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.

New Project: Halloween costume

Okay - so my son is going to be Indiana Jones for Halloween -- although after watching 'The Crystal Skull' I have no idea why, I think they over did the 'formula' like they did the Star Wars saga (when will they learn to leave well enough alone?) ... it wasn't the acting, it wasn't the cinetography, it was definately the forced way the script felt.

Well, back to the costume ... instead of spending $40 on his costume like we did our youngest daughter who wants to go as Wonder Woman (complete with full body long johns to keep her warm) ... I decided that the beauty of Indy was that everything is pretty much everyday stuff.

I got a Stetson hat from scoutstuff.org for $10 on clearance (even picked up one for my college kid - he loves it, thank you). then its a dirty white or tan shirt ... jeans will work ... and for a coat he can borrow one of his dad's (actually I was hoping that my father would still have my big brother's Bomber Jackets from when they were kids ... no luck) that looks okay ... but I don't know about letting him have that whip.

I've got the whip ... hee hee ... but I'm thinking it would be a dangerous thing for him to take with him while going around - it might trail without his knowing going from house to house and trip someone .... nope no whip.

But for his trick-or-treat bag I thought how great to have a messenger bag like Indy has for putting his collection of stuff and tools into! Only my daughters olive colored messenger bag was tossed out I guess.

Well never tell me I can't do it! I'm going to make one instead .... inspired by Kitty's Creations Crochet squares Messenger Bag .... only a few changes will take place.

1. I will use an old towel to line the bag with to keep it from stretching under the weight of the candy

2. I have to figure out a better strap, I think a crocheted one will not only take too long, but it would also stretch under stress.

3. I am using one main color .... and will probably use a different square, she uses a material center with eyelets put into it ... i suppose i could use some of those iron-on patches but that would be kind of expensive i'm sure -- but its an idea. i think a basic granny square would do the best ... maybe done in single crochet instead of doubles or in a solid side instead of the usual 3 dc then a ch space.

we will see ... I will have to jump on it though -- I've only got until Friday to get it all done.

Twinkle Toes update 2

OMGs! I can not believe how quickly this toe-up pattern is going....I've been working on this sock for less than a day and I'm almost done with the foot!

If it goes this fast then I think what I will do is start on the second sock for my daughter and use it to practice the heel turn before I try it on my partners sock--that way any little mistakes will be forgiven.

Then too I will have a sock ready to practice the cast off with as well.

I am so used to doing a three needle bind-off at the toe that I am sure I will have some troubles with the cast-offs I've seen connected with toe-up socks.

Well off to do the last two rnds of my foot section and then get ready to make the heel....if I can figure it out that is.

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.

Kids and Knitting do NOT mix

I love my kids, I really do.

I was in the bedroom (where the HD tv is) and I was working on my current sock...see previous photos...when the phone rang and I put down my work. I had just gotten to the heel flap so had switched from my size 2 dpn's to my size 1 circs, figured I would make life easy on myself and if I put the work down for a long period of time I could slip the stitches down onto the cable. Good Idea, right?

I'm not used to working with circs....I only got them because I was going to try making socks using the Magic Loop system but couldn't figure it out...so there they were laying on the bed.....next to my 11 yr old son....who was watching television with me....apparently he is not the fan of the news because as soon as I got into the quick conversation on the phone he decided to get off the bed....the call lasted all of 50 seconds....literally, if even that long.

Son and I passed each other thru the door...when there on the floor lay...you guessed it---the circs....no sock....just the circs!

I had cataract surgery about 4 years ago, at age 38, so my eyesight is not the best but even I could see I had a BIG problem on my hands.

So I popped on my magnifying glasses over my regular glasses (it makes my entire lens the same prescrib as my bi-focals) and proceded to slip as many of the loops back onto the circ without loosing them....this is not easy for anyone, but try to do it while fighting the urge to find the kid that did it (I know it was my fault for not sliding down those stitches)

{sighs} so I get all the stitches on, give it a gentle tug just to make sure...a run is easy to fix at this point, but {wiping sweat from brow} luckily I didn't have any runs--all the stitches were saved. Right??

WRONG! I started to do the next knit row. It was great the first half of the heel flap==not a problem EVERY single stitch was twisted correctly and right where it belonged, but once I passed the marker that's when the problems began.

1. most of the stitches are actually the ones from the previous row, or a mix of the previous row stitch and the present row stitch.
2.still hadn't dropped any rows, no runs...well that's good news at least...but I have stitches where I caught PART of them...which means I have split the yarn...which weakens it. On the heel this is not a good thing, in fact its a very, very bad thing.
3. hubby came home and now I haven't had time to straighten out the mess....only reason I'm writing this blog now is because I'm waiting for my stroganoff to meld together (keyboards are easier to clean than knitting while its on the needles).

So now I am sitting here dreading having to get out the crochet hook and redoing 15 stitches so that I am catching all the yarn fibers that should be there----and seperate the previous row from the current one.

You know the devil on my shoulder is saying "just stitch it the way it is, no one will notice the heel"....but I just can't do that....{sigh}

On the bright side I told my daughter, they are her socks, what had happened and that I would have to fix her heel and she said "on my leg or on the sock?" Maybe she knew I could have used that good chuckle about then.

Hogwarts Questionaire

Okay I saw this on several other blogs of other members so I think I may just not have gotten the email yet....so hey, I'll pull a Hermione and jump the gun! After all, she is the smartest witch in her class.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire
1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Slytherin, with deliciously dreamy Professor Snape (I prefer the book colors of Silver & Emerald to the movie colors of Grey & Green)
2. Shoe size? Size 9 (or a loose size 8)
3. Foot Length? 9.5inches from heel to toe
4. Foot Circumference? 8.75 inches at ankle, 8.5 inches at the ball
5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

• Boye 7 inches long, sizes 1-3 for socks depending on the yarn/pattern/look I want
• Susan Bates 7 inches long, size 0 (actually these came in a set of 5 different sizes, and are the only Bates needles I like)
• Boye (see above).....I very loyal to the Boye name---my crochet hooks are Boyes, my needles are Boyes, the majority of my tatting shuttles are Boyes.

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length? Well, I'm always up to try something new, I would like to try some wooden ones but I realize they are very expensive and don't expect them from my partner. Anything over 7" I think gets too long for socks, sometimes I wish my Boyes were an inch shorter. Any size is fine...right now I'm waiting for a set of 0000's to go on sale...I want to try some mini-knitting.

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference? I do however prefer the Silver & Emerald (since it contrasts the Scarlet better than Green) to the Movies Grey & Green.

8. Allergies? Do you have any? Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? I am allergic to cats and fish...very sensitive to the cat dander (my lips puff and my eyes swell)

9. Are you an international participant (outside US)? Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? I am not an international participant (US) but I'm afraid going international right now is a bit outside of my funding, so not this round I'm afraid...sorry!

Well that's it for now....I wonder if I have to post this on the Swap page too? Maybe I'll stop in and put in a link.

Blessings and Twilight!!

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!

Waiting is the Toughest part

I don't know how the gargoyles do it....just sitting and waiting....being so patient. I have sent off my application to the Hogwart's Sock Swap (I'm a first year since I missed the deadline for the last one)....well okay I have sent 2 applications.

I would love to get in on this deal....as long as I don't have to spend a ton on sock yarn & needles. As you can probably tell from my other posts I am a bit cheap when it comes to paying full price for things. I was looking at some of the photos the original swap had and found that some of these ladies paid $25 a skein for their yarn!!! GET OUT!!!

Well at least that was the prices I came up with online, perhaps they had a better deal. Although I have to say they did make for some really pretty socks.

The other thing that worries me is that each person has to send a set of new, unused sock needles to their partner in their partners preferred size. Now I've seen some sets out there that cost as much as $14 or so and I'm sorry but that's a tad much....granted they were the ones made with the special woods...but for that money they should be gold plated in my mind!!!

Maybe I will get a partner who likes to use tw0 circulars....I wonder what you do then....do you have to get them two circs then? or will one cover your obligation? I would think two since that's what would be needed to finish a sock, but that could get costly as well....some circs can be $20.

I know hubby won't allow me to spend quite that much...okay not even close to that.
The stitch markers I'm not too worried about.....I can make those myself...as a matter of fact I should have everything I need to make a set for any house using genuine gemstones.

Well, off to knit and wait some more.

Waiting. waiting. waiting.

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)

Here we go again!

Okay, so here I go delving into the world of blogging again...this is actually blog number 3, well number 4 if you count my YouTube acct. The first is my private blog (invite only) and the other is one about old time radio/movies that my family like to listen to/watch together.

This blog will be dedicated to my crafting.

Actually this particular blog is being started because I am hoping to join an online sock exchange that requires its members to have an open blog account (that is public), but since the other blog on yahoo360 is my "venting" blog, more like a personal diary where I don't want just anyone to read it....I had been thinking about going public and posting crafting stuff with it but then I have just too much personal stuff on there.

So the next best solution was to take advantage of the free blog offered by Google which I have had at my disposal for years and just didn't realize it! How foolish to I feel? So now I have a blog just for my crafting.

So what kind of crafting do I do?
Well let's just say I am known all over the web as Maggie the Crochet-a-Holic (you may have ran across my website at http://dustbunnies.com/crochet.htm) which I have been doing since the young age of 4...in grade school, Motley Elementary decided to have a class in beginning crochet...we kids were allowed to choose 2 classes a quarter as an elective (it was supposed to prepare us for high-school)...so in fourth grade I took the crochet course (figuring I could always use an easy A and it gave me an hour a day when I was actually encouraged to crochet in school....otherwise I was constantly being told to wait for recess time).

You can imagine my surprise when I found the course was being taught by Mrs. Jorgenson...my mother had taught her how to crochet over the summer break and I had even taught her a few things. She instantly recruited me as class helper to show the other kids what to do--well that was a disaster! Get a group of girls together with crochet hooks, yarn, and a ton of gossip and well....very little got done. I guess the thing that really disappointed me was that when I did get time to myself I wasn't allowed to work on the Barbie clothes, the hair ties, the mittens & hats that I wanted to....I had to complete the required class project just like everyone else:

This Gods awful boring belt made three chained ropes (one each of a different color, each chain was to wrap around our waist three times before braiding)...it was so boring for me!!! I had a really tough time completing that project (it was torture for me)

In fact that one project almost made me fail because I just could NOT motivate myself.

Now I'm a mom and teaching my own kids to crochet (boys and girls a like) and what was the first project I gave them? That awful belt! Now that I've grown up I can see where it is the perfect beginners project...in fact you could finish it in a single weekend if you wanted to (and if you pick up on the chain stitch quick enough I bet you could do it in a single day).

I have never posted the "pattern" online (neither blog nor webpage) but if anyone is interested in a simple beginner's project I'd be happy to do so here.

Well that's it for my first post....I am sure I will post more later on.

OH WAIT!!! I forgot to mention what other crafts I do....are you ready?

• crochet
• tatting
• knitting (my latest passion is/are socks)
• cross stitch (stamped and counted)
• liquid embroidery
• machine embroidery
• polymer clay
• wire wrapping
• jewelry making
• decorative cakes (well cupcakes mostly)
• carving (wood & stones)
• painting
• loop knitting
• I'm learning to machine knit (although I'm having some problems)
• scrapbooking
• machine sewing (I love making costumes for my kids...maybe I'll post a few photos later of them)
• rune-carving/casting
• tea blending (okay, many would consider this more and art than craft)

I'm sure I've missed a bunch that I just do without thinking....LOL....but we all know how that goes!