"Stop cheating I'm reigning"

Nice. This happens to me every once in awhile. And no, I don't cheat.

They make a poorly spelled accusation then take off before I get a chance to respond. I know it's the mature thing to just ignore it and NOT respond, but sometimes it gets old.

What incredible words have been used to indicate that I've cheated? I've gotten beat plenty of times, by plenty of people, often by hundreds of points. I never resign midway through, though it's apparent that I have no chance of winning. I see the game through to the end and try my best. I expect others would do the same, but sometimes they don't

I know, I know: relax, it's just a game. I just had to vent a little.

Felt Book

I haven't made one of these in awhile, and I forgot how time-consuming they are. Each page took about 2 1/2  hours to complete. The blanket stitching took some time as well: if I tried to use enough thread to go all around the page, I spent a lot of time untangling knots. If the thread wasn't long enough, it took time to hide and secure the ending thread, while trying to create a seamless transition to the next stitch. I wound up going with the long thread method, but even doing it that way, I still ran out of thread before I got all the way around.  

 

 

I: Inchworm and ivy. There's some poison ivy in there as well.

S: Sea turtle, sea star, and seahorse.

A: Alligator.

B: Buddy the black Basenji, and balloons.

E: Elephant.

L: Ladybugs.

L: Lion.

A: Armadillo. The white stars form the constellation Taurus, which is Isabella's astrological sign. 

Leaves of three, let them be!

 

Basket Weave blanket

30" X 44". Size 'H' hook. Pattern from Ravelry. It took 2 1/2 weeks to finish, and approximately 1.75 pounds of yarn.

The pattern is three front post double crochets, three back post double crochets, repeated the length of the blanket.

Two rounds of single crochet around the entire blanket.

11 Preemie Hats

Size "G" hook. Magic circle, DC 8. Join, 2 SC. DC 16. Join, 2 chain. (2 DC in one stitch, 1 DC in one stitch). Repeat ( ) around. Join, 2 chain. (2 DC in one stitch, 1 DC, 1 DC). Repeat ( ) around. Join, 2 chain. (2 DC in one stitch, 1 DC, 1 DC, 1 DC). Repeat ( ) around. Join, 2 chain. DC around until you get the length you want for the smaller hats (the two on the right will fit a tangerine), (2 DC in one stich, 1 DC, 1 DC, 1 DC). Repeat ( ) around for a hat that will fit an orange. Continue pattern for larger hats.

Noah's Ark

Washer Necklaces

Another Aviator Hat

"J" hook. Double crochet in brown with a single crochet cream trim.

More Hats

Brain Waves Beanie

Outdoor Chandelier

Mini Baguettes

I'm no baker, but I tried these for the first time on Thanksgiving, and made them again last week. If you make allowances for dough-rising time, this is an easy and tasty bread.

Hat With Pom Pom

Make a magic circle, double crochet into the circle 8 times. Join with slip stitch. Ch 2. Make 2 double crochets in each stitch, for a total of 16 stitches. Join.
Ch 2. Make 2 double crochets in first stitch then 1 double crochet in next stitch. Repeat all the way around. Join.
Ch. 2. Make 2 double crochets in first stitch, then 1 double crochet in next TWO stitches. Repeat all the way around. Join.
Continue, using this pattern (2 double crochets in first stitch, then 1 double in next THREE stitches, etc.), until hat is the circumference you want.
Continue around until hat is the length you want.

Since it's a preemie hat, the pom pom is a lot smaller. I wrapped yarn around my index finger over 150 times. Trimming with scissors is how to get the ball smaller and tighter.

Preemie Christmas Hat

Christmas Beanie

Double crocheted with red yarn. Single crochet edging. White yarn pom pom; wrapped the yarn around a piece of cardboard 150 times to get that fluffiness, then trimmed it with scissors.

Limoncello

Back in April, I peeled about 15 lemons and put the peel (the yellow part only, no white) into a glass container with 15 cups of vodka. I've sometimes used Everclear, but I didn't have any this year.



After Thanksgiving, the lemon peels were all white, leaving the vodka a nice yellow color. I removed the peels, then mixed up a batch of simple syrup and added it to the vodka mixture. Since I had 15 cups of vodka, I made half that amount of simple syrup: 8 cups water boiled briefly with 4 cups sugar.




I was able to fill 8 17-ounce flasks with the limoncello, with a little left over for me, which I'm keeping icy cold in the refrigerator.