Ice Yarn Haul #2

Posted on August 9, 2019 by civilwarrose5

I have been very bad. In my quest to get the best yarn at the lowest price for a Christmas present I ended up ordering from Ice Yarns again. I had barely opened the last haul before I was once again putting in an order. This is it, guys. No more yarn (unless it’s black, white or off-white) until after the first of the year. I have so much yarn now that I don’t even have the desire to look at yarn. Is that bad or what?

Again, I was very impressed with the service and shipping from Turkey.

Ice Yarns 7-16-19

The bag was quite dirty, but you would be too if you had traveled so far in such a short amount of time. I found one rip in the bag when I brought it in.

IceY Bag Rip 7-16-19

Luckily it didn’t seem to have done any damage to the yarn below.

Chester decided that she was going to help me to open the package.

Chester Helping 7-16-19

Or she just wanted to sit on the sheet that I was using as a background for my pictures. We’ll pretend that she actually wanted to help. Last time I posted my haul I didn’t show you pictures of the bag being opened. When I carefully cut the top open, this is what I saw:

IceY Bag Reveal 7-16-19

Can you see how tightly they managed to squish in those balls of yarn? It looks interesting, doesn’t it? Would you like to see what’s lurking in the bag?

Let’s start with the yarn that caused me to “have” to purchase all of this goodness. The chunky yarn for my sister’s cardigan.

IceY Batik Chunky Blk-Gry-Wht 7-16-19

Batik Chunky in Black, White Grey

If my calculations were correct, I think that I will only need 17 balls of this yarn. However, due to how you have to order from Ice Yarns I ended up getting 20. That’s fine with me because I would rather have too much than not enough.

IceY Batik Chunky 7-16-19

This is definitely soft and should make a nice cardigan. Since it’s variegated yarn I’m hoping that the pattern doesn’t look too dumb when I begin to sew the pieces together.

In order to justify the shipping I had to order more, of course.

I thought about a project that I would like to make for another friend for either Christmas or a birthday, so with that project in mind I went looking for some yarn.

First I came across this:

IceY Dream Blue Shades 7-16-19

Dream Blue Shades Anthracite Black

The site says that this is a #3 Light DK, Light, Worsted yarn. The tags it uses are Basic, Self-Striping, Double Knitting, 100% Acrylic, Blue.

But then I saw another yarn that looked very similar, so I bought one package of that to compare.

IceY Venice Blue Shades 7-16-19

Venice Blue Shades Anthracite Black

It says that this is a #2 Fine, Sport, Baby with the tags Summer Yarn, Basic, Self-striping, Fine Weight, 100% Acrylic, Multicolor.

I have compared both of these yarns, and except for the way that they are packaged, I would swear that they are the exact same yarn. Even though one is supposed to be a 3 and the other a 2, they both are about the same size. Probably closer to a 2 if I had to guess. They have the same feel when you touch them and I can’t find any difference between them at all. So I guess that if I do start a project I will have plenty of this yarn to complete it.

The rest of the yarn I purchased for Project Linus blankets.

I saw this yarn and knew that I had to work it into a blanket.

IceY Cakes Aran Grn-Trq-Bl-Rd-Yl 7-16-19

Cakes Aran Green, Turquoise, Blue, Red, Yellow

As you can probably see, this is a self-striping yarn so it will make a very easy blanket. I loved the bold primary colors. I think that if I add a green or blue it will make a very cute blanket.

The next yarn reminds me of Curious George. I think maybe it’s because the one book my grandma had used all of these colors on the cover.

IceY Cakes Baby Lollipop Yl-Grn-Brn-Gry 7-16-19

Cakes Baby Lollipop Yellow, Green, Brown, Grey

Isn’t that kind of fun? Here’s another angle to kind of see the colors and how they play together.

IceY Cakes Baby Lollipop 7-16-19

Another baby yarn that I purchased with some green and yellow in it:

IceY Favorite Baby Grn Shades-Yel-Wht 7-16-19

Favorite Baby Green Shades, Yellow, White

I think that will make a really pretty blanket.

I still needed more yarn to justify the shipping. I thought back to the green and white blanket that I made earlier this year. There really aren’t a lot of boyish versions of variegated yarn that includes some nice greens. I found one that might work.

IceY Favorite Magic 7-16-19

Favorite Magic

On the left: Black, Grey, White, Green Shades.

On the right: Green, Turquoise, Grey, Orange, Yellow

When I saw the orange it reminded me that one of my best friends in high school had LOVED orange. I don’t get it because I don’t care for the color at all, but he couldn’t get enough of it. I figure that there must be more boys out there like him so I picked up some orange yarn as well since you don’t really find it in the stores very often.

IceY Dancing Baby Grn-Org-Yel-Wht 7-16-19

Dancing Baby Green, Orange, Yellow, White

This had some more of the green in it so I grabbed it. If I can’t find orange to fill out the blanket I can use green or white. It gives me some options.

Finally, my last purchase was this beauty:

IceY Magic LtRd-Org-Yel 7-16-19

Magic Light Red, Orange, Yellow

It reminds me of orange sorbet. Or a dreamsicle. Mmmm… let’s take a closer look.

