Cool News For Scrappers

It's been a really long time ... A lot has happened in the world ... Even more in our personal lfe ... But I just had to share this for any readers who scrap:

You know when people look at your scrap book pages and then comment on how they would "love a copy" of that photo that's been glued/adhered down?

Now at Archivers (check their website for your nearest location) you can get full sized 12 inch copies ... Yes you can get a copy of the entire page! You can even get it shrunk down to a smaller 8 inch size if you want to make a sort of "souvenir" album.

I called my local store and they said that copies start at $3.49 a sheet ... I would assume (but I could very well be wrong) that to shrink it might cost a tad more.

I can see where this would come in handy for weddings - one main album for the bride/groom, and copies for the parents and the people who stood up - maybe even the officiate if they are a personal friend ...

Maybe that favorite aunt who couldn't make it ...
One for each of the kids later in your life ...
Or grandiose ...

How about baby books? Make the main one for your family and copies for each set of grandparents ...
Ones for the Godparents ...

What about bridal/ baby showers? Same thing ... Main one for mom/dad/baby ... Some for the grandparents .... Maybe a book that not only has pictures of things like baby's sonogram but also photos of mom &dad as kids thru the years for comparison ... What a precious gift this would be! Just make copies of the parents baby pictures so that the grandparents can get their photos back ... Most grandparents will have them either loose, in some of those albums where the photos just slide in, or in one of those albums that had the tiny sticky dot pages ...

HINT: if you do have photos on those old photo books with the sticky dots,be very careful removing them ... after being there for 20-30 years we found that they will be PERMENATELY stck and maybe damaged while trying to remove them from the page.

Check at Archivers (sorry but they are the experts on this one) and see if they have a product to dissolve the glue without damaging the photos.

I mean I know there is something out there - it's like Goop-Off or lighter fluid ( BUT DON'T USE THOSE) but it's a liquid that comes in a nozzle bottle that you squeeze on and it will gently eat the glue but the photo has minimum damage to it.

Any how ...

Just wanted to share about the copies ...

I think it's a wonderful idea ... Even if it is expensive - you are probably only to need/want this type of service so price will be a smaller factor in the long run.

getting a new idea

so we've got a dvd-r ... well another one, the cheap $64 one we got before christmas to replace the one that was giving us troubles we discovered isn't compatible with the cable box so we had to get another ....

and hubby signed us up for dvr on the cablebox, but I'm paranoid that some of the shows I really like - like "Mystery!" and some of the serials - will be auto-deleted to make room for some of the other programs so I've figured out how to throw them onto a dvd ... hey they are fairly cheap so I can pitch out the recorded disk and not feel guilty (unlike buying the dvd sets for $40 or so).

But while looking for some info I found that there isn't anything on imdb.com about many of the spells & things that are used on the show. so it got me thinking....

With the free pages I can make on blogger -- I can make my OWN Bewitched website ... where I can put the incantations used to call Dr. Bombay, some of his wacky cures, the amazing campaigns that Darrin gets thru Sam's help, the Spells other witches use (like Endora, Serena, Aunt Hagatha, Esmerelda, Maurice, Uncle Arthur, etc), or even magical items ... how about some magical creatures or historical characters that show up??

oh this could be fun!!

But it might interfere with my other blogs -- and I might not be able to keep up with it all. and I think if hubby catches me doing one more blog .... he is going to cut off my internet.
Can I really risk taking on yet another blog? I can't keep up with all the ones I have right now -- in fact I've got a couple I haven't updated in months.

hmmm.

before I jump in with both feet I'm going to have to hold off for a while ... think it over really well.

Do I or Don't I? Will I or Won't I?

Well now that I've gotten in my plea to join the HSS4 (and gotten a reply, so I assume that means I'm being allowed back into Hogwarts) I've been thinking about the yarn for my partner.

I had laid in a stock of yarns (as you can see by my stash counter - although I wonder exactly how accurate it is at this moment, I'm sure I've missed a couple of shipments) in anticipation of joining another round - well I did discover HSS3 way too late, but had learned they were going to have a fourth so - you know me!

But now that its time, I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't go with something more original --- like the Knit Picks sock blanks.

