A New Dishcloth and Potholder

While I was sitting at my temporary job with the Census Bureau and had nothing to do, I made this potholder and dishcloth.  The potholder is based on what I remember of a pattern from LionBrand.  The dishcloth is just rows of single crochet done in the back loops.  The edging of the potholder is a one row of single crochet, then a row of triple crochet, slip stitch in the next single crochet  repeat around to corners and then half double crochet chain one and another half double crochet.  I'm really happy with how they turned out.

About my Census job, I work three, five hour days Monday - Wednesday and this week I only had 1 person come in!  I guess I'll have a lot of crochet time!  Speaking of crocheting, I'm making a lot of granny squares for an afghan.  I'll show you those some other time.

Take care everyone....

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Here are patterns for a   pretty place setting you can crochet.  It is very spring-like and even has an adorable egg warmer shaped like a chicken!  Check it out.

Started Temporary Job With Census Bureau

I started a temporary job with the Census Bureau today.  Actually, today was a little over 8 hours of training.  I worked with them last year and enjoyed it a lot.  I walked around neighborhoods with a handheld computer and put map spots on maps for the location of residences.  This time, the pay sucks ($8.50 per hour) and we're limited to 15 hours a week at satellite locations helping people fill out their forms or giving them forms if they somehow got missed.  I'll stick with it though, there is another phase coming up after this one is over and I have a chance to get a position with it too and hopefully it will be lots better than this one.  Take care y'all and if you're in the area and need help with your census form stop in and I'll be happy to help you out!  Hugs...

Magic Ball Afghan is Finished!

Finally, I am finished with this magic ball afghan!  I told my dh that it was for him and the chis when they snooze in the recliner.  Here is dh showing off the afghan and trying to hide at the same time.  Hey Sweetie, your head is showing lol!  OK, I'll stop jabbering and post the picture:

Today's Mixed Bag

I went into the spare bedroom (aka yarn warehouse) to look for some yarn that I had bought at Dollar Tree a while back.  I got a bit side-tracked in my search when I found a couple dishcloths I had made and just needed to weave in the loose ends.  I quickly did that and took some pictures to post here for you.  So here they are...

I remember doing this from a pattern in a book I have.  I can't remember what book it was though! I really like to post the source of patterns I use so that my readers and I have a reference to it.

This dishcloth is alternating rows of single crochet and double crochet.  The edging is a picot edging.

****************************

We have a small pond in the back yard that is stocked with goldfish.  Every spring we give it a thorough cleaning and water change. It is usually filled with all sorts of debris such as leaves and small twigs.  It has been a big chore to clean out.  My dh came up with a good idea to make this job easier.  He built a frame out of 2x4 wood and covered it with screen material that I was able to get cheap when it was marked down last fall.  He put the cover over the pond last fall and just recently removed it.  Now,the pond's spring cleaning has been simplified!

Here are the fish happily swimming in the clean pond a few years ago.  The fish are much bigger now.  Here is  an idea if koi are too expensive for your pond budget...we used feeder fish that I got 8 for a dollar at a local pet store!

Another view of the pond.  The white rock is a piece of coral we brought back from Hawaii when we were stationed there.

Here is the cover dh made for the pond. 

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

I thought that this pattern might be of interest to those of you who are rushing to see the new Alice in Wonderland Movie.  So here is the pattern to deck out a doll in Alice-type garb.  Hope you enjoy...

Getting Back on Track With Magic Ball Afghan, Finishing up Doily and Getting Ready for Next Project...

Yesterday, I had doctor appointments in Louisville, about an hour from here. When I go there I have the opportunity to to stop at Hobby Lobby. Yesterday I got the black yarn to finish my magic ball afghan. I also got red yarn to use in a spiderman ghan for a friend's little boy. The ww acrylic blues they had just didn't look right so I stopped at Meijers on my way home and they had a good blue color by Bernat. I was a naughty girl at Hobby Lobby and splurged on a few bamboo handled hooks. I love my J-Hook with a bamboo handle so I thought I'd try some others. No good sales yesterday though--maybe that is good because I impulse buy too much on yarn--yarn comes in faster than it goes out lol!

The spiral simplicity doily I'm making for my uncle is coming along. I'm working on the last 2 rounds! YIPPEE! I hope to finish it up this week and get it in the mail to him. Below is a picture of it so far. Definitely needs some blocking when it's finished.

Above is a toddler-sized spiderman ghan I made a couple years ago. The one I'll be starting soon will be a little larger for a little boy in elementary school. I use the round ripple pattern that AggieMay from crochetville generously provides to other members who pm her.

Edited to add doily picture

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

I really like the look of granny square afghans but I'm not too thrilled with sewing the squares together or weaving in the loose ends. However, I do like this pattern with the squares laid out on the diagonal and the use of half squares. Anyway, I really think it is a classier version. Hope you enjoy...

Another Birthday...

Today was my birthday and I'm 39 AGAIN lol!  I can only do that for a few more years because then I'll be the same age as my son :).  Anyway, I was born my grandma's birthday, her first granddaughter, and we used to celebrate together.  Here's a picture taken on my 10th birthday and her 62nd.  I have the glasses on. I really miss her...

Hat and Scarf Set is FINISHED!

 

I just finished this hat and scarf set.  The pattern is a freebie from Lion Brand Yarns. It was so simple to make because it was only double crochets and chains.  The homespun yarn gives it a nicer look.  The only thing I didn't like about the pattern is that the hat was supposed to have 4 holes in the top.  I gathered it together and closed it up and I think I'll like that a lot more.  Happy hooking...!

Update on Hat and Scarf Set

I have about a dozen rows or so left to do on the scarf and then a few ends to weave in and the set is finished! I'll try to finish it up today and get pictures posted. It is very easy and would be perfect for a new crocheter's first pattern. Take care y'all!

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

F

For some reason this post popped up a few days early so I guess we'll call this a bonus lol!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day here are patterns for a shamrock coaster and shamrock dishcloth.  Enjoy!

Getting Ready for Next Winter--A New Hat and Scarf Set

I'm already burned out with working on my uncle's doily and I still haven't gotten more black yarn for the magic ball afghan I've been working on.  Once again, I started a new project without finishing up what I was working on.  I'm making a hat and scarf set for next winter.  I'm using some Homespun yarn I bought on clearance at Wal-mart a while ago.  I normally don't like working with Homespun because my hook gets caught in the thready fibers but for small projects I can put up with it.  I finished the hat last night while watching television with dh and at this time, I have roughly a foot of the scarf made.  After I started the hat, I noticed that the crown of the hat wasn't closed but rather had 4 openings.  Well, I couldn't have that so I gathered the top of the crown and closed it off.  Winter is cold and I didn't want the top of my head to freeze :).  Anyway, the pattern I'm using for this set is a freebie from LionBrand Yarn.  I'm not going to post a picture of the hat until I finish the scarf and can show the set together so stay tuned...

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Here's today's link for a free pattern.  Today's pattern is for panhandlers--an alternative to potholders.  It is part of the collection of free patterns found at CrochetNow.  Enjoy...

Some of My Thoughts...

Not much going on today so I thought I'd just put some of my jumbled thoughts here...

My magic ball afghan project is on pause for now. I ran out of black yarn so I decided to focus my attention on the doily I'm making for my uncle. Can you tell I'm procrastinating with it? I think I have been working on it for MONTHS! It is just so darned hard for me to see the tiny, little stitches.

Here are some other thoughts...everyone I know has replaced their incandescent light bulbs with the new improved energy bulbs. My question is, is it more economic and better for the environment to take perfectly good bulbs and toss them in the trash causing factories to manufacture more new bulbs quicker, the consumer to pay for them sooner than necessary, and landfills to receive them quicker? Let's see, you also need to calculate the cost-saving of having the new bulbs in your lighting fixtures.  How do we do that?  Whew!  You almost need to be a scientist to calculate out this one! Me, as my old bulbs die, I replace with the new and improved model.

Last night dh and I had our supper at a diner-type restaurant. I ordered a meal that was too much for me and as I was putting the left-overs into a "to-go" container a bit of food dropped on the table and I picked it up and put it in the container. DH said, "Heloise says that you shouldn't do that because sometimes women use public rest rooms and they put their purses on the floor. No telling what gets on the bottom of their purses. Then when they go back to the dining room, they might put their purses on the table and all kinds of germs get on the table. Then you just picked up that food with all sorts of bathroom bugs on it." Got me thinking that's for sure! Heloise is not only in the newspaper she is also online so go visit her for some creative hints.  Oh, by the way, I'm sure there are more "bathroom bugs" on the floor in the men's room!  LOL!

See ya later gator...

Just Before Midnight, 28 Feb 1942, USS Houston CA 30 Engages Japanese ...

On February 28, the USS Houston CA30 and the HMAS Perth proceeded to the port of Batavia in western Java, and partially refueled before attempting that night to pass through Sunda Strait in an effort to reach the safer waters of the Indian Ocean. As they approached the entrance to the strait near midnight, they unexpectedly encountered a Japanese covering force of nearly one dozen destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous torpedo boats and minesweepers that were protecting the invasion fleet. In the ensuing Battle of Sunda Strait, the Houston and Perth both aggressively fired at the attacking Japanese ships at close range, but, outnumbered and outgunned, they were no match for the enemy forces that completely surrounded them. Four torpedoes sealed the fate of the Perth shortly after midnight. Soon after, the first torpedo struck the Houston, and another Japanese shell destroyed her number two eight-inch turret, at which point Captain Rooks gave the order to abandon ship.
Tragically, one of the incoming Japanese shells struck a gun mount, killing Captain Rooks. The abandon ship order was countermanded and the Houston continued to fight, now alone against the Japanese fleet. She managed to hit three destroyers and sink a minesweeper before three more torpedoes ripped into the ship.
Hit by four torpedoes and listing to starboard, the Houston was doomed. The Japanese turned on their searchlights and continued to blast the ship. Captain Rooks and the majority of the crew were already dead. As a second order was given to abandon ship, the remaining crew members jumped over the sides, then began swimming furiously away from the suction of the sinking ship.
In the water, Japanese torpedo boats were machine gunning escaping sailors. Those who could avoid the gunfire began swimming through the dark, oil-coated water towards the Java shore, many miles away. Terrible as the experience of the last few days had been, their ordeal was just beginning.  (Information from University of Houston Special Collection).


When I was in college, I wrote my thesis on the sinking of this ship and the heroic crew.  The ship was substandard and the men did the best they could.  I was fortunate to attend a reunion/ memorial ceremony in 2002 and again in 2003.  The survivors I spoke with were friendly and more than happy to answer my questions. A bit of trivia, their experiences as POWs of the Japanese were used for the movie Bridge on River Kwai.

Update on My Magic Ball Afghan

This magic ball afghan is my relaxation.  I work on it in the evenings while dh watches television.  I think this afghan will fit a queen-size bed when it is finished or an over-sized double/full size bed.  I love how these look and I like the idea that I can use up remnants of yarn left over from other projects.  Roughly, I have crocheted it to 52".  I'm not sure how big I'm going to make it until I get it a tad bit bigger and lay it on the bed I'm making it for.  I'm thinking about using it for a regular blanket.  What do you think??? Do people use afghans for blankets?  The stitches in this one are close so there aren't any gaping holes to let the cold air in.  My chis, Opi and Nellie Belle love when I work on this and Opi is curled up next to me and Nellie B. is on my lap.  I've rambled on here long enough.  Thanks for visiting...
Click on the cute doggie button below to see links to other crafty people's works-in-progress.

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Here is a vintage pattern for the

CROCHETED SONTAG:SHAWL PATTERN .

 It is a little bit different from most shawl patterns that I've seen because it has "ties" to help keep it on.  The site that it comes from is for Civil War re-enactors and has a variety of sewing patterns too. Hope you enjoy... 

Slavery Video: The History of Slavery in America

I've been a bit neglectful of posting topics of historical events in my blog.  Today, in honor of African American History Month, I am posting this 3 part video The History of Slavery in America.  You may turn off the music player by scrolling down the right column until you get to the player and then clicking on the mute button.  May we learn from the mistakes in our history...

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Today's link to a free pattern is for a cuddly costume for your k9 fur baby. It can be worn in cooler weather just like any other dog sweater imho. It is from crochet kitten.    Here's the pattern.  Enjoy y'all!