Trip to Washington

A few weeks ago I joined my husband in Washington DC. He was there for work and when finished he took a little vacation time. I still can't believe we lived 4 hours from Washington DC for 8 years (?) and never went.

I had the first day to myself so I walked from our hotel in the DuPont Circle area to the White House. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold. Rain was expected so I took an umbrella.

Loved, loved all the cute shops and boutiques. It was early so I planned to stop on my way back.

I came up to Lafayette Square and stopped to take pictures before approaching the White House. It is so pretty, smaller than I thought. I headed for G Street to find the Macy's Store. Every city, I have to look. For some reason I found nothing to buy, can you even imagine? I was also looking  for a fabric store my sister had told me about but when I came out of Macy's it was starting to sprinkle so I headed back to the hotel.

I stopped at a cupcake store and the cutest boutique, lou lou,  at 1601 Connecticut Ave. It was handbags and accessories. I found the most wonderful rhinestone peace sign. It was a find.

The next day it was suppose to rain so we decided to spend the day indoors doing the museums. We started with the Smithsonian -Natural History and on to American History. What fun. Lots of walking and Julia Child's kitchen, what is not to love. After lunch the rain had tapered off so we headed back toward the hotel and Madame Tussuad. I had never been and thought it would be a hoot. It was.

Walking down 12th street toward Tussuads, we passed the Old Post Office. Curious we saw a sign that said there was a tower. 12th floor, intrigued, let's try it. OMG what a trip. These photos are what you see from up there. It was amazing.

Down in the lobby of the building there was this little shop that took photos of us shaking hands with Obama. They looked so real. What fun. On to Tussauds.  Lots of walking this day.

The wax figures gave me the creeps, took me a while to warm up to them, I guess I expected them to speak or something.  Johnny Depp looked so real and of course George Clooney was my favorite.

We did all the tourist stuff for a couple of days. We ate in outside Cafe's and walked for miles. We only had one day of real rain. I can now cross DC off my list for now.

Knit and Crochet Pattern Books

I was browsing through Amazon today, looking for the latest and greatest crochet pattern book. I really don't need another one, but I am a true addict who has to have the latest. I might miss something in the crochet world. My pet peeve: why when you type in crochet do you get 3 books crochet 12 for knitting, then on top of that the books that have both crochet and knit has 2 crochet patterns and again, 12 knit patterns. I am so happy that there are women in this world that can do both, I applaud you, but I am not one of the fortunate ones. I really hate to buy a book that has both. Pick one, do one, don't mix it up. Thanks for letting me vent.

Hank of Yarn, Ms

Took trip out of state on Friday-only 40 minutes from my house, to Hank of Yarn. Kathy had invited me to come down and talk about a class on my ornaments. What a blast! These ladies are really a great group. The store was a buzz with activity and everyone was happy to be in their element. I do enjoy the fact that it is a crochet friendly shop...they speak crochet and knitting, not just knitting. The store was bursting with beautiful yarn, every color every size.

I loved talking about crochet and especially my ornaments. They are going to teach some classes so check with them to see when that might be. They are located at 7075 Malco Blvd, Southaven, MS, www.hankofyarn.com.

From left, Jenni, Kathy, Hank and Cheryl

Back in the blog saddle

Since my last post I have been laid off from my wonderful job at International Paper. It wasn't a surprise, we knew it was coming and they did right by us all. This has freed me up to finish my book while I look for another job. I have even started another book on crochet earrings. I will post some pictures soon.

I have a busy day with a birthday lunch with my BFF's (Happy Birthday Vicky) and then down to a yarn shop in Southaven , MS. They have invited me to stop by and help set up a class to teach how to make my ornaments, how cool. I'll take some photos and post them when I get home.

Planning what to do this year?

I have so many plans in my head that it just might explode.

When I am not in the "Crochet Designer" mode, I have a job outside the home, I am a Sustain Test Planner for International Paper. I love this job to it's very core. It allows me to do what I love best, which is plan and it allows me to be creative. I work with a manager who know how to work with my creativity and let's me run wild. He knows I will get the job done right. He is so open to my ideas and believes in me. What a knock out combo.

Back to the planning. I plan everything, my day, my week, my month and my year. My work at my job is a given, I plan every morning. My life is a bit more complicated because there are so many variables. My family and my business. I want to do it all so I plan in small stages to make sure I can account for all the variables. I don't like to be too constricted to one single plan and not let in any spontaneity. This seems to work for me.

This week I will be planning for the year. I have some great creative ideas for my crochet I will share soon.

So many ornaments, so little time!

My sister Mary and I went shopping in Collierville yesterday. Our target was Charming Charlie's, a really must go to shop for everything that a woman wants in accessories. You name it, they have it....bling city is what I call it and at really affordable prices. (Commerical over) We had driven in kinda behind and to the side of the store and we were focused on that only.

An hour later when we came out, right before me was this display. Angels sang and clouds parted for the sun to shine down on these ornaments.  How could I have missed them? My second thought was how cool would this be to cover them with my patterns? Silly I know, but wow. I came up with all kinds of visions of us coming in the middle of the night to paint my patterns on them. I also wondered where do they store something this huge when not in use? Inquiring minds want to know.  I want to be there next year when they bring them in. Just so cool. Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season.

Book 3 Ornaments

Here are 2 of the ornaments from Book 3 coming out soon.

I had truly hoped to get these out before Christmas, but it doesn't look like that will happen. This book has been a long time coming, but if anyone knows me it must be right before I send it forth into the world. Ha.

I can say this, most of the ornaments in this book require more crochet knowledge, not that the stitches are difficult, but a little more counting than I am use to to, just not as simple as the first 2 books.

I really should dedicate this book to Sandra, you know who you are, who has written me every year asking when my next book will be ready.