What is it about Twitter and Facebook that pulls me in? 

I find myself spending valuable time reading each and every post, playing wacky games, and finding more friends to add to my collection…

…when I should be doing so many other things like: completing way over due loom knitting projects that have been just hanging out on my looms, forlorn and lonely; writing up patterns for those same projects; completing any number of tasks that need to be accomplished to get the purchase of a house in order; PACKING for that said move to a new house; organizing all my stuff for a garage/online moving sale so there’s less stuff to pack for that move, lol!

You name it, I need to do it!  But here I sit, finding out all the juicy details of what everyone’s doing at any given moment.  Why is this?!

I’ve thought about this addictive draw to these online social networks and have come to this conclusion…we need connections.  Many of us have this huge online life that is completely separate from our daily lives and reading about our friends doing everyday tasks, or what they’re thinking about right now brings a more personal nature to that online life.  It makes us feel like we’re right next door and can drop in for a cup of joe and great conversation at any moment,  or hollar over the hedge to see what they’ve been up to, or share a funny moment, or much needed encouragement. 

In short, it makes the huge idea of the world wide web seem not so big and overwhelming…it connects people and helps them to belong.  There are others out there that share a bond that brings them closer together…whenever a moment is spent sharing tidbits on Twitter, or posting a funny whatnot on Facebook.  So I guess in that sense, I’m not really wasting time.  I’m building relationships that don’t have to be remade after a move, because they will travel with me where ever we decide to roam.  That’s pretty valuable in my book!   

So happy Tweeting and see ya’ at my Wall!  (at least when I can steal some moments away from my real-life to get back to you all, lol.)

Bethany~

Hey!  Looky what I found! 

Pre-Order Yours Today!

Here’s a fun trivia quiz all about the holiday we’re celebrating today: Independence Day!  

I’m hoping you’re all having an absolutely fantabulous (AND SAFE!) time with family and friends…we’re off to a BBQ later today at my sister’s house- should be fun!

Bethany~

A little bit of fun on my Hubby’s Birthday…

Happy Wednesday!

Bethany~

CAUTION! Reading the following may provide shivers down your spine and involuntary shuddering…Read at your own risk!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m not a fan of spiders.  You’ll also know that for the past 2 years  (going now on the 3rd spider season) I’ve been having trouble with our local spider population…namely those big ugly ones that look for all the world like Hobo Spiders.  Which are poisonous…necrotizing poisonous. 

The first place we were living was literally infested with them…we had at least 40 in the house when we finally stopped counting.  We moved to another house, and sadly, have not moved far enough away, as we still have them…though, luckily not as many.  We tend to find them in our bathroom, or creeping across the first level floor…yuck

In my documentation of them here, I’ve found that many of you have the same kind of fears about the spiders you find in your own homes…are they Hobos?…are they dangerous?  Searchers have been repeatedly brought here to my (loom knitting, lol!) website after doing a google search on spiders.  I’d like to let you know that I can finally help you out! 

After searching the web frantically trying to find some kind of information that would relieve my anxiety, I actually really only succeeded in finding a lot of mis-information.  It is really very hard to positively identify a true Hobo without a microscope and an entomologist…which only served to make me all the more nervous.

But, finally I found something that has given me the tools to positively identify what is NOT a Hobo…thus relieving me greatly.  I hope to now put the tools in your own hands, so that you can do the same!

Here is a PDF file detailing how the arachnid layman can tell the difference between what is and is NOT a Hobo.

Now a little Practical Application:

Here is a pic of the most recent guy I found in my bathroom.  See how big he is from this pic taken while standing on the floor, aiming up at the corner of the ceiling.  *shudder*

Here this bugger is up close…Big, huh?  Scary, isn’t it?  But let’s look closer… see the racing stripes on his  first larger  section?  This means he is NOT a Hobo!  Whew!

After I carefully wiggled this guy into a water bottle, (the only thing I had directly available at the time, please excuse the little water droplets.) we can now view his underbelly.  See the spots on his midsection underside?  NOT a Hobo!  Oh…I’m feeling so much better now.  :}

Here’s another pic just for good measure… You can see the elongated spinneret (I think?) coming from the hind end… these more match the pic of the Giant House Spider, of which apparently there are plenty in Washington State, and are a very close ringer for the Hobo.

