Saturday slowness

It's a nice, quiet, sunny Saturday. Most definitely a nice change from the busy week.
JW is working a blood drive today, so it's just me and a still sleeping College Boy in the house.

I've gotten several things done today so far. I even braved an early morning trip to Walmart.
I got a few essentials and yarn that I was yearning for.
I have pork country ribs in the oven, slow cooking for dinner. They smell heavenly right now.
Roseanne is on the TV while I work on a new blanket. And it's nice and quiet in the house.

I couldn't ask for a better day. Well, my feet could be warmer.
Someone go fetch my slippers so I don't have to get up!
Anyone??

Here is a blanket I finished this week. It's baby sized, and oh so soft.

Here is a cotton one I started this week.

And one I started this morning.

In other news, tragedy has struck... I have broken a nail.
JW is elated, as this means eventually I will have to trim my "raptor claws" to make them even.

I may not be able to do much, but I at least have the super power to grow nails.

I'm exhausted. Is it the weekend yet?

Man I had a busy weekend!
BFF and I wreaked havoc on the flea markets this weekend. We bought everything that we could possibly stuff into my little van. And then some.
We were big wheeler dealers I tell ya.

We found some great deals. BFF even found 5 antique blue 1/2 gallon mason jars. For three dollars total!
BFF said she could hear my brain explode when the guy told us the price.
Seriously, those things are going for anywhere between twenty and fifty bucks a piece around here.
And man were they purty!

We also found tons more goodies.

Ducks for JW, who collects them. The one on the left is actually a light also.

This awesome steel painted milk can. It weighs a ton!

And we also bought tons of glass. We found a thrift store that gave us a great price for two large tote bins full of glass. I felt like we robbed him blind. Almost. For about 72 seconds. Then I got over it.
BFF makes garden topiaries similar to the one below. The glass we picked up will make MANY!

In other news, I finally finished my little rag quilt. It turned out quite nice. It's throw size, so it will be perfect on someones lap, or for decoration on the back of a chair or sofa.

Now it's on to a blanket I'm crocheting and also a t-shirt quilt for college boy. He cleaned out his closet and I took all of his old t-shirts and will piece them together to make a light summer quilt for him. That boy loves his mommas blankets. He has a small crocheted one that he keeps in his car, and he always sleeps with his queen sized one that I made him last year. He and JW fight over the ones I make for some reason, but not the store bought blankets. They could care less about those.
I guess they have their priorities straight!

Jesus and ham ride again

Seriously people I have no clue why JW even lets me out of the house.
I am absolutely positively the most socially awkward retarded person on earth. At least in hospitals.
 
JW's Grandma H is in the hospital now.
We went to visit her last night and of course the minute JW stepped out of the room I apparently start screaming at poor grandma about ham when she mentions about it being "her time".
What the hell is the deal with me, old ladies, and ham?
I do not even know y'all.
I must have some seriously repressed feelings about ham or something.
Or maybe I've dyed my hair one too many times and the chemicals are finally soaking in.
Eh, who knows.

Well, at least today is a better day.
College boy demanded kale chips. I was kind enough to oblige so he has a bowl waiting for him once he gets home from classes. It's about the only green item in his diet, so I am more than happy to make them for him so he doesn't get rickets or some weird deficiency disease or something.

They are very easy to make. I make them with Asian chili oil, soy sauce, onion powder, and garlic powder. I tossed all of the ingredients except the kale in a bowl, mixed it well, then toss in the kale to coat.
Then I just put it on the dehydrator and let it go until they turn out crispy.
It takes about 5 hours for all of the pieces to get very crispy and crunchy.
And then it takes about 5 seconds for college boy to eat them all.

Of course I forgot before pictures, so here are the gratuitous after shots when they were done.

See, all nice and shrunken and crispy!

Sunday sewing

It's been a lovely weekend so far.
We had lunch with JW's family yesterday. We didn't get much done otherwise. It was rainy and we felt like being lazy.
Today is a different story. I did laundry, cooked, we cleaned, and now while JW is at his men's group meeting at church, I am at the sewing machine.

Back in September I started on a rag quilt, but had to put it away for a while.
I messed up my back in October and was on complete bed rest for the month. I still wasn't well enough to sit in my sewing chair for any amount of time, until now.
My back, while not completely healed, is better enough that I am able to sit at the machine for a while and work on the quilt.

I already had all of the squares already cut, thanks to my Accuquilt.  All I have to do now is finish pinning a few squares together that I had left to do, and sew everything together.

If you like doing rag quilts, the best investment you could ever make to save your hands is the Accuquilt.
It has a rag die that pre-cuts all of the rag for you. Seriously the best thing I ever bought.

Here is my stack I still have to pin. There are three pieces to the sandwich.
The top, which is just a patterned cotton, the middle is a square of polyfil and the back piece is white flannel.

Sewing the X on the squares

Completed X on the squares

The colors used are beige's and light greens.

I think it will make a lovely quilt. I will be happy to have it finally done so I can start on another!

What a shame

Awww, the poor criminals can't make bail!

Top New York judge calls bail system unfair to poor

I'm sorry, but who gives a crap if you can't make bail.
Don't commit the crime, then you don't have to worry about making bail.

What's next?
An allowance from welfare for your bondsman?

I need a smoke now. Jeez.

Great balls of yarn

I finished drying the yarn I dyed this weekend, and now they are all rolled in their little balls.

Here they are, all rolled up.

They are, in order:

White and food color, white and food color, and multistripe and food color.

White and KoolAid, multistripe and food color, white and KoolAid, and white and food color.

I think they turned out great.
The white yarn that was dyed with KoolAid turned out the most vibrant.
The white yarn with straight food color turned out in pretty pastels.
And the multistripe colored had some nice color change with the food color.
The multistripe that is predominately blue and purple had some red tones show up, and the other multistripe had the majority of the green that was already in it turn blue or purple.

All in all I'm satisfied with the colors, and will be dyeing more in a couple of weeks.

I know all there is to know about the dyeing game

Such a lovely day here.

The weather cooperated for JW to put the onion starts in. He also put some grass seed down on the bare patches on the lawn, reorganized the garage and shooed that darned squirrel off the awning of the swing where it was just gnawing away. 

I spent the day in the kitchen dying yarn.

I started with a white cotton yarn and used the food dye method and the Kool Aid method.

I found them here. They are very simple to do. 

I don't have many pictures today, and whats pictured is not everything I dyed. 

I will post more tomorrow after everything dries.

 Giant yarn knot and little dog are a requirement for any yarn activities.

The dye method is done in baggies in the microwave.

Finished the first batch and ready to hang up to dry.

The colors will lighten a bit as they dry.

Ignore the messy counters and dirty stove. I promise to clean it tomorrow!

On the plus side my whole house now smells like one giant tooty frooty bomb went off.