If you haven't seen them yet (and you must be living under a rock not to have heard of them), they are flats of knitted sock yarn which has been knitted double stranded - this way both skeins of sock yarn will follow the general pattern of color changes ....


I don't like the thought of using a chemical in something where the kids are - its what is keeping me from diving headlong into polymer clay....but lets not get me off subject just yet.

So I was thinking I could use Kool-Aid powder mix as a suitable substitute -- although I never did get around to doing 'potions class' with the little ones last year to work on the Bare Merino that I got for the purpose of dying last vacation.

So I suppose I should start with that one first -- start with dying a solid color first, then start getting into the fancy stuff....but I keep thinking of all the fun designs I can 'paint' into the blank that will just magically work itself up as I do just a simple knit stitch to make the sock.

Of course I would have to work from the top down since I'm sure that the heel will throw the patterning off. Of course the ribbing may do that too.
But then there is always the issue of gauge -- my gauge is never what it is supposed to be ... I mean for the pattern of the yarn.

I got some of that self striping yarn for socks and tried to make sure my swatch was on gauge, but once I started knitting up - it didn't look anything like the photo they had online of the yarn ... not even close ... instead of getting nice striping, I got pooling - you know where the yarn starts to look much like a television with the vertical hold off? Oh I suppose with cable, people don't understand that imagery anymore.

Think of it kind of like trying to watch a station that you don't have access too - no wait ... that doesn't work either as most cable companies black out the screen instead. Hmmm - I guess there really isn't a modern equivilent.

Damn I'm old.

Drawing useless conclusions...

Okay. We all know I do that a lot but I was downloading the 'Scarlet Pimpernel' from Librivox.org {great place if you haven't been there yet} and I noticed the author's name [or should that be playwright's name since it actually started as a play before it was a novel?] and it reminded me of something:

The author in question is: Baroness Emma Orczy...she was a playwright in 1903

The thing that crossed my mind was 'Age of Innocence' by Edith Wharton. The 'antiheroine' is:
Countess Ellen Olensky written in 1920

Now on the surface it may seem as if the names are nothing alike...unless you grew up with an Eastern European surname as I did. People tend to change any name if they can't pronounce it at first glance to something close but they always end it with a -sky or -ski.

Nor would it be difficult to mix up a Baroness for a Countess, they are basically the same in most respects.

Emma was from Hungary....Ellen was married to a Polish Count. (Emma married an English Clergyman's son)

Differences:
Emma had a very long and happy marriage lasting nearly 50 yrs.
Ellen was in a very unhappy marriage and had even run away with another man before moving to America where she met Archer.

however, being that Wharton was writing a book which was exposing the less savory things about 'high society', as most of her novels do, especially when it comes to women....it is not surprising that she would set Ellen up in this circumstance.

Ellen is, without a doubt, a shadow of Wharton herself...

But I am wondering if there isn't also a lot, a lot, of Baroness Emma in her as well. I can not find anything to support this theory....but it sounds very likely to me.

Knitting yourself into a vacation

KNIT OUT CROCHET TOO IDEA BROCHURE:

"Craft Yarn Council of America's (CYCA) second annual Knit & Crochet event
at the Mall of America, February 16 and 17th, 2008 (Presidents' Weekend),
promises to be the largest gathering of knitters and crocheters ever. More than
50,000 attended last year's Great American Knit-Out and even more are expected
this year. Craft Yarn Council of America's (CYCA) second annual Knit &
Crochet event at the Mall of America, February 16 and 17th, 2008 (Presidents'
Weekend), promises to be the largest gathering of knitters and crocheters ever.
More than 50,000 attended last year's Great American Knit-Out and even more are
expected this year."

If you can only make one knitting/crocheting/tatting trip a year this is it!
For those of you who have misplaced your yarn or are looking for some place in the mall to find some (since it isn't generally a stocked item)--try the "Dollar Tree" on the Third Floor``they usually have close out yarn that you can't find other places for only $1/skein!
But otherwise you could try the Alpaca shop but I do not recall seeing any yarn there--but I've never gone completely in.
For those on a food budget ($wise) there are many of your favorite fast food joints; and those on a food budget (calorie/health wise) there are several places in the food courts--yes that was plural--that offer healthier choices such as stir-fry, fish, etc. There is even a place called Arthur's (i think that's the name) that specializes in slow food--its a place to sit and relax, the food is pretty reasonably priced and the food is good but be prepared to spend a bit of time there.

