September

Hello,
 September is my favorite month. It is the beginning of fall and the leaves start changing. It starts to get a little cooler without being cold yet. There are birthdays every week for my friends and family. I think I was busier this September than ever before. I had a great month.
 I finished the last present for the last birthday party. Autumn wanted me to make another one of these, I made one last March for another friend's birthday.

Looking a little lop-sided, but her friend loved it. We also gave her a Build-A-Bear yourself kit. They are kind of cool. The kids can sew their toy together and stuff it themselves at home. Only $10. for the gift instead of the $40.+ Build-A-Bear gets you for if you go to their stores. The little girl's party was a slumber party. Autumn's first one. Five little girls running around giggling. They live next door and I half expected a call in the middle of the night to tell me Autumn wanted to come home. She stayed and had lots of fun.
 We had the television to ourselves for a change and tried to watch Neil Young's live concert last night. Right in the middle of Powder finger, one of my favorite songs, they broke into the show to say two rap artists were fighting at the BET awards. I was so mad. I don't like rap and I highly doubt the anyone watching Neil Young cared about rappers either. They talked about it for 20 minutes. Argh.
 Today was a perfect Sunday. I got up early, as usual. Made my coffee and snuggled up on the couch for some hooky time. Yesterday Autumn and I went to Hobby Lobby to get her friend a present and I let her pick out some yarn for a hooded pullover that I have been planning on making her. I worked on it this morning and I think it will be done in a few days. It is working up really quickly. Here is what I have from my coffee session on the couch this morning.

It is very bright, but she is six and can get away with it. I actually have the front done too, but for some reason the photo didn't transfer.
 I bought some polar fleece ( at Hobby Lobby) for a blanket for Will's man cave. He plays guitar and I thought he would like this with a border crocheted by me.

Apparently I did a good job picking it out. When I showed it to him he said 'Cool, Stratocasters'. I acted like I knew what they were. Ha ha. I will show the blanket when I get the border on. The last thing I worked on this morning before I had to get up and do chores, is a blanket I am making for one of my nephews for Christmas.

This will be a great big patchwork blanket with five different colors. It is bulky and fast to work with.
 This has been a really nice weekend. Yesterday I met with the trainer at the gym, I joined on Tuesday, and was shown how to use the wt. machines. I can tell you that I am really sore today. Even my fingers hurt. No lie. I have been trying to get back in shape. I started to walk to work about 6 months ago and now we live twice as far, I still walk though. I have never done any wt. training before. Wish me luck. I thought it was pretty hard. I did feel like I really accomplished something when I was done.
 Today I am sore, but I still cleaned the house, made supper and then I made a couple of apple pies. I only make one or two a year, but I love to make them.

As you can see, one of them has already been tasted. Dinner hasn't even been served yet. Lol. I am not the one who ate the pie either. The other pie is for my friend. If my arms weren't sore after yesterday at the gym they are today after making pies. I hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend. I will talk to everyone soon. :)

Cherry Scarf and Hat

Hello,
 September has been a month of birthdays, for our family and our friends. I haven't blogged as much this month, I was busy making presents. The last birthday that I have to make a gift for is this coming Saturday. I will post about that present tomorrow, I am almost finished with that gift. Last weekend was one of the birthdays I was busy with. My daughter has a friend who turned 6, we got her a book of fairy tales and I made her a scarf and hat set. Her baby sister is in the nursery where I work and I made her the kitty cat toy. Olivia is 5 years older and when she used to go to our daycare she would always ask me to 'knit' her something. I saw a scarf and hat set with cherries somewhere. I can't remember where. I wanted to make the pattern but couldn't for the life of me remember where I saw the set. I decided it wouldn't be hard to make it from memory and this is what I came up with.

Autumn has to model everything I make. Lol.

This was a very easy and fast project. I used leftover Impeccable yarn from Michaels and an G hook. I had white, fern and pink. I am not sure of the name of the pink. It is durable but soft yarn. For the hat I started with a sliding ring and made 8 hdc in the ring. I did the first 4 rows in white with 8 increases in each row until I got to 88 stitches in a row. After the 4 white rows I did a fern row, white row, pink row. I alternated every row with white and went back and forth with the fern and pink. I kept having Autumn try the hat on until it was ready for the brim. For the brim I did front post dc and then back post dc around. I did 4 rows that and the brim was finished. Pretty simple. The scarf was even easier. I made a foundation ch of 147. Then hdc in the third ch from the hook. Counting the ch 3 there are 146 hdc in each row. I did 4 rows of white then two rows each of fern, white, pink, white, and then fern, ending with 4 rows of white. On each end I did 4 rows of 30 hdc. For the leaves I used this pattern. For the cherries I used this pattern. This was fun and only took a few hours at night while Autumn read stories from her library books to me. I am finishing up the last birthday present tonight and then I am going to finish my Granny Love blanket. Then, well, I have to say it. I will be working on Christmas presents for a while. I have 4 blankets to make, a Nativity Scene and 4 scarves. There is more, I just haven't decided on all of it yet. I love this time of year though. I love getting ready for the holidays almost as much as I love to celebrate them. I will talk to everyone tomorrow. :)

