Smurfs' Christmas Special Part 2 of 2

As I promised you yesterday, here is part 2 of the Smurf's Christmas Special. Isn't it fun to watch something a little bit light-hearted?



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A Few Small Crochet Projects Recently Completed

Here's a Christmas towel and towel ring. The ring pattern is from this page .  I modified it by starting with a chain instead of wrapping the yarn around my hand.

Small wreath made by crocheting around a ring from a gallon milk jug.

Hat I made for my son. No pattern used; I winged it. I can write a pattern up if anyone wants it.

Hope y'all are having a good week!

Smurfs' Christmas Special Part 1 of 2

Remember watching the Smurfs? Here is part 1 of their Christmas Special; stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow. I really enjoyed these little blue characters as my sons and I watched them together oh so many years ago. I hope you enjoy them too. Hugs...

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern 06 Dec. 2010

Here's an interesting take on an afghan. This is a stadium afghan that folds up and has handles to tote it with you. Would be great for visits to stadiums (the name gives this one away), picnics or perhaps to carry in your car during the winter in case you get stuck somewhere in the cold.

PTSD and Women Vets

As I was watching this video, it brought back some vivid memories of events that I was aware of from my time in the military. I can not say how things are in today's military because I separated from the US Navy in 1992. I do know that any sort of abusive relationship problems oftentimes were brushed under the carpet and abused sailors were told "you weren't issued a family/boyfriend in your seabag"--in other words, we don't want to hear about your problems. There may be help on the horizon although I am wondering how many women vets will actually be sent to the facility in California that is mentioned in this video. Interesting video, I guess I shouldn't say I hope you enjoy because this is not an enjoyable topic.

From 1952: Pluto's Christmas Tree

Gosh I love the old Disney cartoons!
To better hear this, you may want to scroll down the column on your right and mute the music player if it started automatically. Enjoy...


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Just Finished Rereading a Favorite Old Book

Some time ago, I found the book Heidi by Johanna Spyri at a local thrift store. This was one of my favorite books in the long-ago days of my youth. I brought it home with the intention of giving it to a certain young lady but I forgot about it! About a week ago I found it and reread this lovely story. I can see the beautiful Alps of Switzerland and the rambunctious goats frolicking on the mountainside with Heidi and Peter the young goat herder. This book is of superb quality. It doesn't have pictures of characters in their underwear or other questionable subjects. What it does do is tell a story of an orphaned young girl starting at the age of 5. She was dumped on her grandfather by an aunt who felt she had done her duty by Heidi and it was the grandfather's turn to care for the youngster. The grandfather was a gruff old coot but that was only on the surface. Heidi was tonic for the old man and the old man gave Heidi a sense of belonging. I thoroughly enjoyed rereading this story. Have any of you ever gone back to a favorite childhood book for a reread?

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Michaels Coupon

Click Madness and get a coupon for 15% off entire purchase at Michaels. Some items are excluded so read the fine print before using.

A Couple Crocheted Christmas Ornaments

I had some Christmasy yarn left over from another project and I thought I'd make some ornaments to go on gifts. Here they are:

The patterns are found on this page.

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WIP Wednesday for 01 December 2010

It's almost Wednesday so I'll post my wips a little early. :)

Here are the two projects that I played around with on Tuesday. The first is a Tulip Stitch Dishcloth. I ended up finishing the dishcloth after I took the photo of it as a WIP. It's going to be part of some sort of kitchen set so I'll show the finished version after I finish  whatever I decide to put with it.

The other thing that I was working on Tuesday, was a Christmas decoration from Drops Design. I really like this and I think I'll make a few more and use them as decoration on gifts and then the recipients can hang on their own tree if they want to. A few ends to weave in and this one will be done.

Got a New Camera

Somehow, the screen on my digital camera cracked. As every blogger knows, ya gotta have a camera! I called dh and he ok'd me getting a camera as an early Christmas present; so I hied to WalMart lickety-split! I saw what looked to be a great camera by Sanyo "Sanyo VPC-T1495BL 14MP Digital Camera w/ 5x Optical Zoom, 2.7" LCD Display"--the videos it took were supposed to be "movie quality." I brought it home, charged the batteries and took a flash picture of Opi (and Nellie snuck in) and it sucked! Here it is:

 

I packed it up and raced back to Wally World, already starting to feel the terror of blog pages with only WORDS! I paid a few bucks more and got a Kodak EasyShare M580 14MP Digital Camera, 8x Optical Zoom, 3" LCD, 1-Button Upload Camera. Here's a flash picture taken with it:

I think the Kodak is much, much better. 

Oh, this is Opi in his "camping tent."

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Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern 29 Nov. 2010

Here's a nice pattern for a short cape. The model is all gussied up but I was thinking that it would be nice to wear around the house too in the winter.  Check it out and y'all have a great week.  Hugs...

NOTE: There was a problem with the link but it is now corrected. Sorry for any problems with it. Sharon

More Coasters...

Finished these last night. These are my latest favorite "purse" project.

Christmas Spirit at the Mall

I saw this and had to share it with all of you. Enjoy all :)
(You may scroll down the column on your right to mute the blog's music player if it is on, to better hear the video).

Free Crochet Pattern for "Coasters in the Round"

One of my friends in Blogland asked me what pattern I use for the coasters I make. This was something I played around with until I figured it out. Here's what I do:

Coasters in the Round

• I use an I hook but I crochet loosely. You may want to change hook size  or make additional rounds.
• Yarn:  ww cotton

Round 1:

• ch 2
• work 5sc in first (this makes a circle)
• put marker in this 5th sc and last sc of every round
• do not turn on these rounds

Round 2:

• 3 sc in each sc (total 15 sc this round)

Round 3:

• *2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 2 sc*
• [repeat from *to* around (20 sc)]

Round 4:

• *2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 3 sc*
• [repeat from *to* around (25 sc)]

Round 5:

• *2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 4 sc*
• [repeat from *to* around (30 sc)]

Round 6:

• *2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 5 sc*
• [repeat from *to* around (35 sc)]

Round 7:

• *2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 6 sc*
• [repeat from *to* around (40 sc)]

Round 8:

• *2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 7 sc*
• [repeat from *to* around (45 sc)]

Edging:

• sl st into next sc
• turn
• *Tr (triple/treble crochet) in 1st sc, then sl st in next*
• (repeat from *to* around)
• finish off

I made up this pattern and I claim the copyright on it. You may use it for making items to sell but no online sales. Do not sell pattern. Do not post anywhere online but you are welcome to post a link to it. Copyright by Sharon Gardner 2010.

Here's a Glimpse at Our Thanksgiving

We have a small family. Just dh, mil, the 2 grown sons (one married) and me. The 2 sons and our dil worked on Thanksgiving--they work retail jobs. So with it just being dh, his mom and me, mil decided we should go to Churchill Downs for the buffet and races.

The temperatures were chilly yesterday but not as cold as we had been anticipating. I felt so sorry for the poor horses running in mud and ankle-deep water on the track. They were supposed to race in the turf but because of the track conditions they ran in the mud or as they say at the track "sloppy track."

Here's some pictures. Sorry that the quality isn't too great but it was a rainy, dreary day.

A row of these jockies greeted visitors

We dined at a nice buffet on Millionaire Row 

DH at our table (in the striped sweater). We were seated at a table with people we didn't know when we first got there. That seemed strange to me but we chatted during the day and they were nice people.

Time to place your bets! 

Getting a little libation! 

And here's the gang: Philip, Ray, Me and MIL standing

Horribly wet track! 

Hoof-pocked track. 

Told DH that we needed to bet on this horse because he worked in the ship's engine room when he was in the navy. He told me I couldn't bet on it because he was going to and lo and behold Engine Room won!

It was a nice time at the track but I don't think I'd like to do this again on a holiday. Maybe I'll sweet-talk DH into a nice dinner at a restaurant and then home for some pie later on. It seemed kind of "cheesy" to be gambling on horses on a holiday. Sorry, folks from Kentucky--I'm just a darned yankee unwillingly transplanted here lol! 

"Decorating" Blog for the Holidays

I'm in the process of decorating here for Christmas. I have Christmas carols playing and hope to have a Christmasy background and header soon. The music is on auto as a result of readers response to the question I asked if it should be in auto or manual mode. Only 1 person responded and so you will hear music when you stop in. If you don't care to hear music, then scroll down the column on your right and you will be able to turn off the player. 

WIP for My Grand "Fur" Babies

My son Justin asked me to crochet a fitted cover for the kennel/crate/thingamajig that his 2 Cocker Spaniel kids sleep in. This is taking me a while. I don't know why but maybe because I'm sneaking in little projects to work on and maybe because I'm concerned that after all the time and yarn going into it I might GOOF it up! Anyway, I'm making it out of double strands of ww yarn. 1 strand is black and the other is magic ball. For those of you unaware of what "magic ball" yarn is, it is "left-overs" rolled up into a ball. This helps to minimize waste and also makes a unique, one of a kind item. Here's some of the wip pictures I took the other day.

The panels are just sc. I'm then crocheting around them (with dc) to make them "fit" the sides. Actually, I'm making them about 2" larger than the sides so that it will easily go on the crate after I finish sewing the panels together.  The panel on the door side, I will just sew at the top and have that side as a flap that can be tucked under the top if it needs to be gotten out of the way. The piece on the bottom, inside of the crate is a throw that my chis have used for several years. I just tossed it in the kennel when my son brought it over because the Cocker Kids were distraught about their kennel being temporarily relocated.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks for stopping in. Hugs...














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Thanksgiving Day...

Praying for peace and a blessed day for all...

Black Friday Ad for Michaels

Just a quick look at Michaels ad for Black Friday deals for my crafty friends. ;)

Check out Black Friday Deals at Michaels