Christmas in Carlisle

We spent Christmas Eve afternoon with Dad's brother's family, enjoying soup and bread and snacks.

 

Cousin D with a reversible headband I made her

Cousin D with some pajama pants I made her

Cousin K with mitts I knit from some wool yarn that was leftover from a yarn swap at Prairieland Herbs a couple years ago

Auntie S and Cousin S

Pony Gal...

....cannot own too many horses!

Superboy loves animals

Cousin D

Cousin S with the hat I crocheted for Christmas (knit picks chunky yarn in spumoni)

Learn to Crochet

I have had many requests the past few years to teach folks how to crochet-knitting is pretty hot right now, but a lot of people are getting interested in crocheting, as well, even though many folks have referred to it as a granny hobby.
I love doing it. Don't get me wrong, I love to knit, too, but crocheting is what I first learned, and honestly, I think they work very well together. Once you learn one, often learning the other is simple. Basic crocheting is not hard, but boy, once you get into it, it can get very tricky.
November 13th, from 10 am-1pm I am teaching an intro to crocheting class, and that hat on my head up there is what we'll be learning on (hopefully, hee hee). If you are interested in coming, go here and register. Otherwise, I know I already have some peeps who said they can't make it, and I may be planning a class at my home, most likely a Monday night as I have it husband free. If that would be more your style, just post a comment and I'll keep your info handy.

Green Gifts Fair Preview

Woman's skirt from bed sheet

Here are most of the items I will have for sale on Sunday at the Green Gifts Fair, happening at the Des Moines Social Club on Sunday, most of the day. If you want to shop locally, and eco-friendly this year, come check it out! There are some awesome vendors going to be there, ranging from handmades, to beauty products, to massage gift certificates, and so much more!

Little boys' pants refashioned from a man's dress shirt

Little Girls' Dress refashioned from a woman's shirt

Hand Crocheted, lightly felted, 100% hand spun and dyed wool coasters

Girls' skirt with coffee theme made from reclaimed fabric

Girls' skirt made from reclaimed fabric

Girls' skirt made from reclaimed fabric,and hand embroidered with reclaimed embroidery thread and button

Blue crocheted oval rag rug from reclaimed fabric

Red and Mint crocheted runner rug from reclaimed acrylic yarn

Crocheting Behind the Scenes: Earflap Hat

I haven't been a very good craft poster or Raveler as of late. I forget to load pictures, then I forget that I have loaded the pictures, then I run out of time to post pictures, and on and on. But, I have nano seconds this morning, so I am catching up. This is Pony Gal modeling a hat I crocheting for my cousin's daughter's birthday. It is in Yarn Love wool yarn that a good friend, Sarah D. gave me recently. It came together superfast, though, the pattern had the hat coming out all wavy-too many increases-so I fixed that. It is super soft and tres cute.

Crochet vs knitting

I bought a book the other day on how to teach yourself to knit. I went through, and think I pretty much was getting the hang of it. I love the way knit things look when you are done. But, as it turns out, I don't like to knit. My wrists hurt sooo bad. So, I will stick with my crocheting. I think I will probably look into a Tunisian stitch, though, as it looks a lot like knitting. I will have to track down some hooks and instructions, though. In the meantime, I love to crochet, and continue to try new things all the time. I am in the process of looking for ideas for next year's Christmas gifts. Crochet comes together a lot faster than knitting, from my experience, so far, but it still takes a while to finish some projects. And I like to collect yarn during the year. My fiber stash is starting to look like my fabric stash;)

Bedrest Burnout

Tired of hearing about bedrest? Try being on it. I have been doing pretty well, I think, thus far. But yesterday I had a bit of a meltdown. I am just getting worn out as far as being alone all day, and Pony Gal has been sassy, and I just feel pretty useless. I know other women have been down longer than I have (I am starting my third week now) but I am a do-er. It goes against everything I am used to to be down all day. We did sneak out for breakfast yesterday, but otherwise I have been trying to be down. I have taken my crocheting back up. I will need to restock yarn at my next outing. I made hats for the baby, Pony Gal and my husband, and am thinking if this lasts too much longer, I will be making hats for everyone for Christmas. Actually not a bad idea. I also made a a few wool diaper covers for the baby, but need more yarn before I do too much else. My appointment today was frustrating as well. The dr. I saw today was a total jerk. He was pretty obvious in his disbelief that my pressure was staying down at home on bedrest. He made it very clear that I should call in if anything changes. Um, see dr. doofus, I have before, have I not? Why would that change now? Honestly. I must look like a dingaling or something. Then the nurse had already asked me to undress my bottom half and put on the ever flattering pink napkin for a vaginal exam, and he actually asked me if I wanted one after all that. Uh, well, I am already pretty exposed, why turn back now? Not to mention (though I would not say it to him as he was in battle mode) I am going crazy on bedrest so I wanted to know if ANYTHING was happening. As it turns out I am dilated 2 cm. I know this means very little, but it is more than the last time they checked. At least something is happening. My mucous plug seems to be slowly disintegrating. That always grosses my husband out when I discuss it. So, back to dr. doofus. He then went on to ask how important a vbac was to me.
"Well, lets see, of the utmost or I wouldn't even attempt it." Duh.
Well, why is it important.
"We don't know yet how many kids we want and I really don't want three or more major surgeries under my belt if we go further. "
Well, three surgeries aren't that bad.
"Well, I took the first c section very poorly, and know if I don't attempt to do things differently this time, it may be the same, and I really don't want the difficult recovery as I now have a three year old to chase around. "
Oh, the second csec is easier and shorter for recovery.
Grrrr. Whatever.
He finally figured out I was not about to budge. Well, then if ANY protein shows up in your urine (which it hasn't) then your plans are going to have to change.
Uh, huh.
He just can't believe that someone can have only pregnancy induced hypertension. It has to develop into preeclampsia. Wrong. I wish I would have bookmarked the article I read by a midwife who had several studies and her own experience with the fact that pih can be wholly separate from pre-e and is actually not that big a deal if dealt with appropriately-namely not badgering your patients! I will be making a request to NOT see this dr again. There are too many others in the office to deal with such a jerk. And, I am not even sure he is a delivering one. Just happened to be who I got to see. So, anyway, things remain mostly the same. I may have to add a little more up time (so long as I keep it short enough my pressure doesn't rise too much) to try and walk baby boy out a little more...