Wonky WIP

Such a dreary day today.  The temperature has dropped from 79 to 35 degrees.  The skies are leaden and it has been misting rain throughout most of the day.  I was so glad to get home from work and enjoy a huge mug of hot chocolate!  After the usual housekeeping duties were completed, I found myself alone in a too quiet house and decided to pull out an old WIP.  When I say old, I mean about 4 years old.  The poor blanket-to-be came out of its hiding place today.

Along with the blanket was a note that read,"finish off pink side and start edging!" with the edition of a count, "26 double crochet."  I'm now down to 24 double crochet rows.  It's been so long ago that I started this blanket that I don't remember the number in my initial chain!  All I know is after working on this blanket for what seemed ages, I got really frustrated with the slow progress, and tried thinking of a way to expedite it.  My thought for the blanket was to construct a double-bed sized blanket out of SINGLE CROCHET STITCHES!!  That was my FIRST mistake.  The second mistake was the amount of time the blanket would sit without me working on it.  I titled this post wonky because that is just what this blanket is.  It has been put away and taken out so many times that some of the rows consist of single crochet and turn into half-double crochet.  It's no wonder I finally started leaving myself notes! Let me get back to expediting the process.  I had an epiphany one morning: start crocheting from the foundation chain! I did just that starting here.

My foundation row was created using the red yarn.  I simply added a row of single crochet stitches (starting with the light blue) and kept going.  Once the blanket was "balanced" (with the foundation row in the middle), I began to create rows of half-double and double crochet stitches on either end of the blanket to help it grow quicker.  Progress has been made.

This is a QUEEN sized bed, so the size is right on.  I do need more rows so the blanket hangs correctly; however, I don't think I need 24 more rows.  I did want the stripes to lie the other way, and I may give in, but right now I'm thinking a few more rows and some edging will do just fine and this can be one WIP checked off my list for this year!  For right now, I'm going to update my little note to myself and put this baby away for another day.

Until we meet again, my stripey, wonky creation . . .

Friends, family, finds, and fun!

How I enjoyed my weekend of partial relaxation. My weekend started with a fun night of trivia. This is my 4th year to participate in a local literary club's trivia night.  It's a fast paced night of 10 rounds of trivia regarding 10 different topics.  The purpose is to raise money for local scholarships.  My team consisted of 7 adults.  I am pleased to say my group won for the third year in a row--many thanks to my sister-in-law who has a bank of knowledge over so many random topics!  The group also includes a silent auction to which I bid on a few items.  These are my finds!

The above photos were titled "Bluebonnet Babies" and are signed by the artist.  They are done in watercolor and I think they are so sweet!

These two, I just liked the flowers!  The dreary days we've had here prompted me to get these to add a pop of color for the house.

Aside from trivia night, there was softball and volleyball to keep me busy.  I do visit the "babies" every chance I get.  They are growing sooooo fast and are the sweetest kids (pun intended) in town ;)

It's hard to get good pictures of them as they want to climb and chew on everything AND everybody! They remind me of a litter of puppies.   They are soft and sweet and smell like leaves and grass. They are inquisitive, playful--simply adorable!

On the crochet front, not too much is happening.  Do you ever go through a lull after completing a project???  I did manage to make a couple of sample squares this week for a future project.  I like how they turned out, especially after a run through the wash.  No loose ends--always my worry.

Today was spent watching the Daytona 500.  Yes, I am a Nascar fan.  This year my daughter's favorite driver since his rookie year WON!  My gosh, the girl went nuts!  It was a fun afternoon spent with family and a good end to my weekend

Hope you added some memorable tales to your diary this week!  Have a great week!

Baby Granny Done!

This week I finished off my baby granny blanket.  When I first began making this little number, my intent was to create a lap blanket as a "tester" for a much bigger version I'd like to start on soon.  I had completed some of the rows already when the baby shower invitation arrived.  I thought, why not just turn the lap blanket tester into a baby blanket?  Well, I think it was a good choice!  Here it is!

I know it's not the best view.  Husband's work things scattered about, and at 6:00 in the morning, there was no sunlight to help brighten up the room.  The blanket is made up of 72 squares, 4 rounds each, 19 different colors, and I joined them as I went.  The 4 row border was finished with a 5th white sort of picot and fleur-de-lis ensemble.

