Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday!!


In the Man Cave

Granny Book Mark

This was a trial run crocheting with DMC floss...not really my thing. It was fun to make and even though I could actually see it, it was a little small to work with for my tastes. I think its because Im all thumbs which makes for some sloppy stitching. Its no where near a poster project for a magazine or any thing, but it turned out cute in a homemade sort of way. The only thing I use a hook that small for is to pull snags to the inside of sweaters=) Hands together for those of you who can make beautiful projects out of thread...I will admire your handy work from afar. Cheers!

Fun To Do List

I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a "fun to do list", but I found this sorta whimsical retro notepad. I'm definitely a list person. For those busy days filled with errands and the typical family drama its almost a given that Ill forget something if I dont have a list. The bad thing is I usually dont remember it until Im home and done for the rest of the day. Sooooo check list required! This notepad is perfect ...nothing like a little humor and attitude to ease your chores.

Carpe Diem ... " seize the day".

Handmade Pillow Cases

Since my hubby liked them so much , she made him his own...NASCAR themed lol. Both of our husbands are NASCAR fans. He was very excited to tell me all about his handmade gift when I got home. It was kinda funny in a cute way! Thanks again Lula=)

My neighbor Lula has been making a bunch of these wonderful pillow cases. Lots of patterns and colors to make them fresh and summery. I told her how much I liked paisleys & she surprised me with these. She found some paisley fabrics in her stash. They fit my pillows perfect & add a touch of that homey feel. TY!! (Luv the red,white, and blue I think they look sharp!)

Wild Strawberries

I have found patches of wild strawberries growing in parts of my garden this year & decided to let nature take its coarse with them. The bunnies havent seemed to have found this patch yet so Im keeping my fingers crossed.

I peaked in my back garden the other day and found my that my garden is a total mess. Weed trees that need dug out, an invasive flower that is crazy out of control, trimming to be done ...jeesh what the heck happened back there? Im hoping my son and some of his friends will take pity on me and help me out ( my hubbies fix it answer to all my gardening problems is to mow it down with the lawn mower! Ouch!) Hopefully we will get it whipped into shape and back to its former glory.

Ive finished up another batch of crochet squares for my swaps and am eagerly awaiting my new arrivals. I havent worked on my afghan recently, but have figured out another approach to the project that luck willing will get me the results Im looking for. I was looking through more ripple patterns and came across some other bloggers who have also had problems with the ripple/chevron patterns. In some perverse way it made me feel better to know that I am not the only one. Hopefully karma wont come back and bite me on the butt for that one=)

As soon as I get rid of this nasty bout of flu I will be working out all the kinks in my project or redesigning it. I definitely have the granny square bug so I know that some where in all this there will be a finished project!

Granny Rose Ripple

Im making all these pretty granny flowers and was planning on making an afghan of all squares, that is until I saw this picture. I totally love it. (I also really liked her color choices too, see what I mean, I never would have come close to putting those colors together.) Ive made enough granny rose squares for one row and am playing around with the colors for the ripple. I still need to add more rows of color before adding the squares on.

Ive tried ripples before and some of them werent pretty. Yep, wasnt paying attention and was off on one of the peaks and didnt notice till I was a few rows into the project. I hate when that happens. It was just an eye sore, needless to say that project was frogged and I havent tried to do another ripple since. Im using this pattern for the ripple part of the afghan. It seemed easy to read and explained how to figure out the number of stitches you want to start with for your beginning chain.

Ok, so Ive been playing around with the pattern design for about a week now & figured I would be a lot further along than I am. Ive ripped it out about 8 times so far...ugh! Im not having any trouble with the peaks, but I am having problems keeping the ends straight & the count between the peaks. This pattern seems to give me a lot of grief! It just doesnt seem like my rows are sharp enough to me. The first few times I was some how adding a stitch and the one end was getting longer with each row...then I tore it out and tried again and it got shorter with each row. The middle looks so pretty I dont want to give up quite yet. Ive been crocheting for years, so Im not sure what Im doing wrong exactly, but I am determined to figure it out.

My Great Grandma made me a ripple afghan for my 16th birthday, I love the pattern & of coarse it is sentimental to me. She could whip out an afghan in no time. So for now, Im heading back to the drawing board & making some changes. Where is my crochet angel when I need her?

New Eye Glasses

I finally got some new glasses! It was just one of those things you keep putting off because you dont want to spend the money on it. I have to say though its really nice to see what Im doing again. I didnt think it would make that much of a difference, but it did. Wow!

I liked the funky frames and the coffee colors. Im sure I look a little dorky, but I think they suit my personality and like I said ....I can see!

