Yesterday, I wrote a little bit about my bedroom.  Today, I wanted to show you pictures.  I spend a lot of time in my bedroom, and it used to be done in burgandies, golds, and blacks.  I got really tired of the dark colors several years ago, but had a difficult time finding the colors that I wanted for my room.  I wanted aquas, but there were not any in the stores yet.  I had to wait until last summer to find and aqua coverlet.  My duvet is white, but I have so many animals and they shed, that to keep just white on my bed would be impossible to keep clean.  My bed is a rice bed, and so it is very high, and we have the bed on a wall that is narrow opposite the windows.  I did this because I live on a lake, and want to be able to see the lake from my bed.  I am from Los Angeles origonally and living in Colorado I sometimes feel landlocked.  Living on a lake really helps with the feeling of needing to move back to the coast.  Since my bed is high I needed something I and narrow for the nightstand on my side of the bed.  I found the bookcase at a garage sale a long time ago, and last spring, I decided to paint it a pale yellow.  I also did this with an old bookcase that I also found at a garage sale.  I wasn’t able to tie it all together until recently.  I finally found the 2 chairs for in front of the fireplace, and I love them.  I am actually sitting writing on my computer right now, with HGTV on the TV. ( I love those shows)  Then I found the little aqua table between the chairs at Pier 1.  I found some yellow shams for on my bed to tie things together and pillows with aqua and yellow at Pier 1. 

There is still a lot to do in my room.  I need to redo lamp shades, and I want a yellow throw for one of my chairs.  I have not found a yellow that I like yet, so that may be something that I have to make.  We also need to redo the fireplace.  I want to put drywall above it and build a mantle for it, but that will come with time. 

I really love the feel of my bedroom.  It is really peaceful and relaxing.  I love lighting the fireplace, and sitting in my chairs or bed and knitting or crocheting.  Right now I am working on a blanket for my daughters room.  It is red and black.  Her room was recently redone, and is very pretty without being frilly.  She is turning 18 in a week and needed a more grown up room instead of a young teenagers room.

 Anyway everything will get done in time.  It is just fun doing it. 

I’ll check back in sometime in the next couple of days.

It has been almost a year since my father passed away, and I am finally starting to get back to normal.  It has been hard to be creative this past year, but in the last 2 weeks I have all kinds of new ideas for patterns and clothing.

I just did a pattern for a clutch bag for summer.  I graphed a copy of a vintage card pattern, and then decided on the stitches for the purse.  It is great colors and I think it will look really good when it is done.  I want to enter it in the Crochet Guild of America contest.  I am also working on a pattern for a lace camisole for summer.  I will start selling my original patterns on the website later this spring.

I have always embellished clothing, and I have my favorite jean which I have been patching for the last several years, because the fabric has gotten so thin, that they keep getting holes in them.  I need to add a few more patches because more holes have appeared in the last few weeks, and then I will take a picture and post it for all of you to see.  The new thing that I am really enjoying redoing sweaters.  I had sweaters in my closet that did not fit right so they needed to be redone, and just were not right, so I am reworking them. 

The first one is a pale pink vneck sweater that did not hand right in the front.  I love the sweater because of the ruffles on the sleeves and bottom.  I decided that I would cut it up the front and make it a cardigan.  I love cardigans.  Then I added lace to both sides and a button that the top.  I love the way it came out.  It is really feminine and pretty.

The next sweater that I am working on is a red cashmere pullover that my husband gave me 10 to 12 years ago.  I am turning this into a cardigan also.  I cut it up the front, but it was so big that I have added darts to the front and back to help take in some of the bulk, I have also taken in the sleeves.  I have cut off the bottom, it is still a little on the long side, so I will need to cut more off of the bottom and I am adding a floral fabric to the bottom that is gathered.  I am posting the picture for this also.  It is still a work in progress, and this is taking more time, because I love the feel of the cashmere, and I do not want to wreck the sweater.  I think I am also going to cut out a few of the flowers and put them on the sweater. Since the fabric is fairly thin I think I am going to have to attach it to some muslin to give it a little stability. 

I have also been busy redoing different areas of my house.  I was really tired of all of the  burgandies and golds that were in my house.  I finally have most of my bedroom redone. It is now done in aquas, whites, and yellows.  I love it.  I finally got 2 new chairs for in front of the fireplace.  They are off white chenille recliners.  I love them, and I love my room. 

I had to leave my couch burgandy, but I slip covered my chairs an off white and I have lots of aqua, white, and burgandy pillows and blankets around the room.  It is really cozy, light.  It looks updated.  I next need to do my dining room chairs, and I think I will do them in an aqua fabric. 

And by the way the fabric colors are finally catching up with what I have been looking for for 2 years.  It has taken so long for the furniture makers to start making some lighter colored furniture.

Well enough for today.  I will try to write everyday.  

Hope you have enjoyed what I have written.  I have really enjoyed it today.  Tomorrow I am going to write about cooking.  One of my other favorit subjects. 

I want to get everything loaded so that people can do their Christmas shopping.

I love the holidays.  I love all of the sights, tastes, and smells.  I have been cooking a lot lately.  Making cookies and cakes.  I am always in search of easy recipes.  I love all of the Sandra Lee Semi Homemade cookbooks. 

Well I just wanted to checkin quick, and I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving. 

This week I have been busy making sure that my website is working right, which is a good thing.  I finally have the shipping rates coming up correctly and the tax is showing correctly for Colorado.  I have been adding new items, which is taking time, because I need to finish taking new pictures of all of the beautiful scarves, hats, purses, sweaters, and shawls.  I finished two pairs of wrist warmers this week out of a beautiful angora.  I make one pair in white and one pair in lavender.  I found the new pattern in the Joan McGowan laungerie book.  They are beautiful. 

I also need to finish putting together a cotton camisole that I did in an pale aqua and take a picture of it also.  It is a small, and I do not know if my maniquan will go small enough for this, so I may have to look for a very small model.  I love knitting lace.  It is so much fun to make such pretty things.  I also finished a olive green lace mohair scarf with a ruffle at each end.  I found this pattern in one of my magazines, and I absolutely love knitting this scarf.  I have now made it in a gold, a pale pink, and an olive green mohair.  I will get pictures this week and put them on the website.  I am also going to get pictures of my office and put it online also to show all of you.

I tried a new recipe the other night from my 5 Factor Fitness book and it was really good.  It was a Thai Lentil Soup with shrimp in it.  I deviated from the recipe a little.  He called for 3 tbl of green curry paste and I cut it in half, and it was still a little hot, I added chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, and only added about 2 cups, and I added double the shrimp.  It was such an easy recipe, and it was really good.  The other thing I keep thinking about are coconut cupcakes.  They are really good.  My aunt made them for my dad’s memorial service in April, and I made them once after that.  They are Rachel Ray’s recipe for the cupcakes and the Barefoot Contessa’s frosting recipe. 

I think I must really be ready for fall.  I have been organizing and cooking and knitting, all things that I like to do in the fall and winter.  I guess it is the nesting instinct.  Settling in for winter. 

I had promised some pictures from my trip to Mexico before, so I am going to add them now, and will add pictures of my workroom and new scarves in the next few days. 

I did finally get to Mexico. I spent about 4 weeks there.  I felt so creative in Puerto Vallarta.  I took a lot of pictures which I will edit and get online soon.  Also, I just finished a camisole today, that is beautiful.  I got the pattern from one of my magazines, and did it in a very pale aqua.  It is so pretty.  I just need to sew up the sides and the straps, take a picture, and put it online.  I hope that everyone is finding something this summer that makes them feel creative and recharged.  I have found that life can be short, and we should make the most of each day, and appreciate the little things, like seeing pretty flowers in pots on a stairway, or looking at a clothes line with clothes hanging on it.  It was great watching children play and getting pictures of them while I was in Puerto Vallarta.  They would get so excited to look at the screen on the camera and see their pictures. 

I got to spend time with friends and family, which is really important to me.  I was missing one kid down there, but he will come with us on another trip.  I also saw a sea turtle lay its eggs on the beach in the little town of Bucerias.  It was a once in a lifetime thing to see.  I did not realize that turtle eggs are considered a delicacy, so the policia actually came and stayed on the beach and guarded the eggs, so that no one could dig them up.

I spent some time alone down there between friends leaving and family arriving, and it was really nice.  I was able to spend time knitting, crocheting, and walking on the beach.  It was wonderful getting up in the mornings, having my coffee, and watching the water.

 I read and listened to lots of books.  I listened to the new Jonathon Kellerman book. I also read the new Earlene Fowler book and also the Diane Mott Davidson Book.  It was really peaceful and relaxing.  It is just to read books sometimes, because it means I can not do my other favorite pastime of knitting.  I really like to be able to listen to books, because I can knit and crochet at the same time.

I hope that all of you had a great 4th of July, and I will write again soon. 

I just got back from Mexico two weeks ago, and I will go back again in June for a month, and I want to have lots of sundresses.  I like to buy sundresses if I can find them, but it is hard to find the perfect sundress.  It get really hot in Mexico in June, or at least it did last June.  So I want to have lots of sundresses.  They need to be light and loose, but sexy.  Little spaghetti straps, empire waist, and fun prints are pictures dancing through my head.

Our place in Mexico is on the beach.  Iit is really small, but it works for us.  My kids complain, because it is in the middle of nowhere, with no tv and no phone.  It is peaceful and beautiful, and quiet.  Not exactly what a teenager is looking for, but exactly what I need to recharge my batteries.  Last year I was on a kick with the color aqua.  It reminds me of the ocean, and I needed to cover pillows and a window seat cushion.  I also made and afghan out of multiple turqoise fabrics.  I will get a picture next time I am down there and post them.  I used a patchwork fabric with yellows, turquoise, purple, green, orange, and white for the pillows, and the shams for the bed.  I used solid aqua for the window seat cushion.  It is really pretty and bright.  It looks great when the shutters are open and you look right out the window at the ocean.  I have a white matelisse coverlet and white sheets on the bed, so the color in the room comes from the afghan and the window seat. 

I wake up there in the morning really early.  Sometimes before the sun it up.  I love sitting my little porch, listening the ocean, drinking my coffee, and knitting or reading a book.  By the way if I am knitting, I am listen to a book.  I wait for the sun to come up, and I watch the light in the sky, and then I love watching as the light plays on the ocean.  Last summer my son Danny took a picture some yellow flowers growing over my palapa roofed kitchen at sunset.  There is the orange in the wall and the beautiful oranges in the sky, and the brown of the roof, and these beautiful yellow flowers with red centers.  It is a great picture.  I need to have him give me the disc so that I can go and get it blown up and framed.  I will put it in the house down there this summer. 

      This is Danny a Captian Pablos Restaurant on the beach in Sayulita.

  My husband David and daughter Charly at the same time.

As you can tell,  places and views make a difference in my creative process.  I fell so fortunate that I get to create things, and can call it a job.  I still need to start making money from what I do,  but this is the year.

Well I’m off for the night.  I’m tired and ready for a new day of things to inspire me.

I love books, but I found that it is really hard to read and knit at the same time.  To get around this little problem, I listen to books on tape and CD.  I listen to 3 to 4 books a week.  I really enjoy mysteries, but I will listen to almost anything.  My favorite authors are Faye Kelleraman, Jonathon Kellerman, Earlene Fowler, Lee Harris, Clive Cussler, and Alice Hoffman.  Somtimes it is hard to remember authors, because I listen to so many different people.  My all time favorite book is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  I also really enjoyed The Drifters by James Michener.

I was just talking to a friend last week about the people who read books.  Sometimes I listen to books for the reader.  I really enjoy Scott Brick and Kate Reading.  We were on the subject because my friend is and acting teacher, and he has just published a book.  He spent this week in a recording studio reading his book.  His name is Darryl Hickman, and he and his wife Lynda are wonderful people.  I can not wait to listen to his book.  They are my childrens’ God Parents, so I need to go online and buy a bunch of the books, and have Darryl autograph them for the kids.  My mom is also quoted in the book, she took Darryl’s acting classes, and loved them.  Lynda has always been really supportive of my business.  She will send articles that she finds in the newspaper regarding knitting or online businesses.  She is so beautiful and so much fun, I am really lucky to have these people for friends.

I always thought it would be fun to be a reader.  Darryl says it is really hard to do.  I always loved reading to my children when they were younger.  I really enjoyed doing all of the different voices.  Darryl says that with all of his acting experience this is still very difficult to do.  He has even done just voices in cartoons, and he says this is totally different.

I am also a pack rat when it comes to knitting and crocheting books.  I can not get enough of them.  I have an entire book case full of these books and magazines.  I love looking at the pictures and reading the patterns.  Right now I have fallen in love with knitting and crocheting lace.  There is something so delicate and femanine about lace.  It looks so beautiful and I enjoy the intricate patterns.  I have really started to enjoy knitting lace, rather then crocheting it.  Knitting lace makes a much lighter fabric, then crocheting.   Here are some samples of different lace that I have been knitting lately.  I have also put in the pastel blue from my husband’s cousin.  Her name is Fern and her company is Roxannes Originals.  I sell her scarves in my store also.  I really like all of the scarves that she makes also. 

Well enough for now.  I will write more later.  This is really theraputic.

This has been a work of love for me.  I started crocheting when I was a child.  I do not remember who taught me, but I have done it on and off for over 40 years.  I taught myself how to knit 4 years ago after my grandfather passed away, and really enjoy it.  I think it is the creative process that is so wonderful.  I am one of those people that has to touch all of the yarns in a store.  I am also one of those people that pulls my had away quickly if I touch a yarn of fabric, that feels yucky (for want of a better word).  It is like touching a piece of chalk. 

Right now I am working on a lace mohair scarf with a ruffle at the ends.  I found the pattern in Knitting Magazine.  It is so pretty.  I made one in a pale pink, and now I am working on one in mustard yellow.  The picture above is the pink scarf in progress.  This is not a color that I usually pick, but I saw the ball of yarn at my local yarn shop Knitty Cat.  Ann always has such great things in her store.  I love walking in there.  There are so many colors and textures, it is kind of like walking into a pastry shop.  I always end up spending to much.  Anne’s website is www.knittycat.com visit it if you get a chance.

I am signing off for now, but I’ll be back soon.