Feeling a bit better

    Well things are going a bit better. The panic attacks are getting back under control with the help of klonopin. My doctor is being very understanding and making me feel that I'm not the only one that has them, she is so reassuring and told me to let her hold onto the worries that I have. I also have a great support group with my husband, son, daughter in law, granddaughter, and friends who will sit with me until the feelings pass.
I see my old shrink in November and I'm feeling hopeful that I can get things back under control and get my life back.
    I feeling well enough that I went to the Big E, a big fair in MA, I had a few anxious moments but the girls were right there and helped calm me down. Then on Monday I fell and broke my fibula in my right leg and I'm in a brace thing and might be put into a cast on Thursday. This has made me feel guilty as I can't take the dog out or do the laundry, the washer is down a flight of stairs so I've been doing the crying thing and keep saying I'm sorry to my husband and my poor little dog.
   I'm back to working on things for my shop as I feel better about my life in general. I'll add some pictures of some works in progress soon.
Blessed Be to all!!

Tired of feeling like I'm going to cry

     The last week has been bad I feel like all I want to do is cry and there isn't a reason to be crying. My mind won't stay on any one thing long enough to finish anything which makes me even more depressed. My meds aren't working and I know that I need something else but don't know if the doctor will give me anything new. I've been on lithium. depakote, lithium and depakote together, Zoloft, Prozac, abilify, and right now I'm on cymbalta. They all worked for a while but would almost overnight go from controlling things to doing nothing and it's happening again. I'm going in and out of depression into hypomania and back within 24 hour cycles and don't know who I'll be when and if I get out of bed each day. I'm seeing my general doctor on Tuesday and hope we can come up with something cause I don't know how much longer I can keep it together without either running away or just going to bed and not getting up for a month as I don't know which way I'm going to go.
     I have this one tape that gets going in my brain that says no one needs me , no one will miss me if I'm gone and start putting together a plan to just disappear. And almost every time either the phone will ring or I'll get an email from someone saying they need me for something so I get out of the loop for a day until my mind starts it all over again. I know that it's a faulty tape and I should find a way to destroy it but so far I haven't figured out hoe to do that. It's been my biggest demon for as long as I can remember.
     I'll write again after I see the doctor and hopefully get on a med that will help me to get on the right road  to get back to my knitting and other crafts.
     Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Depression and trying to craft

     Okay it's time to come clean with anyone who is following this and myself. I have been fighting my inner demons for the last month and they are winning. I have bi-polar disorder, disease, or as it used to be called manic depression and right now the depressive side of it is rearing it's head. I have been trying hard to keep going and working on things for my Etsy and Zibbet shop but when I finish something I can't get myself to take photos and get it posted for selling. The problem is that I doubt myself as to if what I've made is good enough that anyone would want to even look at it let alone buy it. So I put it on a shelf and go on to make something else.
      I'm also dealing with some other health issues that are making think twice about where my life is now and where it is going. I have a bad knee and the pain is getting worse with each damp or humid day that we have so that is making it harder to get around. This sets up a vicious cycle because the doctors want me to get exercise to keep the knee and the rest of me limber but when I try to exercise it hurts so I skip it, then I feel guilty that I'm not following what the doctors want me to do. So this works against me with my depression and it goes round and round.
      I take meds for the bi-polar but I'm what is called a rapid cycler and the drugs stop working after awhile and I'm at the point where they aren't doing it for me and so I need to give in and talk to the doctors and try something else. This is hard because my shrink that I worked with for 10 years moved his practice to over 4 hours away about 2 years ago and I haven't been able to find anyone else that I feel as comfortable with as I did him. My general family doctor is great but can't do quite the same as a shrink can so it's more difficult to talk to them about what I need. So I've been trying to deal with the feelings of emptiness and worthlessness by myself so that I don't burden my friends and family.
      I'm not going to write for a while so I can concentrate on getting healthy both body and mind. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Busy days and nights

       Well the last few days have been busy and I haven't had time to blog. I helped a friend clean out a shed and I've been working on 2 baby afghans, one that had to be done today for a baby shower and the other one has to be done in the next day or two as it needs to get in the mail to a friend for a silent auction that she is doing.
        Finished the afghan for the shower and they loved it. Can't wait for the baby to arrive so we can get a picture of him wrapped in it. The shower was fun, I'm not used to guys being at baby showers. Back in 1978 when my son was born that was unheard of, now it's the norm. They played a game just for the men they had to put a large balloon under their shirts and then with feet flat on the ground see who could tie there shoes the fastest. We got a good laugh as they all said " How do you do this I can't see my feet!" We ladies that have been pregnant all just laughed at them cause we all had been there for the whole second half of our pregnancies not just a few minutes for a game.  Came home after the shower to discover our water bed has a leak!!!
      So we stripped it to try to find the leak and realized it must be on the bottom of the mattress so we have to empty the whole thing which has so far taken about 3 hours because it keeps loosing the suction and we have to go out and get it going again. So this has made it difficult to get the second afghan done that I need to finish. So I'm planning a late night to make up for the time I've lost with the baby shower and the leaking bed.
      I'm planning to make sets of juggling balls with a bag to store them in as my next item in my shops. Look for them by the end of next week.
      Going on a little mini vacation with the girls for the next few days so I'll be with out my computer. I'll write about our adventures when I return. We are going to  a casino and it's a first for all 3 of us so I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to share.
Goodnight and Blessed Be

     Well the wedding was wonderful. Here are a few pictures from the day of the happy couple.
     As some of you know I was making a quilt for them to use for guests to sign. They also used it to walk under on the way to the alter. In all the hustle and bustle I forgot to take pictures of the finished quilt, I do have a few of it while I was working on it. I will post them in my next blog.
    I've reopened my zibbet and etsy shops and hope to have some new items posted in the next few days. I've got some ideas for a couple of toys and some new afghans both baby and full size. I'm thinking of doing some quilted wall hangings with designs of trees, dragons, and other fantasy and natural things on them.
    That's all tonight, glad to be back now that the big day is over.
Goodnight & Blessed Be

Quilt update

First sorry for not blogging since the 2nd but as you know I've been really busy with the wedding quilt, butterflies and a few other things. So here is an update and thanks for understanding my absence. The quilt is done except for the ironing. I also need to put the coat of arms things on but they are being fused on so I'm doing that when I iron it. I had the hubby print them out on 2 different special materials that you use with your ink jet printer, one is a sew on and the other is the fusible. I was all set to use the sew on one when I realized the background wasn't white so it just didn't look good so I'm using the fusible one that does have a white background.

I didn't realize that when you put you shop on Etsy into vacation mode that it blanks out the photos on your blog . So sorry for the big empty space that is at the top of the page. The shop along with my Zibbet shop also will reopen on August 7th with some new items along with what was already there. Thanks for your patience this last month.


The wedding fast approaches counting today it's 6 days. I'm only the Mother of the Groom and I think I'm more nervous and excited then they are. I will post pictures and tell you all about it next week.

Well I'm off to make 12 more what I'm calling squishes, they are small crochet balls, for the little poppets that will be at the wedding. With the quilt and butterflies done I have a whole week here to play and so I'm going to make some things and use the kids at the wedding as test subjects to see if I should put them in the shop.

