Rants of the Month

Okay, two things have been bothering me lately.

First- "pleaded" is NOT A WORD. I hear it constantly (I watch a lot of true crime tv) and even saw it in the local paper this week. I was so crabby I had to throw the paper down and quit reading it.

"How did you plead?" "Oh, I pled innocent of course."

That is the word. Stop saying freaking "pleaded".

It pry is in the dictionary by now, so many people use it, but it is not proper American. Next thing you know we will be saying "Oh, I runned five miles yesterday."

To the crime reporters: Learn to speak properly. You sound like a two year old.

*****

Second- You may have seen the tv commercial about a certain credit card that has "the best" fraud protection. It runs about every twelve seconds. Well, I have that card. And I recently learned about that fraud protection.

Last Sunday I got a call at about 9am from a puter claiming to be my credit card company. They said I had a fraud alert. Since I hate computer calls, and didn't really know it was them calling, I hung up and went down to my own computer and tried to login to my account. It came up as a blank page. I tried again. Blank. Slightly freaked that someone "runned" (ha!) my card up to the limit, I trudged back up to my room, grabbed my money recording book, and called the number on the back of my credit card. The computer voice said my account was blocked because of suspected fraud. I had to enter the number. I had to enter my social. The puter voice was very serious. It said it was going to list the transactions since my last bill (Luckily only a week before or so.) and I had to listen very closely and make sure I recognized them. I sat with my pencil ready, holding my breath.

First- an online charge the day before. Yep, ordered oils from camden gray.
Second- a sewing store a few days previous. Yep, went to Joann's.
Third, fourth and fifth- walmart, all on the same day last week. (Remember my script woes? I had to charge twice at the pharmacy and then the regular checkout.)

Press one, "yes they are all my charges."
Then the puter said I must listen again to the list and make sure they are my charges. We go thru the list again.
Yes, they are mine.

Okay, the alert is lifted. Have a great day.

Huh? What triggered the alert? Walmart? That was over a week previous. Camden Gray? I have purchased from them several times before.

What if the original computer call had been ignored- as about five a day seem to be at my house. Then my card would have been declined when I went to use it. I would have been pissed, to say the least.

They could at least tell you what triggered the alert, so you can watch for it. Now I am completely paranoid that I will be at Wal with a cart full of yarn and be declined. I don't have any other general credit cards and rarely have cash. What then?

Yeah, the best fraud protection just ADDED to my worries.

Have a great day,
Anne

pendants part two

Well, they never called but I took a chance and went to pick up the pendants yesterday. They were done! (Not too sure if I am impressed with the glue they use for the bails, so if they fall off, try something else.)

Here they are:

Anne's

Amy's

Elizabeth's

Jodi's

Hope you like them!

Anne

tassels and another bag

I have had beaded tassels on the fan pulls in my bedroom for several years. The constant tugging has loosened many of the fringes, and they are looking pretty sad.

I decided to try crochet tassels instead. These are much.... fluffier. :) I am going to see how much of the yarn starts to pull out from the tugging. We shall see.....

I also finished another purse. This one uses brass bangles as the handles. You can carry it or hang it off your wrist. (It is actually royal purple. Don't know why my camera does some colors poorly.)

Have a great day,

Anne

socks and random bag

It was Tessa's socks the somehow made me take up crochet. I tried again last week, and the diagonal lace I tried made the sock WAY too stretchy and too large. Hailey tried it on and claimed to like it tho, so I made the second sock and handed them over to her.
(Note to any sock knitters- do not use this pattern!)

I will try yet again with a different lace pattern for T.

I also finished this crocheted purse yesterday. I started with a pattern from a book, but the single crochet was too slow and drove me crazy. I started doing a holey double crochet (adapted from the scarves.) and then when I decided it was big enough I added extra stitches between the double crochets so it ruffled out. I did NOT crochet the drawstring tho- I did a knit i-cord for that. I think it came out very cute, for a little girl, my target recipient.

