Snow Storm 12-20-12

We went 290 days without any snow in our area, broke a long standing record.

Today we paid up for it, as much of the Midwest did.

Rained all night then turned to sleety snow early Thursday morning. Then the snow started to come down, huge flakes at first. My pictures show how fast things changed over about 45 minutes. We ended up with 5.2 inches of snow and blizzard conditions.

This is at 10:45 am central time. Just starting to snow.

 

 

 

 

Ten minutes later, starting to cover the road.

 

 

 

 

Twenty minutes later at 11:05 am. Big flakes now.

 

 

 

 

11:15 am. Getting messy now.

 

 

 

 

 

11:30 am. Wind blowing big time now, hard to get pictures out front door with snow melting on the storm window.

 

 

 

 

Looking up the road towards the next door neighbor’s house. Hard to see in the picture but the snow is blowing off of our roof big time by now.

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like the bunny rabbits were heading for shelter. Got these pictures of his tracks running along the front of the house under the window.

I heard him as he crunched along the snow and went to see what the noise was.

Sandy Hook School Tragedy

It is difficult to know what to say about the senseless and needless tragedy that happened today at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
20 innocent children and 8 adults gunned down by an obviously deeply disturbed young man.
If you believe in God or some higher being, please pray for everyone concerned. The lost children and their families, the adults that will never come home again and their families.
Even if you don’t believe in some higher being, at least keep everyone concerned in your thoughts, as our compassion is needed deeply at this time.
During this horrific tragedy, we also need to keep in our thoughts and prayers all of the police and first responders involved in assisting at the scene. I can't imagine how they can cope with what they have had to deal with today.
I have friends and family who are or have been police officers, volunteer firemen, paramedics,first responders, doctors and nurses. All of you have my deepest respect.
There will be much discussion about gun control. The guns this man used were legally purchased but taken illegally by this young man. I firmly believe that gun laws had nothing to do with this tragedy. This young man was on a mission and would have found another way to do this, even without access to guns.
You may not agree with me on this, but please respect my opinion as I respect yours.
The bottom line here is that innocent lives were lost, and we should all morn their loss. Hug your loved ones.

GTA Donations November 2012

This time our group focused on making Christmas items for the babies. So, here we go.

We all know that I don’t make very many blankets, simply because they seem to take forever to me. I did get one made this time at least. This is between a preemie and newborn size. I use Red Heart yarn for the multi colored red and Craftsmart brand yarn for the white. Craftsmart is Michaels brand of yarn and this is the first time I have used it. The price is really good and it’s actually fairly soft. I will be buying more of it.

I made all of these pieces from some sparkly green yarn I bought at the thrift store. It’s a somewhat thinner yarn but was pretty easy to work with. There weren’t any paper bands on the yarn so I have no clue what brand of yarn this is.

 

 

 

Here are my snowman hats. One of the other ladies in our group made some so I just had to try my hand at them. They are pretty easy to do using any infant hat pattern. I did  the first four rows in color then six more rows using white. I dug through my button stash and found some cute carrot buttons! You can use any orange buttons for the nose if you can’t find carrot ones. These are a really good way to use up some of those partial skeins of yarn you have.

An assortment of hats using green and gold yarns.

 

 

 

 

A few more hats made from partial skeins of yarn I wanted to use up.

 

 

 

Some red and white hats and booties. The booties with the gold beads on them are really easy to make. They are basically a t shaped piece that is folded over and sewn down. But let me tell you, sewing the beads on really sucked because the booties are so small and there isn’t much room to get the needle down in there to sew the beads on. I’ll have to figure out something else for decoration on these next year that might be easier.

Some more red and white hats. I found an easy pattern to make crocheted pom poms. Or at least it looks like pom poms. Basically you crochet a chain of 204, yarn over and insert hook in 4th chain, then *yarn over and insert hook in 7th chain from hook. Repeat from * until you get to the end of the chain. (You will have a whole bunch of loops on your hook). Then pull your hook through all of those loops, pull it all snug and whala! You have a pop pom. Much easier to me, since I really don’t do good making pom poms the regular way.

My Santa cocoons with matching hats for this year. The mom’s seem to like the cocoons.

 

 

Last but not least is my baby quilt. When I was organizing my craft room earlier this year I came across some of those 18 inch quilt blocks that you embroider. I used colors to embroider the star to try to make it look like a poinsettia flower. Then I dug through my fabric stash and found some materials that were either Christmas themed of would work for Christmas at least. I cut two inch and four inch strips of fabric, depending on how much fabric I had of each one. Then just added them around the embroidered block. I ended up with a unique little quilt that should be big enough for a newborn. I like how it turned out.

That’s it for this batch. Working on items for Valentines day now.

GTA Donations October 2012

This time our group was concentrating on making Halloween items for the babies.

This is my preemie cocoon and hat that I made. I used a little green on the top of the hat and added a curly piece to try to make it look like the stem of a pumpkin.

 

 

 

 

 

  I made an assortment of hats that are supposed to look like candy corn. Most of these are made of Red Heart “Love” yarn. I really liked working with it. It is fairly soft and a lot easier on the hands to work with.

 

 

  A few more hats made in Halloween colors.

 

 

 

 

A few more candy corn hats and some pumpkin hats.

 

 

 

 

That’s it for this time. On to making Christmas items for the babies

Can You Help??

Do you crochet, knit, quilt or sew? Would you like to help make something to help needy babies?

We could REALLY use your help.

I belong to a group called God’s Tiny Angels. We have members from all around the United States. It is based out of Huntington, West Virginia. We donate to over 30 hospitals around the country.

The majority of our donations go to Cabell Hospital in Huntington, WV. This is a coal mining area with a very poor population. At any given time there is an average of 41 babies in their NICU unit. Many of these babies are born to mom’s with drug addictions and the babies go through withdrawals beginning as soon as they are born. Many of those babies will end up in foster care and seldom have visitors. These poor babies were born into this world with nothing, no family to care for them and no new clothing to end up going to whatever home they end up in.

Many are just born to families who are destitute. A hat, sweater, booties, a blanket, anything new would be so very appreciated by these families.

Our membership is down to only 59 members at this time and we just can’t do enough fast enough to take care of the enormous need. It would be wonderful if you would like to join our group and help. If you don’t feel you can commit to a long term time, you can still donate on a one time or occasional basis. ANY help would be so appreciated.

You can still help even if you are not “crafty”. We also accept donations of new or like new gently used baby clothing and blankets. I am always on the watch at our local Goodwill for pretty baby items.

I have been a member of this group for just a month shy of 5 years now. I realize we have the same need in our own area. But as an individual I don’t feel I can make enough items to make much of a dent in the problem. Belonging to a group, I feel I have been able to make a bigger impact.

Right now we are concentrating on making Christmas hats, booties, blankets, mittens and sweaters as the nurses like to try to bring some cheer to the NICU unit during the holidays.

If you are interested at all in donating and/or joining our group, you can contact me by email at mamasu55 at q.com and I can give you all the information you need to do so.

We usually mail our items to our group leader in Huntington, WV and she sees that the items are distributed to the hospitals with the greatest need at the time. If you don’t feel you want to do this, I can mail them for you or you can mail them to her. I can give you the needed information.

You can also check out the website site for our group at http://danettesangels.tripod.com/ , 

Thank you so very much for any help you feel you can give, as it will be extremely appreciated.

Susie Martin

GTA Donations August 2012

A bit smaller selection of items donated this time. Lots of real life stuff going on the past few months tended to limit my crafting time but at least I finally got some things sent!

As some of you know, I have been going through the slow process of trying to clear out and reorganize my craft room. It’s surprising how many unfinished objects you uncover in the process.

I came across this little preemie blanket that just needed a few more rows of the edging finished so it ended up in my gotta finish pile.

 

  Here is a close up of the material and the edging. The edging is crochet cotton thread. I was a bit concerned the thread would be a bit rough, but after washing it softened up a whole lot and I think it will be ok.

 

 

 

  This was another project that needed finishing. I found a baggie of the squares that I had bought off of Ebay a very long time ago.

Each square was definitely NOT square, so I had to do some trimming and ended up with 3 inch squares.

 

 

Here is a close up of the pattern of the squares. Aren’t they pretty? The flowers and leaves are kind of an embossed pattern and it’s really a lot prettier than the pictures show. It ended up being a bit bigger than a preemie size but could work for a small newborn too. Very simple but a bit elegant too. Could even be used for a nice burial blanket if needed. Might go nice with the little burial outfit below.

 

  The need is unfortunately continuous for burial outfits so I try to do at least one every donation. I didn’t have the ribbon threaded through the bonnet when I took the picture but used just a white thin ribbon. It’s hard to see in the picture, but the yarn has just a tad bit of sparkly to it. Not too much, just enough to make the set special.

The hospitals do use gowns for boys too, simply because it is much easier for them to dress them without hurting their delicate skin.

 

  Another little burial set, made from a multi pastel baby yarn. This should fit a smaller newborn and could work equally well for a boy or a girl.

 

 

 

 

 

  Just a very simple gown made from baby yarn. I didn’t have enough yarn to make a hat or bonnet too, but I’m sure it will still be used. Very tiny, should fit a small preemie. Even a simple gown is appreciated, as it is so very hard to find clothes for these tiny angels.

 

 

 

 

  Another simple burial set made from baby yarn. It’s also tiny, should fit a small preemie. I had enough extra yarn that I made a bonnet and a hat. That way this set can be used for a boy or a girl. The extra bonnet or hat may be able to used with another outfit to complete it.

 

 

 

  The mom’s seem to like these snuggle cocoons for their babies so I tried a new pattern I had found on the internet. It buttons up the side instead of just being what I consider a “sack”. I made this out of Pound of Love white yarn and it should fit a smaller newborn or a preemie.

 

 

 

 

I came across this cute little onesie in my UFO’s. It just needed buttons sewed on the back so that was a quick finish! It’s made out of light blue Pound of Love yarn and is kind of big, so it should fit a bigger newborn.

 

 

 

 

I wish the picture had come out better on this newborn size quilt so you could see just how pretty and bright all of the materials are. The pattern is calls “coins”, don’t quite understand why, but it was pretty easy to put together.

 

 

 

  Here is a close up of it. The background material is a whole bunch of bright Easter eggs! I had lots of it so I must have gotten a good deal on the material at some point in time. I dug through my stash and tried to find as many bright solids as I could to go with it for the rectangles. There was enough busyness going on with the material that I just used the same material for the edging.

 

My hot pink “flowers” quilt turned out to be between a preemie and newborn size. I came across the flowered squares already cut in the craft room clean out process.

 

 

 

  Here is a close up so you can see the patterns on the flower squares better. There weren’t very many of the flowered squares, but I just couldn’t let them go to waste! I like the way it turned out.

 

 

  Last but not least is my sweater donation this time. It is a newborn size and this multi colored yarn should work nicely for a little boy. There is ALWAYS a need for sweaters and hats so I try to make some every time.

That’s it for this time.

 

 

TEASER ALERT!!!

We will be adopting a third kitty this weekend! He is about 6 years old and his name is Truman. His daddy is being transferred out of state to Texas and unfortunately Truman can’t go along. He’s pretty laid back and friendly so I think he will fit in well with our other furbabies Rocky and Baby. Will get pics and such posted soon as I can, just wanted to let everyone know!

Technorati Tags: GTA,donations,charity,cats

Cat Capers

For those of you with cats, you know that you are not allowed to bring anything new into the house without it being thoroughly inspected and approved.

We finally got rid of the old school tv and now have a flat screen. Of course this meant we needed a different stand for the new tv.

  Rocky seems to think it was put here for his relaxing enjoyment.

 

 

 

 

  I think I must try the bottom shelf too and see if it meets my approval too.

 

 

 

 

  Baby has to get in on the act and give her seal of approval also.

 

 

 

 

  Baby decided she was going to inspect the backside and Rocky could see through the wire hole that she was back there.

 

 

 

 

  Well now this is a handy spot to reach through and try to smack Baby.

 

 

 

 

 

  I bet I can reach her better from this angle.

 

 

 

 

Rocky had enough inspection of the tv stand.

 He decided he needed to help dad with whatever he was doing with the empty ammunition box.

What? I MUST look.

 

  Smells ok.

 

 

 

  Seems ok from this angle too.

 

 

 

  Bet I can squish in there and see what’s hiding in the back of the box.

 

 

  That’s enough inspecting for now, think I will pester Baby some more. Maybe catch a few rays.

 

  Baby decided she had enough work for now and went to soak up some beauty rays.

Estate Auction Yarn Score

On Saturday the hubby and I took my stepson and his gal to an estate auction in the neighboring county. Hubby and I are old pros at going to auctions and hadn't been for quite awhile. We knew the kids were looking for dressers and other stuff so when we saw the ad in the local paper we asked them if they wanted to go. Neither of them have been to very many auctions, maybe one or two, so we thought it would be fun to break them in. We have them hooked now :)
Unfortunately, all of the furniture was going for big bucks so they didn't get to score there. But we sent the guys off to the other barn where they were selling tools and other guy stuff so us gals had fun at the main auction barn.
I didn't get pictures of anything but my yarn score (more on that further down in my post) but we did get some other stuff!
For those of you used to auctions, you know how sometimes they throw a bunch of stuff in a "flat" (basically it's a box lid) and you bid on the whole flat?
Our first score was one of those flats and we paid a whopping $2.50 for it. We got Miss M. 7 matching candlesticks, 4 or 5 pretty etched delicate wine glasses, a gosh awful amber jar with a lid, and maybe a couple other things, I don't remember.
Have you seen on Pinterest where you glue together candlesticks and pretty plates to make cute tiered display dishes for cupcakes and such? That's what Miss M. is going to do with the candlesticks! Even if she doesn't use anything else out of the flat, we got our $2.50 worth just for those.
Then we got a couple of nice decent sized pictures that no one else seemed interested in for $2.50 for both of them. They were both probably 2 feet by 3 feet. If nothing else the frames were pretty cool on them so they were worth it just for the frames. Miss M. is pretty crafty so she will probably do something neat with them.
While we were busy, the guys bought stuff like tools and drop cords and a tool box, a bug zapper, camping stuff, and all kinds of guy things.
We never knew what else we were going to find in our truck and their SUV when we took anything we bought out to the vehicles, lol.
All in all we spent less than $100 between all of us and declared the day a success and all had a good time. It was nice spending time with the kids too.
Ok. So now for the big yarn score I got.
For a whopping grand total of $8.50, I got 61 full skeins of yarn and an assortment of  partials and scraps.
I will apologize now for some of my pictures as I really need a new camera.

Here is a picture of all of it before I started to sort it out after I got it home. Remember, this was an estate sale, so a lot of it was older yarn. You can tell by the brands and the prices on the yarn wrappers. In my opinion, yarn doesn't spoil :)
I got the 2 flats for $1 for the both of them, and the big box for $7.50.
There was only one other lady that bid once against me for the big box, otherwise no one else there seemed interested in yarn, which was just fine by me.

These 6 skeins of green were in a clear bag all together and they must be all the same. There wasn't any "brand" on the bag, but it came from Rochelle, Illinois and the cost was $3.47 when bought new for all of them, hard telling how many years ago. You can't hardly buy one skein for that any more. It's a nice soft yarn. Maybe mixed with some white, it wold make a nice set for a boy baby.

There were 16 skeins of whites, off whites and yellows. We all know how many shades of whites there are right? The only thing that matched were the 5 Sayelle off white in the lower right corner. They had the Kmart brand on the label so I know they are old, but they match! You never have enough white, and if they are close and not right next to each other in a project, sometimes you can get away with using different ones.

This is one of my crappy pictures and I'm sorry. These are some of the blues, there were 13 in all. There were a few that matched but not too many. This batch had some skeins from Montgomery Ward for 99 cents each originally.













There were 10 skeins of pinks and a few partials, again quite an assortment with none matching. But I should be able to at least get a baby sweater out of most of them.

Here are the reds and oranges. There were 5 full skeins and some partials. See the third one from the bottom? I have never seen a skein of yarn as long as that one is. It's at least 18 inches long.





Another crappy picture, sorry. There were 3 full purple and a few assorted green partials. The 2 bigger purples are from Grants. You can't buy that anywhere anymore :)

This flat of yarns is all wool or wool blend yarns. I don't use wool yarn for the babies and I don't like to crochet it either as it makes me itch. So more than likely I will bag all this up with the odd ball stuff I don't plan on using and donate it to Goodwill. Someone will hopefully be able to make good use of it. I know I buy a lot of yarn at Goodwill, so it's kind of a pay it forward thing.




Sorry for the goofy spacing on some of this, Blogger wasn't playing nice no matter how hard I tried to make it.
So there you go for our fun day today. I was ready for a nap by the time we got home late afternoon, but it was worth it.