Yay!

I making progress on whittling down the pile of WIP sitting beside me. I finished these Fake Mary Jane's this morning and they are in the dryer right now along with a HUGE pile of baby things I've crocheted. I sewed the pearl buttons on this morning, and I'm so glad I chose them for these little shoes. I think they complete the look of the Angel Set.


I found the free pattern, written by Abagail Goss here. It's a lovely pattern to crochet. I made the strap a little larger (as it seemed a little tight, even for a newborn) by adding a chain, as per recommendations.


I finished these green jogging pants up this morning, too. I want to add the matching jacket to the set, and either a blanket or a hat, haven't decided yet. I need more yarn before I can do either.

The pattern for the Infant Jogging suit is a free one offered by Kim Guzman. It's a PDF download I found on Ravelry, I just love that group! They are much smaller than the blue drawstring pants I made the other day, and now I'm wondering about my sizing. I DID do the gauge swatch she recommended in the pattern, and I'm glad I did, as I had to move up a hook size. I can only imagine how tiny they would be if I had used the size hooks the pattern called for!

I'll be off to the post office this morning to send off three of the baby sets I've made to my Aunt Mary Jane, and hopefully to pick up some more yarn so I can whittle that WIP pile down further in size. Keep your fingers crossed that the stores have received more of the white yarn I need!

Happy Hooking, and have a great Tuesday!

WIP - Finally?

I promised (days ago, I know) photo's of what I've been up to around here lately. THIS is not one of the things I've been doing, as you can plainly see. My ivy pot is going wild, it needs to be 'rearranged', weeded and thinned. Oh, and I need to finish cleaning up all the mess the raccons left from the pumpkins. (Those are pumpkin seeds on the patio,I just noticed at the bottom right corner.)


My hanging flowers also need some attention, weeded and fed mostly. All I have is purple blooms so far this year, and I normally have purple, pink and yellow!


This is a receiving quilt that is one of the few things that I've managed to finish. Would you believe there is NO white Caron Simply Soft to be found here? We only have two stores in our little town that carry yarn, and they are both OUT of white! I don't remember where I got this pattern from, I apologize. I do like to give credit where credit is due, especially when someone shares their hard work so freely. When I find the pattern link, I'll add it. I added an extra, as always. I wanted it to look more like a quilt, so I tied little yarn knots at the corners.

Correction: The baby blanket is the Double Diamond Baby Blanket, and can be found on the Bernat website here. I changed it up some, apparently, and used Caron Simply Soft, instead of the Bernat Softee Baby.


This is a leisure suit that I'm working on. I called it a jogging suit, but my dear hubby made the point of saying "Just how many babies do YOU see out jogging?" (I answered "None, that's why they so cute and chubby." I know, quite cheeky of me-sorry!) I love the drawstring baby pants, the pattern is by Dot Matthews and you can find it at Crochetville.org. Gotta love that website and all the people there! The jacket, which, I still need to find buttons for, is my favorite go to pattern from Bev's Country Cottage. I added button plackets, and changed the edging on the sleeves and around the jacket. I definately had a brain freeze when I went to purchase more yarn for this set. Instead of the Caron Simply Soft in Soft Blue that I needed, I purchase Light Country Blue! I made it work, as it will be a little while before I can afford to purchase more yarn. I want to add a pair of (crocheted) Converse sneakers to this set, I love the pattern! It's a free Ravelry download, can you believe it? I can't post a link to the pattern here, but if you're a member there, you can look it up and download it!


Another work-in-progress, my Angel Set. The pattern for the fake Mary Jane booties is written by Abagail Goss, and you can find it for free here. They still need the pearl buttons sewn on to them, and I need to find someone to thread my needles for me to do it.

I changed the Baby Girl Sleeper pattern a bit. It has the ties to be on the back, and I didn't think that would be very comfortable for a baby, their skin is so tender, so I put the ties and flowers on the front. I also made it longer to be more of a dress than a shirt. The Diaper Cover is from the same pattern, I want to add a flower to each side when I get more WHITE, darn it!

The receiving blanket, another work-in-progress, is a basic, less-holey, granny square that I am making with the same colors as the dress, Mary Jane's and diaper cover - all Caron Simply Soft in white, soft pink, and strawberry. Once again, I NEED MORE WHITE!!! W-a-a-a--h-h-h-h!!!