Enjoy your week, stay safe. Goddess Bless

Been busy just a quick note

I've been neglecting my blog but I've also been neglecting my housework and friends for a while also. The reason for this is that the wedding is now less then a month away and I've been really busy doing things for that. I'll try to get back to writing more and updating what I'm working on but can't promise anything.
Back to work. Goodnight and Blessed Be

Wedding Quilt

     I have everything now so I can started on the guest signing quilt that I'm making for the kids. Bruce is enlarging the design and then I need to transfer it onto the material so I can start doing the quilting. Still trying to decide if I want to make it all one piece or make it three squares across by three squares down. I'm going to put the design up on the wall as a whole cloth and make the final decision after I see how it looks. I'm a little nervous that everyone at the wedding will be looking at it so it has to be perfect. I also need to get the flowers and butterflies going I'm going to make 100 of each, 50 pins of each and 50 key chains of each.

     I posted the pink teapot set on Zibbet yesterday and on Etsy today and it has been put into a treasury. Here's a link if you want to check it out http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzE2NjA0N3wzMzQ3NzA2ODc/tea-for-two along with my teapot there are some other great items from some awesome artists. I'm planning on making another set in a popsicle blue yarn that I got last night. Here's a picture of the set, a tea party without the mess.

     Tomorrow I'm taking pictures of the bubblegum pink circular baby blanket that I finished on Monday and hopefully I'll finish the 2 dragons that are in different stages of being done and get pictures of them also and get them posted either tomorrow or Friday. I'm trying to get as much product into both shops by the end of June so that I can devote July to the wedding stuff that I need to do.

     I can't wait to put the gift bags for the kids together I have some fun things to put in them. I'm going to make a stuffed toy for the 2 babies bags as they are to little for the crayons and other things that I've gotten to put into the bags. I'm going to personalize each bag with the kids name and do some stamping and other fun stuff on the outside of the bags.

    I may end up putting my shops in vacation mode for the month but I haven't decided on that as of yet I'll wait and see if I can handle both the wedding stuff and at least check in on the shops for any sales a few times a day. Okay that's it for tonight so as always.

      Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Pink afghans and teapots

      I finished a bubble gum pink baby afghan yesterday and posted a pink crocheted teapot with 4 cups, today I worked on a sage green afghan and got out pink, purple,yellow, red,& green crochet cotton so tomorrow I can make some girl colored sachets. I think it's cause it's been so dreary and rainy for so long that I just need to work with bright colors to lift my spirits. It is helping as I have been able to get out of bed and get things done that a lot of times when the days are gloomy I'm unable to do.
     I ordered a dress for the wedding today and I'm going to start working on getting my upper arms in shape as it is sleeveless and I have what I call either my wings or maracas. I want to get the rest of me into better shape but it's not as noticeable because the dress is long and flowy so most of me will be covered except for the arms. Now I need to find shoes that are comfy  which is hard for me to do as I have large wide feet and I hate shoes!! I love the feel of Mother Earth under my feet and the grass between my toes, squishy mud or sand  at the beach is great to, so as soon as I can I will most likely slip them off and put them under a table at the reception. In my youth I lost many a pair of shoes at clubs and functions because I'd take them off and forget them when I left, I'm better now at remembering to bring them home as I have to pay for new ones my self.
     Well that's my day and now off to bed. Goodnight and Goddess Bless
    

New sales

    Didn't get on the computer at all yesterday and discovered when I checked things this morning I had an order to get in the mail. This little guy is going to live in Barrington, IL.

     Every time I think I'll call it quits I get either a sale or someone will favorite or put one of my items in a treasury. I guess that's a higher power, the Goddess, my angels, etc., telling me to hang in there, that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

     Only 53 days until the wedding!! The invitation arrived today and they are on a website that we can go to and get the directions, see what they are registered for and get what we want to get for them on the list of things that they want. They are going hiking the Appalachian trail for the honeymoon so they are registered for things that they need for the trip.

     I'm going to be getting the material that I need to make the guest signing quilt this Saturday and get it started next week. It's going to be white front and back with five trees of life on it. I'm really excited to get going on it now that the design is really the way I had envisioned it. It's going to be 6'x6' with each square being 2'x2'. There will be one tree in the center and one in each corner with the space in between being left open for the people to sign and leave messages. I'm planning to take pictures of it as I go along and I'll post them here.

     That's all for tonight my friends I'm hoping to finish the granny square afghan that I've been working on before I go to bed, I only have 3 rounds to go and then tomorrow I'll photo it and get it in my shops.

     Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Finishing projects

       The weather was nice and cool today after the crazy heat and storms of yesterday. So I decided it was a good day to work on some projects that I've had put to one side because they were bigger and made me hot. I have a granny square blanket almost done, a blue baby afghan about half done and a sage green baby afghan about a third of the way done. These all need to lay across mt lap while I'm working on them and when it gets above 70 degrees my body is a very unhappy camper so I had to put them to one side. I have been working on smaller things but I really want to get these done so for the next few days I plan to get them finished as the weatherman says it's going to be nice and cool. After these are done I'm going to get another fan so I can set one on each side of me and work through the summer.
      Little black dogs are a pain in the butt when they want to be in your lap at the same time as you are trying to type on your laptop. Thank goodness for spell check. Why is it that dogs like kids can be totally ignoring you until either the phone rings or you decide to do something that you need your hands to do and then they want to be right under your hands and in your lap? Oh well nothing else tonight.
       Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Lavender, lavender, and 25 pounds of stuffing

       I haven't written since friday and a lot has gone on.
     I went out Saturday with friends to an awesome dance show. It had about 300 kids from about 8 to 18 from all around the region. They reminded me that life is about having fun and never forgetting that in having fun you get to learn about yourself and history and so much more in this world. We are planning to go to more productions done by this group. It's the New Hampshire Dance Institute and they were in Keene, NH if you get the chance to see them I highly recommend it.
       Sunday I went and bought a 25 pound bag of stuffing for animals and sachets. The only problem is I can't find anyplace in the house to put it. It's as tall as me 5'10" and about 3' around. I can't put it in the cellar as we have a moisture problem and everything gets musty smelling and my closets all have to much stuff in them to be able to stuff it in them. So for now it's in the livingroom and has a blanket over it until I figure it out.
       Yesterday we just had a quiet day and remembered our fallen friends and family that served our country over the years.
        Today my 3 pounds of lavender arrived from catey 13 the whole house smells so awesome and I can't wait to make some sachets to put in both of my shops. I'm going to make both knit and crochet ones some with flowers and some with maybe little butterflies or other little things. The lavender is french lavender and it was very affordable and arrived real quick. Go to http://www.amazon.com/shops.catey13 to order some you won't be disappointed.
       I keep starting animals and then deciding I don't want to finish them so I think I need to take a break from them. I'm going to design some sachets and work on them and work on some afghans as that is where my heart seems to be right now. Hopefully this is just because of the heat and it will only be alittle while before I get back into making more animals until then I'll be doing more of my other crafts.
      Well nothing else today but I'll be back tomorrow and hope to have pictures of a few of the sachets.
Goodnoght & Goddess Bless

