On this day in 1906, 16 August, Prince Franz Josef II Was Born

Prince Franz Josef was born at Frauenthal Castle in Styria on 16 August 1906. He was the first son of Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria.  To read more about him go to this Liechtenstein Museum page  and this Royal Forums page for more information on him.

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Today's pattern is for one version of the classic ripple afghan.  Easy to make and always appreciated.  Hope you enjoy.  I've made a few of this style, the first was a baby one before my first son was born almost 32 years ago.  I had saved it but my ex husband wouldn't let me have it because he kept it to use for the daughter he and his second wife had!  Hugs...

My Round Ripple So Far...

I just love round ripple afghans.  This is the pattern a member from crochetville.org has generously shared with members who pm her requesting it.  This is being made as a gift for someone near and dear to me.  I can't say who because this person doesn't know anything about it.  I'm using yarn from my stash--4 different brands of ww acrylic.  I really need to work on shrinking my stash so I can get into the extra bedroom where it is stored.  Hope y'all have had a great weekend.

My Current Crochet WIPs

I haven't really posted too much lately about my crocheting.  Right now, I am working on my 1st crocheted doll. I am using this free pattern.  Of course, my doll won't be known as Goldilocks because her hair is black.  She needs legs and clothes.  My embroidered mouth leaves something to be desired and I made some make-shift eyes out of buttons--a little black button on a big white button-- because I didn't want to buy any eyes or attempt to embroider some.

I also started another round ripple.  I'm not sure how big it will end up being because I'm using odds and ends of yarn that I have in my stash.

Stay tuned for more updates...

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Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Here is a versatile pattern that has adjustments to make an afghan, baby blanket or lapghan.  The simplicity of the design is very appealing.  The pattern sounds like a piece of cake to make too.  Is this on my to-do list you may be asking?  Just about everything I see is on that list lol!  What I make is the result of what I feel like making at that instant and what I have enough yarn on hand for.  Enjoy this one folks!

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Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Most of the ladies who read this blog have enjoyed playing with Barbie dolls and may even collect them.  Here is a sweet wedding outfit to crochet for your Barbie or a friends.  For me it might be a challenge but for many of you it should be a piece of cake.  Hope you enjoy!

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The Promised Picture of a Junior Spiderman!

Here's a picture of my new little friend with his spiderman ghan!  Isn't he a cutie?  I am so excited and happy that a crochet project of mine was so well received.  He's won my heart fer sure!

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Lotsa Fun on Vacation...

On July 14th, I went to California to visit some friends. The first stop was to visit a friend in Antioch. I hadn't seen this friend in person since we were in high school back in the 70s! The 2nd friend, has been a friend since 1980.  I met her when I was in the Navy. I only have a few true friends and it is great to have had them for such a long time. My time with them was too short even though I missed my husband and the chis.  Wish dh would have gone with me but he refuses to fly since 911.  Here is a slide show to see a little bit of my trip. For some reason my photos came out blurry and I apologize for that.  Usually my camera takes good pics.

Did you notice that I'm in some of the pictures?  That's a very, very rare occurrence and won't be repeated anytime soon--LOL!

Note:  My friends are as bad as me--we don't like our pictures taken.  So, I switched out a few of  the pictures on the slide show they told me had to GO!  This is take 3 so unless one of us objects to some of the pictures again, this should be it :)

Spiderman Needs an Afghan Too...

A friend of mine shamed me because I made blankets for my friends when they had babies but she didn't get  one for her son.  Shame on me!  She liked the Spiderman version of the round ripple because her son is wild about Spiderman.  So, I put my mind to making one for the little guy.  Then, I got sidetracked and the the thought "I have plenty of time to do this.  It'll go fast."  Yeah, right.  When I finally got down to the nitty-gritty, I ended up making it a few rounds shorter than planned and I was weaving in those irksome ends as I was riding down the road to see them!  Didn't get a chance to do a quick laundering so the little guy has also received some strands of little doggie hairs from my "kids."  He asked me what the ghan was for and I told him that when he covered up with it then Spiderman's web would keep him warm and safe.  His mom has reported to me that he has tossed aside his store-bought blanket.  This little guy is so cute and I was so happy to have a crochet project so well received.  Here's a picture of it---

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I Updated My List of Links for Round Afghans

I updated the list of round afghan patterns that I have here .  The new pattern is at the bottom of the list.  It is a cute baby blanket and the link for the pattern is here if you want to go directly to the pattern instead of visiting the list.  Hope you enjoy!

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Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

I owe you an extra pattern this week since I was bad and didn't have a pattern posted last week when I was visiting friends in California.  Anyway, here is a pattern for mittens for men that was just posted on another blog. They're a small enough project that won't be a hassle to make during these warm hot summer days.

Another pattern that I am linking to for you is the Circles in Square afghan pattern.  The squares are a good take along project and as crocheters know, small projects are much better to work on in the summer.

Have fun everyone and hugs to all...

Playing With Photos Online

I'm back!  I thought I'd do a quick post.  I found another place to play around with special effects.  Here's one of my sons when they were youngsters.

Pencil Sketch Generator by WishAFriend.com

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

I've been trying to keep a list of round afghan patterns.  When this new one at Lion Brand Yarn came up I decided it would make a great link for free pattern Monday.  Here it is!  If you go here you can see all the links I've gathered for free round afghan patterns.  Enjoy....

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Crocheted Summer Outfit for Doll

Here's my latest finished crochet project.  It is a doll for my friend's granddaughter.  I recycled a doll from the thrift store that was in perfect condition.  Then, I crocheted the outfit.  It's a free pattern but I don't remember where I found it!  I'll look for it and post the link later on.  I'm really looking forward to visiting my friends in California next this week!  Whoo Hoo!  Sharon's coming to town--lol!

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Company for the Weekend

I had company this weekend.  I babysat my son Justin's furbaby "Spike."  The only time Spike wasn't moping on the couch, he was looking out the window, standing at the gate or standing at the front door.  He really misses his "daddy."  He has a sweet disposition and he can pull at my heart strings when he gets that sad look in his eyes.  Here are a few pics of him that I took this weekend.

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A Cute Cartoon from 1936--"Somewhere in Dreamland"

One of my blog followers mentioned that she had been trying to find a favorite old cartoon.  I think that  I may have found it--here is Somewhere in Dreamland.  If this isn't it Lynn, let me know and I'll "sleuth" around the Net some more.



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Vintage Mighty Mouse

I love many old cartoons. Mighty Mouse is one of my childhood favorites. True, there is some violence in these old cartoons; but more importantly, Mighty Mouse cartoons showed that criminals and evil-doers always lose and pay a steep price for their nefarious deeds. For your pleasure here's one of the classic Mighty Mouse cartoons...



Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures - The Complete Series

Excitement is Growing!!!

Why am I excited you might be asking yourself???  I'm going to hop on a plane 1 week from today and fly off to the west coast and visit 2 of my great friends!  One friend I haven't seen since high school and we were the class of '75!  The other friend I made in 1980 and I saw her about 5 years ago;  we've been friends and changed diapers on each others' kids and the oldest is 31, going on 32.  I've become quite a bit reclusive the older I get.  I cherish the friends I have more than they can ever know.  I started packing a week ago.  Now I have to go and  weed out extra clothes and make sure that what I've packed matches lol!  Poor dh says he'll miss me and I'll miss him too.  I'll bring him home a souvenir though and come home all happy and less grumpy. 

Hope y'all are having a great week!  I gotta go pack some more--lol!

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

With baseball season in full swing, here's a set of baseball themed coasters to help protect your tables from those beer and soda can rings from the enthusiastic but messy fans in your home.  Here you go...  CLICK!  Have a great week everyone.

I really liked this song when it came out.  The beat was catchy and I got into tapping my feet to it.  For me, it wasn't a put down of short people but rather a humorous way to look at height because at the time I was very self-conscious of being tall.  To all my short friends, I love you and thanks for putting up with me.


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Fun With Photo

I enjoy playing around with the Funny Photo Widget on Facebook. I have this nice photo of myself that I had to have taken professionally so folks wouldn't know how old I really look, and I played around with it and came up with some really humorous looks!  Check a few of them out:

This is actually dh and me on our wedding day.  As you can see we went "casual" to say the least.  We were both in the navy and I had had to work on the ship that day in 1987.  I was working on decommissioning my ship the USS Ajax AR-6.

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Betsy Ross and the History of the Flag

Many of us have grown up hearing the legend that the first American flag was made by Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress who was acquainted with George Washington, leader of the Continental Army, and other influential Philadelphians. In May 1776, so the story goes, General Washington and two representatives from the Continental Congress visited Ross at her upholstery shop and showed her a rough design of the flag. Although Washington initially favored using a star with six points, Ross advocated for a five-pointed star, which could be cut with just one quick snip of the scissors, and the gentlemen were won over.(see more)  The story first came to light in 1874 when her grandson William J. Canby told it at a meeting of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, there is no proof of this story.  This story is a great legend and wonderful fairy tale to tell children.  One day historians may be able to discover more about the origins of "Old Glory" and we'll learn the true story.

For more information on Ms. Ross, check out the following links:

• The Legend of Betsy Ross
• Betsy Ross Flag Maker, Seamstress
• Betsy Ross Did She or Didn't She?
• How Betsy Ross Became Famous
• A more controversial article is http://www.slate.com/id/2259351/

Here is an old documentary on the history of the American flag from 1938 that you may find interesting. It is noteworthy that Betsy Ross is not mentioned.

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Homemade Laundry Soap Tested

I tested my homemade laundry soap and so far it's great!  I haven't had any heavily soiled clothes to wash so I'll hold final judgement until I wash some of them.  So far, it's pretty darned good.    It was a little more expensive to make than I anticipated.  Of course, if I wouldn't have dropped broke part of the had a food processor malfunction (that I grated the soap with) then I wouldn't be looking at the cost of a new one before I start canning tomato sauce this summer.  Anyway, maybe it was time for a new one.  Y'all have a nice, clean clothes day lol!

I Made My Own Laundry Soap Today

I've been talking about making my own laundry soap for some time now and I finally got around to doing it today. I wanted a powdered soap--why dilute it and have to have extra room to store it? I found this page and used recipe #9.  I made a 1/2 batch of it.  For the soap, I used 4 bars of ivory soap and it came out very close to the proper amount.  At the moment, I have a load washing with my new soap. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out.  I used the measuring cup from my store-bought detergent and used a sharpie to mark a line at the 1/4 cup measurement.  As I was talking to my uncle the other day, he told me that my grandmother would use her little scraps of bath soap and shave them before tossing in the washing machine to do her laundry with.  Sounds like Grandma had how-to-do laundry cheaply down pat.  Hope this works out!  Y'all have a nice week...

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

The other day my husband picked up his golf clubs for the first time in 15 years.  I think he has the "fever" again lol!  I looked around the Internet for some golf-related crochet projects and came up with this pattern to make some patriotic golf club covers.  You can see the pattern here.  Have fun!



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My New Look!

As I was reading my favorite blogs today, there seemed to be a new fad going around.  If you go to this webpage, you can do a South Park character for yourself!  I had so much fun doing this.  You should check it out.  Anyway, here's my South Park look:

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Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Winter's Coming!!!!!!  Ok, so there are a few months to go but for the crocheter, summer is a good time to work on small projects like mittens.  Here's an interesting pair of mittens to make for this winter.  Good to make for gifts or for yourself.  Go ahead and check them out.  Hugs...

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Silly me, I posted this early.  Guess it's better early than a few days late like I've done before.  :)