In Memory...

Dia, a photo by Troublet42 on Flickr.

This hoop was stitched up for a gal in the Birthday Swap. She wanted a hoop that had the word Dia, which is a reference to her grandmother whom she called Dia. She had also just found out that dia also means day in Spanish.

How could I not stitch up this hoop? It appealed to me in the love that I had for my own mamaw as well as the Spanish teacher in me. I decided to combine the birthday gal's favorite colors (blue and orange) with the day theme to create a sort of sunburst with Dia.

 

More for Mother's Day

I've been a crocheting machine these past couple of weeks! :)

Here's the latest in my dishcloth endeavour. I used this pattern that I found on Just Down Lemon Lane. I love the textures and it's easy to work up. The finished piece was about 9" by 9".

I think I might do a couple of hanging towels to go with my mom's Mother's Day project too. I just need to find the right fabric. Oh no! I have to go to the fabric store! LOL

Walking in the Middle

Buddhist belief often refers to Taking the Middle Path, neither too far this way nor too far that.

Sound easy, huh? Just sit the fence.

Nope, it's about recognizing how easily you can easily allow yourself to become swayed into a belief or movement. Rather than using logic to see a situation clearly, we all sometimes let the actions or words of others make decisions for us. I think of this as giving someone else control our emotional reigns, rather than being mindful of them ourselves. Why think about a situation, how it affects us or what our actions can do as a result? Following the "herd mentality" only requires one thing, no thought, just follow.

I think of that as the easy out, a no brainer.

If you find yourself confronted with a situation (mess, hulabaloo, whatev...), you have to avoid taking sides. This is where the difficulties arise. Everyone has an opinion and some of them can't wait to share those opinions with the World. Sometimes they get upset with you because you don't immediately agree with everything that they say or do. Taking the Middle Path means that you listen, observe, and consider all sides.You come to your own conclusions in your own time. You can even have an opinion on that situation BUT at the same time, you are mindful of the fact that your opinion can impact other people and their actions. If you can see that sharing your opinion will have a positive impact, then you can act on it. If not, well then, heed the words of my Papaw..."Keep your nose in your own business!".

I need to keep this in mind as I move forward with what remains of this school year. Lots of changes are coming down the pike and  tons of opinions, posturing and maneuvering taking place. I'm just going to sit back and watch. Good will out. (Yes, my brain just channeled Mr. Weasley there!) The Bad...well, let them find their own way. I doubt that they'd listen to me anyways.

The Elixir of LIFE: CHOCOLATE!

I'm quite often heard saying the following:

There are 2 things that hold Life together, duct tape and chocolate. Duct tape is for trying to put it back together when it is broken and the chocolate is for when it refuses to stay that way.

And so it is with Me, I can always be found in possession of both duct tape and dark chocolate. Sometimes, a hammer is involved but for other reasons. ;)

I stitched this theobromine molecule up for a gal in the current Birthday Swap on Craftster. I just had to make this for her when I saw it on her wishlist. Theobromine cacao is the Elixir of Life (and Sanity!) in my house.

 No chocolate was harmed nor imbibed during the creation of this Hoopla. However, I cannot confirm nor deny that large amounts will not be in dire danger very shortly as I dive into the piles of tests that I really should be grading rather than posting on my blog.

Yep, that's the truth.

How much longer can I come up with random stuff to post?

Um...yeah. I heard the husband crack the whip saying "Git to Work WOMAN!"

*sigh*

About Lily Sugar N Cream Scrubby...

The more I crochet, the more adventurous I've become!

While wandering through the yarn selection at my Michael's, I found Lily Sugar N Cream Scrubby so I bought a couple of balls to give it a whirl. My first thought was that the Scrubby "yarn" was to make a tawaishi!

 This "yarn" is really more like a 1/8" wide ribbon with a fringe along the side. It is also a bit rougher than yarn which is why it's called Scrubby I would think. 

I found that a ball of that yarn will make a tawaishi and one circular scrubby. I thought it might be a bit rough on my left hand that holds the tension as I crochet. I was wrong though. It did take a bit of adapting to get the tension the way I prefer. :)

And now for comments after having completed a few projects with the Sugar N Cream Scrubby.

1. I would not suggest this yarn for a Newcomer to crochet. Uneven tension could cause a headache. Once this yarn tightens up, it can be really hard to work it loose again.
2. Use the suggested size hook! I normally work a tawaishi with a smaller hook so that the finished tawaishi is less likely to shred when used. Totally not necessary with this "yarn". In fact, the smaller hook makes seeing where to put the hook through quite difficult.
3. Use a gentle hand when finishing off a tail of the "yarn". It will shred if you pull it too hard as you finish with the needle.
4. Apparently, this is a test product. (Or possibly already discontinued?) It is not listed on the Lily Sugar N Cream website and I checked several different online sources this past week. Not listed anywhere... Therefore, if you find it in the stores, make sure you get enough to finish your project while there!

