Harry Potter Birthday Party.

First of all, let me just say, a huge risk involved in having a child in your life (even if it's a friend's little one), that no one ever tells you about, is that they will inevitably fall in love with something, at some point, that is no longer popular with anyone else. For example - Lyam's obsession with Harry Potter.

Now before you start rolling your eyes and yelling at the monitor, I know, the last movie JUST came out on disk. But they're already getting set up to do the Disney thing and "vault" the collection. Which means everything Harry Potter has suddenly gotten even harder to find and more expensive even than it was before.

$5.79 plus shipping for 12 napkins with Daniel Radcliffe's picture on it? I don't think so.

$7.99 for 8 plates with the logo on it? Forget it.

The old Wilton Harry Potter Bust pan that retailed for $11.99 and could be gotten cheaper with a coupon, now is discontinued and only available used starting at (I'm not kinding) $34.50 + plus shipping! And there's no guarantee that a used cake pan won't be too warped to use.

But Lyam had to have a Harry Potter Birthday and Lisa and I were determined to make it happen. So we went online and we found a Hogwarts Cake Set, complete with figurines of Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. And it was a decent price and eligible for free shipping from Amazon! Jackpot!

Then is showed up in the mail. 3 days before the party and it is the saddest, most pathetic thing you have ever seen - with no instructions or suggestions about cake size or anything. But the figures are good. Like, really good. Good enough to make it worth the money anyway. So I figure I can work with this.

I bought the Wilton "Romantic Castle Set." It's meant to make a fairy tale princess castle, but also has intructions for a "Medieval Fortress" and at this point, I'm feeling like anything would be close enough.

So after about a million false starts and a last minute realization that I was short a box of cake mix, we finally get the cake going.

With the last minute addition of Rice Crispie Treats for the top layer, we're in business.

Then I realize I don't have my little round detail tip. And I'm at someone else's house. In the middle of not much. Miles and miles from any legitimate cake or candy supply store. So we head to bed with the decision to hit Walmart early in the morning.

I bought some icing writers and a cheap ass, good enough to get through round tip and we're back to finishing up the cake.

Decorated with banners to match the streamers around the house and everything. With the addition of our heroes, it turned out to be an impressing castle and a pretty passable Hogwarts.

The figures really were very good, it's a shame I couldn't just get them without the crushing disappointment that was the rest of the set they came in.

And while the decorating was a bit hurried in places and a little clumsy due to the belated realization that I hadn't brought all of my tools with me, the cake was a huge hit.

Can't take the heat!

I'm dying for the weather to take a turn towards fall! I can't wait to take the nephew apple picking again, I think this year he'll be able to help make applesauce! I love jack o'lanterns and colorful leaves and temperatures in my kitchen that allow for pots to bubble away without making the whole downstairs hot and gross!

Most of all, I look forward to actually being able to sit under an afghan or a quilt to work on it! I have a baby afghan to finish for Dave and Julie and the baby is coming up fast! She's due the beginning of October and I have almost half the afghan to finish, but without air conditioning in most of the house, I couldn't even consider working on it.

I have a quilt top that needs to be made into a quilt and I have a huge set of Dresden Plates that need to be made into a quilt top and then finished off. I have a few sewing projects I'd like to do for the nephew, too!

More than anything, I'm tired of making fabric yo-yo's because it's too hot to work on anything else. Not that I dislike making yo-yo's, I just like to have a choice.

I do love summer because of my garden, but I get very little done with yarn or any larger projects.

Haven't given up.

Those of you who follow my other blog, Live Like a Hippy, will have seen me posting like crazy about homemade spa goodies, especially Lip Balm. Have no fear, I haven't stopped crocheting.

I've actually been working on a pattern book! The working title is "Creature Comforts" and it's going to be filled with animal inspired winter gear, for little kids and big kids! So far, I've got a Snuggly Diamond Back scarf, the Shark Attack Hat, a Frog hat, and the Brain Worm Scarf/hat combo.

I'm hoping to come out with roughly a dozen patterns when all is said and done. Also, now that my arm is healed (I fell victim to all the ice in Allentown the other week) I should be able to do a lot more crochet work. I'll gonna finish up the laptop sleeve I'm working on, so I can keep my shiny new Toshiba shiny and new and then dig right back into the Creature patterns.

I've also got a couple of new ideas bouncing around for the Fishin' Buddies booklet. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten that a lot of you are here for the free stuff. I've got a couple ideas in that category too.

My Mother-In-Law

I love my mother-in-law. She's a sweet grandmotherly type, who almost makes me feel guilty about not being the type of woman who could her son into kids he doesn't want. Almost. Her name is Dot. (I'm not kidding.)

She called us up the other day and asked if I wanted to take her arts and crafts supplies off her hands because she wasn't going to be doing anything with them anymore. Because it's no fun without Lois (the neighbor lady across the street who has also given up doing arts and crafts). Because she doesn't like to shop for supplies without Lois, who won't tag along because she'll be tempted to buy something that she won't use anyway because it's cute.

So the husband tells his adorable mother that I said yes, I''ll be down to take a look at what she has. I called her back later when I had my work schedule handy and told her when I'd be down. I get the in-laws house and I can't hear the pugs barking (Ollie and Ruby) and Dot is talking absolutely forever to answer the door.

Just when I've almost decided that "Something Terrible" has happened, she finally opens the door. Turns our she broke her foot. I can't hear the pugs because she let them out that morning and the porch steps are a giant pain in the ass with the huge orthotic boot she's wearing and she hasn't bothered to let them back in.

So I look around the living at the half dozen or so totes and decide that I'll just take it all. Then Dot points out that there's more totes down the hallway (which is about three more, plus a pile of grapevine wreaths). So at this point I'm thinking no big deal.

I asked Dot if she wanted me to go through the stuff at their house or bring it home and return what I don't want or what? She says that anything I don't take she's just going to throw out. I said, do you just want me to take everything, and if I can't use it, just find another home for it?

Dot says "Could you?!?! I mean I don't want you to be stuck with stuff you won't use. I don't want you to take it home and then tell everyone that your mother-in-law stuck you with an incredible pile of shit and that you don't want any of it and don't know what to do because you couldn't say no, but it's a bunch of useless shit and you don't want it."

I said confidently, "No, no problem, I can find homes for anything I won't use." Secretly wondering how I'm going to do this, but I've already volunteered to take it all.

Then Dot says "There's more in the spare bedroom."

"That's okay, I'll just have to make a bunch of trips, we'll have an excuse to visit."

Then she shows me the spare bedroom. Then she tells me there's more in the closet.

****

So at this point, we've made nearly a dozen 45 minute round trips to my in-laws, 4 of which it took to even make a dent in the stack of totes Dot had. I think we're about 2/3s of the way through getting it to our house.

I have no idea where I'm going to store all of it, or how I'm going to get rid of what I don't want/need. What I originally thought was 12 or so totes, has turned out to be more like 40. But I finally have a wreath for my front door and so does Lisa, and I have another to give to Jess & Mike and I have a heart-shaped wreath to hang between the sconces in my living room. I'm also a long way toward replacing all of the Christmas ornaments we couldn't keep after the fire, and I'll be able to get Jess & Mike a good start for their first Christmas in their own apartment.

I ended up spending $12 on specialty floral picking pliers (that was after 50% off) and I'm sliced open 4 of my fingers (I'm running out) with the stupid steel picks for the pliers. There's styrofoam fake berries all over the living room. My back, third floor room looks like a floral supply warehouse, and much to my husband's delight/dismay, I'm happier than a pig in shit and so is his mother!

That being said, anybody need any floral supplies??

The house is starting to look like a home!

So after a chaotic summer, things are finally (crosses fingers) starting to fall into place around my house. I've starting finding time to read again, and what I'm reading right now is Julie Powell's Julie and Julia. She blogs her cooking project, she's got an audience, she uses hilariously colorful language. And then I thought, "I have a blog, too!" Immediately followed by, "and it won't have an audience much longer if I don't start posting something!"

Everybody has that mailing list that they belong to, where after a while you just start deleting the emails without actually reading them because you feel guilty/are too lazy/don't want to hurt anyone's feelings/whatever, and never quite get around to unsubscribing. ...And I've had the horrifying realization that chaos like this past summer is precisely why I started this blog in the first place and OH MY GOD! What if I write the posts that everyone deletes without reading and HOLY CRAP! I should do something about that!

And as I write this I also have the realization that I should have refilled my OCD meds like a week ago and I haven't yet and that might have something to do with the panic and the unreal speed that my hands are flying across the keyboard and yet if it has stirred me to think about my blog and my audience again, I can't help but think it's a good thing. (Maybe I should get in touch with Julie Powell about motivating me???)

At any rate, the studio is not really coming together yet due to a hilarious story involving my mother in law and more floral supplies than I've ever seen outside of a craft store (which I will cover in another post, because it's too good to not share, but would completely derail what little cohesion this post is still holding on to.

Suffice it to say, I've got to completely rethink how I'm going to handle putting the studio together. On the plus side, the house is starting to look like people actually LIVE here as opposed to the look of migrants surviving in a construction site that it has had since May.

The kitchen only needs the phone jack fixed and the silverware drawer installed. The dining room just needs the blinds hung. The living room floor and front porch need sanding and refinishing, but that's all that's left. Then the touch up painting and decision about whether we're recarpeting the staircase.

All in all, I've actually be able to hang a wreath on the door and decorate the kitchen some and it's really starting to feel cozy and livable in here.


I'm making a commitment here to start posting on a regular basis again. I'm also making a commitment to make the husband get the wireless set up again, because I can't take the pained looks he gives me when I pry him away from RPG.net so that I can actually use my own computer.

Wish me luck! See ya sooN!

Studio: Reboot

So, no access to my art supplies is driving me crazy. That combined with the fact that I have things like Ink and Paint that can't remain in the basement much longer now that the weather is getting colder, has made us come to the decision that I really need to put my studio back together. What does that mean to you?

Well that means:

• new items in the store (which will hopefully move off of Etsy)
• updates to the website in a more timely fashion
• new patterns!
• a permanent move from tripod to Tilghman Street Studios (fewer, more targeted ads)
• possible addition of video to the how-to's instead of just pictures

I'm feeling pretty ambitious about all of this. I'm up in the middle of the night, wide awake from having badly overslept and evening nap, and my brain is going a mile a minute.

We'll need to the get the hubby's computer up and running to make up for the fact that I may be living on the laptop for a good portion of our vacation next week. We'll be getting our new washer and dryer before too much longer with also means that I can felt without having to run down 3 flights of stairs to the washing machine. (The hook-ups are in the basement right now and the studio is on the 3rd floor. The hook-ups are getting moved to the kitchen!)

Speaking of kitchen, I had one that usable, if not actually finished and I'm thinking about trying to custom dye some yarn. Maybe doing some tie-dyes and such.

That's it for now, I think I need to spend some serious time with my notepad and my sketch book. I'll keep posting as new things happen!

Cooking, Cooking, Cooking

Due to the Kitchenless state of my house, I am at my mother's today to borrow the stove (and catch up on some laundry). Been cooking since about noon, here's what's for dinner. So to speak.

• Energy Bark (recipe on Live Like a Hippy)
• Tomato Salad
• Lemon Pepper Tilapia
• Tilapia with Beans and Sweet Corn (great in a Tortilla with shredded cheese)
• Orange Glazed Rosemary Pork Chops
• Breaded Pork Chops
• Chile and Cumin Fried Chicken
• Italian Sausage and Veggies Tossed with Penne Pasta
• Chicken for Chicken Ceasar Wraps
• Middle East- inspired Bulgar Wheat with Toasted Almonds
  

The tomato salad is for the PotLuck at work tomorrow and hopefully the rest of it will hold us over for a few days. Also, I will be leaving a serving or so of most of the dishes behind to thank my mom for use of the kitchen.

It would have helped too, if I had remembered to buy shredded cheese and ceasar dressing.

They're here!

So, it's been like 5 weeks since we thought things were finally getting back to normal and the cabinets finally were delivered today. At this point, they're telling us that now that we have the cabinets, everything should resolve pretty quickly from here.

I've been working on quite a few charity projects with what little yarn I have that isn't packed away and I hope to be posting those patterns to the website in the next few days. Also, I need to renew our webhosting and domain name.

My knee seems to be recovering, although very slowly, so maybe, just maybe, things can start to get back to the low level chaos we call normal around here.

Thoughts, Prayers, Vibes

Please keep our neighbors in your thoughts and prayers tonight. An arsonist struck our neighborhood early this morning. If you don't know, we live in row homes, so the whole thing was pretty scary for us, since it was the house next store to ours that burned.

We're fine, just temporarily displaced. Everybody next store got out, some with the help of the fire department some on their own. The house that burned was converted into 2 apartments. The family downstairs got out pretty safely, although their little guy was taken to the hospital just to make sure he was ok.

The upstairs family was not as lucky, the fire department had to force entry and all four of them were taken to the hospital. Their 5 year old daughter is in critical condition, but from what I've heard they think she'll be ok.

Please keep these to families in your thoughts, send vibes, add them to your prayer list, whatever it is that you do. Also, please think of the family on the other side who only closed on their house last week.

Little by Little

So, I've gotten a little bit of time to spend on the fixing of the title graphics. I've gotten through a pretty good portion of the site, but there's tons left yet.

On the plus side, it's given me a chance to realize that a lot of the older patterns have terrible pictures. Fuzzy, dim, you name it. The Chocolate Bunny looks like a blob, and some of the others aren't much better. To that end, I'm going to do the best I can to get a new digital camera (for those of you who don't remember, I got a really good, but used Nikon about a year ago - for free - and the battery pack promptly crapped out on me.) in the next couple weeks. I found one that looks like it will handle basic website photos and snap shots really well and it's only like $40.

Little by little, things are falling into place.

Next on the list is to get everything switched over to the new Project Wonderful-friendly layout. That will take some time, but once it's done, it'll look really good. Also, it will bring in a bit of money and hopefully get you all some useful links.

Once that's done, I'll have a pretty good idea of how to layout really sharp-looking, ad-friendly pages for Tilghman Street Studios. Which will make me very happy. I think that there will be things at Tilghman Street that you will like quite a bit.

Honestly, though, even if you don't find anything that you like, the Crochet Pages fans will be benefiting in several ways. I'll be in charge of the advertising, instead of Lycos. No more pop-up ads.

Liam and I will be handling the T-shirts - we'll be using a grassroots print-on-demand style production - which means that they'll be hand screen-printed.

Eventually, we will (hopefully) be handling the book printing also.

In the end, this will lead to a better, friendlier website, and better merchandise with lower shipping costs. And unless I'm way off - this should make everyone happier.

A very full few days

So, it's only Wednesday, and I feel like I've already put in a weeks worth. I finished a pattern for the site, it just needs a photo and to be typed up. I have an afghan pattern a good portion of the way finished.

Sunday, I worked a half day to cover for someone who was sick, then finished the one pattern and big part of the other.

Monday morning, I went to the gym and then I worked a closing shift. At work, I finished up the last 13 pieces in a set of 71 that I had been working on.

Tuesday, I went to the gym with Liam, then worked another closing shift, this time with Liam.

Today, I worked another half day, because I had to leave early because apparently overtime is evil. I bought the stuff I need for a couple of Mother's Day gifts that I'm responsible for and the stuff to make the favors and start the centerpieces for my Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Then I came home and played on the internet for a while. Then I went for a sushi lunch, hit Walmart for some odds and ends and then went to Wegman's for the tea bags for my favors.

Then I called Dave and we went tromping around in the woods at the Mary Immaculate Center, and climbed a tree. Then we went out for dinner.

Now, I'm home, putting my favors together and playing on Facebook.
Whew.

Tomorrow plans are gym with Liam and then babysit and make a Mother's Day gift with Lyam. (No, that is right, there are 2 Lyam's and they spell their names differently. One is Scottish origin - Lyam, the other is short for William - Liam. Also, one of them is 2 1/2 and I babysit him, the other is a coworker and dear friend of mine.)

Friday - work, then Date night.

Saturday - another closing shift.

I hope you followed all of that, because I'm not sure that I didn't miss something.

Oh, also, I sold a coffee cup sleeve and pair of baby slippers this week.

Slacker!

Ok, here's the deal, February turned out to be a pretty crappy month around here. I wasn't slacking so much as I just didn't get to things between fixing the radiators and so on. I also found out that I have a degenerative knee problem and I broke a tooth. In other words, February was Awesome!

I'm hoping I can start to get caught up now and I do want to sincerely apologize for the lack of meeting deadlines and such. Thanks for your patience.

So, it's February.

Wow. The first month of 2009 is gone already - and I've been sick for all of it.

Love Bites will only be available until Valentine's Day so grab it while you can.

Leon in the winner of the Candy Hearts Contest. Get in touch with me so I can get you your prize. I'll post the finished photo soon.

Studio progress has been slow due to not feeling well, however, I will be posting my first Esty items in the next day or so.

I think that's everything for now. Keep warm and happy hooking!

2008: A year in review.

Ok, so 2008 sucked. I think that's pretty clear, when even the sportscasters are saying it. For example, most people working retail got fewer hours and therefore smaller paychecks than expected. Lots of people lost their houses, couldn't pay their bills and so on. The economy is a mess, and so on and so on.

But some really good things happened this year. For example, Barack Obama got elected. Tons of people who never voted before (including me) got off their ass and did something about it. As a country, we proved that we are actually capable of caring about something important - like our future.

However, the post isn't for being preachy or for tell you things you already knew. I want to give you a chance to catch up on some news you may have missed. Good news, funny news, things that were way off the radar for the average person, so without further ado:

1) Forget socks, adopt a koala for Christmas

Why is this good? It's a chance to do something good, really good, without leaving your home. The money goes to medical care and habitat preservation for koalas and the best part is, since all the prices are listed in AUD, it costs less than it looks like it will.

2) Fingerprints Can Reveal Drug Use, Medical History

Why is this good? It's not mainstream yet, but it means that just through fingerprinting we could potentially eliminate suspects in crime, or eventually, maybe even use this for custody cases. If a parent is steadfastly denying drug use, this could be used to check the validity of that claim.

3) Jumbo Snow Globes + Sunlight = Consumer Hazard

Why is this good? Honestly, it's not. It's not good at all. But it is really funny.

4) Andean Mummy Hairs Show Hallucinogen Use

Why is this good? Because the drug the man had used was not native to where he was from, it shows that ancient peoples travelled much further overland than was previously thought. It also it more evidence that drug use is not unique to modern cultures.

5) Single-Celled Giant Upends Early Evolution

Why is this good? Anything makes scientists re-evaluate old thinking is a good thing. It's how we learn more. When wacky stuff happens it makes people look at other things from a different perspective, and that's always good.

6) Oldest Marijuana Stash Found

Why is this good? This proves that ancient people raised crops for reasons other than survival. It sheds a lot of light on ancient culture. Like the Andean Drug Mummy, it also shows that drug use is not a new thing.

7) Christmas Lights May Pose Lead Hazard

Why is this good? This is not good in and of itself, however the fact that the public is being made aware is a very good thing.

8) Homeless get Caviar for Christmas

Why is this good? Seriously? Win-win situation people! Homeless get fed and it's ironic-funny.

9) Candy Canes Fight Germs, Settle Stomachs

Why is this good? My favorite Christmas Candy is actually good for me? This is awesome news! Also, they're making tons of headway into natural and holistic type cures and treatments with this line of research.

10) What are you doing here?: Man asks wife at brothel

Why is this good? It's not, not really. But it is funny. Plus, how slow a news day does it have to be for this to make INTERNATIONAL news. This happened in POLAND, people!

11) Bags To Go is available on Lulu.com

Why is this good? Because it's a book. By me. For sale. Which means I actually managed to finish my first book and by the deadline I set for myself!!!

12) Um, actually, I think I'm out of stuff.

Hope you enjoy these links, mostly they're from Discovery.com and Reuters Oddly Enough. Also, I hope you realize I have now given away the secret, you all know where I get all the wacky trivia from.

Lots of stuff happening!

I think I'll do this update point by point in order to make it easier to read. Those of you who only read from the feed on Crochet Pages, I apologize in advance that you'll be missing most of the info, unless you click through to the blog.

1) I've finally got the photo posted for the Mini Teddy Bear. I hope the shot properly shows it's scale.

2) I got the Envelope Clutch pattern posted. This was the winning pattern for the preview of my book.

3) With Ren Faire season now over, I'm hoping I might be able to wrangle a couple of new patterns from Jessy, but no promises.

4) The book is well under way at this point. The layout is falling together pretty well and I only need 2 more patterns before I'm willing to call it finished. I apologize if anyone was hoping to get it in their hands before Christmas, it's not likely to happen at this point.

5) I do not intend to take a Christmas break from the website at this point. For a few reasons:
a) I just got started on this regular monthly update thing, if I don't keep going, I don't know what might happen.
b) I honestly don't see any reason why I'd need to at this point. My boss isn't let me make any headway in my frameshop, so I doubt I'll get pulled to help others.
c) I need to start getting ready for the move to a new host. My Tripod account has served me well for roughly 10 years now, but I am quickly running out of space. Regular updates are going to make that happen sooner. I'm nearly 3/4 of the way to capacity.
d) I still haven't built the web-home I promised for Because We Care. I feel really bad about that, I really need to get in touch with Anita about it.

I think that covers everything. Any questions, let me know.

Back to reality.

So, my vacation's over now. I don't work until 2pm today, but it is officially back to work starting today.

What does this mean to you? Well, now that I'm done getting a tattoo and visiting Maryland and taking my best friend to a concert for her birthday, life will be getting back to normal. Which means, site updates and patterns!

I finally got the pixie photos from the friend I borrowed the camera from, so that means I'll get those up, and I'll be trying to do at least one new pattern every month from here out.

I will also be putting some time into getting the studio put together and working on some more t-shirt designs. I need to look into where I'm gonna have them printed at a little more, but right now I'm looking at PrintFection. I have mixed feeling about CafePress, because of the limits that they put on free accounts, and I'm just not a good fit for Zyraxia, even though they do hand screenprint all their shirts, which makes the printing more durable.

The draw back to Zyraxia is that they don't just print stuff because you submitted it. They review they design, decide if it's sellable, then, if they like it, it becomes they're design to do with as they see fit, and they run off a batch of shirts. The only way to make sure that they print your design is to upload it and order a full printing batch. Since I'm looking for print on demand, so I don't have to store or ship the shirts, not really what I was looking for, Also, I'll consider my designs a hit even if only one person other than me buys them. Not an option with Zyraxia.

Which is where I come back to PrintFection. Print on demand. When you want a shirt, they print that one shirt and then ship it off. They take their share and I get what's left.

Also, I've been working, finally, on support badges for a local charity group called Because We Care. One of the reasons I'm putting a lot of effort into the stuff for Because We Care is that it's run by an older woman and at this point in time, the only web-presence the group will have is what I give it on my website.

I've been rearranging the homepage somewhat to start working all this new stuff in, so you will be seeing some changes coming up. Hopefully, they will all be minor, at least visually. I think all the changes are going to be for the better and I hope you feel the same.

As always, thanks for reading and if you have any ideas or concerns, please, please, let me know!

So, we were stuck in our house by police order today.

The details are a little fuzzy, but you can check out the story on our local news website, WFMZ.com or the local newspaper's site, The Morning Call.

Apparently our neighbors, or someone staying with them are bank robbers.

No really how I expected to spend my Thursday, but at the same time, everything seems to have resolved with no one injured, which is always good.

Although, I do have to say, it's a little disturbing to not know anything's going on and walk out your front door and see a SWAT team with assault rifles camped out behind and armored rescue vehicle.

I always knew knitters were Crazy

A woman was arrested and now has to knit sweaters for her victims.
Story here