SwirlsOnline Blog

New Blog

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:12:08 -0700

I know, I know, I never post to my blog. I am going to pretend that that is because I never liked the blog systems that I was using. So now I am onto a new attempt that I like best so far. So the new blog is now here. It is a much easier method, and I have already been posting a little to test it out. See you there! --maybe--

Back from Disney!

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:45:00 -0700

Boy am I a super fan of Disney! We just got back to town and I am already in withdrawal. Cartoons, rides, and sun, what's not to love? Plus I am a picture taking fiend. I took over 800 pictures in 10 days. Don't worry though, they will not all be posted. That would take too much energy.

Welcome to iMAC

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:48:00 -0700

I am so excited! I just got a new computer yesterday. Yes, my sister has converted me. I was a staunch PC person, and now I have my first ever MAC. It's AWESOME! I am telling you now that if I could, I would play on this thing all day. I still have to figure out how to use stuff, but that is why big sis is nearby. She, being the long-time user, will be able to answer all my annoying questions. Lovely!

Green Drops

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:20:20 -0700

Seeing as it is the holidays and all that, I am currently busy making some things for people. None of these things I can show at this time. So instead, here is an older set that I made and never posted. I do love the shiny stuff!

Holiday Survey Says!

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 09:35:00 -0700

I usually don't answer these survey things...in fact, I have only done it once in my life. However, who can ignore the call of Winter Holidays and be a grinch now? Not me!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Oooo, love both, can't choose.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
All presents must be wrapped. Even small ones like a pencil. If I have time, I wrap things separately just to give people more to open. Who doesn't love surprises?

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colored on tree is tradition. Though the cat is starting to love attacking them, uh oh.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
I stand against it as a practice.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The question isn't when do you put them up, it's when do you take them down?

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
I don't have one. I love them all.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
SNOW!!! I am indiscriminate, too many good ones to pick. But if there is snow involved, I am even happier!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Oh, I remember this exactly! Let me preface this with a "I LOVE Christmas!" and never wanted the fun of it to end, so... I was 10 years old and doing the dreaded sit on Santa's lap in the mall. Now, this was due to younger brothers needing to keep the illusion alive, but still I disliked doing it because I knew the real Santa was much too busy to be in every mall. But when the man said I should ask him a question, I asked the first one that came into my head. "How do you get around the world in one night?" Scientifically speaking, I never did figure that one out until the concept of time zones came into play.

Anyway, so Santa looks at me like I am crazy and says with serious disbelief in his voice, "How old ARE you?"

Cringing, I felt slightly stupid. Not his fault really, but I knew then that something was up. So I asked my mom, and then I got the dirt on Santa.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes, we got to open one and it was usually a new shirt or sweater for Christmas service the next day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
With as many ornaments as possible!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
I have already answered this question. Please see #7.

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes. I was lucky enough to learn as a kid. Adults bodies don't move right, too stiff and falling actually hurts.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I had many, but I remember the first one...It was some small keyboard computer thing. I learned to play my first songs on that blue plastic instrument.

14. What's your favorite thing about the holidays?
The whole package.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
I don't have one. I love several.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Oh goodness, I don't have one...I love several.

17. What tops your tree?
A star, but in a pinch, it has been a weird plastic snowman star. I am still frightened of that thing.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Depends. I generally prefer giving, but receiving is nice too because you get to see what others wanted to give you. Kind of fun. Especially little kids that give you pictures they drew and want to know that you think it is a masterpiece. And let's face it, all of them are.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
O Holy Night. And yet, I can't stand most versions of it. Go figure.

20. Candy canes yuck or yum?
Love Candy canes!

21. What's number one on your Christmas list this year?
Snow!!!

And no one asked me this question but my favorite Holiday movie is White Christmas. I have to watch it every year!

Happy Birthday, Baba!

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:34:33 -0700

A few days ago, it was my grandmother's birthday. Our name for her is Baba, and likewise various nicknames ensue from there...Bubbalicious, Bubbalooby, Bubsy, etc. So using that, I made her a birthday card all my own. And it is a true story!

Yes, if you can't quite see it, that is my grandmother stuck in the middle of a bubble bath fiasco!

Thanksgiving Story

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:07:35 -0700

Hello to all that wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and Birthday all at once. As my thank you gift, let me share with you a Tail of Two Siblings. Actually, it is a story of a family and their pet. A complex tale filled with drama, adventure, suspense, humor, and happy endings.

It was a rainy Thanksgiving day, perfect gray weather to keep a family indoors and happy to appreciate family and food. Warmth and laughter filled the air along with the enticing aromas of roasting turkey, baking casseroles, and chilling pumkin pies. The family china was already set upon the long dining room table; an invitation to enjoy the feast to come. A grandfather clock chimed the time. Amidst the holiday cheer, two beloved pets, a dog and cat, cavorted beneath the feet of their human family.

Before long, the meal was ready. The family gathered around the dining room table and raised their voices in four part harmony, as all families are wont to do, and thanked God for their gifts. Their pet dog, Tinker, ceased fleeing from the cat and snuffled around the table begging for scraps. All was festive in the family manse.

Little did they know.... their cat, Sara, was using the time to get into a little mischief of her own.

Hours had passed and no one suspected anything. Fun-filled movies were watched, dishes were loaded into the dishwater, and the Turkey Sleep was fought against by all. One family member became concerned that she had not seen the little cat for a long while. It was not Sara's habit to stray too far from her family. Concerned, she and her siblings wandered the grounds listening for the howling of the moors...the meowing of the cat, a crash of a vase...anything. Alas, nothing.

Reassurances given by the family said that Sara was sleeping somewhere hidden in a corner, but an internal twinge would not allow the siblings to rest. They continued to listen for any sign of the missing cat when suddenly one brother ran to the others to give report of the sounds of the housecat having been lost outside in the bushes!

Three of the four siblings braved bronchitis and pneumonia to search in the chilly rain for their cat. Their flashlight swept through the dense underbrush searching for any sign of Sara. They crawled on the soaked ground listening for any sound. Mysteriously, the siblings could hear the desolate meows of Sara but could not find any sign of her in the bushes. Then the sound of something falling came from above their heads.

Horrified, one sibling looked up at the roof of the house. "She's in the ceiling!" Gasps of terrror were ripped from the other siblings as they tore back into the house and flew up the stairs to the attic. Earlier, the brothers had been putting boxes in the attic and the curious cat had followed them up to explore. Unbeknownst to the brothers, she played with the boxes even as they shut her up in the cold, dank attic.

The dust in the attic swirled in the air while two of the siblings approached a dark, narrow crawlspace in the ceiling. The brother went through the small entrance first while one sister went back down the stairs to listen for the cat and pinpoint her location. Through the walls, sister and brother called to each other until they found where Sara had become trapped.

At the end of the narrow space was a hole that fell five feet below the attic. So close, and yet unable to climb up on her own, Sara saw the light of the brother's flashlight and meowed pitifully. But she could not climb the steep two-by-fours that connected the hole with the attic. The brother called to the second sister asking for help.

As the sister crawled with spider-like moves through the fiberglass, she waited for the endless fall through a bottomless pit. One wrong step and through the ceiling would she fall. She joined her brother at the entrance to the cat's trap. Less that a square foot entrance to Sara, neither sibling could reach the scared and tired cat. While they tried to get a bucket to drop down to Sara, the indomitable feline fought her way up the steep plank and meowed to get their attention.

Some gymnastics and contortions later, Sara was free! Fiberglass and dust clung to the clothes and fur of the family but the cat was rescued and all was once again well in the family manse.

Another happy Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by this family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 08:33:54 -0700

This is an old cartoon, but I haven't had time to make a new one. So I am off to get ready for Thanksgiving Dinner. Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Feet

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:25:50 -0700

Ah ha! I have finally finished a pair of socks that I started so long ago I can't even remember when that was. And I am not sure who likes them more...me or my cat. This was my first successful attempt at handspinning my own yarn, so I am doubly pleased that the socks came out nicely.

And I am afraid to mention that on the very first day that I finally got to wear my new socks, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. Oh yes, I collapsed in a graceless heap on the ground in front of several people who all cried out in surprise and shock for me. I, being the elegant creature that I am, started laughing hysterically at the irony. Indeed, I have bruised a knee and twisted an ankle in the process. Is that a bad omen for the socks?

Red Circle

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 10:35:00 -0700

I swear I have been knitting, but I just haven't taken any pictures of a bag I finished. I have to felt it before it is truly done, but I will show that in a following post. This necklace is my new favorite. However, don't let that fool you. All my most recent pieces become my favorite until I make something newer.

Happy Summer

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 12:04:11 -0700

It was so rainy and gloomy outside today that I felt like drawing a little sunshine and summer to cheer me up. What a way to greet the new season.

Sweater Vest Complete

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 21:05:08 -0700

Woo-Hoo! It's finished! Okay, okay, I am not actually fully finished. I still have to crochet a simple edge on the neckline and armholes, but the rest of my sweater vest is complete. Like I said some other post, it is a Marble yarn of some sort. But I am too lazy to find the specifics again, so that's all I remember. This is my first sweater/vest thing where I didn't follow a pattern. I wunged it.

Updates

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 18:21:00 -0700

Last weekend I went on a jewelry making binge. Yes indeed. This is one of the new pieces. It's made up of Swarovski Crystals, which are my favorite right now, some random silver beads, and a stainless steel backed watch face. Of course, the reason that I made it was that I couldn't find my own watch and wanted one for work. Wouldn't you know that the very next day I found my watch?

I also made more earrings and necklaces. Check them out at the jewelry site, SwirlsOnline.

Yarn Ball

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 23:27:00 -0700

But then again, I am O.K. too!

Daytona Beach...and knitting

orders@swirlsonline.com (Sandi) — Wed, 17 May 2006 20:04:00 -0700

I just got back from Daytona Beach this Monday. Boy, was it ever gorgeous there. No rain, hardly any clouds, and 85 degree weather. Glorious. I even went so far as to get up early to catch the sunrise.

And I went parasailing!!!

In the meantime, I am also working on these socks. The yarn was a gift to me from my sis who hand dyed it for Christmas.