Stress Releif

Since finding out about Milly's surgery, I've been crocheting like crazy, just trying to get some stress releif. It's amazing how having your mind focused on something "mindless" can help. So I made a cute little caterpillar stuffed toy for Milly and I've started a Round Ripple Baby Afghan for her as well.

The little caterpillar is supposed to have googly eyes, but I was worried about her ripping those off and eating them, so I sewed buttons on instead. I figured sewing was a little more sturdy than glue. I used Caron Simply Soft Brites for the yarn. Found the pattern here. This worked up really fast and it's soo cute!




The afghan is a 12 point star shape. I've seen lots of pictures on the web of finished ones and they are just beautiful, and they look easy to make. Ha! Maybe I'm doing something wrong, or maybe it'll work itself out, but the damned thing won't lay flat, it's ruffly. My other complaint is that it's more like a 12 rounded edges shape, than 12 points. Oh well, it still looks cute and it's not like my 5 month old can tell that it's not perfect. I'm using this pattern and a Jo-Ann's brand yarn called Sensations Bellezza Collection Tesoro. It's 100% wool and sooooooooooooo soft. The plan is fot it to go cream (center), purple, cream, pink, cream, green and then (depending on size) a final row of cream.

Milly-Bear Bump Update

We saw the pediatric neurosurgeon today about the Bump on Milly's head. and they said that it is a dermoid cyst. Because it is a slow growing type of cyst, they want to remove it before it gets too big, imbeds itself into her skull or becomes inflamed/infected. We see a pediatric plastic surgeon on October 15 for a consult and she will be having surgery to remove it sometime after she is 6 months old. They made it seem like a fairly common procedure, under general anesthesia, but out-patient. I'm kind of nervous about it, but it's all still sinking in.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was a crazy week in our house for some reason, so most nights did not go as planned. Hopefully, this week will be better.

Monday - Baked Chicken with fried potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Tuesday - Kaitlyn has a school football game that she has to attend for band, so it'll be an easy night - either frozen dinners or pizza there.

Wednesday - Mac-n-Cheese bake with turkey-dogs and green beans.

Thursday - Broccoli and 3 Cheese Quiche with croisants and fruit. Never got to make this one last week, and I really, really want it.

Friday - Vege Tacos with spanish rice and refried beans.

Saturday - BBQ Chicken with garlic buttered roasted potatoes and carrots.

Sunday - Free Night, no plans.

Am I Crazy?

I think I might be being a bit over-ambitious. Here's my "to make" list for Christmas gifts. So far.

3 Purses/Bags
5 Hat/Scarf/Mitten Combos
2 (possibly 3) Hat/Scarf Combos
1 Car Smelly-Good Hangy Thingy
1 Shawl

Seeing it typed out, I'm having a little bit of an "EEEK!" moment. But then I think, even with miinimal crochet time daily, I can get a scarf done in two days. So maybe I just need to plan better, and get started. Now.

Oh, and a question for you - is crocheted/knitted stuff girly? I asked my hubby if he thought a color that I was using was boyish enough, and he said that no color could make a crocheted item boyish enough. If crocheted/knitted stuff was only for girls, why are there soo many patterns for men's items? Pattern books with men modeling the products?

Hmph. I'm not speaking to him at the moment.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Baked Spaghetti - WW Pasta, sauce w/ Boca crumbles, zuchini and broccoli, topeed with parmeseana nd mozzarella cheese and baked in a cassarole dish. I always make a HUGE dish of this so that I have left-overs to take to work for lunch for a few days.

Tuesday: Italian turkey sausage with Pioneer Woman's Twice Baked Potatoes and green beans. The kids and hubby loved the potatoes soo much last week, they asked for them again.

Wednesday: Breaded & fried chicken legs with mac-n-cheese and peas.

Thursday: Broccoli and 3 Cheese Quiche with croisants.

Friday: Pan-seared steak with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner! Pancakes, scrambled eggs and fried ham.

Sunday: Take-out night - either Pizza or Chinese.

Crochet updates

I finished the Crochet Hobo bag, and I love it! I wore it to work on Friday and got 3 compliments. Of course, I made sure to let them know that I made it and they each oohed and ahhed appropriately.

I also made one of the One Skein Scarfs from the SnB: Happy Hooker book. I used this really pretty, deep red yarn that I have. Each time I look through that book, I find more stuff to make. I also made a hat to match it. It's a little big, but that's ok.


I decided that since I'm soo into crocheting right now, that all of my family will be receiving crochet gifts this year. Soooo, I decided to join my first ever CAL. It should be fun! It's a knit and crochet KAL-CAL, so anyone who wants to join is welcome. Click the button below to check it out.

Ok, Ok, I lied.

But how could I pass it up?!

In an earlier blog post, I said that I would never buy yarn at JoAnn's or Michael's again. Um, yeah, about that...

I went to Michael's today searching for a purse strap for my nearly complete Hobo Bag. Didn't find a strap I liked, but did find 4 skeins of decent yarn for a buck a pop. Seriously, $1 each, how could I not buy that?

Then, I headed over to JoAnn's, still in search of the purse strap. Found that, and 6 balls of super-soft yarn at $2.37 each and 4 balls of this cool suede type yarn for $1.97 each. Had to have it.

I'll be storing these at my office. Why, you ask? Because I like being married and don't really want my hubby to go balistic when he finds out I bought MORE yarn. lol

Speaking of my nearly complete Hobo Bag - tada! Isn't it purty? I just need to get the lining in and attach the purse strap and it will be DONE! Yay me!