The Purple Baby Dress

This dress pattern has been amazingly fun! It has to be I've made almost a half a dozen of them.

I made them with the intention of fluffing up my "gift" bag. You know, the random bag you stuff stuff just in case you forget to buy a gift? Or in my case, refuse to buy a gift when HANDMADE is the way to go.

Know how many of these dresses I still have in my possession? One. The original blue one. All the rest of literally been bought out of my hands.

I'm percolating and working on some modifications to this dress to make it "mine". I have hopeful plans of listing a few in my Etsy shop. One aspect of this pattern that bugs me is the straps. This weekend I'm going to experiment with doing a Tunisian crocheted strap. I think it is gonna work, too. Hope your week is going well! What do you have planned for the weekend?

32 Things Before I Turn 33

November 25, 2009, I posted a list of 32 things to do before I turned 33.

Well, I turned 33 over the weekend. Whoop whoop! Nothing special, I just turned 33. I think that was the football jersey number of the the guy who was supposed to be the "cutest" guy in our class. For me, 33 just means another day another dollar.

I did nothing special. Not A Thing! Can you believe that?

Here is my updated list from July 2010 with my notes for today in italics.

1. Go see Wicked the musical-Done

2. Eat thai-Dammit! Janne and I forgot to do it. We will go eat Thai in Dallas. We forgot to eat Thai in Dallas. I DID eat Thai in Columbus for my Project Designer Refresher course in February.

3. Dye 2000 yards of yarn-Nope, still sitting there. YES!!!! Why yes, I have dyed the yarn

4. Knit A scarf-Done and Summer loved it And Done Again just last week!

5. Learn how to use PhotoShop-Slow process, but I did correct a family Christmas picture from last year. Nope.

6. Sew a Quilt-Nope. I've asked my MIL for some of Grandma's clothes to repurpose for this quilt. She is still in the process of going through stuff and I suspect she isn't quite ready for me to cut up the clothes for the quilt or to give the clothes to Goodwill. Grandma had three closets and a basement of clothes. She loved clothes. Nope. I've started several, but not completed one of them.

7. Do a Craft Gathering at my house-Nope. I dream of this often and in my mind it is in our future home. Nope!

8. Create cute packaging for my knit/crochet gifts-Nope. Still percolating on this idea. Nope

9. Send a Surprise Gift-Done. I sent my mom Gin Raisins. To several people I have sent surprise gifts. I LOVE surprise gifts.

10. Create an Outdoor space on the Patio featuring this-Nope Nope

11. Buy pewter buttons and clasp from The Rams Horn-Nope Nope

12. Make Vodka pie crust-Nope. I did buy vanilla beans, vodka and jam jars to make vanilla extract. It is on my epic To-Do list. Vanilla extract is seeping as we speak.

13. Meet another author-Nope. I've been haunting the bookstore websites trying to find a good one to go to. I really want to go to an author sighting for one I've read, not just to go because it is a famous author. On a side note, Jean Auel, who wrote the Clan of the Cave Bear series, is in her seventies and I'd so love to meet her. She is releasing the 6th and final book in the Earth's Children series, The Painted Caves March 29, 2011. HOW EXCITING!!! The best little late BDAY present EVAR!!!! Holy crap, you do not know how excited I am! Going today to pick up the book from the library. April 16th Ms. Auel will be in Bowling Green, KY, which is 4 hours away and I've considered driving down. I DID attend Ree Drummond's book signing, but did NOT meet her since the wait was so long and I was epically tired.

14. Make a sock-Nope. I don't think I want to do this one. I'm still in denial about how awesome socks are to knit and I think I want to keep that pretty little cloak over my head. Sticking to this story!

15. Make James and Jesse afghans for their Cherry twin beds-Nope. I bought the yarn. James has black and yellow for Transformer Bumblebee and Jesse has brown and pink yarn. Nope!

