I've been busy getting this calendar together. I'm getting it professionally printed this year at Artscow, rather than do it myself, so I must be on the ball about this.
I made these pages with Kim Hill's Storyboard set and her Companion Phrases sets, both available at Scrapbook-Elements. Some of the pages also use kits by Lauren Grier, Misty Cato & Eve Kipler at Sweet Shoppe Designs
This is my amigurumi dodecahedron.
I adapted the pattern from Berroco, found here, to make it amigurumi. I ended up with 2 different patterns, one makes the points more rounded & the other more pointy. I used the more pointy version I used a ball of some worsted weight cotton that I have had for years and a 3.50 sized hook. My dodecahedron ended up about 7 inches in height and width.
Rounded point pattern
Ch 3, 4 sc in 2nd chain
Row 1 - 2 sc in each sc around - 8 sc
Row 2 - sc, (2sc in each sc around) 7 times - 15 sc
Row 3 - sc around - 15 sc
Row 4 - (sc, 2sc, sc) 5 times around - 20 sc
Row 5 - sc around - 20 sc
Row 6 - (sc, sc, 2sc, sc) 5 times around - 25 sc
Row 7 - sc around - 25 sc
Row 8 - (sc, sc, 2sc, sc, sc) 5 times around - 30 sc
Row 9 - sc around - 30 sc
Row 10 - (sc, sc, 2sc, sc, sc, sc) 5 times around - 35 sc
Row 11 & 12 - sc around - 35 sc
Leave long tail for stitching - 4"-6"
Pointy point pattern
Ch 3, 4 sc in 2nd chain
Row 1 - 2 sc in each sc around - 8 sc
Row 2 - sc, (2sc in each sc around) 7 times - 15 sc
Rows 3 to 5- sc around - 15 sc each
Row 6 - (sc, 2sc, 2sc) 5 times - 25 sc
Row 7 to 9 - sc around - 25 sc each
Row 10 - (2sc, sc, sc, 2sc, sc) 5 times - 35 sc
Row 11 & 12 - sc around - 35 sc each
Leave long tail for stitching - 4"-6"
Now for assembly,which I find challenging to explain,even though it is really simple once you see the pattern, so I have photos to help
Crochet 12 points, using whichever method pattern you prefer
Mark one as point one. Stitch another point to it, joining 7 scs together, using one of the point's long tail.
Take a 3rd point and attach it, using it's tail to 1 and 2, with 7 scs on each point, for a total of 14scs joined
Attach 4th point to points 1 and 3 as before.
Attach 5th point to points 1 and 4 as before.
Attach 6th point to points 1, 2, and 5, for a total of 21 scs joined, completing the bottom circle.
At this point you can probably see how the rest of it will be assembled. Take point 7 and attach it to points 2 and 3 (or any 2 points really), for a total of 14 scs joined. Attach point 8 to points 7, 3, and 4 for a total of 21 scs joined.
Continue attaching points 9, 10, and 11 this way (11 being attached on 4 sides for 28 scs)
Stuff the dodecahedron as firmly or as loosely as you prefer. Leave all the loose ends of tails inside. If you used the more pointy shaped version of the points, be sure to get the tips of the points well & firmly stuffed or they will squish flat quickly. Once you have it stuffed, attach 28 scs of the 12th point, stuff the 12th point and stitch the final 7scs closed. Weave in the end of this tail.
Had a blast at Great Wolf Lodge for the most part. Mayhem had some seriously whiny & sulky moments that were a bit much. He didn't want to do anything, go anywhere, just sit in the room. Then he'd ask how long we were staying & pitch a fit that we were leaving the next day because he wanted to stay longer. Sorry, kid but you can sulk around a bedroom at home for free. Other than those moments though, we had a lot of fun. I have 208 photos taken at a good distance, with low lighting, to prove it! Havoc completed 3 MagiQuest adventures and went several times on the boggie board. Mayhem collected the final runes he needed to start doing MagiQuest adventures and spent a lot of time running around the tree fort. I went up a great many stairs, a great many times, lugging a single or double innertube each time. My friend Mel and I were on an exercise mission - THIGHS OF STEEL! DH did a lot of boogie boarding and chasing Mayhem around the treehouse
So now I am home, with 3 loads of laundry to do and a kitchen that is mysteriously full of crumbs when it had been wiped down & swept before we left. Despite bringing my computer with me and logging on Sunday night & yesterday afternoon, I have about 200 emails, I am behind about 150 Entrecard drops, need to read about 1000 posts in the SkinnyJeans forum, about 75 threads on SSDs forum, a huge number on Raverly, god only knows how many posts in my blog reader and I haven't even looked at the mom blog boards I visit. I'm seriously considering marking everything read and starting clean. Maybe reading stuff from today and marking the rest read.... I'll probably end up skimming everything... I did read my Twitter DMs, responses and about 40 of the most recent Tweets, so do I feel I am caught up somewhere at least.
Weekly Winners will contain many heavily altered photos of Great Wolf Lodge and *gasp* probably no dinosaurs. They did not come with us.
hhmmmm...
I think I know where the crumbs in the kitchen may have come from.
That'd be sarcasm, BTW
I finished the amigurumi octopus for Havoc. He chose the rainbow colored yard for it
I've been experimenting with how to create different shape effects with amigurumi and I created a bunch of mushrooms while doing it.
Then I decided to focus on making something for a friend to keep the bad energy away and I made this traffic cone
Then I got my hands on some googly eyes and the mushrooms gained some personality.
The traffic cone became an angry traffic cone
I think he is just the cutest thing ever.
The traffic cone came about as a result of 2 things. First I was going to make a witches hat for a little crochet person I had made recently (There is no photo of said person because it seems to have vanished & I am pretty annoyed about that because I never wrote the pattern down & now have to start over) The problem is I really didn't want to do all those close stitches in black (3sc in a circle, then 4sc, then 5 sc, etc - pain in the butt in black yarn & I am over black yarn from the penguin). The other thing was a friend of mine was joking that she calls traffic cones buried safety witches. (witchy humor). Last night those 2 thoughts met in my mind and decided to make a traffic cone & try & square off the rounded hat brim corners. Then I glued on the googly eyes. Cute but it needed something. This traffic cone is a gift for a friend who is dealing with some negative stuff in her life & I figured what better to keep unwanted things away than an angry traffic cone. So I was sitting here thinking I was pretty clever typing this up when it occurred to me I had seen crochet traffic cones before. I googled it and sure enough - Alicia did it first. Hers don't appear to be angry & have different eyes, but it is the same idea. Hers are stuffed & mine isn't but I think the next one I make will use her idea of sewing it to a crocheted square. I wish I had remembered this before I started experimenting with creating a cone on my own. Would have saved me a bunch of time. But I was googling crochet witches hat and not traffic cone.
I'm thinking of selling the mushrooms & the traffic cones on Etsy, along with the little bags that I make.
I'm saving up to buy a D40 camera & every little bit helps, plus I have a huge stock of yarn already so the set up costs were covered long ago. I just need a name. I like The Magical Mushroom or something to that effect but I haven't had time to go out & see what is already & use. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Mayhem comes home with a package from school. In it is a blank construction paper banner and some instructions. How cute! Preschool homework! The note says "Your child should draw or cut from magazines pictures of their favorite things. Please let them use the scissors themselves." "This should be a lot of fun" I say to Mayhem and set about finding scissors and glue. Then I look around and I realize something - there is nothing for Mayhem to cut out. We get 2 magazines in our house. The first is Cook's Illustrated, which is illustrated only with black & white photos of food and cooking implements. Mayhem is the anti-foodie, so CI won't work. The other is NRA Magazine.
Yeah.
I look around hoping to find an old issue of Real Simple or Rachel Ray Magazine. I pick them up randomly at the store. But no, apparently I have been decluttering effectively lately. The only thing I find is a year old copy of a sci fi mag with Dr Who on the cover and the kid's not getting near that with his scissors.
We had a few days for this project so I looked around the magazine section when I went to the store the next day. Vogue. Mademoiselle, other magazines with articles about how to improve your sex life & look better in bed. Not really appropriate. Guns & Ammo. Hunting & Fishing. Got that covered already, thanks. 28 magazines aimed at teen girls, all featuring the Jonas Brothers on the cover. Also not really appropriate. 9 different football magazines. Not really useful as Mayhem doesn't care about sports yet. Numerous quilting, crocheting, knitting and scrapbooking magazines. Well, they interest *me* but I'm not seeing anything that would interest Mayhem. Racing magazines! Car magazines! Monster truck magazines! Hey, these might work! Oh...wait...there is a scantily clad woman draped over every single vehicle in every one of these magazines. Maybe when he is 14.
Where are the toy catalogs when you need them?!?! It's September. Shouldn't I be receiving Christmas toy catalogs by now?!?! Oh wait, maybe I have and tossed them in the trash. Damn me and my decluttering anyway.
I ended up showing him the photos I have taken so far for my 365 Project,, letting him choose what he wants, printing them out in small size and letting him cut them out.
I'm not much into these sorts of crafts. I'm not that sort of craft person and I really suck with scissors.
Seriously, I can't cut a straight line. Even a short one.
I haven't let Mayhem touch scissors since the curtain incident 8 months ago, except PlayDoh ones, so he really has no clue how to use them. He was two handed snipping at the paper, creating lots of fringe but not cutting out any thing. It was driving me nuts to see this. But the teacher stressed letting them do all of it and just guiding them, so I sat on my hands and watched. I eventually justified taking the scissors off of him and repositioning them in his hand. This helped him cut better, but of course he's cutting at weird angles, chopping of photo parts and getting upset about it. I'm upset about it too. I wanted to shout STOP GOOFING OFF AND PAY ATTENTION!!! But I had to stifle that and tell him it was ok, it was a collage & he'd be gluing lots of things on top of others and then sit back and watch him DO IT AGAIN!
When it came time to color it I gave him crayons because I knew my nerves weren't up to seeing him MIX THE PAINT COLORS together.
I basically spend the entire time sitting there watching him thinking
MUST. NOT. INTERVENE
I have no idea where this impulse comes from. I am not an interventionist parent in any other realm, but paint & scissors bring it out intently & it's always been a struggle for me to sit back and let them make all the paint brown.
This was Mayhem's first school project.He glued pictures on top of the coloring he did, "So they are a surprise."
You Could Be a Vampire... If You Had To |
 Like most people, the thought of being a vampire has crossed your mind. But you're not sure if you'd do it, even if you could. Living forever doesn't sound half bad, if you could live forever with the people you love the most. But do vampires even love? And would the vampire version of you even be you? It's all too much to contemplate. Luckily, the chances of you ever becoming a vampire are astronomically low. What you would like best about being a vampire: Living forever What you would like least about being a vampire: Blood stained teeth |
My layouts this week
created with Tell Me a Story by Traci Reed & Heather Roselli at Sweet Shoppe Designs
one of my Learn Something New layouts, created with Scary Moon Cat by Lauren Grier at SSD
another Learn Something New layout,created with Winter Chic by Shabby Princess at ShabbyPrincess.com
Some layouts I did this week
This was done with Heart of Fall by Traci Reed & Kay Miller at Sweet Shoppe Designs
This was made with Mischief & Mayhem by Heather Roselli, also at SSD. This was for the Learn Something New class I am taking
This was done with Bestest of Friends- Boys by Eva Kipler at SSD
You Are 70% Real |
 You know who you are, and you're pretty darn comfortable with yourself. Like everyone, you struggle with the parts of yourself that aren't so great... But you're good at accepting who you are and not dwelling on your faults. As a result, you're confident, optimistic, and very real. |
You can find it here
http://www.crayola.com/promos/64boxBirthday/colorQuizzer.cfm
I missed 12 colors
Your Common Spelling Mistake Score: 60% Correct |
 Your spelling is decent, but you do make quite a few mistakes. Let's just say you won't be winning a spelling bee anytime soon! |
Mayhem is just full of ideas - ideas of things for other people to do. Most of Havoc & Mayhem's play is Mayhem directed, in theory. Havoc may come up with the idea - "Lets build a tent with blankets" but Mayhem quickly takes over with suggestions about which blankets, where to put them in the living room, how to arrange them and what toys to take into the tent. Havoc, like any good cubical worker, looks like he is listening and then goes and does what he was intending to do anyway & then explains away any discrepancies in the final project by persuading Mayhem they were actually his idea. So it works out.
Mayhem thinks I should be more of a traditional mom. I assume this from the projects he comes up with for me to do. He is full of ideas of what I should be baking. "You should make these muffins today Mama. Then these tomorrow and then these. Then maybe you can make these for when we go camping." Mayhem's favorite book is
He pages through this thing every day and brings it to me with ideas. "These muffins look good, why you not make them? When we have these muffins for dinner?" He sounds just like my old boss bringing me articles from trade publications and asking me why we aren't using this software (um, because the company is too cheap to pay for it and the training necessary or better yet, it has NOTHING to do with my job). I wouldn't mind so much, but like managers who ask for reports and then never look at them, Mayhem rarely eats the muffins he asks me to make.
When he isn't bossing me around making helpful suggestions in the kitchen, he gets out his other favorite book
and suggests things I ought to be crocheting. He does play with the toys at least. I just finished this penguin at his request.
I'm working on an octopus for Havoc right now, then Mayhem thinks I should make the owl, then the dog, then maybe the monkey, then another dinosaur.
I'm not letting this kid know about my quilting books.
SSD quiz for FOBTY
| You Were the Arty Kid |
 You're probably a little less weird these days - but even more talented! |
But I really wasnt'. I'm not even sure what an emo poet is.
for SSD FOBTY challenge
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. | |
| The West | |
| Boston | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Inland North | |
| The Northeast | |
| North Central | |
| The South | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Sweetheart,
Today is your first day of kindergarten. You've been looking forward to it. We met your teacher and saw your classroom 2 days ago. You told me she seemed nice and you couldn't wait to play with all the things in your class room. You were very excited about getting to ride on the bus this morning and when it finally came you climbed on with a quick goodbye and hardly a backward glance. My little man! So grown up already.
I'm glad you are so eager & so positive about this experience. I want this to be a happy time,something you look back on with fondness, but being Mom, I worry. I'll always worry about you. That's my job.
Starting today you will now spend more time with others than you do with me and I worry. Will they be kind to you? Will they understand you? Will they patient? Will you make friends? Will they be good friends? What sort of friend will you be? Which of the myriad of influences you will be exposed to, will you pick up? Have I taught you the interpersonal skills you need to make friends and to cope in strange & new situations? Have I provided the best example of kindness, tolerance & understanding?
I want to be there to hold your hand as you walk to your classroom. I want to be a friendly & familiar face in new and unfamiliar environment. I want to help & encourage you when you meet your new classmates. I want to assist you to interpret & filter the things being said & done around you. I want to hold you and never let you go. You are leaving me & going out into the world, which is what you are supposed to do & what I want you to do. But it is so hard letting go.
You are a sensitive soul. You want to help. You are good with smaller kids & assisting people who need it. But you are fragile sometimes. You can be hurt so easily by a mean word. You are strong and you are sure of yourself too, so the pain doesn't usually last long. You have it in you to be a leader & encourage others. You are smart & pick things up quickly. You are good & kind person. I am proud of you
I hope your teacher can help you learn to focus your energy on your classes. I hope she has better luck that I did. I hope you make good and lasting friends this year. I hope you become an even better person than you already are. I hope this year fulfills the expectations you have for it today.
I love you with all my heart
Mom
I had done fairly well at sticking to a routine through June & most of July. I went to the gym 3 days a week. I had meals planned for 2 weeks at a time. I kept on top of grocery needs, sales and coupons. We went to the library once a week, had a reading plan and kept track of our books. The boys had a nice routine of running around, imaginative play, swimming, Wii, and TV/DVD watching. We had playdates. We even had a weekly craft thing going.
It all went to hell in mid-July. The humidity here was outrageous, keeping the kids inside & pushing off swimming until after 4pm. Or it rained all day. Having them underfoot all the time is distracting & left me with no time to keep up on the grocery lists & coupons. It was too hot to want to cook anything so the meal planning went out the window. My car a/c crapped out, and we don't have a garage, or anyplace continually shady to park a car. It was an oven. I didn't drive it anywhere I didn't have to go. Two weeks ago the library informed me I had 22 books checked out and I could have sworn it was only 9. The weather finally broke & it was comfortable. The kids could go outside again. Two days later Mayhem had his tonsils out and we have been housebound ever since.
Last night though Mayhem slept through the night, without once waking, screaming in pain. I'm going to optimistically take that to mean the worst of the healing process is over and perhaps we can now get back to some of our regular activities. Havoc starts school Wednesday and routine will be forced on us. I have decided that Sunday I will go through the freezer & the pantry & organize what I have. I will make lists of what I need. I will plan out meals - including Havoc's lunches. Monday morning the boys and I will go to the gym and I will attend my much neglected Body Pump class. Assuming I can still move after it, we will go grocery shopping. I will make lunch. I will make dinner. I will go back to getting off the computer at 7pm every day.
Normal life - it starts Monday. So I should probably get the odd stuff out of the way this weekend.
For From our Blog 2 yours at SSD
You know the movie
You have correctly answered 9 of 15 questions.
Considering I haven't seen it in almost 20 years that isn't too bad
This is my dad when he was about 6-8 months old. Today is his 70th birthday.
500 Best Muffin Recipes
Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet