Dead Sewing Machine

Well I took the sewing machine into the shop today to try and get it fixed. They said it could not be fixed.  Since they said it was beyond repair in their opinion, but I could pay them $200.00 to look at it!  I might just tear the dang thing apart myself and see if I can fix it. After all they said it was to broke to fix, so how much worse could I make it?

So they said they had a new Brother sewing machine for $700.00 which is a bit pricey in my book  They seemed down right mad that I would just not hand them $700.00 plus tax with out consulting my hubby. Well for that boo boo on there part if I do get a new machine it will be through e-bay, a local pawn shop or thrift store. I just don't see why sales people need to talk down to their customers, after all we are their paychecks, our purchases fuel their jobs. By the way the same sewing machine on e-bay was at least $200.00 less.

Well I am off to look at the product reviews to see if the machine is even worth the asking price on e-bay. Now if I can just get someone to carry in the machine from the car so I can fiddle with it.

We Have a Winner

We have a winner. Teri like this idea the best.

Laura said...


How about Almond butter with craisins? Similar to a pb&j, yet different a taste.

So Laura please send me your mailing address.

On the knitting front a lot of knitting is getting done, but nothing is getting close to being finished. My work in progress list includes 2 shawls for me. 1 blanket for Teri. 1 charity hat. 1 charity scarf. 1 pair of socks. 1 baby blanket. 2 ponchos for the guild out reach program. I think I envy those very few knitters that can sit down and finish 1 project at a time, but that just is not me.

Well John is home so it is time to wrap things up for the night. Have a good evening and enjoy your families.

It is Still Tuesday

It is still Tuesday. By only 28 minutes left in the day as I begin to write this. After an hour of hiccups I thought Eric would be tired enough to go to sleep; but I guess not. The hiccups ended over an hour ago, and boy is  still fussy.

I found some time for errands today although they got cut short by a beautiful afternoon rain shower that left over 1/2 in of rain in the rain gauge, had some spectacular lighting strikes and cooled it off out side. I am sure my plants enjoyed it very much. I am not big on watering and tend to leave all my desert plants to fend for themselves as nature intended.

It is getting very quiet so I hope that I can call it a day soon. Have a good what ever time of day it is when you read this and enjoy your families.

Monday, Monday

Not a lot got done today. I was up until 2:30 am with Eric. And are we not surprised back up at 5:30 am to start the day. Just a very fussy night. So aside from accomplishing  5 out of 7 on my chore list and a little bit of knitting it was a very slow day.

Here is to a very quiet night.

I Love Small Knitting Projects

I love small knitting projects. They make me feel like I have accomplished something. With laundry and child care that never ends it feels like I am doing something concrete with my life. The hat I started yesterday was finished today. Then another hat was started. I have a lot of odd balls of yarn left over from other projects.  I try to blend the colors and yarn weights together to come up with unique colorways. I love to do hats with odds and ends of yarn I just never know what I will end up with. Since my Art Fire Studio is full stocked with hats I will be sending them off to kids in colder climates.

We had a nice slow day today. By the way did I mention I got some knitting done?  The weather was cool for this time of year only in the mid 80's but the humidity was near 30% all day. We were graced with a very small down pour tonight and a nice show of lighting.

We it is time to go put Eric to bed so have a great evening and enjoy your families.

New Recpie

I was up with Eric until 2:30 am and was up again to start the day at 6 am, a big yuck in my book. Eric managed to spend most of the day sleeping ; but sleep eluded me. I spent the day doing laundry, puttering and knitting. On the knitting front I was too tired to concentrate so I started a hat with the hat pattern I gave everyone yesterday. I made it through the brim and 6 rows into the stripes.

Just before lunch I came up with a brilliant idea, at least I thought so. Iced Moroccan Mint Tea with Boba a kinda of east meets another part of the middle east. Boba are large tapioca balls that are found in the Asian section of some stores or the Vietnamese section of speciality Asian stores.

Make the Moroccan Mint tea as per package directions on the stronger side.

Make the Boba according to package directions. Drain. The link on the side of the page is for the type of Boba I used. The directions were very clear but I only cooked 1/2 cup of dried Boba which is enough for 4 drinks. Some people do use special wide straws but I forgot to pick them up and did just fine anyway.

In a heat proof glass add 1/4 cup of cooked Boba. Fill the glass to the top with ice. Pour the Moroccan Mint Tea over the ice and Boba. Let the ice do it magic and sit back and enjoy. Total prep to serving time less than 15 minutes.

This is not a sweet drink but it is a very refreshing drink. Personally I had almost a full tea pot of this this afternoon. Some Boba will come to the top when the glass is tilted but you will need a spoon to get all the goodness out of the glass.

I would like to remind everyone that Teri and I still have a contest going on. We only have 4 entries so your chances of winning a prize are good. check the past blog entry for all the details.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

The World has not Ended

I have done the finishing work in my basket to day and the world did not end. There are a total of 5 scarfs and 1 hat just off the needles today.

Because I love this hat so much I thought I would throw in a pattern today.

Supplies
Size 6 circular needles
size 6 dpn's
Scrap yarn

This hat can be made in 2 sizes small and large. The small one is for a child the large for a teen or adult.

Cast on 81 stitches for the small (place a stitch marker every 20 stitches) and 101 for the large(place a stitch marker every 25 stitches).

For the 1st stitch knit together the first and last cast on stitch, knit 1, purl 2 * knit 1 purl 2* for rounds 1 through 15.
*Added the second color and knit 2 rounds. be sure to twist the yarn on the inside for a more sturdy hat.
Go back to the first color for 2 rounds.* repeat these 4 rows until you have knit 32 rows of stockinette.
The crown is very easy. You will do a *ssk (slip,slip,knit) after each stitch marker and knit to the next stitch marker* repeat until you have 4 or 5 stitches on the needle.  Cut a tail and pick up the remaining stitches on the  darning needle go around once. Weave in the ends on the wrong side of the hat. About half way through the crown you will need to knit the stitches on to the dpn's. I divide the stitches by the stitch markers on to 3 dpns, this is not even but it works for me. The crown can either be done in a solid color or stripping every other row. I have done it both ways and both are easy and look good.

Have a good evening and enjoy your families.

PS let me know if you need clarification on the pattern. Please use this pattern for personal or charity use. If you make this pattern for profit please donate 15% of the money to a charity for children or to your local community food bank. This is the honor system.