nimbleknot

Lookie what I learned...

...yep. Wanted to learn for two years. I wanted to take a knitting class in 2006 but broke my hand. Injury, surgery, more therapy, another surgery=no knitting. But finally it happened. I took the class.

And I have to admit, it was tricky for me at first. My 40 year old brain was resisting. Plus holding the needles was a little tough with my less than perfect hand. But the knitting instructor had to be the most amazing and engaging lady I had ever met. Pat Tittizer was fantastic. She has been knitting for 50 years. To be able to sit and listen to her talk about her endeavors, plus show me how to knit was the absolute best way to spend two hours on a Monday evening. Pat is a retired programmer for IBM. But now, knitting consumes her entire life. While volunteering at a couple local knitting shops, teaching knitting and crocheting at the local Michael's, heading up a knitting guild, teaching knitting in the local school district, teaching knitting at University of Texas, she also has a display at Texas A&M University. A beautiful showing of her work. She is an absolutely lovely woman who cannot stop talking about knitting and was just as interested in what I was doing and creating. She has a zest for life and is passionate about her work.

While this is just a sample of what she was teaching me, I thought the yarn was a bit too fat. The circular needles were very clumsy for me, even though the idea of them is a great idea. So I ended up purchasing size ONE needles and a tiny bit of Perle embroidery tread. After a lot of squinting I figured five rows were equal to that of a postage stamp. That should be perfect for a bear scarf, no?

Oh yea, and while I thought last week couldn't get any worse? It did. I got sick with the flu. Bad. Five days. Don't get the flu.

The week from hell...

...somehow worked to my advantage. My daughter ended up being really sick with fever for five days. My husband and I took turns staying home from work. She ended up getting sicker and had to go back to the doctor today for more antibiotics. Flu. It's bad. She sleeps, I needlefelt.

I am liking this color scheme. Icy colors. Perfect since it's 30º outside and trying hard to sleet. We are wimps in Texas when it gets cold and even worse if things freeze. I sit at my kitchen table to work with a cup of coffee. Today I listened to 6 hours of Hannah Montana on television. Of course I can't watch it, otherwise I will stab myself.

Alice turned out quite cute. Someday I will have to make one of these bears and actually keep one. I love beading. It's therapeutic in an odd way. One stitch and bead at a time, so uniform and so lovely when complete. Another thing I like is backstitching, which is how I assemble the clothes. So simple yet so strong. I think that's why I love needlefelting and quilting. To take the most basic supplies and create something unique, lasting and hopefully memorable. To make something out of nothing, really.

Gee, she's almost as big as Effie.

I was so excited to find woolfelt by the yard at my local fabric store. I used to be able to get fat quarters of woolfelt at another store but they discontinued it. There is nothing like beading on buttery wool. I really want to try an elephant. My mom really likes elephants and thought I might take a stab at one, literally.

As I sit here I just remembered I was tagged by a couple people. I totally forgot. DANGIT! It's such a nice gesture and I have been a total slouch. Well crud. I need to go back and find out the questions I need to answer then make a list of the people I want to tag.

Effie

"Mommy, I found the biggest acorn EVER!"

Running across the street...

"...and I am naming it Effie."

My son yelled to me from across the street that he found the biggest acorn ever. Sure. Little did I know...it would fill my hand. I am used to the tiny acorns that crunch under my feet. He was right, it's the biggest one ever. I have never seen an acorn that big. Don't tell anyone, but I think Effie is on steroids.

WIP

I got a new sponge. Oh and there's a bear on it. It looks like the middle of fall but it's winter. It was 70º today and breezy. One more reason I love living in Texas. I am further along on this little bear but I am so darn bad about posting. I want to finish her up so I can have my husband take the photos.

Today has been all about ears. First, the vet. My lovely little poodle has hairy ears and the vet needs to pluck them and irrigate them. Our groomer plucks the hair but apparently it needs to be done every 4 weeks because our doggie's hair grows so fast. I also got some irrigation-type fluid for his ears. I have to fill them up every 2 weeks and massage it down the ear canal. It's just one of those things poodles need.

After irrigation, shots, ear plucking and a fecal exam, it's now time for a bath and teeth brushing. He's gonna love that.

When I got home from the vet my son was crying, "MY EARS HURT, I CAN"T HEAR." He never complains unless something is really wrong. He's hot and red in the face. Crud. It's Saturday.

I call the doctor and the answering people say their office is open at 1pm for a few hours. My husband doesn't wait to call, he drives over there. No lights, doors locked. He tries calling. Nothing. Drive home.

We call Urgent Care. "We don't take that insurance." Call two more urgent care places. No answer. What the hell? We call our insurace to have them tell us where to go..."I am sorry, our office hours are M-F 8-5..........." Sigh. I really don't want to pay $150 for the ER, but I will if I have to.

We call another urgent care..."Yes, we take that insurance but we need a referral from your primary care doctor. Then the co-pay is just an office visit because the paperwork is processed through your pediatrician."

THANK GOD! Now to get a hold of the attending physician on a Saturday evening. We call. Somebody says the physician will call us back. Yeah right.

Less than 10 minutes later the doctor calls and tells us to head over to urgent care and she will process the paperwork on Monday morning. I have to admit I was really leery that anybody would call us back, let alone the doctor and in less than 10 minutes.

I say all of this on the heels of watching Michael Moore's "Sicko." Which, if you live in America, this movie will scare the living crap out of you, even if you have health insurance. And if you don't have health insurance, I am really truly sorry. It's just not fair and the healthcare situation in this country is horrible and a real disgrace.

