Almost Halfway

A couple of weeks ago I began crocheting a baby blanket for a friend of ours.  This is the first baby for she and her husband and they are super-excited as are her parents who are dear friends of ours (and they're coming to visit us in a couple of weeks, woot, but that's another story!).

After seeing the colors and theme, I chose blue for the body of the blanket and cream for the edging.

Can you tell she's having a boy?!

I'm almost at the halfway point.

About 42 more rows to go then it's on to the edging.

This is the first time I'm using this little 'counter'.  I'm lovin' it... makes it a lot easier on this pea-brain to remember how many rows I've done!

I also love this basket-weave pattern.

I've made hats and scarves with it and they always look great.  I'm thinkin' this will too!  (I'm also thinkin' this could be my signature pattern, hmmmm.....)

I'm hoping to get it finished before our friends (and soon-to-be-grandparents!) come visit so that she can take it back with her.  That is, IF she has room in her suitcase, ha!

I've seen a lot of people in blog-ville making some beautiful things for Spring.

What are YOU making?

Till next time,

 

One At A Time Please... NOT

For those of you who know me, you know that I love projects!

Any project.

Indoors, outdoors, creative, DIY, construction.  Yep, any project.

I enjoy the whole process, from beginning to end.

The coming up with the project to physically working on the project to appreciating and enjoying the end results.

Currently, I have no outdoor projects (to which I'm adjusting (although I have been eyeballing the park's picnic table that is badly in need of some sanding and a paint job (good thing I don't have my sander here))) but I have plenty of indoor projects to keep me occupied (and out of trouble, ha!).

In fact, I probably have too many projects going on at the moment.

For starters, I have thoroughly been enjoying making scarves out of the Red Heart Sashay yarn (see Etsy shop on sidebar) and probably have WAY more skeins that I should but, hopefully, they won't stick around long once I've got them made.

I've recently found some new colors that they offer...

... gold, silver, teal, solid black, red and cream, variegated green & tan, blues. etc.

I've made a few of them already and they work up beautifully...

... these are ready to be photographed and listed in my Etsy shop.

I've also started my first quilt.

The top is finished, the batting and backing are in place and it's all basted together to begin the top stitching and quilting...

... I had to wait until I could get to town to get the right color thread before finishing it.  (CountryBoy tickled me one night at dinner when I was talking about the quilt.  He says, "you lost me at basting".  Bahahaha, I knew he was picturing me with the kitchen baster in hand and trying to figure out why and with what was I basting a quilt!!!)

Another project that recently came up is crocheting a baby afghan for a friend...

... can you guess what she's having, heehee?!

Seeing all these projects either half-finished or waiting to be started (and taking up precious space in the 5th wheel) can sometimes be overwhelming and I say to myself, "Self, you should only do one at a time".  Then reality sets in I say, "Yea, right.  Like that will ever happen"!  I simply enjoy the variety of projects that are going at the same time and figure I can do whichever one appeals to me at the time.

Makes perfect sense to me.

So, I will continue to have several projects going at the same time simply for the variety.  Thankfully, I tend to finish the projects that I do start.  I don't think I could stand to see so many unfinished projects lying around and maybe that's what keeps me motivated until it's done.

The difficult part of having so many projects going is deciding which one to work on first, ha!

That's the decision I'm facing as soon as I publish this post.

Hmmm, which one do YOU think I'll start on first today?

Till next time,

I've Got Nothin'

This week it seems I don't have a whole lot to say.

I don't really know why some weeks, it seems, I can't shut up and other weeks, it seems, I don't have much to say?

I'm sure CountryBoy would beg to differ on the above statement though, ha!

Anyhoo, here's a short recap on what's been happenin' round here...

Remember this yarn I bought a couple of weeks ago?

I made a scarf out of the top skeins...

It's bamboo.  Can ya believe it?  It's so soft and luxurious and quite warm too, I might add.  It has been a neck saver these past couple of very cold, windy days here.  (I can't seem to get LizzieBelle to hurry up and do her business so we can get out of the cold and wind, sigh.  WAY too many smells out there to sniff and reclaim!  "Stop rushing me, Mom")

Happily, or not, Precious is modeling the scarf for me...

Yea, maybe not so happily, huh?  I think I'm getting 'the look'!

I wanted to get some more of the bamboo yarn yesterday while I was town but I managed to talk myself into NOT stopping at Joann Fabrics.  What, you say?   Yea, I know.  I'm not sure what came over me, sigh.  Even CountryBoy wondered what was wrong with me, heehee!

I have quite a few projects already in the works so I decided that I needed to finish a few of them before I bought anymore yarn.

That was yesterday's decision.  No guarantees that the decision will be the same if I find myself in town in a few days...

...because I REALLY like this yarn!

While I was in town yesterday, I picked up my engagement ring that had to be sent out to be re-soldered.  The diamond setting is soldered at the base in two locations.  That's all that holds the setting in place.  Thankfully, I noticed that one of the spots came un-soldered so I took it off and put it in my jewelry box for several weeks until I could find a jeweler.  Boy, did I feel naked without it.

I guess after thirteen years of continually being worn while building our barn, working in the garden, gathering eggs, cleaning chicken coops, etc., it finally showed some wear and tear.

It's all better now and looks new again.  (I should've given them my wedding band too so they could clean it up real good!)  Oh, and please ignore all the wrinkles, ugh.

I hope y'all are having a good week so far.

Will you be celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow with your sweetie?

How will you celebrate?

Till next time,

Wearable Project

I thoroughly enjoy crocheting.

I also have a bit of a yarn fetish as was discovered when I was packing to head west!

The colors, textures... just love 'em!

Earlier in the week, I went grocery shopping and ran some errands.

It was cold and extremely windy and seemed to go right through me.

By the time I got to the superstore I couldn't take it anymore.  I picked up some fleece gloves so that I could wear them the rest of the day while I was out and about.

I decided to get some yarn (imagine that, heehee!) that would go with the gloves and make myself a basket weave hat.

I've used this pattern before but I used the wrong type of yarn so it turned out too big.

This time it turned out just right!

The yarn didn't have as much gray in it as I originally thought but it'll still work.

I wore it yesterday to tour the mine (that I'll be posting about as soon as I can sort through the 230 photos that I took yesterday!) and it worked perfect!

It's nice to work on enjoyable projects that you can end up wearing.  Hmm, what will my next project be?  I do have more of this type yarn in a different color... maybe another hat?  Any ideas for me?

Till next time,

All.Over.The.Place.

Do you ever feel like you're all over the place?

You know, like you've got too many irons in the fire and you're not sure which one to pull out or leave in?

Or you feel like there's not enough time in the day to do all the things you want to do?

I recently felt that way about what I like to do in my spare time.

For example, I have several hobbies that I really enjoy...

reading

cross-stitching

crocheting

photography

,

scrapbooking

stamping

sewing

gardening

refinishing/repurposing 'stuff'

And then there are the hobbies I would like to learn...

knitting,
playing the violin
becoming a more advanced seamstress

I think you get the idea.  I enjoy being crafty and creative.

While there is nothing wrong with any of those hobbies, it's the sheer number of hobbies and the amount of supplies needed for each that began to overwhelm me and was taking up too much room in the house.  Room we didn't have.

When it looked as though we would be living in a 5th wheel for a while I decided it was time for me to get focused.

Focused on hobbies that would serve a double duty purpose... enjoyment for me while making it and is a usable/functional end product.

I decided that although scrapbooking and stamping were both hobbies I enjoyed doing they consumed a lot of time and space needed to store all the necessary supplies.  I packed up three large boxes of paper, stamps, ink, etc. and sent them with my sister up to New York where three beautiful little girls are having a blast making cards for other people.

I will not be refinishing or repurposing anything while on the road nor will I be doing any gardening.

With limited storage space, I will be focusing mainly on crocheting, photography and sewing with a bit of reading in the evenings.

Even though I still have quite a few hobbies I feel like I'm less all.over.the.place and I now have a purpose to my hobbies and crafts.

It feels good.

Do you have any hobbies?

Are you like me and enjoy too many hobbies but don't have the time nor space for them?

Till next time,

Conquering Crazy Yarn

I've never been one to wear scarves.  I never needed a scarf when living in Florida.  But now, it seems that scarves are in style. Yes, even in Florida!  Maybe not the warm and practical ones but definitely the stylish, pretty and fun ones.

This time last year, I was going to visit family in upstate New York, where it's cold, windy and snowy.  I thought that would be a good time to get a scarf or two to help keep me warm.

So, Christmas before last, I started collecting a few scarves.  OK, two scarves to be exact.  And both of them are pink (imagine that!) and practical.

Now that I'm out west where it's cold and the wind is horrendous I thought it was time to add another scarf or two to my collection.  A pretty and fun scarf that can be worn to church or that would dress up a pair of jeans and cowboy boots!  And preferably, one that I made.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to spend part of the day trying to figure out the Boutique Sashay yarn from Red Heart that I bought to make a ruffled scarf using a pattern I found in a crochet magazine.

This yarn is not your typical one-strand yarn.

At first, it looks more like a ribbon.

And then, you open it up and stretch it out...

... and it ends up looking like that.

Yikes!  What the heck do I do with THAT?!

After reading the instructions several times I started working on the scarf hoping that it would all start making sense as I went along.

No such luck.

So, I googled video instructions on how to use this type of yarn.  I found a video from Red Heart, the manufacturers of this yarn, and watched it.  The video cleared up a few questions but was not produced very well and a lot of the instructions were left out (like starting Row 1 after the chain, the most difficult row when crocheting) leaving me still in a quandary.

