Just a quick message to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!
Today is my birthday too! So, since the Littles are at their mother's house until tomorrow, we're withholding our family celebrations until tomorrow (12/26), then it will be Christmas Morning in the afternoon and then birthday supper! Tonight, we wait for Doctor Claus to come visit us via the BBC!
I did crochet a fair share of gifts for family, however i didn't exactly take pictures of any of them. Goal for next year... pictures of all of the things!
Had a great time with Amazing Adam's family this last weekend, fantastic start to the holiday festivitites. I crocheted a beautiful tree topper Weeping Angel for our tree, a Jayne Cobb hat for Amazing Adam's cousin & she LOVED it!
Time to go, but we were lucky enough to find a chance to get a Santa picture:
Santa picture... obviously set up by a bossy older sister!
Yeesh! has it really been that long since my last post??? Jeez! I'm seriously so sorry about that! What could I possibly have been doing all this time you ask? Well let me see...
Kids started school again - getting them ready is always a hubub and I know there are tons of others out there that feel my pain. Riley is now a freshman. Aurora started third grade. Jacob started second grade. What a spread, right? Luckily, they all go to schools that Amazing Adam and I have previously attended, and the two elementry school teachers were also teachers for Riley when he attended the same school. We're set up for a very awesome school year!
Crocheting... if I haven't been blogging then I had better been yarning, right? Well, I've been working my fingers off! I finished a Seahawks version of Moogly's Circles of Love Afghan which I am currently trying to sell on my Facebook page. I also made 4 Pokeball inspired dice bags for the family. Photos of these projects are posted on Facebook as well. I'm currently working on Spider Mambo's I Heart Skulls Circle Cardigan for Aurora. She chose Caron Simply Soft in Neon Pink & Limelight. No missing that girl in the car-pool lane after school!
Working. Working at my out-of-the-home job managing an answering service. New employees, former employees, company picnics... the usual. This is usually where I'm reminded that there are less than 100 days until Christmas. When I'm reminded of this, I usually send snide comments to the reminder.
Doesn't exactly seem like a lot, but there's a lot of time and driving and other energy put in to those events, right?
What is coming up next, you're asking. Well, I have a few things on my to-do list:
I Love Yarn Day (10/10/2014) - I really want to post another pattern to celebrate I Love Yarn Day, unfortunately I don't think it will be free this year; it will, however, be discounted for the week of I Love Yarn Day. Stay tuned to Facebook and this blog for more details as we get closer.
I still have the Penelope Bag and Sunshine Sack to post (I'm somewhere in the finishing stages), had another idea for a bag, but we'll see if I'll even bring it to fruition since I ran out of a "seasonal" yarn. (HATE that, nothing but a tease!)
I also still have the pattern for my Submissive Hooters needing to be finalized.
I need someone that can sit next to me writing in "crochet speak" as I create these things, seriously! I'm thinking it should be considered a foreign language to speak "craft."
Anyway, I just wanted to check in with everyone; I've seen a number of views increase over the last few weeks and I am incredibly humble and thankful that all of you have found my little blog. You have no idea how much squee it gives me.
For all you new followers: WELCOME! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, don't hesitate to comment on posts here or on Facebook - haters too! You're all welcome! If I didn't want honest opinions, I wouldn't put it out there to be judged by the general public.
So, here's to hopefully not such a long silence between posts!
Good day everyone! The winners were announced on my Facebook Page for the rainbow bag naming contest! I present to you the Penelope Bag & Sunshine Sack! Winners will receive a copy of both patterns once I have it finalized! Congrats go out to Steven N Kasinda Tobek with "Penelope" and Susie T Homemaker with Sunshine Sack
Penelope Bag & Sunshine Sack
In another HUGE development, I was unable to present these prototypes to the winners because I'm offering them as part of a HUMONGOUS Labor Day Give away by the Giveaway Goddesses! Super easy to enter, make sure you follow the instructions on their giveaway album; there are roughly 90 different prizes! Contest is open until August 15th! Good Luck everyone!!!
A few weeks ago I took part in sending a Pascha teddy bear to an orphanage in Russia by the way of Ireland. They received a box of over 50 teddy bears ... here's the unboxing! Mine is somewhere in the mix....
Thank you to Allison Hoffman from Crafty is Cool for putting together such a beautiful and heartwarming event. A simple video, but I have to admit, I teared up a bit watching the excitement in the reception and anticipation of these children receiving such a simple gift.
Some time within the last year or so, the hippies and granola-eating tree-huggers all got together and voted that we should ban all plastic shopping/grocery bags from retailers. This sucks in my opinion because, now we'll have to purchase plastic bags for our garbage bins instead of reusing the ones from our groceries. Not to mention, how am I supposed to make plarn now?!?
Anyway, I have been trying to make or buy reusable shopping bags. Here is the first attempt. The bottom sucks, but I LOVE the rest of this bag.
No Name Beach Bag & Mini Bag
If you visit my Facebook page, I'm having a contest as to what to name this bag set. Comment on the post I have pinned to the top of my page and if your name is selected, you will receive a free copy of the pattern BEFORE it is released (but as soon as I have it done & tested)!
The rainbow pattern in the main bag consists of 10 different colors, I still need to play more with color schemes, but this one isn't so bad.
The sun is the cover over a smaller cell phone sized clutch. The handle on it has a bobble stitch at the end which makes it wonderfully secure, but also quickly removable. I free handed the sun and cloud. So at this point there is a lot of back tracking, modifying and pattern writting to get to!
I'd love to hear what you think about this set! Let me know in the comments below!
A lot of things have been going on lately, I got back into testing patterns - successfully, I might add. I also created a Pascha Bear for Crafty Is Cool. She found a video (below) that she found endearing and decided to create a bear for orphans in Russia, here's the original blog post that I participated in.
Then among all crochet projects flying around our home, we also reached the end of the school year, Jacob completed 1st grade, Aurora completed 2nd grade! So happy for them, they've really learned a lot over the last year - despite Aurora's teacher being a complete idiot!
On top of the Littles completing their school years, my eldest son, Riley completed his last year of
middle school, 8th grade for us. I was soo excited thinking this is great, he made it – maybe not
with the most spectacular grades, but he made it. I will officially be the mother of a high school student this next fall. He also turns 15 in September, and we all know what that means.... impending driver's ed!
Riley was scheduled to have a “moving-up”
type ceremony/gathering on the last day of school. Both Amazing Adam and I
attended this same school when we were in middle school, so we thought that the
event would be along the same lines; granted it’s been about 20 years since
then, but still, something along the same lines, right?
First of all I’ve been dealing with panic and anxiety issues
as much as I can lately; for which I’m currently NOT medicated for. I enter the
school, thinking I’m going to be a basket case because my baby is “graduating”
middle school. Well, I was a basket case, but not for the reason I thought. I
was a basket case because this event was the biggest fiasco that I’ve ever
attended! The seating was crap. I needed an easy in/easy out location – a lot
of which was reserved for staff. (eff that!) Then due to the fact I selected an
easy in/easy out location I didn’t deserve to watch the event at all as I was
blocked by a metric ass-ton of people who were more deserving than i. Seriously
people, who stands in front of EVERYONE and makes no effort to make sure people
behind them can see? I couldn’t stop the crying from that point forward, I kept
trying to keep it under control but I couldn’t. I began to realize that this
was NOT like any other moving-up ceremony I’d ever attended.
At this point Amazing Adam wrapped his arms around me and
stayed that way for the better part of the event. We sat that way through the
principal’s speech – felt like I was in church, but in church, I can see what
is going on!
The 1st student speaker.
A choir performance.
At this point they listed off ¾ of the 8th
grade class that received awards
Another student speaker; which if you’re
making a “commencement speech” please refrain from using street lingo. If I were
that kid’s parents I’d have been incredibly embarrassed!
Then another ¼ of the previously awarded students were
mentioned again for another award.
A 3rd student speaker.
A quartet performance.
Last but not least, a slide show. Anyone who’s not been
part of the “popular” kids, sportos, princesses, whatever… would know that they
have a slim chance of ever being caught on film, right? Well, folks my son is
not a “popular” kid, I was unable to see him in the slide show due to being
surrounded and that there was only 1 picture of him dissecting a salmon
(totally cool).
At the end of this “event” I was so incredibly pissed that I could
barely contain myself. I grabbed the Littles and headed out to my car as
Amazing Adam told Riley where to find us when he was ready to leave.
To keep this story moving, I eventually got home after
celebrating Riley’s achievement and the last day of school in general at IHOP…
and wrote the middle school principal this e-mail:
I would like to thank you and your staff for ruining the entire
ceremony for my family today.
My son was an 8th grader at CMS this year and was at the ceremony today. My
experience during the ceremony was one of the worst events I've ever had the
displeasure of attending.
Instead of having the opportunity to see my son having a moment of final recognition
for his hard work and reaching another momentous milestone, I was given
nothing. I had the unpleasurable benefit of being surrounded so thickly of
people who felt it was completely acceptable to stand in front of everyone and
block every bloody moment from our view. I had a continuous panic attack during
the entire ceremony due to the fact I was surrounded, couldn't see anything
that was going on and acceptable seating was reserved for staff. I did what I
could from my easy in/easy out location, but your staff did nothing effective
to make sure the event could be potentially enjoyed by all families.
Both my husband and I were students of CMS; we had the opportunity to walk and
receive our certificates individually, thereby giving our parents a moment they
could share with family members for ages to come. I HAVE NOTHING. The poor
planning of this "ceremony" ruined this event forever and instead of
something beautiful and rewarding, I am now dealing with anger, and the
disbelief that this actually happened, that I actually have no memento of my
son accomplishing middle school.
I realize that a lot of the photos in the slide show were of the
"popular" kids, that's fine, that's the way it has always been. Then
to NOT recognize the average students, the ones that also worked hard, but
didn't attend last night's dance, who didn't participate in sports, or the
group Olympics, is immeasurably offensive. It ROBBED each and every one of
those families, who worked just as hard, of a moment of accomplishment that
cannot be replaced. I can assure you I'm not the only irate parent that feels
this way - I may be the only one to reach out to the staff about it.
I will reserve commenting about the speeches as it would be my personal opinion
and detract from the point I'm trying to make; which is this: next time, just
invite the families of the kids who got 20+ stickers, the families of the kids
in the majority of the pictures, then we - the average family - won't feel as
if we were insignificant or forgotten, we'll know it as a fact, but you
wouldn't have wasted our time. Every single student that didn't get their name
called received exactly zero praise or recognition from the school; so much for
"once a warrior, always a warrior", more like, "well, if we
called your name or got pictures of you, you're still a warrior."
I have two more children that will potentially attend CMS in the coming years;
I hope that this "ceremony" will be modified to include EVERYONE, not
just the more popular students or the overachievers.
The only saving grace of this entire fiasco is that my son enjoyed it. That's
all I have. He saw a glimpse of himself in the slide show, that's all, just one
small snippet, but to him it was fine, so I'm sure the students had a great
time. Now, I hope that your staff takes a moment to realize the amount of
brokenhearted families you have created buy allowing today's ceremony to
commence the way it did.
Highly disappointed, X
I did all I could to express myself in a way that could not
be misunderstood. I felt better and honestly that’s all I really needed. I had
hoped for some kind of response, and I did receive one the following week:
Hello Ms. X,
I am very sorry that you did not appreciate the moving up
celebration that was held last Friday. It is not our intent, at all, to hold a
“commencement” type of graduation ceremony. Philosophically, I believe that a
graduation ceremony, in which every student walks across the stage and receives
a certificate, should be reserved for high school graduation. The intent was to
bring the students together to recap the year together, and to offer them our
congratulations as a class for completing middle school. I am glad that your
son did enjoy the experience, though.
Best Regards,
(withheld name for privacy)
My only thought was “Really? This is what I get?” Now, not
only disappointed in the school but feeling as if my intelligence was being insulted
as I received a pat on the head; I responded with:
It was not my desire to have pomp
& circumstance type commencement; my feelings are that every single student
deserved some kind of individual recognition. Call all the kids names for each
"hall" that completed middle school; eliminate 2 student speakers,
and 1 music bit and there would have been plenty of time to allow for a sense
pride and completion for each and every single student that worked hard both
years.
I would have been camera happy just to have my
son stand up and have his name recognized - as I’m certain A LOT of other
parents would have been too. All the families of average students got shafted,
plain and simple. I would honestly be ashamed if I were responsible for that
event and would offer a public apology.
However, I am only one parent. My original
note will probably bring some chuckles to you and your staff. I don't care. I
said my piece; I appreciate your response at least letting me know that it was
received and read, thank you for your time.
When did the education system become so disappointing? Did my
mom have to fight this hard against common sense among the staff members? I
know for a fact there was some ruckus caused by my mom when I was in school – I
still get to hear those stories, but what happened?
Since when is it OK to
overlook all of the hard work of the “average” student? Everyone whines and
complains when someone gets offended, but heaven forbid we pat a student on
the back for doing their best even if it doesn't compare to the overachievers. Don’t get me wrong, if your kid sucks and failed
to meet standards then there are consequences to be had; my Riley just barely
scraped by last year (he was quite lucky that they don’t “hold back” kids in
middle school).
What do you think? What would you have done in my position? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you!
I promise I have yet to fall of the edge of the earth! Just being extremely busy lately; including crocheting my butt off!
I started - and completed - the Circle of Love Afghan from Moogly (the link will take you to the free pattern). I love it! It was definitely a time suck for me as it took about a month of me working on it - sometimes only a row a night, but it is now beautiful. One thing I'd make sure you take note of if you're thinking of starting this project - make sure you use Red Heart With Love as suggested. I initially grabbed Red Heart Soft - similar colors - since my Michael's and Joanne's didn't have Red Heart With Love in the right colors, but way different in the project! The Red Heart With Love is great and makes the blanket really plush! I plan on making another one - with different colors. If you decide to make this afghan, I would love to see your finish products!
As I mentioned above, I bought the quantity of yarns in Red Heart Soft for the Circle of Love Afghan, to which I didn't have a project for them, until this last weekend. I got a new car!
1980 Plymouth Volare (aka: Veronica) - she has a slant-6 :)
What does this have to do with crocheting? Well, as with any other 34 year-old car, the upholstry is original, and slightly trashed, especially the driver seat part of the front bench. Then (tick... tick... tick... ding!) Inspiration! I'm going to yarn bomb it! The colors of Red Heart Soft are going to be great with the rest of the colors in the car - white, gray and 3 shades of red/red-ish. I've already made about 5 squares in various color sequences. It will take some time, as I'm considering not only large squares but smaller squares with some rectangles mixed in. I'll have more detailed pics later including the before and after shots.
In addition to all this, I've stopped taking my brain candy - saw some information from my pharmacy about how the meds I was taking could lead to excessive menstrual issues (just what you wanted to hear about on a crochet blog, right?) It hasn't been too bad, I'm fussier, but I can feel the mood swings coming so that I can warn everyone! I'm not sure if being off them is good or bad, I was starting to think the meds had hit a plateau anyway, so I'm absolutely easier to distract - especially if it is pretty yarn related stuff. Amazing Adam and I have even had syncronized snarky moments together! It was a pretty amazing moment!
Have any of you used your crafting skills to bring new life into old items? if so, what was the item? I'd love to hear about it - and see pictures if any of you have them!
Remember you can always find me on Facebook feel free to stop by and drop me a note, I'd love to hear from you guys!
