Granny Patchwork Is Finally Finished

Hello everyone,
 After many weeks of making and joining squares and then waiting for some more yarn for the border, my Patchwork Blanket is finished. Yay! I started this blanket on Valentine's Day and it took six weeks to make and join 621 squares. I then asked my friend, Tracy, to send me some more Stylecraft yarn in Meadow so I could make a border. She lives in England and was kind enough to send it to me. It got lost somewhere and after I finally gave up on it, the package turned up on our doorstep in the middle of the night last Saturday. When we went to bed it wasn't there. I got up at 3 am to close some windows because it was raining and saw a box sitting propped up against our side door. I recognized Tracy's handwriting and ran outside to get it.

 My yarn had arrived. The box was soggy, but the yarn was dry. Needless to say, I did not go back to bed. I had to start on the border. I finished the blanket about an hour ago. Here it is.

Don't mind the messes on the sides of the bed. I literally threw everything on the floor so I could take a photo. I should have waited until the light was better, the colors don't look as nice as they do in real life, but I couldn't wait. I love this blanket. It is all mine, even though Autumn is modeling it here. This is my sofa blanket. Autumn and Will both have several blankets that I have made for them. This one is a blanket I had planned for a long time and finally got to make this year and I love it.
 Timing is everything too, when I got home from work today and was excited that I only had half of the last round of the border to do, there was a package waiting for me. Can anyone guess what it was?

I bought that note pad a few weeks ago and loved the colors. I thought about it and decided that I had to make a blanket in the same colors. Then there was a sale on Stylecraft last week. 15% off is hard to resist with free shipping too. I have a tutorial to finish writing, on how to make a flat oval for a basket lining. My same lovely friend, Tracy, has a basket with an oval bottom and I told her I would write a tutorial on how to make the lining. There is also one more blanket that I have to border and then I start on this new project. I can't wait. I haven't actually bought this much yarn in years. Most of my blankets start with scraps and stash. Not quite sure what kind of blanket it will be yet. I will talk to everyone soon. Happy stitching. :)

Happy Mother's Day

 Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommies out there. I am having an enjoyable day. I did some chores this morning and then made a cup of coffee and sat down for a day of relaxing and doing whatever I want. This usually means crochet or some type of crafting. It is pretty cold here today. I think spring may just skip us altogether this year and jump into the summer. Sitting on the sofa covered with yarn is a good way to spend my day.
 This week I started a few new projects. I am working on my Lorelei Shawl CAL.

This is all the yarn. I pulled out this basket to keep it in. I have a lot of baskets and all of them are lined. This one isn't, so I decided to make a lining for it. I have been working on a blanket using up all of my Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe.

I am pretty close to finished with this one. I should be done in a day or two. At least I hope so. It is a gift for a sweet girl I know who is going away in a few days to start an internship. I have lots of ends and mini balls of it left over and the yarn has been discontinued. I can't throw it away, I love the yarn. It is perfect for making a lining for a basket.

I think I am going to like the way the colors go together and the basket won't pull on any yarn I keep in it. I hope everyone is having a nice Sunday and a great Mother's Day. Talk to all of you soon. :)

A New CAL

Hello everyone,
 I think I may be getting my blogging mojo back. I haven't felt like I have had much to say lately, I was only working on one blanket and I didn't want to show the same progress photos week after week. I still need to do the border for that blanket. My wonderful friend, Tracy, sent me the yarn for the border and it is lost somewhere between here and Somerset in the UK. I know she will send me more. We love to send each other yarn and I am working on gathering some more goodies for her right now. So, someday soon I will border that blanket and post a photo.
 In the meantime, my friend, Lisa and I have started a CAL on our group on Ravelry. I think this is going to be a fun CAL and we would love for anyone to join us. The pattern is not that difficult and there are plenty of us in the group that can help anyone with questions. It is the Lorelei Shawl. I have really wanted to make this for some time and haven't been able to find the exact yarn in the stores. I ended up buying this yarn and really like it.

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It is Lion Brand Yarn Amazing and the colorway is Mauna Loa. I only have 3 skeins of it and need 5 more. It is easy to find and even though it is expensive on their website, it is about half the price in the shops. I don't understand that, but I got it for $4.00 a skein. I hope some of you out there in blog land will join us in this CAL. Talk to everyone soon. :)

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Hello,
 I haven't blogged much since 2013 started. All for good reasons though, mostly spending lots of time with my daughter and husband. We are loving that Will is on the day shift now and we are having the best of times.
 I am almost finished with my Patchwork Blanket. I finished joining all 621 squares and just need to get the yarn for the border. I will show it after I have put a border on it. That project consumed me. I didn't work on anything else while I was making and joining those squares, that is unusual for me. I usually have a couple of small projects and a couple of big projects on the go at the same time. It was kind of nice to concentrate on one thing only.
 Autumn also finished swim lessons in the middle of April and we also had some major flooding two weeks ago. Our basement, my room at work and almost every other building in Solon took on lots of water. So, we have been busy this month.
 I always make a big Sunday dinner and this week I made baked Macaroni and Cheese. I don't like the boxed stuff that kids like. My mom always made it from scratch and this is how we like it.
You will need,
16 oz. sharp cheddar (cubed)
4 oz. swiss (sliced)
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
1 bag or box of croutons
1 lb. of macaroni
1 1/2 cups milk

I start by boiling a pound of macaroni. I take it off the burner before it is cooked all the way through, it is going in the oven for at least a half hour and I don't like the noodles to get mushy.
Next I chop up 16 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese and set it aside.

The next step is a white sauce. Melt 1/4 cup of butter then add 1/4 cup of flour. Stir until there are no lumps and then I add about 1 1/2 cups of milk (I used skim). Simmer over low heat until thickened, not too thick, kind of like a cream soup. Then add the cheese and stir until it melts.

You can use shredded cheese too, I think small cubes melts faster. Once I have the cheese sauce, I turn off the heat and add the drained noodles.

Next I pour half of it into a greased 9 x 13 glass pan. Then I layer it with about 4 oz. of sliced swiss cheese.

 Top with the rest of the pasta mixture. The last step before baking is too add the crunchy top. I use a bag of croutons and flatten them with my rolling pin and then pour it on top.

Bake at 375 F for about 30 to 40 minutes. Until browned and bubbly.

We all really like this, I serve it with veggies and the leftovers never last very long. I hope you enjoy this if you make it. Talk to everyone soon. :)

Patchwork Progress

Where have I been? This has been such a busy year compared to last year. My daughter is in swimming lessons in the evenings, she has homework this year and then we are all still getting used to the wonderful fact that my husband is now home every night,( he had been on the evening shift since we got married). I have also  been utterly consumed with working on my Patchwork Blanket.  I usually have 3-4 projects on the go at the same time. When I started this I found that I didn't want to work on anything else. I made 621 squares, which I finished last Sunday. I started to join them that evening.

I am using the join as you go method, even though I made the squares already. I just pull back the sides I need to join. I know that sounds crazy, but it helped me to be able to make squares anywhere I went. It also helped with square placement. I used all scraps and leftovers for this and wasn't sure how much of each color I would have of the completed squares. The project isn't portable anymore. I am almost half way there.

Yes, it is finally warm enough for bare feet and a dress, at least for me. It is supposed to reach 62 F today. I am so glad spring has finally decided to come to this part of the world. Back to the blanket, I have 13 more rows of 27 squares to join. Then I will border it. My friend, Tracy, is sending me some more Meadow (Stylecraft). I don't know what I will do for the border yet, but it will be in Meadow. This blanket will be all mine. My husband has a couch blanket, my daughter has a couple of couch blankets and I have none. I wasn't sure what this was going to look like until I started joining and I am really happy with it and can't wait to finish it. I miss regular blogging and I know that things will settle down soon and I will get back to it. I am still reading everyone else's blogs though. I will post the Ta Da of this very soon, hopefully this week. Talk to everyone soon. :)

Last Day of Spring Break

Hello,
 How is everyone today? Our last day of Spring Break looks more like the first day of Christmas Break.

I have spent most of the day inside making spaghetti sauce and finishing up and working on some projects. I finished my Spring Pillow that I was working on for a CAL with the Everything Zen group on Ravelry.

The pattern and details are on the link to the group. It was a fun project. I named it the Spring Pillow, hoping that spring will arrive here sometime soon.
 I haven't been blogging much lately. I have been enjoying having my husband around in the evenings since he started his new job. It has been great. I have also been working on a really big patchwork granny blanket. I have only a few more squares to go before I start joining them. I usually put them together as I go but, I wasn't sure of how much of each color I had left from my Stylecraft stash. This blanket is using up most of my dk and most of my Stylecraft. I will start to join them sometime this week. Here are the piles of squares I have so far. I have two colors left to finish.

There are close to 600 squares here. I really can't wait to put them all together. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. I need to go tend to my spaghetti sauce now. I will talk to everyone later. :)

Liebster Award

Hello,
 Last month I was given the Liebster Award by two lovely bloggers. Unfortunately, I have been busier than I was before Christmas. I have not forgotten about the awards. Jennifer at Thistlebear was the first to give me the award and I want to answer her questions first. Here they are.

1. What was the first music concert you ever attended? Jimi Hendrix, no lie, with my parents.

2. Would you rather be hot or cold? Cold.

3. What is your favorite soft drink? Diet coke.

4. Can you whistle? Roll your tongue? Wiggle your ears? Yes to all three.

5. What is your favorite book? The Mists Of Avalon.

6. Coffee or tea? Coffee, I like tea too, but I love coffee.

7. Have you ever had a brand-new car? No.

8. Do you know how to dance? Not even a little bit.

9. Do you collect anything? Elephants.

10. How many pillows do you sleep with? Three.

11. What is your favorite pair of shoes? My crocs.

I love Jennifer's blog and always look forward to her posts. 

I also got the award from Gwen at Cottage In The Lane. Here are her questions.

1.  Do you have a favourite book? The Mists of Avalon.

2. What is your favourite food? Anything Mexican.

3.  If you could choose, where would you like to work? At home.

4. What places have you traveled to? I have been all over the world, literally. My mom and dad took us all over when we were young and then I went to University in England and traveled all over Western Europe and also went to Morocco when I was a student in Great Britain.

5. Are you a summer or a winter person? Winter.

6 What crafts do you enjoy? Crochet, knitting, cooking, sewing, embroidery.

7 What type of music do you like to listen to? Mostly classic rock with some 80's thrown in. That was when I was a teenager after all.

8 How long have you been writing your blog? About a year and a half.

9. Do you have a favourite flower? Tulips.

10. Do you have a treasured possession? My child. Not really a possession, but she is mine and I treasure her.

11. Do you have a pet? Not right now, we are looking for a dog.

Here are eleven random facts about myself.


1. I grew up all over the world and have lived in a lot of large cities. Now I live in a town of about 2,000 people.
2. I have a younger sister and brother.
3. I walk to and from work.
4. I get up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning.
5. I lived on a yacht for over a year with my family when I was a small child.
6. I went to 10 schools by the time I graduated from high school.
7. I can still do the splits. Yes, even at 45 and with an artificial knee. Can you tell I am proud of this fact?
8. My husband and I got married four months after our first date.
9. I read 3 or 4 books a week.
10. The only candy I really like is chocolate.
11. I can drive a stick shift.


I think those were pretty random.
I have given a lot of thought about who to pass this award on to in the last month and the truth is that everyone I would give it to, I either gave it to the last time or it was just awarded to them by Jennifer or Gwen. I love all the blogs I follow and am about to update my blog roll. Most of the blogs on my follow list have to be moved to my blog roll. I am going to do that as soon as I post this. So if there are blogs on my list that you haven't read, go check them out. Thank you very much Jennifer and Gwen. It is always so nice to feel that someone is reading and I am sorry it has taken me so long to post about this.