Easy ways to follow the Yarn Princess

After several people asked me how to "follow" the blog I asked Dak to tell you all how...


The Yarn Princess asked me to put up some information about easy ways to follow this blog. News readers are some of the easiest modern Web technologies available, but they're really under utilized.


What's a news reader? Basically, it's software that checks Web sites for you and shows you the updates. If you have more than a half dozen blogs that you like to check, a news reader will greatly simplify the process.


There are dozens of news readers available, many (or maybe most) of them free. I use a Macintosh computer, and NetNewsWire is a free (as in ad-supported) reader that does the job. (There is a paid version that eliminates the ads.) You can subscribe to feeds via Outlook, although I don't find that as convenient (Microsoft has a "how to" for this).


If you don't already have a news reader, several are available as Web services, four of which are linked from any blog hosted on Blogger, which hosts the Yarn Princess. Look for the "Join the Realm" link in the right-hand navigation column. Google Reader (at the top of the list) is probably the easiest--if you already have a Google account, you already have a Google Reader account.

If you prefer to keep track of your blogs via a program on your own computer (my personal preference--as I said, I use NetNewsWire), then you can choose the fifth option on the drop down list ("Atom") to get the feed address, and then give that address to your reader software. Or you can just click the "RSS feed" button at the top of the blog.


Back to the Yarn Princess...  Remember to go to this post if you want to enter first of many book giveaways. Follow and leave a comment. Remember, I need to be able to reach you if you win so include your e-mail address!

I forgot!

A few days ago I helped Princess Junior post some news about her wheelchair on her blog and I should have posted something about it as well. Rather than repeat the whole thing you can go HERE and read it. 

I've been working on some things... Here are a couple scarves I ran across this week. Made them a while back but not sure I showed them here.

This is actually a scarf so it's much longer than the picture shows. But you can see the detail here.

Then there is this...

Again, another scarf. As you can see, it looks really different when smoothed out and after you have worn it. Wearing it seems to make it curl up onto itself.


And yesterday I got some more of the new Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe (a 55% bamboo/45% wool blend) yarn to finish up a rectangular granny blanket/afghan. This is the center, stray ends and all...

 I'm so glad more Bamboo yarns  and colors are coming out. I LOVE BAMBOO!!!! It's so soft to work with. We have Bamboo blend sheets on our bed and I wouldn't go back to the Egyptian Cotton we had before for anything. The bamboo is sooooo comfortable. You have to look carefully before you buy though. The prices can vary greatly! I saw them online for as much as $400 a set! No, thank you. We got ours at Target. They are about $75 a set (king) and then have them on sale every once in a while. I just wish that they had a greater variety of colors there. 

Last is something I've just started last night. I only have one square done so far. It's out of Crochet Today's "All-time Best Blankets" and is called Sunny Spread. I've done it in a tweedy yarn I have. This is what a square looks like.

 In the picture you can barely see the Front Post Stitches that form spokes, but they are there! It works up fairly quickly but I will probably just make enough for a small throw.

LET IT SNOW!!!!!

Ok. I'm a happy camper! It's SNOWING!!! And, depending on who you listen too, they are calling for anywhere from 2-4 to 6-12 inches. I'm sure you can tell what I'm rooting for. :) Right now I can hear the sleet hitting the windows. Gamer Boy came in here a few minutes ago with a 3-4 inch patch of snow in his hand to show me what it was looking like. Fluffy snow on the bottom and pebbles of sleet on the top.

Snow checklist:
Supplies and meds for Princess Junior? Check!
Milk, bread and all the other staples that people clean the store out of when the flakes start to fly? Check!
Movies to watch? Check!
Junk food including popcorn to got with above movies? Check!
Yarn and hooks? CHECK!!!

We may have jumped the gun on the junk food. Yesterday I sold some blood to buy a half a dozen cuppy cakes from a nearby cuppy cake emporium. (Kidding about the blood, but they definitely weren't cheap.) Since it was just Dak and Gamer Boy and I at home I cut each cuppy cake in three so we each got a taste of them all. I had gotten six different flavors so there was a variety. There was one that was a banana cuppy cake with peanut butter frosting... a chocolate cuppy cake with chocolate frosting... a yellow cuppy cake with raspberry filling and raspberry frosting.... ditto, but with lemon... a chocolate cuppy cake with peanut butter frosting ... and yellow cuppy cake with a creme filling and chocolate frosting. I'm still not real sure which was my fav, probably the lemon, but I'm not overly concerned about it because I don't think that place will become a regular stop on any of my travels. Now there are two other similar establishments in the area that I want to check out but again, I probably wont become a regular at any of them. Too rich for my blood in too many ways. What blood I have left, that is. {wink}

One thing the weather has already been impeding for a while is the delivery of our new shed. We started the delivery "process" about 3 weeks ago but the weather just won't cooperate and has forced rescheduling either here or at the builder's location at least thee times! They need to move it (taking up a lot of space) and we want, no, we need it here, but unfortunately the snow is going to delay it a while.

I have been woring on several WIPs, trying to get them finished. I did make Princess Junior and I somewhat matching hats for the cold. I'll try and post a picture tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be around the house. :)

No news on the wheelchair but the local news paper was out today and there is supposed to be a story in tomorrow's paper about Princess Junior.

Wheelchair update

To compensate for the jerks there are some really good people out there. Several people we know through support groups offered us the use of wheelchairs to get Princess Junior through until we can straighten this out. I think at last count it was 5 chairs offered - Even from out-of-state! THANK YOU ALL!!!

But the original supplier has also offered a loaner. They are going to meet us at Princess Junior's Botox appointment tomorrow and bring it there. They will be working with the doctor to see what we need to put her in now. They are also going to file the police report and a letter from our car insurance company (saying that this isn't covered on the policy) with the order for a new chair. They say that sometimes insurance companies will pay for a new chair in these circumstances.

Dak talked to a colleague who teaches security issues on Tuesday... In turn he mentioned the scenario at his class that evening and got an interesting reaction...

"I relayed a little about the theft of a little girl's wheelchair, in the context of what it would take to secure a neighborhood, and the class was ready to form a "vigilance committee"to detect, detain, and perhaps dismember, the perpetrators who stole said chair.Their enthusiasm for the task was interesting to watch because they connected at such an emotional level with this case."

LOL!!! I wonder if we could convert part of the shed into a guard shack and have them take shifts. :)

Have you seen this wheelchair?????

It's gone and I'm MAD!

Princess Junior's wheels disappeared out of our van sometime during the night. Without the chair we can't do therapies, doctor's appointments become a real ordeal and life in general for her becomes more limited. And at a cost of $7,011.13 (plus the cost of the oxygen tank holder) with several weeks of waiting after ordering we can't just go out a buy a new one. Did I mention I'm MAD?

What lowlife would steal a WHEELCHAIR? Especially a CHILD'S wheelchair!?! I was asking myself that question when we were talking to the sheriff's deputy that came out and he gave us an answer that had never occurred to me. He said that people steal things like that and they turn up on CraigsList or they scrap them for the metal.

I was up way too late last night so slept in this morning. It was about 11 am when I finally got to check in with Princess Junior's day nurse. She told me that the night nurse had called her about 10 minutes after she left this morning telling her to make sure her car doors were locked (they park in our yard but along the edge next to the street). She had been driving home and noticed that the back end of her van was open. She pulled over and went to look and found that some lowlife had been in her van! She had money in the center console that was now gone (a substantial amount to pay car payment and other bills from what I understand). She also had some things in the back that she had recently bought but hadn't been able to go through them yet to see what, if anything, was missing at the time she was talking to Princess Junior's day nurse. But she did call the police to report it.

Dak went out to the van to check and when he came back I was heartbroken. He told me that Princess Junior's WHEELCHAIR is gone. The lowlife(s) took her chair plus every single electronic charger in the glove box (for phones), the power inverter/converter installed under the passenger seat (and wired into the van!) and even a plug in flashlight! Yes, we hadn't locked the van (Please don't beat me up about that. I can do it very well on my own. Dak is usually very good about locking it and it just didn't get done last night.)

