Afghan Swap 2015: The Final Box

As some of you know, I have been taking part in a year round, afghan swap. In this swap, there are three packages: two smaller and the final on has the afghan. The first one was sent out in April, then August and finally December. I have throurghly enjoyed participating and hope to take part in the next years.

My final package left me spoiled:

 I received two, beautiful circle blankets!

 Many goodies: Two bags of butterscotch candies (my favorite), hot chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup Tea (yum!), Sherlock Holmes book (My CSI hero), an engraving art kit, dry erase board, X-men DVD (Not sure how she knew of my secret Marvel love or my love for Hugh Jackman...) and not pictured a set of beautiful blue coasters.

 There were four blanket patterns, a recipie for pie and one for ham.

 Four skeins of yarn. They are so soft and I have many ideas for these I just have to pick the right ones.

 A clever, reversible hat.

 Beautiful, beaded stitch markers

 And two crochet magazines! One is Crochet Accessories (which I will be making several thing in the near future) and the other is a Crochet magazine, which teaches the enterlac crochet which I have been so curious about. I am excited and forever thankful!

Thank you, Bonnie for spoiling me, all year. It has been such a blessing to get to know you and find things for you as well. Your patience with me was unimaginable. I know I have a history of unending questions and this was my first swap. Thank you, for being part of such a wonderful year.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved

Merry Christmas 2015!

This year has been a wonderful and exciting year. In some ways I am sad to see it go but in others I enjoy looking back and seeing how far everyone has come from January 1. My sister-in-law has grown a lot in her attitude and has learned to accept some things that she cannot change. I am proud of her, even though it has taken some time and different routes to get to her. We were able to see her, this Christmas, for a couple of days.

Corban has grown a lot this year, as well. He has had a few growth spurts but he has grown in character as well. I am proud of him for sticking up for himself and others. He has made some great choices in friends and in life. Although, being a teenage boy, he still has some growing to do.

This Christmas was wonderful. Being able to spend time with family, without having to worry about when I have to be at work, customers, etc. It was nice. My only worry was "did I do enough, for Christmas" and the resounding echo from everyone has been "yes". I still have my doubts but that is me. I am a giver and even if I gave someone the clothes off of my back, I would still want to give more.

Jc enjoys his Boston blanket and everyone else seems to enjoy the things they recieved. Jc gave me a yarn pendant for Christmas! I have been wanting one for a long time but never got around to getting one. Now, I dont' have to worry about where my scissors are and whether or not I'm going to cut myself, or the pets by sitting on them. He also wants to give me a "Crochet Mystery novel". It sounds interesting, for sure.

I made out with some yarn, patterns, a Starwars Crochet Kit, stitch markers, pjs....it has been a truly blessed year. Even more than the things I have recieved, I will always treasure the relationships of those family and friends. There is nothing more valuable than time and memories.

Today, I go back to work and Jc goes to see the new Star Wars with his family before his sister goes back. It has been a great year and I look forward to the future
Remember that you are beautiful and well loved

Let's Go, Red Sox! Finally!

It is finally finished! I have been working on designing a Boston Red Sox blanket for my husband who is a huge fan of the team. I started designing it in February and just finished the complete pattern and blanket, today.

It started out as just an idea. I had only designed a couple of hats and scarves at that point and I was just playing around with ideas. I bought some graph paper and made multiple sketches of the logo's. I decided on this one, a larger version of it and started actually writing the pattern from the graph paper.

The digital download will not have the graph, mostly because I'm not super great with technology to make 146 boxes on a page. But all of the directions will be written out.

I don't know how I feel about the border. It is a puff stitch, which I thought of because it looked kind of like balls and this is a baseball team. Jerad has only put the blanket down (because I can't wait until Christmas to give people their gifts), to fix some delicious food.

What do you think of the blanket? Be honest, please.
What is your design process?

Feel free to let me know in the comments below, and check out my other posts!

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved

Sauron's First Project

Hi, my name is, Cassie and I'm a closeted Lord of the Rings geek.

Everyone needs something to completely geek out over and although I love that crocheting can be a part of that...I mean not many people understand the different yarn ply's, hook and stitch names or crochet lingo like "FROG", outside of crocheters and knitters. I have always had a love fore Tolkien's works. I have read most of his books and Lord of The Rings is my favorite series next to Fast and Furious.

I've been looking at the crochet hooks on Etsy, that have been custom made with polymer clay handles. People geek out over Dr. Who, Star Wars and Disney and I have found plenty of custom hooks for those but they aren't me. The more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to get a custom Lord of the Rings, hook set. Eventually I would love to get some Lord of the Rings stitch markers as well, but for now, I'm just geeking out over the hooks.

