Tuesday, July 31, 2007

What's in a name?

Yes, I am sorry there wont be pictures of my finished knitting because I didnt finish! So that means I lied. I do however have a good excuse. My grandmother had to be rushed to the emergency room because she fell and broke her hip (she broke the other side a few years ago). She had to have emergency surgery and other tests because they thought she had a stroke.

They did am MRI of her pelvis and found the fracture and they also did an MRI of her head. They found a huge tumor thats been causing some problems she has been experiencing lately. She has been having more mood swings, headaches and balancing issues. They are saying that its most likely metastasis from the tumor she has in her lung which has been there for a few years. Whatever it is its very slow growing and she is not a good candidate for that type of surgery to remove either one due to her weak heart. This is the reason she has a DNR order (do not resuscitate) in place.

My parents are away on vacation now and I believe they are trying to get back home today or tomorrow because right now my husband and I are the ones making decisions about her care. I dont mind being that person but I think my Mom should be here because I would be there for my Mom if the roles were reversed. My sister (who wont have anything to do with me or my family for reasons I dont know but are discussed at great length in other posts in this blog, and I am not going to go into it here) is the one that brought her to the emergency room the day after she fell. Initially they found a major urinary tract infection with a high fever.

The most common reason for sepsis in the elderly is a UTI because the bladder is extremely vascular and when there is an infection it gets into the blood a lot quicker then if it were somewhere else. After going to the hospital and getting her room changed to my husbands floor and convincing her to go for the MRI (she was VERY nervous and they used general anesthesia just to get her in the machine) which took a lot of convincing on our part. We made sure she got a sedative before going down for the test. After finding the hip fracture they wanted to get her into surgery as soon as possible because she was in so much pain.

I called my husband this morning to check on her and she is doing well, thank God. I was so stressed yesterday that when we got home I had the biggest migraine on the face of the earth. I took every kind of medication I could take and nothing worked. I couldnt knit, bead or do anything for that matter. I did however load these pictures from the past few days of new stuff I made and of the kitties.

Here are Nicky and Tommy having fun. Its so cute to watch them play together. Nicky is one tough cookie!
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This is a crocheted necklace, anklet and earing set made with blue shell beads. I am going to try and name my jewelry because all the magazines and message boards that show handmade jewelry all have funky, cute names. Bear with me if they sound a little silly so here is goes.

Tangled Up in Blue
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In the Pink
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My most sophisticated and fancy set yet. I think this set would look great on a bride and the crystals I used are vintage from a very long time ago. Lets put it this way, my grandmother had these strung beautifully on a necklace that my son broke. My 1st intention was to fix it up the same way but I would never wear it like that. I decided to break it up and use it in my jewelry because I can make it look much nicer than before.

Something Old, Somthing New
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Charming Chocolate Clover
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Owl's Night-Fall
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On a very exciting note a fellow artist is showcasing me in her blog!! Her name is Artsy Clay and she makes gorgeous polymer clay jewelry that you can purchase at her personal store on Etsy. If you click on the link in my sidebar you can get to her blog and see the post she wrote about me and you will also find the link there that takes you to her store. She can also be comissioned to make a special pet in your life from a photo which is something I am thinking of having her do of my 3 doxies before they get any older.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Sorting Hat Speaks

I always knew I would be on Gryffindor and I am sooo happy I am not in Slytherin!

The sorting hat says that I belong in Gryffindor!








Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those with brave deeds to their name."

Students of Gryffindor are typically brave, daring, and chivalrous.
Famous members include Harry, Ron, Hermione, Albus Dumbledore (head of Hogwarts), and Minerva McGonagall (head of Gryffindor).



Take the most scientific Harry Potter 
Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now! 




