Doing the Numbers Crunching:
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,400 times in 2010. That’s about 8 full 747s.

My busiest day of the year was November 27th with 46 views. The most popular post that day was this one: Easy Turtleback Jackets : The Book.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010. You can see all of the year’s most-viewed posts and pages in your Site Stats.

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Some of my most popular posts were written before 2010, according to WordPress.org stats, so be sure and check out my archives!

Happy New Year and Blog On!

What's on your needles for 2011?

http://bit.ly/fHa0Jk

Igor, aka Smiling Boy

I’m going to use this technique on my Agatha Cardigan pattern I just purchased. It’s one-piece reversible construction looks really exciting. I’m thinking I’ll use Plymouth Encore Tweed, Grey Heather T781. I purchased it from Ben Franklin Crafts a while back, not quite sure what I was going to use it for, but this might work out great for a mid-weight sweater, after I’ve re-calculated the gauge.

Agatha Cardigan

Agatha Cardigan closeup

Agatha Cardigan

DD19 just called to tell me they canceled the get-together at 2 Seasons Bowling Alley, too foggy tonight, making driving hazardous. I’m glad she decided not to go, but now I have these batches of FUDGE I was going to gift. OFUDGE! now I will have to eat it all or see if I can freeze it for later.

I am thinking of trying these gloves for Winter Hands; they sound perfect for moisturizing and protecting from dryness. Check back for reviews.

Peacel, Light and Love~ knit warm and stay happy!

Our Winter Solstice Tree

by Guest Blogger Karen Francis. Needles clicked, yarn spun, and discussions about patterns flowed, but in a store surrounded by the jewel tones of silk, bright worsted wool and imaginative color combinations in alpaca and cashmere, the dull tones of black and brown and grey pure wool stood out.  A group of women met on a glorious summer day in Old Town Alexandria, a day that the humidity was down and a cool breeze blew across the Potomac, but the … Read More

via Operation Gratitude Blog

99 Little Doilies to Crochet by Patricia Kristoffersen

This paperback book has 144 pages of patterns, color photos, and illustrations with comprehensive instructions for various unique stitch techniques, including: working in front, around or behind a stitch, free loops, working in center 3 loops of a stitch,  working in 2 legs of a stitch.

I also got this new book the other day

Reader's Choice Bookmarks by Leisure Arts #75069

and finished this cute Sunflower Bookmark, from the front cover:

Sunflower Bookmark

I’ve been crocheting for over 40 years, having first learned the basic stitches at age 10. I can thank my Mentor, Ethel Harvey, for inspiring me to crochet. I used to go over to her house as a child, on those long summer days and spent many hours under her gentle care and guidance. My mother was very grateful to have Ethel as someone I looked up to, I’m sure. It kept me out of trouble and very busy when school was out. I can also thank Ethel for my green thumb, my love of antiques, and also my collection of assorted greenhouse-variety cacti. I remember her house, a single-level bungalow on the end of a cul-de-sac. There, she tended nearly a half-acre of all manner of roses, trees, shrubs, vines and perennials. I even remember a Pitcher Plant by her front steps. The thing smelled rotten, but she showed me how it would collect rain water and flies would become trapped within it’s bloom, to be later ingested by the plant. I remember it looking like this:

Pitcher Plant

Someone who I once considered my best friend-no, my Mentor, once told me I should stick to crochet, in lieu of knitting. I wanted to expand my crafting talents and have had a long-time love of all things knit. In retrospect, I have spent probably a little more time than I should have, contemplating her statement and consequent decision to cut our friendship short, wondering why things happened as they did. I cannot come up with a single reason…so, no, I will keep knitting and learning new things, I enjoy it too much. But I will keep crocheting gifts, even though some of those things may hold some sad memories within their intricate knots.

We took a drive to the Spring for water today. It was a crisp, sunny 59 F at 5:30 pm, the sun low in the sky, nearly blinded DH. We saw one Whitetail rump disappear into the woods,  jsut as we were driving out of the Kettle Moraine area, on our way home. The woods always remind me of childhood memories of Placer County, CA. The twisty windy tree-lined roads,  the deep woods just beyond, the pine needles on the forest floor, whisper of secrets along darkening paths.

It’s Friday, Taco Night! I’m hungry, so I’ll scoot outta here and come back later with pictures of mine and DH’s Riders Edge experiences~you don’t want to miss it!

How many times have you wondered, but could not find the information right at your fingertips, “How long can I keep that frozen rhubarb in the chest freezer before I have to pitch it?”

You already knew this, you say? Good for you then, you don’t have Alzheimer’s yet!!!

I don’t take the time to memorize stuff like this call me lazy. So it’s good to bone up on these things…I haven’t had to freeze large quantities for a long time, but with the price of groceries, it might be a viable option again.

How long can you freeze food? | Yahoo! Green

I finished another Coaster; this one is for my Riders Edge Instructor.I had fun with this one, but I wanted to smudge my crochet hook and bury it in the back yard, for fear I’d get warts or something equally as hideous….LOL!!

Chicago Bears Crochet Coaster

Open Windows by Shobha Govindan Leisure Arts #2395, Thread Coasters to Crochet

Next one, Green Bay colors~ GO PACK!

Cheers!

About 2 weeks ago, I came to the startling realization I have been twisting my purl stitches. Once I discovered this faux pas, I immediately set about righting my wrongs, and in no time was back on track.

I previously had blogged that I had difficulties with the X portion of the Alaska pattern. Having ripped out the X’s twice, I finally adapted a two-handed knitting technique which I used to complete the pattern rows, while eliminating the pesky bunching that kept occurring. On the 3rd attempt, I finally got it to a more acceptable finish.

Then I discovered my error in the purls, and once I got to the second set of X’s, it became immediately apparent that this was the cause of my past issues-the twisted stitches were causing more tension on the rows, preventing the floating strands from stretching.

I’ve come to the second set of X’s and happy to say,  the pattern appears to be working out just fine now, no puckering at all.

I’m ready to gift the 5th Chemo Coaster of the Month to the next-door neighbor-she’s completed her 4th treatment this past week, and so I’ll check in on her tomorrow.

Scalloped Vs by Shobha Govindan

Leisure Arts #2395, Thread Coasters To Crochet

I purchased two new books and am anxious to get them. Amazon has the best deals!

Dainty Little Doilies (Leisure Arts #75016)

I’m going for this one next and I believe that will do me for a while ~

99 Little Doilies (Leisure Arts #3228)

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Fall has fell, and so are the temps-they’re talking deep frost tonight. I haven’t seen the Hummingbirds, and wish them a safe trip South for the Winter. I will miss my Little Girl, and look forward to her return next Spring.

There is a Walking Stick on the office window tonight, and he appears to be down for the night.

BOO!



The Poison Widow: A True Story of Sin, Strychnine, and Murder (Wisconsin), by Linda Godfrey.

It sounds eerily familiar as in the case of Susan Smith, who murdered her two children in the name of love.. Mother Love, Deadly Love: The Susan Smith Murders
Susan Smith was born on September 26, 1971. Ironically, I’m not trying to find a correlation, but the facts become something akin to a Stephen King novel.

While I have not read any books that cover the story of Susan Smith, and only have a brief knowledge of the history of the case, and having no previous interest in the mechanisms behind a mother who kills her children,  I found the story of Myrtle Schaude strangely fascinating. I don’t know if it was the need to know what would cause a gentile Wisconsin woman of the early 20th century to go to such desperate lengths for the sake of love, or was it another case of strange crimes in Wisconsin that have caused eyebrows to raise?

I enjoyed reading this book by Linda Godfrey-her ability to hold the audience captive, without over-embellishing, made it one of those books that marks this author as one to revisit, again and again.

Today was DH’s birthday; my Beloved Egghead had a good day ♥♥♥

Sharon and Mike

Warren, The Birthday Boy, and Moi

It’s been a busy week-we’ve begun to see a surge in sales, particularly in our Shawl Pins. I suspect people are already gearing up for the Holidays, stock-piling for the mad rush on winter accessories.

DH was at the dentist yesterday; our lovely favorite Toothpicker, D, was on hand to tell me about her latest Netflix craze, Dexter: Season 1…so I updated my queue to get started on them too, for my winter programs.

I’m so out of sync with my blogging, they may appear random. OH! I finally got a new Canon Pixma MP560 color printer for the office; now I can print color patterns out again~ {happy dance!}

S. has completed her 3rd chemo session, so this is her next Chemo Coaster:

Dainty Pineapples by Shobha Govindan

Chemo Coaster of the Month-Dainty Pineapples

Looks like rain moving in later tonight, 48 for a low, good sleeping weather. Tomorrow is suppose to be a mix of rain and…….whatever, so hopefully, I can get out and do some yard cleanup around my perennial gardens.

DH mucking through remnants of last Spring's thaw

Hope you have a beautiful weekend, Happy Fall Craftin’!