It's Monday!

Hello again friends!

It's been a busy weekend and can you believe that January is almost over?  Considering that I spent the first two weeks sick and unable to do much, it was a busy month.

It was also a weekend for smashing any diet hopes that I had.  We ate four, yes four meals out at restaurants.  Admittedly, three of them were with friends that we had made plans with, but still.  Four meals out in three days?  I'm so very spoiled and my waistline is suffering.  Mexican food Friday night, breakfast on Saturday and then in the evening, pizza!  After church yesterday was lunch with a lovely bunch of friends.  I had a hot roast beef sandwich.  Yum!  Okay.  That's enough.  It's Monday and I absolutely HAVE to do better!

I did manage to finish the baby blanket that I've been knitting on for a week.  My knitting is much, much slower than crocheting and on top of that it was a lace pattern with a 20 row repeat so there was no way to memorize it.  At least not for me to memorize it!  And tah-dah!  Here it is.

Uh oh!  Now that I look at the pictures, I think I see a mistake, but since only God makes things perfect I think I will leave it alone and not rip it out as my hands are itching to do.

 And here are two up close and personal pictures to show the detail a bit better.

The pattern called for the border to be done in garter stitch, but I like the seed or moss stitch better so that's what I did.  The yarn is Caron's Simply Soft and it only took a little over a skein and a half.  So I made the blanket for less than $5.00.  Amazing!  And it's so soft and sweet.  Perfect for a special baby.

The next two pictures are of my needle case. I keep all my double pointed and interchangeables in it.  I have seen comparable cases online for upwards of $80 but I made this one in about an hour with my quilt scraps.  It rolls up into a tidy roll that fits nicely in my knitting bag and goes everywhere with me.

 A closer picture showing the pockets I sewed for each size needle and  a pocket for the interchangable cords.  See the new needle tips still in the packages.  My wonderful daughter got me duplicates of the tips I use the most for Christmas. That way I can have more than one project on the needles.  She's a knitter too and understands the necessity for being prepared when inspiration strikes!

 And here's a picture of the new haircut.  Excuse the double chins and the weird smile.  I took the picture myself holding the camera out at arms length.  It's strange to try to look normal for a camera with no one behind it!  How do you like the cut?  I'm finding that I'm enjoying different looks.  I can still clip it back with combs or barrettes.  Or I can leave it down or with a headband.  I'm taking an opinion poll so let me know your thoughts.

I've got my housework done for the day.  The last load of laundry is in the dryer.  We're having our best friends over for dinner tonight and I'm making chicken and noodles with homemade baking powder biscuits and green beans from last summer's garden.  I make my noodles from scratch and they seem to be very popular.  I get lots of requests and it's a perfect meal for a winter day.  No dessert after the weekend I've experienced!

I'm going to work on some burial outfits this afternoon for the local hospital.  Not too many people like to make them because it's a bit depressing.  The nurses told me when I made my last hat delivery that they were out of the burial gowns and hats.  They are crocheted, usually pink, blue or white.  Sometimes the baby is actually buried in it, but sometimes the parents keep it as a keepsake.  It does serve a need and the nurses tell me that the families are always grateful.  Not as fun as hats and blankets but needed, nonetheless.

I'm off to my yarn basket.  Have a wonderful Monday and I'll see you all again soon.

Blessings,

Betsy

Projects Done!

Good Morning!

It's been a productive week around here.  I finished 6 of the rainbow baby blankets so I think I'm ready for any new little ones to arrive.  Now I need to get started on some sweater/hat/bootie sets to go along with them.  Here I have them folded up, but you can see that there are six of them.  I changed the brand of yarn for the four on top.  I can no longer get the colors to make them like the two on the bottom since it's been discontinued.  I think I like the new ones better though.  What do you think?

I also made a candle jar color out of the scraps from my Crochet Along blanket.  I love how bright and cheery it is, especially at night with the candle lit.

Isn't it wonderful?  Hubby hasn't commented on it yet so I'm not sure if he just plain hasn't noticed or he doesn't like it and doesn't want to tell me.  It's just double crochet until the top row where I decreased and then did a round in single crochet.  I got the idea from Lucy at Attic24 but adapted it a bit to fit my jar.  It slips right off when the candle is gone and I can reuse it on another!

My newest Valentine decoration is in the next photo. I had a 50% off coupon at Michaels on regular or sale priced items. This heart wreath was marked down to $4.99 because of a scratch that is on the back. You can't even see it! So, I got this gem for $2.50. It's about 16 inches across, quite large. I think that was a great deal. The new ones are $9.99 normally.

I recieved this cactus as a throwaway about 15 years ago.  It was one small leaf on a stem that I just stuck in some dirt.  It's huge now!  I still don't know what it is.  It blooms at odd times every year and never the same time.  So I don't think it's a Christmas Cactus or an Easter Casctus.  Does anyone out there know what it is?  It usually bloom about twice each year. It has one open flower right now and another bud ready to bloom.  Beautiful.

I got my hair cut yesterday and I think I'm going to like it.  IF, and that's a big IF, I can duplicate the way the hairdresser fixed it.  I've found the older I get, the thinner my hair seems to be.  I have as much of it as ever, but it doesn't seem as full.  If I can fix it decently I'll try to get a picture.  She left it long enough that I can still pull it off my neck in the summer when its hot, but short enough to make it feel thicker.

Tonight is Bible study and we have a full weekend of birthday parties and we need to find hubby some good walking shoes.  He took Chloe for a walk last night and came home with a wet foot.  When we looked at the bottom of his shoe there was a huge hole, at least an inch across is just gone from the sole.  He detests buying shoes and now he has no choice.

I'm praying that God will stop the snow and freezing rain for awhile around here.  We're supposed to go to our grandson's 5th birthday party in Montana next weekend, but the passes have been closed most of this week.  Yuck!  I'm done with winter and ready for spring.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your lives to the fullest!

Blessings,

Betsy

Sunshine, Beautiful Sunshine!

It's a beautiful day today.  Cold, but sunny and happy out.  I've scrubbed my floors.  I've finished the laundry and now I can blog and crochet the day away if I want to.  Guilt free because my chores are done and the sun is shining!

I wanted to share this photo with all of you. I found this today when I was searching my cedar lined chest for something my son wanted.

This is the first thing I ever crocheted, way back in 1967! I was seven years old and my Grandma taught me to crochet by having me make a ripple blanket for my doll’s bed. She had me crochet every single stitch so I could always say I made it all by myself! I miss her every single day-she was full of wisdom and love, just as a Grandma should be! I keep the blanket in the chest so it can be passed down to my daughter’s children someday.  This project instilled a love of crochet in me that has never wavered over the past 45 years!

I took this picture yesterday off the back deck.  The sun was trying desperately to peek through for about half an hour and then disappeared again and we recieved another round of rain/snow.  This morning everything is icey and frozen.  You can hear cars crunching down the street as they drive by!  An odd sound!  Anyway, I love the dusting of snow on all the mountains.  It looks like someone has sprinkled powdered sugar on them from a flour sifter!

The last two pictures are my small way of decorating for Valentine's Day.  I don't do much but I have a few things out that I'll be showing you.  I found these silk roses on sale at Michaels last week.  Two stems for $3.00.  I thought it was a good deal and I came home and took the flowers off the stems and put them into the big vase on the coffee table.  What do you think?  I'm not a very good decorator, but I do like the way they look.  The little cherub in the top picture was a gift a few years ago from my friend Jenny. 

And that's it for today my friends.  I'm off to find my crochet hook and yarn.  I'm going to take a short break this morning from my baby blankets, (I've made 3 this week), and try to make a candle jar cover to cheer up the kitchen.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Have a wonderful Monday my friends.

Blessings,

Betsy