While we are on the subject of Harry Potter, I am reading the book and 1/4 of the way through it. So far its OK and I am hoping it doesnt disappoint in the end otherwise there will be hell to pay! Only kidding of course, I just want it to be a nice good defeats evil sort of ending. Call me a dreamer but I thought Jo Rowling wants to give the proper message to kids and that would be the proper message in my book. But its not my book so who the heck am I to say what should be the end, right? I should finish it soon but there are other things clogging up my time like this jewelry thing, knitting, the kids and all the things that go along with summer and warm weather. I have some more pictures but havent put them on the computer yet. I promised myself that the next post will contain some finished knitting but I dont know if I can keep that promise and get all the other things done. I am 80-85% sure I will have the knitted Moccasin Slippers completed (from the Lion Brand Sock book) by my next post. If I am feeling ambitious and if this Starry Night Shawl class doesnt come back to haunt me (and its going to, I just know it) then I will make these as Christmas gifts for a few special people like my Mom and daughter. I am thinking of ways to make it a more manly knit so I can make them for my DH. Well, I am off to hit the book store before it rains.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Pictures and stuff

I found this old picture of my cat in my phone and I wanted to post it here. It was taken sometime last year, I believe. I still find myself getting teary eyed when I think about him.
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In my experiments with wire I made this bracelet. Everything you see on it was made by me including the clasp. I didnt use sterling silver because I wasnt sure how it would come out but instead used silver plated copper wire. I still think its nice no matter what it is and I have been contemplating making it with copper in a smaller gauge.
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Here are two of the new Koigu colors that I picked up last week. They are certainly bright!
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Some new knitting books, a cute Lantern Moon Notepad and Post-Its that say "SABLE-Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy":
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I am actually making the Moccasin Slippers in the Lion Brand Sock book. I finished one in an evening. I just have one more to go and then a FO that I can post here! Yippy! Can you tell its been a while since I had a finished object? LOL The slippers call for Lion Brand Thick & Quick Yarn and sizes 13 and 11 needles so thats why they are such a quick knit. It was so hot today I havent worked on the second one yet.

This bracelet was actually a kit that I altered a bit because it was about 3 inches to small. I added the small Swarovski crystals in it and in the earings.
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A couple of kilt pins (or wherever you want to pin them if you dont have a kilt) I made from wire and awareness beads:
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This one is made with a cross pendant and shell beads:
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This is a design that I have had in my head since buying these beads. Last night I finally put them all together and was so happy to see how they came out. I LOVE this set and plan on making another one with different colored beads.
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Today was the last day of my son's summer school/camp. I was trying not to cry when I went to pick him up. The teachers that he had there were the absolute best and he loved them like they were a part of the family. His teacher, Wendy, refused to say good-bye and said that we have to come and visit next month because she is going to be in the classroom the whole month of August. I actually want to invite her over the house for a visit before my son starts Kindergarten. I cant believe that the summer is almost over. It has gone by so fast but I am not complaining because I HATE the heat or I should say the humidity and I welcome the fall weather anytime it wants to get here.

I dont know if I mentioned it in the last post but I went to get my hair cut last week. I havent had it cut since May and it was a tad unrully and in need of some dead ends being trimmed off. He didnt take much off, just a little. It looks so good when I left the salon then walking out into the blasting heat it melted or I melted actually and it curled right up! I love my hair curly but when its not long enough there is not enough weight to hold the curl down and it springs up. My Mom loves it and I do to when its 'just right' but when I have somewhere to go I blowdry it straight or in a flip. In other words I like to wear it different ways and there is nothing wrong with that. I dont make a habit of abusing my hair since its practically brand new! I forgot to take a picture after the cut but it looked exactly like the last time he cut it but an inch longer.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Bad, Bad Blogger & A Long Post to make up for it

Its been a long time (again) since I posted but you will be happy to know that I will make up for it with some pictures! Before I post them though the reason I havent been blogging is because both my kids have been sick. My son had the Coxackie Virus and my daughter had Pneumonia again. She came home the other day with a 104 fever and said she couldnt breathe. Her camp took her to a Bluefish game and it was raining on and off all day. Instead of calling the game off and taking these kids back to the camp, they kept them sitting out in the rain! She was saturated when she came home and I couldnt figure out why.
My husband took her to the emergency room that night and confirmed what we thought. When she is better we have to take her to a pulmonologist to see if she needs daily medications to ward off getting pneumonia.

I also had my 1st visit to a dentist in almost 3 years! WOW! Yes, there were more pressing medical issues going on so I put the teeth on hold. I thought that I was in for a big surprise but the dental hygenist said my teeth had very little plaque on them and my gums didnt look to bad either. I was told by my old (jerk) dentist that I had serious periodontal disease and that I needed a gum transplant and all that jazz. Personally, I think he was money hungry and so did my husband. When it was time for me to see the dentist he told me that I had very nice teeth and that he couldnt believe just by looking at my teeth that it was so long since I had seen a dentist. I was more than happy when leaving the office!