Received Swap Squares

Above is the updated picture(s) of the squares Ive collected to date (8-24-12). I did add in some of the sample squares Ive been working on to get me caught up. Ive still got more swaps to do & receive. Im hoping to collect enough for 6 across and 6 down at the very least. Will have to work out the size when all the squares are in ...

Paisley's ....yep they are a favorite of mine! It must be an 80's thing, but I still luv them. You can imagine how surprised I was to receive this! Wow! Made my day to say the least . The amazing lady that sent this to me only had a picture to work off of...I cant say how much I appreciate all her hard work.

I dont have enough squares to put together an afghan with them yet, but there are still more swaps to be done. I have truly received some awesome squares! Nothing like opening a package and being wonderfully surprised. So here are some of the squares I have received so far...

If you look at the top left square you'll see a tag attached. The sender hand stamped her tags and wrote the swap info. It was a nice personal touch, I like it!

(Since these were for swaps I dont have any available patterns.)

Postcrossing (Postcard Exchange)

I found postcrossing through a friend on another craft swapping site. Had no idea what it was, so I looked into it and found that its a site for swapping postcards from all over the world. Who doesnt like to receive postcards? It keeps track of locations sent to and received from, and how many miles your postcards have traveled. There's also a postcard gallery, where you can look at tons of great postcards. Im new to the site and just getting started. Ive mailed out my first five postcards now and am waiting for them to be received.

I sent to: San Diego, CA., Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan, & Belarus. Now, I cant wait to see where I receive from. Im so bad at waiting ...I swear my postal person will probably think Im a stalker haha.

My city only offers 4 postcards that you can buy at the chamber of commerce, and out of those there is only one pretty scenic one. So , the plan is to take our own pictures and have them made into postcards at Walmart. Its actually just as cheap to make some up than buy them and have to pay for shipping and handling. Im sure if I stick with this Ill end up doing a bit of both eventually. You send whatever post cards you have, but most request something that shows where you are from or a popular landmark.

(Above: Is the post card I plan to make with some of the pictures we've taken. I made it into a collage and am hoping its good for a postcard.)

Granny Rose Yarns

I had a specific color in mind for the coral I was looking for, which usually means that I wont find it until after I have settled for something else and my project is already finished. This time I got lucky and didnt even have to buy it! Found it in my stash of yarns I had used for my daughter's Rainbow Waves Afghan. I knew I liked that color! There were two 100g skeins left over, which should be enough to make the flowers. Yeah! Now I just have to decide how many squares I need and how to arrange them. I think for now, Im just gonna continue to make the flowers and play with it when I have enough finished up.

After having found the Granny Rose pattern yesterday, Ive caught it returning to my thoughts over and over. Had to do some thing, so I dragged myself out of the house on one of those miserable cool gray rainy days to get some trial colors . Picking colors is not really one of my strong points, at least when it comes to yarns. I mean I do OK, but I never quite reach that stunning combination. While I was trying to come up with something brilliant I thought...gardens, my garden to be more precise. I thought of the diff types of roses I have in my own garden that make me happy. The very first climbing rose bush I planted after moving into our home is the deep raspberry color. I liked it so much I also added a rose shrub in the same color to another part of the garden. Next, I had the most beautiful blue/lavender rose bushes ever. I swear they could have made an experienced gardener weep. (and you'll notice I said had...they smelled as good as they looked...sweet and our German Shepherd ate it! Does that compare to the dog ate my homework excuse? She actually ate them down pretty far before she got caught red handed, but luckily there were no ill side effects...she was lucky!) The yarn for the periwinkle color is a bit darker than the actual roses were, but I didnt want to go pastels. Then my kids gave me a mini rose bush for Mother's Day one year, and well I was tickled (bubble gum) pink...I know, I know, corny! Last but not least, and I am still looking for this color, I have a beautiful coral colored rose bush, the large pretty tea roses that have some of the burgundy color on the tip of each petal. Ill settle for just finding a rich coral color, couldnt find a shade I liked today. Do all these colors work together? I have no bloomin clue, but will find out when I start playing with them all.

Did you notice the containers? They are the cake/cupcake carriers from Walmart. I like sticking the yarns Im working with in there (along with hooks/needles, scissors etc). It holds 4 regular worsted weight skeins. What I like about them is that it keeps my yarns clean from dust and pet hair . I can just throw them in the car when I decide to take them along. With all the rain weve been having its nice they are water proof too. Dont take me wrong, I have some really nice knitting/crochet bags too & use them plenty when getting together with a group, but these tend to come in handy when I dont want to get the others dirty or have to dig around in my bag for the stuff Im looking for.