What is a grandma to do?

 This grandma made the mistake of looking for a crochet project to play with because she was getting a bit tired of knitting.  So, what to her wondering eyes did appear....but this....

And, before you ask, it's a gift bag that measures approx. 16" high and the pattern can be found HERE.  I used Bernat Softee Chunky throughout.  Now, stay tuned, because heaven help Grandma if she doesn't make more.

- THIS looks like a fun project.

- Have a peek at the gallery of THIS artist!

- I think THIS idea for an easel would be a handy thing to remember (scroll down for the easel part)

- Have a peek through the galleries of THIS artist.

- HERE is something you could try doing with your used dryer sheets.

Today's quote..."Your life is made of two dates and a dash.  Make the most of the dash"

Perhaps a monster - for Halloween?

 

This fellow was cobbled together trying to use up the leftover Bernat Blanket yarn from the previous two (much larger!) monster pillows I made.  I still have some of the green left but not enough to really make anything.  This guy measures about 17" tall.  There's no real pattern - the body and feet were from one, the arms from another, the horn from another and the eye more or less from the eyes used for the other monsters I made.  

Today the quote is from an unknown source..."If the broom fits, ride it!"

All set for Santa!

A Christmas stocking for our wee little grandie-girl.

I found the fox face on a free coloring page from the internet and sized it to fit.  The woodland snow scene is the co-ordinating print that goes with the main animal print.   The lace trim was knitted by my maternal grandmother (therefore our little one's great-great-grandma).  

Today the quote is from Meryl Streep..."Let no one remove the wrinkles from my forehead, obtained through amazement at the beauty of life; or those of my mouth, which show how much I laughed and how much I kissed; nor the dark circles of my eyes:  in them is the memory of how much I cried.  They are mine and they are beautiful"

The end (for now!)

 Yes, I think I can officially call the current cross stitch 'kick' to be over for this year.   The final things from my needle include these postcards...

There are two of the middle design and 4 of the others currently waiting for the time to come for them to go in the mail 

The quote this time is from John Wayne..."I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand"

Another thing off my list

 I had this one knitted for awhile but of course procrastinated on the sewing up part of it.  I love to knit but the finishing, not so much.

The pattern is THIS one and I used Paton's Canadiana yarn.  

Today's quote.."Why is it that you can spend hours cleaning and organizing your craft room, but it only takes one tiny project to make it look like a bomb went off and a tornado hit at the same time?"

A recipe for you to try

 Resident Chef made these yummy refrigerator pickles and we've very patiently waited the alloted time to give them a taste test and they certainly passed with flying colours.  Thought you might like to give them a try too...

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

1 c. vinegar (white or apple cider)
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
1 T. of EITHER fresh garlic, sliced chilies, peppercorns, pickling spice, mustard seeds, bay leaves, coriander seeds – or mixture of your choice.
1 heaping tsp. kosher salt
2 lbs. veggies:  cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, pearl onions, sliced red or sweet onions, or carrots

Peel & slice veg’s into ¼” slices & pack into clean jars, leaving about 1” headspace.
Heat water, sugar, spices & salt over medium heat, stirring occasionally until dissolved.  LET COOL COMPLETELY.  Pour cooled brine over veg’s making sure they’re completely covered.  Cover & refrigerate 3 days before serving. Keep refrigerated (unless, of course, you're eating them!).  Makes 2 quart jars.

p.s. if you scroll down to my post of Aug. 12th you'll see a picture of the jars he made.

My crochet hooks have been busy and the latest thing off the hook is this hat...

Pattern is from HERE and I used Paton's Canadiana.  I love that the pattern covers sizing from a baby up to adult (this one is the adult size).The pattern takes a little less than one ball so quite a cheap project to add to the Christmas box.

Today's quote..."We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children"

The great mystery - revealed!

 Lots of people thought I was making hats.  Nope.  It should come as no surprise that it would be something for the grandies though and so here you have it....

Pattern is called the 'Monster Pillow Buddy' and can be found HERE. Yarn is the Bernat Blanket Bright series and used a 9 mm crochet hook.  Not exactly something I plan to make more of because it's quite hard on my hands but it was sure fun to do!  Oh....and they each measure about 30"  tall.  A good addition to the Christmas box!

Today's quote..."A seed grows with no sound but a tree falls with a huge noise.  Destruction has noise, but creation is quiet.  This is the power of silence"

Mumblings and a project

 First of all, I must tell you that we had a wonderful time away but, as is true of all trips, we are glad to be home.  Time spent with our #2 son, daughter-in-love and three grandies was precious and went by far too fast.  The flight to BC was relatively uneventful but we had listened to the news reports of massive lineups and arrived at the airport four hours before we needed to.  Luckily we made it through the check in/security areas in good time and had lots of time to people watch.  Coming home, due to circumstances beyond our control, we arrived at the airport just 2 hours before our flight was due and we barely made it through the check points in time...they were calling boarding for our flight just leaving barely enough time for a quick piddle break and run for the plane.  That's cutting it a little too fine!  Word to the wise - if you're flying anywhere make sure you allow at least two hours more than what the recommendation is.  And make sure you have some food in your carry on because you're going to need it.

We enjoyed family time with our kids and got to see where their school/daycare is.  5 year old goes to kindergarten and the 2 year old goes to daycare so when they were there we had lots of time to indulge ourselves with baby cuddles.  There might, or might not, have been several ice cream cones and there certainly were lots of stories to be read.  Grandpa baked cookies (twice), muffins and made our favourite oatmeal with two eager little helpers, and his scalloped potatoes were such a success that there were two 'makings' of those.  Grandma was happy to celebrate Mother's Day with family, something that hasn't happened in recent years.

One day we traveled to a wonderful orchid growers and this is just one of the beautiful flowers we saw there.  Must say that the plants they had for sale were a whole lot cheaper than what we have to pay here.  Wish we could have packed a few into our suitcases!

It's taken a few days (particularly with all the excitement of the big storm in the middle) to get back into the groove of things here.  I finally busted out the crochet hook, tackled a commission, and made these...

Pattern is the Snowman Gnome
by Jen Hayes Creations
and can be found HERE

This photo shows just some of the damage from the storm.  This tree is just a few feet north of our building...

The storm spread a swath of destruction and power outages spreading across a lot of southern Ontario.  Many areas are still without power and doubtful it will be back for several more days.  We are very fortunate that we were only dark for 25 hours.  Oddly, I had a friend who lives about 2 blocks away here for coffee yesterday and their power didn't go out at all.  When Resident Chef and I got married he thought it was highly amusing to see me rush around filling the bathtub and every available receptacle with water but coming from a farming background it's just what we did because we knew if the power went out we had no means to pump water.  Well I think I'm going to go back to doing that, just to be on the safe side.

- Some of you may enjoy scrolling through THIS blog.  

- And have a look at the amazing creations from THIS artist!

- And THIS one too!  Or how about THIS one?

- THIS takes you to a PDF showing  a different take on a knitted log cabin design that would be great for using up stash.

Today's quote is from Brene Brown...."Many of us will spend our entire lives trying to slog through the shame swampland to get to a place where we can give ourselves permission to both be imperfect and to believe we are enough"

On waistlines and silliness

 Resident Chef appeared in my sewing room doorway on the weekend bearing these....

Homemade chocolates.
AND there isn't a single calorie to them!!
Uh huh.
They're bound for the freezer, minus
one or two for testing for quality control purposes.

For reasons even I can't explain I returned to making this....

I have absolutely NO use for it...no reason to make it....and nobody to give it to. Sheer silliness to spend that much time working on something utterly useless, but what can I say!

Pattern can be found HERE .  I used 16 mm wooden beads and Sugar 'n Cream crochet cotton (100 beads!)

Today's quote...

Well, I tried!

 Here are the promised videos, such as they are (!), for your viewing pleasure.  Obviously I'm not a video 'person' so they are pretty much on the amateur side, but I think you can get the general idea.  

Now, I'm crossing my fingers that these will actually be viewable on your end!!

Today's quote..."Never change your originality for the sake of others because no one can play your role better than you"

The fun never ends

I'll lead off this post with my thanks to everyone who extended their sympathy to us after the passing of Jack's sister.  We are so grateful that your thoughts were with us.  She was 83 and had been in a nursing home with Alzheimer's so it was hard to be too sad knowing that she wouldn't have wanted to live like that.

Last week I did manage to finish up a set of Christmas ornaments that will be donated to the local quilt guild who are decorating a charity tree.  I made these years ago and had forgotten just how time consuming they are to make - to say nothing about the sheer amounts of straight pins needed to make them!!

The pattern can be found in many places around the internet - just google 'folded fabric ornaments' and you'll find all sorts of examples.  

I didn't want to lead this post with the picture I'm about to show you because I thought you'd run away screaming but never let it be said that here at Chez Magpie I shy away from the not-so-nice.  Just prior to my SIL's passing, I started developing redness on one side of my face and knew I was in for another bout of whatever-it-was that happened to me last June.  Just what I needed when we were having to deal with a funeral.  I used lots of ice and aloe and managed to keep the redness down enough that I hoped no one would really notice.  Since then it's flared to the degree that it's very red and swollen.  I thought it was an allergic reaction to something and I'm probably right in thinking that.  Had an online consult with my doctor last night and after sending her pictures, the diagnosis is excema.  It appears this will be something that keeps recurring - it's a once you have it, you'll always have it sort of thing.  Here's what I looked like last night...

Needless to say, going out in public is not something I'm about to do right now.  I'm not vain enough to care what I look like but I certainly don't want people to look at me and then turn their eyes to Jack and wonder if he was the cause of it.  (hmmm.....maybe I've suddenly developed an allergy to him????.....hmmmm.......).  This, too, shall pass - but I wish it would hurry up!

Another anonymous quote..."As a kid I think I ate too many rice krispies.  Now all my body does is snap crackle and pop!"

Another wee thing

Over the weekend I made a few of these little fellows which might end up being my ornament series for this year.  For those of you who don't know every year I make about twenty ornaments which are then used as either a 'bow' on a parcel or are given as little gifts in and of themselves.  The design is by Kathy Shaw and I'm testing it for publication in the spring issue of the 'Crazy Quilt Quarterly' magazine. 

Another anonymous quote..."Nothing annoys me more than when someone expects you to be okay with something that they wouldn't be okay with if you did it"

Twenty Two!!!!

And no, I'm NOT referring to my age!!  Instead, I'm talking about completing twenty-two Christmas ornaments that are headed for my gift box.  See?.....

I haven't given you one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's great quotes for awhile...."The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be"

Hats x 3

Over the past week or so I've been spending my evenings with my knitting needles in hand and have churned out these three hats (all of which will be going in the Christmas present box)....

More stash reduction!  Made with Paton's Canadiana yarn - Pattern is the Sandoval Hat and can be found HERE.  The grey hat will end up being accompanied by a pair of fingerless gloves and a masculine cowl.  Details will follow as I get them done!

Today your quote is from Nelson Mandela...."No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite" 

Another search

Another search for something to show you today yielded this...not very exciting perhaps and not a great picture, but desperation is as desperation does!!

and I noticed, after I took the picture, that one of the
beads on one of the ornaments is crooked.  oops!

Every year I create a series of ornaments for gifting; some are gifts in and of themselves, and others are used as 'bows' on other gifts.  These are two of the ones I made this year...no two were the same (as is the case of real snowflakes!).  Even better was that all the raw materials came from my stash so they cost me nothing (shhh, don't tell!!).    These were really easy to make and a couple of evenings in front of the tv created all 20 ornaments that I needed.  

Today your quote comes from an anonymous source (but thought to be from the heart of a 7 year old)...."Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen"

Fill it up, Santa, please!

Our newest grandson HAS to have a Christmas stocking for Santa to fill, don't you think?

One of the little monkeys from yesterday

is already tucked in the toe!

There is no pattern per se for this one - It pretty much came out of my head, although I did find the reindeer on the internet.  

Today your quote is from 'Maxine'...."Christmas is just plain weird.  What other time of year do you sit in front of a dead tree in the living room and eat candy out of your socks"

and now, for something other than quiet books!

Today I thought you might like to see a project that I did for the 'Crazy Quilt Quarterly' magazine, winter issue.  For some time I have had visions of a crazy quilted santa claus dancing about in my head and I finally acted upon it and this is the result...

His beard and his hat were done with crazy quilting and the face was appliqued using an image I found online.  

Hopefully you can see more of the details in the closeup.  I think you can likely click on the pictures to embiggen them more.

Today your quote is from Ediwn Osgood Grover...."Santa Claus is anyone who loves another and seeks to make them happy; who gives himself by thought or word or deed in every gift that he bestows;  who shares his joys with those who are sad; whose hand is never closed against the needy; whose arm is ever outstretched to aid the weak; whose sympathy is quick and genuine in time of trouble; who recognizes a comrade and brother in every man he meets upon life's common road; who lives his life throughout the entire year in the Christmas spirit"

Would that we could all be like Santa Claus.

A Christmas project

Here is another completed project as further proof that I really haven't been idle!

I had a special request to create an

advent calendar for #1 grandson

Close up 

This was created using a pre-printed panel.  

Today your quote is from Frank Outlaw....

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Things of the ornamental kind

Today is a red-letter day because I put the final stitch in my White Cloth #2 project.  Unfortunately there will be no pictures forthcoming in this post because it's just plain too dull and yucky to get anything even remotely decent.  If the lighting improves I will try to get you pictures tomorrow.  Now the decision is....do I make another one?  I don't NEED another one.  I don't have a USE for another one.  However....I have enough fodder in my stash to make probably five more.

Many of you will remember that every year I make a series of Christmas ornaments for use either as little gifts or as the 'bow' on other gifts.  A couple of years ago I made the monumental mistake of mentioning that perhaps I should quit, thinking that people would be sick and tired of getting yet more ornaments.  Well - there was a huge hue and cry and great distress expressed at the idea that I would even consider such a thing.  So....

These?  Times 20!!

Tutorial and pattern is free HERE. 

Today the quote is from Henry David Thoreau... "The cost of a thing is the amount of life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run"

A photo! Who knew?

Yes, I actually got something done today, believe it or not.  Our little grandson is going to have a new Christmas stocking. 

I thought this quote was rather interesting (it comes from an internal memo at the Western Union, dated 1876)..... "This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.  The device is inherently of no value to us"    Somebody at Western Union certainly had it wrong!!