Spinning cotton on a tiny drop spindle

A new baby blanket, crocheted

I was browsing the latest Mary Maxim catalog and saw this afghan pattern kit. With the free shipping, I ordered the kit. this is how much I've done so far:

The yellow yarn was not part of the kit. Without it, the whole thing looks blah. I think it was an improvement.

Nothing to do with knitting but I thought this was cute. When my daughter showed me the picture online, I didn't think it was a real cat. Upon research, this breed is called a flat-faced Persian .

I have several cones of variegated cotton yarn in my stash and a slowly disintegrating collection of dishtowels. Might as well knit some. This pattern is really simple, with garter stitch borders and plain stockinette body. To alleviate the boredom of knitting it and still make it a doable project while watching TV, I decided on this pattern. Mind you, it's not a new one. I've seen people knit this with their socks. The purl bumps appear on the right side of the fabric.

Purl 1 color Dishtowel pattern

(c) Vicki Suan

Materials:

4 oz Variegated cotton yarn

US 7 knitting needles

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch, stockinette

Directions:

Cast on 50

1. Knit 4 rows

2. (RS) Knit

3. (WS) Knit 3, purl 44, knit 3

4. Repeat rows 2-3 until piece is 22" long.

5. Knit 4 rows

6. Bind off

Note:

Again, you want the purl bumps to show on the right side. The color I picked to purl is the coral color (see picture). While working on the right side, as I came to the coral color, I knitted it first. After I turned the fabric to work on the wrong side, as I came to the coral, I knitted it as well, to make the purl bumps appear on the right side.

On the same note, as I was working on the back side of the dishtowel, I purled the coral color as I came to it. When I got to the right side, I purled the coral again, making the purls appear on the front side of the towel.

Clear as mud? Play with it. There are no set rules. I simply wanted that one color to be more prominent on the right side. Make a comment if you have questions and I'll get back to you.

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. Here is my version:

Peach or Plum ice cream

2 cups sliced fresh peaches, peeled and pit removed

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup honey

Blend all ingredients together and freeze. The original recipe calls for putting it in an ice cream maker. I didn't. I put in in a plastic container and put it in the freezer. You can adjust the honey and yogurt (more or less) to suit your taste. You can stir the mixture every 2 hours or leave it in the freezer overnight (I did). The icecream will be firm and icy like a frozen yogurt but I was able to scoop it out with an ice cream scooper. Enjoy.

Vacation time

No Hawaii this time as it was too expensive for the 5 of us. Instead, we drove to LA, Carlsbad, and San Diego. Here we were at Pacific Beach in San Diego, CA

Every shot I take of a beach scene is always like this. I don't want to be in pictures except the occasional one or two shots, just to prove that I was there. Otherwise, I am perfectly happy to take pictures of my family.

And here is Emily trying to bury Matthew in the sand. No luck. Places we visited included Legoland, San Diego Zoo and Sea World. 7 days and still not enough time to visit more places.

I finished this wreath, inspired by Attic 24. She has so many ideas on her website, all free, and oh so colorful. This wreath has a foam base. The idea behind the blue cover is from my daughter, Emily, who loves the color blue. This was fun to make. This next one is a sheep from the Fuzzy Knits book.

Here is another crochet rug I finished. Again, I used scrap cotton yarn (dishcloth cotton) held doubled. Click on the picture to see the bigger version. Each flower is crocheted individually and then, sewed together by hand. That was the easiest way of doing it. I crocheted a border of single crochet in black yarn. This is how each individual flower looked like. You kinda have to match the curves. and sew it on. tah dah!

I have finished a crocheted rectangular rug using left over bits of cotton yarn I used for washcloths and dishcloths. the yarn is held doubled in mismatched colors picked randomly. I crocheted strips of 13 dcs (don't ask why. It just seemed the right count). And I picked a random length of 30 inches long. 4 strips sewn together, then a border of hdcs and this is what I got. I had hubby buy rug backings at Home Depot and we're all set. The backing cost $22 and is quite a huge size. I can probably make about 10 rugs with this sheeting. Next time, I'll show you my flower rug with a pattern.

I have some recently finished work: Here's a knitted baby owl from Fuzzymitten.com Another is a kid's owl hat (crocheted) from RepeatCrafterMe and here's the adult version this polar bear hat was done without a written pattern. I just winged it.

I've always wanted to try this for the longest time and never knew some of our local bakeries make them for Fat Tuesday. Presenting the King cake:

And here's the closeup of the baby Jesus on top of the cake. It is no longer baked into the cake since people keep biting into them and breaking their teeth.

In all my crocheting life, I've finished only 2 afghans and they were both baby afghans. This month, however, I finished this

I first saw it on Pinterest and fell in love. I used all scrap yarns from my stash. Sometimes, even the cream background did not match but I was okay with that. I used up small bits and pieces of colored acrylic, blend, and even some cotton. Just made sure it will be machine washable. Here's a close up:

I loved crocheting this thing. I never got bored. I worked on it while watching TV, while surfing the net, or just sitting down. I loved playing and combining the colors. The pattern is an original Priscilla Hewitt, found HERE. She called it Sunburst Granny square. Or this might be a better, more direct link.

The weekend before the Thanksgiving holiday, my family and I went to Disneyland. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel, wanting to see what the hype was all about. It was all hype. Nothing magical about it, well except maybe this:

This was on top of our headboard, and when you turn on the light, it plays a "When you wish upon a star" tune--lol! The hotel room and bathroom were clean but there was no microwave. No free breakfast. We paid $450/ night for 5 people in one room. It was like any old ordinary hotel room. The kids were disappointed too. Granted it was close to Disneyland and the CA Adventure park but they make you walk through Downtown Disney first. But it was an enjoyable vacation. We had a blast at Cars Land, inspite of the looong lines at the Race track. Long lines everywhere.

The kids near the Disneyland Hotel.

Mickey's face at night, at the CA Adventure park. The kids thought this was the worst ferris wheel ever.

Peace on Earth at It's a Small World. BTW, I'm not a roller coaster type of gal but I was able to ride the Matterhorn and the race cars at Cars Land. Super fast and cool.

I made an Advent Calendar! The kids and I have been planning on this for a couple of years now. I finally finished it this year after all the procrastination. I didn't follow a pattern, just made one on my own. The pockets are 5" squares, evenly spaced on fabric. There are 24 pockets for the 24 days before Christmas. I simply embroidered the numbers on each pocket.

This one is a yoyo Christmas tree from the Sew Fresh magazine down below. There are so many projects I want to do out of this magazine. It says it's a premier issue so I'm hoping for more in the coming months.

I got my 12 year old Emily interested in sewing the yoyos. I have one of those yoyo gadget makers which made it a lot easier for her. I myself found it quicker to sew them yoyos without the gadget. We decided on colorful buttons and pins to make them look like ornaments.

I've made more stuff: Some makeup cases and more bags.

3 Bags I finished last week. This is the Sidekick tote bag from the Noodlehead site. I own 3 of her patterns and they're all easy to follow.

this one is the 241 Tote pattern, also from the Noodlehead.

and this one is a messenger bag pattern form Keyka Lou designs, now called Michelle patterns.

Two Tesla Roadsters, costing approx $100,000 each, more or less. Green or yellow? Eh, I'm not picky.

Some crocheted flowers I made when I was in between projects.

Today, we saw the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavor, flying over the Sacramento area, low enough for us to see and take pictures. Truly breathtaking.

I started working on this quilt, probably, in 2010, worked on it on and off. Finished it in 2011. This was my first and only attempt at Watercolor quilting. This is also a Quilt As You Go (QAYG) technique. Then, I attached each block to each other by hand sewing strips over the seams, thus creating the stained-glass effect. I never used the quilt probably because it was too pretty and I've put in a lot of work into it. Yesterday, I donated it to Love Inc., a local Christian charity that helps Sacramento locals with donations. The quilt will be auctioned off at a banquet, with the proceeds to be used for a good cause. My selfish self didn't want to let it go but a quiet voice seemed to whisper that I can make another one. In spite of the tedious work, I really enjoyed the whole process. And it's giving me another idea for the next one.

These were taken at Lake Tahoe, where the water was crystal clear. Now I know why people fight to keep these waters blue. It was a beautiful warm day that we could have swam, with the water so warm. This won't last long. I am still knitting, finishing up some socks I've started. No pics to show for them. I've lost the mojo to knit since Hawaii. It seems that all I want to do now is to travel and go on vacation all the time--lol