I'm agonizing over this because, like I mentioned, I was up way too late last night. I just got a pair of winter Crocs (lined) and was crocheting myself a pair of ankle warmers since I can't wear socks with the Crocs or they are too tight. I should have gone to bed but I kept pushing and pushing, determined to get them done. After all... What good is just one? I have two ankles! :) Sometime between 2:30 and 3 am (when I finally turned out the light and went to bed) I actually heard probably two cars outside, doors closing and the cars driving quickly down the street. We have neighbors with teenagers so I thought it was just that. So what I chalked up to neighbor's friends leaving was actually some jerk(s) taking our stuff. Have I told you that I'm MAD?!?

And since it's a holiday the police report won't be ready until Wednesday at the earliest, plus I can't reach the doc who prescribed the wheelchair or the car insurance folks. They took the day off too.

If you see the chair call the police. Oh, and keep me away from the jerk that has it because, in case I hadn't mentioned it, I'm MAD!

I am very thankful...

I can't claim this as mine but I got it in e-mail and I really like it so I'm sharing.

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

May we always be grateful for what we have and be mindful of the sacrifices of all that helped make our lives as good as they are.

********************************

I am always grateful for the abundance in my life. But I'm having a real problem with Thanksgiving this year because I don't think it should be a once a year thing... I've always thought Thanksgiving should be EVERY day! And that is how I would rather observe it.

Although we have our challenges I have a wonderful family. Although they can frustrate me to no end I love each and every one of my kids! I wouldn't want to be without any of them.

My husband is so very special. I can't tell you how loved he makes me feel. I still get shivers when he just looks at me and smiles. How corny is that? Look at all he puts up with. Not only does he put up with my yarn addiction he even says he's going to let me teach him how to crochet. It will be a slow process with all the other stuff that comes first but, since he doesn't share my love of scary movies, I'm hoping that he enjoys it so I can enjoy sharing crocheting with him.

I've been a bad blogger. I have started to start to blog many times in the past couple months but something always got in the way. There have been family issues (dealing with nursing for Princess Jr, a short hospital stay for Chatty, m-i-l challenges due to the Alzheimer's), time issues, energy issues...

I have gotten some crocheting done. I have a mile-a minutes blanket completed except for weaving in the ends, started a couple pair of fingerless gloves, worked on a couple other blankets and "designed" a pair of heelless bed socks.

The socks... I have never had any real luck with socks. I'd probably have to up my shoe size to wear any crocheted ones. But in the wintertime I have a real problem with keeping warm at night. My feet need to be covered but if the whole foot is covered I get TOO warm. Does anyone else have that problem???

I have tried scrunching my sock down below my heel, but (while it does fix the temperature problem) the socks work their way off and end up floating around under the covers at the end of the bed. So I decided that I would try and make a pair of bed socks with no heel! What I came up with was a heelless sock that isn't real beautiful, but it is very functional and works perfectly!!! I am even in the process of making a second set with a bit of a decorative front. I will try and post a picture soon.

Anyway, I will try and get some semblance of order to this thing as far as posting on a more regular basis. I need to, for me. And because I am thankful for you.

Linking Rings and Barfing Clowns, and Shaded Squares... And ROCK ON!!!!

I have been remiss in my postings. I apologize to anyone I have disappointed.

We have been dealing with some issues with several family members and it has taken quite a bit of time and attention. but programs have been completed and a cross town move (MIL - not us!) made and I think we are doing somewhat ok at the moment. Still some stress (always will be) but it is now at a lower level. Hopefully it will continue to head downward.

I have been working on a few projects. One is in the finishing stages. I saw one that someone else had done and used it for inspiration. (My squares don't have as many rounds) I'm working on the border now and then will weave in the ends. LOTS of ends. :( This is the blanket. It is done with two strands to achieve the blending effect.



It is three rows of four squares. I alternated, starting some squares with the light color and some with the dark. I used black to set it off (I love how black really makes bright colors pop out at you!) and am doing a solid black border around it. I will probably do a second row and a scallop row to finish it off. It is definitely a winter throw because of the double stranding. I have some left over yarn in those colors so am making a smaller throw only not double stranded so it won't have the blending and the squares will only be 4 rounds. I'm going to do a solid join so there will be no holes in it.

I'll take pictures of other projects soon.

I also wanted to alert you to a REALLY cool colorway for yarn at an Etsy shop I found. I HAVE to have this yarn and plan to acquire some asap. It is from Astrid at Damselflyyarns.