So, I asked this nice lady, on Etsy who I have seen her hooks and they are all so very wonderful. I asked her if she would ever think about making some Lord of the Rings hooks. We talked more about it and I recieved my very first Lord of the Rings hook a couple of weeks ago. It is a size H, Boye crochet hook.

Of course after recieving it, I had to find a project for it, considering I'm still working on my husband's blanket for Christmas and that takes an I hook.

So, I worked up this elephant parade cowl:

This pattern is $3 USD and it is a great work up. If you enjoy or want to practice colorwork, this designer has great patterns for both knitting and crochet. Most of them are hats but I enjoy her patterns.

Remember that you are Beautiful and well loved.

Acorn squash

Last night, I made some Acorn Squash. I haven't cooked anything in a long time and it was great to get back into making something. Jerad has been doing most of the cooking and I always appreciate that it is one less thing that I need to worry myself over. I do love that when I do feel up to cooking, he lets me.

When I was a kid, my parents would bake butternut and acorn squash with some sort of meat where the seeds were. I decided to do a play on that and prayed that it turned out all right. So, here is what I had to make it:

*rectangle cassrole dish (pyrex)
*one acorn squash
*box of stuffing (yes, I cheated), I probably should have used two boxes
*bread crumbs
*about half a pound of ground pork sausage (no casing)
*Seasonings: Italian, Garlic, Pepper, Salt
*Butter

Here's what I did:
Preheat oven to 375 F
1. Wash and cut the acorn squash in half (From stem to bottom), and "gut" it. You can save the seeds if you want, I didn't because I didn't think of it until I started the pumpkins. Set the halves aside.
2. Make the stuffing as the box directs. Mine took 1 and 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of margine.
3. You can put some oil or cooking spray on the cassrole dish, I didn't have any on hand. Spread the prepared stuffing in the casserole dish to make an even layer.
4. Place the squash, skin side down, in the stuffing. Take some margine and put three small (really small) pieces round the cavity of the squash.
5. Ball up some sausage, knead some breadcrumbs and seasoning to your liking; form the blob into more of a ball, plop it in the cavity of the acorn squash and pat it down. Top with some more bread crumbs and seasoning, if you like.
6. Slide the dish into the oven to bake for about 1 hour, or until the squash is tender, when poking it with a fork.

7. Take out of the oven and let cool a few minutes before dishing it out.

Enjoy!

We did :)

What are some of your favorite squash recipies?
Feel free to check out some of my other posts and leave comments below. I do love hearing from you.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Squashing Out the Excuses

 

I am so happy to be back and blogging again! A lot of things happened and I was unable to find time or internet, long enough to be able to post. Lame excuse, I know. I don't really want to get into all of my excuses I just want to dive right into posting and I have quite a few posts planned, so stay tuned! As much as I want to post them all tonight, I don't want to over load you with the adventures I have had.

As of this moment, our adventure is more of a squash "problem". The acorn squash is in the oven, for dinner. Butternut squash is in the fridge for future use in a meal and we have two pumpkins from Halloween that we are just now starting to carve (they are still good) and figure out how to cook.

 I will post a picture of the Acorn Squash once it is finished. Right now. These three pictures, in this post are all from one pumpkin and they are separate parts. I have a really full pan, a pumpkin bowl with pumpkin. Pumpkin wedges are in another pan, waiting to go in the oven and then there are the seeds.  This is all from one lovely pumpkin.

We want to roast the seeds and do different flavors. I'm thinking some cinnamon sugar but we are the adventrous types so what are some of your ideas for flavors? Have you ever made roasted pumpkin seeds before? This would be, admittedly, our first attempt.

We are going to boil down some of the pumpkin meat that we already have in the pan, tonight and probably bag it and freeze it. I have no clue what to do with it though.

I remember, as a kid, my dad would boil the pumpkin and we would eat mashed pumpkin with some butter and sometimes brown sugar. I loved it and I'm excited to enjoy it, once again. However, seeing as we have "pumpkin for days" I'm thinking of trying some recipies.

What are some of your favorite things to do with pumpkin and the seeds?  Feel free to leave comments below. I always love hearing from you!
Again, I apologize for the lack of posting. I'm going to try and do better.
Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Thank you for the gloves!

It is getting about that time where I will probably be posting more on Raunaud's Syndrome. In a nutshell, it is a circulatory disorder that constricts your vessels, instead of dilating them, when your body is cold. This keeps the blood from flowing to your extremities (nose, hands and feet) like it should and can cause color change and a lot of pain. Really the only thing that Doctors can do, because not much is known about it at this time, is to put patients on blood pressure medications. However, there are more studies on this now and new developments of gloves and other ways to adapt to living with Rays.

