Mom's Gift

Now that Christmas is over I can finally post a pic of the shawl I made for mom. I did the Serafina Shawl pattern using a rich chocolate brown chenille and it turned out just scrumptuous! I really wish this picture did the shawl justice, but I guess it will have to do.

Now that Christmas if over I'm working on afghans for the kids and a baby blanket for a friend of mine. It looks like I might be rejoining the workforce in the near future so my fingers need to fly if I want to finish these projects anytime soon. Only problem is I've also found a new hobby that cuts into my crochet time. I recently started playing with PSP and can literally spend hours doing it!! Oh, btw, for those of you who don't know what PSP is (it's not a drug!!) it's PaintShop Pro!

Brrrr....

We've been blessed. Most of the bad weather has completely missed us here in NC. But this week is different since our heat isn't working. This morning it's 32 F outside and our heat pump is blowing cool air. The heat/air repair place called and told me they can't get here till tomorrow. Guess we'll all be sleeping in a couple layers of clothes tonite! lol

Oochy Ouchy

I haven't been posting much, matter of fact I haven't been on the computer much lately either. It's just been too painful to sit in this chair for very long. I finally saw the doc yesterday and he gave me a program to do to loosen up the muscles at the base of my skull, so hopefully I'll be back to posting on a regular basis soon.

In the mean time, I finished another hat and scarf set. This one was for me. It's 'New Flame Red' with a single black stripe. The yarn is something I found on sale at Hobby Lobby for $0.86/3.5 oz skein. Not a bad deal! I'm still working on afghans for my daughters and a baby blanket for a friend, but with the holidays coming I'm just not having much time to crochet. I've decided I'll not be getting the girls' ghans done in time for Christmas, but hopefully I'll have them finished in time for their birthday next month.

Busy Hooker

Wow, hard to believe it's been over a week since I last posted. I've been busy crocheting, trying to get things done for Christmas. I finished another afghan, this one for my other sister. It really didn't take long, but I procrastinated about sewing all the pieces together. It's done holding 2 strands together throughout and it turned out very soft and cushy. I really hope she likes it.

I also finished a hook case and started an afghan for one of my daughters and a baby blanket for a good friend of mine. Now if I could just keep my son from stealing my hooks out of my projects I'd probably be working on the baby blanket rather than sitting here. I can't work on the afghan for my daughter because they're home from school now. I figure I can work on it while they're at school and in bed, hopefully I can get hers done and do one for her sister before they get out for Christmas break. That means I have until 12:30pm on the 19th as they have early release from school that day. Wish me lots of luck and flying fingers as I'm going to have to work hard to get them finished in time!

This is the most recent square I've done for my AIAY group. This particular square will be going to Mimi. I'm excited, next month is my month so I'll be receiving 10 squares from the other members in the group! Hopefully I won't take forever in putting them all together! lol


12" square for Mimi

Embarrassing moments...

We all have them. Those moments that everyone else finds exceedingly funny, but we just wish we could roll time back and undo them. I know, this may not seem so embarrassing to most, but in MY family...ugh.

This weekend we went to my inlaws for the day. While there, my MIL pulled out a stack of photos for us to go through. (In my defense; I'll just say that I was tired and I really wasn't paying attention, but I do remember wondering who the cute little girl next to my neice was.) So anyway, my husband hands me a picture and says "they look like they could be brother and sister". It's the same photo, I look again and ask how they could be brother and sister when it's 2 girls. OMG, it was a picture of my son from 5 months ago before he got his first haircut!!! (My dh will never let me live this one down!)

This first picture is from the same day as the one mentioned.

The second is from a couple days ago. There's a big difference!! lol

Cheating

Let me start by wishing Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it.

Now, to explain the title. Unless I've had Thanksgiving dinner at someone else's house, I ALWAYS cook a turkey (or my dh fries one). This year we cheated and let Bojangle's do the frying for us!! lol We really wanted to fry our own, but since we're living in a condo right now we don't have any "safe" place to set up the turkey fryer and as much as I hate this place I don't want to be the cause of it burning down.