CLOWN BARF!!!

Astrid, you could NOT have named it any better!!! Be sure and check out her other yarns! She has a really nice chocolate mint sock yarn and does 7 different kinds of yarns.

Another couple Etsy shops I have run across have some really cool stuff too. JustBeHappy is run by Alessandra and she has some really whimsical button necklaces. I got the multicolored one. :)


And I'm in the process of making her Love You Forever wreath. Drop by for a visit. I also have business card holder that she made. The PINK one! :)

And then there is FebystanDesigns, which is a family endeavor. Ebru does amazing thread work and made a gorgeous pair of earrings I am anxiously awaiting to arrive. Check out the shop and see what beautiful work is there!


Aren't they beautiful?!?!?! I have nothing but awe and respect for people who can do this work.

And lastly... Look what Dak just got. I surprised him with this last week and he is a very happy camper. Just don't tell Chatty that it's Vampire Red Satin! :)



I threw in a small amp and a case. :) And HEADPHONES! :)

I have an odd habit of throwing quarters and singles in jars. See what you can do when you save your quarters??? :)

Not a good weekend...

It's been a... let's just say it's been a weird weekend.

Of course, as all weekends do, it started last week. Tuesday we got a phone call from Firstborn telling her dad that her mom had opted to not continue dialysis. Needless to say she was a bit upset. She and Skellyson came over and met up with Chatty and they went to the hospital to see their mom. Their mom said that she would continue the dialysis if they could/would move her to another hospital. (She didn't like the way the hospital she was in did it and said it was less tramatic and painful at the other hospital.) Without the dialysis they gave her about two weeks to live.

Friday we got another early morning call. Firstborn again. Her mom was not going to be transferred to the other hospital (they considered her medical stable so no reason to transfer her from a hospital that was giving her the same treatment they would) and she had been moved to a local hospice facility the day before. Again Firstborn and Skellyson came and got Chatty and went to see her.

Saturday morning we got another early morning call. Their mom had died early that morning. So now Dak and Chatty and Skellyson are on their way to the middle of the state to the funeral. Dak will be there for the kids but at this point doesn't plan to attend the funeral (It's a weird family dynamic and he wants to make it easier on the kids.) They visitation is today and the service tomorrow. He will be home tomorrow night.

This quick chain of events necessitated some fast arranging. Dak had finals to deal with. To deal with it he needed a video camera and mine uses those cute little mini-DVDs. Good but there are not long enough to tape a whole class. So, since he knew that I wanted a different camera he offered to let me use some summer pay to upgrade to the style I would rather have (one with a hard drive) and then he could use it for the class. So last night we went shopping (quickly, since it was Sunday evening and limited possibilities) and came home with a new camera. Now I will probably use the camera more!!! (And be more pressed to get the DVD drive fixed on the laptop.) And I'll go pick up the camera from the school later this evening and Dak can grade them tomorrow.

I opted to stay home from the trip to mid state because we have had some nursing issues lately and I wasn't willing to leave Gamerboy on his own to have to deal with a cancelled nursing shift that doesn't get covered with us out of town. The scheduled night nurse for Saturday didn't show. As far as we know she didn't even call the agency o say she wasn't coming and they weren't able to reach her on any of her contact numbers either. So Saturday night we had no nurse. Gamerboy jumped right in like a champ and helped us out.

Our day nurse (who had worked a 12 hour shift already) came in about 4 am on Sunday morning instead of the 7am she was scheduled for. Then the same night nurse was on the schedule for Sunday night. What to do... The office still couldn't reach her so they start trying to fill in the shift. Since our day nurse came in early she left at 4 pm.. (She was going to be leaving at 4:30 pm anyway so not a big difference) and as of about 6 pm we still didn't have a night nurse. We did get a call a bit later saying that another nurse that has worked with Princess Junior before was going to come out early in the morning (5:30-6 am) and the day nurse that left at 4 was coming back in about a half hour or so and cover until he got there. YEA!!! Hopefully there won't be a hitch with tonight's nursing. And I think the nurse who came out to orient on Friday is going to fill in some of the slots that will be open. Over all we have a pretty good crew.

I was planning on posting a link to a cool way to join granny squares. I will do that but it will be a few days. I will have pictures too and might have some pictures of some WIPs that are coming along.

Gonna try and settle in with the yarn and relax.

Sunday...

It's quiet here. Oldest son arrived for a respite visit (he needs some space and time to think) early this morning and he took Chatty with him to work tonight. Gamer Boy took Dak with him this evening to do some practicing behind the wheel. He now has his permit and is just waiting to get the driving portion of driving school finished. Until then he is practicing with us. I went with him last night and it was driving in the dark, tonight with Dak was semi-rain. It was raining when they were getting ready to head out but by the time they got on the road it was just dealing with wet roads. Dak says he did well. He did well last night too.

On Friday we took Princess Junior to her physiatrist for her Botox injections. (More on that with pictures here.) We are dealing with some minor fevers now but, from what we have read, that isn't connected to the Botox.

I've got a couple new projects going. Just what I need, right??? The first is a circle centered granny square. I'm making it for Princess Junior so am just adding more and more squares as I need to, joining as I go. I'm using a pale pink for the centers with a light gray border. I'm calling it her polka dot blanket.


Then I saw one of the start blankets in bright pink and red and white. I was hooked there. I'm not using a white white but stuck with the red and pink. The pattern is from
here. I made the sections larger than they were in her pic but I don't like it and I'm going to frog a bit of it and go to her color pattern as I think it shows off the colors better. But this gives you and idea.


So off I go to frog...

Happy Mother's Day everyone.

Hope all the mother's out there have a great Mother's Day! Enjoy your families!

Peep, Peep, Peep... PEEPS!!!!!!!!

Ok, I'll admit it. I LOVE PEEPS! How can you not love this face?????



Yes, I know that Easter is traditionally when you see them but I am so glad that they are now available for other holidays (and I have found a website to order from year round!) They even come in Orange Creme and Chocolate flavors. The only ones I will not, under any circumstances, eat, are the black ones that come out at Halloween. Not going to do those. Ever.

So I was thrilled when I came across the store GOODKARMASOAPS in the course of my online travels. Blaire has some really cool soaps including lego block soap, exploding frog soap, geode crystal soap, and light up soap balls! Way cool!!!

But what I really liked were her PEEPS! She had created a PEEPS soap that looks just like the squishy marshmallow blobs you find in the stores! A bar of 5 so you can cut/break one off at a time to use, just like you would pull one off at a time to eat.

But, alas, they were only in the traditional yellow. And I'm not really a yellow person. So I wrote and asked her if she had considered making other colors. She thought this was a good idea and a short while later I opened a box and out popped pink and purple PEEPS! Aren't they cute????? And they smell so good.



So keep clean and check out Blaire's Etsy shop GOODKARMASOAP to see all the fun stuff she has. And she says that 50% of her proceeds benefit local animal shelters.

Calling all gardeners! (And wanna be's with space issues)

I just ran across something that I think is really, REALLY ingenious! A real space saver for those who are space-challenged for gardening - maybe no yard space available or no sun in the area where they could garden in. Problem solved!!! Check out this space saving garden idea! I would think that besides on a house you could install them on the side/sides of a shed or garage or other out building... and I can see where this idea would also be usable on the outside edge of a deck... Sort of a border along the railing. Anywhere they could get the appropriate sun. The deck rail is where I am thinking about using it. (Ironically, in following the links on the site I found that using it on a deck rail was the original incarnation!)

Besides being used for small veggies I can also see it maybe being used for seedlings... something to start bigger plants in.

I wonder if the neighbors would think I was crazy???

I've got BUDS!!

My thumbs are defintely NOT green. They never have been. Oh, I've been lucky a few times. I once had a Christmas Cactus that I basically ignored and at one point it had over 65 blooms on it! I guess I put it in the right window.

Last year I threw some bulbs I had in some pots. They were probably not the current year's crop of bulbs and I really didn't think anything would happen. But they grew!

Now I know that there are somethings you are supposed to do to bulb plants at the end of the growing season... cut them back, dig them up, seperate them, maybe even all of the above. But when I put them in the ground that is usually where they stay. So much to my surprise there were new green shoots popping up a couple weeks ago. And now those green shoots are starting to show signs of blue flowers!! I'm gonna have FLOWERS!!!


See the color starting to make it's way out. I love irises!!!!


Some day I'd like to have more and in more colors too! Pink would be nice.

I'm still working on Gamer Boy's spiral. I have been alternating between the spiral grannys and his spiral. Both are pretty big projects. But I am enjoying it. I saw a small afghan pattern in a really cool stitch that I liked in a new magazine but I don't like the border they used because it is too open for my taste. I might try and figure out another way to edge it but that will have to wait.

Moving soon.....

Did I ever mention that hubby did something really sweet for me a short while back? Well, he's done many sweet things but this was totally unexpected and a really big surprise!! He bought me my own domain! So we are working on getting things transferred over there. Will let you know when we're all moved in. But I'm not hurrying... I want to get things nice and tidy before I invite everyone in. :)

Don't box me in!!!

I just can't seem to get away from the odd shapes. Above is the wool that I bought that I had custom spun. It started as a granny square but I didn't like the way that was shaping up. It just wasn't laying flat. So I frogged it and started a pentagon instead. This seems to be going well. I am still getting used to the white in all of it but that's what I asked for.) It is growing on me and I think I will be happy with the finished product.

And I finished the bamboo throw I was working on for Princess Junior to use in her wheelchair. Everyone is amazed that it's so soft and then REALLY surprised when they learn it's bamboo. If I could that is all I'd work with!


This is the center of it. One half is brown and the other is pink. Then I wanted to "finish" it on the edges so I did a few more rows of brown.


I like the way it turned out. It's about 30 inches square. We have an unexpected appointment with her surgeon on Monday so we'll get to give it a try!

I'm still working on Gamer Boy's throw and he asked about it today. I hope to have that done soon. I just got a couple new patterns but I'm going to have to be good and not touch them until I get his throw done.

Wanted: Fashion Coordinator

Ever watch those wacky wedding shows on TV? Some of them are hilariously funny. I ran across a web site that has more of the same. Scroll down a bit and take a look at some of the wedding attire that has been considered fashionable (I guess) over the years.

My reaction to some of them "What the heck were they thinking?!?!" Check it out here.

Computer maintenance

Ok, this is something we all need to address at one point or another. If you're anything like me it gets put off, usually because it takes so lone and is so involved.

That problem has been solved! This is a simple (and very safe!!!) cleaner that only takes a minute and doesn't load any sort of spyware or other kind of program on your machine!

Click here: Online cleaner You will be glad you did. Leave me a message about what you think!

Keep clean!!! Oh... and I don't think this is a were-skunk.

What next!!! Extreme cuppy cakes!!!

I love cuppy cakes! If I could, I would have different flavors here every day. Perfect size, no waste (but plenty of waist, if you know what I mean). So because of that I reserve them for special occasions.

For those of my friends that are also cuppy cake lovers... Take a look at THIS... Unbelievable!

For the men folk (those that are too macho for cuppy cakes) there is THIS.

Sigh........

I borrowed this from Alessandra at Just Be Happy, who borrowed it from Devina at The Woolly Fairyglade who borrowed it from Sian at Diary of a Tinyholder and I agreed that I also thought it would be a lot of fun to do!

Rules: Use the first letter of your name to answer each question. They have to be real places, names etc. Try to use different answers if you have the same initial as someone who has already done this. You cannot use you own name for the boy/girl question.

1. What is your name? Janet

2. A four letter word? Jamb

3. A boy's name? Joshua

4. A girl's name? Jordan

5. An occupation? Junk Collector

6. A colour? Jade

7. Something you wear? Jumper

8. A beverage? Jack Daniels

9. A food? Jelly

10. Something found in the bathroom? Jaccuzi

11. A place? Jamaica

Play along if you want! Have fun!!!!

To pink or not to pink...

In rebuttal to my friend, Terri's, recent comment on my apparently surprising color choice. I would like to prove that not everything I put my hooks to has pink in it.

Today, while Gamer Boy was working with the horses, I began work on the four-color spiral he requested. And there is no pink in site! See????


Now, Terri... you are getting very sleepy... your eyelids are getting very heavy...