Filed under: Blogging, Blogroll, Crafts, Crochet, Design, Finished Projects, Hundred Flower Scarf, Knitting, Life, Ongoing Projects, Ripple Blanket, Thoughts, Writing
there are no graphic signs enough for my slack-jawed expression right now!!!
a long time ago i submitted this here blog to
Crochet Carnival
and guess what?!?!?
my blog is there!!!!!!!!!!
blop on over and check it!!
which reminds me, i have some photos for you of wips and finished projects. i took them with my sil1’s camera when she was in town for G’s birthday last week. unfortunately, she forgot the cable, so i have to wait a couple of weeks till she gets home (she is spending this week with her parents) for her to send them through snail mail (there were too many photos for email)…
so, in a while u will have some new pics of my ripple… it’s going, slowly with my buzybee schedule, but going nontheless…
so, i leave you with a pic of g’s new crocs, brought straight from china by my mom, who got back yesterday… too bad i forgot to ask for a pair of mine!!
I also finished sil1’s hundred flower scarf! yipee!! pics as soon as she sends them…
Filed under: Crafts, Crochet, Current Status, Design, Finished Projects, Granny Square Bag, Hundred Flower Scarf, Life, Ongoing Projects, Ripple Blanket, Sewing, Thoughts, Writing
I know I have been scarce in the blogosphere, and other places, but these last months have been, well, hell.
First, Hubby was finishing his Masters Program, for which he had a scholarship, that basically kept food in our table while I got better from my burnout + looked for a job + decided whether or not to return to college. Well, he finished his Masters, with honors. And so went his scholarship. And 60% of our monthly income.
Now, we were prepared for that, really. But when we made our plans, we didn’t count on my unemployed self still being unemployed, and our computer, which for many times saved our collective behinds with heaven-sent odd translating and formatting jobs, decided it wanted a vacation, which meant sending it to tech support, which made our savings last for about a month. Yeah. Things were dire in the preeety household.
Then we all got sick together as winter came into play. I decided I had to go back to school, or things would be bad permanently, so I started the whole “back to college” process, and away went my pride, since I had to seek financial aid – from my mother! Not a good thing I tell you.
In a moment of desperation, I fled to the streets with a desperate face and a pile of résumés under my arms, and proceeded to stop at every printing service, ad agencies and such, begging for a job. I even tried some English schools for teaching positions (not my thing), but nothing came to my aid.
As I walked past a house, I chance to look at its walls and what do I see: a sign offering typing services! In I went, and now it’s been a month and $600 and I am employed, enrolled and applying for scholarships!
I tell ya, if things got any worse, I’d be dead by now. It’s not all a bed of roses (or daisies, daffodils, and assorted) but things are improving. In a weeks time, G will be celebrating his birthday with classmates, the whole assorted family will be here for the party, as we celebrate 3 years of a better world because he is in it. That is one great kid I made!
About that not being a bed of roses comment, Hubby is still looking for a job, and apparently it’s going to be tough, since he is in crossway of sorts, career wise.
Now, for the worse of all: remember I mentioned the computer brakedown? Well, it went to tech support, and came back not himself. How come I used to be able to run Photoshop, Corel and Firefox, plus Messenger and iTunes at once, and after my baby came from its vacation, I could barely run Photoshop on its own? I pondered over this for 2 months, till one day the answer came to me: the tech guy, hear this, EXCHANGED MY PENTIUM 4 3.0 FOR A CELERON 3.12!!!!!!! I kid you not!! And the shop has removed itself from any responsibility for the occurrence!
Of course, we’re taking the appropriate measures, but it takes time. And to top it of, our mother-board has short-circuited, so I am now computerless. And there is no money for a new board and new processor, so…
Meanwhile, I can only read all the blogs I follow, and post, at work, and that doesn’t happen everyday, so I’m taking a (forced) leave of absence, with occasional visitation rights. Oh well.
Now, for the crafting, it’s going… With the new job, I don’t have much time left, and now that I’m going back to school for a B.A. in Design (insert huge grin here) the time will be even less, but I managed another Santa Hat, am halfway through a cardi for G, one for my sis-in-law, and finished a scarf for Hubby (autumn colors, perfect for a redhead!), and am going strong on the ripples. I even bought some great fabric for cushions, and will be (having made) a sofa cover, finally! And it’ll come off really cheap too, since I got a cheap child-safe fabric, meaning if it gets ruined by 3 yo hands, it won’t hurt as much! And I’ll even try my hand at sewing the Hundred Flower Scarf together (finally) and the inside of the Granny Bag. So that’s all folks!
I’ll try to get some photos done, and show you guys.
And to explain the title of this post, I am awed and amazed that, even though I haven’t posted in so long, there are still some hits and comments on this blog. Thank you so much!
Now I have to go back to work. I can’t believe it took me 2 hours to write this (I had to stop constantly; apparently people do get out in freezing cold weather on a Saturday; based on previous Saturdays, I couldn’t tell). Bye ya’ll.
Filed under: Amigurumi, Art, Babette Blanket, Blogging, Blogroll, Books, Crafts, Crochet, Current Status, Design, Finished Projects, Granny Square Bag, GrannySquares, Heaven Blanket, Hundred Flower Scarf, Knitting, Life, Matryoshka Doll, Memes & Quizzes, Ongoing Projects, Opinion, Painting, Paper, Photography, Quilting, Ripple Blanket, Sewing, Stool Covers, Thoughts, To-Do, Ultimate Blog Party, Vertical Scrap Blanket, Writing
first, watch this.
now, for the ranting session.
- the amazon does produce a lot of oxygen, which it consumes right away.
- the territory where amazon is located houses a lot of people. these people are for the greater part brazilian.
- the people who are pulling it down are corporate america. yes. that’s right. huge “american” multinationals are taking it over, with the “purpose” of using the land for grazing. cow grazing. know what they do? they pull down all the vegetation. then they put one cow there. leave it for a while, and go on to the next piece of land. taking that same cow, by helicopter, while the ground burns to get rid of the cleanup job. and this is a very poor soil, especially after the burning, so the only thing that grows there is forest, cause they are self sufficient, and the fallen leaves and dead animals make up for the lack of nutritients in the soil. these are the same companies that gave the military money for the coupe d’estate in the 60’s, which led to our state as a military dictatorship from 1964 to 1984, a time when many, many hundreds “mysteriously dissapeared” after being taken by the military. these people were mostly tortured to death and disposed of in unmarked shallow graves. most of them are still missing. the military then went on to start hundreds of projects meant to “bring progress to the country”, but which ended up bankrupting us. and that is still a problem 20 years later. i could go on, but all this information is available, so…
- there are minerals and gems and gold and silver and all that more around there. all of it protected. but, if you happen to own the land… need i say more? there is a huge speculation of diamond mines there as well.
- not to mention all of the flora and fauna, many of which have tremendous medicinal importance, hence the potential to make pharmaceutical companies even more rich then they are already.
i’m gonna stop for now, but you catch my drift, right? the people who get their hands on that land is gonna such it dry, and make gazillions in the process. and all in the guise of “saving the green”. yeah right!
Filed under: Blogging, Blogroll, Crafts, Crochet, Design, Granny Square Bag, Hundred Flower Scarf, Life, Ongoing Projects, Opinion, Ripple Blanket, Sewing, Thoughts, To-Do, Vertical Scrap Blanket, Writing
(yeah right, like i’m gonna post that here!) and i’m a lazy person.
yes. very lazy. i’ve been putting off blogging, for laziness purposes. thinking is exhausting. crafting as well.
but i’m back (i think), and i’m rippling, (can’t show you pictures though).
I frogged some of my first rows, cause they were not looking good, and it required a lot of gymnastic abilities, but it’s done, without having to frog all of it. i also took about 25 inches from the sides (also a manoeuvre deserving of Olympic medals – note the use of plural) cause it was too wide and sagging from the bed too much. it’s good now, it looks good, it’s good to ripple again, cause before it was so wide it was tiresome, and i got bored halfway through it. well, not anymore, i got a lot done. will try for some pictures in the near future.
and the real reason for my craft brakedown is simple: i have to sew the lining in my granny bag.
yeah, i had breakdown over that. you would too if you were deathly afraid/really bad at sewing. i’m thinking of taking it to a seamstress down the street, just so it gets done before the next millenium. i really need to learn to sew. really.
plus, my (grandma’s) sewing machine needs some repairs, and i don’t have a car to take it to the shop, so i procrastinate on that, and i really hate handsewing, so i put it off. shamelessly. it sucks.
but now i’ve gotten over it, and started to ripple again. plus i started the vertical blanket for baby monster, which i put aside as well for reasons of creative nature.
and that’s that.
ah, i also have to sew the hundred flowers together, at which i’ve been baulking for nearly two weeks now! how’s that for wooss/wuss? (how do you spell that?)!
i did two scarves too!
and THAT is that!