IceY Magic 7-16-19

Because these colors are so bold and beautiful I know that I won’t be able to find anything that matches. More than likely I’ll just offset the blanket with stripes of white. But that’s okay. It will be gorgeous.

All together this is what my haul looked like:

IceY Haul 7-16-19

That is a LOT of yarn. I am definitely at capacity for a while. No more yarn comes in until some of this goes out. Do you think that I can stick to it? I guess we shall see!

Posted in Blankets, Crochet, Project Linus, Yarn | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Workshop Randomness

Posted on August 6, 2019 by civilwarrose5

It appears that I haven’t been making a very good list of projects for Jay. He is just kind of roaming around his workshop like he’s lost. He’s worked on a few projects, but nothing substantial. When we went on vacation he was bored, too. My sister and I were heading out to Hobby Lobby and I asked him if he wanted anything. He asked for a project to work on.

F-18 Hornet Kit

I know that the F-18 is one of his favorite jets, plus that’s the jet that the Blue Angels are currently flying. Since we weren’t at home I also had to buy some tools and glue for him to use. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to have extras at home.

F-18 Hornet Kit Assembly

He assembled what he could while at my sister’s until he got to the point where he needed to start painting the tiny parts.

F-18 Hornet Kit Painted

Once we were home he did a little more work on it, but then it got put away. He worked on various projects for me and then puttered around with other things in the workshop.

Then the other day another CNC Router showed up.

CNC Router No 2

A much smaller router. I’m still unclear as to why he needed a second baby router. The only thing I can figure is that he’s trying to have pairs of everything. After all, he has a pair of 3D printers.

2 3D Printers

He does NOT have a pair of keets, though.

Parakeet

In his boredom he has managed to work out a trade with his favorite vape shop. Their current pricing sign is a white board filled out with markers. Jay cut out vinyl letters with his laser cutter and used his router to make a nice border for a new sign.

Laser Cut Sign 7-29-19

The guys saw the mock-up and were very excited. Hopefully they are just as excited when it is presented to them.

So that’s what’s happening in the workshop. If you have any projects that you would like Jay to do, please send me a message through the ‘Contact Me’ link at the top of the page. We’ll see if we can fit you in!

Posted in CNC Laser, CNC Router, Workshop | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Project Linus Blanket #24

Posted on August 2, 2019 by civilwarrose5

Project Linus Blanket #24

Project Linus Blanket #24 7-16-19

“Blueberry Droppings”

Due to very hot and humid weather that kept me holed up inside the house, it only took a little over a week for me to crochet this blanket. What also helped the progress is that I used the Premier Sweet Roll yarn. This yarn is self-striping so it looks like I made a lot of color changes, but I didn’t. The more I crochet with the Sweet Roll yarn, the more that I like it. It’s very soft and glides over my hook without any issues.

Project Linus Blanket #24 Detail

I am calling this “Blueberry Droppings” because the colors reminded me of the splotches left by the birds near my sister’s pool after they had eaten from her blueberry bushes.

It’s going to be a little while before I start on another blanket. I’ve started crocheting a Christmas gift for my sister and I would like to get that mostly done before I do another blanket. I am definitely not running out of yarn, though! In fact, I broke down and received another big package from Turkey two weeks ago. That yarn will be revealed in an upcoming blog post. Stay tuned!

Posted in Blankets, Charity, Crochet, Project Linus | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Wood Magazine – Sept 2019

Posted on July 30, 2019 by civilwarrose5

Once in a while I like to review a recent issue of Wood Magazine in order to share some projects that I think are interesting. We received the September 2019 issue a few weeks ago and I was impressed. There were a few projects that I thought would be really nice. However, I see that it says to only display until August 9, so hurry up and get a copy if you like any of these projects!

09 2019 Wood Magazine

I was instantly intrigued by the blanket chest shown on the cover. I have the Hope Chest that my grandma gave my mom after she was married, but if I didn’t already have one you can bet that I would be adding this to Jay’s project list.

09 2019 Wood Magazine Bandsaw Fence

Jay already has a fence for his bandsaw, but if you didn’t I thought this would be a great How To article. The magazine gives you an exploded view of the fence and all of the dimensions. This is made of plywood so you could probably find enough scraps laying around to make it very cheaply. If you don’t have enough scraps you can come over here and get some. We have plenty!

09 2019 Wood Magazine Hope Chest

Isn’t that chest gorgeous? The article provides you with an exploded view of the chest, a materials list and even a cutting diagram. They use walnut plywood and three coats of clear satin water-based polyurethane. Beautiful!

09 2019 Wood Magazine Drill Caddy

If you’re a very newbie beginner when it comes to wood working you might like this article. This is a very simple build that uses scrap pieces of plywood. The only modification that I would do, if this was my design, would be to use either 1/8″ or 1/4″ plywood for the shelves holding the nails. They used 3/4″ plywood for the shelves. To me that means that they wasted valuable space that could have fit at least one more box on each side. Of course, I am a woman and we know that women and power tools don’t mix.

I didn’t capture a picture, but they have a good article on five different ways to slice breadboard ends. If you’re into using breadboards this is the article for you!

Another articles (again, I didn’t capture a picture) shows you how to make a tablesaw sled attachment to make perfect miter cuts.