I have been busy making jewelry and here are some of the fruits of my labors. This is a wire wrapped ring with a Swarovski crystal heart in the center.
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This is a polymer clay necklace that I bought on Etsy from an awesome clay artist called ArtsyClay. She has a blog at:
http://artsyclay.blogspot.com/
I fell in love with this the 1st time I saw it because it reminds me of my dearly departed cat Dom and I. I have received several compliments on it since purchasing it last week. I am thinking about comissioning her to do my 3 doxies on a pendant.
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A butterfly (unknown species) on my favorite blooming plant on my deck:
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My Basil plant (my favorite herb)
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Rosemary & Dill
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A lone Tomato
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The cement stone marker I made for Dom's grave.
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Sunflowers that my husband bought me the other day.
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The Old Man howling for a Snausage (LOL)
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This is my first foray into the land of polymer clay. I made the shells, beads on the side of the turtle, the turtle itself and the small tan bead on the top. I made this for my daugher so I used a flexible wire so she can pull it over her head and not worry about clasps
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Swarovski Filagree Bracelet and Earings.
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Millifiori Cross Pendant and Wire wrapped marble necklace I made for my daugher.
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Necklace,bracelet & earings I designed and made. I ablsolutely love this combination of beads, Swarovski crystals and colors. I especially love the fact that the silver beads are little lady bugs and the blue beads are leaves so they go together very well. I loved these beads so much I bought them in a beautiful turquoise green with matching crystals.
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A close up of the Earings
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Today I ventured out to my LYS, Knitting Central, to check out and see if they had any more Panda Cotton. They had received a sample pack of 10 skeins that quickly sold out and I wanted some but was to late! Cynthia was trying to order more but the company that makes it (Crystal Palace) wont allow her to buy it in small quantities. They want her to purchase 70 skeins! For a small yarn shop thats crazy. I want to know who in these big companies makes these rules? They probably figure that you can get it online if you really wanted but there is one thing you cant do online and thats feel the yarn. Dont get me wrong, I love to give business to the indie dyers that sell only online but I also love going to Knitting Central and giving them my business. I just hope these online stores dont hurt the small yarn shops in the future. So if you shop online and buy yarn go and spend some money at your LYS also. I bought some Koigu and a couple of books. Pictures will be in the next post so I can keep you all in suspense. They are beautiful bright summer colors and I am not sure yet what I want to make or I should say what sock pattern I want to make out of them. I wanted to make the Knitty anklet pattern with the Panda Cotton but seeing thats not going to happen any time soon I was contemplating using the Koigu but also thinking of using Cascade Fixation due to the fact its more of a summer/early fall sock and I dont want it to be to hot. Well, I think I need to finish some WIP's that are hanging out here first and as you can see from my posts there hasnt been a FO in a long time. As a friend reminded me, the summer time is for going out and having fun and there will be plenty of time in the colder months to knit so dont worry about it! I'm not worried about it but I certainly wish I got the new Harry Potter book on audio so I can do more than one thing at a time!

Good news is that the Starry Night Shawl class in pushed back another month until 9/19 so I have another reprieve from the hexagon knitting which I wasnt much into after the 4th one anyway. I want to reach out and slap all these people that finish things so fast! SLAP! Slow down and enjoy the PROCESS of knitting. The procrastinator I am will wait until the last minute to knit my hexagons. Oh well.

Edited to add:
If anyone reading is interested in purchasing any jewelry made by me or if they would like me to make something in a certain color or stone they like, please, by all means, let me know. I have been asked by several people who have seen me wearing my jewelry if there was a place they could buy it. Sadly, right now I dont have an Etsy shop but it is something that I am thinking about setting up in the future.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

More Jewelry and a Little Knitting (really!)

I havent been a good blogger this summer but I dont think that anyone has so thats my excuse and I am sticking to it. I have some pictures for your viewing pleasure and one even has knitting content!

This is a necklace and earing kit that was bought long ago but just finished a few days ago:
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This is my own design and I especially like the wrapped stone with the matching wire:
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Here is the knitting I promised you. You might recognize the sock as the Blue Moon Socks that Rock June Kit in the Firebird colorway. The other blue cable is the strap of my cabled tank top that I am making from Berocco's Love it! and its very nice to work with, I just need to finish it! I also am behind with my Starry Night Shawl hexagons. I need to make 2 more by the 8th of August. I need to stop procrastinating about it and get it done.
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These are a necklace, earings and bracelet that I crocheted using 34 gauge wire and small stone chips in earth tones. I cant remember what the technical name for them are but my neighbor loved them so much that I gave them to her. She helped my husband with yardwork when I was sick and I wanted to do something to thank her.
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Last night DH and I went to see the new HP movie. I liked it but didnt like the fact that they left so much out of the movie that was in the book. I thought that the OOtP was the best out of all the books and you would think that they would have spent some more time explaining things in the movie. It would have made it 100% better. The good thing is that the last book comes out in a few days so I cant complain. All of my questions will be answered (I hope).

Monday, July 09, 2007

Some of my Jewelry

I had some requests for pictures of the jewelry that I have made to be all in one place as to make it easier for people to see it all instead of scrolling through my entire blog. I would like to honor this request with this post and these pictures. The 2 pieces missing from these are located in the post below. They are the square crystal with pink satin rope necklace and the pastel Swarovski double strand necklace.
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Sunday, July 08, 2007

Where's the Knitting??

It seems like a lot of blogland has been stuck in a knitting funk. I dont mean everyone but I am not the only one. Maybe because its to hot? Maybe I am busy doing other things. Summer time is a time for outdoor activities and when kids are involved well, there you have it. Camp starts tomorrow for my daughter and my son goes to his program on Wednesdays and Fridays. The rest of the time they are home are spent in the pool or on the slide or lately playing with the kitten. Its left me minumum time to blog or knit. I have been making stitch markers and jewelry though which I have some pictures to show off. The first is a crystal necklace and the second is my pastel swarovski crystal creation made from small bugle beads, swarovski's and a mixture of odd pastel beads in a two strand necklace that I made for myself.

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My Mom and I came up with a great incentive plan to make people donate to the Avon Breast Cancer walk that she is doing in October. Here is is:

For anyone that donates;
$50-$100 you get a handmade breast cancer awareness PIN to wear and show your support.
$150-$200 you get EARINGS in your color choice (bead or crystal colors) handmade and designed by me, CurlyBrunette.
$250-$300 you get a BRACELET in your choice of colors handmade and designed by me.
$350-$500 you get a NECKLACE in your choice of colors handmade and designed by me.
$550-$1000 you get a matching BRACELET and EARINGS in your choice of colors handmade and designed by me.
$1000+ you get "THE WORKS" which is a matching BRACELET, NECKLACE & EARINGS in your choice of colors handmade and designed by me.
If you are a knitter and would like a set of stitch markers instead of earings, thats something I can do for you also. Stitch markers come in sets of 5. Since I am not going to be able to do the walk due to my leg healing from surgery I wanted to be involved in some way and I think that this is an awesome way to do it. The walk is 39 miles! If it was 2-5 then I could do it but 39 miles is way over my limit. The Avon people were very nice about withdrawing me from the walk and said that if there is anything they could do to help to let them know. If you would like to donate to the walk please visit my Mom's Avon Beast Cancer Page. I will post the link in the side bar to make it easy.
I have seen the generousity of knitters through the Yarn Harlots blog with Knitters Without Borders and through Claudia's Blog with her fundraising for her MS Bike Tour so I know it can be done. I am asking all who read this blog if they would like to donate something whether it be a handpainted yarn or a handmade item to e-mail me with your idea or if you have something you would like to donate for the prize baskets please let me know. I am going to make several prize baskets that will be raffled off after the walk. All you have to do to get your name in the raffle hat is donate $20 or more. $20 will get you one ticket in the hat and $40 will get you two and so on. So $100 will get you 5 tickets in the hat. I am doing this because I not only want to meet the amount of money that my Mom raised last year but I want to exceed it! She raised close to $8,000 dollars last year and I know that with the support of the people that gave last year and all the new people that will give this year we will do it!

Here are some photos to update everyone on the kittens growth.

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I cant believe how much she has grown in just 10 days! I love the picture of her with her tongue out. She is a character!