Back at the crochet helm

This is my first foray back into the world of crochet. It's a Denise Augostine Owens design, February's Valentine. It's a replacement for a January doily that is somewhere in my car, which is being repaired and won't be available til Friday, March 2. This took about 3 hours, two trips to Orlando over the weekend. Fun and easy to make. Here is the link:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040625034609/www.denisecrochets.com/february.html

I need to make another doily for a February exchange. This is what I'm going to do today:

http://web.archive.org/web/20031021153511/http://www.denisecrochets.com/grannysdoily.html

It's a Lisa Goins design, written down by Denise Augostine, Granny's doily. I have always wanted to make Denise's doilies, but never found the time. I figure these are just lovely and quick enough to get me back into my crochet mojo!
I plan on working on this doily during the Gatorade Duels at Daytona. Yes, it's that time of year again...and I'm so excited! I am once again going to the Daytona 500. Hubby doesn't want to go, so my sil Teresa and I are going to make a day of it. Actually, a weekend. I'm staying with her in Orlando on Sat, heading to the track on Sunday. Hoping to meet up with my good friend Lori early Sunday morning. We have to make the rounds of the vendors and get FREE STUFF!!!
Okie dokie...breakefast is ready. Time for me to go. Will be back tomorrow or Saturday to let you know how the doily is progressing!!!
Let's go racin'!!!!

January 31, 2012

A day that shall forever live in infamy in my life. Ever since that night, on my nightly drive to work, I have been transformed. For the time being, I cannot even retreat to my favorite pastime of crochet. I was driving to work on a dark, unlit "country" road; this is a misnomer, as it is a well traveled road between Ocala/Dunnellon and Gainesville. Many people travel this road daily; the pay is better in G'ville than Ocala, not to mention Gator Fever resides up there.
I left for work at my typical 9:45-9:50 pm time frame. I am supposed to be at work at 10:30, and typically arrive 10 minutes late; so does everyone else. I got in my car, and decided to take the route of Hwy 40 to Hwy 41 North. Sometimes cut through Lake Tropicana, a subdivision that is 1 mile shorter and 5 minutes faster, but a lot of turns and curves. At Christmastime, it's fun to see the lights (BTW, some of them are still up....and on! Mine are up, but hubby doesn't want them plugged in......sigh....)
Anyhow, I set my cruise control at the Levy-Marion County line for the set speed limit of 60 mph. I was following a nondescript SUV that was either black, green or dark blue. About a mile north of the county lines, the lead vehicle swerved to the left; I followed suit, thinking I was going to avoid some silly possum curled into a ball or deer or fox. The next thing I know, I see a figure put up his right arm and take a step toward my car. THUMP.....I hit the figure, continue to travel to the left, come to a hysterical stop on the southbound side of the road. To make a horrifically long story short, I had hit and killed a pedestrian who happened to be standing in the middle of my travel lane. It took me 20 minutes from impact to the time the sheriff's dept. arrived and found the gentleman laying in the ditch.
The dispatcher had called my husband, who thankfully was still awake to come to my side. I have nothing but praise for all of the rescue personnel who not only stood by me to console me, but stayed with the victim of the crash. It has been a horrible 10 days for me, but I'm sure it is worse for this man's family. I have no words to describe the loss I feel. I cannot concentrate on many tasks; I can work for two days and need a day off. Luckily, everyone I know and love has been very supportive to make sure I'm ok. I was reassured that evening by the police, FHP, and EMT's that I did all I could to avoid and unseen person in the road. From the damage to my car, I can see that if I swerved another two feet to the left, I would not have had this happen. I wish I had had the foresight to swerve farther to the left. Thank goodness there was no other traffic in either direction....
So please forgive me if I am absent from the crafting world for awhile. I find it difficult to concentrate and focus on many tasks. The one thing that gave me solace, crocheting, I cannot even bring myself to pick up a hook. I know this road will be a tough one; luckily, I have a great support system of family and friends who are willing to listen at the drop of a hat. I hope and pray every day that this man's family can find solace. I mourn their loss deeply, knowing that if I had been 5 minutes sooner or later, this horrible tragedy may have been avoided.
God bless you all and thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers, not only for me, but for the gentleman and his family.

Good Friends and fun times

and gorgeous men!!
Yes, it was once again time for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It was the 50th anniversary of the race, so a lot of people and events were going on. Yes, I once again waited in line to see Patrick Dempsey.....after 3 years, I think this is the best pic yet!! I also saw a few others, too:

The first is a picture of me and David Hobbs.
David is an announcer for the F1 races. It was fun to meet him and see the surprised look on his face when I asked for a picture. He even waited patiently while Bob tried to get the camera on my i-phone to work.
The next is a picture of Jackie Stewart. He was in the garages, too. His pants matched his hat. The third cutie is Max Papis, who drove the #9 car, I think it was a Daytona prototype, or DP class. I saw him in the gift shop. He is very sweet and offered to sign his shirt if I bought one.
As for good friends, my friend Lori, who lives a few miles from the speedway, got up at 5:30am on her Saturday to join me and Bob on the Fun Walk around the track. Bob and I have been doing this for 5 or 6 years. We usually get up at 3:00 am to make the 2 hour drive to the speedway and walk at 7am. This year, we camped in campground, took the seats out of the van and slept on the floor of the van. I was proud of my hubby, who I never would have thought was a camper. Anyhow, here's a few pics of Lori at the top of turn 1, and me and Bob in between turns 3 and 4, and Lori wearing her Krispy Kreme hat at our campsite:
and yes, she is sitting on one of the van seats we took out in order to sleep!
Here is Timma after a night of racin' under the lights and partying...
and his friend Rich.


The boys drove out to see the race...

Ok, back to the grindstone...I have to work tonight. I will get back to my crafting pics; just beware: racing season is coming, so I can't promise there won't be any more posts about cars and the roar of the engines! I leave you with the 2001 overall winning Corvette; Dale Earnhardt drove the #3 and was a teammate to this team

I'm baaaaccckkkkk...

Yes, one of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more frequently. Well, I've been busy working over the holidays and stitching away. Crocheting dishcloths, doilies, hats and afghans. I have also been knitting....a hat and a dragonfly dishcloth!!! For Christmas, I made my SIL, Kim, a sweater: This is Annie's Attic's Offset Shell cardigan. Love the color and the drape....the yarn was tough to work with using an H hook. I want one, but will use a bigger hook, next time!
Kim loved it!!
Here's a ruffle scarf I made for a Christmas exchange, for someone who lives in Colorado:
The pattern is from the Red Heart site.
Here's the dragonfly dishcloth:
It's kind of hard to see the dragonfly because of the varigated thread, but it's my new washcloth in my shower!!! And yes!!! It's knitted!!!
Nest up, a few crocheted things: a hat for a friend of the boys, a dishcloth for an exchange, and a doily for me!!!
pattern for Brent's beanie is here:
http://www.piece-by-piece.net/Crochet/easy_beanies.htm
this dishcloth is Mina's delight and can be found here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070126133436/http://hometown.aol.com/dcm1955/mddish.html
Love this doily. Found it in a Magic Crochet. It's called Rustic table center.

These are just a few of the things I've been doing. I also spent the holidays reading Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy, watching the Swedish (subtitled) versions of the books, and seeing the newly released American version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." I absolutely LOVED the stories and read all three books within a month. I think I have my reading mojo back!!
and with close to 200 (free) books downloaded on my kindle, I guess I'd better get reading!!
This coming weekend, we are headed to Daytona for the 50th anniversary of the Rolex 24....we are finally taking the plunge and camping there. Nathan, for whom I made the gray hat, his brothers and my friend Lori (who lives in Daytona) are all going, too. Son Tim and his friend Rich are coming out Saturday. Bob and I are going to do the Fun Walk at 7am Saturday. At least we will be there and not have to leave Ocala at 3am in order to start walking at 7am. SO EXCITED!!! I am supposed to be getting things ready, but am waiting to see Patrick Dempsey interviewed about his participation in the event. Will I wait in line to see him again this year.....HELL YEAH!!!!!
Ok, I really do have to run and get things crackin' around here. Until we meet again, have a crafty day!!!

2011 Quickly coming to a close.....

Holy Schnikies!!!! WHERE did the year go? Lots of creating, lots of reading, lots of things to do....OH MY!!! All of it finished? my goodness, no! As I look back on this chronicle, I am proud that I blogged a little more often than before. I am going to strive to blog at least once a week in 2012....not just about crafting, but about life in general. It has been a tough end of the year...I've been covering Thanksgiving and Christmas. But for the first time in a LONG time, I am off for New Year's Eve.....not sure if I can make it to midnight, but I will try!!
I really do have to run, but I want to thank you for reading. May 2012 be the best year yet!!! I fully intend on making it mine!!!
Happy New Year!!!
Beth

Another doily!!

Finished this doily for an October birthstone exchange.....color was pink. This pattern is called 'White poinsettia" and is supposed to have 12 little flowers around the outer edge. This is 10.5" across now. And I didn't have time to do little flowers....my own fault. I always start these things too late! I do plan on making one for me in white/silver and red flowers on the edges....All in all, I love this pattern. It's quick and easy. I just didn't like the fact that it ruffled really bad. I had to pull like the dickens to get it to lay flat when I blocked it. But I did it!!! Hope Ms. Mary likes it.....

EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival

Oh yes, we hit it for the second year in a row. Planning on going back as we were there with my sister and her hubby from Buffalo. Yes, the whole crew....all three boys and Nicole and Barbara, too. Had a great time wandering around the parks, riding a few rides. My sister has never been to Disney before. She loves Johnny Depp, so the first order of business was to get her to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. She liked it, but it could use more Cap'n Jack Sparrow...duh!!!

While at the parks, Bob and I sampled a few things from France. I had to have my fix of escargot......baked in little loves of bread with garlic....yummmyyyy!!! Bob had the coq au vin sur gratin de macaroni......oh yes, chicken in red wine over gourmet mac and cheese.....here's my version:

Here's a picture of all of us at Mexico, The Inn at San Miguel (?) after dinner:
Back row: Tim, Joe Pixie, Steven, Me, Teresa, Bob, Rick
Kneeling: Jeff and Barbara
Rick and Teresa were kind enough to join us for dinner. We had a blast!!!! After that, the boys put on their "Three Amigos" pose:
Tim and Jeff always mess with Steven, so he doesn't know which way to look.......therefore, he's never looking in the same direction as his brothers. Always. Priceless.....
Stevie's 20th b-day was the 25th.....his brother bought him pirate ears with "Shredder" embroidered on it....
Steven put on his hat and was jumping up and down on the balcony as we returned from breakfast, screaming..."It's my birthday...it's my birthday..." To which passersby wished the silly boy a happy birthday..... I even got to surprise him with birthday ice cream at dinner. Somehow, he knew it was me that told.....

I also was working on a candy corn outfit for my newest cousin, Landon. He was born on Sept 21 to my 2nd cousin Lisa and hubby Kelly. Finished it yesterday

And last but not least, what would a first visit to Disney be without a commemorative t-shirt? Nicole (who took most of the pics and is in very few......LOL...I think she plans it that way....)


All the girls had them.....it was fun, but we were never in the same place at the same time on Saturday to get a pic......you will have to suffice with just me.......
Ok, back to the grind and my crocheting.....doilies, blankets, and oh yes, work is thrown in there at some point!!!!! Til next time...happy crafting!!!