09 2019 Wood Magazine Playhouse

I added this article because I have a different opinion on kids’ playhouses. My dad built us a playhouse, but he made it large enough that we used it to store the outside furniture in the winter and when we had outgrown it they re-purposed it for a potting shed. My advice would be to consider what you are going to do with the structure once the kids have outgrown it. Looking at this playhouse, I would have outgrown it by the time I was six (I am a bit of a giant). However, having a larger playhouse allowed my sister and I to continue using it for sleeping out in the summer when we had grown out of the ‘Playing House’ phase. This is a lot of money to invest in a child’s toy. Invest wisely.

09 2019 Wood Magazine Brad Nailers

Have you always wanted a battery-powered Brad Nailer? Does Brad know that you are after him? I always feel bad for Will because he’s ALWAYS the target (“Fire at Will!”), but now Brads are in trouble, too. I better go on to the next article before I get Kerry’d away…

09 2019 Wood Magazine Under-sink Caddy

I LOVE this project. I sort of mentioned it to Jay, but I’ll have to remind him that this would be great to have. I don’t need it on slides and I have a different design in mind based on what I store under there, but this would be SOOO nice to pull out in order to see what was in the back. Currently I just half-toss stuff in the back hoping that I can find it again. Definitely not the most organized system, but it’s all that I have right now.

If you decide that you’re going to make the blanket chest, but are worried about how to spray finish it you can put your mind at ease. In the exact same magazine as the blanket chest is an article that makes spray finishing look like a breeze!

09 2019 Wood Magazine Mortar-Pestle

Do you know somebody who is graduating from pharmacy school? Or perhaps you have a wood lathe laying around collecting dust? Then this article is for you! This is a wood turning project that is sure to get your gears grinding! (The article refers to this as an “indispensable kitchen accessory,” but I don’t agree… I know a lot of good and mediocre cooks who don’t use a mortar and pestle. Including me. It’s not “indispensable.”)

09 2019 Wood Magazine Spray Gun

Once you are finished coating your blanket chest with a spray finish, you can proceed on to this article where you are shown the easy way to clean out your spray gun. After all, you can’t use it if the nozzle is clogged. Believe me! I know what it’s like to have a clogged nozzle and it is not fun!

That pretty much sums up this issue of Wood Magazine. I have skipped some bits, but you’ll have to go buy a copy to find out which ones. I hope that these get your creative juices flowing, or at least show you that this magazine is for woodworkers of all levels. There are some frivolous (and very “dispensable”) projects, along with some really neat utilitarian items. You just never know what’s going to be waiting for you on these pages.

 

Posted in How To, Reviews, Wood Magazine | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Carolinas Aviation Museum – Part 2

Posted on July 26, 2019 by civilwarrose5

The first part of our visit to the Carolinas Aviation Museum can be found here.

So, where were we? Oh yes! I was about to show you the main focal point of the museum. Would you like a few guesses first? This plane was part of an event that occurred a little over ten years ago. It was cold when this occurred. They made a movie about this event. This is the only exhibit of its kind. Do you have any guesses?

Bueller?… Bueller?

CAM UAW Exhibit 7-2-19

Can you believe that this happened over ten years ago?? It does not seem like it has been that long. January 15, 2009.

If you would like to refresh your memory, here is the Wikipedia article.

This display takes up a large portion of the indoor space. All of the displays that I showed you in my previous post were set up on the outskirts of the area where this display took center stage.

CAM UAW Plane 7-2-19

Yes. This is the actual plane that landed in the Hudson River. It was acquired by the museum in 2010. The destination for this flight had been Charlotte, so it’s only fitting that it finally arrived.

The museum does a very good job of explaining what happened and giving you more information so that you’re not just assuming things. In the picture you can see some tables to the right. They had placards with pictures that gave you more details. For instance, when you look at the airplane you see all kinds of marks and scratches.

CAM UAW Nose Not Bird Damage 7-2-19

If you didn’t know better you would think that this hole was created by one of the geese that struck the plane. The tables around the plane, however, point out which dents were created by the geese and the damage that was done while recovering the plane from the river and then transporting it on flatbeds across the country.

CAM UAW Left Engine Detached 7-2-19

This is where the left engine used to be mounted. It was detached during the ditching in the Hudson.

As soon as we saw the engine Jay’s eye went right to the telltale sign of damage. Can you spot it?

CAM UAW Left Engine 7-2-19

(No, not the sheet metal all curled up in front of the blades… that was caused by the ditching).

He was able to spot the bent fan blade.

CAM UAW Engine Blade Bent 7-2-19

Of course, he’s a former Navy pilot and Aviation enthusiast. I crochet and sew.

When the NTSB investigated the crash they found bird smear and had it tested. That’s how they knew that it had been Canada Geese that had struck the jet.

CAM UAW Bird Strike Fuselage 7-2-19

See the dent? That’s from a goose.

CAM UAW Bird Strikes to Wing 7-2-19

Some more dents.

The most fascinating part of this visit for Jay was being able to walk around and look with his own eyes to see what had happened to this jet. He loves to read the reports that the NTSB publishes after they finish an investigation, so to actually see it with his own eyes was a rare opportunity.

Yes, Jay reads the NTSB accident investigation reports. I watch videos on YouTube of people unboxing their yarn purchases. We all have our thing.

