Friday, February 19, 2016

Chocolate Mint Day FEBRUARY 19, 2016

DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Chocolate Mint Day

There’s something special about the combination of smooth, rich, luxurious chocolate and cool, refreshing, sharp mint. Celebrate this incredible combination on Chocolate Mint Day by indulging in your favourite minty, chocolate treat!


thanks for the vintage pics, helen
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Word of the Day

scrooge 


Definition:(noun) A mean-spirited miserly person.
Synonyms:niggardskinflintchurl
Usage:The old scrooge was married to his money, and spending a penny was, to him, as traumatic as divorce.


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Idiom of the Day

a free bit of advice

 — A suggestion, opinion, or piece of advice that was unrequested or unsolicited by the recipient.


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History

Battle of Iwo Jima Begins (1945)


The island of Iwo Jima is only 8 sq mi (21 sq km) in area, but when US forces attacked the Japanese air base there during WWII, it became the site of one of the most severe campaigns of the war. More than 21,000 Japanese troops and nearly 7,000 Americans died in the clashes. A photograph of US marines raising the American flag over Iwo Jima's Mt. Suribachi has since become one of the most famous images of the war. 

André Breton (1896)


Breton was a French writer, critic, and editor. In 1919, he helped found the Dadaist review Littérature. Influenced by psychiatry and the Symbolist movement, he wrote poetry using the automatic-writing technique. In 1924, his Manifeste du surréalismeSurrealist Manifesto—provided a definition of Surrealism as "pure psychic automatism."

Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin


On February 19, 1942, Japanese bomber and fighter planes conducted a devastating air raid on the town of Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory. As a tribute to honor the dead and those who defended Darwin, an annual commemoration is held in Bicentennial Park by the Cenotaph, a monument to those slain in World War I. At 9:58 AM, the exact time the attack began, a World War II air raid siren sounds. During some observances, Australian regiments will reenact the attack: ground units fire their guns, and fighter planes perform fly-bys over the memorial site.

NASA's Green Thumb: Why Astronauts Harvested Zinnia Plants in Space


From space to soil, NASA is showing how having a green thumb can help the future of space travel. On Valentine's Day, astronaut Scott Kelly harvested plants growing aboard the International Space Station (ISS). 
READ MORE:

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1856 - The tintype camera was patented by Professor Hamilton L. Smith.

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1878 - Thomas Alva Edison patented a music player (the phonograph). 

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1881Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages. 

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1922 - Ed Wynn became the first big-name, vaudeville talent to sign on as a radio talent. 

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1949 - Bollingen Foundation and Yale University awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry ($5,000) to Ezra Pound. 

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1985 - William Schroeder became the first artificial-heart patient to leave the confines of the hospital. 

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1987 - A controversial, anti-smoking public service announcement aired for the first time on television. Yul Brynner filmed the ad shortly before dying of lung cancer. Brynner made it clear in the ad that he would have died from cigarette smoking before ad aired. 

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1997 - Miles Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

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1999 - Dennis Franz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame




DAILY SQU-EEK




If You Were Born Today, February 19

You are self-reliant, practical, and independent. Your artistic talents are many. Private time is especially important to you, as you need it to recharge and to feel fresh once again. Your moral views are on the traditional side, and you set high standards for yourself. You are emotional and at times moody, and your personal charm and charisma is great. Your greatest rewards and success come from your responsibility and hard work. Famous people born today: Smokey Robinson, Amy Tan, Copernicus, Lee Marvin, Justine Bateman.




Picture of the day
Burning of the Trade Unions Building
The burning of the Trade Unions Building—used as the headquarters of the Euromaidan movement—during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, following a failed attempt by the Ukrainian police to capture the building. After the fire, the damaged building was covered with large canvas screens on two sides with the words "Glory to Ukraine" printed on them in large letters.


Picture of a gecko in a terrarium in Warsaw

Peekaboo

Photograph by Dariusz Kucharski and Kornelia Kucharska, National Geographic 
This pet Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) that lives with Dariusz Kucharski and Kornelia Kucharska is a well-fed critter. Here, it pokes its head out from behind leaves in a colorful terrarium as its Warsaw-based owners drop live crickets into the enclosure.

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knit

knit

knit

knit
knit
Circus Scarf
Image of Circus Scarf
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Over 6,000 Free Patterns on LionBrand.com
Discover over 800 yarns and 6,000 free knit, crochet, and craft patterns on LionBrand.com. Discover the perfect pattern for you.
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thanks, patty


crochet

crochet

crochet

crochet

crochet
Golden Triangle Dishcloth
Carol Showers and Maggie Weldon

Skill: Easy
Size: About 12” triangle.
Materials: Crochet Cotton Size 10: Yellow – 100 yds (92 m) (Aunt Lydia’s Classic Size 10 Mercerized Cotton Thread – Goldenrod)
Crochet Hook: Size Steel Number 0 (3.25 mm)
DISHCLOTH:
Rnd 1: (Right Side) Starting at center, ch 5; join with sl st to first ch to form ring; ch 4 (counts as first dc and ch 1, now and throughout), [dc in ring, ch 1] 8 times; join with sl st to first dc. (9 dc and 9 ch-1 sps)
Rnd 2:
 Sl st in first sp, ch 4, (dc, ch 5, dc, ch 1, dc) in same sp, ch 1, [dc in next sp, ch 1] twice, * (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 5, [dc, ch 1] twice) in next sp, [dc in next sp, ch 1] twice; rep from * around; join as before.
Rnd 3:
 Sl st in first sp, ch 4, * (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 5, [dc, ch 1] twice) in next ch-5 sp, [dc in next sp, ch 1] 5 times; rep from * around, omitting last dc and ch-1 on final repeat; join as before.
Rnd 4:
 Sl st in first sp, ch 4, dc in next sp, ch 1, * (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 5, [dc, ch 1] twice) in next ch-5 sp, [dc in next sp, ch 1] 8 times; rep from * around, omitting last 2 (dc, ch-1) on final repeat; join as before.
Rnds 5-14:
 Sl st in first sp, ch 4, [dc in next sp, ch 1] around, working (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 5, [dc, ch 1] twice) in each ch-5 sp; join as before.
Rnd 15:
 Sl st in next sp, ch 4, (dc, ch 1, dc) in same sp, ** sc in next sp, *(dc, [ch 1, dc] twice) in next sp, sc in next sp; rep from * to corner sp, ([dc, ch 1] twice, tr, ch 3, tr, [ch 1, dc] twice) in corner sp; rep from ** around; join with sl st to first sc. Finish off and weave in ends.


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RECIPE


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CROCKPOT RECIPE


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CRAFTS
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ice pandora: DIY: customize a mug
So for my best friends birthday, one of the gifts I got her are these mugs with my own doodles on it. I always make a personal gift for someones birthday. Th...
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thanks, heide
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CHILDREN'S CORNER ...
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Candy Ink - Kids Activities Blog
We have been in an art projects kick at the Quirky House.  The latest fun is edible ink.  It is super easy to create – and has a definite “Wow” factor for the kiddo...
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PUZZLE


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QUOTE
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln



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Deadly cute! Although it’s adorable, the slow loris has toxic elbows! -------------------- The Burnt Food Museum in Arlington, Massachusetts, was closed due to fire damage. -------------------- In WWI France, a duplicate of Paris was built to fool German bombers! Submitted by Chester TumidaJewicz, Amsterdam, NY.


thanks for showing us why proofreading matters, heide


"what is your name?" in Bakairi (Brazil) - Ânguyka izedy?




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CLEVER
tips and hacks


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EYE OPENER
thanks, sally
Repairing a hand-knit sock with a knit-in-place patch 
jackie-es

Considering the time and expense of making hand-knit socks, it is well worth the effort to repair them if you eventually wear through a hole. You say you don’t know how to darn a sock? Let me help with these photos and brief explanation of steps for the method I use to to repair a sock with a knit-in-place patch.
Although I usually get years of wear from my hand-knit socks, I am especially hard on the toes of socks because I have such a difficult time keeping my toenails short enough. But eventually, the inevitable happens (the pair of socks I photographed below to show are over 10 years old) and the yarn will wear thin and develop a hole.
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I could remove the toe area totally, and re-knit it. But I am going to show you how to darn this sock with a knit-in-place patch. This method is handy to know, because it also works well for repairing socks with wear areas in other places like the ball of the foot and heel.
Note: In the photos below, the socks from the pair I am repairing are slightly different (this is one of those self-patterning yarns that was popular in the early 90′s). I wanted to get the best photo for each major step in the process, and so sometimes the photo was of one of the socks, and sometimes the other.

Making a knit-in-place patch

1. Place a darning egg in the sock.
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Don’t have a fancy sock darning egg? An old-fashioned incandescent light bulb works, too. (The light bulb doesn’t even have to work any longer, so think of this as another way of using something that you might otherwise throw away, lol.)
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2. Onto a short double-point knitting needle in same size as used to knit the sock, pick up the loops of stitches in an undamaged row below the hole.
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Remove the darning egg temporarily.
3. Using yarn in a similar weight as the sock, knit across the row of stitches on the needle, then purl back across the row. If you happen to have some of the original yarn leftover from making the sock, all the better. But if you are like me, you won’t be able to find it after 10 years or so, lol. A yarn in a coordinating color, or even a bright contrasting color, is fine to use. The patch is likely not going to be seen when worn anyway, and if it is, a bright-colored patch could be quite fun. The important thing is that you want the yarn used for the repair patch to be a comparable weight (and of course sturdy enough so that it holds up to wear for another 10 years or so again <g>).
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4. Now you want to continue to knit back and forth to make a square or rectangular patch to cover the hole. At the same time, attach the patch to the original sock at the beginning and end of each knit row as follows:
k2tog the first stitch of the row with a stitch loop of the original sock 2 rows above, k until one st remains in row, ssk the last stitch of the row with a stitch loop of the original sock 2 rows above.
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Tip: If you have difficulty picking up the stitch loop of the original sock to incorporate into the k2tog/ssk attachment at either end, you can use a crochet hook to assist pulling the loop onto the knitting needle.
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5. Continue knitting back and forth on the patch until it covers and hole entirely and you have completed a purl row. Cut yarn, leaving a long enough tail to graft the stitches of the patch to the original sock.
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6. Insert darning egg into the sock again. This will give a good foundation for grafting the stitches and assure that you don’t catch any of the underside of the sock when sewing.
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7. Thread a tapestry needle with the yarn tail and begin grafting the undamaged row of stitches above the hole to the live stitches on the knitting needle.
IMG_1281Continue grafting until all live stitches have been removed from the knitting needle and are now attached to the sock.
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8. Remove darning egg. Bring yarn ends to inside of sock. Turn sock inside out. Insert darning egg into the sock again temporarily, and weave in yarn ends invisibly. (I always like to insert a darning egg for weaving in ends on toes of socks, so I don’t mistakenly catch the underside layer of the sock! — you probably don’t need to ask me why, lol)

The repaired sock with the completed patch

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I’ve already been wearing these socks for 4 months and they are holding up great. It makes me feel good about giving new life to an old friend (my socks, that is).







2 comments:

  1. Love the knit in place patch:) Now I must chase down that pieman!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We moved into this house in the fall of 2011. It was built in 1960. The main bathroom still had the same salmon pink plastic tile featured in the picture. In the spring of 2013, it was removed. That feature was almost a sale breaker when my bro sent pictures of the house and omitted the kitchen with sliding glass doors to the covered patio and huge deck beyond that is surrounded by rhododendrons, a pink flowering cherry tree, and pink dogwood. The sewing room and the promise of spring that I view from the kitchen, is one motivation for staying in this gray, damp city when I long for snow, dry air, and hot sunny summers.

    ReplyDelete