I started and ripped out at least five times.

Then I happened upon THIS video and it was the exact look I was going for and super, duper easy.

From beginning to end, it took less than two hours to make this scarf.

In fact, the original pattern I was going to follow called for two skeins to make one scarf whereas this pattern only took one to make an approximately seven foot long scarf.

I'm sure you know what I did with the other skein... I made a second scarf after supper!

They're super fun and easy to make so I will be making lots more of these in every color that Red Heart offers and I'll be posting them on my ETSY site for purchase (after I've made myself one of each, heehee!).

If you'd like a scarf or two like this and would rather not go through ETSY than just email me and I'll be happy to whip one (or two) up for you.  The yarn comes in many different colors so I'm sure we could find something that would suit your style and taste, woohoo!

Are you working on any craft projects or renovation projects right now?  I'd love to hear about them!

Till next time,

A Stitch In Time

What does one do when their husband is at work 10 -12 hours a day and there is no Internet or satellite service?  One crochets, of course!

OK, so I'm sure many of you would come up with other things to do but since I had a large order of dish cloths to fill by the middle of December I took advantage of all that time on my hands.

Here's the order all finished and ready for the customer.  Two dish cloths per set times 16 (four sets are not pictured here).

In order to break up the color monotony, I worked on other sets as well to list on my Etsy site.

I really enjoy making these 100% cotton dishcloths and they kept me occupied while CountryBoy was at work.

I finally got them photographed and listed on Etsy.  Now, my site has some items in it and is open for business, woot!  Just in time for Christmas!  (Also see side bar for link)

Things are slowly coming together for the move out west.  Items are getting packed up, a custom cargo trailer is being built, chickens and ducks are for sale (sad face), the outdoor cats have been placed in a no-kill shelter (another sad face) of which three have already been adopted and a fourth may have a home with one of the other cats that were already adopted, address changes are being made, etc.

Moving from a house that you've lived in for eight years to a 5th wheel is quite the ordeal.  I'm sure I'll have lots of stories for you on adjusting to a totally new way of life for me.  (This is old-hat for CountryBoy as he did this sort of work before we were married.)  I'll also have lots of time on my hands to craft and create lots of goodies!

Linking with

Till next time,

Eco-Friendly Market/Produce Bag

Every time I go to the grocery store and pull off one of those plastic bags they provide for produce and then try to get it open (without licking my fingers!) the environmentalist in me goes berserk yet, I have not been able to come up with anything else that I could use instead.  Until now!

Another blogger graciously posted a pattern for a crocheted bag that she had made as a Christmas gift.  It's a very simple pattern using the chain stitch, double crochet and triple crochet.

The bag turned out narrower and taller than I would have liked but it's usable.  I've started a second bag and have modified the pattern a bit to better suit my tight stitches.  I'm also making it wider at the base and shorter on the sides.

I'm really pleased with the use and function of these bags and am going to make a few of them and leave them in my car or maybe even in my purse so I'll have them whenever I go to the grocery store.  No more plastic bags that I can't get open!

If you're interested in making a reusable market/produce bag, check HERE and HERE for pattern instructions.  Join in the effort to cut back on waste one plastic bag at a time!

Linking up with

 

Till next time,

2 Hours - Ha!

Yesterday, I went to one of my favorite stores... no, it wasn't Lowes this time!  I went to Michaels, an awesome craft store.  My neighbor and I were having some cross stitch pieces that I had stitched framed.  They were having a 60% off on custom framing AND $20 off on top of the 60%!!!  That's an unbelievable sale for custom framing!  I can't wait to show my finished piece to you when I get it back in a couple of weeks!  All you bird lovers will LOVE it!  It's the one piece that I have stitched recently that I am NOT selling on my Etsy store... sorry!  I just couldn't part with it!

Anyhoo, while at Michaels, I picked up a crochet book on  2 Hour Dishcloths for beginners.  I recognized several of the stitches they mentioned so I thought I'd give it a go.

This afternoon I started crocheting my first dishcloth.  Mind you, it's been a LONG time since I've held a crochet hook and even then, I'm still a beginner.

After reading and re-reading the instructions several times and trying to make some sense out of it AND starting over several times I think I've finally figured it out.  During this whole time, I listened to Precious snoring as she was sleeping on the couch by me!  So cute!

2 hours - HA!  It's already been 3 hours and I'm only on row 6!  I have 6 more rows to do which should go quicker since they're just repeated.  Key word here being should!  THEN, I have to figure out the border... oh joy!

I'm hoping to get it done by tomorrow... we'll see!  (I guess I'd better quit blogging and get back at it if I want to get it done!)

2 hours - not THIS beginner *smile*!

I hope you're having a great weekend!

Till next time,