Current Project--

I'm working on another baby blanket. Seems that there are lot of babies going to be born lately. I have 2 more to go after this one. So far this is what I have finished--

There are some granny squares that get worked with this too. This will be for a little boy. His grandmother has been a friend since high school so of course I have to make a blanket for this this guy's grand entrance.

Pattern is from an Annie's Attic publication called Best-in-Show Baby Blankets, edited by Brenda Brinneman, published by DRG in 2005.

Stay tuned for more...

Have a great day everyone,

Sharon

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (10 June 2013)

Today's free pattern is for bunny slippers for a 0-3 month old. They're really cute and not only would they're nice anytime but would be especially nice at Easter-time (I'm a bit late for that this year though  ).

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Hugs,
Sharon

Crocheted Spiderman-Like Baby Blanket

This week I finished a baby blanket reminiscent of Spiderman's web. This is going to the soon to be born grandson of my neighbors. Their daughter and son in law are decorating the baby's room with a super hero theme. The basic round ripple pattern is by Aggie May of Crochetville. I finished it up by using bits and pieces from other similar "web like" patterns others had done. Hope the new parents like it.  Oh, if anyone is interested in the basic round ripple pattern I used, Aggie May has generously shared her pattern to Crochetville members who have pm'd her at Crochetville.

Take care everyone.

  Other Spiderman clothing

I've Been AWOL from Here

I've been missing in action here again. I did go to Illinois to visit family and friends. It was a whirl-wind trip. Son Matthew went with me and we were constantly on the go. Even though we saw everyone we set out to see, I felt like our visits were too short. I brought some crochet items as gifts but spacey me forgot to give the slippers I crocheted to 2 people I had them for. I'll make it up to them the next time I see them. I got carried away talking and visiting and forgot about taking pictures. My son took a couple but he's not familiar with my camera and  they turned out blurry. Anyway, here's what we did.

Met up with an old high school friend and we went to Aurelio's  in Frankfurt, IL for pizza and chat. The pizza was great and the chat was even better. Beth is a great friend and I miss her dearly. Here's a blurry picture   of us--

Our room wasn't ready when we checked into the hotel so we went to the cemetery and put out flowers for my mom. It was between Mothers' Day and  Memorial Day so I decided to go with a patriotic theme for the decorations.

Mom

Grandma and Grandpa

For the first time since I graduated high school back in '75, I saw the lady who taught me to crochet. I thanked her several times for teaching me. Crocheting is a great stress reliever for me and I feel like when I give someone something I've crocheted it comes from the heart because of all the hours it takes to make a project and the happy thoughts about the person I'm making the item for. Anyway, she's in her 80s now and no longer crochets because no matter how she sits, her back hurts. She told me to stop in and visit any time I'm back in the area. To be honest, I'm not sure she remembered me.

After not making a trip up there the last 4 or 5 years, I was rather surprised at how much a couple of older relatives have slowed down. I need to make an effort to make a trip more frequently.

My aunt is taking care of my cousin's twins who were born last fall. They're the cutest little things. The little girl has longer hair and very feminine eyebrows. She's definitely the alpha child (is there such a thing?) and she has a very dominant personality. She wasn't happy when I tried to hold her. Her brother on the other hand, not only was I able to hold him but I was able to feed him a bottle too. His hair is shorter and his eyebrows are thicker and he just looks like a little boy already. I took the blankets up there that I've procrastinated about mailing. It was such a long time since I held a baby and I was amazed at how heavy the little ones were! Got me wishing that there were more little ones around us. .

I visited with my cousin and it was very nice. We met at Jameson's Pub and dined outside. Food is delicious there and service is great too. I had a hamburger that was too big to finish at one sitting. I had a small cooler with me so I put my leftovers in it and had the rest for breakfast. I often eat crazy things like that for breakfast, I hate to waste food. Her mother is my aunt who passed away last Thanksgiving. I put some flowers out for her at the cemetery too.

