Back from Argentina

This brown purse I made with cotton yarn and used Tunisian crochet and "normal crochet" stitches. I started the purse a week before we left for home, and finished it at Santiago Airport. The cream colored purse was bought in Mendoza, Argentina.




What a wonderful vacation we had. The weather was nice, hot and only a few days with humidity. Some thunderstorms, twice to be exact. The first one appeared when we were planning a BBQ for our family. We had the chicken BBQ anyway, regardless of the heavy rain.

I want to make a comment about some uninvited friends we had every single day and night: the
incredibly clever mosquitoes. I swear they were after my blood, like vampires. I tried to put some "OFF" every day, but somehow those irritating little ickies found a spot that was not covered, and that is exactly where the fountain of nectar was for them. The only positive thing about this was that I smelled really good most of the time. "OFF" comes in a nice scent. It also kept my skin glowing and soft. I felt young again.

The kids were great. Our granddaughter is smart and very clever in her way of dealing with people. One of the things she had said, when she was bored, and asked her dad what she could do, and when her father told her to go and talk to the fish in the little tank they had on the book self. What did she say? "but daddy, fish don't talk, they swim".

Oh, and another one:

She threw her toy dog in the air. Her grandpa said that the dog was crying and barking in pain.
She said that "that dog doesn't cry, it's made of plastic.

Valentina is 2 years and 8 months.

I could go on and on about her, but I save some for later.

We went to the side of mountains, The Andes, visited a few villages in the area and had tons of pictures taken, and of course had lunch in one of the nice little restaurants.

One day we went to the province of San Juan to see the shrine of Difunta Correa It was an interesting trip. I was awed with the history, and amazed how many people had left things to thank the woman. There is no way I am going to explain this on my blog, there is lots of info in the web.



I got lost in the web, after I found a link to Difunta Correa, I found many more. Then started watching some shows on telly and went to sleep. As if this was anything important.

More later.

Granddaughter

Our granddaughter with her parents came over for dinner tonight.

Here is a picture of her wearing the sweater I made for her, and another picture

paying more attention to cars than dolls. I am going to talk to her about my Mustangs.

She was truly fascinated with the model cars she had in front of her.

Dreams and pen pals

The other morning, I think it was Wednesday, we woke up @ 7:55. If you had seen me run, you would have thought of seeing a lightning, sort of. The shower took three minutes. My trip to work is usually around 20 to 25 minutes. I was at work @8:30. I would say that it was a fast forwarded morning. I also think that people who normally crawl to work in front of me, had decided to stay at home, or go later, or had already snailed ahead of me. None of the normal irritating traffic was in my way. Even the traffic control people were on my side, since I hit maybe two red lights, out of maybe 20. Do I have to count the lights now? It was a good ride to work.

Our local Knitting group had the first meeting of the year. We had a nice crowd, and it was nice meeting everyone. We knitted and chatted, some of the members were learning Tunisian Crochet, instructed by Julia. I didn't attend the mini class, since I think I know the system pretty well.

We also had our regular raffle. I bought four tickets. Wouldn't you know, I did win one of the prizes, which was five 100 gr. skeins of Patons Classic Wool in "worn denim", I thought it was light blue, but then I checked. I think my granddaughter would like another Aran style sweater. Or I might forward the yarn for someone who really likes light blue....heheh. We will find out in February, won't we?

Guess I need to go and get some more of my strange dreams. Like last night I dreamt that I knitted a bra, with variegated blue yarn. The size was A, therefore it definitely was not meant for me. I only got one side done. The yarn was prickly and made my hands itch.

The other night I woke up to a thought that had come up in my dream: I needed to send a post card to one of my pen pals from my teenage years. I even knew (in my dream) the name and the town this pal had lived in when we were writing to each other. I woke up thinking that I could find the postal code in the web. Strange, since I have not been thinking of any of my pen pals for eons.
I used to have pen pals from Germany, Israel, Ghana, Finland and USA. The ones I remember best was a sweet boy from Accra, Ghana, and the pal from Finland, whom I was supposed to meet at a Rolling Stones Concert. I never made it to that concert. Never met the pal.

Why, oh why, do I have such strange dreams. Although, I think that most dreams are strange for anybody. Maybe I should find a dream book, one that isn't telling any old stuff, but is more truthful than the quick to sell books. Well, I'm going to sleep now. Have nice dreams everyone!

Vest

Another WIP done! I can't believe how productive I have been in the last few weeks. Sometimes the last minute push is all I need, right?

Well, I finished a crocheted vest for hubby's daughter. I used Anne thread and the pattern is from Sirdar, The White Book of Crochet Fashion, pattern C.

Of course, like always, I had to change the pattern a little bit. The pattern is for a top that is closed in the front, and I made it an open in the front vest. More work for me, in a rush, very clever.

I am not going to do this type of rush all the time, but I still have a batwing shawl for hubby's daughter and a summer skirt for our granddaughter. Those are going to be done later.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007!

It was a very strange year, that 2006. Every new year I hope that it will be better than the old one. I am sure every person has had their own ups and downs, so I will not get into any of those. Let's just say that the new year could be better.

I managed to get myself to go into the mall this morning. First thing I did was to have a pedicure. I had a guy do my toes this time. He was good and not as hurtful as the girl who did my feet the time before. My feet didn't even get ticklish. I was crocheting and got some nice motifs done, which I might never use for anything, one never knows.

Then I went to Zellers, and found a camisole, in my size, but it didn't have a price tag. There was another one, but different size, and it had a price sticker of $10.00, which suited me fine.
I went to the customer service, just in case someone needed a price check. To my surprise the price ended up being just 5 dollars, plus tax, of course. Zellers had a 50% off sale, and I didn't even notice when I went to the store. I just eyed at the line-ups and wondered what was on sale. As if those huge yellow signs were hanging for other people, other than me.

Anyhoo, I didn't buy any magazines or yarn, I just walked by, can you believe this? Yes, I went to see the magazines and yarns, how can I go to Zellers if I don't go and say hello to yarns?

I came home and started crocheting and frogging and crocheting. It is difficult to follow a pattern when most of the pattern is already being modified, by me, of course. I have smaller thread and more stitches. I finally was happy, and no more frogging, unless I make a mistake somewhere. I have until Saturday to finish this top for hubby's daughter. Hopefully it will be done by tomorrow.

After the top I am planning to make another batwing shawl, and after that another Dora doll, but those are for later, at least a week later.

No New Year resolutions for me, thank you very much. Well, maybe one, I will try to use my stash yarn for new projects. I said I will try, so that is not a real promise, is it?

Everyone, have a great New Year!