16. Print and frame 5 photos for my house. Print and frame family photos for the family wall.-Nope Nope!

17. Buy handmade soap and crochet soap holders for them-Nope Nope!

18. Make a knit/crochet calender (buy their calender)-Nope Nope!

19. Grow my rabbits greens, parsley, turnip greens, kale, etc.-Nope Laying out the garden...there are plans....

20. Attend Country Living Fair-Scheduled for September 24th Jeez, I suck. NOPE!

21. Visit my Grandma-This one will be late. I'll be going in June of 2011 Going April 28th!!!!

22. Make my Dad an afghan-I made my dad a picture blanket instead.

23. Make my Sister her shawl-*sigh* Nope OH! YYEEESSS!!! I did do this one!

24. Make a felted purse-Yes! I've done four or five.

25. Photograph a rainbow, sunset and sunrise-Nope, nope, nope Nope nope nope

26. Carve a pumpkin, grow my own pumpkins! Who wants to pay 49 cents a pound?-The pumpkins have flowers and we are hopeful they will yield at least a few. We didn't get a single pumpkin. Garden failure. We will try again this year.

27. Make a new cookie a month-Nope. I suck. I bought the cookie cookbook and never got to making it. Currently, gluten free and trying to figure out cookies on this diet.

28. Travel to The Gathering-The Gathering is in September in Denver. I'm not going to make it. There is another in June for Ravelry members, I'll see how that works out with my trip to Iowa. Completely scrapped this plan. Maybe someday.

29. Get a puppy (SHSHSHSHSHSH! Don't tell Jon) Funny how preplanning a post works in my favor. It's like I'm making things happen by saying them out loud.-We still love puppy, but the rabbit and cat killing instinct has gotten worse. She is so friendly, but not a great fit for our home with rabbits and cats. Yep.

30. Make a craft video-Nope. Gonna get on this one. Nope

31. Have 10 new blog readers-I should have documented how many I had then...Currently have 41 followers. Yes! Have 55 new followers!

32. Eat at Chop House to celebrate one great event!-Nothing yet. We need to celebrate...Wait! Our anniversary is next week, we will go then. :D Jeez. Nope. Should have gone for my birthday. :(

I have a 25% success rate. That is 75% failure after 8 months. Gonna have to kick myself in the butt. I have this list and my epic To-Do list...It's gonna take some humping. You know, I've got to-do lists from years ago that have items marked as never not done, I don't know why I could manage to succeed at this. But lists make me happy, so get er done!

Yeah, so, um, me and my lists fail. LOL I did try a few things that weren't even on my radar. Looking back over the past year, I have to say, I'm in a completely new spot than I was a year ago. For a while there, it was an "out of body, I'm trying to survive, Please dear God let me be enough." experience in my life. I wasn't enough and I did what I could to make things right. What I AM is a mom to two wonderful kids, a wife to a wonderful man and in my own right, I'm just me, Sara. I sit here today and feel like I've reclaimed a piece of me that was lost for a while. It is good. Lists, smists. Finding myself was the journey, the list was just a tool. I found the piece that was lost and I'm at peace.

Yarn Dyeing

So, I went to the knit night at my local yarn store. I was hesitant to do it for a variety of reasons.

One: Being social gives me a headache. It is literally an effort for me to "visit" and be "social". Hello, 2nd child syndrome. I'm not naturally gregarious, outgoing, etc. I AM polite, kind and enjoy people. The two things don't go hand in hand. I like people, I just dislike being social. In another lifetime, I'd probably be the odd aunt in the corner sipping rum and coke, talking to myself and knitting up a storm.

Two: I've not had huge success meeting "my" kind of knitting people. The accepting kind. The weird kind. The fun kind. Most knitters I've met in real life have been a wee bit snobbish. I like snob as much as the next person. Yarn snob, that is. But there is a balance between being a yarn snob and accepting that it takes all kinds to do this craft. Your way ain't always the best and right way.

Three: Most evenings/weekends when these gatherings happen, I have my kids in tow. Not many knitting groups want two hoodlums ruffling through their cashmere, wools and silkies. While my kids know "Be quiet, Momma is counting". They are kids.

This knitting group...this group I took a leap of faith and said, "I'm going to try it."...They were wonderful. Jesse had a great time. One lady brought kettle corn (always a win in my book), the store owner gave Jesse an odd bit of yarn, Jesse gave another lady her crocheted "scarf". It was a great evening and I look forward to many more like it. Good people are in my hometown. It was good to be reminded of that.

