It's that time of Year Again

Spring is coming as the flower bed in the front yard will attest. This fact has been present in my mind for the last couple of weeks reminding me I haven't read "The Secret Garden" yet and to fail to do so until it's too late would be detrimental to a yearly tradition. One that I came up with myself and traditions you come up with yourself should NOT be ignored. Do you have any traditions to welcome spring in?

P.S. Should you wonder, I have not given up on "Democracy in America". In fact I'm definitely gotten past chapter 2 this time. But I find you have to sit and savor the words in the book. Very enlightening but not one that can be quickly finished.

Book Contest on "From My Wedding to Yours"

Hey everyone, my good friend Danyelle is having a fun contest on her wedding blog, "From My Wedding to Yours". It's for a book titled "Your Temple Wedding" by Jeri-Lynn Johnson and Amy Jones. It's has some tips on having a simple wedding. Now any wedding book that has simple as the focus always catches my eye. I briefly looked at the author's website, where they give a list of "ways to reduce stress". I was happy to see their emphasis on the Temple ceremony being the primary focus for the day. So often, the reception plans overshadows the actual wedding sealing.

Danyelle's wedding blog is a great place to check out for detailed information on wedding topics. I appreciate all the "research" she does, to show all the options out there. Take a topic such as rings, she explains the pros and cons of the different metals available. So interesting and informative.

If you are planning a wedding or find the topic of weddings interesting, head over to Danyelle's blog "From My Wedding to Yours" for a fun discussion on all things related.

Take Care

Reading Democracy in America, cause I want to.

Now that's what I call a harder read. And I'm a bit nervous to post it cause I've tried several different times to read this and have only made it to the second chapter. Oh well, we shall see. Since it's on the blog, it must mean I'm committed this time around.

Doll Creativity Flowing Again

A few years back, probably during finals week, I got the idea to make some rag dolls. I was looking at my Raggedy Ann and Andy pattern and started wondering how I could create Strawberry Shortcake and her friends. After extension research and finishing three of them, my creative streak went dry and I put away the plans for any others.

Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Tart, Huckleberry Pie

Characteristics in Common: All 10" dolls wear the same type of socks - green and white stripes; and they each have the same face design.
Different Characteristics: Beside their individual character clothes, on their face they each have freckles but the color of the freckles correlate with their signature color.
Strawberry - Red
Raspberry - Pink
Huckleberry - Blue - ok his should have been a blue-purple but the "image" I was working off contained faulty information. It showed blue as his signature color. Which is also how Raspberry became part of the equation. The "faulty image" showed Strawberry as having brown eyes, but upon further research it was discovered that she had blue eyes. And although I was generally satisfied with blue freckles for Huckleberry, I couldn't leave Strawberry with brown eyes, so I made up another doll, and there you have it.

Anyways,

This last week, the four of us got together and decided it was time to add two more friends to the group.

Any guess who this will be.

How about this one?








Or this one?
What? There's nothing there you say.
Oh... well it seems (according to the creative voice in my head) it's just as easy to cut out 3 doll patterns as it is to cut out two. And let's face it, this one can't be left out, even if it does mean another trip to the fabric store.

So what are your guesses?

No I'm not going to tell you! Why I should I be the only one that does extensive research on 1980's Strawberryland and all it's occupants?

February's SOCKS!!!!!!!

My very first pair of socks has been made and finished.

So cool with stripes of Pink/Burgundy/Brown & White/Blue-Green/ and Orange. I wasn't so sure about the orange, but it does add an interesting contrast.

It's self-striping yarn, which means I just knit and the pattern develops itself. Very fun.

How about a Side View?

Now the question is:
Do I follow up with a second one that's the same thickness and pattern but a different color palette?
Or do I go with a different thicker yarn and see what it looks like?
Or do I finish the crocheted slipper pattern I started a couple of months ago?

Decisions, Decisions
Option one: Allows me to make the adjustments to my design while it's fresh in my mind.
Option Two: Gets me a warm sock while it's still cold
Option Three: Takes care of a UFO (Unfinished Object)

Hey how about some more terms:
Finish or Frog it?
Finish: Pretty self-explanatory, do I really need to define this one?
Frog it: to "rip it" out and try again

Pretty cool huh, helps me understand a number of those knitting blogs I've been reading.