Can I live in there?

What little girl would not want her very own Gnome family and house? 

As soon as I saw these little Gnome people I knew I had to make my niece her own little family to play with.  This has been a really fun project and unlike anything I have knitted or crocheted before.  The Gnome people I used a pattern I found online and the home...well I just winged it.

Don't you just want to curl up in there?  Maybe get a bean bag...and a bottle of wine...peanut butter and crackers.........

Kids these days...no respect!

I get up Saturday morning, make coffee and turn on the TV.  My husband opens the front window curtains and....we were egged.  Just one, but you would be amazed at the amount of goo an egg produces when splattered on your window.  The husband was in quite the fit over this, although I was the one who cleaned up the mess.

Why did they decide to throw an egg at my house?  Well, my poor kitty was sitting in the window, taking in the night.  It was about 2 or 3 in the morning.  Some kids walking by see him sitting there and aim their egg at his poor little head!  This scares the geebies out of him, and wakes the husband sleeping on the couch.  (The couch is right next to the window, which was open.)  He assumes the cat just had a normal cat freak out moment and falls back asleep.

I understand kids don't have any respect for other's property, but a poor little kitty, minding his own business...uncalled for!

I Can Count

When working on knitting projects, I always have a hard time keeping count of my rows.  Someone will start talking to me, and my multi-tasking goes to the waste side...I will almost always forget my count.  I am sure more experienced knitters have no problem looking at their work and are able to just count the rows.  Not me.

I now present to you....the counting stick...(or very simple Abacus)

Every fifth bead is the same, so I can count in fives.  After each row, I slide one bead from one side to the next.  Simple, right?  The charm is to mark my place, when I need to put the project down.

Here is how I made it:

Materials:

Metal Hanger

Wire Cutters

Pliers

Beads

Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks

Yarn

Directions:

The straight bottom of the hanger is your "stick".  Using the wire cutters cut where indicated in the picture below.

"String" beads on the wire.  You can make a pattern, or make it random like I did.  I would suggest every 5th bead using the same beads to make it easy to keep your count.  Also, leave enough room to be able to slide the beads over from one side to the next, and have the definition to see the division between the two.

Using the pliers, bend the ends into a circle.  The main purpose is to create a stopper at each end so the beads don't fall off.  At this point you could call it done.  I decided that the ends needed a little more decoration so I crocheted around the wire, and added a couple beads.  I also used hot glue to adhere the sharp end of the wire to where it meets to form the circle. 

I Think I Can...I Think I Can

Remember this post... "Now What" ...I picked it up again!  I found the yarn by looking around online and now have enough yarn to finish the project.  The shirt/vest I am making is completely an "on the fly" design.  I am just making it up as I go along and so far it is looking great.  I am noticing that with my weight loss it may be a little big, but plan to adjust when it is complete.  Maybe with a little sewing I can take it in a little...but I will just have to wait and see when the piece is complete.

How sweet it will be to finish something!

Pyro-maniacs!

Happy Fourth of July!  (a little late)  While everyone else was wishing their family and friends a happy 4th of July, in all their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts, I was busy setting up a firework show for the city.  You would not believe all that it takes to put on a big firework show.  It is a ton of work, but oh so worth it...

The day started off with scattered showers, just as you were getting use to the patch of blue sky above you a grey cloud would cover it up, laugh at you and start raining.  Up until two o'clock, I seriously did not think that we were going to have good enough weather to shoot the fireworks off.  Water and electrical equipment are not good together.  To my surprise, the weather broke and we had good clear skies through the show.