Granny Love Ta Dah!

Hello,
 I am having a very happy weekend. Our weather is typical winter in Iowa. Cold, dreary and a bit of snow last night. Perfect. I love winter. Not many people say that. I love a cold, dark and snowy afternoon to sit and work on a project. Autumn was working on a project too.
 As I was sewing up the last of the ends on this huge blanket, 2028 ends if you want to know, Autumn asked me if she could use my graph paper and colored pens. Sure. She came up with this all on her own and asked if I would make it for her. Umm, of course I will.

She colored in a patchwork blanket that she wants me to crochet. She wrote all that on the page too. I didn't know she even knew what Ravelry was. Kids pay a lot more attention than we give them credit for. I was so happy that she came up with this. I have been wanting to make one of the granny patchwork blankets that I have been admiring and now I have a reason to. I even have the yarn. When the stores around here discontinued one of my favorite yarns, I bought all of it that I could find. It is Debbie Stoller's Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe. 

This is my new project that I will start today. I have a sweater I want to make for myself but, I am a sucker for making things when someone asks me to. I can't resist.
 Now for the big reveal. Last summer my friend, Tracy, and I decided to make granny square blankets. She has had an amazingly busy year, watching her granddaughter and welcoming her new grandson in to the world. I don't think she had time to make herself the blanket. She had baby things to make. Lots of baby things. Did I mention both babies are under 2 years old. Tracy is a really neat lady and I got to know her through a swap on Ravelry. I started the blanket and got about half done and decided I didn't want one edged in cream. Ha ha, I also decided that I didn't want all the squares to be the same size. Since I was making this for my bed, I was allowed to change my mind. I have not shown any photos of it since I changed the plans for it. Here it is...

I love my new blanket. It is 6 and a half feet wide and 7 and a half feet long. Perfect for our queen size bed. I will get a shot of it on the bed after my husband wakes up. Don't think he wants me in there taking pictures right now. Lol. 234 squares. 216 small squares and 18 large squares. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Sunday. Talk to you soon. :)

A New Cowl

Hello,
 One of the highest compliments you can pay me is to ask me to make you something. I think that is true of a lot of us who make things. If you ask me to cook, sew, crochet, embroider or knit you something I will stop my current projects and do it. On Thursday my boss/friend, Heather, came into the nursery and said she would pay me if I would make her one of those round scarf things. It is cold in her classroom and it is nice to have something around your neck to keep you warm. A scarf kind of gets in the way. This week a few of us have been wearing cowls. It has been around 10 F/-12 C all week and we have all been cold. So I went home and spent more time looking at patterns than it actually took to make this...

I hope she likes it. It took about 2 hours to make while I was having my coffee this morning and watching Law and Order, (Law and Order and NCIS have been on around the clock since the holidays and I have been hooked). This is the pattern. I used an H hook and worsted wt. yarn from my stash. Now I am going to work on my blanket. Still joining. Talk to everyone soon. :)

A Hat

Hello,
 I made a hat today. I spent hours yesterday working on joining my Granny Love Blanket and it is almost done. It is too big to take with me anywhere though. This little hat was the perfect project to come with me today. I made it for a CAL we are doing in a group on Ravelry that I moderate for. Here it is...

My favorite little model got bored pretty quickly. Lol. You can see Granny Love lurking behind her. Soon for the big reveal.
 This hat was a fun, quick and portable project. Just some granny squares and some dc stitches. I used 200 yds. Heart and Sole sock yarn, in Antique Rose. The pattern called for 300, but I even added some squares and one skein was exactly enough. It is so cold here and that hat is actually for me. We are expecting snow tonight too. Perfect hat and scarf weather. I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year.

A Knit TA DAH

Hello,
 I have been having a nice New Year's Day. I got up and made my coffee and finished my first ever knitted project. It was just knit and purl. I didn't follow a pattern or anything, I just very badly wanted to finally finish something that I had knitted. I used two skeins each of Lion Brand Yarn Hometown USA in Honolulu Pink and LA Tan. I cast on 24 and knit the first four rows and then alternated knit rows with purl rows. The last four rows of the scarf were all knit too. Here it is...

I have to say that I am pretty happy with how it turned out. A while back I saw a scarf I really liked and I am going to make another scarf like this one. I like the one Alice made because it won't roll up. This pink and cream one is already a tube. I don't mind too much. It is warm and I wore it out for a walk this morning. It is not even in the double digits (F) yet and the scarf was soft and warm.
 After I do a few chores I am pulling out the Granny Love Blanket and setting to finishing it up. It is in a big plastic tote in the basement. Then, when that is finished I am going to work on new projects. Yay! I like having finished projects and being guilt free to start new ones. I hope everyone is having a Happy New Year! Talk to you soon. :)

P.S. Yes, there are still some Christmas presents in that one photo. We still have our big family party to go to.

New Things

Hello,
 The last few days have been really wonderful for me. I have had down time. No work, all projects that needed finishing were done. I only had one WIP (Granny Love) but, after my blanket making marathon, I needed a little blanket break. I have some in between days, between Christmas and New Years, and I didn't want to crochet right now. I have several crochet projects lined up with some of my groups on Ravelry.  I have been wanting to finally make, and complete, a knitted project. I had a really good Secret Santa this year. She gave me this...

It is bulky yarn and so soft. I thought this would be the perfect time to finally commit to a knitting project. I have tried before, I learned using the English method. I think the fact that I am a crocheter first messed me up. I would make a mistake and get so frustrated I would frog the whole project. Then I discovered the Continental Method. For me this works so much better. I really don't think one way is better than the other, I just think that because of the way you hold the yarn and that I have been crocheting for such a long time, that the Continental Method is a lot easier for me. I don't get confused or tangled up. The other thing that has really helped is that this yarn is bulky. I can see exactly what I am doing and I have finally figured out how to count my rows if I get confused. It is also very easy to see what stitch I am working on if I get called away.
 So, for the last two days I practiced. I made a few swatches and then decided what I was going to make was a simple knit and purl scarf. Now, I am a yarnoholic and there are some great sales going on. I had to go out and get some more yarn. I am using one of the skeins and bought some more to go with it. I have big plans for all three colors. Here is my progress so far...

Yay! I even have the color changes figured out. I don't know anyone, in person, who knits. So I use my trusty Stitch 'N Bitch book by Debbie Stoller. She is easy to follow and understand. I have one more day of vacation left and after I clean the house I am going to work on the scarf some more.  Blogging has been so much fun for me and it has given me friends that I wouldn't have the chance to otherwise meet. Great minds think alike. Yesterday, after I had made this I sat down to read all of the blogs I follow. I check everyday. My friend, HillyT, had a post that was so similar to what I was thinking that I just had to laugh. Then I read further and she had mentioned me in that post too. We belong to several of the same groups on Ravelry. I love Harriet's blog. Check it out.
 I also have a really nice boss, I take care of her baby in the nursery at work. Everyone at work knows that I love yarn. She surprised me by giving me this...

It is bamboo yarn from Hobby Lobby. Four skeins that go together. I decided to use this yarn for something different also. For this I am learning Tunisian crochet. Not hard and it looks kind of like knitting when done. These are my two in between projects. I will show the finished projects soon. I have to get them done quickly. I have two CALs starting on the 1st. Lol.

The Christmas Blankets Are Finished

Hello,
 How is everyone? The last few days have been really nice. Last Saturday was my father-in-law's funeral and that was really hard. The three of us were home on Sunday and we cleaned the house and I finished up the last of the presents I was working on. We stayed home for Christmas and for the first time since we have been married we had guests on Christmas day. Will's sister and brother and a good family friend came up to spend the day with us. It was a really nice day. Autumn was the only child there and so she got to soak up a lot of attention. She was really sweet. The day before, Susie had called and asked if Autumn would be willing to wait to open her Christmas presents until they got there. Autumn said that was fine and would wait to open her gifts from Santa also. I was really proud of her. I wouldn't have wanted to wait until almost noon on Christmas day when I was seven. No way. Santa also brought her a new bike, she can't ride it yet, we have snow now. I made a big pot of potato soup and we had lots of appetizers and two chocolate pies, two kinds of cookies and lots of candy. It was a nice relaxing day. At the end of it we all got into Susie's new van and went down to Coralville to look at Christmas lights. It was a really nice day.
 Here are the blankets I made for my nephews and niece.

This is Sawyer's blanket. He is a sweet boy. He had to have knee surgery on Christmas Eve. Poor guy. He is going to be in a wheelchair for a few months. It is snowy and icy and the doctors want to make sure he doesn't hurt it again. He is also in a brace for about a year. I know all about knee surgery and really feel for him.
 The next blanket is Wyatt's.

I made the boy's blankets with the same yarn. I thought they turned out pretty cool. The last one is Sarah's blanket. I showed this one last month, but it is part of the set.

I made Susie a Nativity set and forgot to photograph it before I gave it to her. I finished it Christmas morning and hour before they got to our house. She will get some pictures of it for me later. It turned out really cute and Susie has a number of Nativity Scenes that she puts up at the holidays.
 I am now ready for 2013 to start. Last year I started keeping track of all the things that I make in a project book. I also (try) to write down the patterns that I create in it. I went back and looked at and added up all of my projects and was a bit surprised. Here is what I made in 2012.

12 Bags
14 Blankets
4   Sweaters
12 Toys
1   Book Cover
2   Pillows
1   Dress
8   Household Decorations
1   Cell Phone Cosy
1   Coffee Cup Cosy
2   Headbands
1   Pair of Fingerless Mitts
3   Pairs of Slippers
2   Shawls
4   Hats
3   Scarves
1   Plastic Bag Holder
Total 72 items. I keep my hands busy. Lol. I will keep a project book from now on. It is nice to see what you have actually made at the end of the year.
 Now that I am finished with all of my gifts I am going to finish joining my Granny Love Blanket. I have been keeping it secret since I made a big change to it it half way through. I expect to be finished by mid-week. Somewhere around the 1st. I can't wait to show it to everyone and I really can't wait to put it on our bed. It is so cold here. After having the hottest summer anyone can remember, we have had more days below freezing this December than ever in recorded history. Strange.
 If you are still on vacation from work, enjoy your time off, if not then have a wonderful day anyway. Talk to everyone very soon. :)

December Catch Up

Hello,
 I have not been blogging much in the last couple of months. We have had so much going on this fall. I am looking forward to the New Year and slowing down a little bit. I love blogging and miss that I haven't been able to blog the two or three times a week that I am used to. The week of Thanksgiving was the week that Will hit the deer and totaled our car. That same week Will's father went into the hospital and was in the ICU for about a week. He came home and had a couple of good weeks and we got to have a really nice family party a week and a half ago. I am starting to cry as I write this. My father-in-law passed away last Sunday. He was one of the best people I have ever known. He is at peace now.
 It has been kind of hard to keep a happy face during this busy season. I am lucky to have my husband and daughter that mean everything to me and I am lucky to have a job that brings me so much joy. I work with four one year olds. For the last two months I have been the only adult in the nursery with my four little friends. They really help keep my mind off of the sad things. My daughter spends an hour there with me in the morning before school and it is so nice to work somewhere that I can have my own child with me when she is not at school.
 We are having the funeral tomorrow and then we have Christmas next week. Whew. As I said, I am looking forward to slowing down and getting  back into a normal routine.
 I have been really busy making blankets. I can't show all of them until after Christmas but, I made eight blankets for Christmas this year. I started them in November. Four of them are big Queen sized blankets, made to fit on a bed. The other four were small for the four little people I work with. I also made a bunch of other little things. Scarves, hats, and ornaments. I want to write up  a series of tutorials after the holidays. I made this little Snowman for the owner of the company I work for. I got to be her secret Santa.

I made up the pattern for this little guy and I will definitely write it down as soon as I get a little time.
 If you live in the United States, you know we are having a big blizzard here in the the upper part of the country. We live in Iowa, right in the middle of the storm path. The schools and the daycare I work at were all closed yesterday and Will is still on bereavement leave. Thankfully, none of us had to go anywhere. Other than going out to play in the snow, we stayed in all day.

Autumn loves to make snow angels.

It has stopped snowing now but it is around 6F right now. Not warm at all. The schools are open today though, I am glad for that. I am helping with the Christmas party for Autumn's class today and the kids would have been so upset to miss their party.
 I hope I haven't lost any of my wonderful readers lately. I will get back to frequent posting within the next week. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. :)

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