Be sure to check out 'Underwater Adventures' on the lower level---they have an area where you actually go UNDER the fish. See the shark that was attacked, by another shark! Watch as divers swim with the fishes and feed them out of hand...even the sharks get a turn. Or take the dive yourself!

For more info visit the Mall Of America website for info of up coming events, available shops, restraunts, hotels/motels, directions, parking, etc.
Click on the 'Knit Out' banner to get details on the event/hotel offers/valuable coupons etc.

NEW PROJECT

Okay---enough newscommentary, time for crafting.

On the All Craft Exchange group (http://groups.yahoo.com/AllCraftExchange) we are doing a themed exchange this time---well a loose theme that is. We will be exchanging ANYTHING that is home/handmade and deals with Divination.

So I came up with about 4-5 ideas of things to do based on what type of divination my partner might like to do, or is already doing.

I was so excited to hear she does Tarot cards--I have to admit it is probably the easiest one to make something for---and crystal balls.

I had the perfect idea for each of them. Then the gods thru a loop to me....she is blind. The tarot deck she uses has been adapted to her needs and I'm not quite sure how she uses the crystal ball but then being that you see things in it with the third eye--I could see how it might work for her.

But it took what was supposed to be a very easy project and made me have to rethink it.....I haven't thought about adapting items for the blind since college days, when we had to come up with a unique idea for a single room within a museum and I thought of one made especially for the blind.

One where art peices would be meant to be touched, rubbed, felt--where normal art peices are hands-off. Art work out have texture, density, sound, taste....things to stimulate the other 4 senses. I got an A+ on the paper thank you very much....but anyways. After college I stopped thinking of things in those terms...it became even farther from my mind after my eye operation and I didn't feel the need for such things in my own life---kind of ironic when you learn my son is nearly blind in one eye.

So now I have had the oppotunity to rethink this way again---and I am so grateful for it!!!

It has taken a lot of thought on my end but I think I have finally figured out what to do....the beauty of dimensional paint and online braille translators! So now I'm off to make her a couple of nice feeling objects for her tarot and her crystal.

This is sooooo fun.

Another BLog???

I was thinking of starting another blog....one that people might find more helpful than my general ramblings that have been happening here (on what was supposed to be a crafting blog, maybe I should make a seperate news blog too)....so what would the subject be?

A one year experiment of "1000+ uses for Junk Mail"!

We all get it, we all hate it, and no matter what we do we can't make it go away.

so what to do with all the junk we get....it fills the dump sites, it flies along the side of the road...

so why not put it to use?

It sounds like a novel idea to me....but I wonder if I can/able to come up with 1000 uses....its a challenge.

Twinkle Toes update

well I have inc the number of sts needed for my partners foot....actually I'm not doing the Twinkle Toes pattern, just using it as a guideline....but I should have probably inc the number of cast ons to 12 (total) and worked 2 inc rows before moving onto the inc row/k row combination.

Also I waited until I had 32 sts on the two needles before splitting the stitches onto the 4 needles....I found this gave a better base to the sock and helped to prevent the needles from twisting backward--I actually got stitching and found that one of the needles had twisted around making a very ugly pucker...had I been working a cable st it would have been different, but it would have been very uncomfortable on the bottom of the foot....or on the top of the foot for that matter.

These are going to be some very interesting socks--not only am I using different tachniques for each of them....I did decide to use different needle sizes. This means that one sock will be just that much bulkier than the other...but hopefully not so much as to cause a real problem...I really like the concept.

The only thing the socks will have in common is the yarn, but even it will be slightly different due to pooling effects. I loved the way it ringed around the toe area! I wish it would do the same all the way up, but it has already gone to the single row of a single color...although it does change a little sooner than before so I'm hoping it will start to swirl around.

Now to prevent having to over frog I have inserted a peice of emb floss thru the stitches/loops of the last reg row for the toe---just incase I go on and find that I do not have enough stitches I will be able to stop the unraveling and easily find the stitches to simply pick them up and replace them onto the needles.