5 AM and I can"t sleep

       It's just after 5 AM and I'm still up. I want to go to bed but it's really humid and I need open windows. I wish that Bruce wasn't always cold so that we could keep a window open in the bedroom but it won't happen anytime soon. He can't help it but I do get frustrated at having to sleep in the living room on the couch unless its at least 75 to 80 degrees out during the night. I'm just the opposite if it gets over 65 I want all the windows open and over 75 a fan blowing on me. We both deal with it cause we love each other and it's just one of the things that we do.
      I have a pink dragon almost made just the wings and sewing the face on left to do. I"m going to finish it later today ( after I get some sleep) get photos and post it in my shop. I think the next animal I'm going to try is an owl, then I'm going to make a few cupcakes and dishes.
     I think I'm going to post the next things in both of my shops. The odds of someone buying the same item at the exact same time are low the only problem I have is that I can't just use the same wording for the item in both shops as search engines don't like that so I have to come up with 2 descriptions instead of 1 and I have a hard time with just the 1 so I'm going to have to think on this a little more.
     It's only 2 months till the kids wedding and I ordered two  dresses. They are blue and I hope they are okay. I'm into day 3 of the first 7 days of the Natural Hormonal Enhancement program so hopefully I'll be a little smaller before the wedding arrives. The hardest thing is drinking enough water to help flush the toxins out of my system, I'm suppose to drink at least 2 liters a day and its hard to do but I will do it. I'm committed to following this program and getting back in shape. The doctors want me to lose 90 pounds and after trying so many other things I hope this one works. I'll blog about my progress and hope that it helps to keep me on track.
     Okay I'm going to try to get some sleep. Goodnight & Blessed Be

Okay let's try this again. I went to post what I wrote and it wanted me to sign in even though I'm already signed in and then it erased what I wrote so I'm going to rewrite it and keep my fingers crossed that it works this time.
   I went out and bought a baby doll tonight along with some other supplies for some new projects that I'm going to be making. I got magnet strips to turn flowers and butterflies into magnets, dowels and ribbon for a wand idea that I'm going to try out. The wands I'm going to make a couple and see if the neighbors girls like them and if they do then I'll add them to the shops. Don't know if I'll put them in both shops or just one as I have trouble coming up with one description and you have to reword if you put it on another site so I'll decide later.
  If I don't get to be out in the sun for a few hours soon I think I'll shrivel up into a corner. This rain is making me feel down in the dumps and like everything is useless. I know I shouldn't be complaining with what people across the country and around the world are dealing with but this rain every day is wearing on me.
  My business cards came in today and they make me feel like I'm a real business woman. Now all I need is for things to start selling. I just need to keep thinking positive and it will happen.
  A question that I have for some of the other shops that have knitting and crochet blankets, clothing, toys etc. is how do they have so many things listed in a short time? I work for 10 sometimes more hours a day and unless it's something like flowers or butterflies or small like that I can only get maybe one dragon or other stuffed creature done in a day and a baby blanket in about 3 or 4 days, a full size afghan takes about a week. So how do they do it?
  Oh well that's it for tonight. Good night and Blessed Be

Almost a week since last blog

       I haven't blogged in almost a week just been to busy. The weekend was great, learned a lot, discovered that the heat I feel is energy that I can use to heal myself and with enough practice help others.This makes me feel good and the Reiki is helping me to channel this enery that I have had all my life but didn't know how to use it. So for now I'm going to practice on me everyday and in a month or so I'll try working on the hubby. I'm so glad I went to the class.

      I posted two new items in my zibbet shop yesterday here are pictures of both of them. I'm going to do some more in other colors and add them to the site. I'm also going to add some of the roses that I made for Gram's service and some other flowers that I've been playing around with. I'm going to make some into magnets and some into bookmarks. I also have an idea for a couple of baby afghans in the works along with the granny square afghan that I've been working on.

      My new grandson is getting cuter everyday, his eyes are almost black they are so dark and his curls are just getting even curlier. Wish we lived closer so I could hold him and love him up for real instead of just in pictures but I'll take what I can.

      I'm going to get back on my diet tomorrow no more McDonalds

frappes or Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I only have 2 months till the wedding and I don't want to be the fat one in the pictures so I'm going to get serious and lose some weight and get firmer with exercise. I hate both of these things but not just for the wedding also for my health.

     Now I'm going to crochet for awhile and then go to bed.

     Goodnight & Blessed Be

Sister's and Daughter

        My weekend plans have changed entirely. I was going to go look at kilts with the hubby for the wedding and then bring some things down to the kids that they forgot the last time they were here. Come home and work on crocheting the afghan that I started last week. Now I'm going to be spending it with my sister and future daughter. Asherah is teaching a Reiki 1 class we are taking it. I spent almost 3 hours finding a room for us that didn't cost an arm and a leg. Finally found one, it's a smoking room but I'm going to bring incense to burn. It was the only room in our price range because it's college graduation weekend so all the rooms are booked, I tried B&B's but they were either exspensive or you had to stay 2 nights so I hope Donna is okay with the room that I found.
       I have a dress for an 18" doll almost done. I've got to make the little panties and I'm going to try to make a pair of shoes also. After I finish this outfit and get it photograghed and listed I'm going to make a few other outfits and see how they do.  I also have an idea for a frog family that I'm going to make as well as a carrot baby hat like the one I made for Dana's nephew. So I'm going to be a busy girl after this weekend. Soon I have to take time out from making thngs to sell and get going on the guest signing quilt that I'm making for the kids wedding.
       Well the sun is still out so I'm going to take the dog for a little walk. Goodnight & Goddess Bless  

Grandson's name

        Our Grandson arrived yesterday and Katie just called to say that his name is officially Barry Cuda Mitchell after our boy Barry. I'm so proud of them for doing this. I wish that he could know his name sake and he will by way of photos and stories but he'll never get to actually spend any time with him. Of course knowing my Bear he will make himself be known from time to time and he'll keep me up to date as to how the little guy is doing just like he has with the girls since they were born.

        I made the centers for 120 granny squares today and as soon as I finish this I'm going to start on the second round, should have them done by this time tomorrow and then onto round three. Hope to have the whole afghan done by Friday, Saturday at the latest Took the pictures of the 2 newest dragons today and will post them tomorrow. I made 2 butterflies yesterday and will take pictures and post tomorrow. Here's a picture of some of the flowers and butterflies that I made for my Gram's service. Also the 2 new dragons and Barry Cuda Mitchell, 1 day old

Family

       Well the roses and butterflies were loved by all at the celebration of Gram's life, that's what we decided to call it instead of just her service. I was proud that I could share these small crochet things with everyone but at the same time was a little embarrassed that I was getting all of these compliments when we were there for Gram. I decided that before I post any for sale that I'm going to put sewn on pin backs as a lot of them were falling off of the stick on ones that I used. I definitely will be doing the key chains as they gone in no time and people were asking if I had anymore made into key chains so I think that is a good judge as to whether they will sell or not. I'm thinking of checking around to see if there are any craft sales around that might be worth signing up for.  

      It was nice seeing family today just wish it was for a happier occasion but I still didn't feel sad about it except for the folks that act as if now that her body is gone that she is gone. My own personal beliefs are that now I can visit her anytime and anywhere. We can wander the astral plane, spend time in the garden no matter the weather, she'll be able to do her crochet and other crafts like she loved to do and above all she can see the beauty of everything that she hasn't been able to see for the last 10 to 15 years. For a lot of the others as far as they are concerned she is just gone and that is the end of her life but it's only this chapter that is over and she's with her loved ones again and still here with us if we are open to letting her in.

       It's been a long day and I'm going to do some mindless knitting for a little while and then go to bed. Tomorrow I hope to get one maybe two dragons made and maybe even get pictures taken so I can get them posted. I also need to package up the afghan that I sold to get it ready to ship out on Monday, I just realized last night that it's the same lady that bought the other granny square afghan that is the one that bought this one. I also am going to get the package ready to send out to Texas for our new grandson as he will be here in just a few weeks.

         Good night & Goddess Bless

Sales and roses

         It's been a crazy week here I've been making crocheted roses and butterflies since last Friday to pass out at Gram's service tomorrow. I've got 120 in total 77 roses, 12 as key chains, 65 pins & 43 butterflies, 12 as key chains, 31 pins. Any that are left I'm going to put in my zibbet and etsy shops for sale. I think I'll put them at $ 2.50 with free shipping.
        I found out a whole bunch of things that happened in the last 102 years while I was writing Gram's eulogy she was born in 1909 and that was the year that jigsaw puzzles first were made. In her life there were 18 presidents and 4 English monarchs, women got the vote, Barbie dolls came out, and so many other things. The hemline on dresses rose and lowered many times and hairstyles went from big to  flat to big to flat many times.
       I sold 2 dragons and an afghan this week. I'm going to start a green dragon maybe tomorrow night and a multi colored one, I'm going to embroider the faces so they can be for any age. I have one made with safety eyes and I'm going to do more with them but I have to put an age warning on them. I've got some new books with animals and flowers that I'm going to get done.
      Good night and Blessed Be

Roses, blue roses everywhere

I am making roses to give out at Gram's service next Saturday and so far I have 24 done and I need to make a total of at least 100. The good thing is I have all week and since I make my own work hours and can decide what I'm working on I shouldn't have any problem getting them done. The bad thing is that I'm getting tired of blue already, that is grams favorite color, and I still have 76 to go. I'm thinking that I'm going to throw in some pink and maybe purple as she liked both of those colors also. I'm also going to make some butterflies and maybe a few bookmarks for the men. She is here with me all the way and even sent me her pattern for the roses because I couldn't remember the beginning of it.
      I was featured in a treasury on etsy yesterday and have been getting more views over the last week. I think for now I'm going to keep both shops and add things as I get them done.
      I bought a fake American girl doll yesterday to use as a model for clothing that Rosie says I need to make and sell to other little girls like her. I'm also going to get some more dragons and other animals knit and crocheted to post as Isaiah says boys like them, he says dinosaurs and monsters are cool and so do his buddies so that's what I'm going to work on. Of course there are always babies being born so I'm going to continue to make baby afghans and I'm going to add some light weight bonnets and maybe booties. I'm also thinking of another line of knit, crochet but not ready to post that just yet.
      The only thing is to do all of these things I need to start getting up in the morning instead of sleeping until noon or later.This is going to be hard because my time clock is set to nights and when I try to go to bed before 2 or 3 in the morning I just lay there and don't sleep, this wouldn't be a problem except that my eyes get tired and I can't keep working sometimes so it's wasted hours. I will figure this out one way or the other either get stronger glasses or make myself go to bed and get up with Bruce and stay up to get these projects done.
      Oh well off to make a few more roses. Happy Mayday, Happy Beltane

        Goodnight & Blessed Be

Using Gram's crochet thread from my stash

      Got a call this morning that Gram died and I have to say I have mixed feelings about it. She was 102. in pain 24-7, couldn't hear,see or walk any more or do anything for herself. She has wanted to go for the last 3 years and told us all the time that she didn't know why she was being made to stay here on this earth plane while younger people around her that she loved were being taken to the other side to soon.  She outlived Grampa, Uncle Tom, Uncle Ike, Aunt Jackie, my boy Barry, her sisters, brother, friends and many others that she loved.
     I'm going to miss her she was the one who taught me to knit, crochet, sew, love plants, and gave me the encouragement to do things that scared me. When I got married and worried that I didn't know how to cook or do laundry or other things that I thought wives were supposed to know how to do  she told me that I'd learn and it would be okay. When my first son, Adrian was born she just told me to relax that I'd know what to do and that we would learn together how to be good parents.  When we lost our youngest boy she told me he would always be with me and not to let anyone tell us how to grieve for him that there is no right or wrong way or time schedule that you have to follow.
     I inherited all of her knitting and crochet supplies when her eyes and hands got to a point that she could no longer do any of it. That was almost 10 years ago  and I've been using it ever since and still have lots to use. Her favorite color was blue and she loved roses so I'm going to make crocheted rose pins out of blue crochet thread to give to anyone that wants one at the funeral. I'm a lefty as she was and that's why she was the one to teach me as no one else in the family that crocheted or knit  were lefties like us. Even now I think I'm one of the few in the family that knit or crochet. We had that secret language that crafters have  I'd ask what she was working on and she say  a ripple or shell and I knew but others looked like we were speaking a foreign language. Another talent she had that she tried to pass to me was her knack to take a twig and turn it into a beautiful plant, I have a love of plants but can only grow things that let me know when they need water because I just can't tell when they do, my cousin ,mother and son got that from her.
     Well this has gotten long and I could keep writing about her for many more pages so I'll stop for now. She was always proud of me and made me feel special and I'll miss her but I know she is always looking after me and will give me encouragement from the other side just like she did on this side.

      Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Ostare also known as Easter

      Today was Ostare the original pagan name for Easter. Most of the rituals that go on now are a complete rip off of the pagan rituals just given different meanings to make them acceptable by the majority of people, ie Christians. Dying eggs and putting them out in the bushes etc. were to welcome the fertility of the new season. There are other traditions that the different pagans used that have also been incorporated into the modern traditions chocolate bunnies were not one of them though. The day is actually over but just wanted to say Happy Ostare to you all.
      We went to my Mom's today to visit with her and my brother's family. She has to have anew oil tank put in so we had to go down cellar and move some of my Dad's tools and things that were in front of it. We all laughed at some of the things that have been saved for all these years, wires that go to nothing, old car radios, and other strange things that only he knows why they were saved. We can't ask him as hes been gone for almost 10 years and Mom doesn't have a clue so its one of those silly mysteries that will never have an answer. After that we had homemade meatloaf with red potatoes, corn and broccoli cauliflower mixed veggies along with chocolate cake for dessert.
     I stopped at one of my favorite craft stores on the way down to Dover and got some yarn and safety eyes so I can get a few more dragons done. The eyes were a suggestion from my great nephew as he says that only babies need the sewn on eyes bigger kids like the cool eyes so I'm going to make some with cool eyes.  He also wants me to make some other cool creatures that bigger kids would like. So I'm going to try to work out some " cool creatures " as he calls them of course he didn't give me any ideas of what these may be so I'm flying by the seat of my pants. I like a challenge so I'll keep you posted with pictures as I get things made.
     I need to get the afghan done for our new grandson that will be here soon. I'm working on a knit blanket in a denim blue that Katie wants to bring to the hospital to bring him home in so I'm going to be knitting my little fingers off for the next few days so I can get it in the mail by the end of the week.
     There are finally buds on the trees and soon we will have leaves and more flowers. I can't wait to be able to go out and work in the yard and do my crafting out sitting in my new lawn chair with Mother Nature all around me.
      Well this sure has gone from one thing to another tonight I hope my ramblings make sense to anyone that's following this. You see this is how my brain works and to me this all makes perfect sense to all be together in one blog.
        Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Knit, knit, knitting away

       It was snowing earlier today. The poor flowers and trees don't know if they should be blooming or still be in hibernation. The animals are confused also, one day its warm and sunny then the next its snowing. Mother Nature is just having to much fun messing with us!!!
       Today I hung with Heather and we both just sort of did our own thing she worked on puzzles and I worked on the afghan that I'm knitting for our new grandson. We both had to keep from falling to sleep as the gray skies and wood stove relaxed us both I caught myself at least twice nodding off. Came home and burned the bacon I was fixing for dinner, well only half of it the first batch came out great. Bacon & popcorn dinner of champions!!
      Well still no sales on Zibbet and nothing since the three sales that I got on Etsy but I'm going to keep plugging away and making more stuff. I got the stuff to do some bookmarks when I was out on Thursday and I'm going to do a few on Monday and hopefully photogragh them and post them on Tuesday. I'm going to use knit, crochet & tatted flowers and other shapes for the designs and put them onto cardstock so they will holdup to being put in and out of books.
       Nothing more tonight going to go knit, knit, knit away!!!
Goodnight & Blessed be

Faster computers & new listing

       I've been without my laptop for the last few days as my wonderful husband took the time to do a full back up and removed a bunch of unneeded programs from it. It is now working much faster and is a happy laptop again.

