Fellow Bloggers Can You HELP?

We are Bonnie and Tracey, and are administrators to this blog.  For some reason Bonnie cannot log into the blog to create posts because the ‘sign in’, ‘design’, 'New Post' etc. buttons are missing from the top right hand corner of the page.  All other editing buttons to the posts, add ins, gadgets, etc. are showing and will allow Bonnie to access it and make title changes.

·   Tracey checked the admin page and it appears that no settings have changed

·   Bonnie has tried the help forum/center (located on her profile page), but it continually circles back to the same links with no solution for the problem

If anyone has any suggestions / solutions it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much,

Tracey and Bonnie

Craving Colour

Things are finally starting to green up in our neck of the woods and plants are poking through the earth.  Not much in the way of colour yet, so to satisfy my craving, I've been in full swing knitting Spring coloured dishcloths the past few weeks.

L to R:  Fruit Punch, Sky Blue & Key Lime Pie

I started off just wanting to knit up a few to give to Bonnie for her birthday, but I as got going, I just couldn't stop!  My yarn stash also grew by leaps and bounds, because every time I had to make a trip to Walmart I'd have to have a peek... and there would be another colour calling my name.

Speaking of names, what a fun job it would be coming up with names for all of the beautiful colours out there!  Every once and a while Bernat comes up with a new line of "themed" yarns that are a lot of fun.  Vintage Quilt is the latest one I've seen, and 2 balls from that collection ended up in my cart. 

L to R: Calico & Meadow

I almost get as excited buying new yarn, as I do discovering interesting new patterns out there from the world of Pinterest and Ravelry.  The newest pattern I've fallen in love with is called "The Almost Lost Washcloth Pattern" from the blog Simply Notable (the one pictured above in "Key Lime Pie").  Such a sweet story too, as to how she obtained the pattern.  

Now, up to this point, I have never knit anything but square dishcloths, so I thought it would be fun to go a different route and I was up for the challenge.  What a pleasant surprise!  Even though this shape looks complicated, it was so easy and a great way for me to try my hand at knitting short rows.  All you need to know is how to do regular old knit stitch and how to cast off, and you're good to go.  A really fast knit too!   

I also found that this pattern looks great when knit with variegated yarn.  A lot of the patterns out there get "lost" when knit with something other than a solid.  With this one the shape is what it's all about. 

Don't worry... I will get back to my cross stitching... someday.  Right now, I'm having too much fun with my friends, Robin's Nest, Queen Ann's Lace and the rest of the Bernat Gang!!

Happy Easter, everyone!!  Thank for stopping by...

Tracey

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Naked.  6AM.  Standing in the shower - I start thinking about work.   Whyyyy?  

Why do I start remembering all the things I need to do at work while I’m naked?  At the office that day I mentioned this to my co-worker and said, “There’s something just not right if I’m reminded of a co-worker in the shower.”  Her response, “Especially if they aren’t ‘bangable’ !”  

What I discovered was that: 

• When I was at home, I found myself thinking about things I needed to do at work.
•  When I was at work, I found myself thinking about things I needed to do at home.

Whether I was at home or work, I would think of things I needed to pick up at the store and by the time I got there, I couldn’t remember what I needed.  And while we can all attest to that at times, I found it to be happening far too regularly.    In knew I needed to find a way to organize things to better manage this. 

One day at my local Dollar Store, I found a nifty little journal that had multiple dividers.

When I opened it up, I discovered that the dividers were actually plastic sleeves with pockets.  Cool!  I immediately had an idea.  

I decided to label each tab:  HOME, WORK, ERRANDS.   Then I committed to keeping this journal in my purse, this way no matter where I was I would always have it.

• If I was at work and thought of something for home, I wrote it down in the home tab
• If I was at home and thought of something for work, I wrote it down in the work tab
• The errands tab is self explanatory
• The plastic sleeve with pockets came in very handy to hold any type of receipt:
• The ERRANDS sleeve safely held gift or store receipts
• The WORK sleeve safely held payslips or drug plan receipts
• The HOME sleeve held gas slips to put with my income tax papers at home

Nothing got lost within my purse now.    

This practice worked well for me and I wanted to share this with others, so I decided to make some to give to Anita, Tracey and Jody at the next Cross-Stitch meeting. And now I want to share it with you too.  

Since the journal is actually protected with an additional plastic cover, this holds up well in my rough and tumble purse.  But I also had an idea to personalize the journals for Anita, Jody and Tracey.   I knew I wouldn't have time to cross stitch a little token, so I just searched for an image of a cross stitch to place on the outside cover to hide the 'Journal, 180 pages etc'.  

I came across this design and I loved it.  I had just watched "Saving Mr. Banks", the new Disney movie - the story of the making of Mary Poppins.  (One day I hope to actually stitch this project.)  When everyone received their journals, at first they thought I actually did stitch the piece that was on the front cover.

 

What I liked about the "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" was that it seems like a scrambled up word, but now it is made to look pretty and tidy.  

Fitting because this is my goal; to take the scrambled up mess from my head and tidy it up!  For some reason though... I'm craving a spoonful of sugar.

So - let's get - and STAY organized!!  I hope that this little tip helps you too. I'm especially happy to hear ideas from you too and any organizing tips you would like to share. 

Bonnie

Face the Day

I wanted to share a picture of one of my "faces" that I took over the holidays.  

I trudged through the snow in the backyard out to the compost bin, and when I was emptying the pail, I saw this little guy staring up at me...

Tracey

Knit, Purl

It's a brand new year, a brand new month, and time to get back on track! 

I'm sure that followers of our blog have noticed that our posts in the latter part of 2013 (okay, honestly - for all of 2013), have been few and far between; and we apologize.  Just like anything else, once you get out of the habit of doing something, it gets harder and harder to get back into the swing of things.  So here we go...

It was right around this time last year that I rediscovered knitting after being away from it for about 37 years, and I'm loving it!  The hours spent cross stitching have been very little, but after I'm done with a few knitted items that I want to finish up, I think I will be ready to get back to spending some quality time with my needle and threads.

In November, Bonnie approached me with a knitting pattern she had seen online and asked me if it looked hard to knit.  It was of a hat; encircled with a row of cables that worked up to look like owls.  Well, as it turns out, I had never knit in the round before or tried cables, but I was willing to give it a whirl.  With the help of my friends, YouTube and Pinterest, of course.

After a few attempts, I got the hang of these new techniques, and I was wanting to do more!  (Yes, I did finish up the hats for Bonnie's 2 daughters, but there is more to that story.  We'll leave it for another post.)  

There was still some time left before Christmas, so I thought, why not knit up a hat for my daughter, Chantelle, too?  After looking through the thousands of patterns out there, I decided on  this Spiralini Hat that I found on Ravelry.  (The true colour of the yarn is a lot more green than it shows here.)

I wanted to make a hat for my son, Mitchell, too, but I wasn't sure if he would really be interested in one or not.  I was excited to hear that he was, so I got busy after the holidays and sent this Ribbed Watchman's Hat out to him in the mail.

I was on a hat making roll!!  When Chantelle commented on this hat pattern I had pinned, I thought, Tracey - you might as well keep going!  Any specific colour, I asked?  It's true... you really can't go wrong with basic black.

With all of the frigid temperatures we've been having lately, I might just aim for one more, and start a hat for my hubby.

That's if my cross stitching doesn't coax me over in it's direction first ☺

See you soon!

Tracey

Owl always love going to my gramma's on Halloween!

I heard a little tap tap tap on my door and I said to myself, "Gee, I wonder Whoooooooo it is?" 

What a hoot !

 

And never to disappoint - Sushi makes her appearance. 

hmmmm whattcha got there tiny human?

Awwww Sushi, I missed you!

Sushi, I will share my treat with you.

nom nom nom

 Happy Halloween ! 

The Town Of Halloween

I finished stitching this pattern many moons ago, but finally got it put together as a pillow a few weeks back.

 

 I initially stitched the big spider web with the suggested 1 strand of black DMC, but I just wasn't happy with how it looked.  Instead, I decided to try the #8 black perle cotton that the instructions said to use for the blanket stitch on the edging of the pillow.  BINGO!... it gave me exactly the effect I was looking for :)

 

This pattern was a really fun stitch, and I'm excited to add to my ever growing Halloween collection. 

Even though November is just around the corner, the autumn hued trees are still putting on quite a show in our region.  This maple in our back yard is just glorious this year... I just had to share!

When we planted that baby tree all those years ago, I never thought I would see the day when it would be peeking over the top of our house like it is here...

 

While you're visiting, would you like a closer look at my front porch decor for this year?

Happy Halloween, everyone... thanks so much for stopping by!

  
Tracey