Before I made the drive, Ray had the tires and oil changed in the truck. I'll be darned if my uncle didn't notice a strange sound when he rode with me and after getting it checked out, I had a bad wheel bearing. I'm pretty happy that he noticed it because I could have had a bad accident driving home. So, I extended my stay and had it fixed. My son ended up missing a day at work. Even though he called the day before, he was given a point, or as I call it, a demerit for missing work. He works at Wal-Mart and they're really mean about those things. I've been contemplating boycotting them but then again, my son still works there and is getting a check so I should be less quick about the boycott thing.

We made it home safely and my "babies" were happy to see me.

Nellie Belle

Opi

I have a few ends to weave in on my latest project then I'll post a picture for you.

Take care everyone and hugs,

Sharon

Have You Seen One of These?

My Nellie Belle loves this stuffed animal. She takes it to bed with us every night and it is the only toy she brings in from outside. She has just about loved it to death. I've mended it several times and the fabric is starting to rot. I've been looking for a replacement in stores and online but no luck. I've tried substituting similar stuffed animals but once again, no luck. The manufacturer's tag is no longer legible so that's a dead-end. I got it several years ago at Big Lots.  Have you seen one of these anywhere? Please let me know if you have so I can get her a new one.

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (13 May 2013)

graphic from here

Today's Link is for a sporty looking tote with a pocket for an umbrella. I'm not one for crocheted bags but this one is right up my alley. Check it out, I think you'll like it too.

Have a great week everyone!


   All kinds of umbrellas here

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (06 May 2013)

Next month is June and many weddings take place in this month. Here's a pattern for a wedding related afghan. There's still time to make one if you plan to gift some newlyweds with an afghan.

Have a great week everyone!




More Wedding Cake Toppers

I'm Baaack!

Yep, I've been gone from here for much of the time lately. Need to catch up with my blog reading and all that. Today I'm sharing my latest finished object. Ta Dah--it's an afghan made of granny squares! I've been piddling around with this one for quite a while now. Sometimes I suffer from lack of motivation when it comes to working with squares although, granny square afghans are some of my favorites to have and see. This goes to a high school chum now living in Florida. I wanted to get it to her in time for her birthday but that's Tuesday and I don't think the post office is fast enough. Anyway, she's also been in the hospital lately too so I need to be sure and get to the post office first thing tomorrow. Afghan's in the wash now and tomorrow it's off to the post office.

Time to start my next project--a Spiderman Baby/Toddler 'Ghan.

Have a great week everyone.

Hugs, Sharon

Thank You

Thank you for all your prayers. They helped locate my friend's granddaughter. She's been found--alive but a bit battered. I won't go into details because she's only 14. Again, thank you so very much for your prayers.

Missing Girl

Found!

My friend's granddaughter is missing. Please, if you see her, or know where she is then please call the Hemet, California Police Departmet at Phone: (951) 765-2400 .

"My daughter Angelisa Whisnant ran away from homeland CA last night at 12:30...she may be in Hemet....she is mentally handicapped and requires meds...ANGELISA MOMMY LOVES YOU SO VERY MUCH..PLEASE PLEASE COME HOME!!" (from facebook)

She takes medications that she needs.

Please share this if you know someone in the Hemet, California area.

Thank you very much.

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (29 April 2013)

Today's featured free pattern would be great for a musician. It's a scarf that resembles a musical keyboard.

Hope everyone is doing ok. I've been absent from blogland lately. Seems like life has gotten a bit busy lately. I hope to have something to share with you soon.

Hugs,
Sharon

Shower Curtains

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (22 April 2013)

Tired of scrubbing those pots and pans that have food literally stuck to them? Here's a pattern that will help you with that chore.

Wishing everyone a great week.

Hugs,
Sharon

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (15 April 2013)

It's a Spiderman afghan! I love these afghan's and have already made a baby one and one for a child. Soon, I'm going to be making another one because our neighbor's daughter is expecting a baby and she's decorating the nursery in super heroes. The picture is of one I made a few years ago (not sure if I used this exact pattern or not).

Hugs,
Sharon

Let's Pause Our Lives for a Moment--

It's time to take a moment and pray for the people in Boston. I can not imagine anyone having so much anger that they would destroy innocent lives. People of Boston, America and much of the world is praying for you. 

As I was reading the news about this horrific event, I actually cried. I am flabbergasted at the amount of hatred in some people and groups to do this. 

For up-to-date information, CNN's blog has the latest news.

Spring Is in the Air

Spring is in the air in our neck of the woods.

I almost wish that dandelions were more "controllable." They're a pretty, cheerful yellow and it would be nice to contain them in flower beds. Unfortunately, they're uncontrollable and plant themselves wherever they darn well please. The tiny violets that grow wild everywhere around here are very pretty too and I don't have any problem with them planting themselves wherever they please since they don't stand-out as much as the dandelions do.

Yesterday, the weather was beautiful--about 80 degrees and sunny with a little bit of a breeze. Hubby brought home some petunias and I put together our hanging baskets and outdoor planters.

I know, they look kind of puny right now but, in a couple weeks they'll fill out and I paid a fraction of the price that pre-planted baskets cost. You can see my neighbor in the first picture tilling up our garden for us. Hubby asked to borrow his tiller but our nice neighbor came over and did it himself. Hubby is going to aerate the neighbors yard for him so it's a win-win situation.

We have a small tiller--a mantis. You may have seen them on television. Our soil isn't the best and it is better to use the big tiller to break ground in the spring. Hubby went to the store and came back with some manure this morning.

He's taking it out to the garden and will be working it in the soil with our mantis tiller.

Opi has been enjoying our weather too. A normally lazy boy, he's outdoors frolicking in the yard for long periods during the sun shiny times.

I've been working on my afghan some more. After my fiasco with using the wrong hook for about 1/2 of the squares I made I'm not sure if I'm going to meet my dead-line with this. Get motivated Sharon!

That's it for now. Y'all have a great day...

Hugs,

Sharon

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern--One Day Late this Week :)

Thought I had scheduled yesterday's free pattern link but I didn't--my excuse is my old age disease called "old-timers". Anyway, I have a link to a pattern for a beautiful afghan. Go here and check it out! 

Upcoming Home Improvement Project

We're going to be gutting our main bathroom and redoing it. I've spruced up the old bathroom with color but it's still looking shabby so that's the reason we're going to redo the entire thing. My husband will be doing the majority of the work so this won't be a quick project. The other day, the new vanity was delivered. It's gorgeous--looks like an antique piece of furniture.

I'm totally in love with this! It's about a foot shorter than the old one but that's ok because the old one butted up next to the wall. We're going to be getting faucets that are finished in a bronze look.

I've been looking online at shower curtains but the ones I like are very expensive so I'll be shopping around a while longer for it. Amazon has 300+ pages of shower curtains that I've gone through so far. I may just have to go to actual stores.

This is all that's news today.

Take care and have a great weekend.

Sharon

I Did Something Dumb

Yes, I really did something dumb. I must have picked up a different sized hook when I was crocheting these squares because all 130 of them are done but I have 2 different sizes! I feel so stupid--grrrrrr!

Here's the big pile of 130 squares:

But notice the difference in size:

Time for a redesign of how I'm making this afghan. More on this fiasco later!

WIP Wednesday (03 April 2013)

I'm still cranking out granny squares for the afghan I'm making for a friend. It's rather boring to weave in soooo many ends and that makes me rather slow about making these. The end is coming closer though because I only have 1 round to do on the last 4 multicolored grannies! I've been weaving in the ends as I go along. Here's a large bag of squares that I've done so far whoo-whoo!

   

 I have most of the solid ones to do but I expect they'll be faster to make. Here's the layout I'm using for my squares:

 

I am really looking forward to sending this to my friend. She's a friend from high school and it was just a few years ago that we reconnected. She has some health issues and her sister and I wanted to do something nice for her--hence this afghan.

OK, I have nothing else. Take care everyone and have a great day.

Hugs,
Sharon

Garden Shears & Loppers

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (01 April 2013)

I love making round afghans and here's a pattern for a round rug that would be great to make too. Here's the link for this beautiful rug.

Hope everyone had a nice Easter.

Hugs,
Sharon