That being said, there are mulitple wonderful people who have made and sent gloves, this past month and I haven't been able to thank them enough. Noel and Szuziq made fingerless gloves for me. I was so happy when they arrived and I have gotten so many compliments on them from customers and co-workers. They fit my hands perfectly and keep my fingers from hurting.

Here are some pictures (sorry about the lighting, with fall in MI it is getting gloomy outside so not much natural light):

 I love the ribbed and cable design of these gloves. They fit nicely around my hands and keep me toast warm. The gray color is nice too because I can wear them with just about anything.

 I love these two gloves as well! I can't say enough about any of the gloves that I received. The ribbed makes the gloves able to stretch over my hands and feel snug and toasty warm. I also like the shell edging, a nice soft touch. The blue I am actually wearing right now and the brown (below) I wore with a new burgundy dress, and brown leggings that I got from work. ^_^

Also, I had been talking with my dad about Raynaud's and I don't exactly remember how the conversation went. I said something about trying to figure out how to make mittens because I read that wearing mittens, rather than gloves (fingered), is actually better because it keeps more of your body heat around your fingers. A week after our latest conversation, I find a couple of packages on my steps. He found some Thermasilk Glove Liners (which I highly recommend). You put them on under your gloves or mittiens and it makes it even more toasty. I'm not exactly sure how it works but I'm glad it does. He also found some nice ski/snowboarding mittens which means that I may be able to finally build that snowman, this year! Finally, he sent me a pair of fingerless gloves so that I could be nice and toasty around the house and at work.

I have been so blessed by everyone. I was never expecting any of this and I cannot thank you all enough for your wonderful gifts and kind hearts. It means a lot, that anyone would want to help and these gloves and mittens that you all sent do help. I have even eaten ice cream (gasp) with out my fingers hurting as bad from holding the bowl. I know that Rays may never be able to be treated with medicine,in my time. Thank you all for helping me to adapt to the cold. Little things like these (which seem very big to me) are what keeps the world turning.

Thank you, again.

Please remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

So...About those Elves...

I am so sorry that it has been a while since I last wrote. Things have gotten super busy the last couple weeks and our internet keeps cutting in and out, since the internet we shared with a neighbor was shut off. So, there will be a couple new posts.

I feel like I didn't acomplish much in the way of Christmas stuff but here is what I have:

Blankets:  1/2 are finished
Hats: 2/5 are finished
Earwarmers: 0/4 are finished
Shawls: 2/3 are finished
Scarves: 5/5 are finished (YAY!)
Potholders: 1/6 are finished
Washcloths: 0/6 are fnished

 

Here is the blanket that I finished. The lighting isn't that great, it has been super cloudy around here. The color is a frost green/light sage. I do love the pattern though. It was a quick work up, once I sat down and did it. I used a pattern from Crochet World Magazine April 2015 Issue

 

This is the other shawl that I finished. It is a dark purple, cascading shells pattern. I really like this one too. I was able to sit and visit with people and not have to worry about losing count or reading a pattern. 

 The last scarf I needed to make! I restarted this one I don't know how many times. I tried to come up with something new, but felt rushed so I tore it out. Then I was going to do the Turtle Shuffle but I couldn't decide how I wanted to stripe it. So, I went with this basic, double crochet striped scarf. I'm not sure if I'm going to add tassels on it or not. I'm not sure the recipient is a fan of tassels

.

Finaly, a pot holder that I finished yesterday. It is supposed to be a diamond overlay but my diamonds look weird. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong but I still like it. Again, the lighting does not do the color justice. This one is a Frost Green color. I got this pattern from Crochet World Magazine August 2010 Issue.

Please remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Smitten by Mittens!

 

It has been a while since I have talked about Raynaud's Syndrome. Honestly, the warmer months don't bother me much, which could go without much explanation. If you are not sure what Raynaud's is, it is a circulatory disorder that is not life-threatening, in mos cases. When people who do not have Raynauds get cold, their veins dilate to allow more blood to flow to their extrimities (your hands, feet...etc). This helps keep your entire body warm. When people who have Raynauds get cold, their veins constrict which allows less blood to flow through the body causing the extremities to feel pain that I can only associate with frostbite.  

In the warmer months, it doesn't affect me as much. My hands hurt in the frozen section of the store, if I stay there too long or open the doors. Getting ice cream out of the freezer and into a bowl is a painful task (which bites because I do love ice cream). Even holding a cold beverage can bring my hand pain if it isn't wrapped or in an insulated cup.

So, when the Christmas presents are finished I am going to be making some mug cozies, and some wraps for water bottles and what not. 

Now that September has finally come and gone, it is getting colder. From walking home or walking to work, in the morning, there have been a couple of times that I wished I had thought about gloves. I did some reading and it is actually recommended that people who have Raynauds wear mittens because the combined body heat from your fingers being together, rather than separated by gloves, can actually help to keep your hands warmer.  Unfortunately, even though I live in a state that has snow, unless you are a child mittens are difficult to find. Even, right now, gloves are a difficult thing to find.

I have tried my hand at fingerless gloves and so far, it hasn't worked out in my favor. There are a couple of people who are making some fingerless gloves for me and I am excited for them to arrive.I am told that I can wear them to work, which is amazing because it does get cold, sometimes. Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at mittens because I cant find any.

I found this free pattern which I do believe that I am in love with! The mittens were so easy to work up and it was only in two parts: the thumb and the rest of the mitten. I have seen some mitten patterns where the cuff is separate from the main section and I think that is where I get lost with the fingerless gloves that I have tried to make. It took me about a total of 4 hours to make the pair of mittens. Which, I'm sure was mainly due to the fact that I had never made mittens before. Again, they were so easy to make and they are warm, which is of course the best part.

I am so proud of my mittens. I think even more proud than the lady bug blanket that I made a few months back. It was a small project but something that I was never able to do. Also, this is only the second thing that I have made for myself. The first being the Ember Shawl.Woohoo!

What is your favorite mitten pattern? What are you working on?

Feel free to leave comments below and check out my other posts!
Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Who-Who's There?

This week, I decided to join in on a Halloween Mystery Crochet A-Long (MCAL). This is my first color-work hat and I'm glad that I have had the practice because a blanket that I'm going to be working on, soon, for my husband is also color work. What I mean by color work is that I will be using more than two colors and carrying the yarn through the project, as if I were making a tapestry.

I love the cute little owls in their hats and the pumpkins that circle the top of the hat! I am worried that I followed the pattern wrong because I was under the impression that this hat was supposed to be a beanie. It is too tall for that. My husband says that it could be a slouch. Which, it could very well be. Because it was a Mystery CAL, we were not told what we would be making and we have no idea what it is supposed to look like. I left off a few rows, at the end because I was starting to worry. The pattern mentioned something about tails and I wasn't sure if there was supposed to be some sort of tassle at the top or what. So, I left that part off.

I am anxious to see how the other projects turned out.

Have you ever done a Mystery _____ A-Long? Does it ever make you nervous to not know how it is supposed to look at the end?

Feel free to leave a comment below and check out my other posts.

Remember, you are beautiful and well loved.

Fans, Fences and Lace

 This week, I have been doing a lot of work on a couple of shawls since I left my pattern notebook and my swap blanket in the back of a friend's vehicle from our road trip. The above picture is from a dark purple "Cascading Lace Shawl". I downloaded this pattern for $2USD and I must say that I absolutely love the way it works up. Although the pattern is written completely out, row by row, it is a repeating pattern. I found that I like who complete the pattern is because I don't have to go back and count my rows, and how many times I have completed rows 1-9. I can simply continue on through the pattern and know that I'm at row 32. I don't feel as lost as I sometimes do with repeated patterns.

This next shawl that I'm working on is another experiment of mine. I like how open it is and it is an easy work up, as well. I'm using Red Heart's Super Saver Solids "Frosty Green" for this shawl.

Both shawls are going to become rectangular shawls.

Also, I have been looking up on a new ambition, somewhat related to crochet but doesn't have much to do with yarn. I've been looking on Etsy and E-bay at the beaded crochet stitch markers and admiring them. Some of the prices seem a bit high but I love how unique they are. My husband used to dabble in beading jewelry and I do believe that he still has some beads I might be able to use. I think I'm going to invest in some "Lobster Claws" (clippy things), some beading pins and a pair of needle nosed plier and try my hand at making some of these beauties! Of course, when I do start, I will post my adventures with beading on here as well.

What are you working on right now?  Any new ambitions?
Feel free to check out my other posts and leave a comment below. I always love hearing from you.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved!

Corban's Winter Hat (Free Pattern)

 

I must have been hit by the inspiration arrow, lately. Here is another free pattern download!

I don't have a very creative title for this one but the person I designed this for is one crafty dude so his name may be just the ticket, even though most of you do not know him. My brother-in-law wears hats often. For Christmas, I usually make him a couple of winter hats so that he can wear them to school and when one gets dirty, he still has another one. 

Last year I made him a replica of one that he lost in the mall when we were trying to find him a suit for our wedding. He was so distraught over losing the hat and so happy when he received the replica. Corban is very quick to say what is on his mind and often times it is funny and I try not to laugh when I shouldn't. 

This design, I almost did not write out because it is a basic hat pattern with an addition. I don't remember the last time that I looked at a basic winter hat pattern but I've been making winter hats for a couple of years. I know that I misplaced the one I used for my first couple of hats and I just started doing my own thing. It is a basic double stitch hat with a band running across the front and a button.

I decided to add the band because I didn't want it to seem too plain with just the one color of yarn I was using. For this hat, I used Lion Brand's Homespun "Gothic" yarn. It is dark purple with a touch of black. Purple happens to be Corban's favorite color and since he is now entering high school, I decided to make him a hat that is more adult but still had a touch of flavor. I found a few black buttons that didn't have a flower design and chose the one in the picture.

I must say that I am quite proud of this design, no matter how simple.

I hope that you are able to enjoy it as much as I do and as much as Corban will, come Christmas. Now, to make him a "Creeper" hat to go with the scarf that I made him last year.

What do you think of the added flavor to the hat? Does it look like something a teenage boy would wear? 

Remember, you are beautiful and well loved.

The Turtle Shuffle

I just finished the Turtle Shuffle Scarf design and the scarf itself. The design is a free download from my store in Ravelry and I intend to keep it a free download. I call it the Turtle Shuffle because if you look at the stitches you can kind of see little turtles shuffling along to keep you or your loved one warm in the winter months. The single crochet acts as the head or tail of the turtle and the double crochets act as the shell. I can also see little feet under the shells.

I came up with the name one my walk to work. I remembered, for some strange reason, a movie that my husband and I watched a while back, when we first started dating. I don't remember which movie it was but it had kids and there was this one boy that the others wouldn't let in past the front gate unless he did the "Truffle Shuffle". I feel so bad for the boy.

Anyhow, I was going through a list of words because I didn't like the way "Turtle Scarf" sounded and "Turtle Neck" is already taken and I don't know many people who like the suffocating feeling of the constrictive shirts. When this scene popped into my head I laughed and said "Turtle Shuffle". I thought of a few other titles that I can't remember now because this one just seemed to stick.

So, there you have it. A free crochet pattern design and a finished Christmas gift. Now,  I have three scarf gifts finished. I have seven more to go but I think that I'm going to start on some hats. To be honest, I'm getting bored of scarves and I have just as many hats and earwarmers to complete.

I am still working on one of the three shawls. I actually like how it is coming along. I will write a post about it, later.

Both of my blankets are actually on pause for the moment. I thought I had enough yarn for the afghan swap one but I'm about ten rows short of an afghan. So, another trip to the yarn aisle and I should be set on that one, but we shall see if I can get that yarn on Thursday. The other blanket's design is sitting in our friend's vehicle. I accidentally left that and the unfinished swap blanket when we went for a drive to pick up a really cool, antique sewing machine desk...thing.

Feel free to check out some of my other blog posts and leave a comment below. I always enjoy hearing from you.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

To Make A Hole, You Must Start Digging

After a couple of slight panic attacks over Christmas, which isn't for another couple of months, and writing a list of gifts to make (which can be found in my earlier post, Dear Santa, May I Borrow Some Elves?) I have begun to make somewhat of a dent.

So far I have made 2/10 Scarves. I am in the middle of designing a third.

I used a basic Double Crochet stitch for one scarf:

and I used the "Strawberry Wine Cable Scarf" Pattern for the second:

I also made a couple of colorful headbands with some yarn gifted to me by Nina:

The yarn is 50% Soy Silk and 50% wool. South West Trading Company, Karaoke-299
 I also used the Double Shell Headband Pattern, which is a free pattern, for these two.
I absolutely loved the yarn for this and I'm going to look into getting more yarn. The Soy Silk tones down the wool's scratchiness. Wool doesn't usually make me itch but some wools do seem a little rough. This one is so soft and smooth, I wish you could feel it through the screen!

I am about 40 rows away from being finished with a blanket that I have been working on for a while. My goal is to have that finished by the end of this month. To do that, I want to try to crochet at least 5 rows a day (starting tomorrow because I work all day today). If I kept to this, I should have it finished by the 25th of September. Then I could concentrate on finishing the design for the hubby's blanket and the rest of the smaller projects.

The scarves will only take me a couple hours each, if I use patterns that I already have, and stop designing new ones. The shawls will take a little longer. Which, I started on one shawl and I'm really loving the pattern. I will make a new post about that, since this one is already stuffed with pictures. 

So, right now, I am working on  a new scarf design, a shawl, and a blanket. I want to finish this scarf and another scarf before I switch over to hats. 

Please remember that you are beautiful and well loved. 

Rememberance of 9/11

September 11, 2001 is the day that America will never be able to forget. The date is already inscribed in our history books and the tragedy is already explained to those who are too young to remember. It was a day that all hearts broke, in unison. Fear and anger struck America as innocence was lost in the crashing towers and the pentagon.

I, myself, do not remember 9/11. I would have just turned eleven and I think I would have been in the sixth grade. My brother tells me that we went to a private school. I don't remember that either. I had a brain tumor and I suppose that there was a lot that I missed. Even the sound of a hundred-thousand breaking hearts did not wake me. For that, I feel guilty.

I do remember 9/11/2002. I remember the panic that I felt when I saw the planes crashing on the news. I remember crying and thinking that it was happening then. I remember the sound of the silent shatter of my heart as I watched the planes fly into the Pentagon and people falling from the towers. I remember wondering why my family wasn't hurt by it and I didn't realize that it had already happened. While all of America's shattered hearts had been mended together and a fire lit to protect what was left, I was left to mend mine, a year later, alone.

I remember the horror. I remember the heartbreak. I remember the loneliness. I remember where I was and what I was doing, a year later. I remember going to high school and the same question every year, "Where were you on 9/11/2001?".

My heart still breaks for everyone we lost in those tragedies, in the planes and in the war that began in response.

Dear Santa, May I Borrow Some Elves?

I finally sat down (during a lunch break) and wrote down a list of projects that I need to start and complete before Christmas comes around. Yes, it is only September but I'm sure all you crafters know just how long it takes to make something special for someone. I glanced at my list, today and I'm starting to wish that I hadn't written everything out.

So far (I usually end up adding things) I have:

Two afghans- one is for a swap and needs to be finished by December 1st, I'm about halfway finished; the other is still in the process of having the pattern written. Eighty rows are written, still have about 108 rows more.

A "Stitch" hat for my neice.

Ten winter hats

Three Earwarmers

Three Shawls

Six ornaments

Ten scarves

Nine potholders

Four dishcloths

and possibly a third blanket but I'm not sure I'll have that much time.

Since I have started crocheting, one person has received a blanket each year. The first year it was my dad and step mom, the second was my mother in law, this year it will be my husband and I'm thinking next year will be my brother in law, once I figure out what he likes. Now that he is in high school, I don't know if he still wants the Star Wars things or if he wants things to be  a little more grown up.

Which makes it difficult for this Christmas, for him. Last year I made him a "Creeper" scarf from Minecraft. Last year he was in middle school. This year, he is in high school and I'm not sure what he wants.

Out of all the projects that I need to do, I have the blanket for my afghan swap started and...yeah, just that. Well, I may have one scarf and an earwarmer finished...depending on if I want to give away my prototypes of the Strawberry Wine patterns.

Every year, my list gets longer. I'm just going to have to start crocheting for Christmas 365 days ahead of time.

In all of the chaos, remember: You are beautiful and well loved.
 

Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose

Thank you for the encouraging comments on my last post. I really do appreciate them. I'm not sure why I felt so obsolete but you are absolutely right! Even if she makes gifts and makes more than I can, the gifts that I make for people will always be unique just as the ones my mother makes. I have always felt at ease when I gift things I make because they are unique (and can't be returned). So, thank you for encouraging me when I was in a bit of a funk.

Since the last post, I have been working hard. Yesterday was my first day off in seven days and I worked over 40 hours. Yay! I have been working on some new designs and updating the Country Squares Market Bag.

I love the four square base of the market bag but I'm not happy with how the rest of the bag turned out. It doesn't seem sturdy and even though I wasn't increasing my stitches it seemed as if the sides were expanding. So, although I said the revision would be up this past weekend, it is still a work in progress. I need to figure out the sides of the bag. This pattern will probably end up being seaparate from the Country Squares because I am thinking that only the base will be made with the same pattern. Thankfully, I have my trusty stitch book that my hubby gifted me for my birthday. That should help a bit.

Anyway, here's the base:

Now, I did finally write the pattern for the Strawberry Wine Ear Warmer! This is a free pattern download from Ravelry. The scarf is still being tested but is up for sale. The ear warmer will remain a free pattern.

Because I still have some yarn left over from the scarf and ear warmer set, I am going to try my hand at some fingerless gloves. Before I do that, I need to actually, successfully make a pair of fingerless gloves.

If you know any good patterns for crochet fingerless gloves, feel free to let me know in the comments below!
I always love hearing from you and thank you, again, for your encouragement.

Remember, you are beautiful and well loved.

Strawberry Wine Cable Scarf

I have been wanting so badly to figure out how these cable things work. No thanks to Youtube and google, I managed to figure out (I think) the basics of this kind of design. I couldn't find a pattern for exactly what was in my head, so...I made one. I wanted to make this a bit more intricate and give it a different name with different colors but we see how that worked out.

This pattern is currently being tested, but can be found here for $1.00 USD. You can use this code: 25SAVORS      to take 25% off of the pattern making it only $.75.

I am currently working on three project designs now:
I have promised to expand the Country Squares market bag and I'm hoping to have that finished and updated by this weekend. This week is a little crazy with all the kids coming back to college and me being needed more at the store, but I will find time to get it done.

I am also working on an earwarmer design.

Finally, I am trying to design that, more intricate, cable scarf that I was wanting to do in the first place. It will be in two colors with a nice border and probably some tassel as well. Who doesn't love tassels? Answer: Me when I have a Freddy cat who likes to play with my yarn. But, this new scarf design will have tassels because that is what the picture in my head looks like. First, I will have to sketch out the design which is where I went wrong with this scarf.  But I do love this scarf.

I called it "Strawberry Wine Cable Scarf" because at the time that I was trying to come up with a name I was listening to Country music and the name of the color is "Mixed Berries". One of my favorite Country songs as a kid was, "Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter.

What inspires some of the titles of your designs/projects?

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

New Ravelry Group and Coupon Code!

This is just a quick post, today.  I started a group on Ravelry for anyone who enjoys my designs, to join. You can ask questions about the designs, get help if you are stuck, join in on some CAL's and test my designs before they are published.

Also, here is a coupon code for a 25% discount on any pattern in my store: 25SAVORS
You can use it on more than one pattern. Right now, my only paid pattern is Country Squares Market Bag

M-I-C-K-E-Y!

Mickey Mouse Toilet Paper Cover

 I just finished designing this lovely Mickey Mouse, inspired, toilet paper cozy. I know someone who is getting married within the year and her bathroom is decked out in Mickey Mouse things. I don't know if she actually has a toilet paper cover, or use for one. I think that they are pretty interesting, now that I know they exist, and will probably be making more in the future. So, she is going to be getting at least one. I have an idea for a Minnie Mouse cover and a couple other Disney inspired designs.

This is my first design that is for sale, on Ravelry. It is on sale for $1 USD. It was really easy to come up with, honestly it was easier than the market bag which I may change that to a selling pattern as well. I'm not sure though. What are your thoughts on this new design?

Thank you for reading. We actually reached 1,000 views today! Which has me super excited as well. That is something that I could not do without you beautiful people. 

Please check out some of my other posts and feel free to leave comments. I love hearing from you.

Please remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Afghan Swap Package #2!

Hey there!

Some of you, know that this year I decided to join an Afghan swap on Ravelry.com. What it is, is three packages go out to your assigned partner, throughout the year. One in April, one in August and the final one in December. The first two packages are little things and the last is the afghan. It is pretty neat and you get to know someone that you may never have had the chance to get to know.

Well, I received my second package a couple of days ago and didn't have a chance to actually  write about it, until today!

I am so excited and grateful to Bonnie for everything she has done for me.

 I received a recipe for Banana cake and Buttermilk Fried Chicken; some patterns for a Log Cabin Blanket and a basket weave baby blanket....

 A Crochet magazine with great tips and wedding projects (which is great because I know a couple of people who are having a wedding in the next year or so) and a Family living magazine with 76 yummy recipes...

 Some yummy chocolate mint patties and Oh Henry bars...yum yum yummy! ...

 Three skeins of lovely yarn that gives me so many ideas...

Two beautifully knit potholders and washcloths!

Thank you, Bonnie for your beautiful package. I truly do appreciate it and I hope that you enjoy yours.

What is your favorite thing to make someone?

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Always the Ambitious One

I have been trying to work on a design for a crochet top, for the past week or so. I was able to design most of one side, but I seem to run into trouble along the neckline. It is more of a mesh top and I'm thinking that the part I have already designed might, possibly, be to small. Although it could work for a size small...possibly a medium. The neckline is not broad enough. So, I frogged (rip it, rip it) what I could and left what I couldn't. Which means I just frogged the neckline and kept the rest. Ha!

I decided that until I make at least one top that isn't a poncho or a jacket type pattern, I will be putting this design on hold. I still have the sketches and the written part of what I have designed. But that neckline is a pain in the patootie.

Although I am disappointed that I have to let this one slide for who knows how long, I am relieved that I actually get a chance at working on my other design ideas. Things that I do know a bit about like scarves, hats, fingerless gloves, potholders, more bags....etc.

The one I really want to work on takes a cable stitch. Ambitious me, has never done one and the beautiful stitch book that my husband gave me for my birthday shows me how to make little cable stitches. I'm not sure how to make one wide, celtic type, woven, cable stitch. Apparently google is confused and shows me cable cars. Thanks, Google, not what I was thinking but nice views.

So, if anyone knows of a website or a book that I can reference on how to make a wider cable stitch, please let me know! I have this really cool design that I would love to do and the border that I want is going to be kind of like a braided rope. I'll have to figure that one out too but it will be fun!

What projects are you working on? Let me know in the comments below!

Remember, you are beautiful and well loved.

Christmas is Just Around the Corner...

I was on Ravelry.com, today, and sifting through the groups that I am in. I ventured into this new Christmas Crochet group that I recently joined and had a sudden realization that we are in the middle of August. Yep! That is right we are in the middle of the eighth month and December is only four months away. I am working on two blankets, one I keep frogging (ripping the stitches) and the other I'm thinking about it. The thing is, it takes me about 6 months to make one with as busy as I get with work.

Part of the freak out began when I realized I have four months to make two blankets. That is two less months than what I have for one. I can see every waking moment from here on out going to Christmas presents. Which is sad because Halloween and Thanksgiving are also coming up and I wanted to make things for those holidays as well.

The freak out didn't take full effect until I realized that for the past two Christmases (which are the two that I actually knew how to crochet), most people recieved a scarf and hat set; if they did not recieve a blanket. Now, my family/friends are loving people but I'm sure that I might get a little bit of an eye roll or fake excitement over, yet, another scarf.

This realization and complete understanding of the possible reaction leaves me in a more than slight panic that goes something like this:

"I have four months until Christmas! I have to make two blankets (which I don't mind and love doing), and I have absolutely no ideas for anyone on the Christmas list because they all have at least one scarf and hat!"

Now, imagine me running around in circles in my tiny living room with Sasha, our dog, wondering if her paws would be able to actually push the buttons on the phone to dial some sort of crochet anonymous hotline.

So, here is my question to you:

What are some gifts that you make for people on your Christmas list? Please leave your ideas in the comments below.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

A Challenge of My Own Design

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good challenge. In fact, I often try to prove people wrong, within reason. I feel sorry for my doctors who tell me that I will never be able to sprint again because I didn't get the surgery to repair my knee. I graduated high school when everyone was telling me that I wouldn't make it. Never mind the fact, that I nearly dropped out to work, but thanks to some incredible teachers and my boss, I stayed. I was also told that I wouldn't make it through my freshman year of college and even though it took me six years and a few changes in my major, I graduated!

Granted, I'm still working on the whole running part but I'll be darned if I let anyone tell me that I can't do something without trying. Sadly, there are some parts where I got hurt in the process. For instance, when I was seven, we had this swing set with monkey bars (oh, yeah, it's that kind of story). My brother and I were always challenging each other. He would tell me that I couldn't do something, in that older brother kind of way, and I would try to prove him wrong. Most of the time it worked, but this time...he was right (don't tell him I said that...reputations and all). Anyhow, he told me that I couldn't skip two bars on the monkey bars and proceeded to show me that he could. My arms were a little too short and I couldn't even skip one. I knew this but, tried anyway because I've never let a challenge go without a fight. I got up to the top of the ladder, reached up, grabbed one bar and swung myself to reach past the two ahead of me. I ended up somehow flipping and landing on my wrist; breaking it. One challenge that I didn't quite meet. BUT I am proud to say that I can, now, skip two bars...maybe even three.

Long story to introduce a challenge of my own, that isn't so dangerous. I work at a clothing store and we get new shipments in, every day. I see most of the clothes before they hit the shelves and we have been getting a lot of yarny crochet/knit clothes in for the fall. This has me super excited! Some of the clothes has inspired me to try my hand at making similar pattern styles for crochet. I am working on one now that I have one side nearly finished. I'm just trying to figure out how to increase for the neck but it is going to be fun! So far, this is what it looks like:

Now, this is my first clothing design. I find it a little ambitious, even of myself, because I have only ever made one poncho and one shrug. I messed up, big time, on the poncho, and had a million questions with the shrug. I don't quite have the hang of closed necklines so this is going to be one interesting, yet harmless, challenge. No broken bones involved. So far, I like how it is turning out. I probably won't get to work on it until Sunday night or Monday. This next step is going to take a bit of thinking and playing with yarn.

Also, this is my finished Baktus! I frogged it (sorry Adrienne) because I didn't follow directions the first time. I will continue, with different yarn, with the way I was doing it before. Adrienne said that it would probably turn into a triangular shawl. I love triangle shawls!

And the little blond blob,is Sasha:

 

She is being an old lady today. She is around 8 years old and most days acts like she is still a puppy. I think the rain is making her sleepy. 

Feel free to check out my other blog posts and see what projects I have completed!

What inspires you to crochet/knit/design/craft?

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved!