Smalls SAL

Started 8-30-2014

Finished 9-4-2014

Total Stitches: 825

It's check in day for the Smalls SAL. I made another bookmark, this one for my pastor's wife's birthday. I loved working on the pre-made bookmark, but I had a hard time finding a pattern that would fit. 

The pattern came from Bookmarks and MiniPulls III: The Saga Continues by Jeanette Crews Designs.

Thanks for looking.

Blessings :-)

This and That

I finished the purple hats for the Click for Babies Campaign. I managed to make 40. I was shooting for 50 but it's been a busy week.

They went in the mail yesterday. I love these big padded envelopes! You can fit a lot in them and they're usually cheaper to ship than boxes. All 40 hats fit in one envelope. The other one holds 50 preemie hats on the way to the Guardian Grandmas.

Here's my big girl playing in her Jumperoo. I can't believe she's almost 4 months old! Wasn't she born yesterday? She loves this toy so much she doesn't want to sit anywhere else when she's awake. 

My poor puppy! Smores got neutered yesterday, so he's wandering the house as the Canine Lampshade. I'm so mean; I can't help laughing at him as he runs into things. 

That's about all that's going on around here. Tim and Hope are over at the church this morning; Tim's doing maintenance projects and Hope's painting a mural for the children's church. Alex is sleeping, and I'm getting ready for a jewelry show.

Have a super Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Photo Credit

Cross Stitch Progress, Starts and Finishes

I've made a lot of cross stitching progress in the last 6 weeks. It's a great focusing craft.
Two finishes:

Kitchen Closed

Started August 1, 2014

Finished August 30, 2014

Total Stitches 1,036

Another Day Another Disaster

Started February 9, 2012

Finished August 12, 2014

Total Stitches 2,097 

I made progress on all of my current projects:

Cats, Cats, Cats

I worked more on the tan cat. It kind of looks like a map right now :-)

Sunflower Seeds

I finished the second flower and started the third.

Cherished Teddies Roly Poly March

I finished all the stripes and started stitching the patches.

Cherished Teddies Roly Poly February

I finished all the stripes and started stitching the patches.

 I also started 8 more projects:

Lid Up

Book: Pets Are People Too by Judith Bonnot

Started August 27, 2014

Next Trick

Book: Pets Are People Too by Judith Bonnot

Started August 12, 2014

God So Loved the World

Book: Bible Verses by Mike Vickery

Started August 10, 2014

Collection

Country Cross Stitching Magazine June 2003

Started July 31, 2014

Cherished Teddies Roly Poly August

Book: Cherished Teddies Roly Polys by Priscilla Hillman

Started August 7, 2014

Cherished Teddies Roly Poly September

 Book: Cherished Teddies Roly Polys by Priscilla Hillman

Started August 26, 2014

Cherished Teddies Roly Poly April

 Book: Cherished Teddies Roly Polys by Priscilla Hillman

Started August 8, 2014

Brown Trotter

Book: Horses in Motion by Judy Nason

Started August 23, 2014

Counting my monthly Smalls SAL project and the one I'm working on for Hope (no progress made on the Chick, so there's no picture), I have 14 cross stitch WIPs. 

Speaking of the Smalls SAL, I finished that for the this month (shocking!), but I'll wait to post a picture until the check in date.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Month of Hats

Thanks for all the sweet responses to my last post :-)
Here are some pictures of the hats I made in August during the darkest part of my depression:

 Told you there were a lot! Fifty preemie hats for the Guardian Grandmas. I'm hoping to get them in the mail the end of next week. The pattern can be found here at the Dainty Daisy. The hats in the first photo are made with the Option B 8th row. The hats in the second photo are made with the Option A 8th row.

I also made some hats for the Click for Babies charity drive; they're trying to raise awareness on the dangers of SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome) by providing information to new parents about the PURPLE period of crying for infants.

With a baby right in the middle of this time period, I can sympathize deeply with their cause. I've made 24 hats for them so far, but would like to make 50 total. The hats have to be received by October 1, so my personal cut off date is September 20th.

Here are some of the hats (I haven't taken pictures of all of them):

The hats have to be at least 50% purple. To make it easier on me, I've been using the same pattern found here at Kelley's Yarns. Rounds 1-4, 6-7, and 9-10 are some shade of purple. Rounds 5, 8, and 11 (added by me, just a round of single crochets) are a contrasting color. The last two hats in the second picture are the Shell Stitch Beanie from the Dainty Daisy. 

That's all the pics I have for now.

Thanks for reading.

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Picture Credit

 

I'm Back

Life is still rolling on here at my house. And I'm glad to still be a part of it.

So where have I been for the last month?

At the bottom of the pit.

Confession time: I've been struggling with postpartum depression since Alex was born. It started off small, just the weepies and an occasional sad day. It was easy to hide; I could act like everything was terrific for days at a time (or sometimes just hours), and then fall apart when I was alone. But it started spiraling downward at the end of July and I finally hit bottom.

It's been a rough journey, and there were a lot of days I didn't know if I was going to see the next one. I've been taking each day one at a time, some days one hour at a time. The scale has been tipping lately, and I have more good days than bad. 

My family's been wonderful through all this. Lots of hugs, lots of prayers, lots of help. 

I've been fully immersing myself in the healing benefits of crochet, mostly simple, monotonous patterns that work up quickly and give me a sense of accomplishment. On the bad days, I couldn't get dressed or eat, but I could make a stack of preemie hats and feel better.

I've done a lot of cross stitching, too, also very therapeutic. The tactile sensation of the thread and the focus of inserting the needle in and out of the squares quieted my muddled thoughts and soothed my focus.

And so here I am. I'm getting caught up on my blog reading and the 52 Week Crochet Challenge, and I'll have some pictures for you in the next few days. You'll laugh when you see all the hats! I didn't start counting until last week and I was shocked at how many there were.

I hope all is well in your corner of the world.
Thanks for reading.
Blessings :-)