yay Handmade!

I know I am a little slow in getting to this, but here it is
"

I decided that this year I would give all handmade gifts, be they by my hand or someone elses. I think that a handmade gift actually shows that you care, and did not just go "oh phooey, I forgot to buy ______ a gift!" While things like giftcards and electronics have their places, I am giving handmade.
On a different note, none of the people that were supposed to come last night were able to make it because of the snow, so we will try again Saturday night. I missed you guys, but it is all good, I am glad you were safe at home, rather than slipping and sliding around on the streets.
Neh!- I am glad that the hat arrived safely (along with your parents of course!) I would love to see pics of the tochterbean in the hat, so that I can show them to people and go "see that adorable kid in the hat? I made that hat!!" Anyway, good luck with the play. I am sure you will be great.
SM, Have a great time in NY, try to remember that they are your family and you love them. I think that may actually apply to EVERYONE that you are going to see this weekend! Be safe, and have a great time!
Last but not least, a HUGE Mazal Tov goes out to E&J who added to their clan on Shabbos. healthy baby boy efrex was born, and Ima and Abba and Baby (and big brother) are all, Thank G-D, doing well! I eagerly anticipate news of baby boy's name so I can stop calling him baby boy!
That is all the news from here, hope everyone has a great day!
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yay!!!

Chag Sameach!!!!!!!! A Freilichen Chanukah!!!!
Can you all tell, I really like Chanukah? Well I do. I got my bestest present almost 27 years ago on the last day of Chanukah, and it is a present I still adore, although it does tend to tick me off sometimes. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, and I am sure that is most of you, my baby sister was born on the last day of Chanukah, and my parents always told me that she was my gift. I love my sister, and even though I have not seen her in a while she is still the best gift ever.
Now for something comepletely different, here in scenic Bmore it is SNOWING! Now I am not one of those people that freaks out at the first flake, but it is sticking, and I really do not want to drive home in the dark, and the ice, which is what the snow will turn to after the sun sets, so I am hoping to get an early reprieve out of here. Anyway, I need to actually go back to doing my work, but I hope everyone has a great week.
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blah

I apologize for not posting (not that I am ever very good at it) My computer is on the fritz. Let's see, My vacation from work was lovely, I took advantage of the situation by WORKING! Ah, the beauty of 2 jobs. I am getting slowly more comfortable teaching driving. I still have the urge to scream, but in general I am pretty good about staying calm, and helping to correct instead of closing my eyes, and slamming the instructors break. I hit the Black Friday sales, and got myself an MP3 player, and some yarn. Speaking of yarn, I have been cranking out hats and things. I have been making ear flap hats lately, apparently they are all the rage. I have even sold 1 (Hi M), however I have made many many more. I have finished holiday presents for most of my friends, and I think they are going to be QUITE pleased with them. Yay homemade!
I guess that is it from around here.
F OUT!

Earflaps ahoy!

So I finally got around to making a hat for my friends son. MM is 2, and his favorite phrase is "also me" which makes sense considering he has 3 older siblings! Anyway, everytime I bring a hat to SM to look hat, he says "also me", or "I see" which is 2 year old for "let me try on the hat Faye" Now he has his very own.

I also made this lovely hat for the scion of the Druyan family, so M, take a look, hope you like it!

Meme

*Warning, Image Heavy*

I stole this from Xan, who stole it from someone else. We are all just one big happy theiving family!

1. Type your answers into Google's image search
2. Post a picture from the first results page

the age you will be on your next birthday

<-----32

A place you'd like to visit

<---- Alaska

One of your favorite places

Your favorite object

Your favorite food












Your favorite animal













Your favorite color


















Name of a past pet





















Where you live



<----Baltimore










First grade teacher's last name



<----Herman MELVILLE















Your middle name




<----Sarah something or other














a bad habit of yours



<----laziness










Your favorite holiday










I showed you mine, now you show me yours!

F OUT!

What else can you crochet?

so glad you asked. While I was relaxing in front of my tv this evening (after shopping for yarn to make a hat someone ordered, and showering, and packing for Shabbos) I decided to make these funky slippers. I LOVE them, think I might start experimenting on other patterns. Whaddya think?