      Last time I wrote I titled it squirrels but never put anything about them in it so I'm going to do so now. We have a squirrel that has been living in our cellar all winter and now that it's warmer I want it to go outside to live. I think it has other ideas! It has had the good life eating our dogs food, sleeping by the stove, and all in all having an easy time of it. This thing runs up & down the stairs all night, it is very heavy footed, takes the dogs food and most of the time hides it in strange places around the house like behind books, on high shelves in closets, neatly placed on a dish near the plant table, etc. So as you can see it has no incentive to leave. My biggest fear is that its a female and has a way to get out and back in and will go get preggers and then we'll have a whole houseful that we'll be feeding. I can't afford to feed this one squirrel let alone a whole bunch of them   

  I posted a new baby blanket today both on Zibbet and on Etsy. Tomorrow I'm planning on posting another one. Here are pictures of both of them.

     I'm going to be spending tomorrow with my friend Heather so I'll get quite a bit of the afghan done that I'm working on for my grandson that is arriving in about 5 weeks. They are naming him after our Barry and I'm so happy. Just wish they lived closer Texas is so far away.

Dogs and Squirrels

      It's been a long day but I'm still up at 2:30 AM instead of going to bed. I'm feeling like a major funk is coming on and I need to find a way to keep it at bay. Its been over a year since I saw my head doctor and it might be time to find someone new but I really want to try to keep doing it on my own with the help of my friends and family.
     My thoughts are going faster everyday and I have about 50 or more craft ideas in my mind that I want to do. My fear is that I'm going to all of a sudden hit a wall and fall into a spiral of not being able to do anything except stay in bed for days on end. The dreary weather has a lot to do with my mood these days and its going to be this way for the next 2 or 3 days.
      I'm getting discouraged with both of my shops as I haven't had any sales on zibbet and only the 3 that I had over a month ago on Etsy. I've been promoting on fb,twitter, here on my blog and telling people about both sites but still nothing. I'm going to give them both more time and keep making things and hoping for the best. I know that if I keep positive thoughts and tell myself that sales will come that they will but sometimes its hard not to get down when you put your best into your work and it doesn't do anything.
     Okay pity party over on to something else that I just realized last night about most of my work.
     I was starting a new afghan and settled on the pattern when I came to the realization that all of my afghans , toys, and bookmarks and other crafts all in one way or the other are based on the number three. All of the afghans either are a stitch that is divisible by 3 or the rows are a 3 repeat. The toys also have either a row count or stitch count that is divisible by 3. This is interesting to me as the number 3 is very spiritual to just about all religions or nature paths known. Pagans have the Power of Three in the Maiden, Mother, Crone aspect of the Goddess, Christians have the Father, Son, Holy Spirit and if I were to do more research I'm sure there are others that I'm unaware of.  This is something that just has happened with my work, not anything that I have consciously done so it must be that its in me to work that spiritual meaning into my work. I have always taken time to come up with a chant to go with every item that I make to put intention into the project but until last night never knew that I did the power of three in my work.  I find this an interesting realization about things.
     I added the 3 bookmarks yesterday and took pictures of the latest 2 baby afghans. I'm going to post the afghans tomorrow, well later today, and I'm going to do a few more bookmarks and get them posted. I got some different things to try as noise makers inside of baby rattles when we went shopping and I;m going to play around with them over the next few days, I have another baby afghan half done and a handbag that I started while I was at the movies the other night to finish so these things should keep me busy for the rest of the week and hopefully will help to keep me out of the doldrums.
     Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Slow computers...... ANNOYING

      My computer has locked up twice tonight and is running slower than mollasses. I think I'm going to ask the hubby to do a defrag and back up of it over the weekend. Hopefully that will help a little also have him remove a few things that are just taking up space.

     I made a crochet mouse today, took pictures of Fred to monster, Rollo, Pinky the pig, and better ones of the camouflage dragon. I finished making 3 bookmarks and they are now in the stiffening stage so tomorrow I can take pictures of them and after I have the kids help me with the discription I'll get them posted. 

First I make a mixture of Elmer's or anyother white glue and water, about an 80 to 20 ratio. Then you get to get messy, wet the item or items ring out and put into the plastic bag, mush them around until saturated and  now the fun part. Reach into the bag and pull one of the items almost all the way out of the bag, as you are lifting it sgueeze the extra glue mixture out of it. Now take it either over to the bucket or over a bowl with either newspaper or paper towels in it and squeeze until all of the excess is out of it. You may want to wash your hands at this point because they will start to be sticky and you are going to be playing with the item some more. Now you are going to be arranging it on something that you can stick pins into, a heavy cardboard box works, I use a cutting board that is padded on one side for ironing. Cover it with wax paper to protect the surface and to keep things from sticking to your surface. Put the item onto the wax paper and start to get it into the shape that you want, you can do this with your fingers or use a pin so you don't get all yucky. Using pins to keep it in place when you get it all pinned and are happy with the results you walk away and leave it to dry. Usually it takes about 24 hours to dry then you take out the pins and use it for whatever it is for. You can add ribbon ot whatever at this point. And now you get to clean any glue off your hands and anywhere else it may have gotten, you can keep any leftover mixture in the ziploc bag until the next time you want to stiffen something.

     Well this has gotten long and it's late so Goodnight & Goddess Bless

     

Bookmarks & Peepers

      Last night I heard the first peepers of the season. That means it really is spring and soon there will be leaves on the trees and all the smells that the season brings. The colors are starting to come alive and soon I'll be able to be out barefoot. Oh to be out and stand on Mother Earth with nothing between me and her, to feel her warmth and then to take a step and feel the coolness of the earth in a shady spot I can hardly wait and it won't be long I know.
     I spent over an hour today looking for 2 craft books that I knew were in the room I was in but were nowhere to be found. I discovered other things that have been missing but no books. Brought at least 30 skeins of yarn into the other room to be brought up to the room that they belong in. I'm going to take the time to make an inventory of all of the whole skeins that I have so I won't go out and get more of a color that I already have in stock. Then I'm going to go through all of the other yarn that I have stored away and get a better inventory of what I have so I can make some decisions as to what I want to make with what I have. I shouldn't need to get any yarn for making small stuff for at least a year with all of Gram's and Aunt Jacky's yarn that I have. Today I've been working on a bookmark using size 10 thread, I have enough of that to make over 1000 bookmarks without even making a dent in it. So I need to stay off the computer for at least a day and get busy so I can get some stuff made to put in my shop.
     The kids are coming up for the weekend and we are going to go hiking if the weather is good. So I won't get much done because I'll be busy visiting and playing dolls with my Rosie. Can't wait!!!!
     Need to get back on my low carb diet just a few days off it and my fingers and legs are swollen and retaining fluids. Tomorrow I'm going to have steak and salad no carbs at all or anyway very few.
    Goodnight & Goddess Bless

New item posted on zibbet

      I posted a new item in my zibbet shop tonight. A rust red baby afghan. I don't know how to bring it from the shop to here yet but here is a picture of it. You can go check it out at www.zibbet.com/NancesKniftyKnits along with the other things that I have there . I also still have my etsy shop so check it out also. If you se something you like but would like a different color let me know and I'd love to work with you to see what we can do.

