Where do I find the time?

Many people who know me know how nuts my schedule has been for many years. They also know how much I still somehow manage to accomplish. Take, for instance, how much I still manage to crochet. Or even that somewhere in this nutty schedule I keep, I have still somehow managed to meet a new friend who has been teaching me, and others, to knit. I can't thank her enough for helping me get beyond the few little things that were proving to be roadblocks to me learning this skill. So now, I have to show you the slipper. As a learning tool, our teacher had given us a simple slipper pattern and set us loose. She told us to use larger needles so that we could see our stitches while we were learning, so I did. I think mine may have been too large. It was far too large for any human foot I've ever seen. This slipper, when shown to my darling husband, was referred to as a "bowling pin cozy". Equally, my darling middle daughter K stated that it was a "wine bottle cozy". Not what I was going for, obviously. :) So now that my very first completed knit piece has been photographed for posterity, I will likely be frogging it to reclaim the yarn. I think the colors will make a wonderful hat to add to the bag of little things I plan to donate to the hospital.

Fit for a Little Man

The owner of the company DH works for and his wife are expecting their first child, a boy, in mid-April. Naturally, I had to whip up something special for the little tot-to-be. I absolutely love how this came out. I decided that a little boy needed a pull-over sweater and a pair of Levi's jeans. I used Red Heart Baby Soft yarn and Red Heart's Leaflet J17-0750 Sweet Baby Crochet for the patterns.

Afghan for a Special Little Person

I had picked up the Bernat Baby Coordinates Sweet Stripes in the Sprite Stripes at Hobby Lobby on the clearance rack for a few dollars off per skein and so I decided to use that. DH had been with me and had been convinced that I wasn't going to use it so I had to prove him wrong. This pattern came from an older worn-out copy of Leisure Arts Leaflet 2335 - Unique Baby Afghans to Crochet. It's quite a large baby afghan at 36"x36".

I really love the variation in this pattern. The chain loop braids are gorgeous too. I've made this one several times now and it's been so beautiful every time.

Changes for the New Year

After much consideration, I've decided that my blog shouldn't just be crochet. I love the crochet, but there are other crafts at which I am equally talented. Among them are cross stitch and sewing. I look forward to sharing more projects and finds as I engage in my crafts.

First Completed Project for the New Year

This is one that I created the color and layout of using a motif I found in a book of pattern stitches that I have. (Whereabouts of book currently unknown and I don't remember the exact title. I will post further info when I figure out where I've put the book.) I'm giving it as a gift for the new grandchild of a dear friend. I do hope they like it. I liked how the edges came out because of the hexagons. I might need to try it again and do some kind of border around the edges to see if it adds anything special.

01/03/2008 Addendum: I presented the afghan to my friend. He was most surprised and loved it. He said he couldn't wait to take it to the baby. Several others at work saw it as well and praised it.

01/08/2008 Addendum: I found the book. It's called The Pattern Library: Crochet

Baby Gift

I finished this afghan last night. It's a gift for one of darling husband's coworkers who's new baby girl is due on the 9th. The yarn is my favorite Bernat Baby Coordinates Sweet Stripes in the Candy Stripes color. The pattern is from Best of Terry Kimbrough's Baby Afghans by Leisure Arts. This book has some gorgeous baby afghans. I particularly like how the pattern stitches with the striped yarn make the "seagulls" appear in the pattern.

Turtles Abound

I have a wonderful dear friend who collects turtles. I decided that she probably didn't have any like these so I made them for her birthday. The box will go in the mail today.

The pattern at http://www.geocities.com/lindaslists/turtleph.htm is the same one that I used back in 1999 to make potholders for my mother for her birthday, as well. It's made with two strands so it's a bit stiff to work with. I really like the versatility that you can get with the colors because of the dual strands though. I think I could've probably used a bigger hook and made them a little bigger than they turned out this time. The bodies are about 5.5 inches across. That seems a little small for a really usable potholder.

I made a bunch of them in both styles, so after the birthday gift I have a few left over that I'm going to send to someone else special who could probably use a boost about now. I do hope they all find useful lives in happy homes. :)

01/03/2008 Addendum: I was at my mother's over the weekend and we were looking at the turtle potholders that I'd made her back in 1999. She suggested, to make them more functional, finding a way to attach or incorporate a round silicon potholder. She pointed out that the holes in the pattern of the crochet are just large enough to result in a terrible burn if a finger slips through.