It has to get better one of these days....

Mu blogging that is!  I am ashamed that I have not been blogging that much.  Time just does not seem to materialize to where I can grab a few minutes.  Plus a major case of sleep deprivation leading to a mind that is numb and barely functioning does not exactly result in a stimulating blog post!   I've started another round of traveling.  I am in Zürich for 3 days this week, in Dublin for the weekend, back to Zürich for 3 days next week and then potentially off to Oktoberfest two weekends in a row depending on travel schedules of some friends.  Plus I want to take a trip to Versailles and Mont Saint Michel in France, perhaps visiting the Beaches of Normandy and the town Alecon where my family came from.    My return to the US is still not known.  It will be sometime this fall, but so far I have not found a job back in Chicago with my company.....anyone know of a company wanting to hire a finance manager with a lot of International experience?  =)   Crafting is at an all time low, just not the time as my work days have been 11+ hour days once again.  As I keep saying, I'll be back to normal craftiness one of these days!   One of the best parts about moving back to the US would be a return to more normal working hours, which should hopefully allow me more time for knitting and crocheting and other fun assorted projects.  Also better access to yarn, so when I have the urge to make something I'll have fast access if it does not exist in my stash.    I had best get back to inputting my budget - I hope that everyone is doing well and will be in touch soon!!

My 3 day weekend is over, and for the most part I was lazy.....if you don't consider the 12 loads of laundry, cooking and dishwashing that I did.....no cleaning - place is still a disaster, but I will fix that one soon hopefully!

I did drag Meti onto his first roller coaster in about 20 years....he was not too sure of it, but did say he had fun. But refused to even consider going on it again or anything else for that matter! I'm a HUGE coaster fan so that is not a good sign for our relationship *grin* Will just have to take my nephew how seems to share my "no fear" policy and has since his very first coaster.

The Flower carpet was in Brussels this weekend - absolutely gorgeous once again. They make this HUGE carpet of flowers every other year here. Simply stunning.


And last but not least, some crafting progress is being made! Lookee! I have 2 finshed dishcloths that flew off my hooks in no time at all, and the Crafting in Public shot...I pulled out my purse dishcloth and was working on that while having a beer and people watching at the Irish Pub next to the Bourse (Belgian Stock Exchange building)


Have a great week!

Vacation snap shots

I did finally get my pictures loaded from my Camera to my PC.....these are only the ones from the second half of the trip after I bought the new camera....still waiting for my parents to download their pictures on-line (hint hint Dad!)

A quick snap shot of my and the kiddies…Andrew was mad because we had to take more pictures, and Abby just want to get to the Piano to plink plunk away on it. So did I if I tell the truth! I miss not playing the piano and wish I had rented one over here…heck, I could have bought one and had it paid off in the 5 years I’ve been here! Will get back into it when I move to the US…..might actually decide to take lessons….nah, 30 years of self teaching has worked fine so far! I’m happy just to fiddle around with it.

Another Gorgeous Lake Michigan sunset. Saw this one with my big sis Becky.
Here are the kids in front of the Mackinaw Ice Cutter at the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven.
I think we have a new job career in mind…..she looked a natural sitting up there steering the Canadian Coast Guard boat we toured. Actually she is determined at this point in her life that she is going to be a chef when she grows up!
My Mom, my sisters and me.
Some pictures of the weekend and the most recent crafting come up! Stay tuned!

Yes, I am back!

Hi everyone.   I am indeed back from vacation now.  Just in a funk and not able to get back into the swing of things.  Jet lag seems to be really hitting me hard this year....I think I can blame it on the fact that I turned another year older while away....the whole jump into a new decade must have worn me right out!  =)   Vacation was great.  I spent 2 great weeks in Michigan with the family.  Spent a lot of time at the beach with the nieces and nephew - even managed to get my youngest niece to be unafraid of the water......took about 45 minutes of coaxing and holding her on my lap and slowly getting her in before she suddenly snapped and went off a trucking into the water!  we would look at her and her teeth would be chattering from the water and we would ask her if she was col and she would asy "Yes...coooold" so we would take her out and dry her off and set her in the sun.  Yet, within a minute she would be off and heading back towards the water - she really loved it!  She got over her sand phobia also and was bellied out in the sand pulling it towards her.  Too cute!   Did get the Cool Aunt award for my car this vacation!  I rented a convertible and the kids loved it.  Called it the Red Rocket and said it was the best car.  I took the kids and my mom into Grand Haven to see the Coast Guard Ice Cutters and on the way back to the mall for lunch I looked in my rear mirror while going down the highway and saw 4 little hands sticking up.  I glanced behind me and the 2 kids have their hands up in the air while giong down the highway and were saying "Whhheeeeeeee!!!" and giggling like crazy!    I did buy a new camera while home - mine had finally kicked the bucket so as a happy birthday present to me gift, I went out and bought a new one.  I really like it as it is smaller than my old one.  Still need to get the software installed on my PC so that I can download the pictures, perhaps I'll do that this weekend!   I joined the Mystery Stole 4....will see if I can actually not only start the project this year, but actually finish this one as well!   Joined up for the Ravelry Olympics, but I am behind and have not started my project yet....I'm considering myself one of the last events of the games =)   Okay, I really must run and get back to work.  Will start to write more and will show you what I have been working on.  I did finish a few small projects while home (play yarn food - sausage and bacon) but of course forgot to take the pictures.    Ciao!

Hello from Michigan!

Vacation is going great so far! Made it home to my parents without any missed flights, lost luggages or any other assorted traveling problems. My niece and nephew surprised me at my parents house when I arrived so I took them out for dinner in my cooooooool car. Its much cooooooooler than Grandpa's I was told =) I rented a convertable, so they were excited about that.

Went to a friend's wedding on Saturday, my littlest neice's birthday party on Sunday and today it is off to the beach! Burnt skin here I come! It will not matter how much lotion I put on, how often I put it on, what strength it is, with my lily white skin it is guarenteed I'll come home lobster red. *sigh* I wish I was like my sisters and Mom who only have to look at the sun to turn tan. Me, I look at the sun and fry.

I will not be posting much the next 3 weeks, so I hope that everyone is having a great summer and will talk to you all when I am back in Belgium!

The week of WIPs continues....Try 2

Okay, the first message sent on its own for some reason so lets try this one again....

The week is moving along great so far. No new projects started - a record I think! *grin*

I have finished the centers of the Baby Blankey Grannies I am working on. The centers are all pink and the outer section will be in green. The pattern comes from Crochet today!'s March/April 2008 publication. Very cute!

I'm working on my WIP at work a little bit - I have a Crazy Cloth in one of my desk drawers and I'll pull it out a little bit after lunch for 5 minutes to work on it. This one is being done in a variegated Anchor Magicline. Love the colors.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Vik who helped me with the Knit in Stitch below concept...it was a duh moment. It helped too that I put an extra stitch out of the pattern on each end so its not looking funky any longer and has a cleaner border...now lets hope that I have enough yarn! It calls for 120yds and I have 147yds but I think that will make the scarf too short.....it remains to be seen though! Loving the look of it though...I might need to make more!

I think that is it for now. I leave in a week tomorrow for 3 weeks - 2 weeks in the US with my family and 1 week in Chicago looking for a new job. That is right. I am moving back to Chicago. We are thinking that I will leave in Oct / Nov but it depends on the job I find.

Talk to you all soon!

Happy Birthday Ismet!

Just a big happy birthday to my boyfriend Meti.

Ps to Meti - Te dua pak *grin* err shum

Sunburst Lantern

Here is the first finished WIP for my Week of WIPs:

Project details:

Pattern: Lantern Potholder by American Thread Company

Thread: Coats Manila Bay Cannon Cotton Thread bought from Mimi

Hook: Size 1.5 Inox

Time: Several months due to SEVERE procrastination

Final Opinion: Love it!

Now on to the next WIP or two!

Knit one below? Huh?

Does someone, anyone have any experience with "Knit into the stitch below the one on the needle"?

While not really a WIP since I frogged it to start back over (semantics), I have been trying to make the Last Hurrah Scarf also found on Ravelry here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/last-hurrah-scarf

My issue is that I can not grasp the knit below concept...you want me to do what? When I thought I had it my whole project fell apart....rather amusing looking back but at the time I was not so happy!

The advice on Ravelry is "Also called a double stitch: insert your right needle knitwise into the center of the stitch below the stitch on the needle and knit, catching both stitches"

Huh? So I put it into the center of the stitch below, but how do I manage to catch both stitches?

I am sure this is something VERY simple but my simple little mind can not grasp it!

Week of WIPS

Once again I feel like I am overrun with WIPs and some UFOs that just won't make up their minds if they are going to be frogged or finished.

So, due to this horrible habit I have of working on umpteen things at one time, I am declaring this upcoming week my WIP week. No new projects started, just working on those on my hooks and needles.

I got an early start with WIP week and worked on this today:

Cute eh? I love how it turned out - the Katia Cotton Club was so soft and silky to work with. I see more dishcloths in my future....I am glad that I have other Katia cotton-club skeins in my stash which I can still use since this yarn has been discontinued.

I have been working today on the lantern.....I could easily still finish it tonight, but my fingers are sore from weaving in the thread ends! I crochet with thread really tightly, so its difficult sometimes to weave in the ends, and there have been a lot of ends to weave let me tell you! I have 6 of the sections finished, two more to go, and then the final assembly. In order to cut out the number of ends that I have to weave I am attaching the sections together as I go, which will eliminate 12 ends to weave.....which left me with 52 ends that I had to weave.....not that I am counting or anything =)

I hope that everyone had a great weekend!!!

Week of WIP updates coming soon to a blog near you!

Back to our normally scheduled programming

It has been just a few days since I talked about crafting so I figure that it is about time...that is what this blog is about after all!

First of all, thank you to all of you who have commented and talked to me about my Weaved Hotpad. I've met a lot of new people thanks to this pattern and received a lot of nice compliments which mean a lot to me. I hope that everyone enjoys the pattern!

Yes, I been knitting and crocheting....and its not Play Yarn Food! Amazing eh?

I tried to start the Seafoam Vest from Interweave Crochet's Spring 2007 editin...yes, I tried a wearable. Follow the directions for my bust size.....realized after 2 rows that there was no way unless I became anorexic would the thing ever (and I do mean ever) fit around my waist. I would not consider myself fat, I know I have a few extra pounds (don't we all?) which need to be shed, but I'm healthy and happy so no crash course dieting for me coming up. So that one was frogged and the magazine hidden away to not taunt me.

Speaking of my Weaved Hotpad, I have finished the fourth version of it, this one using two different variegated colors for the ovals and a solid square.


On the needles, I've started another dishcloth. This one using Katia Cotton Club (I think that it has been discontinued) in a pretty green on my Grandma's size 3 needles. The pattern is Spring Up Flowers found on Ravelry here with the pattern on Kristen's blog here

I have picked back up the hook again to work on my Lantern Potholder. Since the picture was taken I've weaved in all of the ends (they are hidden underneath all of the sections) and finished another white section. 3 more white sections to go, the final outlining in yellows and then the assembly and I'll e done....its taken me almost 8 months to get this far....I should be done at this rate by Christmas! =) Nah, I've just not really worked on this project - had others that I wanted to get done, but this one has moved up in priority so hopefully before I leave for summer holidays in 2 weeks.

That is about it for now. I have an urge to create some stitch markers so those will be showing up on my blog soon I am sure! Although I really don't need any more stitch markers so I have no idea what I will do with them, but I'll think of something I am sure!

Thank yous from Megan

My niece Megan owes a big thank you to Anita. Recently I was picked as a winner on Anita's blogversary contest, and she sent me a little gift. My niece opened it up and was squealing with glee at what was inside!

Oh boy! Look what is in here...

They are donuts!!
Or they can be used as goggles....
Megan called the beads on top "jewel sprinkles" and is totally in love with them my Mom says!

Thanks again Anita - she loves them and sends big Thank You's to her Aunt Kim's friend!
_________________________________

She also got that day all of the food I had been making her (my Mom took it back with her).....I think she has enough finally! =)

Sleeping Beauty.....

Here are some of the pictures from our trip.

Sleeping Beauty Castle in Germany.....


Look! We're in Austria!!
A side trip to Brugges Belgium during the week that my Mom was here:
Our stop in Lucerne Switzerland - the Lion of Lucerne monument which is for 700+ Swiss Guard soldiers who died while protecting Louis & Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution - very moving carving!

Some Alpine Horn players in Lucerne - very pretty music!
Meti & my Mom in the Grand Place
Is it me, or does Meti look a little bit like Bono when he wears my sun glasses?
Me & My Mom while in Belgium waiting for the Canal Boat tour.....
That is it for now!

Pictures are coming....

You will have to wait for the pictures, but I can tell you that me and my Mom had an excellent time together!!   We took a trip to Brugges one day on the train.  Which was fun - no driving, got to work on some knitting.  And spent a lovely afternoon wandering around Brugges with my Mom.   We then decided that we needed to take a full fledged road trip.  So we left on Thursday mid-morning.   Drove out of Belgium, into Luxembourg....kept on going into France and right on out into Switzerland.  Did actually stop at a rest stop where I introduced my Mom to Carmel Magnum Ice Cream bars - oh yummy!   Ended up that evening in Zürich where we wandered around and had a great dinner.....I had cheese fondue (of course) and my Mom had a yummy stuffed chicken breast.  We ended the night by going and watching a Euro Cup soccer match - Spain versus Russia I think it was - at the Fan Zone in Zürich - tons of people and a HUGE movie theater size screen to watch it on - what fun!   The next day we headed on the train down to Lucerne.  Decided to take the train for convenience and we needed to head back toward Zürich anyways for our next destination.  Had fun walking around Lucerne - a very pretty little city.  Only disappointment was the low cloud cover in the mountains - really hazy and not easy to see even though the sun was out!   Hopped the train back to Zürich and off we went.....towards Germany.  Although we detoured through Austria to get there which was unexpected, but that was the way Lucy my GPS lady told me to go!  Ended up in Füssen Germany after traveling behind an insane semi-truck driver from the Netherlands!  Curvy mountain 1x1 roads, and the Semi-truck was just a truckin along at 100km an hour.  A few times he had close calls with other trucks / cars / curves.  He took off and passed a car once and me and my Mom looked at each other and went "Waoh!"   And then we were on the first of our autobahn experiences, but we were too busy looking at the Alps to really go fast.....no worries, that came later!  =)   Füssen where we ended up the night is the closest large village to the Sleeping Beauty Castle right at the foot of the Bavarian Alsp...talk about gorgeous!!!  The next day we walked up to the older castle before walking up the mountain to the Sleeping Beauty Castle - both were gorgeous with magnificent views.  Of course we had not had enough walking so we decided to walk back up to the first castle to go to the gift shop there where we had seen a really gorgeous bowl for a wedding gift that my Mom bought.    After all that walking we decided to head back toward Belgium..Home Lucy!  Of course Lucy tells us we will be back at 12:40 in the morning....okay, not so bad.  autobahn here we come.  Oh yea - vroom vroom vroom.  I got on the autobahn and let my little Audi wagon go......hit 200 during a windy stretch which was not so nice - just wanted my Mom to say she had went 200km on the Autobahn (about 125mph).  Backed down to my cruising speed of around 170km (105mph) where we toodled along until I got really mad at a car which kept cutting me off and then slowing down, speeding up to pass me then slowing down again.  So I told my Mom that I was going to get away from him.....so vroom on the gas peddle.....next thing we know I am cruising along at 210km (130mph) and we look at each other and neither of us felt that we were going that fast!  Once away from the car though I backed down to my cruising speed.  We hit a Burger King for dinner at a rest stop...SLOW!!!  There added 45 mins to our stop - argh!  then of course we get going again and some genius in highway maintenance decided to take the 3 lanes down to 1 lane right where there is a major junction.....there added about 30 mins.  So we ended up getting home at about 2am.  Safe and sound though and glad to sleep in my own bed.   Took Mom to the train yesterday morning and was sad to see her leave - had a great time and both me and Meti enjoyed having her stay with us.  Wish she could have stayed longer!   Thanks Mom for coming over and for a going on the road trip with me - lots of fun - wish we could do it again....Want to come back and go with me through Normandy? =)

Momma is coming tomorrow!

My Mom will be here tomorrow - I am so excited!!!!!

She said that she is bringing her knitting...we shall see if she really does.....if not, I have more than enough yarn and needles to help her start a new project.....perhaps not slippers this time!

I will drive up to Amsterdam in the morning, about a 2 hour drive or so to pick her up at Schipol Airport. I've never driven there before, so it will be interesting...lets hope that the GPS knows where she is going!

Okay, time to finish cleaning and watching the last of the Croatia-Turkey Euro Cup match!

5 more days....

I am sitting here looking around my apartment...every chair, radiator, door handle etc is covered with laundry. Plus an ironing board sitting piled high with clothes.

Have I mentioned lately just how much I despise ironing? Some of the pile is probably 2 years old in waiting to be ironed. I had all of the shirts hanging behind my bedroom door on hooks. Since the door is never closed, out of sight, out of mind came into role big time! I have since moved the pile onto the ironing board in the middle of the kitchen.

Do you think that helped any?

Nope, I now either walk around the board or simply more it clothes and all out of my way. I fear that my Mom will arrive and the darn thing will still be sitting there, shirts and all!

I suppose I could just be lazy......gather all the shirts up and take them to the cleaners.....sound like a plan? =)

I need to get busy crafting. My colleague who had the baby is bringing him in on Thursday...I know that I will not have the blanket done but perhaps I can make something else up really quick.....now to decide what exactly.

Okay, I am off to walk around that ironing board some more and get the dinner dishes done......Dishes are a close second behind ironing in things that I really do not like to do!

And the monster makes 3

3 posts that is for today!

Yet another finished project that I do believe I have forgotten to show.

So I will take the time to introduce my very own....Swamp Thing!!

The details:

Pattern: Swamp Thing by Jean Greenhouse in Jiffy Knits
Yarn: Saskia Acrylic bought at Wibra
Needle: Size 3
Eyes: 2 Goggle Wiggly Eyes
Time: Fast to knit....I took forever to assemble it

I really enjoyed the pattern - simple Garter Stitch. The putting together was a fit fiddly with having to separate all of the hair strands. But he turned out cute and is sure to bring a huge smile to my nephew's face!

Happy Daddy's Day!!

Happy Father's Day Dad I love you VERY VERY much!



Thank you for all of the support and love and advice and wisdom you have given me over the years. I greatly treasure each and every moment that we have spent together and cherish all of the memories we have made....even the "Bear Hunt" in the middle of 90°+ weather....humidity.....and a 5 mile trek...just to read a sign that said "Lincoln Slept Here" in the midst of a bunch of weeds.

Happy Father's Dad to the Best Dad a girl could ever have!

Shut the door!!!!!

"Why does it always rain on me?

Was it because I lied when I was 17? Even when the sun is shining I can't avoid the lightening." (A song by a band called Travis)

How is everyone doing? I spent another day in Zurich on Wed and then in Munich on Thursday for a meeting . It feels lately like I am spending all of my time on planes and in airports waiting for those planes.

Did I mention that while on the train back from Neuchetal to Zurich last week I saw a lady crocheting? And the previous week I saw a lady cable knitting a sweater? Yarn work seems to be popular in Switzerland, yet I have only even found one yarn shop. I need to investigate some more I think!

I had my projects with me of course. Here is what I managed to complete on the first trip to Zurich:



This past trip I have been working on a baby blanket for a friend here in Belgium. I am doing the Moderne Log Cabin Baby Blanket from the Mason-Dixon Knitting book.

I am staying in Belgium this week and in 6 days my Mom will be here!! I am so excited that she is coming over to visit me and to meet my boyfriend for the first time! I need to drive up to Amsterdam to pick her up - its about a 2 hour drive or so to the airport there. Thankfully her flight gets in around 11, so I do not need to get up too early on Saturday morning to go pick her up.

Have a great week!

Off again!

That's right, I am heading to Zurich for the rest of this week - I just can not stay in Belgium matemy it seems! It should be a good 3 days there though, including a meeting with the CFO o the company. A little bit nervous about my presentation I have to give, but it should be a good meeting.

On the crafting front since that is why all of you are reading my blog.

First up is from Fruits and veggies as requested by my neice Megan:


Lemon Merangue Pie anyone?



Some more finished food items are coming up, as well as a knitted version of a crochet pattern I saw (my hands were too tired from crocheting to do any more) as well as some non-food and non-dishcloth items *gasp* yes it is possible!

Have a great rest of the week and we will talk to you all during the weekend!