Anyway, my husband drove my son to the doctor. I stayed home because I have to get my daughter at a birthday party in a couple hours. Thought I would change sheets on everybody's bed and take a few moments on my blog. I think I'll crack open my new bag of Gold Coast Starbuck's coffee because that bear is going to be finished my the end of this weekend!

P.S. I know I got tagged by a few people and I want to do this very bad! I think it's a fantastic idea. I need to finish my custom order bears first, then I can clearly think about playing the tag game. Thank you to the people that tagged me!!!!!!!

Happy New Year

This is the Pedernales (pronounced "Pur-de-nalis") Electric Company in Johnson City, Texas. My husband took this photo from the side and the ambiance cannot be appreciated until you are up close in person underneath the oaks. We come here every year to stroll around, look at lights, see Santa and welcome the holiday season.

If you wander two blocks the other way the courthouse sits in the middle of town. You go inside and the local gardening ladies have a huge display of Christmas ornaments they have made and sell for pennies. You cannot walk out of there without a huge bag of goodies.

Tomorrow I am back to work. No more sleeping in until 9:00am. Hello 5:45...ugh. Thank goodness there are only two days left in the week.

Holiday Bear

Once again I am finding myself trying to type in between homework and somebody yelling at me to get them a roll of toilet paper. With the stress of the holidays I have developed an eye twitch. It started a week ago and has not gone away. It is driving me absolutely crazy. I am hoping a little egg nog and brandy will make it stop. If not, I'll at least enjoy my holiday drink.

I managed to squeak out another bear before Christmas. He was a special order and has already gone to his new home. His name is "Clark in the Box."

He fits neatly inside his box.

I have some custom orders on the table and will share those as soon as I have some worthy photos. Until then, I am praying for this eye twitch to disappear. Ugh!!!

A Christmas Rabbit

I finished him...and he's already sold! WOW. Thank you to everybody for their inquiries. And thank you to Jen Duncan who will be receiving Mr. Christmas Rabbit in the mail very soon.

I forgot I had these cute tree buttons jammed into a drawer. But of course the minute I need them they are no where to be found. I dumped out five drawers and finally found them. Worth the mess I think.

I collect cake plates and domes. Most of the time there is no cake. And if there is, I eat it. My bears and other creations always go under a dome to keep them dust free. Plus they make a lovely display in my dining room while they are searching for a home.

I am so busy right now. I am staying up way too late. But once I get those creative thoughts going, I canNOT turn them off. I have a some custom orders before Christmas and have started my waiting list again. Don't hesitate to email if you have something in mind. Thank you to everyone who looks and comments on my blog. I appreciate every word and every ping!

almost done!

Everytime I think about my blog I get these grand ideas of  sitting down with a cup of coffee and spending an hour typing away. I read other blogs that are so witty, creative and fresh. In reality, I type in between my kids homework and somebody yelling at me to turn on bath water. Then I have to jump up in the middle of a sentence because the bath tub is too full. Sigh. But I did manage to work on this little guy. I am not finished with him yet. Just a few more adjustments and then he will be up for auction.

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I really enjoy this holiday. It's the day you are forced to slow down, relax, chat about old times and not feel guilty about lying around. We had a great dinner, probably one of the best I've had. I decided to forego all the "casserole" type dishes and lean towards fresh and colorful. We ate a bit of everything and nobody felt lousy or fat afterward...nobody had to unbutton their pants!

While I did the dishes my husband gave my son a bath. Why is it that husbands can never just "give the kids a bath?" Something always has to happen. While I was wiping up the table my son came downstairs and said he had a bath in whip cream. I never gave it a second thought until I went upstairs and saw the mess in the tub.

A new can of shaving cream. The whole can of shaving cream.

I wonder if he ever got clean?

How can you be mad at that face?

Somehow my husband redeemed himself with cleaning the whole bathroom. Then shows me these photos. How could I be mad?

I didn't stop making bears. Really. I have one on my desk that I need to finish, and another special order. It's just that when I went back to work full time, my bear making took a backseat. I don't think there are 24 hours in a day anymore. More like 20.

I am one of those people that shop for Christmas WAY ahead so that I can go out during the holidays and enjoy all the little happenings around town. I don't stress about gifts, parties or food. I love the holiday season and want to soak it all up. It's 10:30 on Thanksgiving night. My dishes are clean, my kids and parents are asleep. My husband and I are doing something a little crazy that we've never done. We are going Christmas shopping at midnight! We are going out for coffee and pastries and headed to our beautiful outlet mall. They are opening at midnight! We aren't crazy shoppers looking for deals, we just like to hang out, shop and finish a sentence before one of our kids interrupt.

New Masthead

Now that I have a new air conditioner, to the tune of $9100, I got a little creative.  Really though, doesn't that sound like a small fortune? Ugh. But I am happy that our home is now properly set-up and our electric bill should be a little over $100 instead of $400 per month. It was no small task. It took three men 10 hours to install and re-duct our entire home. Our home is now zoned and it has an air purification system. I am happy about that. But honestly, the BEST thing about getting a new air conditioner? Is the box it came in. It's literally 4 feet sqaured and is now the permanent residence of my five year old son, complete with door, window and mail slot. He even has his own address.

Okay, so yea...the masthead. I wanted something a little more colorful to represent some of my work. All the bears have new homes all over the world. And for the first time, I have NO bears! I am sold out, thanks to everyone who has so kindly taken an interest in my creations. But I am working on "something" right now and will hopefully have it completed in the next few days.