9/11

From our June 2008 trip to New York...words cannot express all the feelings that go alone with these pictures...

Tiles For America .

Hobo Bag

A few weeks ago, I started this Hobo Bag on a road trip and I finished it a couple of weeks later in time to give it to a friend's daughter for her birthday.

I used 2 skeins of Sugar N Cream "Over the Rainbow" and 1 skein of Sugar N Cream "White".  The cute pattern was found via Ravelry by ~sarahndipities~.

The only trouble I ran into was at the beginning/end of each round.  You couldn't really see it too badly on the rainbow part.

But on the white part, the gaping holes were more apparent.

I could make sure that the front was very prominently noticeable.  Or I came up with the idea of making this the front and hiding it with flowers.

It was risky, but I liked this solution the best.  The birthday girl and my friend loved it and I got some compliments on my crocheting skills :)

In my bag

I have read a lot of "in my bag" posts over the years, so I thought I would finally give it a try.

This is my crochet notions bag.

I got this bag a lllllllllllooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggg time ago.  It is originally from Bath & Body Works.  I think my mom gave me the bag then it sat in my gift wrapping box forever waiting to be used.  Finally, I had the perfect use for it.

A look inside. 

Sometimes when I am working on a small project--like a hat, I take out the stuff I don't need and just put a skein of yarn inside.  When closed, it is 2 1/2 inches thick, so it fits more than one would think from looking at the picture.



 1.  11 hooks from Lion Brand, Susan Bates, and Boye

 2.  Pencils & pen to note any variations that I have used to patterns

 3. & 4.  Yarn Needles  The blue ones are for thicker yarns and the steel ones are the most used.  I am sad because I lost one of the needles from my steel set...yes, I can only use one at a time, but I don't like losing things--it feels incomplete :(

 5.  Martha Stewart Scissors  These were given to me by my aunt.  I was looking for some small scissors for scrapbooking and she loaned these to me.  I loved them and she let me have them.  Little did I know I would soon use them strictly for cutting my yarn.  I love these little scissors.

 6.  Lion Brand PomPom Maker  I don't really care for this pompom maker, but it does it's job.

 7.  Susan Bates Stitch Markers  I used these once and I didn't really care to use them.  But I probably should, it would help me not have to count as much :)

 8.  Tape Measure.  I took this out of my sewing "kit"...(**my sewing kit entails white and black thread, some needles and ironing hem, because that is how crafty I am--ha ha ha.)

 9.  Carpal Tunnel Craft Glove.  When I first started crocheting, I crocheted very tightly and my hand hurt.  I still crochet too tight, but I have not needed the glove lately.

10.  Pin backs I thought I would use these more often, but I really haven't.  I figured when I make something with a flower I can just attach it with a pin so the buyer could easily take it off if they aren't in a flowery mood.

11.  Barrette backs  Same concept as the pins (attach to a hat or scarf) and I thought I would make some barrettes by themselves to sell...which I haven't done yet :p 

12.  Yarn labels--ok, this is kinda odd, but useful.  I keep the labels of the yarn I have used after I am finished with it.  It helps me with the washing instructions--useful, but I also keep them for every color...so say I have used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, sure 1 label is helpful, but I have 5 of them (one for each color)--odd.

So there is a look into my slightly neurotic crochet bag.

Another Failed project

My blanket had such promise. I spent too many hours on this project. I had just finished my 4th ball (out of 6).

After laying it out, I realized that my tension was off and the first row was 34 inches while the latest row was 35 inch. Blah!

 
This is why I don't cut or weave until the end.  

Not sure if I want to tackle this blanket again for a while :(

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Free Friday Night Concerts

For years, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has been hosting free Friday night concerts and we never make it out there.  To be honest, the bands that play are usually one-hit wonders or "old" long forgotten bands.  Ok, they usually still have a following otherwise they wouldn't draw a crowd, right?

This summer, we bought our daughter a season pass to the Boardwalk and have only taken her twice, so we had planned on going this past Friday night.  Since I am a fan of the Boardwalk on Facebook, I seen that Berlin was playing.  My husband didn't know who I was talking about and well neither did the kids.

The bands play twice--once at 6:30 and a second time at 8:30.  We caught the tail end of the first concert and my husband did recognized the song "Take My Breath Away" which was featured in the film Top Gun--and for the record, I have never seen that movie because in 1986, I didn't see the fuss in Tom Cruise and still don't :)

Terri Nunn rocked a more modern Black with Blonde hair style.  (Those Berlin fans will remember her black tipped blonde hair.)

