My Memories Giveaway

So much for getting back to blogging regularly! I spent the first two days of last week dealing with browser and internet problems, and then came down with a nasty respiratory virus for the rest of the week. This is the first day I've managed to get back to a somewhat normal schedule.

Anyway, I have a giveaway for all my readers! For this week only (October 20-26, 2013) you can download My Memories Suite Version 4 (a $40 value) for free! Simply enter the following code in the promo box before checking out: FreeTreatLO115 (Feel free to copy and paste the code into the promo code box). Please note that this offer applies only to the downloadable version of My Memories. 

  For those of you that haven't heard of My Memories, it is a digital scrabooking software. It can be used to create everything from scrapbook pages to cards, calendars, DVDs, interactive digital albums and more! I used it in this post to create the collage of the first 6 days of the TIAS, rather than posting 6 individual photos. I've also used the program to make monthly calendars for my computer desktop, Facebook cover photos, and to create word art.

Scrappin' Saturday XX

Welcome to Scrappin' Saturday - take a peek into the pages of my scrapbooks.

Picking up from where I left off with this series, this is my second page of tatting. The upper right design is from Glass Christmas Balls by JoAnn Stearns. It is the top half of design #4. After that, I went with a few motifs and edgings so the ornaments would be done in time for Christmas. I used satin covered balls from Handy Hands and straight pins to hold the pieces on. The square medallion on the green ball in the center is a pattern I got from freepatterns.com. They credit it as being from Old Time Crochet Magazine, Summer 1998. The pattern for the green ball on the middle left is from Handy Hands Fall 2004 newsletter. The upper left ornament has the Trefoil Edging from the Big Book of Tatting . I'm not sure why I included the ornament in the middle on the right side - that was made with my Mom's embroidery machine. The two bottom pictures are of some other ornaments I've tatted. The green one is from the Big Book of Tatting, Christmas Tree Motif. I used DMC #5 pearl cotton in a medium dark green color. The round motif is from Tatting for Today, Motif #25.

How I Made It

Background:  Decorative Scrapbook Paper by Paper Pizazz. "Holly on Green" HOTP-20222
Borders: Cream colored cardstock and Spellbinders Grand 12" Classic Lace Border.
Photos: The photos were cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Ovals Die Template , and were mounted on cardstock shaped with Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Ovals Die Template .
Journaling: Sizzix Tags, Scallop Combo #2, with bits of thread through the holes. 
Other Embellishment: Snowflakes were punched with a Hyglo 6-in-1 craft punch. I used glitter glue to add sparkle, and scattered them around the page. 

Baby Shrugs

After not blogging for more than a year, you might think I would have finished a few of the projects in my Works in Progress list in the sidebar. The grand total is...1. And I haven't taken a picture of it yet. Instead, here are 2 projects from this year. I knit 2 baby shrugs from the same pattern, with different yarns. Sorry for the poor lighting in the pictures; I tend to finish gifts after midnight, hours before I need to give it to the recipient. The pattern is simply titled 'Baby Shrug'. Ravelry has links to publications in which the pattern can be found.

The first was made with Bernat Satin, colorway Faded Glory. Ravelry has it listed as an Aran/10 ply yarn. After knitting 3 or so inches, I realized that it was looking Christmas-y. My solution was to use a different color for the edging. I used Hobby Lobby's 'I Love This Yarn' in #160 Brown. Although Ravelry lists it as a DK/8 Ply and Hobby Lobby labels it sport weight, it was a similar thickness to the Bernat yarn.

 

I made the 3-6 month size; the baby was one month old when I gave it to her, and it was on the small side. She was able to get a few months use out of it. The closeup picture has slightly truer colors. 

For the second shrug, I used Bernat's Mosaic yarn, colorway Daydream. Ravelry lists this as an Aran/10 ply. Although it is in the same weight category (on Ravelry) as the Bernat, it seems a bit thicker. It also looks, feels and knits very much like wool, despite being 100% acrylic.

Since the baby was born in Summer, I wanted this to fit in the Fall and Winter. Keeping in mind my previous experience, I made the 9-12 month size, instead of the 6-9 month size. I haven't heard yet if/how it fits, although she should be big enough to wear it fairly soon.
Other than the size issues, I have not had much difficulty with this pattern. In, fact, this pattern and the Tulips pattern may become my go-to baby sweaters.

Tatting Tuesday

Confession: This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for a very long time. Since 2011, to be exact. Why? Because I haven't taken a picture of my completed project.

Way back in August 2009 this dragon made an appearance at the very bottom of a post. While I love the way the pattern looks, it was a lot of work. My biggest problem was using poor quality thread; also it was size 50, which I had never tried before. At the time of the post, I think I had broken the thread at least 5 times. Someone suggested thread conditioner, which made a huge difference in keeping the thread from breaking. 

Minor Norwegian Ice Dragon

No amount of blocking or starching could convince him to be a free-hanging ornament, so he is in my Finished Objects Scrapbook. If you decide to try this pattern, be sure to...

• Use thread you are familiar with
• Make sure you know how to make SSR (Single Shuttle Split Ring)
• Know how to make a twisted picot; I didn't, and it shows. 

Someday I would like to try this pattern again, but for now I'm participating in a TIAS (Tat it and See) hosted by Lady Shuttle Maker. A TIAS is a mystery pattern, released one section at a time.  Here is my progress so far - any thoughts on what it might be? I'm leaning towards flower pot. The thread I'm using is Lizbeth Red Burst, size 20.

I'm Back!

When I stopped blogging last year, I had no idea that it would be more than a year before I came back to it. Here are my stitches in life from the past year. You may recall that in April, I had to have my kitty put down. In August, our local humane society had too many cats, and had a 'free cat day' or something like that. The kitty I adopted is named Posie, and was (and still is) feisty. She had a few health problems, and some behavioral issues too. She is much better than when we first adopted her, although we are still working on her behavior issues. She likes to 'help' me knit by chewing on the ends of my knitting needles, or playing with the yarn. Also last August, I accidentally deleted all of my emails. My computer spent 3 months or so with the Geek Squad, (they were unable to retrieve my emails) and I had no way to access information and pictures about projects I would have liked to blog about. In September I began working as a mother's helper for a family with 6 children. I am still helping them, and things at their house are never dull! In November, my Dad underwent a stem cell transplant to combat his cancer. In December we were still in the middle of Dad's recovery, plus I was trying to get Christmas decorating, cooking and gifts done. Unexpectedly, my Pastor resigned, and a few weeks later our music leader resigned as well.
In February, I had a week off and decided to take a vacation. I rented a car and drove to Kentucky to visit friends, then to North Carolina to visit some of my relatives for a few days. After that life settled down a bit until July. On July 4, I was driving down to Penn Yan with my Dad to spend the day with his side of the family. My car broke down, and we had to get towed back to Rochester. It wasn't worth fixing, so we ended up buying a new (to us) car. We spent the rest of July preparing for my Mom's knee replacement surgery. It went well, and recovery is mostly going well. I have finally set up my light tent permanently, and have been taking (better) pictures of my projects. I am slowly getting things organized, and have a huge list of projects to blog about!