F.M. 11/5/07

I'm _baaacckk_. I'm not totally "with it" but then again, I never have been.
So here's your first for this Freebie Monday.

Want to learn how to do seamless single crochet, which is very important in amigurami and hats - here's the tutorial for you:
http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/2006/10/tutorial-seamless-single-crochet.html

Another one of my favorite spots, Purple Kitty, has free vintage Christmas crochet (as well as knit) patterns:
www.purplekittyyarns.com/

I know this is late for Halloween, but I will forget this completely by next year. My cats would never stand for being dressed, but my oldest sister dresses up her cats all the time - go figure that one out.
http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/10/crochet_candy_corn_pet_sweater.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954


http://crochet-patterns-techniques.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_crochet_circle_recipe_i
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Have you ever looked at a size 7 steel hook and wondered "gee, I wonder if I could perform surgery with this? No, I haven't either. But a surgeon did look at it and currently uses it to repair varicose veins - check it out:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071022122214.htm

I don't know if the next two are repeats. If so, I apolegize:

Tiny cake patterns
http://www.normalynn.info/freepatterns.html

This one would have been better suited for Halloween, but as I said, I'll just forget it by next year - a crochet hamburger dress:
http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/10/crochet_hamburger_dress.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954

This would also have been better suited for Halloween, but maybe you need a gift for a quirky friend of family member. Not exactly my cup of tea, but Lady Linoleum always has cool stuff.
The Saw That Dripped Blood...SCARF!
Monster Crochet - http://monstercrochet.blogspot.com/

Stitch markers seem mostly made for knitters. Here's a site that shows you stitch markers for crocheters. Pretty cool stuff and looks relatively easy. You could whip up some for yourself or a crocheting friend:
Crafty Daisies - http://craftydaisies.com
http://crochet-patterns-techniques.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_crochet_circle_recipe_ii


Another one suited for Halloween but I am considering making this for my younger son (26 years old). He loved "The Nightmare before Christmas and I think he'd like the dog. This is a great pattern:
jack skellington's dog
http://lizville.livejournal.com/100801.html


and here's the last freebie of the day. I am having a drawing for the book "The Crochet Sweater Book" by Sylvia Cosh with James Walters. You may be more familiar with those names due to their freeform work. Just email me - 1 email per person please - and I will announce the winner next Monday. Please, no whining, begging or pleading - I get enough of that at work;)

_enjoy_

7 things you don't know about me

I read the "Crochet with Dee" blog and her blog today was a sort of "tag - you're it". SHe wrote about 7 things you don't know about her, none of them crochet oriented. So since I was "tagged", here you go:

1) I hate going to the dentist. I have been very fortunate in not having dental problems or bad teeth, but I just hate it. I hate getting my teeth cleaned. I'd rather go for a gyn check-up. I know that makes me weird, but there you are. I didn't go to the dentist until I was 28 and while it wasn't a fun experience (_1_ tooth pulled - that's it for all my life), it just bugs me. I usually take 2 tylenol for the headache I cause myself by being tense while my teeth are being cleaned.

2) Hmm, this is another tooth related one, but I almost 53 & have never gotten _any_ of my wisdon teeth. They're not impacted, they are just not there. (However, my older son got extra wisdom teeth - removed.)

3) I love to bake - especially bread. I love the way the dough smells and I love the way bread dough feels. I find it especially satisfying after an ugly week to bake.
(I do most of it on the weekend.) I must have had a really bad week because I baked a total of 4 cakes (2 chocolate, 1 strawberry, 1 orange) and potato bread this past weekend.

4) Whenever I am in a hospital or a nursing home visiting somebody, people tend to think I'm a nurse. I'm not wearing a uniform or a badge and I'm not a nurse, so this is a little confusing to me . (My 3 older sibs are nurses, maybe I just adopted their demeanor or something.)

5) I love to garden but the joke is on me. My "plot of land" is clay and takes a lot of amending to make anything grow. I have had some successes - white butterfly bush, persian lilac, daffodils and hibiscus. I think the failures (or "learning experiences" as I like to call them) outnumber the successes. But I still try to whip the clay into shape.

6) I am an "endangered species" - a natural redhead. There's not too may of them in the world, I think the highest concentration is in Scotland or Ireland. Neither of my parents were, none of my sibs are and neither of my sons are natural redheads. Some of my sisters have had red hair at one time or another, however. I got teased a lot, called the "milkman's daughter", that sort of thing (we didn't even _have_ a milkman). But hair color, like eye color, is not an "either/or" type of gene. Two blue eyed people can produce a brown eyed child - your genetic material is made up of more than what your parents look like and what you and your partner look like. Really.

7) I like to sing, but I really don't have that great a voice. I like to sing along with almost anything that catches my ear, from Ethel Merman to Amy Weinhouse. And I will make up the words as I go along, to fit whatever it is I am doing at the time. For instance, I am fascinated by Amy Weinhouse's song "Rehab". It's such a basic bluesy kind of song that I feel the need to sing it. And quote from it, to the cats and my (poor) family.

now you know more about me than you ever wanted to;) and of course, you are "tagged" to post the 7 things I don't know about you....