The Lost Dream

When we were young, yes, I can remember back that far, we had a book called The Lost Dream. It was about a little boy, Michel, who could not find his dream upon waking. He looked all over for his dream, to no avail. Finally, his grandma told him that he had to see the Keeper of the Dreams.

The illustrations in the book looked like this yarn art that I made when I was trying to see where the end of the skein was.

I am sure that there are other ways to do this - but coming to the end of the skein is such a joy that I just had to spend a bit more time appreciating it!

Memories!

I have been reading every knitting book at the library for the last couple of weeks, many of them are sold on Amazon or stocked on the shelves at Borders. But there is something about frequenting the library that just does it for me! One book, Knitting for Peace, is really pretty amazing! The author, Betty Christiansen, describes people who have taken their fiber crafts to a new level with charity work. Quite inspiring... check out some of these websites! I have hit all these links - and as of today, they work!

Matt and Heather... do you think it would be fun to go see this farm? http://www.peacefleece.com/ The knitting needles are super wonderful... good conversation starters!

Around the world:
http://www.snowcabingoods.com/ knitted goods from Bosnia and Herzegovina
http://www.fiberandcraft.org/ supports Rwanda knitters
http://www.kenanaknitters.com/ supports women in Njoro, Kenya
http://www.lanternmoon.com/ baskets by Vietnamese crafters provide economic independence

And at home:
http://www.shawlministry.com/ comfort those who need hugged
http://www.warmupamerica.com/ for people who are homeless
http://www.h4ha.org/ for our homeless animal friends at shelters

These are cancer/cure charities:
http://www.knitforhercure.com/
http://www.chemocaps.com/

Sites for children's charities:
http://www.carewear.org/
http://www.stitchesfromtheheart.org/
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/

Okay, if that doesn't make you want to pick up your hooks, needles, or looms...





please, check your pulse!

Come On Summer!

Happy Birthday, MOM! Thought you'd need trip to the lake, so here you go! Can't take you to Capri for real, but isn't it the thought that counts?

Now that the snow is gone, the grass is green, and the trees are in bloom, this girl is counting down till summer. Carol at school is the official "count down girl," and she said that there are only 12 more days with kids!



Sometime this summer I have to have my wrist operated on...between trips to the lake, Chicago, Colorado, and Maine. But since the doctor cannot fit me in for a while, I will be able to knit a bunch of summer weight hats and chemo caps! This is one of my first hats... finally made the scarf to go with it. This will go in the homeless donation pile... white probably being a dumb color choice on my part!




These are the warmer hats that I will probably hold back and donate when the temperature drops again. Until then, I will just keep knitting...

Sunday in the park!

Today was a gorgeous day! Church was out at 10:20 (40 minutes before the Panda Chinese Restaurant opens for lunch). So, I suggested going to Price Park to sit in the sunshine...
Mom jumped out of the car, grabbed her metal detector, and was GONE! Dad and I played 'I Spy' looking for mom behind trees and around buildings. A quarter and a couple of pennies later, we were ready to take on the Panda!

We were all thankful for beauty of the day, the ducks, the geese, and the LEFTOVERS!

First donations and tickled pink!

Thursday is the monthly meeting of the Comfy Cozies, and I have hats!

Today, I realized that I had no little baby girl hats...


well, now I do!



I also made the green one...




good day for hats!



*If you would like to contribute to the Comfy Cozies from The Chapel in North Canton, this is what they need:
Chemo caps (fun fur)
Lap blankets and afghans for the elderly
Hats and scarf combos for the homeless (for fall distribution)
Baby afghans for the Pregnancy Crisis Center
Baby hats for the preemies and newborns

...or find a local charity that you can help!

The Cutie in the Hat!

Miss Brittannie did not tell me which picture she liked the best! Hope she is happy with my selections!





Thank you, Heather and Matt, for taking the picture of Britt (while she was in Maine), so I could show off how cute they both are.







Be afraid, be very afraid - because YOU could be the next one who I make a hat for... and you see what I do after that!



























I bet you all want to look this cute in a hat!!! ; )

Cupcakes! Cupcakes! Cupcakes!

Okay, here is what happened:




Carol Foster and I decided that we need to have a back-up plan if teaching is just not fun anymore. Just so you know, we are NOT planning to do anything rash.

I had a reoccurring dream that we had a shoppe together... I like the spelling that way... but I could not remember upon waking what kind of shoppe it was!

A few nights later - voila - a Cupcake Boutique! Cupcakes are light, little, and luscious.

So, I went to pick up pictures that I had developed at Walgreen's and saw this book about cupcakes at the counter! How weird was that - right by the cashier - cupcakes! Ha!



Now, if you know me at all... I MEAN AT ALL ... you will know that I am the last thing that anyone would expect to find in my kitchen! The tools are there, the appliances are there, but usually I am NOT!



Back to the cupcakes... I took the book to school to show Carol... she laughed! Then she said that she had a coney sauce recipe from some restaurant, and she could sell coneys from a cart! Now, I don't know about you, but coneys and cupcakes just don't really complement each other!


Now, what to do with a cupcake book? Make cupcakes, of course. (Just a tip, kids, if something happens to me - you will want to score that cupcake book!) The pineapple cupcakes with the citrus frosting were quite tasty - even though the recipe said I would have a dozen when done, I only had ten. And I do wish there were a dozen! See the picture with the three cute little cupcakes on the olive tray!

The other cupcakes are literally called teacakes! My selection of teacups was a bit limited - surprising with all the mugs and teacups I have! Luckily, I bought the striped Starbucks teacups and saucers at Christmas for a huge discount! Aren't they pretty?


The strawberry teacakes have a bit of strawberry preserves in the bottom of the cups for an added surprise! The batter was amazing! I just ate one so that I could tell you, these were a nice treat, too! (I really don't care for strawberry, so I only used a tiny bit of the preserves in mine. I may even leave it out of a few of them the next time.) Dad said, "They're good," when asked for a comment for the blog!


I made turkey soup, pauper pasta stew, and Italian stir fry.

I need to go back to school to rest!




And BTW, teaching is fun!

Fun Fur Hat for Cancer Centers

Okay, here is my first fun fur hat. I made this one on the green round loom. I think if I use a long loom, I can decrease the number of stitches at the crown. This would be more like the ones my knitting friends make on their needles. The downfall would be that I would have to sew the two sides together rather than just pull the stitches through the tail. I am up for the challenge!

Did you notice how thin this "yarn" is? I hesitate to call it yarn since it is more like thread!