If I do not need to frog then I can simply pull the floss out later without having to pick it out--just so long as I did not split the floss at any point without realizing it.

I will more than likely do this every few rounds just to save myself some work--by doing a little more work now---should a problem arise like a dropped needle, a dropped stitch, a picked up stitch, etc.

This technique will come especially handy when I get to the heel flap/gusset.

Because I have never done a toe-up sock before I am anticipating a lot of issues with the "wrap, turns" on the short rows. I will check out knittinghelp.com as well for a video of the procedure but I want a stand by just in case as well.

If I run into too many troubles I can always contact one of these sock groups on Yahoo groups that I belong to:

T_Socks_KAL:Townsend Current Knit A Long
TownsendSocksKnitAlong:T-Knit A Long (I love the current group photo!!)

If you aren't familiar with Jeannie Townsend, that's okay...I didn't know about her until I started looking for sock groups either...if you decide to join check out the groups files---she offers tons of free patterns there, all of her own design! Some of the members have posted their own patterns up there as well. She is very talented, I don't know why she hasn't sold any of her patterns...although she did say once that the purposes of the group was to build internet buddies not make money....so its probably because she just has a really big heart!!

If you are interested she also has a blog:

Just Jeannie

Nerves acting up now

Okay so I got an email from the HSS (Hogwarts Sock Swap) yesterday.

Good news is my partner is still interested in doing the swap with me...yea!
Bad news is she asked for my snail mail address--I'm afraid this means that my partner is ready to send...but since I was waiting for the single measurement for my partner and couldn't go any farther without it I'm way way way behind.

I've only reached the heel flap...time to dig in and knit!!

I like the simple pattern I've chosen....its real simple. Its kind of tough to see with the varigated yarn BUT you can see that there is a change.

I'm thinking about doing the second sock in a larger or smaller needle....same yarn, same pattern just a different size so they can be mismatched but still matched.

Does that make sense? It will change how the color works up too so the pattern will be the real tie into each other.

Say Honey???

Next to "I was thinking...: those have got to be the scariest words my husband can hear from me...it usually means I've seen something online that I think he &/or I can make cheaper than buy.

Today it has been sock blockers. You've probably seen them lately in the photos online of completed socks. It seems like they have popped up over night...until this month I really hadn't seen them.

The plastic ones with holes would be great for hanging those hand wash/line dry pairs, since you can put them in and then hang them up on a tree branch or in a pipe in your house....ooooh can you imagine hanging them in a lilac tree in the spring, hmmmmm how sweet those socks would smell.

The wood ones would be nice to store them in a draw so that they wouldn't lose their shape balling them up, or for giving as gifts. They would have to be super smooth and coated well with lacquer to prevent grabs at the fiber...that could be pretty tediace to do.

But I've seen some very nice ones on line....for $30/pair!!! No thank you....you know me, I always want it at a bargain. Hubby is pretty handy with a saw, all I have to do is find a good pattern for him....or make one myself. Hmmmm.

They would be very helpful preventing those unsightly stretched out socks!

LOL Here is a photo I found of me at the baby shower my sister-in-law threw for me and my first born.

Yes I was blind folded, had to wear those rubber dishwashing gloves and see how many pairs of pantyhose I could get on in 5 minutes.

My advantage was I was used to getting dressed only 1/2 awake!

Partner sock update

Okay so I got out my black, got out my yellow and tested/swatched the pattern that I thought would make a great Hufflepuff sock. Hmmm, tried doing it with black as the background color but it got lost in the yellow, so I switched....figured if the yellow was too overpowering I'd try the black as the main color, but it too "disappeared" with the yellow.

I really like the pattern but it just won't work with what I have....so what is it about the yellow that makes the black disappear, you might wonder?

I'm not telling! Back to the drawing board.

I'm not giving up just yet....there's a few other patterns I thought would look great too that might work out better actually!

Still Waiting....