      I'm going to take tomorrow off from crafting and go shopping with friends. I'm sure I'll end up in at least one craft store and also a book store. They are my weakness and I could spend hours in either just browsing and getting ideas for my next project. I've been into making small animals lately and other toys that my grand daughters would like.I had boys so I like to make things that they would like such as the dragons and I'm thinking of trying to either knit or crochet a car.

  Well I'm off to bed getting up early and it's already 3AM.

Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Twitter and other things

     I'm going to sign up for twitter tomorrow now that I understand it more. I always thought you had to have a fancy phone with all the bells and whistles to be on twitter. Wasn't I surprised when I found out that it's online and free. I guess I've been living under a rock:) So when I'm more awake I'm going to set it up and I hope to get a few followers from zibbet.

     I took some things out of my etsy store today and I'm going to post them on zibbet tomorrow. It just feels right to me. No circles or treasuries or relisting( at .20 cents an item) just to keep your stuff up in the listings. I like the warm camaraderie that I feel on zibbet that I don't really feel on etsy. I've made a few good contacts there and hope to keep up with them if I do completely leave etsy but for the most it just seems like high school cliques and if your not in the right one then you are not going to get anywhere. I don't feel like I'm the right type of person on there. Oh well it will work itself out and I will make a decision as to if I'm going to keep both or go all onto zibbet.

    I finished Fred lastnight. Here's a pic of him sitting on my computer. I also made another little creature that told me his name is Rollo, here's a pic of him, well I can't seem to get my computer to cooperate and add another one so I'll post him tomorrow.

     It's finally beginning to feel like spring around here.There are a few crocuses blooming on my neighbore lawn and some daffodils almost ready to bloom. Some of the trees have buds on them so it won't be much longer and we'll have greem leaves again and then the scents of flowers, trees, etc will be around. The birds and other animals are coming back and new life is soon to be everywhere. I can't wait until I can put my shoes away unless I have to wear them to the store or somewhere that they make you wear them. My feet are just itching to be back on Mother Earth wiggling in the dirt and grass and feeling all of the energy that comes from her. I'm itching to be able to go out in a chair and do my crafting outside  listening to the birds and buzzing bugs while I work. This time of year makes me feel alive like I'm coming out of hibernation like so many other beings. My work is taking on brighter colors and airier stitches in my afghans and I have new ideas in my mind that I'm hoping to start working on soon.

   One of the projects that I have in my mind is doing some more wall hangings and opening another shop on zibbet to have them and some of my pagan prayer beads and other pagan things in. I'm trying to come up with a good name for it that will bring pagans and other earth based folks to it but that will also bring others also. I don't want to scare anyone away with the name so I'm going to really think before I just jump in, I have a few ideas but need to do some more work on it and design a banner before I start this one.

    Oh well that's all I have for tonight back to knitting fir a little longer before it's time to go to sleep.

Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Making monsters

     Today I took pictures of my latest creation, a doll that I crocheted a dress for and I got it listed on my zibbet page. Here's a picture of her with a link so anyone that reads this can go check her out. I started to put up a red dragon but the computer locked up and I just wasn't in the mood to retype all of it in again so I'll do it tomorrow.www.zibbet.com/NancesKniftyKnits

Finding my way around new venues and things

        I spent about 3 or 4 hours on the computer today reading threads on etsy about changes going on in the feedback and the lack of viewers that people are having. Then I went onto Zibbet and read threads about how it's growing and people are getting more viewers to their shops and getting sales as more people find out about the site.
       Since I've only had 3 sales and haven't really done a lot of promoting of my etsy shop I'm in a quandry as to if I should stay with that shop or close it and have one shop on zibbet.  I need to sit down and make a list of pros and cons about both before I make any final decisions. I'm still trying to figure out how to do things on both sites so that makes it hard to know what to do. I need to do more figuring out on zibbet as to how to do things in my shop like add some of the cool things that I see on other pages.
      I'm feel a little overwhelmed and frustrated as to what I should do about the whole thing. I almost want to give up and go back into my cocoon of just making things for my friends and family but they are the ones that encouraged me to do this in the first place. Okay tomorrow I'll do some more soul searching while I work on some stuff to put in one or the other shop.
      Now to knit for a little longer and then off to bed.
Goodnight and Blessed Be

New shop on new site

      The last few days have been busy. I opened a new shop on a fairly new online selling venue called Zibbet, and think it's going to be a good fit for me. I only have 3 things posted on it so far but hope to have more in the next few days. The atmosphere is very welcoming and I don't feel as if my shop will get lost as easily as it does on Etsy. For the time being I'm going to keep my etsy shop opened but I'm going to concentrate on the zibbet shop more. The appeal of Zibbet is that you don't have to pay to list or to re list like you do on etsy and they don't take a percentage of your sales. They have different plans that you can decide which works best for you, one is totally free, a monthly fee or a yearly fee, you get more if you do the pay plan but it's really reasonable.  Go check it out at   http/zibbet.com/NancesKniftyKnits 
     I spent today designing and making a dress for a doll that I'm hoping to post tomorrow. I need to make a hat for her and put a ribbon around her waist also put a strap on the dress to tie around the neck to keep the dress from trying to fall off her boobs. Oh yeah I also need to decide what to use to close the back of the dress I'm leaning towards pearl beads or snaps haven't decided which yet.
     Yesterday I went through all of my knitting needles and crochet hooks and made a list of what sizes I was missing than we went to Keene and I started to get some of the ones that were missing couldn't afford to get them all at once so I just got the ones that I use the most that I didn't have. I'm going to continue to get the others that I'm missing as I can afford to. Not missing to many but it was interesting to go through and see just what I have after all the years of knitting and crocheting that I've been doing. I discovered that a few sizes I have like 3 or 4 of the same, some of it is that I most likely couldn't find what I was looking for and just bought a new one , and then of course there are the ones that I inherited from Gram and Aunt Jackie. I behaved myself when I got what I did becuase I really wanted bamboo but I got the cheaper metal ones instead. Someday I will replace all of my metal hooks and needles with bamboo for now they are on my wish list.
     I didn't write for a few days as I had a little pity party on Thursday as it was my Bear's 30th birthday and I had to imagine what his life would be like now if he was still alive. Would he be happy, married, have a kid or 2, be around here or living somewhere far away? These things he will never have cuase his life ended to soon and he will be forever 22. It gets a little easier each year but this was a biggy so it hit me hard. I spent most of the day in bed but finally decided that it was doing no good so I at least moved to the couch and worked on a new afghan that I should have done by Tuesday.
     Well thats all for tonight. Please check out my new shop and the website in general.
http/zibbet.com/NancesKniftyKnits
http/zibbet.com
Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Wasted evening