We came back for the 8:30 show and seen her walk into the crowd.

I hope I look that great when I am 50!!!  Shoot, I want to look like that at 38 :)

Oh right, this is a photography blog...Well everytime we go out there, I bring my camera but usually fail at taking great photos.  This time I brought my D50, but I took my kit lens that came with my D300.  The lens was probably heavier than the camera!  ha ha ha.  I tried using Aperture mode then Shutter Mode, but went back to the handy dandy Auto Mode.  And I normally try to stay clear from using the flash, but during the concert it actually helped even though we were pretty far back from the stage.  I did a little cropping and some slight color correction in Paint Shop Pro X2. 

Side note, I always thought that RAW was the best way (and I still use it all the time), but I couldn't figure out why my photos were always so drab and flat.  I thought I was doing something wrong until I read an article letting me know that when you shoot in RAW, you NEED to edit--and all this time I just thought the pictures were supposed to be awesome straight out of the camera.  I wish I could find the article I read, but I can't.

Driving Projects

We recently came back from a 22 1/2 hour road trip.  The "original" route was supposed to take 7 1/2 hours one way, but it took us 11 1/2 hours to get there because of a couple of stops and LOTS of traffic.  On the way home, we decided to go another route and make some more stops along the way plus there was added traffic--blah!

The weekend prior to our trip, I picked up a nice supply of yarn at Michaels which was on clearance.  Each of these 8 skeins of yarn were 99 cents a piece!!!  Total score.  The "Over the Rainbow" Lily Sugar'n Cream is normally $1.99, but the Lion Brand Yarn Cotton-Ease is normally $7.99!!!  AWESOME

I search for the perfect patterns before pairing each with a color I had in my stash. 

For the rainbow yarn, I knew I wanted to make a bag, so I found this cute pattern via Ravelry by ~sarahndipities~.  Using 2 balls of the rainbow ombre and a partial ball of white Sugar'n Cream, I was able to complete 3/4's of this bag on the way to our destination.  Unfortunately, during our trip, I was unable to locate a Joann's or Michaels to purchase more white, so the bag had to wait to be completed.

Along with the Maize Cotton-Ease, I used some Cream to start a Child's Chevron Throw via Lion Brand Yarn. (you may have to be logged into the Lion Brand website to see the blanket.)  I was only able to complete about 1/3 of the blanket on our way home.

Over the years, I have enjoyed many hobbies, but crocheting is the one hobby I am happy to be able to do while being a passenger in the car or while waiting around place. 

I cannot wait to show the completed projects. 

110 Film

In 2001, McDonald's was giving away Spy Kids Cameras with their Happy Meals (and I see that you can buy one online for $16!).  Cool...except it took 110 film.  Way back at the turn of the century (2001), some stores like Walmart still carried 110 film.  My kids could not wait to use their "cameras", so I bought a pack of three 110 film.  They used it...the photos came out crappy and they were done with them.  The cameras hid in their toy boxes, then went into a box.  A couple of years ago, I came across one that we still had and dug into my box of film (yes, I still have film that I am sure is expired.)

So 2 summers ago, I loaded the expired film up and headed to the park to just play around.  Well then the film sat in my purse for months, then on my desk for months.  I finally found a place online, Swan Photo Labs,  that I could send the film to get developed.  Well then that information sat waiting to be used.  Finally, 2 years later, I sent my film in to get developed and burned onto a disc.  I didn't need the prints, I just wanted to see what "art" I could come up with.  For the mere cost of $16 (includes both shipping to and back), I got my images--Now maybe I can sell this camera online and recover my cost--ha ha ha. 

1.  I knew this was a crappy camera.  2.  I knew the film was expired to begin with.  3.  The film tossed around my purse and desk for a couple of years.  So, no, I didn't get any artsy photos...just blur and noise and a line through most of them :)

I am kinda bummed that they aren't square photos, but it was fun playing with the camera and maybe someday I will play in PaintShop a bit to see if I can do anything with them...my guess would be no--oh well.  It was worth a shot :D  I will just stick to my iPhone and the artsy filters on that :p

Current favorite iPhone photo app

I came across this article in the Mercury News newspaper by Chris O'Brien.

The best part is that the app is FREE!!! I love the different frames and effects.

I even have 4 followers-whoo hoo. (1 is my brother though.)

The app can be found in the app store under Instagram. Find me as linmom.