I'm very pleased with how this little blanket turned out.  I feel pretty confident that it will stay together!  I was worried about this after the last blanket.  I was careful when crocheting the squares, joining them, darning loose ends AND snipping those little buggers! Sounds like maybe it was a stressful make, paying that close attention to details, but it was enjoyable.  One day while working on this at the window, I had a visitor.

A pretty little blue bird.  It was a dreary day, and this colorful creature caught my attention.  I watched him for a while as I worked, pleased to see his mate had made a home in the nesting box of a bottle tree in the garden.

Perhaps there will be some babies soon.  Yesterday, I cleared out much of the area around this spot--tons of weed, winter grass, stinging nettles (some 4 feet tall!!!--I know--terrible--shouldn't let things get so jungly!) and I worried about "running" off this little family; however, as I type this up this morning, I am seeing the handsome pair flitting about.  This little creature stuck around and watched my weed pulling yesterday.  I even had time to go inside to grab the camera.

He was about the size of a nickle.  So cute!  I do love all of the seasons, what we have of them in South Texas, but I especially like when spring is looming.  All of the activity: the bees, the birds, little grasshoppers. . . that resurgence of life.

Enjoy your week!

A new read . . .

Just popping in to promote the latest book I'm reading.  Something very different for me and I'm loving it!



You can read about it here

On the crochet front, my baby blanket is coming along nicely.  More on that later!  Have a good day!

January Days . . .

So much has happened this first month of 2015. . .

Two birthdays (actually three . . .continue reading for more details :))
One wedding (provided the singing)
Numerous basketball games
4H meetings
One crochet blanket completed (details a bit further down)
Rotary meetings
One holy day of obligation
Ran only 15 miles.  WILL do better in February!
School activities...

and there were the usual family, work, and church obligations: household chores, grading papers, helping hubby build fence, playing HORSE with the kids--just the normal grind.  One very exciting happening this month was the birth of our TWINS!  Meet Amy and Marley.

My husband decided a few months back to invest in a goat operation.  He is a cattleman, not a goat man.  I was very leery in the beginning, but slowly grew to accept the idea, especially when coming home one August day--there they were!  Meg, the mama, delivered triplets one early January afternoon.  One of the kids did not make it :(  These two, however, have brought us all much joy and laughter. This is also why we were building fence this weekend.  Parceling out various areas for these guys, or gals, and the others!

 One other January accomplishment was the completion of my first JAYGO blanket.  I am a self-taught crocheter and this is the first time I pieced a blanket together.  I was so excited to get it back from the cleaners.  I let the local dry cleaner block it for me as I don't have the materials nor the space to do it myself.  Here's the finished product. Ta dah!!

Not the best picture and the entire blanket isn't shown, but you get the idea.  I tore the wrapping off and wrapped myself in its warmth, basking in my joy, and I heard from my daughter, "What's that?"  My stomach sank!  As I looked at the blanket, one of the centers was gone!  Shredded looking.  I nearly died!  All of my hard work . . . for nothing I thought.  Well, I calmed down and thought of a way to fix the problem.  Check it out for yourself.  How do you think I did?

All I could think to do was crochet the center piece and sew it in place.  Once this one was fixed, I noticed a second!!!  I must have, when clipping my ends, accidentally snipped something I shouldn't have.  This time, I used the same colored yarn to avoid the more noticeable fix in the above picture.

Honestly, when using the blanket, I have a hard time finding these two squares.  This was quite a labor of love!  100 circles using scraps of purple, blue and green.  I added some cream for contrast. I started making my circles in November and began squaring them up and joining them mid-December.  It is a lap sized blanket.  This project has been a learning experience.  I've learned to;  wear my bifocals, work in bright light, use a smaller hook, and be very careful with what I cut!  This project has also made me a little hesitant in giving my crochet pieces away.  Hats, scarves, baby booties are one thing, but a blanket!  The idea of giving someone a defective blanket is causing a panic!!  So . . . I'm playing it safe with my current WIP.  A granny scrap baby blanket.

It is a baby gift for a former student, actually the mom and dad are both former students!  Baby shower is next Friday.  Single color, four round squares.  Joining as I go.  I REALLY prefer this method.  Will share the finished product and details in my next post.

Right now I am off to youngest's last basketball game of the season.  What a fun time it has been, and what a great month January was.  Here's hoping February is chock full of wonderful things as well! Enjoy this first week of February!