Recovering

Well, that nasty little bug that I had almost beaten came back with a vengeance this weekend. I broke down and went to the doctor yesterday (I'm so thankful that Walgreens Clinic is open on Sunday) and got some antibiotics. Don't worry, Mom, I've been loading up on Vitamin C too. The bad news...I haven't felt like crocheting. I'm feeling better today but my ears have plugged up pretty bad so I can't hear anything.

The good news is, I'm flying home on Wednesday to see my family. I'm really, really hoping I can hear by then. I'm so excited to see everyone and we're having a big get together on Saturday, which is always a blast.

And I'm trying to decide what project(s) to take with me. I'm thinking a scarf maybe. Or I could stick with my white squares, something lightweight and portable. Any ideas?

Randomness and Memories

I apologize for not posting sooner.  Things were really busy and then I got some kind of weird bug that didn't make me sick, other than a pretty bad sore throat, but it wiped me out.  I had no energy at all and today I'm finally feeling like myself again.

So, in my blogging absence, I took a knitting class!  It went really well and the teacher said my stitches look really good and she's going to try to find an easy pattern for me so I can actually make something other than 4 X 4 swatches...

I'm really excited about my next class, I'll keep practicing in the meantime.  It still feels a little awkward and slow but I'm getting better. 

I also started a scarf.  I saw this yarn and couldn't resist the color.  It's so pretty and sooooo soft.

There is an edging to put on each end and then it's finished.

On a reminiscent note, I've recently started to taking my lunch to work so every evening before I go to bed, I get everything ready for the next day.  It just so happens that I thought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sounded pretty good for lunch this week so I went to the store and got the stuff.  You'd think the PB&J would be staples in any house but apparently, not mine.  When I opened the top of the peanut butter, I remembered what my mom used to do when we were kids.  Every time we opened a new jar of Jif...

she'd take the knife and draw a smiley face in the top of the fresh jar. 

Then I started making the sandwich...just the way my dad always made them.  You mix the peanut butter and jelly together, and then spread it on the bread.  For some reason it tastes better that way.

It's funny how memories like that stay with you.  Little things that bring back your childhood.  Every time I open a fresh peanut butter jar, I always draw a smiley face in it and I always mix the PB&J together.  And I will do these things for my kids too.  I consider them little expressions of love.  I love you, Mom. I miss you, Dad.

I'm so excited!  I ordered this painting from Julie King and it is so pretty!

You can read her blog here.  Her artwork is so amazing.  She does torn paper collage, photography and has ventured into painting with this piece.  You should definitely check out her Etsy store. I absolutely love it.  The girl reminds me of myself.  There is wisdom in her eyes and hope in her smile. Moving to Florida and being on my own has been such an amazing experience for me, a journey, if you will.  I'm finding myself and growing and learning about who I am and who I want to be.

I've also been working hard to finish the aprons for my friends.  They are coming along very well...

The cream and sage one is all finished and the blue and sage one just needs flowers...and please kindly ignore that I sewed the strap on backwards.  That will be corrected very soon.

I also finished the blanket for my friends baby shower.



And I started one of the two scarves my friend's mom ordered.



And this week I bought this book!!


I'm thinking about making a few to send with each order when someone buys something from my Etsy shop. That would be neat, huh? And I've ordered a book of shawls and wraps. I cannot WAIT for that to come in.

Well, I'm off to finish an apron or a scarf...eeny, meeny, miny, mo...

I think my endorphin factory is broken.  Now, granted, my knowledge of endorphins is restricted to the movie Legally Blonde, but according to Reese Witherspoon, exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, happy people don't kill people...they just don't.  I'm not UNhappy, but I'm not feeling any particular additional happiness after my little attempt at exercising this evening.  And furthermore, I believe that I may have done something to tick off Denise Austin.  I don't know what it was but it must have been bad because she is trying to kill me!  Maybe her endorphin factory isn't working either.  At any rate, she has something against me BIG time.  Whew. 

So, I know you've been waiting with bated breath to see what's going on in the world of Drea.  (See, the sarcasm?  I'm not usually sarcastic...it's a lack of endorphins.)  I do have stuff to show you...good stuff. 

I've decided to give knitting another try.  I follow the Yarn Harlot's blog, she is a pretty well known knitter and has written several books...she's hilarious.  I stumbled across her blog and after reading one entry decided I had to go back to 2004 when she first started blogging to read everything she'd ever written.  She's that good.  She makes some of the most beautiful shawls and the coolest looking socks and I want to be able to do that.  So, here's a look at my dubious knitting...



Look at me knit! Now, while it perhaps looks like I've been moderately successful at this, looks can be deceiving. Knitting takes FOREVER! It is painstaking and you have to think about every stitch. And it's probably pretty funny to watch. I have a death grip on one needle, the other needle is flopping around all over the place. The cats won't come anywhere near me. There is a very deep crease between my eyebrows and I'm afraid I might be going just a little bit cross-eyed. I don't remember crocheting ever being this difficult. I'm not giving up but I am taking a break. I've started an apron hand towel for my friend. There's not enough of it to warrant a picture yet.

I've also made a discovery. Remember the coverlet I was drooling over? (Yes, here we go again.) Well, look what I made!!


I think it just might work. Does it look familiar? It should.


It turns out, if you make the center of my white squares with a larger thread and hook, it becomes what I've been searching for. Now, I just need to figure out how to easily hook these squares all together. But that will have to wait for another day. I have an apron to finish and knitting to master. Wish me luck!