LONG TIME

~~~ It has been such a long time since i have posted anything on here or any of my blogs. i have been very busy with things in life and have not found time to do everything that i have wanted to. i am still doing crafts but right now i am cross stitching more than i am crocheting. i will post some of my work as i get the pictures loaded. 

~~~ i have a lot of cross stitch projects started that i need to finish and have joined a group at my local cross stitch store, The Black Cat Stitchery, to get my "lost and forgotten works" finished. The ladies at this store are amazing and the selections are unbelievable and if they do not have what you are looking for they will do their bests to find it. If you are ever in the area stop by, or check out their webpage and see what they have. my stitching has improved so much since i have started going there. 

~~~ i have learned to stitch on linen and not just Aida as well as to do counted needle point. i find it so very relaxing and meditative to do. And as the wonderful ladies at the story often say, "It is cheaper than therapy." In fact tomorrow they are have what they call their Market Day, where they are putting out all the new products that they got while at market in Nashville. It starts at 9:00 AM and i cannot wait to be there. i know they have picked some patters up for me that i cannot wait to get started on. 

~~~ Though i am only allowing myself to start one of the projects that they picked up until i get some of my others that i have left unfinished done.  i do not need a bunch of unfinished projects laying around the apartment. Not to mention that most of these unfinished projects are meant to be gifts for people and i really should get them done and to the ones that they are intended for.  .... i love making things for other people.

my Jelly

i love jelly fish of all kinds and i have pictures and stuffed animals of them as well as a beautiful DVD of them swimming around. So i found a pattern to crochet them. This is not one from the pattern this is one that i made up myself.

Taking On a Lot and Loving It

~~~~ i have started working on making blankets for one of the groups i belong to on Ravelry. We are making healing blankets for people nominated by our group with squares made from all over the world. Plus i am working on my own projects as well. i am making table covers from my end tables in my living room, as well as dish towels and dish clothes for my kitchen, and knitting a blanket for my son. 

~~~~ Not to mention that i am reading two books one that i have read many times but still love The Secret Circle Part 1 by LJ Smith paperback and then Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen on my Kindle. i love reading and i do it as much as i can. Plus i am watching my Gilmore Girls TV series on DVD so as i am watching these DVD's i am crocheting away working on one project or another until my carpal tunnel starts acting up and my arms start killing me again. Then it is time to read. 

~~~~ With the weather getting warmer i have my windows open and am loving the fresh air coming into my apartment and the natural light that i can let in with the open curtains it is great. i can not wait until all the snow is off the ground and spring is here so i can go and sit outside to crochet and read. i am hoping that by sitting outside i can get some much needed sunlight to feel better and maybe have some of my neighbors get interested in learning to crochet so i can get the word out about my crochet lessons that i want to offer to people around town.

Now That Christmas Is Over

~~~~ Now that Christmas is over i have more time to blog on here. i did get all my Christmas presents done and handed to the correct people and now i can work on some other projects that i have sitting around that need to get done. i also have a pair of fingerless gloves that i need to do for my brother's girlfriend's mom. She saw the ones i made for my brother's girlfriend and really liked them and said she would pay me for a pair for herself. Since i love making them and they are really easy i have no problem making them for her. Plus i can use the extra cash even if it is only a few bucks. 

~~~~ i have several blankets to finish. One for my friend AP's daughter that is almost done, one for my son, and one for Roommate. i want to try and get these done ASAP so that i can get other things started and finished plus i want to make a blanket for myself for my bed. i can not wait to start on that one but i will not do that until i have all these other blankets that i started, finished.

Scarves

~~~~ Yep it is that time of year again it is cold and time to start thinking about Christmas presents. i am knitting scarves right now. i just finished one for my friends daughter in pink and white variegated yarn called Powder Puff by Palette Collection. It turned out really well and is the one in the picture. i am also crocheting her a scarf and hat to match the fingerless gloves that i made her while i was in OH. 

~~~~ i am also knitting a scarf with baby colored variegated yarn for someone very close to me, but as there is a chance they may read this blog at some point i am not going to say who. Then i have another scarf to knit for an other friend of mine and that one i think i am going to do blue and tan. 

~~~~ Two of my brothers and their girlfriends want blaze orange wool hats for hunting so i have to see if i can find blaze orange wool somewhere and then crochet these hats. (i do not know how to knit a hat yet.) If i can not find blaze orange wool i am going to try and find some blaze orange cotton as they want them to be natural fibers for hunting. (So far they have gotten three deer between them 2 bucks and 1 doe.) i still need to figure out what i am going to make for my other brother and his roommate.

~~~~ i will get back to the chemo caps later when it is not so hard to do. my dad no longer needs them as he passed away October 18th but i will still be making them to donate and Roommate's uncle is going to needs some as well so i will give some to him. i already gave him one but he is going to need more then one so i will get them made as soon as i can but after that i do not think i will be making them for  awhile. 