Tuesday's Tallies, End of September

Hello,
 I haven't posted a Tuesday's Tallies in about a month. I have been busy with birthdays and making gifts. I took a little break from my Granny Love blanket. I still think I can get it done by the end of October. On Sunday I sat down and started to make the rest of the centers for the squares that are left. I am over a third of the way done with the blanket and I did this with the last granny blanket I made too. The blanket is a stash buster and I want to make sure I distribute all the remaining colors evenly before I run out of anything. I will not buy any yarn for this. I have plenty. So I sat down to make the centers. I think I will have the centers all finished by the end of this week. Then I will do the middles etc. After that I will lay all the squares out the way I want them and join like crazy. This method seems to go faster then making each square by itself. Here is what I have made since Sunday.

Terrible photo, but our camera needs charging and this was the best I could get at four in the morning with my phone and bad light. As you can see I have enough yarn, I will run out of some colors and have plenty of others. I am excited to finish now and get this on our bed. It is cold at night now.

This is my One-A-Day Granny Love blanket. Gingerbread Girl hosts this group and sets up a link party on Tuesday's. Go check out everyone's work. I have another Ta Dah that I will post tomorrow. Talk to you all then. :)

Yarn, socks and an After Thought Heel

Hello,
 I hope everyone is doing well today. I think I have made it through birthday madness. September is crazy for me and my family and friends. There are two or three birthdays everyweek this month. I love it, but it makes me very busy.
 When I got home from my birthday party on Saturday there was a package on our doorstep. Will said 'Oh, you got something in the mail from overseas'. I had no idea who it could be from. We had been in the car for over two hours coming back from the in-laws and I was tired. The package perked me right up. I opened it to find a box filled with yarn, shortbread and a little toy bear for Autumn. My wonderful friend, Tracy, from Somerset had sent me a box of goodies as a house warming present. It such a nice surprise. Here is what she sent.

I love the bag and have been carrying it all week. The red yarn is hand dyed and I have an idea for it already. The big skeins are dk wt. yarn from different companies and I love the colors. At the bottom are four balls of Mohair. I am going to have fun coming up with something to do with it. It is fun. There is a little teddy bear key chain with a Union Jack tee shirt on, for Autumn. There was also a pack of shortbread. We ate that before I could take the photo. Shortbread is one of my all time favorite treats. When I lived in England I ate quite a lot of it. Tracy remembered that I liked it and sent some. How kind was it to send me this surprise package? Postage is really expensive overseas and it probably cost almost as much to send it as the contents of the box cost. I became friends with Tracy through a swap on Ravelry. The swap was loads of fun, but the best thing about it was being paired with Tracy. Thank you Tracy, you are fabulous.
 In another group that I belong to on Ravelry, we have been making a pair of socks. I finally finished mine. One of the other ladies said the heel was hard to figure out from the pattern and she used an after thought heel. I have never made crochet socks before and when I got to the heel I decided I would try an after thought heel also. The pattern was Paton's Women's Twisting Lace Socks. The heel I came up with on my own. Here are the socks.

The heel was pretty simple to figure out. When you get to the heel part of the pattern you stop and fasten off the yarn. Then you find the sides and attach yarn and ch the number of stitches you need to equal the stitch count for the pattern. You then attach the ch to the middle of the other side and continue on with the pattern of the sock. After finishing the socks you go back and with the right side facing you, you attach the yarn and single crochet around. At the corners of each side you do one decrease (or sctogether). I did these in the round and ended up making 14 rows, with two decreases on each row. I think they turned out really well. I tried taking photos as I went, but they didn't come out very well. I am going to make another pair and use a different camera to better detail of what I am doing. I will write a tutorial for that when I am working on the next pair. The after thought heel is really easy and you can also use it to replace heels that have worn out from use. I love these socks, I gave them away though. My friend Ashleigh will probably wear them tomorrow. Lol. I have to make dinner now and then Autumn and I are going to watch the Solon High School Homecoming Parade. Talk to everyone soon. :)

What I Have Been Doing Lately

Hello,
 I know I haven't been blogging lately. September is really busy for us. School is in full swing now and there are birthdays all over the calendar this month. I have been crocheting like mad though. I made my Mom's present ( Mom stop reading now because I am going to show your gift at the end). A present for a baby in the nursery at work, she turned one on Friday, and I am also working on a pair of socks that I should get finished today. Then this morning I got up and made a birthday cake for our birthday party today.

 One of my nephews shares a birthday with me and we usually all get together for a family party. He loves carrot cake and I do too. So that is what we are having. Lol. I don't think anyone else likes it that much. Too bad, when you are making your own birthday cake, you get to make whatever you want. Ha. I think the last time anyone made or got me a cake was when I was 35 or 36 and my sister made one for me. I was out in California recovering from back surgery and I got to spend a couple of weeks with my sister and her kids. I hadn't met my husband yet and she still only had three children. Now her oldest is grown and living on his own and she has a fourth child who is 7. I also now have a husband and a daughter that will be 7 in November. Time really flies. It doesn't seem like that long ago. I will stop rambling and show some photos.
Here is the present I made for Thea, she is really cute and one of her first words was kitty. My nursery partner, Ashleigh, and I spent last Sunday celebrating our birthdays (she just had one too) and we found a cute little hoodie that had a kitty on it. We got it for her and we decided I should make her a little kitty to go with it. I forgot to take a photo of the hoodie, but here is the kitty.

Autumn wants one now too. I have to start writing down all my patterns. I figured this one out as I went and now a couple of people want one. Wasn't hard though. Here is the back.

This is Thea with her kitty. When she opened the bag and saw it she did say kitty. It was so cute.

                                         Happy First Birthday Thea!!!
I help moderate a group on Ravelry called Everything Zen. We do CAL/KAL projects together. If you are not a crocheter or knitter CALs are crochet alongs and KALs are knit alongs. We choose projects and work on them at the same time. It is a lot of fun and really neat to see how the same pattern can be so different when color and yarn choices are made. One of our members picked out a crochet sock pattern and I am almost done with mine. Here is where I am.

The heel will go where the split is. I love these. I want to make lots of these now. I already have some ideas for a pattern of my own. These are a pattern from Patons Yarn. The only difference from the pattern is that I am doing an after thought heel. I couldn't quite get it from the pattern and neither could the other person making them. You add the after thought when done with the rest of the sock. A lot easier to figure out I thought. I will show these when done. I think I will try to show how to do the after thought also. I couldn't find what I wanted for a tutorial so I figured it out on my own.
 Last but not least, I made a blanket for my Mom. Her birthday was on the 10th. Yes, the present is late. I had another pattern in mind and started it a long time ago. It wasn't coming out at all like I wanted it to, so I frogged it and started this one on the 2nd. I finished on my birthday, the 12th. I think it was the fastest full size blanket I have ever made. Here it is.

The good old ripple. One of my favorite blanket patterns. This was Lucy's Neat Ripple and her interlocking color idea. I used Homespun yarn. It is a very warm and very soft blanket. It is also very big. My Mom will definitely be able to wrap herself up in it. It is hot in Texas right now, but she just moved into a new house and winter will come soon enough. I can't wait for it to get to her. Happy Birthday Mom.

The Winner!

Hello,
 How is everyone doing today? I haven't blogged at all this week. I have been working like mad to get my Mother's birthday present finished. I will post photos of it once she has gotten it in the mail. It is very big and I have been spending all my free time working on it.
 Thank you to everyone who commented on my Anniversary Post. I have had a lot of fun writing these posts this year, and even more fun getting to know some of you. I took the names of everyone who commented and wrote them on slips of paper, folded them up and put them in a bowl. I had Autumn stir them up and pull one out.
 The winner happens to be one of my favorite bloggers. I love reading about her life and her 'girls'. If you haven't read her blog then you really need to. Most of the time I am laughing out loud while I am sitting here reading. Lucy from In The Sky is the name Autumn pulled out of the bowl. Congratulations! I am excited that you won. I hope you enjoy the goodies. There is one more little secret surprise in the box. It is one of my favorite things. We can share that once Lucy gets her parcel. Lucy, email me and let me know what your address is. I will talk to everyone soon.

Blog Anniversary Giveaway

Hello,
 September is my favorite month. I love how it is still hot and summery at the start and by the end we need sweaters in the evenings. I love how the leaves begin to change and how pretty it is. This September has several anniversaries for me. I moved to Iowa 12 years ago this month. I was released from physical therapy a year ago this month. I started working at the daycare a year ago this month. My birthday is this month, 45 for those who wonder, and I wrote my first blog post a year ago today. Kind of been a big year for me. My knee is pretty good these days. Maybe soon I will be brave enough to get the other one fixed (really don't want to go through all that again, but it was worth it in the end].
 I have been planning a giveaway for the anniversary and these are the items I made. I actually finished them all this morning. Lol. Nothing like last minute. There is a bag.

It is lined with a pocket.

I made a little zip bag to go with it.

I finished a pair of slippers that I made with sock yarn. I think they are cute.

With the ribbon, they should fit most foot sizes. My feet aren't that big, 8 1/2 American. I came up with the patterns for these on my own and I would love to gift them to one of my readers. I also threw in a pack of these.

They are fun. Crochet Bonbons from Lion Brand Yarn.

I want to thank everyone who has read my blog this year and I really want to thank all of my followers. If you would like to win these goodies then just leave a comment. You don't have to be a follower and I will post anywhere. This giveaway is open to everyone. I will draw a name next Saturday, the 8th of September. Good luck. I hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful.