With the third and final yarn my Auntie sent me I crochet a scarf. Keeping count for the bobble stitch slowed me down and despite doing several rows a night I felt like it was taking forever. The spring sun is warm but the wind off the ocean is chilly keeping it in the 40's so I wore my newly finished scarf today.
In my adorable basket of crochet themed gifts was a pair of shiny wooden knitting needles. Little did my Auntie know that she had planted a seed of addiction. But I couldn't remember how to knit! Thank you YouTube...after a long search I found a tutorial on how to knit from someone I could understand and got to work knitting this scarf. The yarn was lovely to work with but I was very careful not wanting to slip a stitch having no idea how to fix that issue. There was enough yarn left over to make a crochet hat, but I had never made one before so I searched for an easy pattern on YouTube. It was stitching up too large so I decided to salvage it by continuing to make it larger turning it into a beret. Even though it's now March there's still plenty of chilly days left to wear and show off my newest projects.
My Auntie Christine got me three different kinds of yarn for my birthday. I made a shawl with this one, it was difficult to crochet with the size hook they suggested, but switching to a much larger hook solved the problem. I crochet three rows of single crochet then three rows of double crochet skipping every other stitch to give an open look (remembering to chain in place of the skipped stitch). To make the shape of a triangular shawl I decreased at the beginning of every row. I kept crocheting until the two balls I had were finished. My plan was to make myself a pretty shawl for the summer nights that get chilly here living near the water.
I hope my bloggy friends will send me photos of their "signs of spring". An eight foot deer fence was between me and these snow drops.
You don't have to be a gardener to have fun visiting your local nursery, back in the 1990's I couldn't resist their tiniest flower pots. I painted them using oil paint that came in small containers (just like the paint-by-numbers paint pots) I bought at a craft store, then sealed them with a coat of decoupage glue. I usually display them on a window sill with other decorated store bought flower pots.
My Auntie Christine knitted this scarf for me. It's ambition in life was to be a blanket, but it had very expensive tastes and therefore became a lovely comfy scarf instead. I will ask Christine if she remembers the pattern and put it on here at a later time.
Spring is almost here but besides the birds singing and our neighbors snow drops I haven't found anything to take photos of yet...until I discovered these two special little babies, I made sure they were warm and comfortable and hope that one day they will produce many more!
I got this as my first tattoo at Garrett's in Centereach, N.Y in August 2009, shortly after my 20th birthday. The cross has a little bit of a Celtic edge as I was going for a more Gothic design, and is wrapped within the flowering and budding roses, the banner contains the name Kaz, which was my mother's nickname, stepping away from the stereotypical "mom" tattoo and the common full-name spelled-out approach. While the four-year-old me might have protested, the fifteen-year-old me would have asked why I waited so long, and after finally getting inked can't say one bad thing about the experience. Upon reaching the shop I was a little nervous but 90% of the emotion was excitement. Nick, the newest artist in the shop greeted me and got right down to business; asking specifically what I wanted and the story behind the idea, before going to sketch my description from scratch. After showing me the original sketch we did a little brainstorming on how to put a personal edge on it, ensuring I was a part of the creative process before transferring the outline of the drawing to my arm. Once everything was sterilized and prepared, including my scrubbed arm, I stepped up to my chair where Nick gave me a first taste of the needle to see how I'd handle it. With a minor pinch followed by an inquiring voice, I agreed to continue what would be a two hour job. Despite what many people think, the experience was not bad at all, and I almost fell asleep in the chair listening to Nicks iPod over the shop speakers as he did every detail free hand with grace and artistic passion. Once we were done and my arm was wrapped like a deli-sandwich, I was good to go and quite satisfied with my first tattoo.
My Grandma came to stay with us for a week and my brother and I did clay modeling with her. I hope you like them.
