Tony the Turtle

Hello,

 Happy Saturday everyone. I have had a great day. For the first time since we moved I haven't had to get up and go somewhere or do something. I did get up and go somewhere, but I didn't have to. Lol. I had no plans today. I went shopping :) then I got to stay home and work on projects while watching the Olympics. I love the Olympics and am shamelessly addicted to them. I watch whatever sport is on and get really in to the excitement of the whole thing. I also love England and spent time there when I was 18, 19 and 20. One of my favorite places. We are also having a much needed break in the heatwave that has plagued most of the country. It is rainy and about 75F right now. I am loving today.
  I work in a daycare, I spend my days with eight babies and (thankfully) another adult. I love those crazy little babies and have been spending the last couple of weeks trying to make the nursery over a bit. I will have to take photos at work sometime in the next few weeks. I have been working on this guy all week. I didn't have a pattern and was kind of winging it the whole way. I didn't  get the pillow for the middle of it until Thursday. Here is Tony the Turtle.

Here he is underneath.

Here is his face.

I think my little babies will like him, do you?
 I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. I will talk to everyone tomorrow for my Year Of Projects post. :)

P.S. I wanted to mention this giveaway. Amanda seems like a lot of fun. I just popped over to her blog and joined right away.
 

Tuesday's Tallies-Granny Love Update

 

Hello,
 I am enjoying my coffee in my new kitchen. I love it. I can sit at the computer and look out the window to see our neighborhood. Nothing much going on at the moment, it is 4:30 am. So calm and pretty right now. Hard to believe it will probably be back up around 100F/38C this afternoon. It is summer though and I am having a great time. Last year I was still recovering from my knee replacement and wasn't at my best, kind of grumpy.
 I put in a bit of work on Granny Love this week. 14 squares total. They are shown here with last week's squares. When I get home tonight I plan on sewing in ends and then making a start on joining them. 298 squares to go. Ha ha ha.

The lovely Gingerbreadgirl hosts One-A-Day and a link party so we can see everyone's work. There are some really beautiful projects out there, go have a look. Talk to everyone soon. :)

Awards

 

Hello,
 How is everyone tonight? I am doing very well, especially when you consider that I like winter better than summer and it is still 102F/39C, at 6:45 pm. Autumn and I walk everywhere we can here in our little town, but today after work we accepted a ride from our good friend, Heather. It is only about a half mile to work and only takes us about 10 minutes, but it is just too hot right now. Once we got home I put cartoons on for Autumn and then I took a short nap. I very rarely take a nap and I really enjoyed it.
 Over the weekend I was very pleased to find that Shari and Eileen had both given me the Lovely Blog Award. I love these awards, it makes me happy to know that someone is interested in reading my blog and I always find new and wonderful blogs to follow.
 There are four 'rules' for this award.
1. Show your thanks.
2. Name seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate up to 15 blogs that you admire.
4. Contact each of those bloggers.

 Seven things about myself.
1. I am the oldest of three children.
2. I get up at 4:00am.
3. I moved one block from our old home.
4. Mexican food is my favorite food.
5. I am extremely clumsy, when I was a young adult, my nickname was Crashing Kashi.
6. I have the same middle name as my daughter, my mother and my grandmother. It is Lee.
7. I have lived in seven countries.

Here are some of the blogs that I really admire.
1. Theonlynikki
2. Teresa Kasner
3. Works In Progress
4. Karisma's Kraft
5. HillyTownBlue
6. Little Things Made With Love
7. According To Matt
8. Vintage Vicki
And of course...
9. Shari's Handmade Gifts-I just started following this blog recently and absolutely love it.
10. Crochet Attic-This blog is full of wonderful information, every time Eileen posts I learn something new or see something that I must try or make.
These are just a few. I love all the blogs that I follow. Each and every one.
I will be back tomorrow with Tuesday's Tallies. :)

Sunday's Year Of Projects Update

 

Hello,
 We have had another full week here. Our little town had it's annual festival and my daughter and I were in the parade with all of my co-workers and the children who attend the daycare. Today I cleaned our house top to bottom and then all three of us took a trip to the library in Iowa City. When we got home I sat down to rest and crochet. My camera is not working so I have been using my phone. It takes pretty good photos, I just need to play with it a little more. I also downloaded Instagram, but I need to play with that a little more too so that I can figure out how to put those photos on my blog. I am a complete techno idiot. My husband had to show me how to get the photos off my phone and on to the computer. I know, it is pathetic.
 I worked on the Sidewalk Shawl, the cardigan and I finally found my beloved Japanese Flower Scarf and added a couple of flowers to that as well.
 Here is the progress I have made on my Sidewalk Shawl.

