I'm sloooowly turning out the granny squares for the afghan I'm making for an old high school chum with disabilities. I make the squares in batches of 5 because it makes me feel like I've accomplished something when I finish a batch. I know, sometimes I can be goofy. Here's the "batch" I'm working on now.
Not much going on today. The mil came over for coffee and after she left, I went to the commissary on post to get some dog food and milk. I came home with over $200 of groceries. I should of had lunch before I left the house because I was hungry and started feeling starved as soon as I walked in the commissary's front door. I rarely go anywhere so I was surprised when I was driving back home to notice my gas light was on. Usually, I only put $20 in the tank at a time and it lasts me a month because I'm a hermit and don't go too many places. I filled my tank and I had to reminisce about the first new car I had. It was a 1980 Dodge Colt and it used to take $12 to fill it from dry to full. Those were the days of gas shortages too. Today it took $49 to fill from bone dry to topped off. I really miss those old days sometimes.
Take care everyone and thanks for visiting...
Sharon
The gloominess and cold of winter is almost over! Spring pops up and the flowers bloom relieving the bleakness of winter.
First flowers to pop-up this year in our yard.
When I was younger, I used to say I didn't care about clothing brands. Now that I'm a ripe old 56, I get "tickled" when I find "designer" brands at deep discounts at Burkes Outlet andRugged Warehouse. I also choose certain brands because not all brands fit alike especially in pants (for me anyway). Bandolino is the way to go for my jeans and I find them at Sam's Club's locations (not online) or the PX at Ft. Knox for a very reasonable price when they get marked down.
Have cold tootsies? This may be the pattern for you. These are some cute slippers. The flower on each slipper makes these cute and feminine. Check them out now. Thanks for looking.
Yesterday, the doorbell rang and it was our mailman with 2 packages in his hands. The 1st package was a box of cute buttons and ribbons--the expression "buttons and bows" is running through my mind now. I knew it was from a song so I couldn't resist including a video clip of the song sung by Bob Hope. Debi from Dly's Hooks and Yarn sent this to me because she is a nice lady. "Thank you" very much Debi. The other box was the yarn I ordered from Joanns because I was running short of this color for an afghan I'm making. It is only some Red Heart Super Saver but after checking 3 stores in person for this color I had to order this particular color from an online source and Joanns just happened to have it on sale--SCORE! This project is working up rather slowly, it's made mostly from granny squares and I'm attempting to be disciplined about weaving in the ends as I make the squares so I don't have to face a gazillion of ends (only half a gazillion) to weave in after joining all the squares together. When I just went to Joanns to get their link information (to copy and paste here) I noticed they have a flat rate shipping of 7 cents today!
These are the crafty goodies sent to me by Debi of DLY's Hooks and Yarns. Her blog is similar to a treasure chest with all sorts of goodies inside. She shows some pretty projects she has created and there are many free patterns for you that she has developed and shares with all of us. Oh, and she's a nice person too!
I ordered 4 of these although I'll probably only need 1 or 2. It's better to have too much rather than too little.
This is the basic layout of the squares for this afghan. The "X "squares will be black and the "green dot" squares will be a 5 color granny--lots of end weaving going on here lol! I will probably treat this as one "giant" granny after all the squares are together and crochet a few times around the assembled squares and finish it up with a shell type edging/border. I still have a while to go on it. So far I have 80+ of the multi-colored grannies done and just a few of the solid black ones.
Color is a bit off here but this is the best I can do today with a gloomy day and artificial lighting. This is actually black, brown, dark sage green, a burgundy-ish, and gold colors. My table cloth color is in reality, cream!
This is about it for now other than an Irish wish for you today, St. Patrick's Day:
May you live a long life
Full of gladness and health,
With a pocket full of gold
As the least of your wealth.
May the dreams you hold dearest,
Be those which come true,
The kindness you spread,
Keep returning to you.
Have a happy St. Paddy's Day and a wonderful week.
A couple weeks ago, I got a new computer with Windows 8. My old computer operated on Vista so I was really surprised at the setup of the new Windows. I don't care for the smartphone looking start screen (maybe because my cell phone is low tech) so I go to the desktop. There are 2 problems with the desktop--if you have a 64 bit computer, you have to use java for 32 bit computer. No biggie really except when I went to update java, only the 64 bit updated and I had to install and update the 32 bit too. What really peeved me was the lack of a start button. I did some online sleuthing and found a free program that installs a start button. This free program is called Start Menu 8 and you can find it at CNET. Now that I have it I'm a happy computer-er.
Might snow here tonight. I hope y'all are staying warm and cozy. That's it for now.
For those of you who enjoy reading romance novels, Harlequin offers a selection of free eBooks. They are in E Pub or pdf format but if your e reader uses a different format, you can download calibre to convert it to whatever your device uses. I'm always out for a good deal so I wanted to share this with you too.
Happy reading!
Edited: Unfortunately, I discovered that for some reason Calibre will not convert these books. You can read them with Adobe Digital Edition Reader for your PC. There are other programs (not free) that you can use to convert these books so they can be read on Kindles but I know nothing about them. Sorry for misleading you, that wasn't my intention. I thought I found a good deal and wanted to share it.
Today's free pattern is for a simple dog sweater. I like this one because you don't have to make leg openings so it is an easy sweater for someone without much experience crocheting. A few years ago I made one for a friend's puppy and it worked up in no time.
I am working on what was previously a neglected ufo. It will be an afghan when it's finished. I have promised to make an afghan for a friend and I had started one but it is buried somewhere in the yarn warehouse. I decided that since I've been procrastinating and struggling to regain my crochet mojo that I would finish this one since it is further along than the other one. It is just going to be made of simple granny squares and perhaps a wide border when I see how big it is when it's put together. Last night I played around with graph paper and figured out how I'm going to sew together the solids with the multi-colored squares. Stay tuned...
I'm trying to get back into my crocheting but I see to have the blahs and only end up making dishcloths lately. Maybe it's the gloominess of the sky and the cold weather that affect me this way. Anyway, here are the 2 dishcloths I finished this week.
I love reading free books on my Kindle. Unfortunately, editing is obviously not a top priority with many authors of these freebies. I'm reading what I consider to be an excellent story but suddenly, I come to the first noticeable blooper. "Every day he ordered a plate piled high with rubbery Salisbury Steak and lumpy mashed potatoes drowning in gravy. It was hot, it was fast and it was cheap, but it was barely editable." My newspaper is barely edible too.
Today is my birthday--a big, whopping 56. Hubby got me a tint job for the windows in my car to keep me cool (in more than 1 way) this summer. Time to go now and snuggle up with the chi babies on the couch. Have a great night everyone.
Baby booties are always a quick project to make. These booties are great because they are a quick project and are made of ww yarn and are great way to use up some of your "left overs."
I finished a few more things this week--a scarf and a pair of slippers. One color of the yarns in the scarf and the variegated color in the slippers is from the bag of odds and ends from a friend of my mil. Here's a couple pics of what I made:
Yarn used is ww.
Yarn used is Homespun and Lion Boucle.
I did some "tweaking" of the pattern I used to work with the amount of yarn I had.
I hate to waste yarn. I sometimes make afghans out of scraps and little mats for my Opi and Nelle Belle to stay warm with on the cold floors in the winter. This time, I had some small bits of Homespun to use up and I decided to make a scarf out of it. The pattern I used was designed for ww yarn but by making fewer chains to start with I think it turned out pretty nice. I changed the hook size to "L."
I love the ocean. I enjoy watching the waves and feel peace and serenity when I am able to see it. Here's a picture I took on my vacation from the Cabrillo National Monument site.
A friend of mine recently lost his father; this made me realize how temporary our loved ones are. To all my loved ones, you are very much appreciated and cherished. Our life on earth is temporary but when one of us passes, it is only a matter of time before we are reunited.
Today, I'm heading out to the dentist again. This time it's just for a cleaning. Back later....
A friend of my mil's gave here some yarn odds and ends to give me. No full skeins just some odds and ends to maybe use in granny squares and a couple pieces of plastic canvas that will be nice to use in the brims of newsboy caps that I've wanted to try. The next day mil brought over a giant ball (girth 26.5 inches) of this beautiful metallic gold yarn from her friend! You can see how big it is by looking at the soda can next to it.
This yarn is probably a sport or baby weight yarn. I was thinking that it would be very nice in a shawl. Do you think there is enough? Any pattern suggestions or other ideas of what to do with it?
In keeping with the season, here is a cute pattern for St. Patrick's Day. You can use this sweet leprechaun as a decoration or perhaps as a doll for a youngster.
I didn't do too much crocheting on vacation except for weaving in loose ends on some slippers I was gifting and making a few dishcloths at a friend's house and on the plane. Here's the dishcloths I finished--
The yarn I used is I Love this Cotton! from Hobby Lobby. This pattern is my favorite for dishcloths and it's a go-to pattern when I just need something quick and easy. Dishcloths are always a welcome gift for just about anyone so it isn't too easy to keep a stockpile of them in the gift drawer.
Now that I'm home, I'm finding it hard to get into a project. I have 3 afghans started that are languishing away in my "yarn warehouse" room. I need to get my crochet mojo back because I have promised to make an afghan for a friend. I think I'll just see which one I have the most work done on and finish that one for my friend.
Hi everyone, I'm back from my vacation visiting friends in California. When I was at my friend's in Hemet, CA, I found a great yarn shop--Lazy Daisy. I decided to treat myself to a couple things of yarn that weren't Red Heart Super Saver. "Nice" yarn is a bit pricier so that's why I only picked up 2. It was a Saturday afternoon and we called the shop only to find out that they closed in about 10 minutes. The nice lady at the shop said she'd stay open a little bit later if we were coming right away. We hopped in the car and hurried to the shop. Becky was the very nice and helpful lady who stayed late and helped me with my selections. Here she is and a glimpse of the shop. Thank you very much Becky for your kindness and help.
Store information:
Lazy Daisy
2127 E. Florida Ave.
Hemet, CA 92544
951-658-8134
Here's what I bought--
It's great to be home and I hope to catch up with my blog reading soon!
Here is a pattern that is for egg cozies for your boiled eggs or maybe to use with your Easter eggs for a decorative touch. Easter this year is on the 31st of March so you still have time to make these before the big day.
I'll be flying home next Monday so I need to find another interesting pattern for next week.
1. Appreciate having friends that are in reality, more like family should be than friends.
2. It's great having a spouse who is secure enough that he doesn't complain when I go to visit friends for 2 weeks and is able to hold down the fort with Opi and Nellie Belle as backup.
I had set up today's post ahead of time and scheduled its posting for today because by the time you read this, I will either be in the air or in California visiting my friends. For the past 3 years, my friends have flown me to California from Kentucky to visit. They are very generous and fun friends to have. One of them I went to high school with back in the wild and crazy 1970s. We lost track of each other but reconnected about 11 years ago. Amazing with that many years passing, when we reconnected it was just like we had seen each other a couple weeks ago!
I got off topic here before I even got on topic! Here's the link for today's free pattern. It's a granny hexagon baby blanket. I love the "roundish" afghans and blankets and this one is very special because it has a granny-look to it too. I hope you enjoy it.
Tomorrow morning, I'll be hopping on a jet plane to visit some dear friends in California. I'm so excited to go. I know many folks don't care for California, but I've lived there several times when I was in the US Navy and it's more like home to me than any place I've ever lived.
I may be gone, but I have a few posts scheduled to appear here during the 2 weeks I'm gone. I may get a chance to do a posting or 2-- you never know. Y'all have a wonderful time and stay warm in this crazy weather we're having!
I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about making your own Fabreeze on Facebook and Pinterest. I'm going to give this a try. Here's the instructions if anyone else wants to give it a try. We all need to help each other out with the penny pinching. I need to dig up a spray bottle and give this a try! If anyone has tried this let me know what you think.
Here's the "batch" I'm working on now.
I knew it was from a song so I couldn't resist including a video clip of the song sung by Bob Hope. Debi from 
Time to go now and snuggle up with the chi babies on the couch. Have a great night everyone.