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Filed under: Babette Blanket, Crafts, Crochet, Current Status, Design, Finished Projects, Granny Square Bag, GrannySquares, Heaven Blanket, Hundred Flower Scarf, Knitting, Matryoshka Doll, Ongoing Projects, Paper, Quilting, Ripple Blanket, Sewing, Stool Covers, To-Do
just to let you 20 people who read this know that i haven’t been feeling very crafty lately. must be the hectic work schedule, or maybe the 35 d. celsius/90% humidity induced headaches… i hate indian summers!
Filed under: Blogging, Blogroll, Crafts, Crochet, Design, Granny Square Bag, Hundred Flower Scarf, Ongoing Projects, Opinion, Ripple Blanket, Sewing, Thoughts, Vertical Scrap Blanket, Writing
but my computer really needed some time off, so i sent him to the computer spa over the weekend, and now he’s good as new!
i have no pictures to share with you, and very little craft progress, seeing as how i’m flat broke and need yarn for preeety much all my projects. I did finish the flowers for the 100 flower scarf, now just need to sew them, and sew the granny bag lining. i started the vertical scrap blanket, for my kid, but don’t have more scrap yarn to go on. need yarn for my ripple, seeing as how i used most of the yarn for the granny bag…
well, that’s that, except i can’t reach my email… have to wait now…
by
Filed under: Blogging, Books, Crafts, Crochet, Current Status, Design, Granny Square Bag, GrannySquares, Hundred Flower Scarf, Life, Ongoing Projects, Opinion, Ripple Blanket, Thoughts, Writing
I got this list from knittingcaboodle, who got it from someone else and so on and so forth…
“You are supposed mark the books you have read, want to or again and again if it’s one you keep reading.” I marked the ones that I’ve read or attempted to read.
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) not this lifetime!
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) repeatedly
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. 6. 7. The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. 13. 16. 19. 57. Harry Potter (Rowling) I read a few, maybe 1, 2, and 4 i think…
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) not reading this guy!
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) Depressing. But then again, all Brontes are…
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) keep meaning to, but not yet. only when i think i’m ready for it…
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) read at 17. thought boring. maybe i’ll try again.
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) great book!
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) again, depressing!
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) saw the movie, can’t find the book anywhere.
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell) again, saw the movie, can’t find the book.
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) saw the movie, not inclined to read the book.
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) the worst book ever written!!! the guy sucks!!
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible some bits, worst fiction ever written
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) got trough the first 12 chapters, got lost in all the character names after that.
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) started. couldn’t finish, along with all dickens books. too boring, and raw.
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) started. couldn’t finish, along with all dickens books. too boring, and raw.
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) twice. liked it a lot. couldn’t read again last time i tried.
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) Depressing.
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger) boring.
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) started, found depressing, couldn’t keep track of characters.
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy) same as crime and punishment
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) I saw the movie. started to read other stuff by her, couldn’t finish, too boring
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) greatest book ever written.
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares) saw the movie, didn’t know there was a book. probably would read it.
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo) tried, couldn’t finish, not good. saw the movie.
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) read it about once a year. had a copy, got another one when the last tore open.
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding) Saw the movie. liked it better.
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez) started. was pregnant at the time, decided to read later. good, nonetheless
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) saw the movie. will not be reading the book. too boring.
75.The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) saw the movie, never found the book
76. Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen) can’t go wrong with austen.
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) saw the movie
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce) started, want to finish, don’t know when will…
on the craftiness… my hundred flower scarf is going great, the granny bag is still blocking (got quite a dunking) and the ripples need more yarn. that’s that for now, lots of work, not much time to craft this week!
bye
Filed under: Babette Blanket, Crafts, Crochet, Design, Finished Projects, GrannySquares, Heaven Blanket, Hundred Flower Scarf, Knitting, Matryoshka Doll, Ongoing Projects, Paper, Quilting, Ripple Blanket, Sewing, Stool Covers, To-Do
too sick to write. check flickr for photo update. bye.
Filed under: Blogging, Blogroll, Crafts, Crochet, Finished Projects, Granny Square Bag, GrannySquares, Hundred Flower Scarf, Knitting, Life, Ongoing Projects, Opinion, Ripple Blanket, Thoughts, Writing
The sun is out, the birds chirp away, no clouds mar a bright blue ski, temperature is in the 30 C, and I have a bug.
