Conversation with self!?!

This has been an ongoing conversation all month with myself but today - the last day of January I decided to let you all know my thoughts.

Self: Tomorrow is February 1, I need a new project. Maybe try some nice warm socks to keep my very cold feet warm.

Voice: No, No, No. You still have projects to finish - what about those fingerless gloves for Kris?

Self: Maybe a new sweater. I bought that pattern a month ago. I have knitted 2 sweaters but don't have one for myself yet. That sounds good - a sweater.

Voice: No, No, No. You still have one sleeve left to knit on Sara's cropped cardigan. You need to finish that. You said these things would be done by the end of the month. That's today!!

Self: Maybe a neck warmer from Tiennie Knits. Definitely Tyler needs a neck warmer. He is always outside with his Cartharts on and they just don't come up high enough on his neck. Grandma's hate to see that kind of thing going on. Scarves are to dangerous when your out in the barn. And- he couldn't find his hat the last time I was there so he was wearing a hat I knit for him when he was 2 - definitely did not fit.

Voice: No, No, No. You have other projects to work on.

Self: Tiennie Knits posted the patterns yesterday for the neck warmers, so I won't even have to figure out how many stitches to cast on, what size needle, I even have yarn.

Who's winning this conversation?? Today the fingerless mitts and the cropped cardigan will be done. As for some of the other projects - I ripped out one so I don't have to worry about that anymore. The rest can wait. I'm knitting neckwarmers tomorrow.

Enjoy the last day of January. Just remember, we are getting closer to Spring!!

SNOW DAY!!

Yep - we got lots of snow today. It started sometime last night and just kept coming down.

It was a good day for baking cookies and staying in the house. Here is the last snowman I will show you for the winter season. I'm going to show you hearts next month - something warmer!!

Not a great picture, I was taking it through the door because the snow was to high to get the door open.

This storm is over several states so if you in its path I hope you have your electricity and are staying warm....

Brought to you by the letter G!

Hope everybody had a good weekend and has been staying warm - if you are in an area you are having those below freezing days. Just can't seem to get rid of them can we!! I'm hoping for a warm February!!

I am playing a letter meme from over at Kris' blog (quilted simple). She assigned me the letter G. I have to list 10 things that begin with the letter G that I like and tell why. If you want to play leave me a comment that you want to do so on my blog and I will assign you a letter and then you list 10 things, get more people to play and on and on this goes.

1. God.

2. Grandchildren. Tom, Joe, Jessica Tyler. Hopefully they will want to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa for years to come. We have lots of fun with them.

3. Gardening. One of my favorite hobbies - whether it be vegetable gardening, flower gardening - I also include farming in this hobby - just on a larger scale.

4. Green beans. I like mostly all vegetables - but green beans would be at the top of the list on favorites. Fresh from the garden - I can eat them more than once a day.

5. Green - the color green, such as in green grass, green hay fields, green leaves on trees. Right now all we have been seeing in our parts is white - I can't wait to see green again.

6. Grandparents. That would be Tom and me.

7. Gatorade. I drink it on an occasion - not really my thing but those grandkids really like it.

8. Greenhouse. Boyerts Greenhouse. A local greenhouse that is just down the road from us. I love going in the greenhouse and looking at all those beautiful plants.

9. Gray's Anatomy. One of my favorite TV shows. Thursday night is the only night during the week I'm up late.

I am running out of steam here - so --

10. Goat. We have never had goats, thought about it, just never got involved. I think sheep would be a better choice - this could help cut down on yarn buying.

So that is 10 things about me and the letter G.

Until next time......

Typo!!

Sorry about the typo below - you know what it should be though - Another Snowman!! What can I say - its early and yes I do type for a living with words spelled correctly - I wonder if there is spell check on this??

Anohter snowman!

Just wanted to show you another snowman that I have - I forgot about him the last time. He is a Jim Shore that was gifted to me several years ago - another one of my favorites.

I've been playing around with my blog features and actually changed the background by myself - usually I require Kris or Sara's help. Look for a few more changes over the next couple of days and a few more snowmen. I really want to get better at my picture taking skills (I have to justify that new - improved camera that I want) so you will be seeing more pictures. Since January had lots of snowmen - I think February will be heart month.

Have a good Sunday!!

Toasty - a finished works in progress - FINISHED

The fingerless gloves below are ones that I had been making for Jessica and finally got them finished, especially with a nudge from the works in progress that I signed up for. I used the pattern Toasty by Leslie Friend (a-friend-to-knit-withblogspot.com). She gave out 2 free patterns, this one has a thumb, the other doesn't. This is a really easy and quick pattern and all of my fingerless gloves thus far have been knit from one of these patterns. These that I made for Jessica I only cast on 30 stitches and cut the thumb stitches down by 3. The yarn is Jaspe' Wool - I forget the exact colorway but as you can see they came out great. So great that I went back last week and bought another color for Kris' mitts. (If you remember - way back in December Kris and I agreed not to finish our Christmas presents to each other - so we could finish presents for others- and make some cut little bird ornaments). If you hope on over to her blog (quiltedsimple) you can see she is almost done with the sheet quilt she is making me. Good thing it wasn't done when I was there today - I only have one mitt done. By next weekend I'm sure we will both be getting belated Christmas presents. Sounds like a little bit of fun to me - we might have to do this again!!
Well I'm off to put on my PJ's and spend the rest of the evening knitting. There are more projects to finish before I can start something else - and I so want to start something new!!

Until next time........

Snowmen

Thought you would like a look at the snowmen around my house. The one below is a wool penny snowman that I finally found the perfect place to hang - really its been done for years but just never had the right place for it. This one is from a class that I took at a local quilt shop several years ago. It's one of my favorites.

This is a little table mat that Kris made for me last year.

This guy is good and fat and fits perfect in the bowl.

This is a pillow sitting on our bed. I picked him up for $2.00 last year on the close out section in Tractor Supply.

Finally, this guy is knitted on a tree outside the local yarn shop - Studio Knit. The picture isn't the greatest but then again the temperature was 0 today when I was taking it.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of some of my favorite snowmen!!

Stay warm if your in the Northeast - its going to be cold-cold-cold!!

Wordless Wednesday

So far today the only thing that hasn't got snowed on is the chickens. They are warm and snug in a stall in the barn and giving us plenty of eggs every day. This is supposed to be Wordless Wednesday so I won't say much , other than its snowing, windy and cold!!

Happy Wednesday.....

PAY IT FORWARD

Its time for me to play Pay It Forward!! This is the gorgeous counted cross stitch that I received from Angie over at Children in the Corn. It is just beautifully done, framed and perfect for a country chicken. Right now it sits on top of a cuboard in my kitchen until I find a more permanent home for it. I just love it. Thanks Angie!!!

So now I need 3 people to play with me. Just leave me a comment that you want to join. I will then make you something hand crafted - which from me will be knitted. I am aiming for my items to be done late summer, early fall. After you receive your gift from me then you have to sign up 3 friends to play along with you, make them something in the craft of your choice and the circle goes on and on. I actually think you have a year to get these items done and its up to you what you wish to send. Truly no pressure in this at all.

Enjoy your weekend.......

Jackie

WIP challenge, blogging, Pay It Forward

Topic #1: (This is a topic filled post)

I tried to get all my things together for the Works in Progress Challenge - what do you think?? I think I sure do have a lot of unfinished stuff. Have I started on anything you ask?? Nope - just looking at it so far!! Even worse - I could probably finish off more than half of the stuff in less than an hour each. Tonight is a good TV night for me - so maybe I'll start tonight. Maybe.. This goes all year - so no pressure!!
Topic #2:
Ohio State lost on Monday. Well - there is always next year!!

Topic #3:
Blogging: Before I had my own blog I read blogs all the time. I still read blogs all the time. If I have a couple of minutes to spare I sit down and read blogs - like instead of watching TV. Then I got my own blog and it has been even more fun and interesting. First off - who knew I could take pictures that you could put out there for other people to see. I had a terrible time at first uploading them, but I did learn how get those pictures right (A little tough love from my son was all it took - he just doesn't understand I am computer challenged) This is a part I have really enjoyed and definitely want to get better at picture taking. This year - more pictures.

I have enjoyed the comments that people have left. So far no one has had anything nasty to say - so that is good. But it feels good to know that people are enjoying what you have to say. You will notice that I said I read blogs, but I don't comment a lot. This year I will try very hard not to be such a lurker and put more comments out there. Blogging is like inviting people into your home and talking to them about everyday stuff - so I need to definitely comment more.

I have also noticed that people do read my blog and don't have a blog - just like I used to be. My advice to these people is GET A BLOG. Can't think of a better way to chronicle your life and then I can see what you are doing in your life. Which is one of the reasons why I'm putting this all out there. Even Tom is a blog reader. He reads Kris and Sara's blog faithfully and feels like he keeping up with them on a day to day basis. Sometime this year he is going to do a couple of posts here at Country-Chicken. I will admit I don't know all the tricks of getting things to appear, like those tricky little badges, but I have blog technicians that help me out every now and then. So if you get stuck on something I'll lend you one of the blog techs - they will have you up and running in a jiffy. So all of you lurkers without a blog - get going and have some fun with this.

Topic #4:
Pay it Forward. My turn to do Pay it Forward. I joined last year with Children in the Corn and my gift arrived on Christmas Eve. Unbelievable is the word I would have to use on this gift. Since everyone has been taking a bit of a break with the holidays I decided to do my Pay It Forward the beginning of January. Tomorrow I will show you the beautiful chicken counted cross-stitch I received and touch on some of the rules. So think about if you want to do this with me. I need 3 people, the gift has to be hand made - mine will be something knitted and you will have it by Fall 2009. (Heavy knitted things are of much use in Spring and Summer). Then you will need to post about it on your blog, have 3 people join you and make them something. It can be any type of hand crafted item. More tomorrow on this.

Hope you have a good evening and stay warm. More winter storm warnings are out for tomorrow evening and Saturday in our area - Brrrrr!!

Go BUCKS!!

Yes, we are Ohio State fans. My son graduated from their last December and this is one of the framed jersies he has hanging in his room (hopefully hanging from his own place soon - its a tough job market out there).

Anyways, we will be watching the game tonight - Tom and I for as long as we can stay awake, Matt probably to the end. Hopefully this will be a good night for them and they get a win, although that's not what the prediction is - but we can hope!

2009 Challenge

I have decided to join the 2009 WIP Challenge.