Two By Two, Hand Hand, Fingers and Thumb!

Last month I crocheted a pair of child mittens. Here is the picture to prove I did indeed crochet them.



Before I sewed them up, though, I double checked my craft to-do list, found my favorite hat, found the ball of yarn I was supposed to crochet the mittens with and FROGGED the mittens.



See, I had earmarked this ball of yarn to make myself mittens because they somewhat match my favorite hat.



To convince myself it wasn't time wasted I told myself that this would be an excellent example to demonstrate that knitting takes LESS yarn than crochet.



Anyway, a 2T crochet mitten uses the exact same amount of yardage as adult knit mittens. I LOVE my mittens. They are a little oompa loompa with the point on them, but I loves them.

Isn't a bed of bare, ready to be dyed yarn the perfect backdrop for my hand dyed, hand made mittens? :)

Circular Scarf

I cast on this scarf on Sunday. Which if I hadn't attended a Tupperware party, I may have gotten done on Sunday. It is that quick of a knit. Posie Moebius (Ravelry pattern link) knitted on size 9 Addi turbos, using worsted Malabrigo Zios yarn purchased on my trip to Nashville.



But I did go to the party and bought two items. One was to replace my friends Tupperware piece that she left at my house that I never returned, I liked it that much. I like my friends more though, so she gets a new one.



So, on Monday, while waiting for construction safety meeting to get started, I knitted on the scarf. That evening I was gunhoe to get it done and pulled it out to finish. Knitted a few rows, took a closer look and realized at some point I had flipped the knitting. Not good. Frogged 6 rows of 180 stitches and started again.



Then realized I read the pattern wrong and my stitches were off and increasing on the eyelet rows. Said, "Eff it.". Finished it last night. Sewed in the ends this morning and blocked it.

Tonight I'm wearing this wispy, oh so gorgeous, Malabrigo Zios yarn dyed a gorgeous purple, scarf. Life is good. And tonight, my name is Sara, not Mommy. Kids are going to bed early. It is better for them. Little hoodlums.

The Dress God Spoke Into Being

My mom made this dress for Jesse. She said God guided her hands and this is what happened. I believe her. In fact I have the worn out size 4 bamboo needles to prove that this was a labor of love and God's hand was in it. Most of the knitting was done one-handed because my mom is using knitting as a form of therapy to regain use of her hands. She also plays the piano to help with this.

At a glance, you may think that is a hot mess. Stripes sideways, upways, diamond entralac, suspenders, cap sleeves?! But after studying this, it is a work of genius. Who could work all these elements together and make it look this amazing?

A true artist, that is who. No pattern, just an idea in the head and needles and yarn in the hand. This dress was meant to be.

The true litmus test for me, though, was "Would Jesse wear it?". See Jesse is particular about the stuff she wears. I have a handful of items I've made that she has refused to wear.

Yes, she'll wear it. She loves it. This day she was cooking her sugar cookies in the dress. There is a handbag and hat to match, which I'll show you another day. I wanted to highlight the dress because it is a remarkable piece of workmanship.

Thank you, Mom!

Tee Ball

Jon and I grew up playing tee ball, baseball and softball. The first warm day of March and Jon, James and Jesse get out the balls, gloves and bats.



James and Jesse's have new equipment. Equipment that will soon be broken in. Jon Mink Oiled James glove and told him "Squeeze the ball into your glove.".



"Watch the ball into your glove." "Don't be afraid of the ball." "AW! Buddy, it happens. You're gonna get hit with the ball. You're gonna have to toughen up."



James. I see a glimpse of his Daddy. All the years at the ball field and it feels good to see my two embracing the sport with such enthusiasm.



Jesse will be like her momma and throw like a girl.



But this picture...I see a glimpse of her aunts. The face kills me!

Spaghetti Soup

When I was young, my mom made a dish called Spaghetti Soup. If memory serves, she claims it is a recipe passed down from her mom's side of the family circa The Depression Era.

Anyway, over time, the Spaghetti Soup has been made by various sisters of mine. Never with any success. We all agreed Spaghetti Soup was never to be made again. Sorry, Mom.

Finding my freezer had popped the breaker some time last week makes for depressing times.

Paleo ingredients are on the slim around here since I haven't been to the grocery in 2 weeks.

I had the following: can of artichoke hearts, can of coconut milk, can of diced tomatoes, defrosted spinach in a box, a purple onion, precooked shrimp and gluten free spaghetti.

So, I cooked the spaghetti. Tossed all the other ingredients into a pan, cooked it and mixed with the spaghetti.

It was actually really good. And despite the fact it reminded me of Spaghetti Soup in consistency, I was/am quite proud of my little culinary invention.

Confession

I bought more yarn. It has gotten so bad, I couldn't tell you how much I bought. Instead of eating my weight in food this month, I think I've bought my weight in yarn.



SOOO! This morning I had three different interactions with three different men, all at the same place. The place in Maysville/Aberdeen that I go every year.

The first was a man, who had a full beard and I had handed him a personal pump (air monitoring) to hook on his belt. He was having trouble so I said, "I can help, if you want me to.". His buddy says, "Yeah, man, she'll help you. Ya, dumbass, you are holding it upside down!". The guy refused my help, so I let him figure it out. Then his buddy says, "HOO HOO! No wonder you didn't want her to help you. She would have seen you're wearing Charlie brown underwear.". Two things, 1. I wouldn't have seen it because I wouldn't have looked. 2. Why the hell was his underwear showing?! Did you know a man wearing Charlie Brown underwear will blush bright red that even a full beard can't hide?

Second, was a man who saw me knitting with the pretty purple hand dye from last week. He handed me $20 and said, "I'd like you to make me a dress for my granddaughter.". I've never met the man before today, but I'm gonna make him a pretty baby jumper for his granddaughter. I LOVE the honesty and down-home-ness the area in Adams County breeds into its populace. Good people.



Third, was a man I met last October. He's a crocheter. He popped in to see me and we chatted. I couldn't tell you his name, but I know his face. Honest to God, crafting connects all people, young, old, male and female we are all drawn like moths to flame when yarn and needles come out. I LOVE it.



And my hometown has a yarn shop. I JUST discovered this today. It is a village, for heaven's sake! I should have scoped it out long before now. They also have weekly Thursday night knit-ins. Typically, I shy away from meeting people. Hello, Internet. But I'm going to bite the bullet and actually meet some knitters, crocheters and weavers in my hometown. In person. Help me Rhonda, I'm nervous.

Randoms

You know those paper toilet seat protectors? You know, the thingies you put on the public toilet seat before sitting down to do your business. Maybe not guys, but for me and my girl, we use those things religiously. Here is my pet peeve...Those things are supposed to be paper thin so as to not block the passage of "your business" into the toilet bowl. When they act as a pee ramp and launch pee all over my pants, I have a problem. Raise your hand if you've had this happen. Or do I have super pee power?

I'm pretty sure my boy Bret Michaels had me in mind when he helped formulate the Diet Snapple Green and Black Tea with Pears, Apples, Peaches and Cinnamon. Good Lord, this stuff is good!

The Paleo Diet is going. I'm going to stay on this diet for more than the 30 days. It has done me a world of good. I'm at the motel in Maysville, so it only took me 2 trips through the grocery section at Walmart to get creative enough to eat Paleo for the week. I bought a rottiserie chicken, microwavable sweet potatoes, Blue Corn tostitoes (gluten free), pico de galo, banana's, the tea, beef jerky and a container of precut fruit. Thirty bucks and I'm eating gluten free, Paleo friendly at the hotel this week.

My birthday is next week. Pretty sure I'm going to do a giveaway. What is yet to be decided, but I love giveaways, so check back next week to see!

Peace!

Boss

"When I'm 9, I don't want you to boss me around anymore."

"You boss me! I get to boss you!"

Boss, boss, boss!!!

Momma is a bossy bit o' goods.

Brush your teeth! Brush your hair! Put on your shoes! Put on your jacket! Hurry! Hurry, buddy, the bus is coming!

The child will learn bossing is hard work. Herding the herd takes skills, manipulation and exact timing. Momma only has 6 years experience, but according to the big boss *that would be Daddy*, Momma ain't doing too bad.

Momma tells Daddy, "It's you and me, babe. Don't leave me know. Between the two of them, I'm pretty sure we won't make it through the teen years. They are sooooo gonna tag team us."

Momma tells Big Boy, "Buddy, as long as you live in my house, I get to boss you."

The wise 6 year old mulls it over. Smiles over his green beans. The imp is there in the smile, I can see it. Wait for it!

"Okay, so when I'm twenty you can't boss me no more.".

Good call, son, good call.

Wait.

20?!

Wool Fumes

I LOVE yarn dyeing!
It makes me happy!

J&J love it too as their three mini skeins show.

An afternoon of yarn dyeing yields three skeins of 150 yard Lambs Pride bulky and 3 mini skeins of 50 yard Lambs Pride bulky.

Love this stuff!

Hope your Monday was good. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully life will be back to more normal and I will resume my more than once a week blog posting. Miss all the blogs. Soon, my friends, soon, I'll be back and commenting.

Peace!

Blogging on Strawberry Wine

One of my favorite songs when Jon and I first started dating was "Strawberry Wine". In all the years I've never drank strawberry wine. Today, a new friend gave me a bottle of homemade strawberry wine.



I loved the song at the time because Jon and I were first starting out. There was a sense of desperation, that time wasn't going to be kind to us. A sense of whimsical "Let's savor this while it lasts." kind of feeling. Who knew 15 years later we'd be here, together.



The song no longer has the hold over me. It doesn't quite resonate with my soul as it did with 18 year old Sara.



Thirty-two year old Sara drinks strawberry wine with ribeyes and sweet potatoes while listening to her equally old husband groan from muscle pain. Jon promises to IMMEDIATELY return the castle to the barn this year. Apparently, if you let plywood sit outside for 5 months, it weighs over 400 lbs from wind, rain, snow and sleet. *notefromJON-with a tarp with a hole in it covering it.* He saw his name on the blog and had to make sure I had my facts straight.



My friend Hannah requested some "yarn like you have" and so I've dipped into my sacred Honking Hank for a skein for her. I really love her. :)

Have a great evening! Me and mine are relaxing and easing into this weekend.

Paleo

I've mentioned my health issues briefly. Basically, when I eat out, I get horrible pains and am in the bathroom within 20 minutes. It goes straight through me. After a battery of tests by the doctor, they determined I should have my gallbladder out. There were a couple of problems with that, mainly I didn't want to have my gallbladder out. In a little itty note on my gallbladder ultrasound was a notation that my issues could be due to food allergy.

My friend Meghan mentioned my symptoms sounded a lot like hers and she tried and had success with the Paleo diet.

I was already slowly doing the elimination diet, when Meghan did a Challenge. 30 days hardcore Paleo. She seemed to be preaching to the choir because the past month she has spent quite a bit of time giving tips and all kinds of great advice on how to make this 30 Challenge a success.

I teased her that I'd need my hand held throughout the whole process. I've never been on a diet. Ever. "Hi, my name is Sara. I'm almost 33 and never dieted a day in my life.". Lucky me. I've been on a cruise ship to this day, though. It is time to clean up and get on to eating better.

Good bye, tortilla chips! Good bye, chocolate chip cookie dough! Say it ain't so!

If I'm cranky, bitchy or whiny over the next month, blame it on the Paleo diet. Okay, it's not IF. I am gonna be.

I'm sharing my stats. I'd post a pic, but I'll save you from running screaming from your computer. Definitely winter pale. Hips: 37.5" Stomach: 34.75" Chest: 36.5" Arm: 10" Thigh: 20" Weight: 122.5

My only goal, besides figuring out this food allergy is to lose some stomach inches. Holy moly, there's Aunt Poly!

It's gonna be interesting. Please don't tell me I don't blankety blank blank. I know. I am blessed with good metabolism. Things just didn't go back the way they were suppose to after Jesse. I suspect my health issues started then too. Time to get my body back on track and I'm educated enough to know this is a good way and a good shot at making a difference.

Jon is doing the challenge with me.

Sharing is always good for the soul, right? You wanted to know, you needed to know, you want me on that wall. Wait. Um, *crickets*

Main note: Zack is fine, his convoy survived an IED attack. Please keep him in your prayers.