Yes, a bug. My throat is sore, my body aches, my nasal cavities are filled with yucky goo, my head feels like Cape Canaveral on launch day, I am cold as hell frozen over, even my teeth hurt. I kid you not.
Either I have no kudos left in my name, or my karma is preeety messed up. I’m sitting in the sun and, except for my black jean clad leg and my black wool sweater clad arm, which are baking in direct sun light in 30 C weather – hot, mind you; Hubby is in swimming trunks! No, we do not have a pool, and the nearest beach is 4 hours away – I am shivering. Yes. Shivering. You read it right.
So, will i be crafting today?
Ah, the million dollar question.
I’m afraid you’ll have to wait on that one. If my head stops trying to hop out of my neck, and my shoulders un-stiffen, maybe.
Will get back to you on that one.
2 pm
I took some Vick Pyrena tea now and let me tell you: That’s some feady stuff! I once again can consider myself amongst the ranks of the living human. My body isn’t achy anymore, my head is no longer hearig the call of the wild, and I shiver no more! Even a bit sweaty, now that I think about it. That’s good, isn’t it?
(Let me explain here: I wrote this in my journal as a draft post while on heavy medication. What follows is a very yucky description of my condition, of which I will spare you, and go on directly to tell you it is now 11 pm, and I have a bad case of sinus inflammation. Not good. So now to the crafty bits)
My mom came over, to take G for their usual sunday outing, and brought me the crappy camera. So I will this week be showing y’all last week’s production, in actually good pictures for a change – the sun helped a lot here, as did Hubby and a white bed sheet.
So, for today’s update.
Yes, I did manage to craft. Not as much as I wanted to, considering the million faerie folk who decided to party in my head, but…
I am now at 8 flowers for the Hundred Flower Scarf.
I am once again on speaking terms with the Ripple Blanket.
I did a good enough job with the Granny Squares for the Granny Square Bag, am now at:
- 4 rnds – 3
- 3 rnds – 14
- 2 rnds – 13
Those are the thirty for the front and back (?) of the bag. There are 13 more for the sides and bottom, but I don’t know how I’ll be doing them, so…
That’s it. The rest is stalled, due to illness, and yeah, okay, some modicum of laziness, but not much. I really am sick. So I leave you with today’s Finished Project Visual Report:
My lovely Scarf #2 Green:
It’s preeetier then this. Seriously.
Not that you can tell by the mug shots, but it is quite nice.
Okay, so back to bed for little ol’ me, in the hopes of a normal day tomorrow. Bye now!
Filed under: Blogging, Books, Crafts, Crochet, Finished Projects, GrannySquares, Hundred Flower Scarf, Ongoing Projects, Opinion, Ripple Blanket, Stool Covers, Thoughts, Writing
So, I went over to Amazon, in the hopes I could maybe get a book or two, and was forced to do a little conversion, from USD$ to R$. Well, the 200 ripple patterns book, from USD$ 16,49 to R$ 35,00. And I’m not even considering the shipping, which would take my little splurge to the 3 digit area. ARGHGHGHGHGHhhh I am so mad!!!
On the other hand, I started a new project. It’s actually and old abandoned project, a bag for my crochet supplies in use, which I gave up on due to total lack of success. I am now making the outside of granny-squares, and the lining will be made with the fabric I already had from the unsuccessful previous attempt. How clever am I? (no need to answer. I am, after all, allowed to dream, aren’t I?)
And on my Ongoing Projects:
The necklace, stalled. Don’t know what to do.
Ripple blanket, hiding in fear of its life. Haven’t forgiven it yet.
Granny Squares are going strong, one a day.
Couch throw, not even thinking ’bout.
Stool covers, pushed aside in favour of crochet bag.
Hundred Flower Scarf… I’ll get to them…
Am also doing a quickie bag, not sure for whom yet. It matches the scarf though, the one I will post next week, all going well.
And for our visual report:
Today I will show you my hook caddy. The pattern’s around the web somewhere.
That’s that for today folks. Going to curse Amazon to hell and back now!
I forgot!!
I NEED HELP!!
I’m going to place some of my work on concession? at some stores here, and I need a name. So I’m between two choices, which is why I need your help:
made preeety by hand
or
preeety made by hand
what do you think? please comment!