~~~~ i am still working on the emergency baby blankets too. One has been finished and Roommate took it down to them when he went down there last weekend. The other two are being worked on and will be mailed as soon as i can. They are turning out really nicely and will be really warm and that is what is needed in this weather that we have now. Winter is on its way.

~~~~ i have the gifts for my Secret Santa ready to be mailed out for one of my groups on Ravelry called "Lets Make a Gift of a Healing Blanket". As soon as i have the money i will get the gift posted off to them. i really hope that they like it.

Chemo Caps For my Dad

~~~~ my mom called me the other day and asked me to make a bunch of chemo caps for my dad (these pictured are not them) so i have been looking at patterns and found a few that i can use that i think he will like. Now my dad is 7+ hours away from me and i can not have him try them on as i am making them to make sure they are the right size so i asked Roommate (well now ex-roommate but still a very dear friend of mine) to try them on to make sure they will fit my dad. So far i have one done and i am working on others as well as the baby blankets for that friend of a friend. It is a good thing that i love to crochet or i would be going nuts with all the stuff that i have to get done.

~~~~ i have a project everywhere that i sit down except the kitchen table. i even have one here at my desk that i work on when i am waiting for my customers to answer their phones for work or when i am on the phone with my boss who talks for hours about nothing and then wonders why i have no calls made that day. But i digress. i am also still working on the project for me or the scarf and beret. i have finished the beret but am still working on the scarf as i LOVE very long scarves and this will be no exception. i got tons of compliments on the one that i made myself last year that is a raspberry color and in a shell pattern. i will still wear that one this year but now i will have this one to wear as well. i need to find some more of that raspberry colored Caron's Simply Soft so that i can make myself a hat to match last years scarf. i did not think of doing that last year and that scarf was made from what was left over (1.5 skeins) after i bought too much to make a baby blanket for a friend.

Emergancy Baby Blankets

 ~~~~ A very dear friend of mine let me know that she has a friend who desperately needs baby blankets and clothes for a 1 week old little boy. So i raided my stash of yarn and pulled out a pound of bright yellow, bright green, and bright blue yarns to make three blankets and hats in each color. Now these are just going to be solid colored hats and blankets. Nothing overly fancy and something i can whip up quickly. So i am doing at least one in a granny square (one large square), and the others i am thinking just a simple Half Double stitch back and forth or something just as quick and easy that will make nice warm blankets with winter coming.

~~~~ i am going to ask Roommate to send them down to our friend so that she can pass them on as soon as they are done. i hope that it will be very quickly as they have jumped everything else and are the most important things i am working on. The family that is getting them is staying with her for a little while and she was telling me how Momma has never really been shown any kindness and when Friend gave Momma a few shirts to year because she really did not have any she cried over the kindness. i do not want to make her cry but i do want to show her that there are people in this world that will show her kindness even if they do not know her. i just wish i could do more for her.

Time To Relax

~~~~ i have been on the move all day today well yesterday actually as it is after midnight. i walked to the bank and back a total of almost 2 hours walking to get $30 worth of quarters because i was out and needed them to do laundry. Now mind you i did not have that much laundry to do 3 loads to wash 6 to dry because the drier only dries about half a load at a time. Then there was folding all the laundry, changing the sheets on my bed, cooking dinner, reading with Son, and doing the dishes. Now it is time for me to relax and enjoy.

~~~~ i have my Blueberry Muffin oil from Abbey and Sullivan and my Blueberry Scone candles from Yankee Candle burning and my home smells wonderful and i am going to finish the blog and go and work on my scarf and beret for myself. i have jumped all the other projects i am working on and decided to make something for myself for this winter. i was at Walmart the other day and found the gorgeous Caron's Simply Soft in Pistachio and just had to get it. i want to make myself a long scarf and beret with it as well as a tote bag for my books and projects. i hope i got enough but if not i can always go back and get more. That is one of the great things about Caron's Simply Soft there are no dye lots to worry about matching. i am doing a very simple pattern for the scarf just. Ch 16 turn ch1 sc, dc, across the row and ch 1 turn sc, dc across the row and just keep doing that over and over. i do not have to think about it and can watch TV or talk to friends as i do it and it makes a great texture to scarf.

Writing A Patern

~~~~ This is my first attempt at writing a pattern for something that i am making up as i go along. i am making a messenger bag for a friend of mine that i went to high school with. She has wanted something handmade for a while now and i have been busy with so many other things well now i am taking the time to make this for her. i have made plenty of purses and tote bags sans pattern but i wanted to make this one from a pattern but could not find one that i liked so i am making up my own again and will try to put it up on Ravelry when i have it done. 

~~~~ All the other bags that i have made have either been for me or for the little girls in the neighborhood so being really well done was not a huge deal. Mind i never gave out anything that was not well made but if it was not done to a pattern or not perfect in its dimensions that really did not matter. But this bag i want to be as nice as i can make it. i found that beautiful Autumn Red yarn for Caron's Simply soft and am using that with a Persimmons border and detail. i think it is going to turn out really very beautifully and i can not wait to see what it looks like when it is all done and give it to her.

~~~~ So far i have the bottom done and written and one of the sides started. Writing the pattern does not seem to hard i just have to remember to write down everything that i do. We will see how the pattern turns out and my mom already said that she would test the pattern for me and see if i wrote everything down correctly and in a way that is easy to understand.

~~~~ i am also thinking about offering crochet lessons to make a little extra money. But for the money of the lessons they will get the yarn to make a hat and scarf as well as a set of crochet hooks in sizes G, H, & I. Now i just need to find people that want to learn to crochet. Maybe i will start with some of my neighbors and see if they are interested but i am not sure. i know there a few friends that i went to school with that want to learn but they are in OH and i am in IL some 7+ hours away from them. So i am hoping that there are people out here that want to learn as well and that i can find some of them.  i did teach Roommates niece to crochet and she really likes doing it so maybe i can talk to her and see if any of her friends want to learn too.

My Goal

~~~~ i am going to try and keep this up to date with my projects as i start and finish them. i am not sure how well i am going to do but we will see. i am one that starts many projects at a time and slowly gets them done. However i always try to get them done. Sometimes it may take a few years but i always get back to it in the end. It just depends on what other projects come up in the mean time and how quickly i have to get them done and who they are for if they are gifts or not.