I had to pull back several rows when I found a mistake. It is an easy pattern, I think I had too many things going on when I was trying to work on it. Back on track though and I love how the pineapples are starting to be visible.
 I have started on the front panels for the cardigan.

I haven't gotten much work done on this one, but I was so excited when I found this...

I love this so much. I can't wait for the cool weather so I can wear it.
 I have also been working on my Granny Love Blanket, but I will post about that one on Tuesday's Tallies.  I also made the ThankYou gift bag and started on a project that is half-way done. It is my own creation and it is for the nursery I work in. I think I will be able to share on Wednesday. I am going to post tomorrow, I was given the Lovely Blog award by two lovely bloggers. Thank you Shari and Eileen. That would make four posts in four days. Lets see if I can do it. Lol. I will talk to you tomorrow. :)

A Thank You Present

Hello,

 I hope everyone is doing well today. Last Saturday I had to go to a conference for childcare workers. It lasted all day and I had asked one of the young girls I work with to watch my daughter for me. She said yes and watched Autumn Saturday afternoon for about 4 hours. When I got home from the conference and tried to pay her she would not take my money. It made me feel bad. I wouldn't have asked an 18 year old girl to give up her Saturday afternoon if I had known she wouldn't let me pay her. When I tried to give her the money she said 'Oh, no, you made me a cake'. Well, I had made her a cake, but it was for her birthday. That night I started looking on Ravelry for patterns and ideas for something to make for a little thank you gift. I have really liked this bag for a long time and have been planning a CAL for it in the group that I moderate for. I also liked this bag. These bags inspired this bag.

I had the handles from a clearance sale I went to last summer. I had the yarn from my huge collection of cottons. The motif is a combo of the Tincture Of Spring Purse and something I saw in a book. The pattern is my own, but I wanted to make sure I gave credit to Darlisa Riggs who came up with the Tincture Of Spring Purse, which I really love.
 I am giving the bag to my friend tomorrow at work and I really hope she likes it. Kind of hard for a 44 year old to know what an 18 year old will like. I will talk to everyone soon. :)

Tuesday's Tallies Half Through July

 

Hello,
 July is flying by. I can't believe it is the 17th already. I did exactly one square a day this week. I made myself stick to the group. I love the One-A-Day group. If I didn't belong I probably wouldn't have done any work on the Granny Love blanket. Since I belong to the group and blog about it every week, I sit down every morning and do at least one square. I have been really busy this month so it really is only one square a day. Progress is progress though. Here are my squares for the week.

I don't consider the week's work done until I weave in those ends. I plan on relaxing right now and doing that, but I might fall asleep. My daughter woke me up at 1:00am with an ear ache so I have been up all night and worked all day. Gingerbread Girl has a link party for all the One-A-Day bloggers. Go look at everyone's wonderful progress. Talk to everyone soon.

Year Of Projects Update

 

Hello,
 Here it is Sunday again. I am ready for some summer time relaxation. I know my husband is. We have finished cleaning the other house and can now concentrate on getting our new house just the way we like it. We have been so busy. Both of us worked extra hours this week as well as trying to get finished unpacking and cleaning up the other place. I haven't gotten much crochet time in. I did make some progress on my YOP though. Here is my cardigan.

I am ready to start making the two front panels and the two sleeves. I am excited about this sweater. It will be the first one I have made for myself.
 I also got some work done on the Sidewalk Shawl. I am making this in a CAL in the group Everything Zen. I help moderate this group that my lovely friend Karisma started on Ravelry. Awesome group. Nice people over there.

This only shows 9 or 10 rows. I took the photo a few days ago. I could not get my camera to upload my current pictures this afternoon. Kodak is updating all the programs and after an hour of trying to set up the new system I decided to take a break, write today's post and finish the upgrade later. I finished row 14 this morning. I can't wait for cooler weather so I can wear my new things. It is very hot right now and hard to imagine that the snow will eventually come. Lol. If you live in the Midwest, you know what I am talking about. This summer has been brutal.
 That is about it for me right now. I have to get supper out of the oven, baked macaroni and cheese, then finish some laundry and relax. Talk to everyone on Tuesday's Tallies. :)