We're not having the large crowd this year that we usually do. Only 2 soldiers and the 5 of us. We usually have at least twice that number, but we've only been here 5 months and just haven't had time to make the connections I guess. Anyway, back to the kitchen I go. Ya'll have a blessed day.

Migrating old blog entries

I want to migrate my old blog posts off the other blog here before they're lost forever, but I can't seem to figure out how. As I mentioned in my first post here Myblogsite.com will no longer be supporting blogs. They gave all their members the option to migrate everything over to Blogharbor and it was very easy, BUT after the first 30 days they want $8.95/month. I really don't feel the need at this time to pay for blog services when there are so many free sites out there.

If there's anyone reading this who knows how to migrate or save blog entries from one site to another I'd appreciate a comment with tips or instructions. Or an email would be helpful as well.

Off my hook.

I haven't been crocheting much the past few days, but I have finished a few projects. I made hats and scarves for the girls, finished a couple of 12" squares for an exchange, and started an afghan for my other sister.

I took the girls to AC Moore over the weekend to their Winter Madness festival or whatever it was called. We all had a good time. I restrained myself to only purchasing 2 pounders in cream to finish the ghan I'm currently working on. The girls got to be crafty and they loved it! They made cards, gift bags, pipe-cleaner candy canes, cinnamon stick reindeer, learned how to etch glass, and brought home free lady bug counted cross-stitch kits. Their dad is the one who taught them how to cross stitch. Was nice to see them all sitting together figuring out the pattern. I brought home one too, but he took it. He's about 1/2 way finished already!! shhh, don't tell him I told you though...lol

Moving again.

Once again I'm changing my blog address. My old hosts have decided they no longer want to support blogging and are closing it down at the end of November. I'm trying to decide if I want to somehow salvage my old posts and photo's or just let them go to bloggy heaven. It's not like there's anything mind blowing or earth shattering in them, but since I'm one of those people who really doesn't like to write, it seems like such a shame to let them just disappear.
As with the last move, I've joined several different blog sites to try and find one I like. The last one just seemed to 'fit'. I liked the editorial freedom I had. Oh well, I'll get it figured out (hopefully before the end of November).

Help me find a new blog home!

After not being able to access my blog for a few days, I've just received an email stating that MyBlogSite.com will no longer be offering blog services and I need to move my blog or risk losing everything on November 30.
This is a chance for you, my blogsphere companions to voice your opinion on what site you think has the best blog hosting service. Come on now, don't be shy, voice your opinions now!!

Off and on my hook.

Here's a pic of a hat I finished for my son last night. I used the Remebering Gage pattern at Head Huggers. Instead of Caron SS and an H hook though, I used Homespun and a J hook.
I've been meaning to put some progress bars on my blog so I can keep track of what I'm working on (and what I plan to do), but I just haven't had time to do it yet. What I'm currently working on is the Seraphina Shawl using a rich, chocolate brown chenille for my mom for Christmas. I've also got some hats and mittens going for the girls, mittens for JW, getting ready to do another ghan formy other sister, a pair of slippers, and a rug for the bathroom.
How many days are left til Christmas?

Passing on/sharing the art!

My daughter's have been learning to crochet. They asked me months ago to teach them and I did teach them a basic chain. They both decided that was all they needed to know from me and instead tried to learn from a book I had bought them. After a while Amber gave up, but Alicia went off and did her own thing. After months of work (while not knowing any stitches, but "making up her own") she finished a 'scarf' that she wants to give to a friend. It's got some very interesting stitches, knots, spaces, and textures to it!
They both came to me this weekend ready to have another lesson so we started over with a basic chain. They made and remade chains until their tension wasn't so erratic (they learned this faster than I did!). Then we proceeded on to sc. They both did a couple of swatches before Amber decided it was boring, but Alicia just kept at it and made a LOT of improvement. She's still learning to count stitches per row and sometimes misses a stitch or two, and even sometimes does a blo or flo rather than going thru both loops! All in all though I'd say we had a very successful lesson!

Aztec Sun

Well I've finally finished the sun ghan! I've been down with a bad head cold today and I was so cold, nothing better than to snuggle under a nice warm blanket. Of course it gave me plenty of time to finish the last few rounds! Although I bought extra yarn specifically for this project when I started it, I ran out of red 2 1/2 rounds from completion. Talk about frustration!! Thankfully AC Moore is having a 25% off sale on their yarns so I picked up an extra skein yesterday and I used most of it to finish! I used a J hook and basic RH yarn, the final measurement of it is 78 3/4 dia. I had to stand on a chair with the ghan on the floor to get most of it in the photo.
When we were kids, my sister painted a big yellow/orange sun on the ceiling of her bedroom and she's such a vibrant person that this pattern literally screamed at me when I saw it and I knew I had to make it for her. Sure hope she likes it!

12" squares

I sent off two more 12" squares today for my AIAY (Afghan In A Year) exchange. These squares are fun to do and work up fast. I hope the recipients like them as much as I liked making them.
I wish I would have taken this pic AFTER I blocked the square. It looks so much better than this, but I've already mailed it off.
4 more rounds and I'll finish the sun ghan and look where I'm at. Am I working on the ghan? NO, I'm sitting here typing this and AVOIDING it! Ok, off to work on it I go! Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get distracted with more squares or washcloths...hehe

Almost finished!!

Well, I'm almost finished with the sun ghan that I've been working on since July. I have to admit that I'm rather embarrassed that it's taking so long, but it gets SO boring to work on it. I figure if I don't spend too much time on here or working on other projects I can probably get it done by Wednesday afternoon. We'll see.....

Wish me luck!! lol

Drop Zone

I sure didn't get much done today, but I had a good time! After school, the kids and I went out to the drop zone where W was working and watched some HALO (high altitude low opening) jumpers. The girls like to count the parachutes as they open and of course watch them come down, and JW just likes to run around and play and point at the men and women falling out of the sky!
After everyone was safely back on the ground, we had to put JW in the back of the truck so he wouldn't run all over the chutes that were on the ground. One of the Sgt's left his helmet and goggles and JW just couldn't resist. Of course daddy helped him ;)
Apparantly, daddy started out jumping the same way. By messing with his daddy's (or daddy's friend's) gear when he was a little boy. Looks like we may have another jumper in the family.
All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good day. What more could I ask for?

Finished poncho

Well, I finished the poncho for myself just in time for the cold mornings here. I used a lighter weight yarn than the pattern called for, but it's still warm! It's called Woman's Poncho from the Lion Brand website. I also changed the colors, but I think you'll see that they work well together.

Busy Hooker

Phew, my slump is definitely over and my hooks have been very busy. I mentioned last week that I had joined a couple of charity groups for survivors of Katrina. I've devoted most of my crochet time for the past week to these 2 projects and have come up with the following.
The top picture is 6" squares for Squares4Survivors and the bottom is washcloths for ClothsforKatrina .
Yesterday I went to AC Moore and Hobby Lobby to see if I could find some more cotton on sale. I didn't find any cotton on sale, but I did find Wool-Ease on sale at HL for $1.37/skein so I finally bought some to start a project I've been wanting to make for myself. I also bought a couple of Red Heart Crystallites hooks. I've never used them before but they had the 'L' and 'M' that I've been looking for. What a dream to work with! I've always used Boye hooks and had never tried a 'straight' hook before. OMG I feel like I'm hooking 5x faster now!

Halloween Swap

Now that I've gotten word that my partner received her swap box, I can post pictures of what I made. I mentioned a while back that I was using FPDC for the first time and showed a pic. Well, I was using this cute pumpkin candy purse pattern and had a blast with it. Here's how mine turned out!

The next thing I made was this cute doily from Annie's Attic - Easy One-Day Doilies book.
The original pattern called for size 10 thread in teal and pink using a size 7 hook with a finished size of 5 1/2" dia. I wanted it to be a little bigger so I substituted size 3 thread in orange and black and used a size 0 hook. If I remember correctly, the finished diameter turned out to be just a little over 8 inches!
I had a lot of fun putting this swap package together and my kids got to help. We added a bag of candy corn, some different types of tea bags, a cute little stuffed witch, some halloween socks, and a leaflet of little boy afghan patterns. I sure hope my partner had as much fun opening the package as I had putting it together!