Christmas project revealed-(Spoiler alert)

Yes, I know I said Christmas and spoiler alert. Remember I didn't have money to ship by gifts to the west coast. Two house payments and one income is no fun! I finally had enough money to send the Christmas presents. They were VERY late, which makes me ill. Fortunately though, my friends and family understand. My mom and best friend have already opened theirs, and I don't know if anyone else reads my blog, so I feel ok about posting pictures and such.

If you do read my blog, and you received (or are waiting to get it from my mom) a gift and have not opened it yet...SPOILER ALERT...stop reading now.

Okay that being said, drum roll please...

For the main gift this year, I made these FABULOUS "green" blue jean grocery bags. They are made with recycled/repurposed jeans from my family, and from anyone who would share with me. I had been collected jeans for awhile for another project, but when I saw this pattern I decided this made better use of them. I will say, it takes a lot of denim. I had 1 1/2 large rubbermaid tubs full. Some of them were shorts, so that does factor in. That being said, I made 16 bags. Yep 16! This is quite an accomplishment for me as I usually do something once, and then never again. It's like the thrill of seeing how it will turn out is gone and after that it becomes tedious. However, I was ready to part with all this denim and I LOVE these bags. The pattern is from Islander Sewing Systems Re-construction Zone. It is called the Double Green Shopping Bag. I did not do the exact pattern they gave. Actually there are 3 different bags. I sort of did a meld of them all. But, I will give credit where credit is due. As I think I have said in previous posts, I LOVED everyone of them, and did not want to give any of them away. I did however, and now need to make some for myself. Several people have suggested that I sell them. Because of copyright laws, I will not be doing that. My daughters have ask me to make some more like purses. I may do that, I'm still trying to figure out a pattern that will work. I may take the concept and tweak it more, not sure yet.

Another funny, not so funny thing is I actually ran out of denim. Then it was a mad dash to find more. I looked at the fabric store, but I really prefer the worn look, and the blend of different colors. I made my kids go through their drawers again, that yielded a few pairs. Finally I went to Goodwill. I wanted ones that had been donated, that they couldnt sell because of rips or stains. I can use those and just cut out the bad parts. They told me they sent all that stuff to a recycler. Darn!! I ended up buying shorts, out of the bin for 49 cents each. I bought the biggest sizes I could find. I had HUGE pairs of shorts. One pair though wasn't huge, but so 80's I had to buy it. They were white with a pink and blue floral pattern on them. LOVE! I have also recent'y bought several more pair of crazy blue and black capris to make bags. Can't wait to see how they turn out. I also bought some very large jumper dresses.

To make these, my dining room felt like a sweat shop. I had 2 sewing machines set up. Each with different color threads. Mine had the blue denim thread, and Gwen's had the gold top stitching thread. I tried a bag without top stitching trying to save a step. It looks so much better with it. I also had my cutting mat out and denim EVERYWHERE. About half way through completion I needed to change the thread in Gwen's machine. With the new thread, the tension was WAY off and I could never get it to sew right. My mom suggested it was a timing issue, either way it will need to be repaired. Bummer! So the last several bags, I had to keep switching the thread in my machine. This makes for a much slower process. If you make these and have access to 2 machines, use them.

Now for the photos. I took pictures of each side. I will group them together so you can get and idea of what each bag looked like. I like some more than others, but don't have a favorite. Just when I think I do, I see another one and rethink it.

































































Okay...I have messed with the photos for too long now. For me in preview they don't show together. I have tried several different things and they never move in preview. UGH! Sorry. Tomorrow, I will try to post the knit projects I worked on. TTFN

Ugh!

Okay let me start by apoligizing for not writing the last few weeks. It has been rough! I will say that since moving away from all my family and friends, November through the first of the year has been hard. I miss sharing my birthday and the holidays with my family. This year has been one of the hardest. Being in a new city, with few friends, and no money has been emotionally draining. It doesn't help that I haven't found a job, and the weeks before Christmas my friends who had just graduated were all getting jobs, and I was getting rejection letters. Then I busted my ass to get all of my Christmas presents finished only to find out that I had no money to ship them. Are you kidding me? I am not writing this for sympathy, just to vent. There have been lots of tears. Oh, and did I mention I had yet to buy anything for my kids. Merry Christmas!Needless to say, gifts to our kids were creative. There were a few I.O.U.S.(for their big gifts, and some custom knitting of their choice), and some scavenging. We gave Jacque a ring that I received when I was 13. She loved it. The other kids gifts were similar. BTW, the custom knitting was also a big hit. Gwen first thought that she wanted some socks, but she now thinks she wants an infinity scarf. The funny thing is, I was going to make her one, and the big project I was working on took too much time. Unfortunately I still haven't sent the packages. Boo! I had hoped to get them in the mail today, I may have to wait till payday on Friday. Middle of last week our best friends from Richmond came to visit. We had so much fun. I was able to give them their gifts and they loved them! Yea!!! I knew they would. I can't wait to share them with you.Yesterday was the Rose Bowl. The game was so exciting! No, that is an understatement. There were records broken and long runs, and lots of scoring, and the coach jumping up and down for joy on the sidelines. I wish there had been some better defense, but wow it was fun. The Ducks won, and for a little while I thought it was the start to a great year. Then today I went to the DMV. Before I left I checked the website just to make sure I had what I needed. We still need to license the cars. I hate to say this, but Craig's tags expired in August, and we still haven't done it. So, I got my paperwork together, made copies of his drivers license, and went to the bank (they don't take debit or out of state checks). Fortunately my wait wasn't long. The person who helped me after a few minutes of filling out paperwork told me that we couldn't complete it as I needed to have the title application notarized and that would require my husbands signature. What? Are you kidding me? So, after this, I decided to head to the police station to have my finger printing done for my RN background check so I could complete my licensing application. The form I received from the nursing board told me to go to the local courthouse or police station. When I got there, the lovely lady ( and I am not being sarcastic, she was lovely) told me they no longer did them "locally" and that they only did them in downtown Raleigh. Yea me...what a wasted day! So, tomorrow I am hoping to drive into Raleigh and get my finger printing done. Maybe tomorrow will be better. That is all I have for now.

Whats on your needles

I can't tell you. ;-) Christmas is too close. Right now my main project is not on needles. I still have some gifts that need to be knit though. Right now, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. This is TOTALLY my fault. I have no excuses, I should have started sooner. I have had plenty of time. It will all get done, but I don't like the idea that until it is, every spare second is spent working on it. I will say that what I am working on is turning out pretty fabulous. I know some of the recipients will like them, others hard to say, but I don't really care. On an other stuff note...I had my eyes checked last week, and my new doctor disagreed with my previous doctor and said that I am able to have lasik surgery, or wear contacts. He gave me some contacts to try. I really want them to work, but I really don't know if they will. The first pair we tried didn't work at all. My vision was SUPER blurry. The second pair was better. I know that with my astigmatism, with contacts my vision will never be as crisp as with glasses. Now I need to decide if it is crisp enough. So far this is what I have learned, my eyes and contacts don't like florescent lights. For whatever reason, my eyes start freaking out in stores. My vision goes blurry and I can't focus on anything. It is totally crazy. Not sure if this will get better or not. Second thing, it is so much easier to drive at night with them in. I had anti glare on my glasses, but there is still a little glare, not with contacts. I like the freedom of putting on my favorite sunglasses. I sometimes feel like I am squinting when the contacts are in, not cool. My eyes have a hard time transitioning for far away to up close work. Sometimes I feel the contacts in my eyes, other times I don't. Sometimes it feels like my eyes are welling up with tears. I have no idea what the first contacts were (think they were Acuvue Oasys), but the second ones are Air Optix. My sister, who has never to my knowledge worn contacts, told me that I need to give them at least a week for my eyes to get used to them. She says your eyes change shape slightly to conform to the contacts. I have no idea. All I know is that I was able to wear them for about half a day yesterday and then could not get them to focus, so I took them out and put my glasses on. Today, I am wearing my glasses again, so that I can try and finish up my projects. Maybe tomorrow I will put on the contacts. The last thing I am going to blog about, I have wrestled with for a few days. I am frustrated and sad. I feel like I have no right to be, because the cause has nothing to do with me. However, I am a caring person, and I can't seem to block that. I am also feeling a bit selfish, and that makes me feel guilty. Sunday night my daughter and her boyfriend broke up. They had only been going out for a little over a month, but had been spending all of their free time together for almost 2. I got to know him and his family very well. They were kind enough to include us in their Thanksgiving and even Christmas Eve plans. For once since we moved here, I felt like I had made friends, and beginning to have a social life again. Now all of that has changed. He told her he loved her, she said she didn't feel the same and wasn't sure she ever would and she broke up with him. He is DEVASTATED. She doesn't seem to care. She says she needs space to figure out her feelings. He says he is lost without her. I feel like all I do is cry. I cry for his broken heart. I cry because I have lost friends. I cry because I feel guilty for feeling so emotional about this because all I want is for my daughter to be happy. She says she isn't sure she was happy with him. I am proud of her for having the strength to do what she thinks is right, but this sucks! I feel like I am not being the supportive mom I need to be. I know they had only been going out a short time, and that they are both young, but it still sucks! The last few days my relationship with her has felt broken. She knows I feel like she made a mistake, I have told her as much. I told her that love and relationships are not like what you see or read about in a Nicholas Sparks book/movie. Love isn't at first sight. It grows and changes as you get to know someone. She thinks her feelings will never catch up to his, and it is better to break up now than later when his feelings are even stronger. I feel like she hasn't given her feelings a chance. Maybe I am just forcing on her what I think is good for her, and honestly I know she knows best, but this sucks! So now my Christmas Eve plans have fallen apart, I have a gift to return as he doesn't want it because it will remind him to much of her, and I have lost the only friends I have made since I moved here. I really need a job to get me out of this house!

Needle Update and YUMMY recipe

After posting and looking through the house again, I finally found the missing needles. Since we moved, I have been trying to be a bit more organized. I usually know where things are, but not always. Part of this organization was to but all my straight needles in a box, all my dpn's in a box and all my circulars in a box. The boxes I am using are like the ones you see in all the craft stores. The best part is I get them for free. The grinding discs my husbands company uses come in them. They were just tossing them, so employees started taking them home. Yeah me! I wish I had more, but there are other people that one them too, so I take what I can get. I love how they have handles and latches and stack so nice and are clear so I can see what is in them. Sorry off on a tangent... So far it has worked pretty well. At one point I had them all in the same box, but was growing tired of digging through the kids of needles I didn't need for each project. This way is working better. The issue with the missing needles was, I never put them in the box, or my knitting bag, which right now has a stash of needles for the projects I am currently working on, or just finished. I bought these needles so my daughter could knit her boyfriend a beanie. I left them out for her. She then moved them, and the box they would go in into the office and then stacked a few books on top of them. I knew something was amiss when I couldn't find the box of dpn's. As soon as I found them I started on a beanie. The pattern I am using is called, "Cool Hats". It is from Better Homes and Garden Knit It, 2004, designed by Nancy Thomas. It is quick and easy. I knit it in a dark green with a pale yellow stripe in some Caron Simply Soft that I had left in my stash. Yesterday I worked in all the ends and started on one in the same green with a white stripe. I just need to work the decreases and work in the ends. Woo hoo two more hats done! I will try to have my son model one or both of them later. As promised I have a picture of Gwen in the slouchie beanie. Love it!

I am thinking I will knit this again. I may not make it quite as long, but we will see. Also, as a bonus to today's post, I am sharing a recipe. Yesterday my cousin Lisa Rangel, who shares my love for bacon posted a photo on facebook of some chocolate bacon cupcakes she had made. I immediately ask for the recipe, which she had frankensteined together for a few different recipes. Therefore, I am calling it her original creation. Here is the recipe...enjoy!

CHOCOLATE BACON CUPCAKES Ingredients ½ C Cocoa Powder 1 C Boiling hot water 1 1/3 C flour 2 tsp baking powder ? salt (the recipe she sent me said to add salt but not how much, we just added a dash. I have ask her to send me the amount. I will edit the recipe if she does.) ½ C butter, room temperature 1 C white sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract ½ C chopped fried bacon Directions Preheat oven to 375. Line muffin cups In a small bowl, stir hot water and cocoa powder until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. In another bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Using an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat until smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in vanilla. Mix in the chocolate mixture. Add the flour mixture and bacon and beat only till incorporated. Don’t over mix! Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove and cool on a wire rack. CHOCOLATE CARAMEL FROSTING Ingredients 4 Tbsp butter ½ C packed brown sugar 2 Tbsp milk 1 ½ C powdered sugar 1 Tbsp cocoa powder 1 tsp vanilla extract Chopped bacon for garnish Directions In a saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then add milk. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Sift together cocoa and powdered sugar. Blend into butter mixture and add vanilla. If too thick, add more milk. Spread onto cooled cakes. Act fast as the frosting sets up quickly. Sprinkle crumbled bacon on top BEFORE the frosting cools… otherwise it rolls off!

What's on Your Needles Wednesday #9

After posting last week I was surprised I got the WOYNW number right. I totally guessed. So, I am still working on my socks (grape twist), knitting a pair of a man in my life tbd later(could be Craig, could be Dad, suppose it could even be Cory). Yesterday finished up a cute slouchy beanie in an ivory Caron Simply Soft for my niece, Kassie. She doesn't read my blog, so I am safe talking about it. The pattern is from day nine of Caron's 12 days of Christmas. Each day for 12 days they sent a new pattern for gifting. I usually only like about half of them. Lots of hats and scarfs. I know everyone isn't like me, so I really don't give a lot of hats and scarves. I on the other hand love them, and could probably wear a different one every day. My husband and kids could too. Kassie loves fashion, and loves slouchy beanies. I knit her a cute cabled one for her birthday in hot pink simply soft. My sister suggested this one be more neutral so she could wear it with more. I LOVE how it turned out. My only dislike was the pattern was written to be knit flat and seamed. I believe things that are round like socks and hats, should be knit in the round. No problem right, just knit it in the round. Well, maybe I have mentioned before when it comes to knitting I don't like to think. If a pattern needs to be manipulated much, forget about. I know it is probably simple and I wouldn't have to think much, but I think it should have originally been written different. I liked the hat, as did my girls. I will probably knit it again, this time in the round and will have to think. UGH! So having finished the hat, I was prepared to start on a hat for one of my nephews, I grabbed some yarn and went to my bag for the size 8 circular and dpns I bought a week or so ago. They weren't there. Neither were the denim sewing machine needles I bought. I have now torn my house apart looking for them, and have even gone through the trash. YUCK! They are no where to be found. I am sick to my stomache. Money is TIGHT for us this year. Two house payments for 4 months and me not working are killing our bank balance. I can't afford to go buy these needles again, but as I need them to make my Christmas presents and save some money, I have no choice. DRAT, DRAT, DOUBLE DRAT!!! The next thing I need to work on(other than the hats with the missing needles) requires the denim needles, or wool yarn that is in the garage. It is COLD here. Clear and cold. Okay, so maybe 46 isn't cold, but when you have been in the 60-70's it is. I don't want to go out there and find it. Yes, this is me whinning. I know it isn't attractive, but I really don't care right now. I will try to add a picture of the slouchy hat when my daughter gets home. TTFN, Miki

What's on Your Needles Wednesday #8?

I have no idea what number WOYNW this is. I am still working on gifts so I really can't share. I have made a little progress on my socks, but not enough to need to take a picture. Everything else is top secret! Wish I could share, but I want it all to be a surprise. Monday was my 40th birthday. I was blessed with facebook notes, calls and cards from friends and family. It was a nice day. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the health of my family, that my husband has a job, that our house in Richmond has finally rented, and so many other things. We will be spending the day with Gwen's boyfriends family. We haven't had Thanksgiving with anyone else since we moved 7 years ago, so this should be interesting. We were told we didn't need to bring anything, but Jacque was having none of that. She insisted on making cranberry sauce and pink salad. She really wanted to make pumpkin rolls, but I was able to talk her out of it. We will make them for Christmas, or maybe just later this week. I did however, make 2 loaves of Snickerdoodle bread. Thanks Daysha and Val! It smelled wonderful cooking, and hopefully tastes good too. If you want the pumpkin dinner roll recipe, clink on the link. For the snickerdoodle bread one...here you go. ‎2 1/2 cups FLOUR 2 teaspoons BAKING POWDER 1/2 teaspoon SALT 2 teaspoons CINNAMON 1 cup BUTTER, softened 2 cups SUGAR 3 EGGS 2 teaspoons VANILLA 1 cup SOUR CREAM 1 (10 oz.) pkg. CINNAMON CHIPS 1 Tablespoons FLOUR 2 Tablespoons TURBINADO SUGAR (aka Sugar In the Raw) 2 teaspoons CINNAMON Preheat oven to 350°. Grease loaf pans (I used 2 full-size, but you can also do this as 4 or 5 mini loaves.) Combine flour and baking powder in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together butter, 2 cups of sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add eggs, beat well. Add vanilla and sour cream; mix well to combine. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Coat the cinnamon chips with the 1 Tablespoons of flour and stir into the batter. Divide the batter between the greased pans. In a small bowl, combine the turbinado sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture over each loaf. Bake 35-40 minutes for mini loaves and 60-70 minutes for full-size loaves, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan. TTFN, Miki

Super late What's on your needles, and some other stuff

I know once again my weekly knitting post is late. But it is late because I have been busy knitting. I am still working on those grape twist socks for me. It is really slow going. Not sure why. Maybe its the pattern, which isn't too complex. Maybe it's the needles, size 1 bamboo. I guess it could be the yarn. That being the case, I have moved onto other projects so I can finish up Christmas gifts. That being said, I cant really share what I am working on because I don't know who in my family is going to read this. I will say that some of what I have knit is fun and silly, and make not even be given as gifts. Some are firsts for me. I will share more about this later. Others are basic and I know will be loved. The best part is that I am stash busting. The worst part, a recurring theme, not having the right size needles. Seriously!!! I actually bought 3 new pairs of needles this week. UGH!!! I have looked at my needle chart and I am pretty close to owning every size, except the longer cable needles. If you are friends or family that still need to get me a birthday or Christmas gift, you can't go wrong with knitting needles. I would also love yarn from, or a gift certificate to knitivity I'm not picky about color. I seem to like everything he dyes. This is one of the reasons my stash is so large. Onto the other stuff. I had planned on writing a few different things, and now I have no idea what they were. Ooops. Monday I turn 40. I am feeling ok about this. Ask me on Monday or even Tuesday and my answer might be different. I am pretty much happy with my life. I love my husband and kids and feel I am where I am supposed to be. Couldnt ask for much more except maybe a job and I know that will come. Tomorrow we head to Richmond for some business stuff and a party for me. I am so excited to see my friends! I really need to get out more here. The last few days I haven't felt so good. Can't really put my finger on it aside from really bad reflux. Keep you up all night bad. Nothing is different, just reflux and stomache pain that medication isn't helping. This has left me tired and not wanting to do anything. I have worked out once this week. I did yoga. It felt great and I had every intention of doing it again, but I haven't. The day isn't over yet. On a good note, despite my not forcing myself to work out, I am still loosing weight. Still slowly. I guess that is just how I do it. Works for me, but I like to see results super quick! I will say I have lost 16lbs since August. I am wearing pants 2 sizes smaller and other than this stomache thing, feel better. My goal is to lost at least another 14-25. I think that is a good weight for me. I was happy at that weight and liked how my clothes fit. We will see how that works out. I will say though, that I don't have many pants that fit me now, and some of what I do have, hopefully won't fit for much longer. This sucks, because I don't want to buy in between clothes. I imagine I will be hitting some thrift stores soon. Well, I guess that is all I have to write for now. I do want to add that last week when writing my blog, my husband ask if anyone read it, or if it was just a sort of therapy for me. I have looked at my stats and see I am getting page views. They are mainly for Jacques adobe diorama. If you read this, could you please leave a comment. I would love to know who is reading, and if you have any suggestions to make it better, or add more readers. TTFN, Miki