Granny Rose Square ( & Pattern )

While I was browsing flickr I found this really pretty granny square rose. So, I went to the source for the pattern. The story behind the square is wonderful and very inspiring. Definitely left a smile on my face.

The first rose I finished was totally ugly...haha so I gave it another try.The second one turned out better, so I finished a full square with some of the yarns in my stash. I was crocheting to tight on the flower so I went up to a J-hook for that part, then switched back to an H-hook for the rest. With some more practice Im hoping to improve the shape of my flowers. This pattern will make some pretty projects or gifts. Hmmm wonder if I could finish some thing for Mother's Day? Probably not, I have the worst luck when it comes to finishing big projects on a time schedule. Anyway, all the directions are shown on her blog with pictures. I missed the crochet-a-long, but am enjoying the pattern none the less. Maybe next time Ill have better timing.

(The directions are shown as weeks 1-4 under the crochet-a-long (CAL) in the right hand margin.)

Hang'in Out in Chicago

Above: These pictures were taken at the Waveland Clock Tower on our night walk...it was totally freezing outside and Chicago lived up to the nickname "The Windy City". Brutal! The kids took their coats off so they wouldnt get wet..the wind was so strong it was crashing white cap waves against the huge cement steps that lead to Lake Michigan and sent the water up spraying like mini fountains. The Night walk was beautiful, I got to see all the gorgeous little gardens between the houses. The architectural details were amazing too. The walk home was bitterly cold especially since they were wet...me I was all snuggly warm in my unfashionable weather proof coat hahahaha.

As we were walking around Chicago's down town, we came across a Bently shop of all things...The sales guys were really snobby, but when all is said and done the fact is they are still just "car salesmen". I didnt even ask to take pictures . Later I was told they say no, so I guess it was a good thing.We wanted to share the pictures with my son sooo that decided it.

The Hershey's Store..we had a lot fun goofing around in there.

Luv'd the party dresses!

Below: The Chicago subway...yep there are definitely some laughable stories there!

The rest are just some random pictures...we actually went to visit my daughters best friend so it was only a one night stay over. It was nice hangout time for me & Kelsey. I had a lot of fun seeing the sights with her, nothing really planned, just casually checking things out. She got all her Birthday money a little early so we could do some power shopping. It was great until the end of the day, when my feet hurt so bad I could barely walk, then I started to get a little cranky. I swear we walked for miles...not just a few either, I mean MILES! We tried to hale a taxi but they were all busy since it was so cold and blustery out. The wind was biting, made our eyes water. We met up with her friend for supper then headed back to the subway...I have to admit that I was mentally cussing up a storm when I saw all the steps I had to climb, and then we had to walk back home... and here I was all prepared with my walking shoes and every thing, lol which totally didnt help.
I only regret that I didnt get the chance to visit some of the knit shops there. I had them all scoped out but missed the opportunity.
Happy (early) Birthday Kelsey <3
Thanks for having us for a visit Matt!

A Gift Made for Me

My neighbor made me the cutest crochet ruffle scarf for my birthday, but we kept missing each other so I received a real surprise today. Its adorable and the project bag it came in! ( I dont have a pattern to share for this one since it was a gift...) I swear our dog Olie thought the scarf was for him, he tried his darnedest to get a hold of it! I will have to keep a close eye on him when I wear it!

She also surprised me with a cute coffee set that will match the colors in my kitchen when I get it finished. Totally made my day. TY!

Burger Barge Birthday...

It sounds sorta redneckish doesnt it? They have some awesome burgers and Rich has never been there so we thought we'd treat Dad for his birthday.Its a fun place to go....Happy Birthday Rich!! We love you!

Herringbone Square

I think this will make a great square to swap...love the look the pattern makes. When I think of "granny squares", even in generic terms the first thing that comes to mind for me is crochet. So it didnt really dawn on me to try knitting my squares. Its taking me a bit of expermenting and some frogging to figure out how many cast on's I need to make a 6x6 inch square. After that and watching the tutorial I finally got the pattern down. Visual aids are a godsend!

Tutorial

Small Winter Blast Square

I was just trying out new 6x6 patterns and found this winter burst square. Its really cute but not quite what I was looking for to swap. I liked the pattern though and will keep this in mind for other projects, for now its going in my swatch bin.

The pattern can be found here.

Easter & Gma's Renovated Kitchen

Happy Easter! Kelsey made some fun colored Easter eggs... and we picked up a pretty but odd color of geraniums for G'ma to go with her Easter basket since she likes them so much.

My mom recently had her kitchen made-over. All new stainless steal appliances (refrigerator, oven , stove top & microwave) counter top, sink, back splash and raised one of the upper cabinets. Looks great!...all we have left to do is paint the walls. Not sure what the color is called, it matches the back splash tiles perfectly. You'll have to over look the mess, we had Easter dinner at her house and I took the pictures before we got it all cleaned up again:)

LOL we always tease G'ma about being short because her mother was even shorter, but seeing my son help get some dishes down today while standing next to mom was to funny! We all love you mom, dinner was wonderful like always. TY!

(No one really wanted their pictures taken again today...hope this isnt becoming a thing! I wont have any family holiday pictures.)

Four Hearts Square

Can you see the four hearts? My son thought it looked sorta like a flower. Easy pattern...but I changed the first round of the pattern to the basic beginner granny square center. It was just easier for me. kept the same number of stitches around and in the corners. Followed the rest of the pattern without a hitch.

Four Hearts Pattern (will need to scroll down till you see it.)

This is what I did for the basic square center (Rnd 1)-

ch4, join with sl st to form ring.

ch3 (counts as first dc), 2dc in ring , ch2 ( 3dc in ring, ch2, 3dc) 3 times

join with sl st to first dc.

then follow the rest of the pattern as written.

Im saving all my scraps of yarn from these small projects & putting them in an empty suet cake bird feeder. I saw all my little lovelies picking at it the other day ... cant wait to see some of the pretty nests. Last year I found that some of the little birds had lined one of the bird houses up in the tree by our front porch. Yarn was sticking out every where...too cute!

Grannies Big and Small

Each group of 4 will make up one 6 x 6 square, which will be swapped with 2 partners. Im just starting to receive some of my squares. Im excited to see the color choices and designs (will post a picture when I start getting a good stash going.) If I dont collect enough squares thru the swaps then Ill either make the rest of the squares needed, or give in and make an afghan just for me in my own color choice. The color combination consists of a dark purple, medium blue, raspberry and turquoise with the white as a neutral. The multi used for the middle of the larger (6x6) squares pretty much have all the same colors except for the white.

The top pictures are dark but because of the shine I couldnt get them edited to show their true colors. They look brighter and more cheery in person, thank goodness.