Meeting Lala (by F)

F wrote a narrative earlier this year.  It's interesting to read from her perspective on her first encounter of Lala.  One thing to note is that she misspelled my friend Jiin's name...sorry, Jiin.

Meeting Lala

     "Well, are you coming, F?"  My mom asked. "Oh, sure."  I wiped my feet on the squishy mat and walked in the door. At once, a fat and adorable tabby  cat with stunning orange fur came to greet us.  "Aw, he's so cute!"  I knelt down beside him.  "What is his name?"  I asked. "His name is Lala."  Jean answered with a wink.  I watched as Lala's fur brushed against my face.  It felt as if I was his old friend coming to visit him.  It seemed to me the cat was saying, "Take me home!" 

     I was at Jean's house because my mom wanted to give Jean some tips on how to take care of babies. I was so delighted that I came.  If I did not, I would not have met Lala. 

     I waited until Jean was finished talking to my mom, and asked, "Can we keep the cat?" Cutting in, my mom answered, "No, honey, this is Jean's cat."  Aw, man, I thought she would have given me a chance to keep him.  Jean looked at my mom and gave her a tiny smile, "Actually," Jean said, "I am too busy to take care of the cat, and I`m going to send him to the shelter anyway." My eyes bulged, this was the most terrifying thing I have heard of! I hugged Lala closer to my chest. "It`s okay, I will save you ." I whispered into his ear.

As my mom and I got into the car, the cat's face kept flashing back into my mind. The name Lala kept on ringing in my head. I sank my toes back into my fuzzy socks and tried to stay cool. Rocks crackled under the wheels of the car as we pulled out of the driveway.  There was an awkward silence between my mom and I. I felt uncomfortable, so I asked, "Can we keep Lala?"  My mom laughed her "maybe laugh" and said, "I'll talk it over with your dad." Maybe she will want to help Jean, and keep the cat,  I thought to myself.  I sighed heavily, as puffs of smoke came out of my mouth.  Was I ever going to save Lala? Unexpectedly, my mom started talking into the phone, as her voice dissolved into a whisper. Not knowing what to do I cupped my hand over my ear to hear what she was saying.  She  whispered to my dad, "Well, it's F's birthday."  I screamed in my head "Yes, yes, yes!" maybe I did have a chance! 

                                                                 

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Casting On Again

Some friends have asked me how I find time to do sew, craft and knit.  This is how:

1. Resist the urge to finish a project in one chunk of time (I don't have that luxury anyway). 

2. Utilize any 10-minute break from house chores, teaching, driving, eating...etc. and sneak in some project time.

3. If I need to wait for the kids to finish their sports activities, I take along a project with me.  Yes, even if it means to wait in the car for just 5 minutes.

4. Have a project in a bag ready to take along on a car ride.  I sketch ideas, hand stitch small projects or sew in the car.

I have started knitting this poncho for a few weeks now just because I need to wait for JJ twice a week outside her swimming class.  For each lesson, I probably get to knit 2-4 rows (200 st. each).  But see how far I have gone?  I'd say by this rate, I could get this poncho at least 3/4 way done at the end of this summer.

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Tutorial: QR Code

Just headed over to QRStuff.com  and found out how easy it is to get a QR code for my blog.  Just for the fun of it, here's how:

Go to QRStuff.com Home page.  
Select Website URL as your Data Type.  
Copy and past your blog URL.  
SKIP step 3, as black might be the best color to read.  
Select download as your output type.  
Save your QR image in the desired folder.  

Edit the layout of your blog template.  

Add a picture gadget.

Select your QR image and save the new arrangement. 

You should have your QR code on your blog page, ready to be scanned by a smart phone.

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Ric Rac Rose Ring

      I made this quick ring for Jaq as a "have fun in college" gift.  The angle of the camera made the ring a lot bigger than it is.  It is actually a sweet size for a lady's hand.

  Here is how I made it:

  1.     Cut 2 pieces of 15” long ric rac. 

  2. Braid the two pieces of ric rac together (in an up and down fashion) and clip along to secure the braid. 

  3.  Then, roll the braid first into a rose bud. (note that I pinned the rose bud just for photo shooting purposes.  you don't need to pin it.)

  4.   Continue rolling and secure the braid end with a dab of hot glue.

  5.   Tie a piece of skinny elastic to fit the ring finger and sewed to the bottom of the rose. Cut a piece of felt into a circle that's big enough to cover the bottom of the rose. Cut a small cross in the middle of the felt to let the elastic slip through. Then, pull a few outer layers down to create the petals.
  6.   Hot glued the felt to the bottom of the rose.  That's it!

  7. Side view of the ring. 

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Binder Foot

Sewing narrow binding has been a pain. If one stitch does not catch the binding, I have to rip out the entire stitching and redo the whole thing again.
Then, there was the alien-looking 1/4" binder foot.  All bindings came to beautiful finishes.  So glad to have this in my tool box.

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Helpers on My Sewing Table

Helper #1:   

On my trip to the fabric store, I found a $10 self-adhesive measuring tape.  Good idea, but VERY pricey.  I happened to have a measuring tape (which used to be part of an auto rewind tape measure until my little one pulled it too hard and separated it from the rest...)  I use double sided tape to adhere the measuring tape to the edge of my sewing table.  From then on, I do not have to find my yard stick during sewing.  Technically, it's free. 

Helper #2:

I had on my project list to make a beautiful quilted thread catcher.  But, sadly, other projects always climbed to the top of the list.  At the end of the day, my thread catcher was nowhere to be found.  I needed one badly!  So, the compromise became a brown paper bag taped to the edge of the table.  Surprisingly, it has served me well!  Not only do I have a wide mouth thread catcher, it's deep enough to last and it's disposible!!  woohoo!

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Tutorial: Swimmer's Poncho Towel

One of my husband's favorite shows is Shark Tank.   On one of the episode, a lady presented her product Show No, the beach towel cover up (picture below).  

I thought, what a great idea!  The retail price for the real thing is $19.99.  Love the slit and how the towel lays flat, but not a fan of Mickey mouse (sorry, it's just me).  So, the challenge began.  I bought the 1 yard terry cloth for $5 and the bias tape for around $3 and started this project.  

 For just $8, the poncho towel turns out great!  

and 

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