New Purse made by Me

This is a purse I made for a swap in Bag to Brag About (yahoo group). I was supposed to have it finished last week, but did not have it all finished. I used a lot of scraps in the "foundation" style of quilting. I am very pleased with it. The back looks good too. (the back is the top pic) The tulip fabric was just a small bit left over from another project years ago. I think it is a "Hoffman" print. All the rest of the fabrics came from my scraps of quilt fabrics...Not that I quilt, but at one time I bought lots of small "fat quarters" to make a quilt. The title of the swap is "from the scrap bin..."

my boys

Popcorn and Fudge....it is so hard to get a picture of them together. They love to harass each other. Popcorn will go in circles around Fudge....and Fudge will go up to Popcorn and just look. But when they are tired, these two will snuggle together.
Here is old man Milo...or Fat boy. He is 6-7 years older than all the other boys and does not like to move around much. Such a good pug...he listens to what you say, but hates to get a bath...will run upstairs and hop in the bed and under the covers if he hears the bath going.
How can you not love a little face like this!!!! This is Fudge..or Fudgie. It is so hard to get a picture of him as he is so black. But this is my favorite picture of him. This is my "chicken" dog....if you scare him, he will pee...be sure you are not holding him at the time!!!!
Little Popcorn, who we call Poppy, Poppy-do, and Dodo-Pop.....At only 16 pounds, he is the Mocho of the bunch. From the way he acts, you would think he is a big dog...well, he does. The chow hound...eats more than the others, but is moving all the time so works it off.
Here is Kiwi, who we call Kiki Baby. He is the Mother of all the boys....meaning he is the most loving and caring pug. He loves everyone and wants to be held all the time. The sweetest bay.

This is Little Foot. It is strange to see him without a toy in his mouth. He was so wild as a puppy, I almost was ready to give him away. But he has turned into the best little dog. Mark says he is more dog than pug, as he comes when called.

May is Almost Here

May is getting closer. May is very special to me. I will be 5 years free from cancer. I still go to my cancer doctor, but now I only have to go twice a year. My great doctor, Dr. Saker, says I will have one more PET scan next January and if it is good, I won't have to have another anytime soon. He was the one who found out my cancer had spread to my liver after being cancer free for a year. I think Dr. Saker, my kids, my "significant other", Mark, and my friends have all made my beating cancer a success.

The other great thing about May is Mothers Day. We always to to the Indian Pow-Wow that weekend. They have great things to eat...fresh corn, sweet breads, turkey legs, and more!!! The jewelry is my love there, too. I have given my most cherished ring from my mother (who was half Native American) to my daughter, Bethany...who shares my love of turquoise. I buy beads there too, because now I am into beading with my knitting.

I can't wait for May!!!

Noro knitted bag

This is my NORO bag. I bought 4 skeins of Noro wool. On 3 skeins, I cast on 20 stitches and just knitted until I ran out of yarn. I sewed them together length wise. Folded it in half and sewed up the sides. For the strap, I used the 4th skein and cast on 10 and knitted until I was happy with the length. I put the strap in the middle of the bag and then sewed a wooden ring to the other side. To close it, just slip the strap through the ring. Of course, this was felted before the wooden ring was attached.

The wooden rings were a bit costly for what you get. About $1 each. But if you do not want to use wood, Walmart has some plastic rings in multi colors for 3 time as many rings for the same price as the wooden rings. They can go through the wash with no problems.

Harry Potter swap

Can you see how cute this is??? It is Dumbledore's cabinet. It even has the pensive in it!!! This was made for me by Caroline in my HP crafts group.She did such a great job. Her letter telling me about it was written on parchment and looks so real....it even was sealed with wax.And to think I almost did not get it as the owl who was making the delivery got lost.

I have been bad

New yarn and I said I would not buy more until I use up more of what I have. But I could not resist. The first pic of yarn is for a poncho. It is hand painted yarn and the funny thing is, I was with my daughter and she picked out the same colorway of yarn. The second yarn is for socks...bright isn't it?

The picture of me holding the knitted yarn is going to be a purse...felted. I learned how to knit with circular needles and this is my 3rd purse...the first 2 have been given away without a pic. Good thing I had the yarn so I did not buy new for it. I am not sure what kind of handle I will do with it yet. On my others I did an I-cord (another first for me) The purses are really neat...I just cast on about 40 to 60 stitches and knit until I get the length I want. Then I do a three needle bind off. (another new trick I have learned) This purse I did a little different, I added another color in the middle. When I am done with the second color, I will go back to the first color. And yes, I will take a picture of it.

Pugs and the space heater

Just had to post this. The space heater is not even on, but I moved it to get a dog toy from behind it and looked what happened....4 out of 5 pugs think they are getting warm. They love the heaters, and the stove.

Sewing Again

I made these 3 purses from placemats. The instructions are from Jackie, the list mom in the yahoo group Bags to Brag About. I added the designs on the front as extras. The red has a flower, the green has butterflies, and the blue has a skull. The green also has a beaded handle. This one I made for a swap. The blue with the skull is for me...I like skulls. The red will go into my gift box...a handy box I have, that whenever I make something with no person to give it to, I put it into this box. At a later time, if I need a gift in a hurry, I can look in my gift box for something.

Modular Scarf

This is my first modular scarf. I did it in Red Heart Strada because I wanted to try it out before I used my Noro Silk Garden....you know, the expensive stuff. I am so pleased with it so far. The pattern is from Iris Schreier's book Modular Knits.

Stacy and Marti...My New Angels!!!!

Looks like I have my three angels!!! Ok ladies. Email me at
pugmom5@gmail.com
I want to know you likes and dislikes ...yadda..yadda...yadda...
this will be so much fun for me. I love make stuff. and you must give me hints on things you two like. You must Pay it forward and do the same and your blogs. I hope you have as much fun as me.
Remember...email me as I need to have your addy or I can't send you any goodies!!!!

Fingerless Mitts Pattern

I have looked and looked for a fingerless mitts pattern that would be easy to do, but never found one, so I did my own.
Here it is. Hope you like it and can use it. I used Red Heart Strata and size 7 needles.

Cast on 32.
k2 p2 (repeat 10 times)
stockinette stitch (k1 row,p1 row) repeat 20 times
k2p2 (repeat 5 times)
bind off
Almost forgot to say....sew the sides leaving an inch to and inch and a half for the thumb.
I made 4 sets of fingerless mitts out of one skien, and had some left over. I work in the shipping area and need my fingers free, and did not want to use an expensive yarn. These knit up fast, wash and dry in the machine, come out looking nice as they went in. I was really happy with them.

First Angel..Margot

I need you to email me at:
pugmom5@gmail.com
telling me somethings about you. Your likes, dislikes, colors you like or hate, books you read, crafts you do, size you wear, and anything else you think I may need to help me in my "quest".

Pay it forward

I can't believe it has been over a month and I have not posted anything!!! It must be because of getting everything done at the last minute for Christmas. Every year I tell myself I will start earlier, but I end up with so many ideas and am still sewing and knitting on Christmas eve. Everyone at work sees me knitting all the time and so I could not disappoint my coworkers. I crochet fast, but knit slow, so I crocheted tops on dish towels for all my friends at work. My special friends got extras. That way, everyone got something handmade and all were happy.

"Pay It Forward Exchange I'm SO EXCITED to be a involved in the Pay It Forward Exchange! I found out about it from Sue at http://knit1-purl2.blogspot.com

Let me tell you about it, these are the instructions: "It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF! You will enjoy it just as much as we do!"

And, remember...you have 6 months to get your gifts done! Come on, you know you would love to be one of my angels. Then, one day, but you don't know when....you will get a gift that I have made especially for YOU!

Please remember, you don't have to knit or crochet to participate, anyone who can make a nice handmade gift is welcome to join :)"

(Sue, you said it so well on your blog, that I knew I could not say it any better, so I just put what you said right here!)