A Big Thank You for my surprise

Thank you to my daughter who surprised me with this background and the banner.  I thought  the lemonade stand style was cute!  She does enjoy designing graphics on the computer, and has even done a couple of animated cartoons, fairly simple, but I was impressed.  Maybe some day she'll let me share one here...hint, hint!

Understatement of the year?

I've posted before about the problems we were having with Next Door, so I won't say much except that there hasn't been much to laugh about going on there.  Well, maybe when the port-a-potty was tipped over, but it might have been funnier if someone had been in it...
Until this morning.  What's this on Mt. Kingsville?

Let's take a closer look:

Happy for the heads-up, cause that one may have taken me by surprise.

Thank goodness for that snow fencing btw, obviously not there to keep people out, but to hold back that dirt in the event of a heavy rainfall.

An ooops on my site, Bethany Ballerina free pattern

I really have no idea how long my Bethany Ballerina page was sporting a picture only; it could have been when my site was upgraded (a few years?) or it could have been during an attempt to edit my pages which lately has meant pictures have been royally messed up on pages I wasn't even editing.
One morning I woke to TWO emails wondering where the pattern was?  A big thank you to them, and I am so glad I was able to find it (a few computers later--the pattern was written in 2003), since the pattern seemed to have been lost in the computer switches.  And another thank you, to the Wayback Machine where I found an old version of the page with my pattern intact.  Whew!

Now, with my computers running Windows 7, and Yahoo's Sitebuilder not compatible with Windows 7 (running it by choosing compatibility works ONCE then I have to uninstall, reinstall...and each time pictures mess up) I thought I would try their Site Solutions.  Aaargh.  I already have a blog, thank you, and my 'new' pages with site solutions look more like a blog than an actual website.  Plus, there's not as much freedom in creating my site.  And I can't figure out how NOT to have every page linked to from the main page:  with app. 100 free patterns, uh...nope.
So, rather than put Bethany back up on my site (please, Yahoo, will you FIX sitebuilder so it is compatible with Windows 7!!!) I'll post it here for now.

All the same copyright applies:  no sharing the pattern via email, posting on another website (LINKS are okay though!!), no selling printed or electronic versions of this pattern.  Feel free to make some dolls up and sell at craft shows, though, and if you make some money, I'll be thrilled for you!

Bethany Ballerina
Sally Ives/2003

Bethany is app. 9" tall Materials: worsted weight yarn in 3 colours: A=skin colour, B=Dress/shoes, C=hair two small (4mm) beads, buttons, or embroider floss to embroider your own eyes polyester stuffing crochet hook size F (3.75mm) Notes: Always join at end of rounds.  Ch1 does NOT count as first sc, always sc in same st as starting ch1 of round.  Sc dec: pull up loop in next two stitches, yo, pull through 3 loops. Blp=back loop To start: With A:  ch2, 6sc in 2nd ch from hook.  Rnd 2: In blps, ch1, 2 sc in each st around.  (12) Rnd 3&4: Ch1, sc in blps of 3, both loops of 6 and blps of last 3 sts. Rnd 5&6: Ch1, sc around. Rnd 7: ch1, (dec, sc in next) around.  (8) Stuff head firmly. Rnd 8: Ch1, 2sc in each st around.  (16) Rnd 9: Ch1, sc in each st around.  FO A. Rnd 10: In back loops, join B in any st at back.  Ch1, sc in each blp around. Rnd 11-15: ch1, sc around.  At end of 15, join in blp. Rnd 16: in blps this round, ch1, sc around. Stuff. Rnd 17&18: Ch1, dec around.  At end of 18, join, FO, leaving 6" tail.  Weave tail in and out of stitches, pull tightly and fasten securely. Arms: With B, ch10.  Sc in 2nd ch from hook and across.  Turn.  (9) Rows2-4: ch1, sc across, turn.  At end of row 4, FO, leaving about 12" tail. With right side facing, join A in end of last stitch worked.  Ch1, 5 sc evenly across end.  Turn. Rows 2&3: ch1, sc across, turn. At end of 3, FO, leaving about 6" tail. To finish: Cut 4" piece of pipecleaner, fold over ends slightly to fit inside length of arm. Place pipe cleaner on wrong side of arm.  Fold arm over, matching colours, sew long edges of arm together.  Gather around hand end of arm using tail of col A, pull tightly, fasten securely. Repeat for other arm. Attach to sides of body, keeping free loops of first rounds on head centred at back.  Sew between rounds 12&13. Legs: (make 2) With A, ch18.  Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across.  Turn.  (17) Rows 2-4: Ch1, sc across.  Turn, FO at end of row 4, leaving about 18" for sewing. Join B with right side facing, in end of last stitch worked.  Ch1, 5 sc evenly across end.  (5) Rows 2-4: Ch1, sc across, turn.  FO, leaving small tail. Matching colours, whipstitch long edges together, following finishing directions for arms, but using ½ of a pipe leaner for each leg. Sew legs securely to body bottom. Skirt: With head facing, join B with sl st at back in free loops of rnd 15.  Ch1, 2 sc in each st around.  (32) Rnd 2: ch3, dc in next st and in each st around. Rnd 3: ch3, 2dc in same st.  3dc in each st around.  FO. Neck trim: with head facing you, join B with sl st at back in free loops of rnd 9.  Ch1, sc in same st.  (Ch1, sc in next st) around, ending with ch1, join to top of sc.  FO. Sew two beads, or embroider two eyes on face according to picture, or where you desire. For Hair, cut several 8" lengths of C.  Holding two strands together, and starting at bottom of free loop rounds, insert hook from bottom to top, fold strands centred around hook, pull through about ½", yo with tails and pull through loop. Repeat in each free loop on head.  For additional hair on top to avoid a bald spot, I did two fringes worked around posts of stitches of first round.  Trim hair as desired.

Website work

In the spring, I had contacted Yahoo about being unable to use their sitebuilder to work on my site with them, and found out their sitebuilder is not compatible with Windows 7 (still, btw); I was given directions as to how to work around this.  Sadly, installing it using 'compatibility' worked ONCE.  After I closed the program, in order to use it again, I had to uninstall, re-install using the compatibility whatever...and pictures messed up on pages I wasn't even EDITING.  Which is why if you visit my site some of the pictures look like this:

Click HERE to see my new (even if temporary) front page.

I finally decided to try their site solutions, which in my opinion looks nothing like a webSITE and more like a BLOG.  Although it is fairly easy to use (would like to be able to put two paypal buttons on one item though!), the actual viewing area is about half the width of the screen, so each description is long as opposed to wide, and there is more scrolling involved to see everything on the page.  *sigh*  I think I am still hoping for the day someone at Yahoo makes their sitebuilder compatible with Windows 7 without the seemingly useless 'fix'.  I miss being able to have more control over the appearance, as in my own backgrounds...this *may* be available with site solutions, I just may not have found out how yet. 

Until then, though, I guess it's better to be able to edit items error-free and have a 'site' that looks like so many others.  BTW, if anyone knows how to customize the design using Yahoo's site solutions, I'd love to hear how--as long as you can tell me in 'Sitebuilder for Dummies' terms.