to that shit) and finally ended up at my favorite Irish disco where me and the other Kimberly danced until the wee hours of the morn! Lets just say that the sun was fully out by the time I got home! Also went to brunch this morning with the girls - had a great time giggling over stupid things.....including trying to split the bill into four and who was supposed to get change back....you would think that as accountants we should be able to do this, but no! Not us...hence our amusement!

Cooking - I cooked supper tonight for a change inbetween sending texts to my friend Russ in the London. I marinated overnight some chicken breasts in a spicy sauce called Andalouse. Then served it with some spaghetti and sauce. Very yummy!

Misfit always does a Sunset Sunday picture, so I thought of her when I looked out my window tonight and saw this:

Traveling Thursday......Venice

Another week, another city! While I can not guarantee new cities for each week as I have so many great pictures from every city that I have visited, I will try for a little while to provide some variety! I went to Venice last summer by myself for the fourth of July weekend - the majority of my friends were away on summer holidays and I had a desire to go to Italy. I found a great fare on a plane ticket, so away I went - zooming off into the sunrise (it was a 6 am flight).

Venice is a gorgeous city - a perfect place for romantics, poets and dreamers. Venice has a charm that leads you to search the next pathway as you never know what you are going to find!

Thank you Secret Pal!!!!

Secret Pal - you are being so wonderful to me! I look so forward to our exchanging of e-mails back and forth! A giant hug for the box that you sent over to me! You are amazing! I am looking forward to sitting down for a few hours and reading the book (should take me more than a few considering its 850 pages) The wrap looks really cool - can not wait to see how it turns out....first the frog princess and my evening shawl must be completed....along with the squares and then its onto "The Wrap"!

Heres a snapshot of what was in the mail today for those of you who are curious:


Thanks again Secret Pal! You are a star!

*Yawn* A few things before I fall asleep

Well it was a long day as expected again. I got home from work a little after midnight and now its 2 am and I am about ready to go to bed finally!

Before I go I had a funny item waiting for me this morning at work! I received a wonderful little RAOK from a fairy godmama at Crochetville! She sent me a bunch of little goodies, including lotion, soap, chewing gum , Burt Bees lip gloss and a Sic Inch square for a Comfortghan I am slowly putting together! First the pictures.....you should be able to see why I find it funny from the second picture (remember, today is August 24th.....)




The package only took 7 weeks to arrive! I am sure that my lovely fairy thought that I was being rude and not saying thank-you.....this is NOT the case! Merci Beaucoup!

Here is a look at the other items I received last week but have not been able to post pics of:

The two pics from Hilversum are the same card - it was one of those pics that change depending how you are looking at it!

And finally....how do people manage to find the time to crochet for multiple swaps plus their own projects???? I am really struggling here....I might need to cut way back on the swaps!!

5 Things I Miss From Childhood

UPDATED: AUG 25th

I was tagged last week by Misfit who had been tagged by Lori who is now back in the hospital - get better soon!! I was also tagged on the same day by Sara who had been tagged by Jessi who had been the one who tagged Lori who tagged Misfit who tagged me.....see a trend here? :) LOL

I am supposed to tag a few other people to do this next.....hmmm....its hard to find someone who has not already been tagged! I choose Karen, Veronica and Heather If you've been tagged and I missed it...sorry! If meme's are not your thing, or this one just isn't, thats fine by me!

If you want to participate the chain-letter part works like this: remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog's name in the #5 spot; just check to make sure the links are still attached if you copy n' paste.

1) Yarns and Musings
2) Addicted To Crochet
3) Home Burrough
4) Where is she now?
5) City of Crochet

OR

1) Yarn Obsession
2) Yarns and Musings
3) Addicted To Crochet
4) Crochet All Day
5) City of Crochet

Rather confusing this post so far eh?

5 Things I Miss From Childhood for Sara:

1. Backyard games - Red Rover, Mother May I, Red Light Green Light, Statue Tag, Cartoon Tag, Leaf Houses, Marbles.....
2. Going "Duke Driving" with my Dad on the dirt road behind McDonalds (Yes, as in the Dukes of Hazzard - Yeee Haaw!!!)
3. Sledding, snowball fights, building snowmen and then going in for Hot Chocolate
4. The never-ending summers
5. Innocence

5 Things I Miss From Childhood for Misfit:

1. Going up north to find and tag the perfect Christmas tree....then having to go back and find that tree once again when it started snowing!
2. Saturday Morning Cartoons
3. Waking up early to watch Tom & Jerry and hearing my Dad say "Fee Fi Fo Fum...whos knocking on my door with a Rum Pum Pum" when I knocked on the bathroom door to let him know I was awake
4. Frog Hunting (has anyone figured out yet that I was a bit of a Tom-Boy?)
5. Sunday afternoons fighting for the sunny spot on the carpet in the living room

As was pointed out, since I was tagged twice and had two lists of people, I should have two lists, so I've added a second....the first one was hard enough, but I managed to do it!

I'm still here.......I think

Hi everyone! Its been a hectic few days. I've been swamped under at work! Heck, its almost 10 at night and I am still working...took a short breather to say hello! I've been working on my little Frog Princess....her mouth looks like a two year old did it - I need to take it off and try it again! I'll post before and after pictures of her cosmetic surgery to fix her smile as soon as I've finished it....oh probably by next week at the rate that I am moving lately!

I am having great fun with Postcrossing I've sent out now 6 postcards and have received 4 back! I've received one from Austria, Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil! I love seeing the stamps and postmarks from the other countries - they can be so bright and vibrant! Belgium's stamps are a bit plain and boring! The international stamps are basically the same as our Euro coins - a picture of King Albert - yup, Belgium has a royal family for those of you who don't know. They are all older and married.....I asked! :)

Well I rarely really talk about personal moi, but this is too exciting not to share! Some of you may be aware that I attended college at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame Indiana (sister school of the Uni of ND) Being a private school, it was fairly expensive. My parents helped as much as they could (they are awesome and supported me much more than just financially by just being the wonderful parents that they have been to me and my sisters our whole lives) and I qualified for several grants, federal funding and scholarships. I also worked on campus jobs - RA, desk clerk, mail worker, computer lab assistant (I worked in the US post office there - had to fill out all of the postal paperwork etc - careful - I could go postal at any time!!). My last two years I also worked off campus during the school year at Burger King as a manager which was also my summer job where I worked 40 hours there plus another 20-30 hours at a second job (gas station, ice cream / coffee shop, fuel wholesaler....) I took out all of the available federal loans that I could along with a personal loan my senior year since I decided to have an expensive single room with a bathroom on campus.

To stop rambling, I set a goal with myself to try to pay back all of my student loans within 5 years from the repayment start date. I am totally excited that I managed to reach my goal by paying off my loans in 4 years and 8 months!!! Woo Hoo!! I processed the final payment last Thursday and it went through the bank today! I currently owe absolutely ZERO to anyone. The first time in almost 9 years that I have not had to worry about paying back money (the 4 years I was in college I did not have to make any payments, but I knew that I owed the money). What a wonderful feeling! Okay, time to buy that house so I can owe a huge lump of money to a new financial institution! :-)

A slew of thank yous

This post is dedicated to saying thank you to all of you who have sent me something recently. Here goes!

First - A huge thank you to the talented ladies over at Crochetville for the wonderful bookmarks that I received in the Bookmark Swap! I am in awe at the talent that each of you has! Here is a snap of the wonderful bookmarks that came in the mail this week:

They are from in order of left to right: 123Mama (Pretty White one) ** Terri - Ladysource (Hot pinkish Pepper Shape) ** Celeste (The pretty purple Norwegian Filigree with Lurex in it - Already being put to use in my tram book) ** Fran - a gorgeous white bookmark (Where is the pattern from??)
Kellyv (Sea colored Shell with some pretty beads) ** AngelFairy (Variegated purple and white) ** Micountess - Pastel Multicolored ** Crazycow (Mint green with multicolored border) ** TCsGirl (Pretty yellow flower with green "stem") ** Elizabeth (Green variegated on the bottom)

Many thanks to all of you - your bookmarks are wonderful!!

Second - I owe a thankyou to Priscilla - we are exchanging hooks - Inox for Susan Bates and I received the envelope that she sent - thank you s overy much!! The hooks are perfect!!

Third - Thanks Faith for the nice card and bubble gum! I've been putting a serious dent into both packages!

Fourth - I ordered recently some Monacco threads from Mimi at Crochetville. They came at the beginning of the week. Along with the thread I ordered, Mimi was awesome and sent me a hand made flower applique, chapstick holder (plus some chapstick), scrubbie, headband, keychains, bubble tape, assorted buttons and an extra variegated thread. I was in awe at her generosity! I am really excited about using my new threads! Thanks ever so much Mimi!! Here is a picture of the threads I ordered plus some additional goodies!



Time for bed but I will finish updating these tomorrow! Night night!

Blub...blub...blub...gurgle

Blub...blub...blub...gurgle

Thats me being drowned in paperwork, messy apartment, blog reading etc etc etc

I am still here, I am reading your blogs but finding the time to post is impossible this week. I am no longer sure which way is up, if I am coming or going etc etc etc

I totally forgot that this was Thursday until my Dad sent me an e-mail saying that he and the kiddies were going to BK and the Mall (my folks watch my niece and nephew on Thursdays) while on the phone I looked at the date and remembered that today was my sisters birthday and that yesterday was my brothers (well , tech. my brother in law, but hes been around so long that he is like a real brother to me!)

I have lots to show and a bunch of thank yous that are a few days over due....I have tried to send PMs at Crochetville and e-mails to all of those involved (you know who you are...I think) and will write up about it as soon as I can come up for another breather...I am waiting for files to finish downloading and killing time on my spare computer while I wait...oh goodie, here comes my boss - gotta run!!

Back from hunting for leprechauns!

Did not find any Leprechauns, but I did meet some great people and had a ton of fun with my friend Zori....I can not wait to go back again! Every time that I am in the city I fall a little bit more in love with it!!

Its way past my bed time so I will leave you with a few pictures. I am trying to catch up on everything fro my few days away - 200+ blog entries to read is a heck of a lot! Lots to tell and lots to show, but for now these will have to hold you over!



Psst - Secret Pal - that Guinness was drank for you! It was wonderful! I think that I drank enough Guinness for each of my readers!

Friday Update!! OMG Its Friday already?

Where did the week go? I can not believe its Friday night already! I am sooooooo far behind right now its not even funny....and this relates to work and crocheting! lol

Okay, some updates of what's been happening:

First, I'll show you my current read and a new purchase:



The first is Nora Roberts "Les Trois Clés - La quéte de Dana" - the second book in Nora Roberts Key trilogy (Key of Knowledge) in French! I read the trilogy in English and loved it so I decided to give it a go in French! Its reading really slowly (lots of words I don't know so I have to look them up) but I am on about page 50 after 2 days of reading!

And yes, you are reading that second book title correctly! That is Betty Barnden's Crochet Stitch Bible translated into French in all of its glory as La Bible Du Crochet! I am loving it so far - very helpful!

Second - Its been raining postcards at work this week! I have received 3 glorious new post cards from three wonderful people! Here is my current wall of postcards - the two on the left and the bottom card in the middle are the newest additions! All three were RAOK from Crochetville friends - I am signed up for PostCrossings but none have arrived - I have sent three out though!



Third - Today was an adventure at work! I caught a ride in with my friend Zori and we parked in the garage at work. After leaving the car I swore I heard a noise. Huh? I look around and hear it again "Ummmm....Zori - do you hear a cat???" We looked around but did not see anything, but kept hearing it meowing so I finally got down and looked under the cars, and there was the cutest little kitten that came crawling out for me. About 4 months old, Puss is staying the weekend at one of my friends houses. The day at work was broken up by taking care of Puss, petting, talking to others about him, and trying to track down an owner - he has been well loved and is not a stray cat it looks like so an owner has to exist.

Here is a few pics of Puss: (named that currently due to the high white boots on his back legs - I got a Puss in Boots)



Is he not just the cutest? He is really perky and very loving - he was constantly jumping onto my lap, butting arms and legs to get my attention. Very frustrating to type when the cat wants you to pet him!! We are posting found cat pictures to see if anyone claims him, and then we will work on finding him a long term home - I am gone too often to keep him myself...plus I don't think my landlord would let me keep him for more than a short visit! :(

So I bet you are all wondering why I am not keeping the cat this weekend....The simple answer is that I am leaving on a jet plane tomorrow for 4 days in Dublin!! It should be a good weekend! I adore Dublin so any reason to go back is good in my mind! I have a meeting on Tuesday, so I'm just making a long weekend out of it with my pal Zori. Hopefully you will not be too sad while I am gone! Its only for a few days - I promise to share some pictures when I get back!

They're Coming!!!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo! I've been in shock the past two days and been unable to post this! (tee hee hee) After two years and six months of living in Europe my parents are coming to visit! Before this momentous occasion, I have had exactly one other visitor, and that was my Dads younger half sister (my half aunt I guess but since she is my age that seems a little bit weird to say) back in May of 2004!

I am so very excited to be having some visitors, and even better that its my parents! They are going to be here for 11.5 days! I am already planning what to do, where to go, and more importantly , where to eat! Are they ever in for a culinary delight! They say Paris and France are great for food...and they are if you want to spend the cash. But Belgium is awesome for food at an affordable price! I have two restaurants picked out already with several more being decided on!

Can not wait to see you September 23rd Mom and Dad! Are you ready to party that night with all of us until after the sun comes up? Its expected ya know! Maybe we will take some pity on you and wait and take you bar hopping on the Saturday...then again - I went out to the bars with you Mom on the day I got home from Belgium last time! Its only fair...tradition and all that jazz! :D

Psst - by the way - this is me with Dad and with Mom taken back in June while I was home! I always hate pics of myself, but these turned out half way decent for a change!

Les idiosyncrasies de moi!

I have had the privledged of being tagged by Lady Linoleum Thanks! My first "tagging"! So here goes....

id•i•o•syn•cra•sy - a structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group. Write down 5 of your own idiosyncrasies, then if you wish, tag 5 people.

1 - When really upset, I tend to swear in languages beside english....and occasionally make up the language!

2 - I often "forget" to blink which freaks people out (namely my sister D)

3 - I have issues with leaving a book unfinished to go to bed if its the first time I am reading it! (I'll read until 4, 5 even 6 in the morning if I have to in order to finish it! And yes, I re-read ALL of my books even the not so good ones becuase I might have been having a bad reading day!)

4 - My books must be grouped by author on my bookshelves, but once off the shelf disorder rules

5 - I can not eat anything that is looking at me! Examples - A fish with its head still on, the Cray fish with the bubbly eyes, lobster...nope, either take the head off, turn it around or cover it up, but if its looking at me I can not take a bite!


Now who to tag....hopefully I can tag people who have not already been tagged! I will tag Cordelia, Celeste, Faith, Debi and Mimi

A Note to my Secret Pal

Hi Secret Pal! I will gladly send you some lace....how about a bookmark and a butterfly pin? Leave your name and address and they are all yours! tee hee hee

Well since I can not send you some Banana Cake, I can leave my recipe so that you can make it yourself! Not the same, I know - but I don't think that it would taste very good if I mailed it to you.....would probably break some import laws also since its organic material thats not pre-packaged and sealed! LOL

Kimberly's Banana Cake
(This was a recipe from my Great-Grandmother Eva Hale Bell Williams)

Ingedients:
1/2 Cup Crisco      1.5 Cup of Sugar
2 Eggs                  3 Ripe Bananas (the browner the better)
1 tsp vanilla           2 Cup Flour
1 tsp baking soda  4 tbsp Sour Milk (add a little vinegar to non-sour milk)

Pre-heat oven to 350° and Grease and Flour a 9 x 13 pan

Cream Crisco and Sugar together. Add the eggs & bananas and mix well. Combine Flour & Soda together in a seperate bowl and alternate adding to the batter with the sour milk. Mix all of the ingredients together well.

Bake for 30-40 minutes

While good enough to eat without frosting, adding some Buttercream frosting makes it a delicious treat that everyone will enjoy!

My Buttercream Frosting - A box of powder sugar, a stick of margerine, a tsp of vanilla and add milk until you achieve the consistancy that you desire! Leftover frosting is great for Graham Crackers :)

Psst - I just pulled the cake out of the oven - the smell is wonderful!

Note: This cake does not rise that far - it is more of a dense moist cake! You did not do anything wrong! :)

Note # 2: Crisco is a dense solid vegetable shortening...along the lines of lard I guess, but a lot healthier - Crisco is billed as a healthier ingredient than butter or margarine! I can not find it in Europe, so I had a friend bring me some! I do not know what exactly to use as an alternative for those who can not find this - sorry! Anyone have any suggestions?

Lace Lace everywhere!

Here is a peak at what I purchased this weekend! While in Bruges!





I have finally turned my attention back to Christelle my Frog Princess! I just started back on her last night, so not a lot to show yet, but here is her current status!



On the agenda for tonight......laundry and baking! I have some bananas that are crying to be made into Banana Cake as long as they are not too far gone!! I think I might have enough for some banana nut muffins as well!! Yummm! This will probably be my first time baking in a few months! I have not had the desire....which is odd since I am known throughout the finance community at my company for my baking!

Man jailed for molesting sleeping woman on plane - Yahoo! News

Man jailed for molesting sleeping woman on plane - Yahoo! News

Do I now need to sleep with my mace in hand on my flights? Its one thing to be a particpant in the Mile High Club (oh ugh!! Have you been in an Airplane bathroom????) but to be molested while sleeping! I guess I've lucked out with all of my seat mates! While a few have been...ummm...different, they have not been bad! (Even met a guy that worked with some close friends of my family in North Carolina on a flight from DC to Brussels! It is a small world!)

Creep! What was he thinking?? "She smiled at me...she must be faking that shes asleep and wants me to touch her...yeah, yeah...let me grab a blanket down and cover her up.....here we go..." Frankly, some guy tries to put his hand down my pants, I'm not just going to pull his hand out - my other hand is going to balled into a fist as I knock him ass-over backwards into next week! And break his eardrums in the process as I am screaming at full force (was awarded loudest voice projection at band camp)....hope I break his nose!

"Gesundheit!"

"Gesundheit!" Am I the only person who was taught to say this when someone sneezed? Sure, I'll also use "God Bless You" or "Bless You" but not everyone always believes in God (or my God for that matter) so I would use the German phrase that my mum always uses! None of my mid-west american friends here do, so I was thinking that maybe its a southern thing that my mum got from her Dad??

Do you burst out with random "Gesundheit!" or "God Bless You" when you hear someone sneeze? My friend Zori thought it hilarious when we were in my apartment eating with my French doors open and someone down on the street sneezed and without even thinking about it I said "Gesundheit!" and kept on with my sentence!

Bruges was great as always (it is my 3rd or 4th time there now I believe) and while the weather was so-so, the city still has it charm.

For a quick picture of the city (more to come) I'll leave you with these two examples of the lace shops - what awesome work!! (clickable for bigger viewing pleasure!)



I did stop in to one shop and pick up a few little lace doo-dads. Now to decide what to do with them...RAOK....Secret Pal...a "Just Because"! Hmmmm.....

Frustrations of living in a foreign country.....

I was walking through the metro station today on my way to do my Saturday morning errands (post office, book store etc) when I saw a lady crocheting!! In the metro station large acrylic blankets (she was trying to sell them at the same time) I caught her eye as I walked by, smiled and told her that her work was very pretty (Ton crochet c'est tres belle) and kept going another 10 feet when it hit me - she's crocheting, using acrylic, and its from a large ball and not one of the expensive little balls that I can find here in Brussels!

Okay, back up! "Madam - parlez vous anglais?" (never hurts to ask) but of course her response was no. It always seems that my French deserts me at the wrong moment! Okay, I pulled out my tram project from my backpack to show her my hook! I point to her yarn and ask her where she bought it (Vous achetez ton wool ou? A quelle magasin?") She shook her head, rambled off rather quickly in French and shrugged her shoulders and said "sans magasin" No store! Argh!! I tried to pull out the lost American look and my ever so handy "Pardon" and she went through the same spiel of really quick French interspersed with "san magasin"! Why is it when she knows French is not my language does she insist in speaking rapidly! I ended the conversation with a very Gaelic shoulder shrug, a bewildered smile and a "merci madame" and walked away. So close!! So very close!! Argh!!

We are going to Brugges tomorrow now - my friends friend's plane got in 2 hours late so we decided to hold off and go tomorrow! Lets hope that the weather is Trés Bien!

Friday..Friday...hmm...Friday

Quick!!! Think of a song with Friday in the title! Can you? I know I couldn't! Sure I could think of songs with Friday in it....Happy Days theme song etc etc etc. Why are Monday named songs so easily remembered but Friday ones slip our minds? It took a trip to my favorite lyrics site: http://www.letssingit.com (Do NOT go to there if you do not have a pop-up blocker installed on your PC!!) And did a search. Amazingly enough there are a slew of songs with Friday in the title!

So to end the week as I started it, here is my Friday song: "Monday you can hold your head, Tuesday, Wednesday stay in bed! Oh Thursday watch the walls instead....It's Friday, I'm in love! Saturday, wait Sunday always comes too late But Friday never hesitates. I don't care if Monday's black. Tuesday, Wednesday heart attack! Thursday, never looking back. It's Friday, I'm in love!" By the one, and the only...The Cure! Were you singing along with me there? Not sure who I am in love with today since its Friday.....there was a really nice looking guy on the tram this morning....eye contact, shy smiles exchanged but not a word between us...WHY am I so shy at moments like that?!? I can flirt with the best of them, have a guy in a bar look twice, introduce any and all of my friends to the guy that caught their eye, but when it comes down to saying hi when out in public I freeze, turn my head and look the other way..... (That changed into another song in my head - ALW's I Don't Know How To Love Him...its a song day for me I think!)

Okay, onto the Crochet front - this is a crochet blog after all! My Weekly Tram Project is almost finished! This week was a cotton cloth! I am using the same colors and pattern as the cloth that Deneen sent me, so now I'll have a set of two! I have the main color finished and tied off. Its now onto the border which I should hopefully be able to get done tonight on my way home!

I finished two more squares last night for the 35 Squares Swap at Crochetville. 5 done, 30 more to go! I really liked the ones last night - as soon as I get some ends weaved in, I'll take pictures...perhaps wait until the end of the weekend as my goal that I set last night was to finish 5 more before Sunday night! I can do it!

Plans for the weekend? I am going out with some work colleagues tonight for drinks, dinner, more drinks and then some dancing to celebrate the birthday of one of the girls. Then tomorrow it is looking like a possible trip to Brugges (as mentioned yesterday) and Sunday is a day of relaxation and LOTS of laundry! My laundry basket is overflowing!

Okie dokie, that's the Friday update! *hugs* to everyone - I hope that your weekend is wonderful and great!

Traveling Thursday 2nd edition

Todays been an interesting day!

First of all, I received some Cabbage Patch Pattern booklets for the clothes that I need to make for Christmas Presents - thanks Fran!! You're a Star'

Second, I made a decision to purchase an item this morning. I sent a note to the lady who was selling it, only to hear back from my SP today that I have been very bad in ruining her surprise! I will post what it was once its been received - thanks Secret Pal - sorry for ruining your surprise! Was I ever shocked to receive your e-mail about it!

Third, I came home tonight and started finishing up putting away my stash and doing general cleaning around my apartment. I walked past my TV about 4 or 5 times before I noticed something a little bit....well different! Different as in it was a totally new TV! My landlords must have came in and left a new TV (its a furnished apartment) not sure why since the old one still worked and I never used it much anyways!

To finish the day, traveling Thursday! I was going to show one from one of my trips to Brugges Belgium, but since I am probably going back there this weekend and could potentially take a better picture, I will hold off on that one! Instead, I leave you with a picture of one of Amsterdam's many canals!

I can do better!

Have you ever finished a project, been really proud to have done it, but when you look at it again a day or two later you think "I can do better"? Well, thats what happened with Dot's Ditty Bag that I made a few weeks ago! I decided to do two - one for each of my step-neices Bekky and Gracie. Here is the output - a big improvement in my mind!



I also finished the fur scarf for Bekky (I finished Gracie's Fur Scarf back in June. I love how this fur works up...when knitting with it! I cried when I tried to crochet with it out of sheer frustration!



I have an envelope all put together and ready to go to the post office - I also picked up some really cute pencil cases for all 3 of my neices and my nephew at a store that was going out of business - forgot to take a picture of them before wrapping them up!

Stash Flash!!!

Well since I've started my crochet and knitting habit in December, I've suddenly seen a decrease in storage space in my apartment! Why you ask? The answer is simple...its been taken over by yarn, yarn and oh yeah, more yarn!!

I started to take pictures, realized I forgot the yarn I bought last week...okay added it in. Wait - wheres the yarn from my summer secret pal, threw that in. Then of course I had to add my newly received package from the Sea of Yarn swap. Which of course called for a total re-organisation of my yarn. Which caused me to realize I was missing all of the yarn from my current WIPs...lets just say an hour later I was taking pictures again, and as I sit here typing, I see at least 4 things of yarn I missed in the pics! I don't have a yarn problem...honest, I don't!! :-D

Heres the pics (all are click-able for bigger views!) :

My Stash - need more totes
Thread Thread and more thread
Acyrlics
My Cotton & Fun Fur
Recent Size 5 purchase & WIP Bags

Do I dare say that this is not all? I also have a "small" yarn stash developing in the US at my parents house...thread, cottons, acrylics and more all purchased via e-bay or during my last trip to the States!

Sea of Yarn Swap v2

I received my second Crochetville Sea of Yarn swap package today!! A huge thank you goes out to K. Anne for the wonderful goodie box she sent me!



I was amazed when I opened the box up at what appeared - a wonderful rainbow of size 10 thread, Peaches'n Cream cotton, some gorgeous 'ladder' yarn and Micro-yarn (so very soft!!) as well as beads, folding scissors, tea, burt bees lip balm, a hook cushion, Size 8 Susan Bates hook (absoluetly perfect!!) and a wonderful area of patterns and two thread booklets!

You are a gem!! Thanks so very much!

Just another Manic Monday!!

I wish it was Sunday.....Cause that's my fun day....My I don't have to run day....It's just another manic Monday!!

Hi everyone! Welcome to yet another Monday! Did you know that in Europe, the calendars do not go from Sunday to Saturday? They go from Monday to Sunday! Which if you think about it makes a lot of sense! Just your little bit of trivia for the day!

On to the weekend. My ankle is doing much better! I took it easy all day yesterday and did not even leave the apartment once! My hip is still a bit sore, but I fell pretty hard on it so thats not surprising me! I did manage to finish an additional 3 Snowflakes, including some of the Red with Lurex for my Dad's tree and an additional Peach for my Moms! Here are the picks (the white dots are actually the reflection of the red lurex!):


Also a big thank you to Deneen for the wonderful little package she sent to me as a thank you for helping out with The Christmas in July at Crochetville (I was an elf for this round and had a blast sending out little gifts) Merci Beaucoup Deneen!: