I may be MIA for a few days. A deadline at work has been moved up and this will definitely cut into arts & crafts time. I’ll be back soon…well, hopefully.

Meet Snuffy. The new official mascot of Saunshine. She’s may not be able to compete with Poppy Sassypants , but she’ll do.

Snuffy arrived in the mail yesterday. Parents seem to have some sort of sixth sense. Before they knew I was sick, my parents sent me a package of toys. Snuffy, a Lego clock, Winnie the Pooh figurines, and a Cleveland Cavaliers hat. All are things that I love, especially the Lego clock. I have a huge collection of Legos. ( Allison’s boys would be jealous.) This was a great pick-me-up.

Thanks for all the well wishes. I’m feeling much better.

Snuffy says “Have a great weekend. Don’t forget to KIP tomorrow for World Wide KIP day “.

This entry was brought to you by Z-pak antibotics, Adagio Chamomile Tea ,Campbell’s soup, Vitamin Water, Mott’s Applesauce, and “The sleep of a thousand Snow Whites”.

For all of you that thought I was so amazing for making all that jewelry, it was because the extreme pain kept me from sleeping. The overzealous beading was my sad attempt to keep myself from thinking about the pain. But thanks to our sponsors I was granted with what I call “the sleep of a thousand Snow Whites”. I slept ALL-DAY yesterday. It was great! Normally you don’t get antibotics for a viral infection but the screwed up face the doctor made when he saw my throat said “It may not be strep but something funky is going on in there”. What he actually said was, “I’ll prescribe some antibotics just in case”. I’m now on a mission to find a doctor that will remove my tonsils. I don’t care if I have to bribe someone.

I started the Cherry pattern on Sunday. No one has my dyelot so I’ve decided to just buy an extra ball and use it for the collar, buttonband, and ribbing on the sleeves. If I returned the yarn I had for a new color, I would still have one ball just lying around with nothing to do with it. That bothered me more than a getting a different dyelot.

I haven’t really talked much about my other projects because I was working on one that had me stumped. I didn’t want to talk about it until I figured out what I was going to do.

The idea started with a desire to have some sort of wrap that was more than a shawl/wrap but not quite a shrug. Something to wear over my tanks on a cool night. No lace, no ribbing, and all in one piece. I cut up a scrap of muslin to get my idea straight.

Unfolded, it has to look like this.

I actually had this half-way done but changed my mind about the edging I had chosen and frogged. Here is what it looks like so far.

I originally had a feather & fan pattern but didn’t really like how it curled. I didn’t want curling but I didn’t want ribbing either so I opted for a rick-rack pattern. I’ll be putting it along the armhole edges as well to eliminate the curling.

It’s a heck of a lot of stockinette, which isn’t that fun, but I have to keep in mind the desired end product.

It’s been arts & crafts time in the sick ward here at Chez Saun. It would seem that I’ve contracted a funky case of pharyngitis. Loosely translated that means something funky like a mosquito or something gave me some crappy virus that makes my throat swell ridiculously, causes pains, affects my speech, and puts me in an overall irritated and crappy mood. And best part, like the common cold, nothing can cure it. It just has to run its course. Isn’t that great!?! (Can you sense my extreme sarcasm?) And did I forget to add that being a sick single woman sucks because you have to take care of yourself and go to the store for your own medicine even if you feel like crap.

Now that I’m done complaining I’ll show you what I made during arts &crafts time. This weekend it was jewelry time. I’m lacking in the funky jewelry department so instead of paying out the wazoo, I invested that money in beads and supplies.
green shell necklace with drop earrings – one of my favorites
pink & white clear beads with a heart pendant – my favorite
earrings – gold filagree, large shells, and seed beads (pink & orange)
orange shell bracelet and necklace (on elastic) that doubles as a bracelet
assorted white/clear bracelets & necklaces
double strand necklace and bracelet.

That’s 7 pairs of earrings, 5 necklaces, & 5 bracelets. I spent about $65 dollars and used a little over half of my supplies. That’s around $35 for all that stuff. Isn’t DIY the greatest! I still need some red and blues but I’ll finish those another day.

So what did you do with your weekend? I hope it went better than mine.

I had this post already written but I need to add this just because.

Yesterday was a really good day for me volunteering at the Girls Club. A few girls have come and gone from the knitting club but as the school year ends, there are the few girls that I know will keep going. In the beginning they struggled, especially with the purl stitch and some wanted to give up. With their second projects I gave them freedom. They could make a handbag/tote any size and in any stitch they wanted. Three girls finished last week. Another two finished this week. One girl joined the club this week. The other girls showed her how and she knit a big bag and is finishing her strap.

Then there is one little girl. Little and loud with energy to spare. She wants everything fast and hates it when I make her work extra rows to get things as they should be. We (read she) likes to bargain. If she knits 4 rows, I’ll knit 2. She finished her bag last week and it was small because she was impatient. Yesterday in school she started a scarf. She had at least 3 inches when she got to the club. Then she decided it would be a belt and the art teacher found her a random buckle that was laying around. In two hours I encouraged her to focus and keep knitting and she finished her belt, buckle and all. She was so excited she ran out of the art room to show off and I couldn’t even get a picture. In her words “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever made in my life”. (She’s 9. LOL!) This is the reason I volunteer. You don’t get that type of reaction from a computer screen.

Out of Denial

Okay, so I had this green yarn. Red Heart cotton. Remember it..

We all know I have a bias against Red Heart but this was a yarn I thought I could really get behind. So I bought 4 skeins last year. I ran across it in stash and decided to get myself to use it by giving myself a design challenge. The problem is that the only idea that this yarn could inspire was sleeveless and I don’t want to make a sleevless shirt. I couldn’t come up with anything with sleeves. The yarn did not inspire. Then the more I looked at it, the less I was in love. Don’t like the color. It’s sportweight. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

The truth of the matter is I just don’t want to use the yarn and probably never will. Nope! Just don’t wanna.

So the question is….who wants it? Any takers? Taken.