Holidays

Hopefully the holidays for everyone was as good as they were hoping. Ours wasn't too bad at all. Along with turning 3 on Christmas day, the little one made quite a haul present wise. We don't celebrate his birthday until the weekend after so this Saturday we'll be doing a small get together for his birthday.

I made out pretty good as well. I didn't get a bracelet I've been wanting for like 3 years now but I did get some neat things. Dave bought me three new figurines from this company called Scheliech. I think they are more known for their horse figurines and other animals but can find them at Toysrus or Target. I've picked up a couple from their knight and elves series that I'm using to put in my cube at work. I also got a new purple hoodie and some other odds'n'ends.

I took today and tomorrow off from work and the little one went to daycare so Dave and I could have some adult time. When we took him to go potty when he came home we discovered that they had put his underwear on backwards?! Of course he is still under the care of the one that I don't care for all that much so I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. Hopefully he will be put in the threes here soon since he did just turn 3 and he has been doing well with not too many accidents at school.

Of course taking my time off now is going to cost me next week. The little one has his 3 year checkup that I don't want to miss next week as well as I found out that the gem show I went to the end of October is coming back next Friday so I'll be working extra to make up that time that I want off since I'm running low on paid time off.

Wow has it really been that long...

I can't believe how long it's bee since I last blogged. But, as with everyone this time of year things get hectic ad busy. We finished up the little one's shopping today so his stuff is all done. Had to make some purchases for the grandparents who sent money for gifts for Christmas. That is done and I think I'll wrap them and some other things I just got i for Dave.

I've picked up my knitting again and have bee making armwarmers and started my first pair of "socks". They're really more like little footies but it's the same idea and construction as a sock just not tall like a sock. I also have a scarf that I started last night and so far it is going okay.

Too fast of a weekend

This weekend has gone by entirely too fast. The weather was cool and rainy all weekend which was really awesome. But, it still seems to have went by way too fast. I'm not feeling the greatest today either. I don't know if it's the front moving out that brought the cold weather or what but I have been really light headed all day today.

Christmas is usually my favorite holiday. I love the decorating and every year I have Christmas candy that I make and even look forward to that despite the insane amount of work that goes into it all. This year I'm having a hard time getting in that Christmas spirit so to speak. We have been putting some of the decorations up this week and while Dave did an excellent job getting the lights put up outside and the tree is decorated on the inside that's about the only form of decorations that are in my house at the moment. I have this really awesome Jim Shore nativity scene that I bought at Hallmark a couple of years ago and it is still sitting in it's box waiting to be put out. It just hasn't happened yet and that makes me kind of sad. Dave says that maybe it's just taking a bit longer and as the month goes on I'll get more in the Christmas mood. I hope he's right because I'm just not feeling it right now.

It's officially the Christmas season...

for me at least. Judging by the stores the Christmas season started just before Halloween ended. The weather here has been kind of cool here lately with a couple of fronts passing through, and by cool I mean in the low to mid 70's.



Here where I work every year they put up this huge Christmas tree (think the size that you see as the main displays at the center of a shopping mall) and this Christmas type scene in the center of our building. Throughout the day they have Christmas music playing down around the tree and you can here it faintly from where I sit. It always helps it feel a litle bit more like Christmas.



We also pulled the tree out of the closet yesterday to get it set up. The G-man is loving it this year. He gets so excited when he sees people have Christmas lights and decorations in their yard. He was pretty excited about seeing our own tree out as well. It's a pre-lit tree which we've had for about 4 years now. When Dave plugged it in yesterday we were missing lights in the top section and then only half of another string was working. Today he bought some tool to fix them which he says worked. So that's a good thing and tonight we should be decorating the tree.



I've been getting back into my knitting here lately and have a couple of projects going on. For some reason it's always feels like I should be knitting when it's the winter type months not matter what it is I'm knitting. right now I'm obsessed with fingerless gloves. I also made two new designs in my shawl pins. One is a bear which I've yet to get a decent photo of the other is this cute goldfish.
Speaking of shawl pins it was a busy month for them 37 sold between my etsy shop and the few I have listed out on ebay. Some people have been doing some serious knitting.

Thanksgiving Prep

Okay, so I know it is almost a week before Thanksgiving but I say that I am prepping for it because my parents are coming in to spend Thanksgiving here and are arriving today. I have mixed feelings about it when they come in general. For one my mother can be obnoxious and has a laundry list of ailments. They typically come out here and my dad doesn't like dealing with all the traffic so he won't drive or go anywhere and they sit around the house all day and by the 3rd day my mom is complaining about being bored. Yet, because of a lot of her medical issues she can't really get around that much so even if they DID go somewhere she couldn't really spend that much time up on her feet or walking around without being tired. So, I'm prepping myself now for the state my house will be in by the time Thanksgiving DOES come around. It will be interesting to see what they think of my nose piercing though. LOL.

Speaking of my piercing it is doing quite nicely after the whole debacle on Monday. The area right under where the stud sits is still a little bruised looking but it doesn't hurt at all and everything with it seems to be fine so I'm happy about that.

Craft wise I listed two new pendants yesterday, one Tiger Iron the other an Amethyst cluster or druzy. I need a better main photo of the amethyst but until I can take one this weekend with proper lighting I had to use what I had. I also have two awesome pendants to take photos of that are moonstone and larimar. My wreath and owl shawl pins have been pretty popular and I have an idea for a snowman and snowflake one to play with. I'm hoping this weekend I'll be able to get those together given they are seasonal and Christmas is approaching fast.

I officially hate Mondays more than Tuesdays

Mondays usually aren't that bad for me. It sucks going back to work after a weekend that almost always feels like it's gone by too fast, but other than that it's usually not bad. Today is and has been.

In my world there have been a lot of things going on. Dave has been out of work since the end of October with absolutely nothing promising any time soon so we decided to sell our corvette. It's a 96 model and paid for so it would be money to live off of while the job situation improves. I took today off since Dave was feeling a bit down about it and the situation we are in in general. Then, the bottom to everything felt like it feel out.

For the past 6 months Dave and his boss have been working on a side project that had been going well. Everything the customer had been asking for was done, made and they have been testing the software out in the field for some time. Things looked like they were finally looking up where this thing was going to take off into something larger with meetings and such going on that were all positive...and then today, today Dave got the e-mail from his boss that essentially everything has been shelved.

After going through all the emotions from total rejection to just pissed off we went out to run some errands. We had lunch and ran by the mall. I wanted to pick up a hoop and nose stud for my piercing since the stuff I had been using has cleared up my bump nicely. I found a nice 3 pack of studs at Claire's and decided to check the place where I got my nose pierced for a hoop. They had one and said they would put it in for me which was all grand and good. Or so I thought. I didn't have any issues with them taking the stud out or really putting the hoop in. It was after when she was done. She had put the hoop in but instead of putting the ball in between she just closed it together to the point it wouldn't come out I guess with the idea that if I wanted it changed I would just come back. Uh, no. I'm not going down to the piercer every time to have my jewelry changed out.

