The names are in.

I have 4 names in the Name the Mandrake contest. I do plan on having the pattern available March 5th.
So, please help vote for your favourite name!
Please, vote by February 29th, I will announce the winner March 1st. Wow, March already....

Thank you! Voting has now ended.

As stated in my February 7th post, I DID work on that special project.

I first looked up images of a mandrake root. For those who do not know, the mandrake is an actual plant. The root is shaped like the human form, which is why long ago, people believed it had magical powers. And yes, they actually DID believe if you pulled a mandrake out of the earth, its cries would kill you. Anyway, the pictures ranged from photos of the real root, to some anatomically correct mandrake sketches. And a few 'cutesy' ones. Cake, clay...
I spent a day or two debating. Real root, cutesy root. Cutesy root won out this time.
The result, front and back (I love the cheeks--both sets!)

He (she???) stands about 10 1/2" tall, not including the leaves growing out the top of his head. What is hard to see in the picture is his nose: it does protrude, about halfway down the cheeks. I think I may take out his eyes and re-do them, they seem a little high up for my liking.

Now, for my sad news. My favourite G hook, purchased from Ron at Fancy Kitty, broke. My fault. I was trying to pull a stitch out a little to loosen it so my hook would fit through, and the hook snapped off. I was heartbroken. Not to mention frantic. How was I to finish? My hook broke! Then, I remembered the store-bought hooks sitting and collecting dust, and managed to find a G hook to finish the arms, which by then were all that was left.
Guess this means I must go in search of another hook. I have an F hook from Ron, another G hook as well, but the G has the tiniest grain where it catches my yarn. Oh, and forgot, an H hook from Fancy Kitty that I had bought for my sister in law for Christmas...it's still sitting here! And an H hook from (I believe it was) from art-in-crafts at eBay. My latest hook was a hook made from countertop material, a Graydog hook. But no good G hooks. I tell you, these handcrafted ones have spoiled me.

And...some good news. For someone! It's been awhile since I've had a contest. So, I will have a 'Name the Mandrake' contest. Boy name, girl name...unisex name...doesn't matter. Just fill out the email form below, before February 21. I'll then pick out a few names that I like and have a vote. The top winner will receive two free patterns of his/her choice, and two runners up will receive one free pattern of their choosing. Winners will be announced March 1st, and will be emailed privately, so please make sure your email address is valid.

Hands, er...Paws Up!

My daughters were goofing around last night, and boy, did I ever enjoy seeing them work TOGETHER. The older even offered to work on the younger one's hair. It was indeed a rare site. Made a mother feel good. But I'm not foolish enough to think I can hang up my referee's whistle yet.
Delainey was taking a few pictures, and played around with the camera, setting it to sepia for a few shots. This one, taken of Allie's arm pointing a plastic toy hair dryer at our 4yo cat, Stormy. Delainey did admit that some of the pictures of Allie looked 'good', but then went on to say 'hey, she looks like me in this one'.

I'm hoping to post a special picture soon, I'm currently working on an idea that hit me last week. I don't want to jinx it, so won't say what it is until I'm done...one way or another. If it looks like the picture in my head, I'll share a pic. If it's a muddled mess, I'll just tell you what it was supposed to be!

I was going to take a picture of the visitor I had on the weekend, but I'm sure most of you know what a Tim Horton's cup looks like. Now, it didn't get here on its own, my brother did come attached. We laugh about this, try to figure out the reasoning behind it (hey, my coffee is NOT bad!): that brother NEVER shows up without a Timmies in his hand. None for us, just him. I could understand if it happened once in a while, but EVERY time he visits. Which is about once a week.

I'm currently re-reading (uh...for about the 10th time or so each) the Harry Potter series. It's so nice to curl up under a warm blanket in bed and read for a half hour or so. While I was reading the other night, I had an idea jump out of the book at me. One of those lightning bolt ideas that I like so much. I won't say what it is yet. Firstly, I don't want someone snagging my idea before I get it done, second, I don't want to jinx it.

What I can say, is my newest patterns are up in my Etsy store. I have a hard time sitting down and working on my actual website...maybe this afternoon. One pattern is still being tested, so although my regular subscribers have it, I don't want to list that one yet. If there are any revisions, it's easier to send out an updated version to only a handful of people.
One pic (this one's my favourite this month):


Now, a close second is my neckwarmer. The first one I made using Sean Sheep yarn I'd purchased at Wal-Mart, then realized it may not be available long. So, I did a second one with regular ol' worsted weight. And one strand of satin worsted weight.


I've also taken the plunge and started a second Etsy store. My old one will be strictly patterns, the new one will be for finished items only. Mostly crochet, but a few other things will show up sooner or later. That store is Smudgekitty Krafts, named for our 17yo tortoiseshell cat. The one with the attitude...the one who doesn't like animals. The one who still likes to go outside in cold weather, while our 4yo tortoiseshell is hibernating indoors for the winter, her choice!