Poach some fish in milk. I use smoked haddock, cod, salmon and king prawns (the prawns don't need poaching, just add them when you add the fish to the white sauce, they will cook in the oven). Drain the fish when cooked and reserve the milk. Make a white sauce using the fishy milk. Chop up six hard boiled eggs. Add the fish and eggs to the white sauce, stir really gently. Squeeze two lemons and add the juice to the sauce. Season really well. Top with mashed potato. Put in the oven til hot and crispy on top. Done!
This is George. I was given this wee Quaker parrot by some wonderful people I used to work for, the Turreffs, as a birthday present a few years ago. I was so surprised as I never thought of owning a pet of my very own, I was delighted and named him George. Every morning when I woke up I would take his cover off and say "good morning", within a few days he would say "good morning" back to me! I even taught him to say "goodnight", but the best part was when he called me "mummy", I loved it! At the end of the working day (If I didn't have him on my shoulder) I would go to my room and he would say "hello mummy", then I would let him out to walk all over the bedroom floor while I put my jammies on and got comfy on the couch. When I would sit down he would come looking for me and walk up my leg until he got to my shoulder and there he would sit for the night. I would take him away for weekends to my sis-in-law's house as Carole loved him too. I had him for 2 years, then he died, he had a bacteria around his wee heart, my poor wee baby, he was a fabulous wee bird. I just loved him and still think of him. If I could get the exact same bird I think I would get another. To my wee George, lots of love from his mummy xxx.
I got this lovely CD from my daughter Tracy at Christmas time. I made some cards from it and sent them to my family.
This is one of my favourite plants, the Amaryllis. I bought them in the grocery store and planted them right away in the pots (pots come with plants). Normally they grow very quickly but these two plants took forever and ever and ever! I watered them every two days and they still didn't grow, then I forgot about them for a couple of days. Then all of a sudden I noticed one of them grew about an inch, couple of more days then another inch or so, then it just kept growing. The other small one is beginning to grow but very slowly. Then one night when I came home from work I noticed that one of the flowers popped out, on the next night the other two flowers popped out and surprise, tonight the fourth flower popped out YIPPEE!. Now I am just waiting for the wee one to flower. All in all it's a very beautiful plant.
This months interview is with sentimental needle crafter Suzy Neary from Long Island New York.
I was thrilled when Jonathan wanted to try cross stitch too. I can't remember how old he was when he made these projects but it was in the 1990's. His most recent endeavor is an Oasis tribute.
This is a recipe from Neenies nephew (Jonathan) I thought I would try it. I loved using the rolling pin to roll it out and make it a pretty big square then I put it on the baking sheet and poured in the ingredients. There was one thing missing which I love and that was BACON, but I am afraid to say there was no bacon left, I must have ate it all or my brothers ate it, anyway I put it in the oven to bake and when it came out it looked yummy and cheesy. Neenie had a piece of it and I tried some but I didn't really like it, there was too much cheese. I think it would have been better if we had bacon, but it was my first pie and Neenie said I did a great job, I just hope she remembers to buy bacon next time!
On a recent trip to Costa Rica I went to visit a coffee plantation. My friends cousin Eduardo, the plantation manager very kindly spent the afternoon showing us how the coffee plants were grown, how the beans were harvested, dried and packed ready to be shipped to the coffee roasters. It was a very enjoyable and interesting day and it made me appreciate more my morning cup of coffee after seeing how much effort and hard work went into picking the beans. These pics are of the smallest beehive I have ever seen, fixed near the door of the plantation office. The bees, only about an eighth of an inch long and sting less, entered the hive through that little round hole. Eduardo removed a part of the roof and pulled out a handful of honey, it was sweeter than normal honey but most surprisingly, it tasted like coffee. Costa Rica is a beautiful country, with wonderful people and hospitality second to none. I can't wait to return.
I made this for my grandson Lewis. He really liked and loved the button nose and eyes. When asked what name he wanted to give it he said Buttons!
This is another beanie, but the difference is I knitted one half and crocheted the other just to give it a bit of style. Again it knits up easily. The wool is from Peru, the colour is called tintada, it is 40% wool, 40% acrylic and 20% alpaca. The hat pattern is under "The Red Slippers".