The great thing was being able to walk completely around the plane and see it at different angles.

CAM UAW Tail Damage 7-2-19

When Capt. “Sully” had crash-landed in the Hudson he had tried his best to set it down tail first, with the nose pointed up, so that he could minimize the chance that the plane would cartwheel and crash even worse. When he did that, it ripped apart the tail. In fact, you can’t see it in this picture, but standing there you could tell that there was not much left holding onto the horizontal stabilizer.

CAM UAW APU 7-2-19

One of the reasons why I enjoy visiting things like this with Jay is because I don’t have to read much of the signage. I have the authority on a lot of these matters standing next to me, ready to answer almost any weird question that I might have. This was sitting in the back, next to the tail. Jay peered really close and was amazed at what he saw. I had no idea what this mangle was that we were looking at, but Jay answered before I had a chance to ask. “That’s the APU,” he said while actually pointing it out to me.

Along one wall they had some wire racks that held various pieces of the airplane. I think we saw a potable water tank, pieces of a door, and other such miscellaneous parts. I didn’t take a picture because it was really dark in that area.

Near the back the museum had three different videos playing in a continuous loop. I can’t recall exactly what all of them were, but I know that one basically showed the flight, the crash and the rescue. Another one showed the recovery of the airplane. And I can’t recall what the third one was. We didn’t watch them because I think that Jay has probably already seen all of the footage in various locations.

I would just like to add that if you’ve seen the movie with Tom Hanks please keep in mind that the story was dramatized to make it really play out well on the silver screen. The movie makes it look like the NTSB was blaming Sully for crashing in the Hudson when he could have easily landed somewhere else. This was definitely not the case. The NTSB did a lot of extensive testing and came to the conclusion that without a doubt Sully made the right call and it was because of him that the crash wasn’t any worse.

CAM Charlotte Airport 7-2-19

After leaving the museum I asked Jay if it had been worth the trip. He said that it was. For him the highlight was being able to actually walk around the UAW jet.

This is a good museum if you already have some aviation interest or a background in aviation. It’s not a place that I would suggest you take the little kids. After climbing in and out of the displays a few times they will be bored. The gift shop is not going to keep them entertained, either. They had a few t-shirts, some posters, and books. If you’re looking for an inexpensive memento of your trip you won’t find it there. No magnets, no pens and no key chains.

I hope you enjoyed my little review on this museum and that it has spurred you to go learn more about one of the planes that I’ve mentioned.

Posted in Jets, Military, Travel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Carolinas Aviation Museum – Part 1

Posted on July 23, 2019 by civilwarrose5

Carolinas Aviation Museum 7-2-19

Jay and I went down to visit my sister a few weeks ago. While we were there we decided to go to the Carolinas Aviation Museum located right next to the Charlotte airport.

It was also located right next to the Air National Guard base, too.

AF C-130 7-2-19

It wasn’t humongous, but it was interesting and had a handful of aircraft.

My pictures definitely don’t do these planes justice, so please take a moment to go over to the Carolinas Aviation Museum website to look at the beautiful photos.

One of the nice things about this museum is that they have a few displays that allow the visitors to climb in and get the feeling of actually sitting behind the yoke.

One of these is a Cessna 150L.

CAM Cessna 150L

It’s a cute little plane. Jay crawled in to see how roomy it felt.

CAM Cessna Pilot 7-2-19

He explained that this is about the size of plane that he would like to build once we have the property for it. He then wanted me to climb in next to him to see how much room we would have. What?! There isn’t room for me, too!

CAM Cessna Cockpit 7-2-19

I placed my purse on the seat to demonstrate the size. My purse is not one of the luggage-sized pieces that some women carry around. My behind is WAY wider than my purse. I informed Jay that the only way we would be able to sit in there together is if a) I lost a lot of weight or b) we left the door off and buckled me in really good. My hip hurts now just thinking about being crammed in there with a door.

They also had a cockpit from a Piedmont 727-200 (per Jay) that you could walk into and see the million switches and instruments.

CAM DC-10 Cockpit 7-2-19

Being a former Flight Engineer (FE), Jay instantly sat down and started going over the FE panel. If you’re unfamiliar with airplanes and what it takes to fly them, this particular one required a pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. Jay was the FE for the P-3 Orion, so his seat was right between the two pilots and his instrument panel was over his head.

Jay's Seat on the P3 9-1-12

(The picture above was taken at the Air Show on the day that I ruined the way that Jay actually wanted to propose to me. )

In the P-3 you can see that all of the switches are above your head. In the 727 display you can see where most FE panels are located in commercial airliners.

CAM DC-10 FE Panel 7-2-19

Jay would point out things and ask me if I knew what they were, or would ask me where a certain lever was located. My main concern was, “Where is the cup holder?”

CAM DC-10 Cup Holder

Jay found it. There’s nothing like the combination Cup Holder/Ash Tray to make a long flight go by quickly!

There was another display that allowed you to climb into the seat of a F4 Phantom fighter jet (again, per Jay).

CAM Jay the Pilot 7-2-19

(Kenny Loggins’ song Danger Zone begins to play…)

Interesting Fact of the Day: The F4 Phantom is the world’s largest distributor of MiG parts!

Jay wanted me to get in the jet. The following is the biggest reason why I did not join the Navy…

CAM Kerry Hunting Terrorists 7-2-19

That’s my “Hunting Bad Guys” face. They might have died from laughter, but not from terror. lol

One of the other interesting displays that they had was a Link Trainer.

CAM Original Flight Trainer 7-2-19

This was one of the first flight simulators.

When I saw it, however, all I could think of was the episode of Hogan’s Heroes when they used one to train somebody as part of a plan to get some soldiers back to England. At least, I think that was the episode.

Not only does the museum have aircraft inside, but they also had some displays outside.

CAM Navy Supersonic Flight 7-2-19

They had four or five planes out there, but most of them we can see at the Air Show on Labor Day weekend. Jay was more interested in the fact that this display was practically next to one of the runways for the Charlotte airport.

CAM Old vs New 7-2-19

I asked him if I should get a chair so that he could sit there and watch, but he said no because there were too many airplanes in the way (meaning the static displays). We stood out there for a few minutes so that Jay could enjoy the sound of jet engines spooling up and taking off, then we went back inside.

CAM A-7 Corsair 7-2-19

Somebody must have told the Corsair a joke because he was guffawing when we walked past him.

CAM Harrier Nose 7-2-19

The Harrier was not amused. It looked like he was having sinus issues as one of his nostrils was plugged up.

CAM F-14 Back 7-2-19

The F-14 was ignoring both of them and remembering his glory days.

CAM F-4 Phantom 7-2-19

They had a whole F-4 on display, but he felt bad for his buddy because somebody had stolen his wheel:

CAM Jet Up On Blocks 7-2-19

The ‘Rescue’ arrow should have been pointed down to where the wheel used to be.

CAM A-4 Skyhawk 7-2-19

I’ll leave you with a majestic picture of the Skyhawk. He looks like he is just waiting for the signal to take off!

There was another main focal point of the museum that I would like to show you, but I’ll leave that for next time.

Posted in A-4 Skyhawk, Jets, Military, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Project Linus Blanket #23

Posted on July 19, 2019 by civilwarrose5

Project Linus blanket #23

Project Linus Blanket #23 7-4-19

“Pistachio”

Bob’s buddy, Darth Vader, helped me take pictures of this blanket. This was my vacation project. A few weeks ago we drove down to my sister’s and stayed with her for about six days. It’s a nine hour drive so I always take something with me to keep my hands busy. It makes the other drivers really nervous, though, to see me crocheting while I’m behind the wheel! Hahaha… just kidding. I’m perfectly happy not driving, and Jay doesn’t know how to crochet (he won’t let me teach him), so it’s up to me to do the stitching.

Either I’m getting quicker at stitching, or else I had a lot more time to do it than normal, but this blanket stitched up really fast. We were there until Friday and I finished it on that Thursday. Thank goodness I had taken two projects with me so that I had something to work on during the nine hour trip home!

Project Linus Blanket #23 7-4-9 Detail

Two of these colors are the A.C. Moore brand (the lightest and darkest greens), and the other colors are Red Heart Super Saver. Again, if you’ve never used Nicole’s Stitch Studio from A.C. Moore you are really missing out. Except for the fluke with the variegated yarn from blanket #22, I LOVE this yarn. It’s soft, squishy and stitches up like a dream. It was always a big disappointment on this one when I had to switch to a Red Heart color. The good thing about Red Heart is that once it’s washed the fiber softens up a bit.

I always wash my blankets before I hand them in to my local Project Linus chapter. I have to because I always have to de-cat them. Especially when somebody thinks that I made this blanket just for her:

Chester on Blanket 7-6-19

There were two other blankets sitting on the piano (it’s the one place where the cats usually won’t sleep), but she insists on sleeping on this one. It is Chester Approved. Look how happy it makes her! When I picked it up to weave in the ends she just about had a fit because I moved it. I don’t look forward to the verbal beating she’s going to give me when I donate it.

While we were visiting my sister we went to her local Goodwill where you buy stuff by the pound out of the blue bins. I love that place! I held myself back, but for $10 I managed to get a pile of fleece for cat blankets and a bunch of receiving blankets.

Goodwill Fleece 7-6-19

That Cowboys blanket has at least 3 yards of that material, plus a backing of gray fleece in the same size. Sitting on the table is at least $60 worth of fleece.

Then my mom was going through her craft stuff. She no longer sells at the flea market near her house because they shut it down. She doesn’t really have any where else to set up and sell, so she gave me a bunch of blankets that she had so that I could give them to Project Linus.

Babe-Project Linus Blankets

Here are two fleece blankets with crocheted edges, plus a squishy crocheted baby blanket. This is a really neat stitch. You have to see it up close.

Babe-Crochet Project Linus Blanket

It’s coiled! My mom would probably say that it’s an easy stitch to make, but I’m sure that I could have it goofed up quite quickly.

But wait… there’s more!

Babe-More Project Linus Blanket

Two more fleece with crocheted edges, and then three crocheted blankets. I really like the yarn that was used for the very left blanket. It’s so pretty!

Babe-Crochet Blanket Detail

For some reason it reminds me of gummi candies.

I have already washed my mom’s blankets and double checked for cat/dog hair. They are in a Ziplock bag ready to go.

Wait a minute, where’s Bob? Has anybody seen Bob?

Bob on Fleece 7-6-19

“I’m just trying it out to make sure the other cats will like it,” he told me. Apparently this fleece is Bob Approved.

Posted in Blankets, Cats, Charity, Crochet, Project Linus | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Tickets and A Birdbath

Posted on July 16, 2019 by civilwarrose5

Thursday evening Karen stopped over and was updating us on our church festival’s preparations. She was the coordinator for a couple of the areas, including the Raffle Tickets. This event is the biggest fundraiser that our church puts on every year. The proceeds go to support various activities in the church, to help with major repairs, or for various other projects that need to be addressed. So it’s kind of a big deal.

The raffles that we hold are for some pretty good prizes such as a new iPad, $1000.00, a 55″ TV, a restaurant gift card tree (this year worth around $400), and other big prizes. The problem is that people have a hard time figuring out where they are suppose to buy their tickets. We have tables set up in the gym with the chinese auction items, bingo games, tickets, and even a concession area. During the conversation Karen mentioned that it would be nice if we could have a tall sign that said ‘TICKETS” so that it would be easier for people to know where to go.

Now mind you, the festival is only 48 hours away and Jay says, “I can do that no problem” He starts to outline what would be possible and what materials he would need. Of course, his mother really isn’t sure what he’s talking about when he says that he can use three pieces of Luan for the blanks, etc. I volunteered to run to the home improvement store on my lunch break the next day to pick up the supplies.

That night I was volunteered to paint them (since I’m the finishing department).

Ticket Sign Blanks

Saturday morning Jay headed down to the work shop because he had a LOT to do. He’d already created the template for the ‘Tickets” that he would laser cut from vinyl.

Ticket Sign Vinyl

We were using our old flag pole that had been sitting in our shed for the last three years. I made Jay take it down because the wind had bent it enough that it had a ‘gangsta lean’ to it. I told him that we were way too white to have a pole with a ‘gangsta lean’, so down it had come and went to live in the rafters of the shed. Until this weekend.

Now, as Jay is explaining what he’s going to do in my head I’m thinking, “You are WAY over-engineering this! It’s just a simple sign!”

Before I had to leave to visit with my friend and her kids on Saturday I watched Jay begin to cut and chisel the hole out of the major support feature of the sign.

Ticket Sign Block

Ticket Sign Holing

This thing is STOUT! At this point I actually did tell him that I thought he had over-engineered it. I should know better, though. The Jay knows what he’s doing.

Sunday morning I helped him load the pieces into the car, and then he headed off to church. He was part of the chicken grilling crew so he had to be there early. After mass was over I went out to see how things were coming. He had already set up the sign and took me to see how good it looked.

Ticket Sign

Both his mom and the coordinator of the festival had been so happy and very impressed. The whole thing disassembles for easy storage. We used a sack of Quickrete in a 5 gallon bucket for the base. Next year Jay’s going to make a bracket for the ticket turner so that he can secure the pole to it. This year he just used an eyelet and some wire. But it worked! And you could see it really good when you walked into the gym from the dining hall. Jay definitely earned some gold stars for that one.

One other project that has been keeping him busy this week is the bird bath.

Library 6-21-19

You know, the one that was stored in our library all winter… and spring.. and I was beginning to fear all summer, too.

Birdbath 7-7-19

He took it downstairs and fixed the broken ledge on the middle tier.

Birdbath Pump 7-7-19

Then he worked on getting the pump installed.

Bird Bath Modified 7-15-19

Finally, he modified the pieces that allow the water to pour from one tier to the next. He tested it this past weekend and it works great! The only thing left to do is fix the outlet on the front porch. It has been open to the elements for the last three years since the porch was fixed. We couldn’t use the outlet cover that had originally been used because the concrete guy had to raise the back edge of the floor high enough to shed water AWAY from the house (not INTO the house, like it was doing before). So once that is done we can put this outside, hook up the extension cord and plug it in!

This is how my library looks now:

Lirbary 7-7-19

I’m so happy!! We’ve actually made progress on something!

Posted in CNC Laser, Wood Work | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Ice Yarn Haul

Posted on July 12, 2019 by civilwarrose5

In March I told Jay that I would not buy any more yarn until my birthday (in June). I’m not sure he thought that I could actually do it. It wasn’t that hard, though. Whenever I would get the urge to buy I would walk upstairs and look at this:

Yarn Mess 5-18-19

That was enough to put me off of buying anymore yarn.

Then my birthday rolled around and the ban had been lifted. I had kept my word and didn’t buy any yarn at all for almost three months. Then I went to Wal-Mart during my lunch break and all bets were off when I walked into the clearance aisle. I came home with four skeins.

Walmart Clearance Yarn 6-25-19

The two gray skeins are baby yarn, and the ones on the right are the bigger Super Saver skeins. When I was looking at the clearance yarns another lady was digging through the pile as well. She mentioned the brightness of the yarn and I told her that I crochet blankets for Project Linus. She does, too! Obviously I’m not the only one in my area making blankets, but I’d never met anybody else up to this point.

After those came home with me I told Jay that I needed to buy the yarn for a Christmas gift that I wanted to make. The problem was that the only yarn I had found that was close to what I was looking for would have to be ordered online from Turkey.

I was first introduced to Ice Yarns when I came across an unboxing video on YouTube. It was Christa, at The Secret Yarnery, unboxing almost a 100 pound yarn order! First off, I was flabbergasted by ordering 100 pounds of yarn, but also I couldn’t imagine unboxing that much yarn, either. Christa lives in Kenya and doesn’t have the ability to just pop down to the local A.C. Moore to purchase yarn. She orders 99% of her yarn from Ice Yarns. She always says how inexpensive it is and how great the quality is of this yarn.

I decided that I wanted to use their Pastel Cotton for the Christmas project. If you look at their website today you can see that it’s $.87 per 50 gram ball. The thing about ordering from Ice Yarns, though, is that you can’t buy just one ball. They come in lots (or packages) so you have to buy them in their lot size. The Pastel Cotton is an 8 pack, so it ends up being $7.00 per package. This yarn is 50% cotton and 50% acrylic, it’s washable, and it looked interesting. This is the color that I decided to order:

IceY Pastel Cotton Orchid-Pink-Gold-Cream 7-3-19

It is Orchid-Pink-Cream-Gold. I ordered one package of it and thought I was good. Then I started crocheting the project and began to panic. Looking at how little I had crocheted with one ball I knew that I would run out before the project was finished. I couldn’t let that happen! And then… Ice Yarns sent an email saying that the Pastel Cotton was on promotion for $.62/ball ($4.96/package). In order to make the shipping worth it, though, I needed to put in a larger order. You see, it’s very quick shipping from Turkey, but you pay for it. I did some quick figuring and found a price range that I could live with and feel like I’d gotten the most out of my shipping cost.

My package arrived on July 3rd. Jay asked if I was going to do my own unboxing video (apparently he’s noticed me watching quite a few of these), but I don’t have a YouTube account and I don’t think that I would do very well with a vlog. I wasn’t going to post my unboxing here, but then it was requested that I do so.

My 7-3-19 Ice Yarns Haul:

I had already opened my package and fondled the yarn before I took these pictures. In my first Ice Yarns order I had purchased one package each of the Pink colored Pastel Cotton and then a purple-blue color. When I did my 2nd order I thought that I should get another package of the purple-blue just in case I want to do something that will require a lot of it.

IceY Pastel Cotton 7-3-19

This had to be a big order in order to justify the shipping cost, so I decided to get yarn for another gift that I want to make. Since I’m pretty sure the recipient of this doesn’t read my blog, I can post a picture of the project:

Rose Cathedral Window Afghan-edit

This is called the Cathedral Rose Window Afghan and was patterned after the big stained glass window that was in the Notre Dame Cathedral prior to the fire. This pattern can be purchased at Annie’s.  They use Red Heart for this project, but I wanted an even softer yarn. I knew that it would cost me even more to buy a premium yarn, but it would be worth it if I could find the right variegated yarn. I searched high and low and finally decided that this would work okay:

IceY Cathedral Window Colors 7-2-19

This afghan requires quite a bit of yarn. The top variegated looked like colors you would find in a stained glass window. It is called Cakes Blues in the color Rainbow. I then chose the purple and turquoise Saver yarn as the accent colors. I have a lot of A.C. Moore’s Stitch Studio black, so I didn’t worry about ordering that color.

This is how much yarn I’ve purchased for this afghan:

IceY Cathedral Window Yarn 7-3-19

I hope that’s enough! I did some comparison shopping online with a runner-up variegated that I thought might work from A.C. Moore. Even with the shipping cost, it was slightly cheaper per ounce to purchase from Ice Yarns.

There’s still more…

I tried to buy yarn with specific projects in mind. In my first Ice Yarn order I had purchased these:

Ice Yarn for Shawls 6-26-19

The one on the left is Magic Glitz in the blue-black colorway. The one on the right is Magic Light in a gray-white colorway. I have these pegged for shawls.

I want to use the Magic Glitz to make the Erigeneia shawl.

Erigeneia Shawl

(The color on this picture is bad because my printer was running out of ink).

The more I thought about it, though, the more I thought that it might be a bit too much to make the entire thing out of the Glitz. The Magic Light comes in the same blue-black colorway, so I decided to purchase a package of that so I will start the shawl without glitz and then do the ruffle in the glitz.

IceY Magic Light and Glitz - Blues 7-3-19

Won’t that be pretty?!

Christa designed a really gorgeous shawl called the Aurora Dawn Crochet Shawl where she used the Magic Glitz and some Baby Cotton. She raved about both of these yarns, so I’m thinking about using the Magic Light in gray shades along with white Baby Cotton.

IceY Baby Cotton White 7-3-19

I will have to figure out what I want to do when I actually get to this one.

As I kept adding to my cart I was keeping an eye on the shipping cost. Again, to justify the cost of shipping I had to add more yarn to my cart. I just HAD to. It’s the fiscally-responsible thing to do!

I went on a hunt to see what interesting colors they had that I might not have used in a blanket. I like the variegated yarns, too, so when I came across this I threw it in the cart.

IceY Cakes Baby Lollipop Grey Shades-Yellow 7-3-19

This is Cakes Baby Lollipop in Gray-Yellow shades. I know that I have a lot of solid gray in different shades in my stash. I didn’t want to make it too blah, though, so I decided I needed to add some pop. I found some yellow that also got tossed into my cart.

IceY Cakes Baby Lollipop Gray with Yellow Aran 7-3-19

It’s not the exact same color, but it will definitely give a blanket some POP! This is Classic Aran in the color Gold. After I get another blanket done I might quickly kit this one up so that I can start it. I’m a bit anxious to see what I can turn out.

Staying in the theme with Project Linus I found another Cakes Baby Lollipop.

IceY Cakes Baby Lollipop Blue Shades 7-3-19

This one has some interesting shades of blue in it. The colorway is Turquoise-Gray-Blue shades. Since it’s predominantly blue I might accent it with the gray and maybe some off-white or perhaps a light blue. It will depend upon what calls to me when I start laying them out side-by-side to kit up.

That has to be it, right? Nope. I managed to find one more interesting yarn that I decided to give a try.

IceY Harmony Blue-Brown-Gray 7-3-19

This is Harmony. On the website it had looked interesting, but when I pulled it out of the shipping bag I was a bit underwhelmed. Then I decided to see how soft it is, so I pulled it out of the protective cellophane bag.

IceY Harmony Blue-Brown-Gray Shades 7-3-19

Okay. Now I’m impressed! I have NO IDEA how this will stitch up. Will it look kind of like a muddled mess? Will you be able to see the tweed-look? I am definitely going to pair it with a solid brown and a solid blue. This one might have to get kitted up soon, too.

Finally, that’s it! That’s all of my Ice Yarn haul. I have no idea where I’m going to put it because I still have two totes of kitted blankets sitting in my sewing room.

But here’s the really bad thing… I just found a project that I want to make for my sister for Christmas. It calls for a bulky weight yarn, which I don’t have. All of mine is a worsted #4 weight. Which means that in order to complete it I will have to buy MORE yarn. I just did some quick looking around and the yarn I’m seeing at Hobby Lobby I will need to buy 21 skeins!! YIKES. This is quickly becoming an expensive project! I then hopped over to Ice Yarns to see what they have and I found something that will work. I will only need 14 cakes and even with the high price of shipping, it will still be cheaper than the Hobby Lobby yarn (which is on sale!!). *sigh* I swear, once this yarn is purchased I am going on a yarn diet!!

Posted in Blankets, Crochet, Project Linus, Yarn | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Christmas Wreath in July

Posted on July 9, 2019 by civilwarrose5

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, then you’ve seen the ‘Real Life’ pictures of my Library. Here’s the latest:

Library 6-21-19

I thought that maybe we were having a contest to see just how much stuff we could fit into this tiny area. We were doing a pretty good job! This last weekend, however, both Jay and I were motivated to work on some of the projects that have been hanging around for a long time. Do you see the Hobby Lobby shopping bag in the above picture? That has been sitting there since November. It was the supplies that I needed to put together my own Christmas Wreath. As you can see, it never happened.

Until this weekend! I finally picked up that bag and decided to get it marked off the list.

I had everything that I needed to decorate the wreath. The only thing that had been lacking was motivation. Luckily I found some hiding under the bird bath!

Christmas Wreath Supplies 7-6-19

I didn’t want it to be too over-done. Simple and classy, I am not. However, I managed to keep things toned down a bit.

I had purchased this wreath from Hobby Lobby. I liked the fact that the form was two-tiered in order to give it a bit of roundness.

Christmas Wreath Form 7-6-19

I had also purchased some accessories with bling. Sparkle/glitter is my favorite.

Christmas Wreath Bling 7-6-19

In previous wreaths I’ve hung a wooden cross in the middle:

Wreaths - Finished

I couldn’t find one that I really liked for this one, but when I saw the ‘Joy’ ornament I knew it was perfect!

Christmas Wreath Joy 7-6-19

I decided that with this wreath I was going to wrap the ribbon all the way around.

Wrapped Christmas Wreath 7-6-19

After I had already glued it in place I realized that on the majority of the wreath, the music is upside down. I decided I didn’t care because I’m a bit ‘off’ myself, so it fits.

This is what the ribbon looks like when it’s right-side up:

Christmas Wreath Ribbon 7-6-19

I chose this music because Christmas should be about Joy and happiness, and music is a big part of the Christmas feeling. (By the way, you can tell that the designer is NOT a musician!) All of the emotions of Christmas can be sung, and are sung, every season. I had used this because I had contemplated using musical ornaments to decorate the wreath, but I scrapped that idea.

Instead I went with the bright red poinsettias.

Finished Christmas Wreath

I am not good with interior design, but I liked how this came out. Perhaps I should have spread the pine cones out a bit. And they definitely aren’t level with each other. Not to mention that once I had everything glued I realized that my oblong wreath has to be hung on an angle if you want the middle poinsettia to be in the center and not off-kilter. And yet, even with all of its flaws, I love it. Who of us is not flawed? Who of us is perfectly put together? I know that I’m not. After all, I showed you a picture of my library.

After I finished it, I had to hang it to see how it looks.

Hanging Christmas Wreath 7-6-19

“It looks great!” she says, standing out by the road. Yep, it’s a far-sighted wreath… it should only be sighted from far away. 😉

Posted in Crafting, Faith, library, Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment