G'ma Spicy

I am Grandma Spicy

and not because of my spice organizing skills,

although I would like to share those skills with you,
here today, if you would be so kind as to placate me. :-)

The skills of the spice organizer:

BEFORE: CABINET #1

BEFORE CABINET: #2

DURING: 

A trip to IKEA for these.

(Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE IKEA???)

Then some pourin', a sortin' and label magic makin'...

then this:

AFTER: CABINET #1-Phase 1

But I was not so keen on the Mrs. Dash messing up the container alikeness mojo,

so then came this:

  

AFTER: CABINET #1-Phase 2

and Mrs. Dash (salt-free) was moved to cabinet #2 with nothing other than...salt:

AFTER CABINET #2

The real story behind the G'ma Spicy nickname

Although it may have a little bit of a risqué tone to it,  it really isn't so. How did I come to be "G'ma Spicy", you may wonder? Well, it's a pretty short story. You see, we were playing "Apples to Apples" with a few members of the familia. It was my turn to be "the judge" and the adjective card I received to play was "Spicy" and I was to choose which of the following was the best fit with this card:
     1) Incense
     2) Darth Vader
     3) Denzel Washington
Well, naturally my selection was "Denzel Washington" (so spicy!) with a close second as "Darth Vader" (pretty spicy and I'm thinking of him in his earlier days...more specifically his Anakin days, not the heavy breathing later days.) To my surprise and dismay the holder of the "Incense" card was not happy about my choice, at all. She was certain she was playing the spiciest of all cards and this became the topic of many future fun-filled gifts/conversations/arguments which, incidently, were never settled and eventually dubbed me: G'ma Spicy.

Proud Spicy G'ma of 5 beautiful Spicy G'chillin's...

and one on the way.

Have a Spicy Day!
(Oh and BTW, I still LOVE the Spice Girls.)

"Fit" Daisy Blanket Ta Da!

It's nothing short of a miracle!!!

A little bit of springtime in the dead of winter. :-)

The ETA for this afghan was 2012 - and here it is delivered 5 days early!

On time and under budget (perhaps, I should go back to working in construction finance ;-) )

Really, it's only under budget because I used Red Heart yarn which I love due to its price point and it's early due to the fact that it's smaller than originally planned. (I could not face weaving in any more ends, but someday, once the pain of the ends is but a distant memory, I may attempt a matching pillow. The remaining yarn awaits the return to insanity in the stash bin.)

Pattern is the "Daisy Square" from this post at My Rose Valley.  

And the edge is one row of single crochet and one row of picot.

It will stay inside for the Winter:

But, may go outside in the Spring since it was made to match
 the front porch "rug" and daisy topiary:

I blogged about this afghan so many times

here, here, here...

I wonder if anyone is as happy as I am that it's finally over.

(At least until the possibility of a matching pillow comes to fruition.)

It also matches the cushion from this post and this post and as below:

Here it is with it's little friend, the rocking chair cushion.

Now, it's time to go back to work, at my place of employment, after five days of pure bliss.

Sure wish I could putter around the house for a living.

Happy Boxing Day with this box shaped afghan pattern. :-)

Sixlet Olympics

It's that time of year again for the

"Annual Thanksgiving Sixlet Olympics"

Six Sixlet events

2 people per team

These are the Sixlets for the 1st event: "Count the Sixlets",

then these Sixlets are used for the rest of the events.

And the winners receive:

Jars of medal colored Sixlets, presented to the winning teams

 as they stand on stacked sofa cushions,

 representing the three places, complete with flashlight for the Olympic Flame. :-)

(we stretched our imaginations a bit this year with the colors.)

Winners receive Gold, Silver and Bronze Sixlet prizes

and...

...medals

The NVO has the advantage because he is the world's best Sixlet suspender.

The NVO's team always wins a medal...

I've never won one. So sad.

Each year I vow to train all year long and it just simply does not happen.
Maybe next year. ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Ice Blue with Charcoal

For sis-in-law and her cohort

A neck warmer for the "cohort" and a scarf for sis-in-law to match hats I made
for them last year...no pics, though, because that was before the blogging days. :-)

Made with that same Alpaca yarn from the Ice Blue post with the charcoal color added

(Bernat calls it ebony I call it charcoal).

Free scarf pattern from Lion Brand found here.

Lion Brand named it "Paint the Town", I will name these "Paint the Town Ice Blue and Charcoal"

or in Bernat's case "Paint the Town Sky and Ebony".

Rainbow Connection

Someday we'll find it...

The Rainbow Connection

Somebody thought of that
and someone believed it,

Those someones with their
50 year old feet......and......22 year old feet.

"Who said that every wish would be heard
and answered when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that and someone believed it.
Look what it's done so far."
~The Rainbow Connection~

Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher

Little Bug (#6) and I have been wishing for this nail polish called
"The Rainbow Connection" for over a month now.
Every store we checked was either sold-out or it had not arrived yet.
Someone granted our wish and that someone was "K" who not only granted our wish but delivered, the "Pot of Gold" or silver glitter in this case.

What a delightful surprise and generous gift!

Little Bug painted her fingernails too.

The song "The Rainbow Connection" has a special place in our hearts as it is a favorite song for listening (I hope your speakers are on) and a favorite song to which the NVO and I waltz.
And what could be more special, at this moment,
than a gift of polish from a kind friend with such a  name?

Thank you, thank you, thank you "K",

from the lovers, the dreamers and me!

Norwegian Flag Scarf

A Scarf for Hans in Norway

Who is Hans?

He is my bonus dad, and for additional tidbits, I've written about him here; he's awesome  :-)

He lives in Norway and I thought he might like a scarf for Christmas.

So a "net" search resulted in this;

it reminds me of the Norwegian Flag:

This was a super easy and fast pattern (just alternating single crochets with a chain) from the "Eating Out Loud" website, click here for the pattern and thank you "Eating Out Loud".

Loops & Threads Charisma Yarn with a size J (6.0 mm) hook.

God Jul, Hans!

Ice Blue

A Favorite Color

My list of favorite colors goes on and on, but if I had to pick just one favorite,
it would have to be "Ice Blue".

Ice blue is a difficult color to find in most everything I search; it must be very light and soft with with absolutely no green in at all and very little gray, if any.

Icy shivers of joy enveloped my entire being,
as by a stroke of luck, while shopping at the local Michael's, I found an Alpaca blend of the most lovely ice blue colored yarn - Bernat calls it "Sky" - that's nice too.

I make every effort and conscientiously choose to fall in love with winter and what's more fun about winter than a feminine scarf as a back drop to icy breath and a black coat? ;-)

Perhaps I love ice blue because it reminds me of a Norwegian winter, additionally we have many winter days in Utah that would also fall into the "beautiful ice blue" category.

(Photographed with a tiny little water color of Norway - maybe in the winter...maybe not...)

So the search was on for the perfect scarf pattern...I started and ended with my blogging friend Mrs. Micawber's most inspiring blog because I figured since she also experiences icy winters that she would likely have something that would work.
Alas, her "Flowering Clematis Scarf Pattern" was just what I was looking for.

And goodness gracious, if you are ever looking for scarf patterns, complete with the most detailed and easy to follow directions/tutorials, her blog is definitely the place to go.
Several incredible scarves that will just tickle you pink.

 (Ohhhh, I like pink too. :-) )

In her post, Sue claims that this scarf is fun, fast and easy. It was so true - the scarf was done in two hours - all the while watching the dancers perform the Argentinian Tango on DWTS.
One show=one scarf that looks like (IMHO) it took much longer to make.

Thank you so much Sue, I love it!