November 2006 Archives

It is flu and cold season. The Why Don't We Do It In Our Sleeves? link was emailed to all college employees by the college's Student Health Center. I've been doing this for quite some time, thinking that sneezing and coughing into my hands wasn't such a great idea.

I remember watching a television show about this house (or one remarkably similar)! Here's an online tour of the house with photos and descriptions of many cat-related modifications made to the house for their cats' enjoyment!

The Cats' House Online Home Tour (click the left- or right-pointing cat images to go to previous or next page).

I am conservative in my clothing, my personality, my (current) home appearance. So is hubby. However, bold color appeals to me and I enjoy my cats immensely... Having holes in walls and planking from room to room also appeals to me! Not to Bill, though.

Oh, my! A cat tree (also called cat house) not covered in thick carpet! with curvy lines! made with beautiful wood! Very stylish.

The Refined Feline, stylish furniture both you and your cat will enjoy.

[Photos are from the newsletter web page.]
Free crochet patterns for triangle-shaped grannies (granny squares with 3 sides) from Carol Alexander's November 15, 2006 Talking Crochet newsletter:

• Small Triangle Granny (One-Quarter Granny Square)
• SCROLL DOWN the page for the pattern: Large Triangle Granny (One-Half Granny Square)

Ah, yes, once I start... I just bought these at Overstock:

• 280 Crochet Shell Patterns (new book just published!)
• The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs (new book not yet published!)

Free Spirit has lovely fabric and a nice gallery of quilt (free) patterns.

I couldn't stop myself...2 were 59¢, 4 were 99¢. I just bought these from Annie's Attic:

Crochet items:

• 63 Cable Stitches to Crochet
• 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns
• A Dozen and One Tunisian Dishcloths
• Crochenit: Cable Hook Easy Afghans
• Fun With Free-Form Crochet
• Learn to Crochet Easy Magic Squares
• Tunisian Baby Afghans
• Easy Tunisian Cable Crochet Hooks set (I already have this set, but for 99¢ I got another set of these 22-inch cable hooks in sizes M, N and P; full price is $16.99)

Quilting items:

• 24 Lovable Animal Quilt Blocks
• Quilt A Colorful Christmas

We finally did it! We replaced the heater in our house last Tuesday night! The original heater was installed when the house was built in the mid-1940s. Yes, 60 years ago.

The house does (technically, I suppose) have central heating, but vents are only in the livingroom, kitchen, hall, and bathroom (one vent each). None of the 3 bedrooms have a vent.

In late winter last year (i.e., early this year), the heater began making louder-than-usual noises. Like it was going to crap out at any minute. So, we decided we would look into the cost to replace it during the summer...and then, of course, didn't do it.

Skip to October... Here we are at the very beginning of winter without a heater we trusted. Bill talked with his cousin Jim and his friend Doug who had used the same heating contractor to replace their heaters in the past few years. They were pleased with the workmanship and price and had experience no problems. So, Bill contacted Bob and we got an estimate, which we accepted, and now we have a brand new reliable heater - complete with a programmable thermostat!

The installation included installing 2 vents for the heater in our master bedroom. When we added the room onto the house in late 1992, we didn't include heater vents. We were very surprised (but shouldn't have been) when we woke several times during the 1992-1993 winter to actually see our breaths upon waking! Brr. Over the past 13 winters, we've just dealt with the very chilly bedroom air. But no more! The 2 vents won't make the room "warm" (unless we make the rest of the house overly warm), but it will take the chill off and make it more comfortable.

Of course, we didn't have our act together before heater installation day to request a vent be installed in each of the other 2 bedrooms, but we have now and Bob will be back to install those soon. It'll be so nice to sit at my computer or work in the craft room without feeling like I'm getting frostbite.

Why did we wait 19 years after moving into the house and 14 years after adding on the master bedroom to replace the heater? and get vents? The answer (from my point of view) is: Thinking it would cost way more than it actually did.

A sample skeins of yarn subscription may be right for you if you're interested in fine yarns and want to see and touch samples before purchasing full-size skeins for cochet or knit or other projects using yarn.

Last year, I signed up for Elann's 52 sample skeins of yarn subscription - 1 for each week of the year. When I subscribed, I was eager to see what types of yarn were available and thought I could use the samples in a Freeform Crochet project.

The sample skeins are too small to really do anything (other than Freeform) with since there isn't enough to make a hat or scarf with. The skeins are too different to be used for a scrap blanket, although I suppose sample skeins of the same weight and material (acrylic, wool, etc.) could be combined into a smaller scrap yarn item (hat, scarf, purse, etc.).

The typical crochet project I make is a lap-size afghan using Red Heart or other inexpensive yarn. I then donate the completed lap blankets (since one household can have only so many afghans!).

Since I'm not interested in using fine (and more expensive) yarns for give-away blankets and I don't have much need for more sweaters or other wearables for myself, I won't be purchasing another subscription.

Last one: The twelfth month (of 12) of sample skeins from Elann arrived in early October.

Catching up on a few items...

Here's the eleventh month (of 12) of sample skeins from Elann arrived in early September.

Size: 38 inches x 52 inches
Colors: Scraps in Autumn colors: Taupe (medium orange), 2 different Dark Browns, Medium Avocado (dark green), Light Avocado (light green), Bronze (dark orange), Off White, Cashmere (beige) (Red Heart)
Pattern: Variety of 20 squares chosen from this book
Book: 99 Granny Squares to Crochet- Leaflet 3078 - Copyright 1998 - Leisure Arts
Hook: H
Date: start October 28; finish November 6

The latest completed lap blanket for this year's donation. I still need to decide where I'm going to donate them to - either another convalescent hospital/nursing care facility or the local shelter.

[5:50pm November 16, 2006] I decided to give this blanket to Patrice for her birthday, which is today! So, this blanket is no longer on the donation list.