So we get home and the first thing I'm doing is taking the hoop out. It's way too big and my piercing is really a little to high/far back for a hoop. I try putting my original nose screw back in, no dice. Now I'm freaking out that I've totally messed up my piercing since I can't get the jewelry back in. So I put the hoop back partially back in and decide that maybe part of the problem is the screw part and the fact that my piercing is now extra sensitive from being messed with. I straighten out my original screw to an "L" type and manage to get it back in. Now of course I have to wait some time while this re-heals before I switch out the jewelry again. Damn I hate Mondays now.

The Dreaded Bump

For my birthday (back in September) I got my nose pierced. Everything has been great and grand with and it's been healing nicely. Then about a week ago I noticed what looked like a pimple that had come up beside it. I left it alone and it eventually popped on it's own. Well now I have a "bump". I know these are common to cartlidge piercings but I thought I was in the clear since it's been over a month since I had it done. Luckily it isn't that big nor is it that noticeable but today I'm off to find some Tea Tree Oil that is recomended to help dry it out and continue with some sea salt soaks. I think as soon as it clears up I'm heading to the mall to find a hoop and another stud to change this one out with.

On the crafting front I FINALLY got wire in this weekend so I'm hoping to get a chance to work on some of those beautiful new stones that I picked up. I've had a couple of bigger shawl pin orders the past couple of days so that has been keeping my evenings busy. Here is the newest design just in time for Christmas.

I did have enough wire to wrap one of the Tourmalines from the show in a two tone style with gold and silver. I absolutely love how it turned out.

Busy Busy

This past week has been hectic at work. I feel I've had time for little else being totally drained at the end of the day. It's the busy time of year for us, we're basically right in the middle of production season and have maps for all of our products for next year due now. It's definitely keeping me on my toes.

The days have a tendancy to drag on to what seems forever when you're looking at the same things over and over or just staring at your screen. To help pass the time I've been listing to music off a flash drive I bring to work with me. Usually it's something fast to keep me awake like techno music, the past week I discovered an old band I LOVED that came out in '96 that has been producing stuff independently. It's a band called Black Lab. Their first album was called Your Body Above Me. I loved the CD and could basically listen to the whole thing which was awesome.

I downloaded their latest, Passion Leaves a Trace, and a 30+ song collection called Give Us Sugar, which is their sountrack songs and songs that never made it to one of their albums from their website . They post alot of their videos and such on youtube and their website. Alot of their songs have that haunting type of melody and catchy riffs, which has been perfect for work.

Gem Show Haul

Today I went to my first gem and jewelry show which was a wholesale show so you had to have a business ID number. It was the first day of the show and I got there pretty much when they opened around 10:00 am. Wow, what an experience. All I can say is good thing I came early and good thing I came on the week day. I would hate to see how crowded it was on the weekend.

I have been preparing to go to this show for over a week, checking out the website and making a note of which vendors I wanted to make sure I stopped by. There were lots of booths of finished jewelry and tons of booths selling bead strands. I was more interested in the cab sellers, which was a small amount compared to the other seller types.

First I went around to all the booths to check out what they had available before heading back to them a second time to make purchases. I found two sellers who had some wonderful things. The first specialized in larimar and amber. I picked up these 4 amazing larimar stones. The size and color of these are absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to wrap them.

Then the second seller had a good selection of stones I was looking for which was rutilated quartz and rainbow moonstone. The moonstone all have a beautiful blue flash at the wearable angle.

They also had some beautiful tourmaline cabs that I couldn't resist, pricey but I picked up a nice ruby colored one and a darker blue/purple one. Dave also picked out the Ruby Zoisite piece that he thought was interesting looking. All of them are going to make stunning pieces.


All in all it was a great show and it will be back again in May so I am looking forward to doing it again.

When is fall getting here?!

It is the last week of October and it is still in the low to mid 90's here in Florida. I guess for some people that would sound great, but for me fall was/is my favorite time of year. When I lived in Texas, usually starting the middle of October we would start getting cold fronts in and by Thanksgiving it was already staying a nice constant 70+ degrees or cooler. Here it doesn't seem to get even remotely cool for a set amount of time until January which is kind of dissapointing through the holidays.

This last weekend I did absolutely nothing craft related and it was nice to take a break. This weekend there is a gem and jewlery show going on at one of the convention centers in the area that I'm hoping to go to. I have a couple things I'm looking for and some special requests as well. I'm anxious to go and hoping to find some neat stuff. The sponser of the event already listed a list of those that will be there and where they will be located at the convention center so I have my list of booths that I want to visit. It should be fun at the least.

On to new things

Okay, so it's Wednesday and life is grand again after my frumpiness over the lackluster show on Monday. Now, on to my custom order I was talking about yesterday.

Over the weekend I received a request from someone on etsy about shawl pins and if I did cats. We conversed back and forth and settled on a black cat head with a cute little gold fish. Here is a picture of the base model (yet to be glazed so he's not as shiny)
And after I finished making a base one I had some different colors of clay lying around and also made this version (who is glazed)
Too cute right?! So this inspired me to draw up some other animals. Now, there is also a dog, complete with boneAND an owl.
The owl is my new favorite with the turtle a close second. This one has turned out SOOOOO cute I can hardly stand it. I couldn't think of anything better to go with the owl than a leaf though. I thought about maybe a crescent moon or even a mock up of a lollipop in honor of the Tootsie Pop owl from the commercials but just couldn't decide, so for now he gets a leaf until I think of something different or someone else has a cool idea.

I also am planning on revisiting my fish design and I have a couple of other bird designs in mind like a parrot/canary and a penguin.

Monday's Show

So Monday was the craft show where I work. This year was the first year we did it for one day and made it an all day event. In the past it's always been two days, usually on a Thursday and Friday and only from 11am to 3pm. I got in at 7:30 and got my table set up, ran out of room as always between my jewelry and scarves. I have to say that being on a Monday was NOT an improvement.

While setting up I had one person ask if I would hold one of the scarves for her later, so I was thinking this is a good start. Then closer to 10am people started coming down and looking around and I sold another scarf (that black and white one I posted about a while ago). Sold a couple of pendants made out of glass beads and then things got quiet for a while. Then they picked up a little and I ended up selling some more glass bead pendants and a couple of resin pendants.

I was bummed that none of my wire wrapped pendants or hoop earrings sold and that the person who wanted the one scarf backed out on it late in the afternoon. Also, it seemed the only thing people wanted to buy were $5 earrings or costume type jewelry. But on the positive side, at least I got lots of genuine compliments on the pendants and now I have some new scarves, bracelets and even pendants to list on etsy.

I wanted to get pictures of some of the new things yesterday afternoon but I was exhausted when I got home. I think I was asleep before the little one because when Dave came out of his room from reading him stories and putting him to bed I was dozing on the couch. So, today I want to get home and hopefully get some outdoor photos of the scarves and I have at least 5 new wire pendants to take pictures of and list. I also have a custom ordered shawl pin to finish that has turned out too cute and get that posted on etsy. But I'll post about that tomorrow.

New Mini!

Earlier this week I bought a mini laptop through Dell and best of all it's purple! Yay. It didn't get delivered until 8:30 last night :0 but I am loving it so far. Now I just have to decide if I want to buy a cute little case for it or knit one.

This past week I've been busy crocheting scarves. I was going through some pattern books that I have a couple of weeks ago and found this woven scarf type pattern where you crochet a "grid" and then weave in yarn. I used it originally for a black and white scarf I had posted about earlier but this time I used it for some ribbon yarns and other novelty yarns I had. They're pretty quick and actually kind of fun to make too. Plus they are a GREAT stash buster for extra yarn. Here's a photo of the ones I've made so far. It's a toss up of my favorite being the beige sort of neutral skinny scarf or the bright multicolored one.

Feels like fall

Here in Florida we had a "cool" front that came through knocking the highs of the day down to the 80's. It's been wonderful to come out in the mornings and it be cool and crisp. So this week it has actually FELT like October should feel. Of course this won't last for long. Already the temperatures are starting to rise again and I'm sure by the middle of next week it will be up in the 90's.

I've been busy trying to keep my stock up. The last two weeks have been great with sales, of which I'm extremely grateful, but now I have to play catch up. I did manage to make 4 new pendants this past weekend and two yesterday that I have yet to post. I also got in a bunch of new ring sized stones for some metalwork. I'm hoping to do that this weekend as well. The craft fair at my work is being held on October 19th so I have a little over 2 weeks to get myself in gear and get everything together.

We've been working with Little G on his potty training the past two weeks. He's doing really good and is starting to get the hang of it I think, which is a good thing. The past two days he has been great and no accidents. Of course since I've typed this I'm sure today will break that streak, but all in all he has been doing terrific.

Nose piercing

Just a quick photo of the piercing. It's doing really good today and not near as sore as I thought it would be the day after.

And really, my nose isn't that long it's just the angle of the shot, LOL. :)

Day Off

So on this eve before my birthday and much needed day off, what have I done? Well Dave and I dropped the little one off at daycare this morning and went out to breakfast. After that he had an errand for work to do so we went for a nice drive through town to drop off some paperwork. On the way back we stopped at CompUSA and Best Buy to look at Notebooks. I was so disappointed with Best Buy. They list a bunch online and had 4 available to look at in store. CompUSA had double that, heck, even Target had more to choose from than Best Buy.

After that we headed back to the house to which I got some shawl pin orders ready. Since breakfast was pretty filling we skipped out on our traditional Cheesecake Factory lunch and instead headed up to the mall. Why the mall you might ask? To get my nose pierced of course. Recently the Altamonte Mall that is close to where I live has a tatto and piercing shop that has opened up called Inkspot. They did a wonderful job designing it and the people that I met working there were extremely friendly and good humored. The worst part about the whole piercing was when they put this forcep type clamp on your nose to make it easier for them to pierce, that was way more uncomfortable than the actual piercing itself.

I have wanted a nose piercing since I was about 20 but just never felt really comfortable walking into a tattoo shop to get it done. Having it located right there in the mall made it convienent. It cost $35 to have it done which included the jewelry that was put in. I absolutely love it and it is totally me. The only thing I'm dissapointed with was that I picked a flattend ball type piece of jewelry just to be safe for having it at work and I really would've rather had one of the small rhinestone type studs they had.

There is nothing in our rules that say specifically that you can't have or wear nose piercings and I had talked to my boss about it in the past so I know he won't have an issue with it, but still, I didn't want to get anything that would be too noticeable where it might be a problem given I'm going to have to keep this one stud in for probably 4 to 6 weeks.

So, all in all it's been a great day off and I am loving my new look.

Three day weekends

Well it is for me anyway. I'm taking tomorrow off because Saturday is my birthday. Apparently it will be a busy weekend for me too. Last night I got an order in my etsy shop for 5 pendants. It's from a person who has boughten from me in the past and I think has a boutique or consignment type store. Not sure but just a hunch which if I'm right I'm totally cool with. It's nice to know that someone thinks enough of what you make or do that they will put it in their store and even better when they keep coming back to you because it sells. Then after that this morning I received a shawl pin order and at lunch another order of two pins and a pendant. Happy early birthday to me indeed. So, this weekend I'll need to start making some more pendants to replace the ones sold to keep my stock up. I plan on making some extras that I won't list until the craft show in October that way if some end up selling right before I'll be covered and have ones to replace them so to speak.

With the suden income I went supply shopping. Got some more solder to finish off some pieces and work on other things as well as some more wire to stock up on. The price of silver has been rising like crazy. Seems like just early last month I was paying high $12 an ounce and now it's up to almost $17.

I started doing some knitting again. I sort of got away from it for a while and am starting to pick it up again. I think it's the upcoming fall months that makes me want to knit. Right now I'm working on a hooded zip sweater for Little G. I need to get another ball of yarn for the hood and sleeves but the body is finished and being blocked. I think it's going to be really cute when finished.

I also did a crochet scarf that has a woven look to it. I really love the modern kind of look that it ended up with. Too cool huh?

I have some other yarn that has been sitting in my stash that I think I'll make another one with.

On the metalworking front this is the second labradorite ring that I talked about in an earlier post. I bought this stone in a matching set of two so I have a second one to play with as well. The color is beautiful and it keeps that same color flash at just about every angle. I really like this curved triangle shape.

Such a slacker

I so have been slacking in the blog department. I've just been busy with things and then I have pictures but haven't edited them. The list of excuses is long, let me tell you.


I did some more metal work the weekend before last and made another labradorite ring using one of the stones out of a matching pair. I also did a pendant using a larimar stone I had that was an odd shape. While it's technically "finished" I have a couple of things I want to do with/to it just to expirement. I'm getting the hand of the bezel making for the stones but I'm finding when I make rings that attaching the bezel to the ring is a bit tricky for me. Of course there's a couple of tools I should probably pick up that would make this process much simpler and would hold everything in place better than what I've been doing. I am enjoying it though so I guess that's all that really matters.


I'm thinking of adding a discounted section to my etsy shop that will house my first attempts. I've made a really lovely double stranded bracelet from the unakite piece and the larimar pendant turned out pretty good. I have a couple of other rings in the lineup (as there is no way I'm giving up my two labradorite rings) but alas, I ran out of solder and haven't gotten around to ordering more to finish things up.

Here is one of the newer things I've been working on. I'm taking my love for shawl pins and wire wrapping and combining the two. This is my first one but I have a large light colored amethyst stone and a large fire opal that I plan on doing something similar with. I haven't figured up pricing yet so it's not in my shop but I think once I get another one made I'll list them.

Also, speaking of slacking, I need to get busy with getting stuff prepped for the craft show where I work. My pendants have been coming along nicely and I have been able to keep 32 in stock which fills all the spaces in a display tray that I have. The thing I really need to get cracking on is making a stock of wire wrapped earrings. They're versatile, reasonably priced and I think they will sell really well in person.

New Ring

So, after my first attempt last weekend at some metalwork I haven't touched it all week. Yesterday I had some time and decided to try and do a ring since that is what I REALLY wanted to learn this for. The problem recently has been deciding what stone to use. I have quite a few sitting in trays just waiting to be plucked out and something marvelous done with them. This of course ends up being the hard part. I really love doing the wire wrapping so I'll pick up a stone for possible metal work and then think it would really look good wire wrapped and put it back down. This is why I decided to make a ring next. I have a handful of stones that are smaller than I like to wrap and are a nice ring size.

I had a labradorite oval that was part of a two stone lot. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it and after some time I figured it would make a nice ring. It really is a beautiful stone as it is basically all blue flash there is no green or yellow play at all. I am quite pleased with how it turned out for a first attempt. It is not totally finished so don't mind some of the imperfections in the silver, I still need to do a few tweaks in shaping and it still needs polishing. Of course I have to keep it off my finger long enough to do these thing....

Ready for Christmas

Okay, so really I'm no where "ready" for Christmas but I'm ready for it to be the Christmas season. It's seems the older Little G gets the more I look forward to it. Not only is it also his birthday but it's fun to see every year how he reacts to the decorations and just everything in general. I typically try not to put anything out until the first week/weekend of December but I think this year I'll be wanting to decorate right after Thanksgiving so come December 1st everything is out and ready to go.

I'm also looking forward to the fall weather. Not that it gets that cold here in Florida but at least down in the high 70's will be nice. I'm hoping this year it will at least be cold for Christmas, last year I think it got up to 82 or something crazy like that. It just irks me for it to be Christmas and you can still where shorts and a short sleeved shirt outside.

Of course there is always the figuring out of what to get Dave for Christmas. I have a couple of ideas already floating around in my head and shopping for the little one is almost done. We've been buying a couple of things here and there in case things with Dave's job don't go so well come the beginning of November.

It's not perfect but it's a start

So, earlier I said I was wanting to get into the metal working aspect of the jewelry making. I ordered some silver sheet and bezel wire and some other needed tools that came in on Wednesday. I was needing some more wire anyway so I picked up these additional things. For a first try at the whole process it didn't turn out too bad.


Of course I NEVER do anything basic or simple the first time around. I didn't want just a plain round bezel edge so of all things I used a pair of scrap booking scissors for cutting out decorative edges...worked great. Since this is just a test piece I decided I wasn't going to make it a pendant and once I was finished thought it would make a pretty nice center piece to a bracelet so I puched 4 holes into it and put the jump rings in. I have some unakite beads in my stash which is what the stone I used is so I'm sure I'll be able to put something together. I still need to get some new polishing tools for our dremmel so I can get it shined and cleaned up a bit more.

Other than that which I did this morning I've been busy wrapping stones. I have to admit that for pendants, I still prefer the wire wrapping method to making them. I really wanted to learn the soldering and metal work for rings and I do think it's something I'll be able to do. Here are the stones I've wrapped so far this weekend.


From left to right, Malachite, Larimar, Labradorite, Larimar and Tourmaline in Quartz.

Changes

Lately I've been working on my website in Kompozer. I really didn't like what templates and such my provider had and never realized how simple it was to do in WYSIWYG type application. Plus with Kompozer, it's open source and I can get a portable version that fits on my flash drive and take it with me anywhere which is kind of cool. I had Dave upload and make it live tonight and in the process he killed all of the images that I had for my blog template. So, back to basics until I find something else. The other was neat but it really was too busy for my liking anyway.

I think the Little G is going through a teething period right now, the past two nights he's been cranky and complaining of his teeth hurting in the back where his molars are. Luckily the motrin has been working at night and he's been sleeping okay. I still wish there was something more that could be given to him to help.

I've decided to start listing more of my pendants on Artfire. I listed three new ones there today. I have a pretty good assortment on etsy and sales and views have been extremely slow compared to the last 3 months. I know Artfire is new and views there for some are low but I figure I'll give it a little love and try to build up some stock and inventory there and see where it goes.

10 years and new stones

Friday was Dave and I's 10th anniversary. It really doesn't seem like it's been that long which I guess is a good thing. I took the day off and we just spent the day together and went out for breakfast and lunch. It was pretty nice and the weather held out for most of the day.

I am starting to get in some stones I purchased recently. I still have two more sets of stones I'm waiting on, one of those most likely on Monday the other sometime next week. I'm trying to get some more colors and different stones so I can have a nice variety. Here is my latest haul.


The 3 green on the left are malachite, a pink andean opal, then an absolutely beautiful deep purple amethyst, 4 pink rhodochrosite stones, a speckled lapiz chrysoclla stone, 2 smokey quartz stones and lastly a petrified palm wood stone. The petrified palm has to be my favorite but that amethyst and the smokey quartz are close seconds. I think I have just enough gold filled wire left to wrap the palm wood and then I think either the amethyst or a malachite piece will be next. There's an idea I have in my head for the large rhodochrosite piece so I'll be saving that one for when I have some time to really sit down and just play.

Lately I've REALLY been wanting to venture into the metalworking aspect of jewelry making. I picked up a couple of books this weekend and watched a couple of tutorials on youtube just to see what I might be getting myself into. For some reason the idea of soldering kind of freaks me out. Don't ask, I have no problem at all working glass in an open flame but for some reason I doubt myself that I'll be able to solder and it turn out presentable enough. I figure it's worth a shot though and if I don't at least try I'll always wonder if I'd be able to.

New Stuff and Old Stuff Revamped

I have a spot on the Just Jewels showcase tomorrow on Etsy so I was busy trying to get two more pendants done tonight. I know alot of people say the showcase spots are a total waste but I try to do one Main showcase a month and all of them have given me quite a few hearts, views and even sales either that day or people that hearted me came back and bought something. As I said, I prefer the Main showcase spots but the Thursday that they came open (the same as the Just Jewels one) I forgot and this was the only one that had spots left when I finally remembered.

These are the latest two pendants, a larimar and a labradorite piece. The larimar is pure perfection for me. The frame turned out great, the bail is fantastic and the design even surpised me as it just fits. I don't draw out or plan out most of my designs, I just pick it up and start turning the wire. Don't get me wrong, I love my labradorite piece I just did but the larimar one was just natural. It was like I started it and I was done with it, just like that.


As for my "revamped" part of my title, that's probably a bit over stated. Close to when I first started my blog I posted some pictures of my first attempts at making glass beads. Well I've FINALLY gotten around to doing something with a few of the firsts ones I made. I've started making a bracelet with them. I love how it's turning out so far and the only thing I really have left to do is add some chain to make it adjustable and to figure out what I'm going to do about a clasp. I really want to make my own hook type clasp out of wire but clasps are far from my specialty. For now I'm happy with how it looks and will be looking for some ideas on what to do to finish this piece off.

3 day weekends and birthdays

I took yesterday off to spend the day with Dave whose birthday is tomorrow. It was nice and relaxing. We dropped the little one off at daycare and went out for breakfast and took a nice drive and just talked. It was nice because we used to do this all the time but with Little G around, most of the time he has something to interject or say and you don't really get to talk about anything to serious. Then, we went out to lunch before the rains came.

Knowing that my craft show is coming up in October I'm trying to keep a decent stock of pendants so I've set a goal of 4 pendants a weekend. This weekend I'm doing good as I have made 3 labradorite ones. I listed two on etsy but the third I need to get some better photos of. Here they are.
The second one is my favorite and if there has ever been a pendant that I have had a half a mind to keep for myself it is this one. I just love how the design turned out on it.

Here lately I have been on a labradorite kick. I have 3 more stones that I ordered this past week, 2 are more of the gold/green color the other is a green/blue one. I also have 4 larimar stones coming any day. One of them I am anxiously awaiting to get and wrap. If it looks half as good as it did online it will make an absolutely gorgeous piece. Next to search for will be some quartz stones.

Just Vanilla

Yesterday after finishing up dinner Little G got to have some ice cream since he ate really good. We buy these 12 packs of single serving ice cream by Bluebell that has 6 chocolate and 6 vanilla cups in it and usually Dave or I will split it with the little one. You would think that the chocolate would be his favorite but he's all about the vanilla ones.

Yesterday I was the one sharing the ice cream and I let the first bit kind of slowly melt in my mouth and the taste and idea of it being "vanilla" made me think back to a time back in high school. I was of course one of the band kids and usually about 2 weeks before school started band practice started from 8-12 Monday thru Friday. Of course, once I could drive, my two best friends and I would always go to this little shed like looking house on the other side of town and get shaved ice. I say shaved ice because if I say snowcone people invision those pointed cups with hard little ice nodules that crunched when you ate them and had generic flavors. No, shaved ice was served in a styrafoam cup and you actually watched them shave this huge ice cube into the cup and then shape the ice slivers into a ball, just like you would with snow. Then there were the flavors, at least 50 to choose from.

One of my friends and I would usually try a different flavor each time we went, him the sweeter ones like cotton candy, bubble gum or blue rasberry and me the tarter or just different flavors like mai tai and cinnamon. Our other friend would ALWAYS pick vanilla, and we would always give him a hard time because of course back then when someone would say vanilla the first thing that would always come to my mind was boring and bland. There was nothing exciting about vanilla, and when we would tease him he would just smile and humor us and our antics.

I thought about him yesterday and his vanilla and how it really isn't that bland of a flavor at all. It's a staple to almost any baking recipe, if there is something lacking flavor wise some measurement of a teaspon will usually so the trick. It's like vanilla is the perfect balance of sweet. It has this sugary sweet taste but at the same time it's smooth and not harsh.

So yesterday, when I was half teasing my son asking if he wanted chocolate ice cream or vanilla , exagerating the word chocolate and he kept tell me, "No momma, 'nilla" I just sort of smiled to myself and thought about my friend who always had that smile as if he held some secret, some knowledge that only he could understand. Thinking back on it yesterday I think he did.

New Glass

This past weekend I got a chance to really play with my new glass. I am now in love with CiM glass rods. I bought several different colors to try that included, Bordello, Celadon, Glacier, Simple Berry, Evil Queen, Poi, Ginger, Canyon de Chelly, Hades, Desert Pink, Comando and some clear. I've tried out all the colors to some extent and here is a photo of my creations
I am extremely proud of the two flower ones as they were my first attempt at doing flowers.

New Pendant and Just Stuff

I got 2 new stones in the mail today. One of these being a labradorite stone. This one has a flash that is beautiful at the angle when it's worn but a bit tricky to photograph in my usual way. I could take a photo of it on my mannequin bust but it just wouldn't looks as nice as the wood grain/bamboo look my usual photo background does. The supplier I buy from gets this shape in quite often and I have to say that whomever is cutting these always does a beautiful job of cutting the piece so that you get the best flash at the perfect angle for a pendant. I love everything about these stones from the shape to the color and amount of flash that are in them. Each one I make I end up loving more than the last. Here's a photo because as I write this it just sold.
I also ordered a bunch of new glass rods today by a different manufacture I wanted to try out. I'm hoping they will be here by the end of the week. I have lots of really neat beads made, just haven't been in a stringing type mood when it comes to jewelry creation. Also, I want to make some beads that will fit the Pandora style bracelets for the craft show coming up in October. I'm sure there are a couple people around work that have these type bracelets so it wouldn't hurt to have some and see how/if they sell.

The Star at Starbucks

A few weeks ago we went through the drive thru at Starbucks to get Dave some coffee and me a frappuccino (I am a slave to those things). Little G was in the back and we rolled down the window for him as we were waiting. When we got to the window he was being his talkative self to the guy working the window telling him hello and talking about his Batman shirt. They weren't too busy so one of the girls working there came up to the window and was talking to him, of which he continued to talk about Batman and the fact that he was wearing his sandal shoes.

Last night Dave went up to get are usual coffee and frappuccino and took Little G with him. Dave said he was saying hi again to the guy working the window and another guy passed by and was all, "Hey is that the Batman kid?" then of course the girl that was there before was all, yeah we've been telling everyone the past couple weeks about the Batman kid at the drive thru. My son is 2 1/2 and already has a following. LOL

Our trip to the beach on Friday was not as great as we had hoped. We got there and there was swarms of these biting gnats. I forgot the bug repellent because last time there wasn't anything like that there. Dave and Little G seem to be doing okay, I on the other hand look like I am at the beginning stages of breaking out in chicken pox. Apparently, I have some allergy or something to these things because Friday they were just little flat red spots, by Saturday morning they had turned into welts that resembled mosquito bites but 10 times itchier and this morning it was about to drive me insane. Ugh.

5 Dollar Words

I've been neglecting my blog lately. Just have been busy between work and posting stuff on etsy and artfire. I've been cranking out some pendants and they've been turning out pretty nice.

Tonight we put Little G to bed and were siting here talking about our planned trip to the beach tomorrow. A couple of weeks ago on a trip to ToysRus we bought this beach backpack that has Lightening McQueen stuff like sand molds and shovels. We were talking about how he calls it the Lightening Purse because he doesn't know what a backpack is.

Out of nowhere Dave says:

"Yeah, it's hard to teach him what the nomenclature of things are."
Me:"What?"
Dave:"Nomenclature."
Me: "Nomenclature?" *quizzical look*
Dave: "Yeah, the appropriate name for things."

Of course I had to go look it up. Good ol' Wikipedia had this as the definition

A set or system of names or terms, as those used in a particular science or art, by an individual or community, etc.

So, while not exactly used in the correct context, I learned a new word today.

Upcoming Craft Fair

So, yesterday I filled out my form for the holiday craft fair that they have where I work. This year it is going to be October 19th and as of this weekend I will have 2 months to prepare for it. I always think I'm going to be prepared for this thing and it seems I never am. At least this year I'll have a better collection of pendants than I did last year. I'm not sure what I will have knit/crochet wise this year. I have a couple of shawls done up and I have a wrap I'm currently working on just to see how long it take me to do.

Yesterday I got some copper clay that I ordered in the mail. It's supposed to work the same as silver clay so I'm anxious to play with that this weekend and get creative. I already have a couple of ideas of what I want to do with it.

Busy already

I have been in crafting mood all week but haven't had the chance to really work on anything. Last night I finally did my first ring using sterling silver wire and PMC clay along with an emerald cabochon that I had. I really love how this ring turned out and it's super light, I don't even feel that I have it on. I plan on playing some more with different things with rings in the near future but this was sort of the test.

Today I finally got around to wrapping a beautiful piece of chalcedony that I got a couple of weeks ago. I decided to turn it into a necklace and even had a design drawn up for it. Of course, it didn't end up being exactly like the design but that's okay. I have to admit that I think it is absolutely beautiful. I thought I really liked my fluorite piece but this one I love even more. I just listed it today too.

Bumps, scrapes and birthdays

Yesterday I got one of those dreaded calls at work from daycare that Little G had an accident. I know that they try to keep upbeat when calling when it's something minor so that you kind of know everything is okay before they tell you but it still can be a bit annoying. Anyway, he was playing outside pushing one of the push cars they have, tripped over it and scraped his chin, upper lip as well as bit his upper lip. Luckily it's all superficial and most of it will probably be cleared up in 2 weeks time. It still sucks, and I feel bad for the little guy having to be hurt like that. The somewhat humorus part of it was that it was the one teacher that claimed all the numbers she tried last time didn't work...

Dave's birthday is coming up fast at the begining of August and I really have no clue what to get him. It's even worse at Christmas, he gives me no hints or ideas whatsoever and the guy has no affordable hobbies. He like tweaking and building computers and working on cars. The parts from neither of those are cheap. He has plenty of cologne, not in to shaving kits, needs no clothes...I am just at a loss and he's not helping.

I've been treasured!

Earlier today I got a nice convo from nsseaglass that I was in her Sunny Day treasury. It's always an honor to have one of your items picked. Also, if you're in to seaglass or sea pottery she is currently having a 20% off storewide sale.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=69208

New Pendants

I've lived up to my promise to myself to seriously work on some jewelry this weekend. I took a break from the earrings and made these 4 great pendants that I plan on listing on etsy in the near future. From left to right they are Larimar, Rhodonite, Rutilated Quartz and Labradorite.


My shipment of wire came in yesterday and I picked up a couple of different things. One of the things was some 14k gold filled patterned wire so I can make some hoop earrings out of them. I'm not a big fan of gold but this wire is really quite beautiful. It will make gorgeous earrings. I also got some just plain rectangle sterling silver wire. I played with it some on the rhodonite piece so that pendant has more of a wrapped bezel. It takes a lot more to work with it then just the regular square wire but I have lots of ideas to use with it.

It should be a lazy day for us today. No 4th of July plans, just going to grill up some hotdogs and enjoy the weekend. Hope everyone has a safe and relaxing 4th.

Blog Changes

So, my friend DJ came back to blogger and she's always putting together something clean and sleek looking when it comes to web pages. I often have "web envy" of her stuff and it's always what I need to get myself in gear and change things up. Her and I work together at the same place but I swear, she missed her calling in a web or graphics type career. At any rate, her changes made me rethink my blog so I decided to change some things up with my title banner colors and pick a different layout. My HTML skills are less than minimal so as simple as possible works for me.

I'm waiting for supplies that should be arriving today, all of it wire. I picked up some patterned gold filled wire to make my hoop earrings along with some more silver patterned wire that I was low on. I had some left over gold wire I use for wrapping so I'm playing with two toning some of my jewelry. I made two pairs of those new swarovski earrings in silver and gold. One is made with black and clear crystal the other has some nice pink and orange crystals. They've turned out really nice and I plan on taking some pictures later on.

New Earrings

There's just all sorts of new stuff going on over here. I just made and posted, tonight, these great swarovski cube earrings. They have kind of a channel look to them. I have some other colors I can't wait to try out but I need to get some more wire.



This weekend I'm determined to get some wire wrapping done. I have a design drawn up for my blue chalcedony that I'm anxious to do and yesterday I got in the most gorgeous blue larimar pieces. They are going to make stunning pendants.

New Website!

The new website is up and running! Yay me!

Here is the address for any interested

http://www.wiredreamsdesign.com

New stuff

Today I finally posted some new things to etsy. One was the pendant I made up last week. The other was a necklace that I've had the majority of done for at least a month. It's the one I've redone the dangles for like, 3 times I think. I'm quite pleased at how it turned out. I also had a main showcase today on etsy and put that into the line up this evening and it's done well with views and hearts for the short amount of time it's been up.


I have spent a good portion of today working on my website. I'm actually making headway and really think I might have enough done to feel comfortable publishing it tomorrow. Still a couple of things to work out and do but it's getting there.

Today we started some serious potty training with Little G. So far I feel totally lost. There seems to be so much conflicting info out there on how to go about it. The biggest problem we have with him is that he has never had a problem with being wet. So not only does he not tell us when he needs to go he doesn't even tell us when he's wet because it doesn't bother him.

We started off this morning putting him in big boy underpants. Of course some of the things i read said to try putting him in the underpants and take him every 30 minutes or so to the potty. He was okay with that at the beginning but by mid-day he was totally fighting us on sitting on the potty so in some ways I feel like he's regressed some today. Tomorrow we are keeping him in the underpants and just going to ask if he wants to try to, if he says yes, great off to the bathroom if no then we're going to just let him be. At least when he does have an "accident" he is quick to tell us that he went potty, so I guess that's a plus and step in the right direction.

New Stones

Wednesday I found some great stones that I ordered online. I was really surprised to see that they arrived in the mail today. All the way from Oregon to Florida via first class mail. How awesome is that? I was thinking that they might would show up tomorrow but I'll take a day early any day.


The picture of them is eh, but they really are beautiful stones. The blue chalcedony is absolutely beautiful in person. I think it will be the first one I wrap but I haven't decided if it will be done length wise with some extra dangle or wire design along the flat side or if I will do it width wise and make a wider pendant out of it. I'm also quite intrigued with the Rhodonite piece because of it's hexagonal shape, that one should be interesting to wrap.

Circle Update

Last night I did the deed and took my work off the needles to make sure my increases weren't too much. I was quite pleased with the results because everything looked fine and I didn't have to tear back any rows to re-do anything. Right now I'm alternating some purl rows into my work to give some nice little ledges going around. I'm about done with that and have to figure out what the next stitch pattern will be. Tonight I'll dig through some of my pattern books and try to find something interesting yet simple for in the round and increasing.

On the jewelry front I haven't done much. A couple of days ago I wrapped two stones, one completely and the other just to the point that I need to figure out what the design will be with the remaining wire. I also have two dried flower pendants I need to finish with resin. I experimented briefly with the torch last night and made a couple of beads so I've been active, just haven't put the finishing touches on a lot of things. All in good time I guess.

Circle

Okay, so I'm a day late with this post. Here is the picture of the center circle of the vest I'm working on. It's going along quite quickly and I've already picked up the stitches and started the knitting part which I fear will be the part that bogs down for me. Figuring out how many increases or where on something I'm "knitting as I go" as never been my forte so I forsee many episodes of pulling the stitches of the needle on to scrap yarn so I can make sure I'm doing the right amount the right amount of rows inbetween.

I don't mind pulling the work off the needles or dropping sttiches because that's an easy fix. It's just threading scrap yarn on to 180+ stitches to check and then putting those 180+ stitches back on the needle again is tedious. But, I'm making notes as I go on what I'm doing so I'll have an actual pattern for the next one.

A nice relaxing weekend

A quick update on our furniture mishap, we went back up to World Market yesterday and they gave us the missing hardware for our new patio furniture. Dave was able to put the bench together in no time and we spent the morning enjoying some time on our porch this morning while Little G ran around the back yard.

On my new project front I scrapped using the yarn I got in the other day. It was really too thin of a yarn to use for that. Dave's dad had some stuff going on this morning so instead of me going to the knit shop for a couple of hours and Dave and Little G going to grandpa's house we just made a quick trip to the yarn store to look for some yarn for my project and then to the auto parts store to pick up some tool Dave needed for one of the vehicles.

I really wanted a self striping yarn since this piece is in worked in the round for this middle part and I thought that would really make the design I picked stand out. So I ended up buying 4 skeins of Noro's Taiyo, which is a nice Cotton and Silk blend yarn with a bit of Wool and Nylon mixed in. I wasn't sure about the color as it is very bright but it's turning out absolutely beautiful. I have about 90% of the center circle done and hoping to finish that part tomorrow. I'll take pictures and have those up of how it turned out. I already have a bunch of ideas going through my head on what to do next.

Tomorrow, being Father's Day, were taking Dave's dad out to breakfast and I think grilling hamburgers for dinner and spending some time hanging out by the pool. It should be a nice relaxing day.

Almost the Weekend

It is Friday and I am so ready for it to be the weekend. I have bunch of stuff to do but random stuff to do is better than work any day of the week. Yesterday I got some really cool mugs in from Magnolia Pottery and some yarn that I was really excited about but not so much now that it's in. I guess honestly I haven't totally decided on it. I bought two skiens of a color that I thought was amazing and when it came in the colors weren't really what I was expecting. I've wound up one of the skiens and am using it for my vest to start off with and testing out what pattern I want to use for the center circle. If this goes well I think I'm going to pick out a self striping type yarn or just a solid color and make another one. We'll see.

Today at lunch Dave and I bought a cute outdoor furniture set from World Market. I just got an e-mail from him and he said that there is no hardware to put the bench together. So he's livid right now and calling the store to figure out what the deal is. The set came in two pretty big boxes so returning the one box that included the bench is probably not going to be an option. I fear they're going to give us some manufacture number and say call them to get the replacement parts sent to us which sucks because we bought it for the weekend and grilling out and all that stuff during Father's Day and now it won't be done which will be a bit of a let down. So we'll see. That's all we can do for now.

New Project?

Lately I have been in a knitting/crochet mood. I have multiple projects going on right now and am looking to add another. I saw the current edition of Vogue Knitting at my local yarn store and have been thinking about this pattern for almost a month.
It is knit in the round for part of the way on double pointed needles and then back and forth for the outer edge. I hate knitting on double pointed needles so my thought was to crochet the center part then pick up the stitches and knit the outer edge.

Yesterday I got a yarn catalog from Webs. Lots of cool stuff but this book caught my eye and would be the perfect place to find an interesting center circle.
Luckily it was in stock at the bookstore. I cannot wait to start trying out some of the motifs in this book. There are great instructions for each one and the pictures are absolutely wonderful. Now I just need to find the yarn I want to use...

My latest creation

Today I decided to work some on my jewelry. Unfortunately I wasn't too successful in getting a bunch of stuff done. I finished up two pairs of earrings using some lampwork beads that I had made a couple of days ago and I thought I had finished this one necklace piece that looks absolutely awesome but I realized the swarovski crystals that I used are totally the wrong color when you look at the piece in the light. So, the dangles on this piece have to be re-done AGAIN for like the 3rd or 4th time.

The highlight of the day has been a quartz stone that I have had in my collection for some time. It is a very high dome cabochon so I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it since I knew it would need more wire then other stones that I do which means more wire to wrap and design with to finish off the piece. So I turned it into a dragonfly. I love how it turned out.


The weekend has gone by way too fast but at least Little G is feeling better. He went to daycare on Friday and has been a little pistol all weekend.

Sick Days and Daycare Issues

Little G was home from daycare today with a fever. I'm thinking it might be related to him possibly getting in his last set of molars since the fever seems to be sporadic and he's been chewing towards the back alot on his fingers as well as drooling. I was beyond ticked yesterday though, when Dave went to go and pick him up from daycare. According to them, and by them I really mean the main "teacher" in the Twos room, he woke up with a 101.2 fever after nap time and that all of the numbers she tried on our contact list "weren't valid". Ooooookayyy....I'm calling BS on this one. There are 5 numbers on that list: my work number, my cell phone, Dave's cell phone, my Father in Law's house phone and his cell phone. All of these have missed call notifications and voice mail. You're going to tell me that NONE of those 5 numbers worked? I don't think so. Plus, if my son has a fever why would you send him outside to play in 90+ degree heat which is where he was when Dave picked him up.

For the most part I really do like where we take him for daycare. He's been going there since he was 11 months old and the teachers in the infant and toddler room were absolutely great. The two directors I usually see are really good too but I haven't had a warm fuzzy about the Two's teacher since the first time I picked Little G up. At first I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was having a rough day but her attitude toward this one little girl who wanted her "treat" for going on the potty was downright hateful until she remembered that the little girl HAD gone and then she practically thrust the treat at here and just said, "Here". She's usually hit or miss on what kind of mood she's in when I've picked him up. Sometimes all smiles and talkative other days brooding and radiating negativity. Thank goodness for the helpers that are in that room that are amazing, because if it wasn't for them and their redeeming qualities I'd seriously be looking for a new daycare.

Little G seems to be doing better today. This morning he still had a fever, but not as high and it seems his fever broke during his nap because it hasn't came back since, which is a good thing. So, him and I had a pretty good day of playing with cars and blocks and we watched the CARS movie as well as WALL-E. Today was the first time I had seen WALL-E and I have to say I didn't care for the movie at all. To me it didn't get really all that interesting until the last, maybe, 30 minutes.

Time Off

So, this past week I took Thursday and Friday off. I sooooo needed it. Thursday Dave and I did a bunch of stuff in-between rain storms and had a really nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Friday we kept Little G out of day care and took a trip to the beach. It was his first trip to the beach and he had a blast.

We averted certain disaster this weekend as well. Little G's favorite thing in the entire world is his lion. We picked it up at the World Market store almost 6 months ago. I was putting him down for a nap Friday and was giving him his lion to snuggle with when I noticed the stitching on the back of it's head was starting to come undone. The material is knit and one of the stitches came loose and was starting to run. Luckily I was able to fix the stitches just like you do when you drop a stitch when knitting. But, to be on the safe side we made a trip to World Market to get another lion to keep just in case anything ever happens to this one.

On the craft front it's been a great week etsy wise. Since Wednesday I've sold 11 shawl pins a pendant and a necklace. So I have been busy making shawl pins for orders. I also made two new pendants from a beautiful blue peruvian opal and an agate with crystal druzy in it. Then, after our trip to the beach I thought it might be neat to wire wrap a shell and it turned out really neat.

Going through my stash

So, today I decided to try and organize/go through my yarn stash. I have a front living room that is becoming my craft area and right now things are just sort of stored there so to speak. I am notorious for buying one or two skeins of yarn just because I like it's color or texture or just because the wind happens to blow a certain way on that day. Needless to say I have a bunch of yarn that by itself is good for little else than scarves if I just use that yarn alone. After an hour of trying to organize and categorize I gave up and decided that a trip to Lowe's is in order tomorrow to pick up another organizer and I'm grouping all my yarns by color. That way if I want to make a shawl or scarf with different yarns I'll at least have it all separated by colors and can choose that way.

While going through the yarn I also found bags that I had stashed unfinished projects in. One of the things I uncovered was a piece I was designing as I was knitting it. Originally it was supposed to be a sleeveless top that I was making in the round from the bottom up that would have a cowl neck at the top. The bottom part would be done in a semi lace pattern then below the bust it would turn to a stockinette stitch and finish up in the cowl neck.

First off my original gauge I did was either different then what I ended up doing on the piece itself or I just measured it wrong. I'm betting on the latter issue. I got to the place where I thought I would be changing to the stockinette stitch and put it on waste yarn and discovered it was HUGE. After all the work I had put into this ripping it out was NOT an option or it would never be done. So I decided with the shape it was and the size it was it would make the perfect caplet. Instead of a stockinette stitch at this point I change to a k1,p1 rib pattern to help cinch in the top as well as some k2tog around. It was going well and I tried it on again and really wasn't happy with it and knew I needed to do a couple more rows of decreases. I was tired of working on it as well as putting the multitude of stitched on the needle again so it just got stashed away.

All of this was before I got my bust that I use for taking photos of my scarves and shawls. When I found it today and put it on my bust and realized that it isn't as awful and I thought it was and really turned out quite nice. It does still need about 4 or 5 rows with some spaced decreasing but when it's done I think it will be quite nice. Here is a photo of it in it's current state.

Knitting in the Sun Review

I am a sucker for knitting books and magazines. My magazine collection got so large I had to break down and go through all of them tearing out the patterns I really loved and thought there was some chance of me actually doing and putting them all in a binder sorted by type, like sweater, top, scarf, shawl, etc. Honestly it's the most organized thing about my knitting which is sad considering how much yarn and projects I have stashed around the house.

This weekend I picked up a new book that came out this month (May 11) called Knitting in the Sun by Kristi Porter. Living in Florida I thought this might be a good book geared for our usually warm weather. It retails for $22.99 but I got mine at Borders using a 40% off coupon. There are 32 projects, so even at the retail price I feel it's a good value.


First off, let me tell you that my rule of thumb for buying a knitting or crochet pattern book is that if there isn't at least 4 patterns in the book that I like, I don't buy it. My thoughts on this is that your average, individual pattern sells for between $5-7 and your average knitting book costs about $21. So, if you can find 4 patterns in it you'd want to make you're doing good. Now, on to the review...

Obviously, the patterns in this book, for the most part, appeal to my style and what I enjoy to knit because I bought the book. If you like the layout of Interweave Knit books like Wrap Style or Scarf Style then you will like how this book is laid out as well as they are very similar. The range of levels for the projects in the book is a nice balance as well. There are things that would be good for the beginner as well as the everyday knitter.

These are the patterns I love and hope to be casting one of the on in the near future.

• Windansea - This is a cute looking sun hat which I find intriguing because you need to use millinery wire to actually form and shape the hat and I've really been wanting to make something like this. I bought a book about a year ago with a similar pattern but this one is just a much simpler pattern to do something like this for the first time.

• Queensway Bay - The pattern is listed as a "tunic" but this really would be perfect as a swimsuit cover-up or a cute dress for a stroll on the beach. I can totally see myself using one on a trip down to Sanibel Island.

• Bridgetown - A really cute long sleeved cardigan sweater with a leafy lace panel along the sides and as a border along the bottom.

• Coronado - A lovely shawl collared cardigan that uses a ribbed eyelet type pattern. This will most likely be the project that I do first. It was between this one and the Bridgetown and when I showed my husband he liked this one the best and I have to agree.

• Santorini - A short kimono style jacket that uses a great Wavy Lace pattern around all the edges. I don't think I would ever wear this but I'm contemplating making one for my mother in law because it looks her style.

• Haleakala - Have an old beach chair frame or an old beach chair that could use a revamp? This is the perfect update. The back piece is a great star/flower pattern that is just lovely

While these are my favorites there are some pieces in this book that are absolutely stunning but just aren't my style. I don't "do" knitted skirts but there are two long skirts in this book that are absolutely beautiful. There is also a very feminine wrap around top that has these great ruffle like sleeves and very romantic styled neckline. And yes, like all "summer" knitting books there is the knitted two piece bathing suit, but this one is a cute boy short and bandaeu like top that is a nice change from your typical triangle two piece suit you typically see.

The biggest dissapointment of this book for me was the short sleeve and long sleeve sections of the (the above mentioned wrap around top being the exception). They just didn't stand out and in my opinion were too similar to tops I've seen in knitting magazines over and over. There was also a lightweight hooded sweater that I really wanted to make based on just photos I saw and then when I looked at the pattern it covered 9 pages and in general I felt I could achieve a similar look with a much simpler pattern.

All in all I really do like this book and if you live in warmer climate area and looking for a book that caters to that type of knitting then I definitely recomend it.