Finally, speaking of needing more white Simply Soft, Caron is running a contest, if you're interested. You write a short, 140 characters or less message stating why you love Caron Simply Soft, and if you win, you get SIX free skeins of Simply Soft in the color of your choice! That's my kind of contest! If you're interested in entering, you'll find the entry and details here. Correction, they are picking one winner a day until March 26, 2011.


I wish all of you a warm and loving weekend!

I'm Late! I'm Late!

... for a very important date! Here it is, two days past my birthday, and I've yet to share a word about it! Thanks to my family and all my wonderful friends, especially those on the internet, it was a truly lovely day. I received cards, emails, and phone calls, all of which touched my heart and made me feel like I was being wrapped in a big, warm, loving hug.

To be honest, I must admit I was most amazed by what my beloved husband did for me. I know I tend to take him for granted, and sometimes I forget just how much he really cares about me, and how much he GETS the things I like and am interested in. Not only has he been doing all my share of cooking and shopping for this past week (I'm supposed to keep my weight off of my foot so my toe will begin to heal) but this fantastic man secretly ordered a special cake for my special day!

He knows how much I love the ocean and sea life. He knows that one of the joys of my life is being able to walk along the shore and all the treasures I find there. He KNOWS I am a choco-holic. Still, I was totally blown away when he brought this beauty to our dining table for dessert.


Just in case you were wondering, that is a four-layer, chocolate cake, with chocolate icing. Oh, and the yellow 'thing' in the center? I knew what is was right away, it's a jelly-fish!!! Isn't that awesome?!!?

Does this man love me, or what?

I just have to share this little side story concerning this cake. When my beloved went to the bakery to order it, and asked for the jelly-fish, the woman apparently didn't know how, or what, a jelly-fish was. He took her to the SpongeBob SquarePants birthday cake, pointed to Squidward, and informed her that that was a jelly-fish. When he told me, I just laughed!

I spent the day crocheting and looking at patterns. It's been quite rainy and cool here so I haven't gone outside to take any photo's of my recent projects, but I promise, there will be some soon.

I've been a bit distracted by all the reports of the massive earthquake and following tsunami in Japan, along with the nuclear threat they're facing, too. All these disasters around the world have given me more to think and pray about. I know sometimes I get all wrapped up in my own little problems, but this just makes me see how trivial my difficulties are, and how truly fortunate I am.

I wish you all a warm, wonderful weekend, and thank you so much for making the world a more beautiful place to live!

WARNING

Warning
by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old women I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickles for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm reminded of this poem today as tomorrow is the 28th anniversary of my 25th birthday. I'm trying to stay positive about it, but finding it difficult. I'm the kind of person who never truly grew up, I've always loved celebrating my birthday, the balloons, the streamers, the bouquets of flowers, beautiful cards from loving family and friends, and especially the cake and ice cream! I don't expect much of anything this year, money is just so tight, and we have to save every penny we can. My beloved quit celebrating his birthday years ago, and maybe it's time that I grow up and do the same.

I'm digging out my red hat and my white sandals just the same!

Wishing you all the best!

I Give Up...

When I first discovered some of my favorite blogs, I fell in love with a couple in particular. One of my favorites is Crochet by the Sea. It not only has lovely photo's and uplifting posts, but she always makes me feel like I'm coming to my dream home. There's one things though, that has captured my attention ever since I first started visiting her blog, and that is a thread crocheted dress potholder. I remember my grandmother having a set of these hanging in her kitchen, and I just loved them! I always wished I was small enough to fit into them because they were so pretty and dainty looking. I was sure I would be a princess if only I could wear one of those dresses.

I don't know what happened to those dainty little potholders from my grandmothers kitchen, if I knew who got them, I would beg on my knees for just one of those treasures. So I thought the next best thing would be for me to make one for myself. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it ISN'T!

I have used every search engine I can think of, I've used every possible wording I can imagine for what those dresses would be called, and I have had no luck. I guess I will have to give up my dream, and that makes me very sad. If it weren't for the baby things that my family have asked me to make for the new babies that are on their way, I wouldn't even be picking up my hooks, that's how disheartening this is for me.

If you'd care to see the thread dress potholder I'm talking about, visit Faith at Crochet by the Sea. You'll have to scroll down the page but the photo is on the left side of the page. Oh yeah, for a special treat, make sure your speakers are turned on so you can hear the lovely wind chimes!

I wish you a happy day, filled with blessing and love!

Angel Rosebud Set

I was browsing Ravelry's FO the other day and came across a beautiful little Easter Jacket made by Amy from Expressive Silence. I fell in love with the little rosebuds she added as trim to the baby jacket, and wrote her to ask how she did it. She was generous in sharing her directions. You can see the baby jacket I'm talking about here. Isn't it just gorgeous?!!?


That little jacket inspired me to make a baby set of my own, with rosebud trims on all the pieces. This is the Newborn Shelly Hat I made using the pattern found at Blkosiner's Book Blog, and the pattern is here, with my added rosebud trim.


I found this lovely newborn baby shoe pattern at Gardener's Ramblings. The pattern for the Easy Baby shoes is here. I changed the rosebud trim a little bit to make it more of a ring, and added more definition to the leaves.

This is a view of the back of the Angel Shell Dress that I decided on to complete the set. I found the pattern for this darling newborn dress at Heartfelt Angels. You can make your own Angel Shell Dress using the pattern here.

And last, but not least, here is the whole set together. I think I am getting way too many baby girl things made, and should probably start concentrating on baby boy clothes. I think I saw a newborn sailor set the other day, maybe I'll go searching for that one next!

Happy hooking!

The Blanket Thief

I'm in the process of making a baby blanket for my grand daughter, Doodles, baby doll. Wendy was out for a romp, and found the blankie. Unfortunately, Wendy thinks that ALL blankets made by Mommy should belong to her. She curled up in this one, and begged to be cuddled.

I'm afraid Doodles is going to have a fight on her hands to get this blanket back from Wendy. As you can see, she finds it quite comfy, especially when her mom is giving her loves in it.

Baby, Baby, Baby....

I'm so excited! My garden is starting to recover from the harsh winter freeze we had. Not all of my plants will come back, but this one definitely is still going, and has it's first blossom of the year. I've had this plant for over three years now, and while I can't remember the name of it, I love it just the same!

I made another baby set today, this time using a different pattern! Are you surprised? I found this little baby set on the RedHeart.com website, and making it was really different. The sweater is made on one piece, but the bonnet and booties both required separate part, and sewing together. The booties were really fiddly and I'm not sure right now if I would make them again.

I originally planned on using ribbon for the ties, and had bought a spool of it just for that use, but once I opened it and used it on the sweater, I didn't like it, so I crocheted all the ties for the bonnet, sweater and booties. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft in both Baby Brights Ombre, and White. I used a H (5.0mm) hook You can find the free pattern here. The pattern says that it is for a 0-6 months old baby, but the baby in the photo looks much older. Fortunately, the set once crocheted looks to be the right size for a newborn.

I found out yesterday that I can crochet for 6 babies now. No, I'm not expecting 3 more grand babies, my wonderful Aunt Mary asked if I would make some for her, and I joyously agreed. She and my Uncle David helped fill my childhood with such happy memories, that I'm so glad to be able to do something for her in return.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend filled with warmth and peace!

Daisy, Daisy...

...Give me your answer, do! I'm half crazy, all for the love of you!


I had that song running through my head the whole time I was making this little baby jacket set. I think it looks spring-like, and nicely feminine.

Once again, I used Caron Simply Soft yarns in white, lemon and pistachio, and my two favorite baby patterns, Bev's Baby Jacket, and the Sweet Little Baby Moccasins.

I want to thank all my dear blog friends who sent such nice wishes and concerns for me. You all make my life happier and brighter, with a special thanks to Faith, Bev, and Glor! You warm my heart!

New Baby Sets!

I wanted so much to post this earlier, but I was determined to finish it before I took photo's, and I didn't have any buttons to complete it. My darling daughter agreed to go shopping with me and I found these pretty little crystal-like buttons that I thought would be perfect for this set.

This baby jacket is a combination of three different patterns that I saw. I took the parts of each pattern I liked and this is what I came up with.

The baby moccasins are from the Sweet Little Baby Moccasins free pattern found here. It was my granddaughters idea to sew the buttons on the sides so they would be more stylish.

I'm in love with this feminine little set, pink is one of my favorite colors. What do you think?

I'm calling this baby set 'Fruit 'N Nuts'.


The jacket is made using another one of my favorite patterns, Bev's Baby Jacket. I added an edging to the fifth row. The matching moccasins are the same ones I posted yesterday, also from the Sweet Little Baby Moccasins pattern above.

Oh yes, and I called it Fruit 'N Nuts because the Caron Simply Soft colors I used are appropriately named Lemon and Pistachio.

Happy crocheting!

Crochet Is My Therapy

Yes, I know I've probably said that before, more than once, but it's so true. It helps me deal with or ignore the pain from pancreatitus attacks. If you are familiar with pancreatitus or not, I have the chronic type, and NO, I don't drink alcohol. I do have Type 2 diabetes, which doesn't help anything at all, but we think my pancreatitus was brought on by a regime of a pain medication prescribed to help ease a flare-up of pain from a herniated disc. What ever caused it, it's a tricky disease, one that fools me by easing for days or weeks, only to rear it's ugly head when I least expect it's symptoms. I've learned to deal with it, mainly by watching what I eat (too much fat is a guarantee for a flare-up). I've been dealing with an episode for the past couple of days.

Last night I had an unfortunate accident that only added to the 'fun'. I was making dinner, and reached up to the shelf that we keep our pots and pans on to get two skillets. I should have been patient and grabbed one at a time, but that's just not me. As I brought the second skillet out from the back of the shelf, I happened to catch a saucepan lid with the bottom of the skillet. Before I could react, the heavy glass lid (edged with metal to boot!) fell over five feet sideways and landed right on my second toe, just like a guillotine, cracking my toe like an egg.

So now I have a broken toe, with a huge blood blister on my first toe as well. I'm so grateful for my oldest daughter and my loving hubby at this time. My hubby made me sit down right away with my foot propped up and made a ice bag for my poor toe. My oldest daughter jumped right in and not only finished making dinner for us, but cleaned the kitchen afterwords as well. She is a treasure, indeed!

I had plans to go shopping for yarn, ribbon, and buttons today. My toe doesn't look too bad, it's badly bruised and still swollen, and hurts especially if I try to bend it. I may still go shopping, IF I can find someone to go with me, as I'm not sure how comfortable I would be driving (it's my right foot, the gas and brake foot).

Now I have to hobble off to the kitchen as my blood sugar is getting too low. I hope you all are having much better times than I am! Keep on smiling and enjoy your Friday. I know I plan to!

Sweet Little Baby Moccasins!

Sara, at Tangled Happy, posted a link for the pattern for these cute little baby moccasins. (That was my first visit to Little Eme's website, but definitely not my last! She does some really awesome stuff with yarn!

Mr Teddy and Mr Dog insisted on helping showcase the baby moccasins. I made them with Caron Simply Soft yarn in Pistachio and Lemon, using a D (3.0mm) hook. I have to confess, I made a mistake when I was making the first moccasin, I miscounted and didn't do enough rows on the cuff. Feeling a bit lazy, I repeated the same mistake on the second moc. I think they turned out darling anyways. I see more pairs in my future!

Thank you very much for sharing the pattern, Little Eme!

More Crochet Show and Tell

My hooks have been flying, as someone has said about me. I hope you aren't tired of seeing this, but I finally have the Sugar Spun Doily blocked and in place as my centerpiece on my dining room table and couldn't wait to show it off. I got the pattern for this lovely doily at Crochet Galore, I adore her blog, she's so inspiring! And speaking of Glor, she really made my day today! She mentioned me in her blog, check it out! I did the happy dance when I saw it!!

This is a cocoon and ball cap I made for one of my new grandbabies. I used Caron Simply Soft for both projects, and they turned out so cute! I got the pattern for the cocoon from Bev's Country Cottage, it works up so quick! The sweet newborn ballcap was a free pattern from heaverinscrochet on Crochetville.org. I had a slight problem when making the ballcap, I discovered I don't have a 3.75 mm hook! How could that be? My size F hooks are 4.0 mm, so that's what I used. I rationalized that I normally crochet tight, so it should all work out okay.

I really need to get a baby doll to model my baby things! I could have borrowed my granddaughter's Cabbage Patch Kid, but they aren't really to size. At least my pig and lamb don't complain much, and Teddy is more than happy to look on.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Introducing Prince Ga-arra

Or as he is better known - Bubba!


Bubba is my rescue ferret. He is a very, very, big boy(over 10 pounds)! He was found in a pet store, dying. It seems all his brothers and sisters were sold, but because too many people want cute little baby ferrets, and Bubba is so very large, no one purchased him. Ferrets are social animals, most of them do not like to be alone, and they are not the type of animal that you can leave in a cage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They need time out of the cage every day, time to play and run around, time to exercise, and just plain old time for love!


Bubba loves to dig, he is a champion tunneler.

Because he was left in the cage with little to no attention, Bubba grew depressed and he stopped eating. When a friend of mine found him, he was close to death. The pet store let her have him and she brought him home to nurture him with her other 2 ferrets. She knew I was looking for another ferret and brought him to meet me as a surprise. I took one look at Bubba and fell in love. He and Wendy instantly took to each other, too.


You might think after being treating so badly by people, Bubba might have some social issues. You would be wrong! Bubba is the sweetest, most loving ferret you could ever hope to meet. He is so grateful for any attention that anyone pays him. When you pick him up, he gives you kisses and cuddles before he 'asks' to get down and play.

Bubba has been a part of our family for over two years now, and I love my baby boy Bubba more than ever!

A Passion for Purple

I'm still making baby jackets, still using up my scrap yarn. I originally started out to try and make another hooded baby jacket, but life got in the way. I wanted to block the doily I made this morning so it could dry and I could put it on the table for dinner. Then the ferrets cage needed cleaned, and I am in charge of making the evening meal, so I reluctantly put the jacket down as I was a couple rows into the planned hood.

As I set it aside, I noticed the 'hood' was folding down onto the jacket, and I had a thought. 'That looks just like a collar!' I took a closer look and decided that yes, it definitely wanted to be a collar!

And here you have my latest adaptation on Bev's Baby Jacket pattern: The Passion for Purple!

Blocked CAL Sugar Spun Doily

The Crochet-A-Long Sugar Spun Doily I made this morning is now blocked and drying. I'm almost embarrassed to post this photo because of my poor blocking board! It's been through so much, I really need to buy a new one. Using the Stiffy on my Christmas ornaments, angels and snowflakes has left it badly stained, and it's full of pinholes. I guess I've really got my money's worth out of it.

Oh, and just so you know, the doily blocked out to 12 inches made with Patons Grace and an E (3.5mm) hook. It is going to be a very nice centerpiece!

Crochet-A-Long Doily from Crochet Galore

I thought about starting another hoodie baby jacket this morning, but then I read this blog post from one of my favorite bloggers, and I just had to try it. My eyes (and hands) aren't quite up to the task of crocheting with size 10 thread and a steel hook, so I dug out a skein of Patons Grace, and a size E (3.5 mm) hook, and set to work. It still needs to be blocked, but that requires digging my blocking board and rust proof pins out of storage so it will wait until there's more light outside. I couldn't wait to share this lovely doily. I think it will make a nice centerpiece for my diningroom table.

Loaf of Bread Jacket and Irish Hoodie

Ta-da! Here is the completed 'Loaf of Bread Challenge' baby jacket. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

I was trying to go to sleep last night, and had a thought pop into my head. 'Why can't I put a hood on that baby jacket? It shouldn't be that hard to do...'

Well, guess what? It wasn't hard at all!


I'm calling this one, 'Luck of the Irish Hoodie' baby jacket. I used the same pattern found here for both jackets, for all the jackets I've made lately in fact. I just added a hood to it.

I admit, I could have planned this jacket a little better. I would have liked the hood a couple of rows larger, but I didn't have enough of the green yarn. I've been using leftovers and scraps for these little baby jackets. I plan on making another hoodie, this time with a longer hood!

My clover is coming along nicely, isn't it? I almost dread the lawn guys coming along and cutting it down. We've started working on our veggie garden, too. My granddaughter weeded the one raised bed yesterday, and planted some chard seeds. I want to plant more flowers this year, and more strawberries, though I fear the squirrels enjoy my strawberries more than I do. They get to them before the sun rises!

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely day!

What Can I say?

Monday's have never been my best day. I like to think that I'm kind of like the cartoon cat, Garfield. I shudder to answer the door on Monday's for fear of being hit in the face with a cream pie.

Of course, my view point changes dramatically after I've had a couple cups of coffee.

I hope you are having a wonderful day!

A Loaf of Bread and a Baby Jacket

I challenged myself this afternoon. I wanted to bake a loaf of bread for our evening meal, and I wanted to start crocheting another baby jacket. So while the bread was kneading (I love my stand mixer and dough hook!) I started the jacket. While the dough was resting, I crocheted a little more. And while the dough was rising and baking, I crocheted on.

I wish I could say I managed to crochet the whole jacket, but I didn't. I did finish the body of the jacket! Now all I have to do is add the edging and the sleeves and it will be done.

I'm happy! (I'll post a photo of the completed jacket when I'm done.)