Okay so I am really trying to keep myself busy waiting for a "yea" or "nay" from the sock swap....I've given hair cuts to son and hubby....I've fed the gargoyles....I even worked on my sock yesterday (some concerns here)...but this is really testing my will power not to send off yet ANOTHER plea to be let in.....how UNslytherin of me, if I give in I would suspect the others will really trounse me!

About my sock...

Well I noticed after I put up the photos of it that I was getting some pretty funky pooling of color suddenly. I rechecked my gauge, nope it was still the same....8sts/inch, 9rows/inch....so the color should have been the same. Then it dawned on me that what it could be is the dying sequence had changed....hmmm, why would they do that?

Because that was were/when they expected me to be at the HEEL...instead of the decrease of the calf! So now I had this really nice wide striping going on with a big muck of muddiness...but really that's not my issue with it...it doesn't look the best but I can live with it (so can my daughter for that matter)....by issue is:
what if there isn't enough to finish the foot!!!

I mean think of it....I could be most of the way done with the foot and suddenly run out! That would be disastrous because I only have 2 skeins of this yarn....the last two herrschner's had...and buying a new skein risks mismatching dye lots (even though bernat is usually really good about it, I ain't pushing it). I even thought of using a second yarn for the heel and toe decrease, but then I thought....well if there IS enough yarn I would have a bit left over from each ball and then I have to worry about matching the striping and working in ends on the other sock. yada, yada, yada.

That is the one thing I do NOT like about the Arachne sock calculator....it doesn't give you approximate yardage needed. I don't know why it couldn't....I mean its a simple mathematical equation...

(#of sts needed to complete) X (# of yds needed to make gauge swatch of specific portions)=yds needed

OR

(#of rows) X (yardage in 10 rows)=approximate yardage needed

since the calculator asks you to enter in your gauge anyways, all it would need to know is the international size of the yarn to give the best estimate of yardage (1-5, based on thickness).

I suppose I could figure it out on my own too, but it would be easier if I had one of those cool tools that you just pull the yarn thru and it tell you the yardage you have....that would really be SWEET for something like this.

Just think all I would have to do is make swatches for every size of yarn with all my different needles and then measure it out...viola! Instant yardage chart! But that seems like just too much work for this time of the morning.

Besides, it won't help with the problem I have now....although the number of yardage/sts. would be the best way to handle the decreases and increases....AHHHHGGG! Now that will be stuck in my head and rattling around all day.

But then.....it might be better than obsessing over the Sock Swap!

On My Needles

Not too shabby for two days worth of work and doing all the other stuff that has to be done at the cabin as well, huh? This is the test for the "Arachne Sock Calculator" that takes your measurements and makes a simple sock pattern for you. It can be found at:
http://www.panix.com/~ilaine/socks.html
This pattern is great for self striping yarns like the Bernat Sox that I'm using in Hot Tamale! I also thought I would challenge myself and broke out the size 0's for the ribbing, a single row in size 1 to step up to the size 2 dpns....normally I hate working with anything smaller than a 3 but I like the fabric made with the smaller sizes much better (I even make my washclothes with size 4s instead of the 7 or8 that's recommended).

I purchased the yarn last year when I was planning on making tons of socks for my niece who we dubbed "Dobby" because whenever you asked her what she wanted for Christmas or her Birthday the answer was always the same---SOCKS!!

The Sox yarn is made of 60% acrylic and 40% nylon which gives it a wonderful memory, it doesn't hurt my hands like wool tends to, but I know many sock enthusiasts are just dieing now yelling "NO USE WOOL"...I'm sorry my hands just can't take it, but then I've only used LB Wool-Ease yarn so who knows what other brands will be like.

Actually this is the second attempt at these socks....I was almost finished with the leg last week when I realized that I had been marking my rows wrong and I hadn't put enough rows before the decrease began and then had too many rows between the decreases. So I frogged it all and restarted it last Friday night and churned this much work out on Saturday (sunday was a travel day so nothing got done....I can't knit in the car).

New Stash Arrivals-2007Jul8-14, part5

So finally....I had to add to the embroidery/cross-stitch pile as well. A few years back, before gas prices went thru the roof, my husband decided that he wanted to see all the light houses in the USA...so we started with the nearest one and have yet to see any of the others, but knowing his passion for the sea we will see them all. {have I mentioned that I'm deathly afraid of water?}

So I got this wall-hanging/lap quilt when it was on sale at http://www.herrschners.com/ and decided that in order to give him some incentive I will only do the light houses that we have actually visited...well okay that HE has actually visited.

So right now the only one I can do is Split Rock in Duluth, MN. It is the one in the middle on the top row. We, okay he, had to walk all the way to the end of the pier there. He had our oldest take a photo of the rest of us....under the pier beacon so that I could hold on tight to the supports because I hate water...our son had to back up so far on the pier that I thought for sure he was going to slip off the edge (he had one foot half way off).

Now last I checked the site they had sold out of them, they were on clearence for $5.97 so I can't blame the ladies for grabbing them all up!

New Stash Arrivals-2007Jul8-14, part4

This is actually my biggest weakness when it comes to sock yarn these days....Brownie Socks. My youngest is a Brownie scout (entering her second year) and I just refuse to pay the prices they want for the extended uniform parts. I know it goes to support the cause, but still I just can not bring myself to pay $5 a pair that she will just out grow and I can't recycle the yarn. At least if I make them myself I can "unstitch" them and then make them to fit her leg & foot again using the same yarn! AND each pair will only have cost me....get this....$1.94 with the Starlette Chocolate, and $3.98 with the Mellowspun Camel & Cocoa! And depending on how well they work up, I may even get two pair out of each....we will have to see. Both yarns are available at Mary Maxim's online.

I can't find a pattern online yet for the official Brownie pattern, but I don't think anyone in her troop will grimace if I find something close (currently the online GSA catalog are out of stock of them and they don't know when they will be coming in... So making is my only other option...the local store didn't have any either).
Well, that's it for stash adds for now! More next week....yep, more!
I've heard of ladies going on "yarn diets"....but remember....as Richard Simmon says "the first three letters in the word diet spell the word DIE!"

New Stash Arrivals-2007Jul8-14, part3

This RH stash is from herrschners.com and share the color "Crayon" but notice the difference? The RH Sport is so much darker than the worsted RH Kids yarn that I'm not sure the hat/mitten/cowl/liner set I had planned for my daughter will work--of course we just got the list required supplies for next year and it specified "Waterproof" mittens which means the really expensive ones that she will lose after a week or so anyways and then we will have to buy more...I've been wondering if felting would make a garment more waterproof. I know I can't do that with the RH because its acrylic, but http://www.knitpicks.com/ has some really nice wool for sale at a decent price...

New Stash Arrivals-2007Jul8-14, part2

Oh these I really like...the RH Soft Yarn is for an afghan I have been coveting in a book I have for about 10 years but I just couldn't find a yarn I thought it would look nice in. Each of the fall colors will be crocheted into filet panels depicting different types of leaves and then joined to make a beautiful Equinox Afghan! The colors are: Dark Leaf, Paprika, Paprika, Toast, Tangerine) the Sweet Pea on top is for my oldest daughter to "play" with...cost? $2.97 at Herrschners (reg. 3.19, so not a huge savings but still...). The other yarn, RH Sport is in Camouflage color to go with the worsted RH I used to make my youngest son's hat, cowl, and gloves (on the needle now) with...I thought a matching set of boot liners would be nice, but now that I have it I think it might be too thin for what I had planned so I may make him some slipper-socks instead.

New Stash Arrivals-2007Jul8-14, part1

Okay, so I was very naughty last week....but then when isn't a Slytherin naughty, right?....and ordered some more yarn (like I really needed more....but hey I got inspired).

Here are photos of what I got and what my plans are for each of them:

This is my Bernat Galaxy Yarn....this yarn has been discontinued so I've been having quite the time finding it at a decent price--I just refuse to pay $6 a skein for yarn! I thought it would be great to crochet an afghan that utilizes all the colors in the order of the solar system. So I bought (left to right) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, and Neptune from Mary Maxim's @ $0.97 a skein (I pay full price for very little, let me tell you!). I have located several more colors at http://www.joann.com/ and http://www.herrschners.com/ (they have one called Deep Space, that I would love to use for the background color...I figure 10 skeins would cover me, but they still want about $4.50 a skein...I can wait them out)