Od Hat

see, if I had been bright enough to combine these two posts then the title of the last one would have been correct! This is the same style flapper/cloche hat in a scary red/orange/yellow variegated that I made for my friend who likes bright colors.

Hats!

Well ok, this post is just hat but it sounded better plural. On the advice of my crafty friend X, I have started checking out Craftster (which blogger will NOT let me post a link to), and I LOVE it! So far, I have really only spent time on the crochet section, and I am happy to report that there are so many things there, that I may never, ever make it to another section. Anyway, I saw this post of a cloche/flapper style hat that I loved. Now, I only started making hats a few weeks ago, and most of my skill lays in the, crochet a circle, repeat, type of area, but I decided to try this out. It was extremely well written, and seemed like even I could do it. I got myself some pretty yarn out of the stash in my closet, and I went to work. Suffice it to say, I am pleased with the results. If I still covered my hair, I would be making a BUNCH to wear.
SM we are gonna figure out a way to make you a comfortable hat that does not give you a headache, or raise your body temp by a bazillion degrees!



Here are the results of my first effort on me (sorry for the blurriness, there is only so much a cell phone can do)

and on MM, the cutest 2 year old ever (Fie, I See, I See!) Not quite his style, but still funny!

much crocheted goodness (and pics!)

Hello all,
I have finally figured out, with much restarting, and many mistakes, how to make a hat. The first attempt (the purple one) was started and restarted, and restarted, and restarted many many times. My friend refers to the correcting as "frogging" the piece. If you think about it, it makes sense, rip it rip it. Anyway, without further ado, here are the pics of the scarf and hat sets I have made so far.

The Banana Berry scarf and hat
The Grape Slushie scarf and hat


The Pastel Mint scarf and hat

Many thanks to Autumn Rose, our ever adorable model!

F OUT!!!!!

Thanks!

Well, I have finally done it. I have finally (with the encouragement of my friend Xan) gathered up the courage to sell the scarves and blankets that I make. Please feel free to visit her Etsy Shop. She is quite the crafty lady, and has many, many different things for sale.
Hope that all is well for all of you, have a great rest of weekend, and a wonderful work week.
F OUT!!!!!!

P.S. Check out these photos my super talented friend took of her built in model (her daughter) wearing the scarf I made. The flower in her hair is something Xan made, and I think complements the scarf just perfectly!

They turned on the HEAT??!!??

Hello All,

do not know what the weather is like where y'all live. Well, I know what it is like where SM, X and a few others are, WET! Anyway, I digress. Up until yesterday, it had been in the 70's sometimes higher. Last night the temperature dropped to somewhere in the 50s. As far as I am concerned, that is a good thing. Apparently the people at my office feel differently. They turned on the heat today, which means that I feel as if I am slowly roasting in my lovely button down shirt. ICK! Plus it has been raining all day, so it just smells wet, and feh!

On a completely different note, thanks to my friend X (the awesome-est) I have begun crafting again, woo and 2 hoos! I am making a series of scarves for children that will (hopefully) be sold. I am even going to try my hand at a hat pattern, and see how it turns out.

The one on the left is the one I am working on now, and it involves stitches that I have never done before! On the right is one that I have already finished, and it is just a simple half double crochet worked with a multi color yarn. I am so excited to be crocheting again.

That is all from soggy, wet, icky, smelly Baltimore.

F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TGFS (like TGIF, but different)

Whew! What a week. Sunday was my last day in my teaching driving course. I took (and passed) a written final, and gave my last behind the wheel lesson. I dislike parallel parking. Really, really dislike it. On Monday, I wrote up my final lesson plan, and emailed it to my instructor, who then in turn issued me a certificate of completion for the course (which I have not yet received, but that is a different story). Of course, I have been working all week at my govt job, which I only hope they let me keep. Tuesday night I had some sort of evil stomach bug, which is taking forever to schlep it's way through my system. Feeling better, but still not 100%.
Last night I taught my first driver's ed. class. Wow teenage girls talk a lot. I am hoping to get more into the groove of things as time goes on, cause they just did not want to listen for anything. "What do you mean it is dangerous to use a cell phone while you are driving, my dad does it all the time!" Or, "well we can always steer with our knees." That one was disturbing. However, by far the most disturbing thing said last night was "It's not dangerous for a child under 12 to be in the front seat, my mom put my little brother there all the time"! That frightened me to my very core.
I am so very very looking forward to Shabbos, and just having a chance to relax. No class Sunday, and I am not teaching or driving Sunday, so I will actually get to watch the Ravens game, which, go me. Time to go back to my Excel spreadsheets, hope you all have a lovely weekend.
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!

woohoo!!

I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Moed Post

I have not blogged in a while, and that is mostly cause I have nothing to say. I have some mildly good news, so I have decided to post it here rather than calling each and every one of you. So here it is, my contract with the Maryland State Government was extended for another 3 months. This is great for me, because I really like what I am doing. In fact, I am going to go back to doing it now. Have a great rest of Chol Hamoed, and a great Yom Tov, and next week, I get to work a full week, and am WAAAAAY beyond excited about that.
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A-Bee Gezunt*

Just wanted to dash off a quick post to wish everyone a Chag Sameach. Sukkos is one of those holidays that I normally love. I like to be outside in the cool weather, I love the feeling of being in a Sukkah, with the sunlight drifting in through the schach, the feeling of being all together with friends and family. This year however, I have a cold, and it is supposed to rain. Both of these things leave me a little apprehensive, with the upcoming outside-ness. So I am going to go back to work. I think I may have some good news after Yom Tov, but we will see. That is all from here, have a great holiday/weekend!
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Title taken from a content my Abba and I had in the Sukkah one year to see how many words with could make with "bee" in them.

and again

The time of year has reached us once again where it is time to be on our best behavior and hope that Hashem has good plans for us in the coming year. For those of you who have no idea what I am speaking about, and that is usually most people, for I do not always make sense, I am speaking of Yom Kippur. That day when kids get away with an incredible amount of stuff because their parents are too busy davening, and trying not to fall down from dizziness to worry about the little stuff. Of course I say that in jest, it is more complicated than that. This is the day where we daven (pray) that we be sealed in the book of life, not a small thing. I hope that this year brings us all much bracha and mazal, and that we are all inscribed for another wonderful year.
Best wishes for a Gmar Chasima Tova to you all.
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 down several more to go!

I hope that everyone had a lovely Yom Tov. Mine was nice, if a bit long. I am pleased to report that my first model lesson in my teaching drivers ed class went quite well. I have already mapped out my entire route for my second behind the wheel lesson, which is next week. I have yet to begin the planning for my second model lesson which is also next week. Anyone who has new and useful insights on hill parking is more than encouraged to send me their ideas.
N E Way, so Yom Tov good, class good, I will know if work is good tomorrow. F tired..... I am about to go find something to eat for supper. That is all from here.
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that time of (new) year

I wanted to wish everyone a Ksiva vChasima Tova, you should all be written and inscribed for a healthy and happy new year.
F OUT!!!!!!!!!

It's that time again

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a K'siva v'Chasima Tova. A healthy, sweet new year. May this one bring us all simcha, and bracha, and lots of other good things. If I have done anything inadvertant to hurt anyone that reads this, I do apologize. If I have done anything on purpose to hurt the people that read this, that is another thing, for another time! Ok, Ok, I clearly am not aiming to hurt anyone! Anyway, that is all from here. I hope everyone, everywhere is well!
F OUT!!!!!!!!!!!

Update

Well it works. They finally came out Sunday morning (after promising me they would be there Friday), and lo and behold, it was not a problem inside the Apt. at all, but an unplugged wire in the telephone room, from when they had been there Wednesday. Which, incidentally is what I tried to tell the mental midget on the phone when I was describing the lack of dial tone. Took the repairman all of 5 minutes on Sunday. Let us say that I am less than impressed with the phone company.
In other news, I give my first behind the wheel lesson on Sunday after my class. Granted, the lesson is being given to another student in my class, who, strangely enough, has a drivers license. I am not sure if that will make it easier or more difficult. My biggest problem is that I have to give the lesson where my class meets, which is not in my neighborhood, and I do not know this neighborhood at all. if it was my neighborhood I would take them to the local high school parking lot, and go from there. Well, we will see how it goes. That is all for now, hope everyone is well.
F OUT!!!!!!!!!