Fit For a Tween: Stashbuster #14 Fingerless Mitts & Button Cowl

Hope wanted something to keep her warm, so I made her these.

The pattern for the fingerless mitts can be found here at Tangled Happy. 

The button cowl isn't really a pattern. I chained 15, double crocheted in the 4th chain from the hook and in each chain to the end, giving me 13 stitches. Then I chained 3 and turned and double crocheted in each stitch to the end. I repeated that until I ran out of yarn. I think there are 27 rows. 

The yarn is one skein of Loops and Threads Charisma in Grass. It looks more mint in the picture, but it's really more of a jewel tone green.

It's been a productive month crochet-wise. 

4 Mitered Dishcloths

1 Shell Infinity Scarf

2 Preemie Cocoons

1 Ferris Wheel Blanket

1 Basic Beanie

1 Blooming Flower Cushion

13 Preemie Hats

2 Baby Round Ripple Blankets

3 Cupcake Hats

2 Crazy Dishcloths

1 Drop in the Pond Lapghan

1 Extra Large Winter Hat

I've linked all of these projects on the Stash-Buster Link Party at Linda's Crafty Corner.

Thanks for reading!
Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Source: http://positivelifequote.blogspot.com/2014/01/give-somebody-one-of-your-smiles.html

Photo a Day Challenge January 27-31

Here are my pictures for the rest of January:

January 27: Something I Bought

Maybe it's because I'm in Texas, but I noticed a lot of people wearing boots. I wanted a pair that was cute but comfortable and practical (I don't want much in life, right?). These were on a clearance table at JC Penney for $10, marked down from $40. They're now my favorite shoes :-) Ignore all the cat/dog hair on them; that stuff flies through the air in my house.

January 28: Dinner

This is a terrible picture! I didn't remember to take it until I was putting away the leftovers. It would have looked nicer with sauce, meatballs and parmesan cheese on it on a plate. 

January 29: Window

The view of my front yard through the living room window. It looks nice out, but the temperature was about 28 degrees. 

January 30: Best Invention Ever

The crochet hook. At least, I think it's the best invention right now. It's keeping me sane and out of trouble. And I have a lot of pretty things when I'm done :-)

January 31: Polka Dot

My suitcase. I have a matching train case to go with it. They came from Sam Moon, one of my favorite stores. I love the smiles on people's faces when they see it on the carousel at the airport. It's not hard to find my luggage :-)

That's it for January. 25 photos, 6 days missed. Not too bad. Let's see how I do for February. 

In case you want to join in, here are the prompts for February from Fat Mum Slim. You can also access them through the link in my sidebar.

And one last look at my January shots:

 Left to right, top to bottom:
January 6: Happens Everyday; January 12: Colorful; January 2: Begins With G
January 9: Natural; January 1: Lunch; January 3: My Town
January 15: Black & White; January 10: Manmand; January 16: Sun
January 4: Words to Live By; January 5: Found; January 14: 3 Things

Left to right, top to bottom:

January 21: Blue; January 18: Happy Place; January 20: To Do List; January 28: Dinner

January 31: Polka Dot; January 29: Window; January 27: Something I Bought

January 17: Tiny; January 22: Nice!; January 25: A Taste of Winter

January 26: Bedtime; January 30: Best Invention Ever; January 26: Fun Stuff

TUSAL

Thanks to Linda at Stitchin With My Furbabies, I was reminded about how and where to post my TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch a Long) pictures. I did this last year but wasn't good about posting the pics or commenting on the post from It's Daffycat.

I have two TUSAL jars going right now.

These are my yarn ends for January. This jar will have to be emptied and refilled every month.

These are my thread ends for January. Not nearly as impressive, but I've only been cross stitching again for a week. They're a little hard to see because I've only done white stitches so far. This jar should be fine for the rest of the year.

What am I going to do with them, you ask? I have no idea. I used some last year for ornaments, some for amigurumi stuffing, and Hope used some for mosaics. I'll have to find something interesting to do with this year's ends.

If, like me, you can't throw anything away, even those pesky yarn/thread ends, join the fun over at It's Daffy Cat.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

Thursday Tickles

Source: http://www.bestfunnyjokes4u.com/short-funny-quotes/

Source: http://marlenemccune.blogspot.com/2011/08/pinterest-ii-adventures.html

Source: https://www.facebook.com/MeladorCreations

Source: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s480x480/544220_2962253072138_1056327755_n.jpg

Stashbuster #13: Drop in the Pond Lapghan

I don't have any WIPs to show you; I finished a few things and, although I've done about 200 stitches on my Cats cross stitch, it's been of a white cat. Trying to take a picture of a white cat on a white canvas seemed a little silly. Hopefully, I'll have something to show next week.

Here's my finished Drop in the Pond Lapghan. I love this pattern. I've seen one made to fit a queen sized bed; I'd love to make one that big.

You'll have to scroll down to see the other two items; I have to post them separately so I can link them on the Stash-Buster Link Party at Linda's Crafty Corner.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Source: http://postris.com/popular-pin/117221/very-inspiring/

Stashbuster #12: Preemie Hats

I made three of these Friday night, two on Monday afternoon, and two last night.

They're made with Red Heart Baby Pompadour in a mint green with silver threads. The silver doesn't show up very well in the picture.

You can find the pattern at Linda's Crafty Corner.

They may or may not get pom poms added; they look cuter with them, but I don't like making pom poms. I need to buy some.

Stashbuster #11: Baby Round Ripple

 

 I finished the Baby Round Ripple.

The middle's a little ruffly, but I like the colors mixed with the white.

Two Tuesday

Source: hooksandyarns.blogspot.com

Two Things I'm Grateful For:

1. The warmth of a crochet afghan. Our furnace is keeping the house between 64-68 degrees despite its setting. It's nice to curl up under the afghan on the couch or one I'm still working on. It takes the chill off.

2. Tim's willingness to be my chauffeur. This requires some explaining: During our move, I was in a car accident. No serious injury to me and none to the baby, thank God. And no other drivers involved, just me and a guardrail. But my car was totaled, leaving us with one vehicle. Tim's old pickup is temperamental and a stick shift. Even if I knew how to drive it, the gas it would take for me to drive him back and forth to work every day (20 miles one way) would be astronomical. There's no bus service in DeSoto and we're not within walking distance of anything. So, Monday through Thursday I'm homebound until he gets home at 5:30. But no matter how tired he is (his day starts at 4 am), he's always willing to take me wherever I need or want to go. And on his days off, he insists on us going somewhere fun just to get away from the house. He's kept my cabin fever to a minimum :-)

Two Patterns I Think Are Neat:

1. One Skein Pet Bed
This looks like a great stashbuster. Quick and easy to make. I'd need to make 3 for the cats and then figure out how to make a super large one for the dog. This would make a nice donation for the Snuggles Project, too.

2. Crochet Daffodil
This'll add color to the gray winter days. We can't have real flowers right now; how about crocheted ones?

 Don't forget! If you want to be entered in the giveaway for 7 skeins of Canada Knitters Yarn (navy blue), leave a comment on Monday's post. The drawing will be Saturday.

Thanks for reading!
Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Source: http://positivelifequote.blogspot.pt/2014/01/my-to-do-list-for-today.html

Source: http://web.stagram.com/p/395147767145829547_237480260

Or two, or three, or twelve....

Giveaway and New Square

Happy Monday to all! It occurred to me I haven't had a giveaway in a long time. So I decided to gift someone with some yummy yarn!

Seven skeins of Canada Knitting yarn. The label says it's orlon (acrylic) and wool. Each skein is 4 ounces. I'd love to see the winner make something warm and snuggly to get through the cold winter.

Easy entry: leave a comment on this post. If you have an idea for what you'd like to make with it, I'd like to hear it, too.

Extra entry: if you have a blog, mention the giveaway and leave me the link on this post.

Saturday, February 1 I'll use my extremely advanced giveaway winner calculator; this means I'll put all the names on pieces of paper, put them in a bowl, and draw out one. You'll have one week to claim your prize.

For the last few days, I've had an idea in my mind about a granny square. I'm not much of a patter writer, but last night I sat down and fiddled with some yarn. This was the result:

It's a 6 inch square at this point. I wanted an alternative for easy joining, so I added another round:

With a little blocking or a size larger hook (I used an I), it would be 7 inches.

Tim's idea for a name was Floating Lily Square. Hope's was similar: Water Lily Square.

What do you think? 

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Souce: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/09/learn-how-to-embrace-your-body-shape-and-feel-beautiful.html

Looks like my stash :-)

Photo a Day Challenge January 20-26

My photos for the week; I only missed one, and that was by choice. Not too bad :-)

January 20: To Do List

On my "to do" list for Monday was adding pom poms to these hats. It didn't get done that day.

January 21: Blue

Sorry about the glare, but I was trying to make sure the yarn looked blue, not purple. I have something in mind for this yarn; you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what it is.

January 22: Nice!

I made myself a nice mid day snack. Seedless grapes and a navel orange - YUM!

January 23: Bedtime

My bedtime ritual: remove my eye makeup (if I'm wearing any), wash my face, moisturize, brush my teeth, and put on lotion. Seems like a lot of work just to go bed.

January 24: Your Space

This is the one I skipped, only because my space is the corner of the couch where I crochet and cross stitch. You already saw that photo this month for My Happy Place.

January 25: A Taste of Summer/Winter

Yesterday, we had a "normal" winter day here in north Texas. Bare trees and dead grass, but temperatures in the 60s. I can live with that. It's the 20s and 30s I can't stand; we're getting more of that tomorrow. I know; all of you north of me are thinking "Wimp!" I am, I know it.

January 26: Fun Stuff

New yarn! Always fun :-)

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Source: https://www.facebook.com/emotionalwellnessforpositiveliving

Source: https://www.facebook.com/hilaria.fina

Irony:

Both pictures were added to Pinterest via Facebook.

I don't use Facebook. 

Ever.

Random Things

Not much going on. Playing catch up from being sick yesterday; nothing serious, just didn't get any sleep because of The Bean. He/she is definitely a night owl.

Started the day with a nasty nosebleed. Yay, that stage of pregnancy is starting! (I hope you heard the sarcasm in that.) I'm not sure why I get them so badly starting around month 6; no one else I know had a problem with nosebleeds during pregnancy. The doctor assures me it's normal.

Got my items to the Guardian Grandmas in the mail today. Okay, Tim did; I'm still in my pajamas :-) 

Rummaged through more boxes this morning. Because we didn't have room to bring any of our furniture from Florida (and, truly, most of it wasn't worth bringing), we don't have any shelving at all. This means all of my books and craft supplies are living in boxes until further notice. But my rummaging today was fruitful; I found my fiberfill, a large piece of cross stitch canvas, glitter letter stickers, and the plates to my Big Shot. All things I've been needing this week.

Figured out how to add a separate page to the blog; I've put some charity crochet links there. I'm not computer savvy, so blogger is still a mystery to me after 2 years. Pretty proud of myself for not having to ask Tim for help :-)

We have to go grocery shopping later. Ugh. One of my least favorite activities. We do most of our shopping at Aldi's, which is much better than dealing with the crazies at Walmart but still no fun.

I do have to buy some yarn today. Woo hoo! I have two friends in Florida who requested new slipper socks; they've worn theirs out. That means I'll still end up at stupid Walmart.

Thanks for reading my ramblings about nothing important :-)

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Source: http://www.bestfunnyjokes4u.com/short-funny-quotes/

Source: http://www.allfreecrochetafghanpatterns.com/

Neglected Hobby and Stashbuster #10: Cupcake Hats

Believe it or not, I have hobbies other than crochet. I read a lot, scrapbook and make cards (this has been neglected a lot lately, too), and I cross stitch.

It's the last one I decided to resurrect after seeing all the lovely starts Linda's doing on Stitchin With My Furbabies. So I went through a bunch of boxes,

found all my threads (I had to fix two boxes that had flipped over),

chose my design ("Cats, Cats, Cats" from Cat Purr-sonalities, #3588 from American School of Needlework),

 gathered all the appropriate colors (with a few substitutions), and prepped my fabric. I'm hoping to begin stitching tomorrow during the day. I have very poor light in the living room at night and don't think I'll torture my eyes just yet.

I finished these last night for the Guardian Grandmas. All the crocheting was actually finished Monday, but it took me a few days to do the pom poms. I'm still new at making them. The pattern can be found here at Dly's Hooks and Yarns.

Back down in the 30's today, 20's tonight. Not nearly as cold as other places but still too cold for this Florida girl. Stay warm, everyone.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

Thursday Tickle

Source: http://www.bestfunnyjokes4u.com/

Definitely me in the morning!

I watched this movie today. One of the best scenes :-)

WIP Wednesday and Stashbuster #9: Preemie Cocoons

Happy Wednesday to everyone! Of course, because Tim was home Monday, I'm behind a day. I keep thinking it's only Tuesday. I didn't make any progress on the Yo Yo blanket this past week, but

I added another 21 rows to the Drop in the Pond. Just 7 more rows on each side and 1 big edge row and I'll be done.

I started another Baby Round Ripple with some random colors from my stash. 

And I've been making preemie cocoons this week. This one's about half done, made with Red Heart Super Saver in Lavender and Melonberry. The pattern can be found here.

Here are two preemie cocoons and hats I finished. They're made with Red Heart Super Saver in Light Blue and Monet. The pattern for the cocoons is here and the pattern for the hats is here. They'll be added to the package on Friday going to the Guardian Grandmas.

I hope your week has been productive so far.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Source: http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2011/04/togetherwecanruletheworldtake2/