Wow, I've been neglecting my crochet blog something awful and that will have to stop. I hope to begin posting at least once every month or so, but I have no idea how I skipped 8 months!! Any-hoo, I discovered this meme over at Peek-a-Boo Street's blog and couldn't resist giving it a try, so here goes (the award goes with it which is so very nice:

1. Where is your cell phone? In my purse.

2. Your hair? Blonde.

3. Your mother? Dorothea.

4. Your father? Deceased.

5. Your favorite food? Sweets.

6. Your dream last night? Family Oriented.

7. Your favorite drink? Milkshake.

8. Your dream/goal? Write a Book.

9. What room are you in? Sunroom.

10. Your hobby? Knitting.

11. Your biggest fear? Violence.

12. Where do you want to be in six years? Right Here.

13. Where were you last night? Matt's Home.

14. Something that you're Not. Phony.

15. Favorite Muffins? Chocolate Chip

16. Top of My Wish list? Good Health.

17. Where did you grow up? Prospect Park.

18. Last thing you did. Sipped Coffee.

19. What are you wearing? Jeans, Sweatshirt, Sneaks.

20. Your Favorite TV show? Masterpiece Theatre.

21. Your pets? Bunny & Trixie.

22. Friends? Kay, Rosemary.

23. Your life? Contented.

24. Your mood? Happy.

25. Missing someone? Johnny.

26. Vehicle? Cadillac

27. Something your not wearing? My Watch.

28. Your favorite store? Williams-Sonoma.

29. Your favorite color? Purple.

30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday.

31. Last time you cried? Last Week.

32. Your best friend? Kay.

33. One place you go over and over? Perkins.

34. One person who e-mails you regularly? Matt.

35. Favorite place to eat? My Kitchen.

Baby Ripple Blanket

Here's the blankie in all it's colorful glory......I call it my Fiesta Ripple. Since I have the solid pink and the pink throughout the variegated yarn, this baby blanket will be for a baby girl who is still awaiting arrival. As always, after washing the blanket and putting it in the dryer, it's very soft and lovely so I'm sure it will keep the little one to be very snug and warm.

On another note, I'm beginning a couple of Christmas crocheted gifts which I can't really tell you about since some of the recipients read this blog, but I promise pictures asap. It feels good to be able to begin this soon, because waiting until August or September never seems to work out for me. I wind up scrambling to finish and if I make one mistake, it's a disaster because there's not enough time left to be patient and fix it. So, here's hoping this year will be better in that regard.

Baby Ripple Afghan

This ripple blankie is moving right along as I'm closing in on the last 15" or so. The colors are really lovely and very vivid in person and not at all washed out as they look in this photo for some odd reason. This afghan is a 'make ahead' gift for the next one of my sons or daughter, for that matter, who has a baby girl sometime in the future. There is a bit too much pink in this one to present it to a baby boy.....the father would probably have something to say about that, I think. :)

I've been making more granny squares as well and you know how addictive they can be. Here are a few pictures for your perusal:





I've made more but don't want to overwhelm the post with too many pictures. Next on my agenda is a hexagon blanket for a gift. I have so much yarn in so many colors that I think it would be great to give a hexagon afghan a try......only problem is the sewing together.......it may not be a pretty picture, but time will tell.

Blanket

Here is the finished picture of the assorted squares and finished blanket. I was happy with the way it turned out and it's amazing how soft it gets after each washing! I know the little one, who's due any day now will be snug and warm underneath this blanket made with Mimi's love.

Here is a fun questionnaire that I copied from My Living Room blog. It is indeed, very difficult to put in only One word......I cheated twice.

TYPE ONLY 1 WORD. IT’S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? PURSE
2. Your significant other? HUSBAND
3. Your hair? BLONDE
4. Your mother? FRIEND
5. Your father? HEAVEN
6. Your favorite thing? KNITTING
7. Your dream last night? MOVED
8. Your favorite drink? MILKSHAKE
9. Your dream/goal? THIN
10. You’re in? CONTENTMENT
11. Your fear? LOSS
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? HEALTHY
13. Where were you last night? HOME
14. What you’re not? BORED
15. Muffins? BANANA
16. One of your wish list items? YARN
17. Where you grew up? USA
18. The last thing you did? BREAKFAST
19. What are you wearing? CLOTHES
20. Your TV? DVR
21. Your pet? CATS
22. Your computer? PC
23. Your life? BLESSED
24. Missing someone? AUNTJOAN
25. Your car? OLD
26. Something you’re not wearing? MASCARA
27. Favorite Store? JIMMYBEANS
28. Your summer? HUMID
29. Your favorite color? LAVENDER
30. When is the last time you laughed? TODAY
31. Last time you cried? LOSS
32. FOUR PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME? SON, DAUGHTER, AMY, KATHY
33. FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS: DONUTS, MILKSHAKES, ICING, PIZZA
34. FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW? NOWHERE
35. FOUR PEOPLE I THINK WILL RESPOND: NO IDEA

Crochet With a Deadline

I've been crocheting my little fingers off in the past few months and here are some pictures to prove it. Above is the baby ripple blanket I'm working on using a size J hook and Red Heart Strata in 'Bambino''. The trouble is I only bought 3 skeins and now could kick myself since I haven't been able to find anymore of this yarn. If you know where I could buy some, please let me know because 3 skeins aren't going to be sufficient to complet this adorable blanket.


Next up is the baby sweater I began a week or so ago and I'm really enjoying this project. I'm using Bernat Softee Chunky and a size G hook. It's a top down sweater so there won't be any joining when finished....it'll be all ready to go other than adding button bands, a collar, and buttons. I do need to find a baby hat pattern to go with this though......any ideas would be very welcome.


Finally, I'm still working on my squares in order to sew together in the end and have a baby blanket sampler, so to speak. I'm using Bernat Softee Chunkyfor this also, and a size H hook. The patterns are ones I've picked from the Crochet Stitch Bible, and 63 Crochet Stitches booklet. I tried to make each one about 10" wide but some are about an inch short so I'll have to tweak and stretch a bit when sewing it together. I'm not sure which method I'll use when I sew it together but I'll probably just go for it and if I don't like the way it looks I'll try another method. I'm going to have to finish these by March 6th so I need to buckle down and get those crochet hooks 'a flyin'.

Squares Aplenty!

Above you'll see a few of the squares for the Lion Brand CAL (made using Red Heart) and all with an H hook, but I kind of got side tracked with that project but only for the short term.

I'm on a granny square kick and lovin' every minute of it, let me tell you! I've been wanting to hone my crochet skills for awhile now and challenge myself with a few more intricate patterns. Sometimes I'm in the midst of one and I know I'm doing something wrong, or I've missed a key part of the directions and I don't always know how to fix my mistake right off the bat. However, I'm more stubborn than I used to be so I trudge on and rip out, curse a bit, and rip out again if absolutely necessary.

I've been working on squares from a Better Homes & Gardens Crocheting & Knitting (1977) and the afghan has sampler squares of every variety and the thing is that some of the directions are have errors in them, so it's a big challenge sometimes to figure out what's what. When I can't, I go to my pals at Ravelry where every crochet & knit problem can eventually be solved by some of the fiber wizards who frequent the site. Below is a picture of several of the squares I've crocheted from the BH&G book and I gotta' tell you, it's addictive.



The top squares were crocheted using Vanna's Choice (100% acrylic) and it's the first time I've used this yarn. I really like the loftiness of it and the way it makes the patterns pop so much more than the bottom two which were done with Red Heart. I think I'll be using VC more often in the future especially for things made to throw into the washer and dryer. I can't say yet how it will hold up in the long run, but we'll see.

Lion Brand CAL Afghan

I've decided to join a Crochet Along since getting my LB newsletter and seeing the completed blanket! It's a beauty and I am getting started in earnest over the weekend. I like the idea of not only crocheting one square at a time, but also the sizes of the squares make perfect sense to me because sometimes when knitting or crocheting squares, they are too big, IMHO.

This will be so much fun as we'll also have a group at Ravelry where we can exchange ideas, check out which yarns are being used, which size crochet hooks, and general info as to how things are going for each member......to say nothing of the great help available there.

As for other crocheting content I've been too darned busy until now to get back to some of my former 'languishing' projects, but in between the CAL and my knitted linen shawl, plus a pair of Opal socks for my granddaughter's birthday, I should be just fine. I like having at least 3 projects going at a time so I don't get too fed up with working on just one thing all the time. I've tried working on ONE thing at a time till finished because I always thought it was a good idea and so many crafters do it that way, so that they actually FINISH each project before beginning another, but I just can't seem to stick to just UNO. So, as my dear mother loves to quote: "To thine own self be true" and that's what I'm doing!



The unpacking of boxes is finally coming to a close, although there are many more attic boxes, but those are seasonal things, not things I need everyday, so it's now official....we're moved in and settled in much less time than I thought it would take, although I know I've been 'driven' to keep unpacking and decorating until I got our home looking just the way I wanted it to look. Such a peaceful patio to knit on, which is just what I did for the past two evenings......how blessed am I.

The Move is Complete!

We're officially moved in and it's a glorious feeling, I've got to say! No more 'showings' , keeping the house pristine at all times (or at least trying to, LOL), comments from perspective buyers which send my blood pressure up, nor wondering when we'll be selling in this very slow market! Nope, it's all over but the shoutin' , so to speak.

We moved into our new home in July and are still unpacking as I type, but that's okay because there's only a little bit left to do and then my DH can finally get his car in the garage. It's great to finally go at our own pace rather than be pushed along by this deadline and that.

We have such a lovely, peaceful view from our backyard patio and although I've always been a 'deck' type person, I think I could get used to this beauty! The way I see it, once it cools off, weather wise, I can get some serious crocheting done sitting out here while I occasionally look up to see just such a sight as this:



That is just my not too subtle way of saying that once again I have no crocheting content on this post but that will soon change and there will be mucho pictures and more stories to relate. Do take care and happy crocheting!

Moving, Packing, & Aching All Over!

This is only a small sampling of the (now) hundreds of boxes we've packed up for our move in just a week from now! Albeit, they're small boxes, but who knew we had so much 'stuff'? I am making a pledge to myself and anyone else who cares to listen, that once we get to our new home and I begin to unpack, it's not going to be clutter here and clutter there, no sir-ee. I will be getting rid of more 'stuff' by either giving it away, or trashing it. What can I say except that if I had it to do over again through the years, I would not have bought many things I used to think I just HAD to have.

Simplicity and uncluttered spaces will be my new living plan and I really am serious about this. I feel sinful that both my husband and me have accumulated so very much, especially when others are doing without the basics. I will take any and all necessary steps to rectify that as much as I'm able in my own little corner of the world.




Speaking of corners of the world here is a lovely picture of just such a thing, sans deer in the background. It's a great place for meditating and thanking God for all of his many blessings.


As for crochet content, I've been falling down on the job. The only thing I haven't packed yet is my (GASP) knitting, and I've only got one thing out just in case I have a moment to work on and that's a linen shawl. I should have kept out the granny square I began awhile ago, but I promise that I'll get back to that project just as soon as things settle down a bit...........and, I locate it, LOL.

It's Been Too Long

Wow, I've been spending way too much of my online time at Ravelry and neglecting my own crochet blog.......that must cease, LOL. Things here have been busy and I haven't been crocheting very often which I do miss.

Right now I'm trying to organize our 'stuff' and begin getting rid of excess items which can be daunting. There are many emotions that rise to the surface when I began going through things and it's not easy to give up certain things even though they haven't been used in quite awhile. My mind starts justifying why I shouldn't get rid of this or that and I have to use some darned good self discipline to either sell it, donate it, or trash it. So, between this activity each day and all the other things we all have to do daily, my online time has been limited as well and when I do log on I wind up doing what must be done and any extra online time I spend on, yes you guessed it, Ravelry, which is quite addicting.

I've been trying to finish up 2 knitted items before I pick up my granny square blanket to be. Here's a picture of it in case you forgot what it looks like:

I really like the color combination and when I don't crochet for awhile I start to miss it so I better get back to this soon. I've been trying to finish a second sock which I'm knitting and finish up a linen shawl that I'm knitting for one of my sweet daughters-in-law (which one I cannot say, just on the outside chance she might be reading this). So, until next time, dear readers, crochet on!