I’m feeling so much better about this whole thing that due to the fact that my model did such a fine job of posing for me, he was happily deposited in the WAY back corner of my back yard bushes to find another place to scuttle along.

**Please Note: Obviously, I am a complete novice and am going by my understanding of the information provided in this PDF file.  If you are at all in doubt about what kind of spider you have, please take a specimen to your health department to have it properly identified!!!

Okay… School’s out for the day!  You’ve been very good students and deserve a nice trip to the candy store or better yet, your local swimming hole.

Have a great day!

Bethany~

Work Cited:
Vetter, R. and A. Antonelli. 2002. How to identify (and misidentify) a hobo spider. Washington State University Cooperative Extension Pest Leaflet Series #116.

For more info see:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7488.html

Yes, I actually have some yarnie goodness to show you today!

First of all, I’d like to share with you my newest pair of Chunky Slipper Socks …they’ve been pretty much glued to my feet ever since I finished them, lol.  Their coziness is just too much to resist!

Next on the list of goodies is this sweet little tiny sock I made as soon as I opened my box which contained my new Sock Blockers from dalooms… which I was so excited to hear that they are now selling these babies!    I made the sock on their little tiny loom to fit the cute little sock blocker key chain I got with purchase…sweet!

The final little item is a pic of 2 kitchen gifts I added to my mom and dad’s 50 wedding anniversary gift.  The round cloth is Isela Phelps’ Pinwheel Dishcloth pattern, of which my dd kindly added the cute little crocheted frill to the outside edges for me…thanks, kiddo!    The second little item is a sweet and simple project by Quinna, from our Christmas at the Clique Giveaway last holiday season…a square kitchen scrubby!  Super fast to knit and really nice to use…thanks Quinna!

Well…I’ve actually got a couple more items completed, but I’m waiting to share those with you until my…yep, it’s that time of year again!  My 2nd Blogiversary Party!!!!!    I’m super excited and have been making plans, plans, and more plans.  I just hope I can hold it in some manner of convenience as we should be moving sometime this summer, I’m hoping in July…which is the month for my Blogiversary.  We could actually hold the party in the first part of August, since the official date is July 30th.  We’ll see…I’ll keep you all posted for the exciting news.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Bethany~

Hiya!  I’ve been under the weather since Monday…well, actually more like 6 feet under  with a terrible onslaught of summer flu/cold and have been unable to get to the blog since then.  But let me tell you that it’s not for lack of things to say!

We held my parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary party on Saturday and it went beautifully!  How many couples do you know that have celebrated their 50th anniversary?  It’s an amazing milestone to be proud of and  hollered from the rooftops.   My siblings and I have been planning this since we were preparing for my nephew’s wedding last July.  We’ve been meeting covertly to discuss all the planning and to divy out all the assignments.  There are five of us to divide it all between, but even so, it turned out to be a very big to-do list!  My end of the deal was to create a website for them, and to design and purchase all the supplies for the invites, and all the floral arrangements for decoration.  I also got the task of scanning all of my family’s old photo albums to be used in a video slide show for the event.  This alone was a beast of a chore and took my dd and me 12 hours straight on the last day of the push before I absolutely had to hand over the scanned pics to my brother to put into slide show format…whew!  Everything else on my list was a breeze once that was completed, lol!

On the day before the event, we got together at my 2nd eldest sister’s house (who was really the director for the entire affair and all meetings took place at her home) to prep the food and decor.  I made 12 floral arrangements, 8 gallons of iced tea, and helped skewer countless chicken ka-bobs for the dinner…did I tell you that playing with raw meat gets me queasy, lol?…but let me tell you…they were absolutely delicious!

My eldest daughter spent the prep day in repairing little tears in my mother’s wedding gown…from age and kids trying on throughout the years, you know how that is…she made countless tiny little stitches to bring it back to it’s original glory and we steamed it to be placed on display at the party.  Everyone enjoyed looking at it, and it was made a hundred times more special to know that my grandmother, my mom’s mom, made the dress herself!    What a lot of love went into that gown throughout a span of 50 years…

My eldest sister’s family made this so cool actual size blow up from one of my parents’ wedding photos, and we had this on display near the dress.  What a ton of fun we had with it!   She also put together a fun photo board that had pics grouped by decade…some of them a real riot, lol!

My niece and nephew, believe it or not…made this absolutely gorgeous cake for the celebration!  Isn’t it wonderful???  We have a very creative group of relatives, if I do say so myself!

In the end, I think my mom and dad were very much surprised at everything we had put into the celebration (as we had kept everything top secret…they only knew what time we were going to be picking them up, lol!) and will remember the day with great fondness.  It’s not every day you get to celebrate 50 years of commitment to someone!

Then.,..Father’s Day went by in a rush, and I ended up really sick on Monday, and I’m so ashamed to say that with all the hub-bub of the previous events and then getting sick, both my hubby and I completely forgot that our 19th wedding anniversary was Monday as well!    I think that’s the first time in 19 years we have actually forgot.  Since I’ve been sick all week, we decided we’ll celebrate on this coming weekend to make up for forgetting.    I’d better get lots of rest, because I don’t want to miss out…again!

Hope you’re having a happy week…

Bethany~

I think that my girlies have the best daddy in the world…he’s so ready to help them understand everything and anything they’re curious about, he’s always there to lead them into deeper understanding and therefore to protection against the things in life that we, as a couple, had to learn the hard way.  My eldest daughter said not too long ago that she thinks she’ll be doing okay in life, because we’ve told her so many stories of the wacky things we did when growing up and the consequences thereof, that she knows what to avoid before the situation even comes to her door.  Of course, I responded that I’m sure she’ll have her own mistakes to make, but at least they most likely won’t be the same ones we had to struggle through, lol.

My hubby is also such a zany, wacky guy that we never have lack of things to laugh about.    One of my younger daughter’s friends was here for a sleep over not too long ago, and we were bantering back and forth at the dinner table as we usually do, when suddenly she laughed out loud and said that being at our house was like being in a sitcom TV show, lol!  We all thought that was hilarious and thought it might be a lot of fun to have the “Dailey Life Reality Show”… I know for myself there’s been plenty of times I wish I had a video camera literally glued to my hand to catch my hubby’s extraordinary gift of wit. This is a part of his nature that just spills out freely to all those around that he feels comfortable with.    

In short, because I really could go on and on, he’s just the best dad ever, and I’m so thankful that he’s the father of my girlies.  We love you, Evan!

In honor of all daddies out there, I thought I’d link to a special video put together by my favorite musical artist of all time: Steven Curtis Chapman… with his lovely song written just for daddies and daughters:

Have a wonderful Fathers’ Day!

Bethany~

I’d love to share with you some new Clique Pics I received from my friend Marilyn, a sweet lady who has regularly attended our local loomers knit night for the past couple of years (Wow! Has it really been that long already??).   A BIG thanks goes to her for sending them along to me and giving me the go-ahead for doing a little “show-n-tell” for her. 

First up is our most recently published Peggin’ Pages Pattern:

Chunky Slipper Socks!

Don’t they look so fluffy and cozy?

Next up are a couple of classics by Isela Phelps.

We spent a little time learning how to create cables on looms and these are the projects that Marilyn completed using this great technique!

And finally, we all enjoyed a series of classes on Karen Gielen’s Half Fingered Gloves, complete with her informative project DVD!  Didn’t Marilyn’s come out great? 

One more little item that has been listed on the Clique Pics page, but I didn’t formally introduce it here is this photo provided by Brenda Hoffman featuring both sets of baby tootsie wear:

Bethany’s Booties & ‘lil Tykies!

These are definitely the Cuteness! 

Thank you ladies so much for sharing these great photos of your very nicely done looming projects!  If you have any completed items created from projects found here at the Loom Knitter’s Clique, please feel free to send them to me pronto and I’ll be tremendously tickled to post them for all to see and admire. 

Happy Looming!

Bethany~

I just had to jump online and let you all in on the great news!

I got a 4.0 in my Digital Photography Class!!!!! 

I’ve really enjoyed this class…it’s been very intriguing and extra challenging to learn so many different aspects of photography and editing.  It’s been an extremely valuable experience for me.

I’ve also really enjoyed sharing my progress with all of you!  Thanks a million for being my support system and cheering me on when I needed it…you’ve all been great sports! 

Have a Happy Wednesday…and remember: Life is just  a bowl of cherries, so live and laugh at it all!  -George Gershwin

Bethany~