         Well tonight was a wasted night in some ways and not wasted in others. Wasted because I didn't work on any craft stuff this evening. Not wasted as I got groceries for the next 2 weeks and did some reading in the etsy teams that I'm part of and found out some stuff about etsy that I wasn't aware of before now. So I guessed it wasn't really wasted after all.
        I made a camouflage dragon today for my great nephew and have an afghan for our new grandson almost finished today. The dog and I also went for a nice walk twice today because it finally wasn't freezing out. I should have the blanket done by the afternoon tomorrow and have already picked out the pattern and yarn for the next afghan I'm going to do for my shop. I'm going to be working with a real pretty peach color that makes me feel like spring is really here as the calender says not as the weather has been saying. I bought some copper wire last week and I think I'm going to crochet a butterfly pin with it and maybe a dragonfly. I also am working on an idea for another quilted wall hanging I just haven't quite got it worked out in my head and then I have to get it on paper before it finally gets onto fabric. Hope to get it started in the next week or so.
      I bought a lot of meat tonight for my latest endevour in losing weight. My son is doing a low carb program and so are quite a few other folks that I know and they are having really good results so I'm going to give it a try. I've always been a big meat eater so I'm pretty sure it will work for me. I'll keep track of how it's going on here.
      Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Finished baby afghan

       I finished the baby afghan that I started on Friday. I figured out that it took about 20 hours to make it and that if I gave myself $10.00 an hour I would have to sell it for $200.00. I don't think that anyone would buy it for that much so I'm just not going to worry about paying me by the hour on any of my projects. I would be making afghans and dragons, etc. even if I wasn't selling them so at least I'm making something for them and they aren't just sitting on my shelves.
      I listed another granny square afghan today and tomorrow I'm going to list a blue baby afghan and take pictures of the one I just finished. The one I just finished is a soft shade of blue and I'll port it on Wed. I'm starting another sage green one like the one that I sold and hope to have it done by the end of the week. I'm also going to make a camouflage dragon with some new yarn that I got last week.
     I bought a few new pattern books last week to give me some ideas for some new creatures and afghans and other toys.
     My flat rate boxes arrived today and after doing some reading I may end up weighing the item and if the postage is less that way I'll wrap the flat rate box in plan paper and ship it that way. I'm always going to give my customers the best deals on shipping that I can so I'll check it out both ways.
     Well I've been doing pretty good with my eating mostly healthy but I'm still not getting the exercise that I need to do to help reshape my body and get me to where I want to be. The problem I'm having right now is that I feel I should be working on my craft business and getting stuff ready to put in the shop instead of taking the time to exercise. I need to find a way to make the time for both things in my day to day life.
      Okay so that's whats going on in my neck of the woods as we say around here. Goodnight & Goddess Bless

       Well I love the postal service. Most folks don't but since I found that I can have my packages picked up at my house just by filling out a little form online instead of having to find a way to get to the post office I think they are great. Now I can do all of my shipping right from home I weigh the package, print out the postage label and they come to get it for me. This is making my home business much easier.
      I started another afghan today like the one that I just sold in a nice blue. Yesterday I bought some sage green yarn so I can do another in the same color as the one that sold. I'm planning on  spending the next two days doing almost nothing but knit so that I can finish the blue and get going onto the green. I also have another purple granny square afghan finished I just need to get some good pictures of it taken over the weekend and than I can get it posted to the shop.
     I've slipped up a little on my healthy eatting this week. Yesterday I went out to Chinese and then I got Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and ate the whole thing while I watched Wipeout last night. Today has been better but still no real exercise except for a few small walks with the dog. I want to do more but I just can't seem to get myself to get up and do it. Oh well tomorrow is another day and I can only go forward not back.
     Well I most likely won't post over the weekend because my fingers are going to be to busy knitting to take the time to do anything else.
     Goodnight & Blessed Be

Need more time

Just a quick one tonight. I sold another afghan and need to get going to get more done to post in the shop. The problem is that I have friends and family that call and want me to  go "play" with them and I can't say no because I love to go out with them. I need to discipline myself into saying no when I need to be working on my business to keep growing it. I need to have stuff to post so I need to keep my hands working and get at least one afghan done every 3 to 5 days in order to be able to keep up with the demand. Anyways I hope this is going to be the trend of the business. Now off to get a new afghan going so I can get it done by Sunday and posted by Monday.
Goodnight & Blessed Be

Snow again

      Woke up to snow today ,the calender says spring but Mother Nature is having fun with us. It didn't amount to much but its annoying to have to deal with and they say we may get more before the weeks out so I guess I need to keep the winter boots out a bit longer.
   I haven't coughed for a whole day !!!!!!! I see light at the end of the tunnel with this being sick almost over. Now to get my strength back so I can really start working out again. I tried to do a tape today but couldn't make it through the whole thing. I did some standing push ups using the kitchen counter as a sort of bench to hold onto then I did some lunges, plies and more push ups. I can't do exercises where I have to be on my knees as I have a bum left one that can't do it so I figure other ways to do some things that I want to do. Tomorrow I hope to take the dog for a nice long walk if the weather cooperates, if not I'll do some stuff in the house like I did today.
   I'm doing good with eatting though today I had 2 oranges and a nice big bowl of spagetti for dinner. I almost made popcorn but decided that the spagetti was enough carbs for the day and skipped it. Tomorrow I'm going to make a big bowl of air popped popcorn and put some of the Mrs Dash garlic herb stuff on it like I did the other night as that really made me feel like I was having some kind of decadent treat when I was having something that was in the long run good for me.
   I have another granny square full size afghanalmost ready to put up in my etsy shop. It's purple, white, gray and black. I think it will appeal to someone as the one that I just sold was my most viewed item and was favorited by quite a few people. I also have a new itemtolist that I made this evening. It's a purple variegated flower, sort of a rose, with 2 leaves that I'm making into a pin to put on a hat or lapel or wherever someone wants to wear it. I played around with a couple of other flowers one is a pincushion and I haven't decided what the other one is going to be. I made these with a 4 ply yarn and there a little big but some folks like that size so I'm going to give them a try and see what happens. I'm going to make some with some fine cotten thread and see how they come out. I might wait to post them until I get the smaller ones done so I can judge what tocharge for the different sizes. It actually takes me more time to make the finer ones then the ones made with yarn and cost about the same to make so I want to charge the same price for both but I don't know if folks would understand that even though they are so different in size they are more or less the same. This is one of those conundrums of the crafting life.
   Oh well I'm going to work for a little longer on the afghan edge and try to go to bed before 6AM.
Goodnight & Goddess Bless

Shipping prices

      Well today was a good day until about 20 minutes ago when I found out how much it's costing me to  ship out my second sale from my etsy shop. I thought that by using my own box it would be cheaper but I didn't take into account how much the afghan weighed so it cost almost double what I charged my customer so I'm having to eat my misjudgement. As a result of this I just ordered some of the boxes from the post office that are flat rate if it fits it ships. I hope this will save me and my customers money have to wait and see.
      I'm somewhat off my yarn diet!! I went to Frank's to get some stuffing and decided to just look at what he had for yarn and how his prices were compared to the other stores I go to. Well they were good and he had some of the basic colors that I always need ie; black, cream, white,and a few others that I just couldn't resist. So now to get to work on some more stuff to add to the shop. I'm thinking of at least 2 full size afghans and a few more lap size. I also bought 2 dolls that I'm going to dress and put up on the site. I got a book of crochet flowers, motifs and other fancy stitches that has given me all kinds of ideas.
     I have come to the conclusion that I crochet much faster  than I knit and I enjoy it more. The trouble is that I named my shop Nance's Knifty Knits so I feel I should have more knit items than crochet items in it. I asked my wise old Grandmother, she's 102, what she thought and she said it was okay because when she was young most people called both knitting  unless they knew them apart so most people will still check out the shop and the name still applies so  at this point I'm not going to worry about it.
     Today I had 2 red grapefruit and about 8 cups of air popped popcorn to eat and took the dog for a short walk. I took a walk and danced in the moonlight back around 3 this morning so I'm counting that as exercise for today. I'm planning on either a walk, if the weather is good, or a Susan tape tomorrow.
     Now back to tucking and trimming threads on the latest granny square afghan that I'm working on. I swear that they reattach themselves because they seem to be never ending!!
Goodnight & Goddess Bless

     The moon is so bright and very soon I'm going to go out and do my monthly moon dance. This moon is so bright because it's the closest it's been to earth since 1993. Can't wait till it gets warm enough to go moon dance in bare feet right now still to cold and still snow on the ground so I have to wait at least till next month.
     The antibiotics are doing the trick I haven't cough much today and my chest doesn't feel so tight.I should have gone sooner but if I had I might have been told it was just a common cold and to go home and wait for it to go away and when it didn't I would have had to go again so its just as well that I waited.
     I have a little pastel creature waiting to be sewn and stuffed tomorrow, I'm calling it a creature cause I won't know for sure what it is until it's all together and tells me what it wants to be. I'm at the point on a granny square afghan that I really dislike. I've got it almost all sewn together and then comes the tucking and trimming of all the little tails that I wasn't able to tuck in as I went along. It is the most tedious part of the whole project and takes the longest time to do. I've got a red chenille dragon, a green wool one that I'm going to felt ,and a purple sparkly one almost done just have to make the wings and spines and then take photos. I've got to go get some more stuffing I'm down to less then half a bag. After I get these done I've got another granny square in mind if I have the right colors. I'm still on my yarn diet so it will depend on what I have enough of to make what I have in my mind.
      Today I had two yummy oranges for lunch and then air popped popcorn for dinner. I put about a tablespoon of real butter in 8 cups and then I sprinkled it with a new Mrs Dash that I got last week it has garlic and some other spices in it and it made it so good that I sat watching Being Human and The Graham Norton Show just munching away. Tomorrow I'm going to make some more and try a different spice combo on it.  Monday I plan on going for a nice long walk unless the weather is bad than I'm going to do one of my Susan Powter tapes or dvds. So glad I'm feeling better.
Goodnight & Blessed Be

Another sale today

     Well after three weeks of this cough I gave in and went to the doctor and found out that I have broncitis and a mild case of pertisis,aka whooping cough. so I'm on antibiotics for the next five days. I hope it does the trick cause if it doesn't I'll have to go back again and I don't want to do that.
     Good news when I got home when I checked my email. I made another sale form my etst shop. This time one of my afghans, the first item I put in my shop and the one that so many people have put into their favorites since the very beginning of the day I opened my shop. I have another one that is quite a bit like it almost done to add to the shop. I hope to finish it over the weekend and get going on another after that.

     I like to add a little thank you to y packages and this time I decided to crochet a little sachet and fill it with lavender. I thought I'd put the directions on here for anyone that would like them.
                      Sachet Instructions
Size 1 steel hook
Size 10 crochet cotten

Chain15
Single crochet in 2nd ch & across (14 sc)
Rows 2-15: Ch 1 turn, sc across.
Make 2 the same only on second piece do not end off
Hold the 2 together & sc around 3 sides having 15 stitches on each side
Add about 2 teaspoons of lavender or whatever you like then sc closed
Next work 6 double crochet in next sc, skip 2 sc, sc in next, 6 dc in next repeat around. End off. You may have to play a little with the spacing of the scallop round .

     I haven't writen out many patterns for others to read so I hope this makes sense. I jot down things as I work them out when I'm playing with a pattern in my own sort of shorthand and don't ever do a pattern the same way twice. As much as I try to I almost always decide to add or subtract stitches or rows even if both items are suppose to be the same. I do make sure if I'm doing 2 or 3 or more of the same item for someone that I follow the same pattern for all of them but it is really hard for me not to tweak them just a little.
    On a different subject I've lost 17 pounds since the beginning of Feb. I asked to get weighed at the doctors office  and I'm down that much. I'm surprised as I haven't been exercising other then the few little walks with the dog everyday and I've given into McDonalds and pizza and chinese. So even with that I guess I'm doing something right. As soon as I feel a little better and now that the weather is getting warmer I'm going to go out for longer walks with the dog and once the potholes have been filled and the frost heaves have gone away for the year I'm going to get out on my bike. I hope that by doing this I'll be down a few sizes and have more energy by the kids wedding in July.
     That's all for today. Goodnight & Goddess Bless

coughing sucks

         Thought my cough was getting better but in the wee hours of the morning I started coughing and couldn't stop and it has continued all day long. The cough comes on from nowhere and lasts for about two minutes before it stops for a little while and then starts up again. I didn't sleep much today, maybe a total of three hours with the cough waking me up over and over again. I finally got up and tried to get a new project started. My Rosie thinks I need to make a knit teapot and cups, saucers and some food to go along with them so I started a purple and green set and I think I'll make some cookies or cupcakes to go with them. With this cough keeping in the house and awake I should be able to get a lot of things done in the next few days.
       I've been checking out other blogs and still think mine is pretty lame in comparison to mine, but I'm really doing this for me and if any of it makes anyone else feel good or by mistake I teach something to someone then that will be a plus.
       I've been featured in two treasuries in the last two days. I think I might need to figure out how to do one pretty soon to return the favor and show off some of the wonderful things that I've found on Etsy.  I hope that they get my shop noticed a little bit as I don't know what else to do to promote it at this time.
      Sorry this is a downer blog but its how I'm feeling today with the cough, lack of sleep and gloomy skies. I'm sure tomorrow will be better.
    Goodnight & Goddess Bless

More tweaking

       Well as it gets later into the wee hours of the morning my mind comes more alive. Most people unless they are at work at this hour are usually in bed but this is when I get some of my best ideas.
        I've been playing with the way my blog looks tonight I added and rearranged the mini etsy thing until it looks how I want it to look, changed my background, added a picture of Bruce( the hubby), and an old picture of my boys that I like.
       My guys are my inspiration as they have always supported and encouraged me in any of my crafting adventures over the years. The boys were my guinea pigs when they were young when I got an idea to try the item out before I made it to give to someone else wether it be sweaters, toys etc. They were asked what they thought of color combinations, if they liked the ruffles on something that I was making for some girlie item I may be working on, sometimes also trying the item on for a size comparisson, and through it all, sometimes with protest they always came through. I don't know where I would be without them.
      I have to deal with the day to day reality of not having my youngest boy Barry aka The Bear around either to talk to on the phone or see him as he's been gone for over 7 years now. I don't let that keep me from talking to him though as he is always around even now. He's having fun on the other side and finds ways to make contact with me and others in the family by turning lights on & off, moving things on us so we can't find them and then when we give up lookinh the item is suddenly right where we thought it was in the first place. When this happens it's always when I or others are in a down mood and after it happens we always smile because you can just see Bear standing there with his little crooked grin and you can't help but feel better. I may be saying this wrong and some folks might think its just a mother morning her son but its what I believe and what others in the family have had happen to them. He also comes to me in dreams and we have wonderful talks like we did when he was here. His birthday is coming up on the 31st of March he would be 30 this year but instead of that he'll be forever 22. How I miss him!! The picture I added is one of my favorites of him and his big brother they were real close and still are.
      I also added a picture of my husband doing one of his spring, summertime hobbies racing his sidecar rig. He does the driving now but I don't have any pictures of that so I put this one on where he is being the monkey. Maybe that should be my next animal that I make and put in my shop!!! I need a little icon of a lightbulb cause it just went off in my head.
    Okay I'm really going to bed now. Goodnight & Blessed Be