This view is looking inside- with Hailey's socks inside. :)

Hope you have a great week,

Anne

Senja's gifts and the skating extravaganza

Since Senja finally agreed to come into the world, I can show her gifts. (She also got the headband, tho I did crochet two flowers for it also. I forgot to take a picture of those.)

She is so large, the pink socks might not fit for too long. The green/blue ones are bigger.

The blanket is actually a really soft yellow. It looks more greenish in the picture, but isn't that way in real life.

Loy's favorite gift was the gift card for Connie's to get her hair dyed tho. :)

Since I was asked, here are a few pics of the skating extravaganza. My camera doesn't do so well in low light, sorry.

Have a great day!

Anne

WalMart Pharm sucks, continued

For those who have short memories, or who haven't read all my posts, last month I went back to the Walmart Pharmacy THREE times trying to get one of my meds. First time they said they were waiting on the doctor, the second time they said it was the insurance, and the third time they said it was never actually called in. So, I had the doctor call it in AGAIN.
****
Now, the reason this script is so important is because it is for Imodium/Loperamide. I take this up to 8 times a day to stop diarrhea, and is the only reason I can leave my house. The doctor had called in a new script for the wrong amount in February, and I didn't notice for a few months cuz I had a bit of a surplus. The problem now was with the script for the right amount- that I have gotten that way, in that amount (except for a few months recently) for SIX years at this same pharmacy.
****
When I called in my refills yesterday, I specifically asked about the loperamide with the correct amount. The man, Bob, told me it was filled and waiting for me. (spoiler alert! he lied!) I asked him to be sure it was not pulled before I came in today.

Today I went to Maila's skating extravaganza, then to Wal for my meds. The lady checked me out, finding 8 total, but they were in 3 bags so it took a few minutes. I paid and started to leave, but had a feeling I better check, so I ripped all the bags open and looked at my meds. Sure enough, no loperamide. So I went down to the "consultation" window and asked the manager Keith why it wasn't in the bag. (I did mention I came 3 times last month trying to get it.)

He looked me up, hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, finally told me the insurance wouldn't cover that many and it cost sixty dollars. I asked "well, how many will they pay for?" He looked around for a while and said, no, it was the doctor's fault, he put "Imodium" and they don't carry the brand name, and I would have to get Loperamide. I said I have been taking that specifically for twenty odd years. He spent maybe five minutes doing something, then said there were actually TWO scripts for it (surprise! Thought the first one didn't exist, hey?) and he could fill one, but he didn't know if they had enough. I mentioned that I had been getting that amount monthly for six years, he said, yes, but you recently cut down. (the script for the wrong amount, remember?) I sighed, he checked, said, oh we have enough. I cheer. I say should I come back in 30 minutes? He said no, I printed the labels. Slapped them on the bottle and told me to go to the register.

I walked away slightly confused yet happy and went to look at yarn. :)


Strange how it took the manager to find the scripts?

For future reference... ask for Keith!

Happy weekend,
Anne

PS- oh, the skating thing was fun but long. Lots of skating and Maila for only a few minutes. She has really improved since last year tho!

New Crochet

I finished Maila's scarf. I actually crocheted it to about the proper length, then had her try it on. She wanted it SEVENTEEN inches longer. Something about going down to her knees. :)
The ribbon yarn I had didn't match, so when I went doctor's we stopped at Crafts. No ribbon yarn!! I had to buy actual ribbon, which I don't recommend, cuz it is spensive. I had to buy two spools, and it barely was enough. Tarja helped me pick the colors.

This is my first granny square. I am thinking of making a granny square poncho for Loy's babe, if she is ever born.... :)

Have a great day,

Anne

Quote of the Month

This is from my Page-A-Day email calender, for knitting, and oh so true for me.

Knitting folklore says that if you knit a strand of your hair into your work, you will be forever bound to the person who receives that work. In my life, this means that a lot of people are forever bound to my cat.

More crochet later, got to take some pictures.

I was welcomed this morning when I dragged myself out of bed by a baby who was desperate for a nap, and only I can put him to sleep... he tried walking to me and almost killed himself. Nice to be needed, hey?

Anne

Mom's Scarf

Mom wanted a bit wider scarf, so I did one extra row of holes on it. It has seven strands of the ribbon yarn woven thru.
One more of these to go, for Maila. It is only 4 holes wide tho, so it should go quicker. It is also hot pink, tho, so I have to purchase some other color of ribbon yarn!

Then I want to learn to do the granny squares. I am pretty sure Loy would love a granny square poncho for her babe.

And, once Loy has her baby, I will post pics of the gifts. :)

Anne

And a good time was had by all....

Well, I hope so anyways. I had fun! :)

Yesterday I went to Art As You Like It in St. Cloud with a group of friends. It was really fun, and I highly recommend it. You can paint pottery, with ornaments starting at five dollars, or make glass pendants and earrings, also starting around five dollars. (Do pay extra for the large bail tho- it is worth it to be able to change necklaces!)

We went to make pendants. As two of our group were from out of town, I volunteered to make necklaces to go with them and mail them after they are fired. It was fun to see how different personalities go about pendant making. You have a large selection of bits and pieces and rods and glass dust to choose from, plus you can decide what size you want the base to be. I will take pictures our finished pendants when I get them, and you can see several different techniques. Jodi used a metal butterfly on hers, with a colored base and clear glass over the top. Amy did the "frit", which was interesting. She outlined the bases with the super thin rods of glass that you can snap to length (stringers) and then painted liquid glue in the center and filled it with jagged clear tiny pieces of glass. To finish, she sprinkled colored glass dust over the top. I am really curious to see how it comes out! I didn't get a good look at Elizabeth's, but I think she took clear bases and arranged a few colored shards on top of them. Mine was the most complicated looking. (but, as usual, I was first finished- not cuz I am great, but I don't spend time thinking about being creative- lol, I just do something!) I started with a clear base and did a 3x3 "9 patch" of aqua and lime green. Then I put 3 lime dots on the aqua squares in a diagonal line. (I hope to put the bail on the corner so it is a diamond vs. a square.) Then I added pieces of the stringers in bright yellow, making an x on the center square. I was hoping it would look kinda plaid-ish.

I went in thinking I was going to do purple and pink... but saw the finished colors of the aqua and lime and had to do it. :)

The magic happens when they fire it, so you can't be sure what it will look like until you pick it up!

We were the only ones in the store, so we could laugh and talk and hog all the glass and had a great time. :)

Don't forget to take time out to be creative, have fun, and just hang out with friends!

Anne

Scary Dolls

I have a page-a-day cat calendar next to the puter. It keeps me on the right day! One day this past week the picture was... scary. What do you think about these dolls? [=

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!
(My mom told me my cat doesn't count... but she said I still can have a piece of cake, so I don't mind!)

Anne

Finished First Crochet Project!

A few weeks ago I purchased some books online, including the Lion Brand book "Just Scarves". It contained both knit and crochet project, which always irritates me when I purchase what I think is a KNITTING book. :) Luckily I decided to take up crochet this week, and found a cool project in it.

I found all the yarn I needed in my stash. I didn't use all Lion brand, but I did use their Incredible ribbon yarn in City Lights.

First I knitted the base in Caron Simply Soft yarn, in Limelight. It was very easy once I got the hang of the crocheting. It is all double crochet, but you skip some stitches every other row to make holes.

When you are done crocheting, you weave pieces on the ribbon yarn thru the holes. You are supposed to sew the ribbon ends to the scarf, but I hate sewing, and already had to do it today on the headband, so I just tied adjacent pieces. This made the fringe look thin, so I added additional fringe.

Mom even liked it- she said she wants one, but wider. I had adapted the pattern by making it narrower, I think this is the widest I would ever wear, but I agreed to do one more repeat so there are seven holes across in the next one.

Hope you like it!

Anne

Rant of the Day

Better be careful what you wish for, people who told me to start blogging again! HA!

Okay, so I HATE the commercial that says "sometimes it is the responsible thing to do to declare bankruptcy." Responsible to who? The people you owe money to and are screwing over?
If it is so responsible, why don't we all do it? Then the companies we hose can do it too! Then the government will have to! YAY! Course, the government is already trillions in debt, but that is another story... or rant...

So I went to walmart today. Can I just say they have the WORST pharmacy EVER???? I am in constant fights with them. Three weeks ago, my doctor called in two prescriptions for me. I went to pick them up that day. The cashier/pharm lady told me one was ready, but the other one wasn't, because they had to talk to the doctor. I said he called it in TODAY, what more was there to discuss? She said it was an insurance thing.

(Rant within rant coming!) I have SilverScript for my Part D. I hate them. They have done nothing but mess up and deny and try to tell me I don't need meds I have been on for twenty years. So, I did believe the pharm cashier.

Then I went back last week. I asked about my script. They told me it was not ready yet, they had not heard from the insurance yet. I leave again without it.

Yesterday I happened to visit the doc in question. I inquired about the script. He was puzzled and said no one contacted him about it.

I was in Wal again today. I went the pharm to check on it. The pharm cash is the one I like, who has lupus also, so we visit. I ask her about the script. She couldn't find anything on the puter, and told me to "go down to the other end and holler at them." The actual pharmacist overheard this and panicked. We laughed. I trudged down to the other end and asked the lady there about it. Hmm... Strange. She never has heard about this prescription. There is no info about it at all. It was never called in. *she claims* but she would be happy to fax the doctor and ask him to send it over again.

After only the THIRD inquiry they suddenly never heard of it? What about all the other times they claimed the insurance was fussing? Will I get it next time? Will the insurance fuss???

Stay tuned and see if these questions are ever answered.....

and stay tuned for the 3rd post of the day, coming up next!

Anne

super easy, super cute baby gift

One day my sister Laura called me and told me she had seen the coolest baby girl headbands. She said they were made from tights and had large flowers on them. I had just happened to have recently purchased a paper crafting kit of large flowers, thinking I had to have them for SOME reason, so I figured I could make some sort of headband for her. I put out a call to all friends with girls for tights, but months passed and no tights. Today I realized Laura is days (or less!) away from giving birth, so I gave in and purchased some girl's nylons from the store. (They were only two dollars, and you get two headbands!)

Here is how I made the headband. I didn't want raw edges, even under the flower, plus I wanted to have changeable flowers, so I found a piece of white velvet ribbon in the bead room.

I cut one leg off, tucked the toe in the cut end, and sewed it up, scrunching a bit as I went.

Then I cut the ribbon to fit and sewed it around the headband.

I went to the bead room and added a scratchy velcro sticky dot. (I hate sewing velcro!) Then I assembled the paper flowers and added the soft velcro dots to them.

Finished! In about five minutes!

I think Laura will love it.

Have a great weekend,

Anne

Back to the Blog

Okay, Julie is angry that I haven't posted for a while. :) I have been super busy working on a baby gift, which I can't post a picture of until it is given. The strange thing is that when I finished it Monday, I started on a sock, decided it was not going right and ripped it out. Then yesterday I could NOT start over on it! I, for some reason, decided to start crocheting! I am now happily crocheting a scarf. I have about six inches done, and it is going well I think.

Here are some socks I finished since I last posted:

Hailey's:

Maila's:


The reason it is so strange I can't knit the next pair of socks is that I was super excited about them. They are for my goddaughter, and she wants a very short cuff, so I am going to do a lace pattern down the top of the foot. I didn't like the first one I chose tho, and then got "off" the whole thing. I hope my sock mojo comes back soon, I still haven't knit myself a pair!

And, yes Doug, I know I owe you one. Is yours the green/brown or the black/white? I have both colors in a back marked Doug/Dad and I don't remember which colors goes with which person!

I should have scanned Jodi's graduation card, it was super cool. Maybe I will see if she will do it since this is her last week of student teaching!

Have a great week,

Anne