Old Games-Memories

When the husband and I take our afternoon walks we will often come across coins, broken jewelry, lost keys and more. But what I like to find is marbles. It's rare but I have found a few. When I pick a marble up, I will always say "Someone is loosing their marbles".  I have no clue why I find them because I'm pretty sure they are not needed in any of the video game kids play now days.


I still have a bag of old marbles. Some are mine and some are my husbands from when we were kids.

I remember playing marbles when I was younger. It's started by drawing a ring in the dirt with your finger or stick. Each player would throw in a few of their own marbles into the center of the ring. Each player also had a "Shooter" marble which was larger than the marbles in the center. We always had our lucky shooter. Each player took turns thumping there shooter into the ring and try to knock out the other player's marbles. They also got to keep the marbles they knocked out. This led to going home with either more marbles than you had or less. It was sort of a gamble. But it was fun.

As I was cleaning out some old games from the TV hutch the other day, I came across some old Jack Rocks. These were not the large plastic ones you see in the stores today. These are the tiny metal ones that would scar your foot for life if you ever stepped on one barefooted.


I used to play with these things all the time. I remember the back side of my pinkie finger would be raw and even bleed at times from sweeping my hand across the pavement. You would start with collecting one, then two and so forth until you were able to grab all ten jacks in on sweep before the ball bounced. You do not see that being played by kids anymore either.

Another game I came across while cleaning..... wait.....let me back up...It really has not been that long since I have cleaned. I was just going through some old small games I had stashed away.
I found a box of Old Maid cards and a can of "Pick up Sticks". These were all simple and fun games we enjoyed as a kid. I think I'll hang on to them for the next generation.

Do you remember old games you used to play? Do you still have them?

Oversized Crochet Sweater

So far we have had a pretty mild Winter here in North Carolina. We had one snow fall back in December that slowed the city down for a day and that's it. Our average temperatures for January have been in the 50's. However, we have had a lot of rain. I think it has rained almost every day since August with only a few peeks of sunshine. The grounds here are saturated and cars are dirty. I’m beginning to feel like I live in a mud hole.

Though it has been rather warm around here for now, I believe Winter will finally hit us in February. Looking back, February is the month we have always had our biggest snows. I do not like being out in temperatures lower than my age. I also do not like wearing layers of clothes and I am not a fan of coats. I’d rather wear light sweaters. Speaking of sweaters, with a cold spell in mind, I’m sucking it up and decided to take a shot at making my own crochet sweater.


I limited my crocheting to only an hour a night since this project was for me and there was no rush. It was more enjoyable not having a deadline and just work on it a little each night while watching. Six skeins of yarn and a few nights later, I had made my very first sweater. Something I can actually wear. 



It was crocheted using a double crochet stitch in five sections with added crocheted ribbing to each; two front half panels, one back panel and two sleeves. 
Then sewn all together. There were times I thought I was creating a monster because it just seemed so big! I’m used to crocheting little things.

At first I thought it was too heavy and bulky, but after a regular cold wash in the washing machine and tumbled dry, It turned out soft and comfy. 
This sweater can be worn alone or as a pull over with a shirt underneath. I love the tunic length and the puffy sleeves. 


If there was anything I could go back and change (which actually I could but I’m too lazy) is to make the neck a little bigger so it would hang off the shoulders. This sweater will be perfect for the cold weather that could possibly arrive next month. 

There is no printed pattern for this sweater. I actually found a video tutorial online and wrote the instructions down. If you would like to make this sweater, you can find the tutorial video HERE

Yarn- Acrylic
Color- Silver Mist
Brand- I love this Yarn
Mug- Gift from Nutrisystem
Nail Color- Strawberry Latte (gel)