For this Mother's Day..

I've decided that both my mom and my mother-in-law will be receiving crocheted goodies for this Mother's Day. They both prefer useful items to knic knacs so this will be something that I know that they will both love. Since I'm starting early, I decided to try a couple of different patterns for dish cloths to see which I like best.

Here's the first dish cloth.

I found this Diamond Dish cloth  pattern at Around the Crochet Table. It's super easy to stitch up and looks feminine without being over the top girly, which neither of them are. I was able to make one of these in about an hour!

Now, I have to decide how many goodies to make for each our moms. Decisions....decisions...

My Own Monster

Yes, I'm still around! This time of year is the beginning of the End of Year craziness at school plus I've been going to karate at least 3 times a week. This gal stays hopping! However, I'm not so busy that I will neglect my loyal blog readers, all 5 of you. ;)

I thought  I would share my latest pet project, a scrappy granny stripe lapghan. Jamie over at Scissors and Steam posted her granny stripe afghan (which she calls Her Monster) and gives occasional WIP (aka Work In Progress) updates over on her blog. I looked at her afghan and thought to myself "Self! What a great way to use up those partial skeins that are hiding in your closet!" I drug all of my scraps out and just started hooking.

My Monster is about 42" wide and will be about 60" long. In this process, I came to realize that I have way too much brown Super Heart. Why did I ever buy that much of that particular color? It's beyond me but now, it's being put to use!

I'm just starting a color and either working until I'm tired of looking at it or I run out of that color. I'm not planning on displaying this in my house anywhere. I'm going to use it for the throw blanket in the back of the car for those chilly mornings in which my kids will NOT listen to their Wise Mother who told them to put on pants before leaving for school.

Oh, and if you all are good, I'll see if I can post a video of my latest board break at this Saturday's belt test at my karate studio. Provided I can find someone to tape it for me that is... :)

Dream

We're out on the road this weekend. My wonderful husband does all of the driving so it leaves me plenty of time to watch the trees and fields roll by, quietly crochet or simply daydream while watching the clouds, which is what I've done today. We are currently at my Brother in Law's house who lives very near  the Atlantic (less than 5 minutes drive). I've been sitting on his front porch with a book and a soda as the kids play in the front yard, occasionally pondering the shapes in the clouds. I find that this hoop is my frame of mind today.

I stitched this up for a friend over on Craftster and I love how the ground fabric works with the patterns theme.

It's nothing but french knots, lots and lots and lots of knots. :)

Take Me to Your Leader!

One of the gals in the Ongoing Hoopla swap was in need of an angel (i.e. she didn't receive her package) so I stitched up this little guy for her!

I just love how he turned out with his happy smile and antennae! :D

And a close up...

I had the ground fabric in my stash and thought it was perfect. However as I started to seriously stitch, I noticed that the fabric was a bit sheer and you could see the inner hoop through the fabric. To fix this, I finished the stitching and took it out of the hoop. I then painted the inner and outer hoop both black. After it was dry, I placed the needlework back into the hoop and finished the back. This fix worked and I plan to keep it in mind if I ever find myself in this spot again. ;)

T in the Kitchen: Overnight Oatmeal

Being a busy mother of 2 school aged kids, I find it difficult to find a moment to fix myself a healthy breakfast in the mornings so I decided to spend just a bit of time this Spring Break trying out some new options. Here's my first attempt!

Overnight Oatmeal

This recipe is super quick and easy to alter to your own taste! I used a simple recipe that I found on Pepper Lynn and changed up just a smidge to make it more to my pallet.

The original recipe from Pepper Lynn is:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2/3 cup milk

1 Tablespoon chia seeds

I used 1/2 cup of milk instead of 2/3 cup to make it just a little less soupy and I had vanilla yogurt in my fridge so I used it instead of the Greek. (Just FYI, Greek yogurt is thicker than regular Dannon/Yoplait.) I also didn't have any chia seeds on hand but I'm going to look for those when I do the next grocery run. 

There's no cooking, just measure and dump. Stir and let the liquids do their job on the rolled oats. This is going on my breakfast rotation for sure! 

The end result was a cold oatmeal that is just the right amount of sweet. (I'm not a fan of super sweet breakfast foods) It has a nice chewy texture. I LOVE that I can change it up however I want just by adding a handful of whatever tempts me. :)

I plan to make double batches at a time and bag up the toppings as much as possible so that I can just grab a container as I head out the door in the morning. I have been eating my breakfasts at work lately while reading my work e-mails when I first get to work and I find that I enjoy eating a lot more without the constant demands of my little ones. Imagine that...

For my toppings on my first attempt, I had some dried fruit bits and sliced banana. Next time, I'm going to try banana and peanut butter! YUM!!

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