Perfect Timing

As we shiver right now with the bitter cold here in South-western Ontario, I was so happy to finish up today the crocheted afghan I've been working on as a belated Christmas gift for our 25 year old son.

If you happened to read my last post, you'll remember that I handmade something for both my daughter and son-in-law this past Christmas.  I was racking my brain, trying to think of something I could make for our son, Mitchell.  Low and behold, a couple of weeks before the big day while digging through my yarn stash, I stumbled across an afghan that I had started for myself (shhhhh...) a couple of years ago.  Hmmm... do you think that he would like something like that, now that he has his own place?  I might as well give it a whirl!  Knowing that I would never be able to complete it in time, I just wrapped up what I had done so far and crossed my fingers.

Christmas morning came, and I nervously awaited for Mitchell to unwrap his gift.  You see, he can be picky about things at times, and I wasn't sure how he would react.  He opened the box and held up the rectangle of yarn, as I explained to him what it was going to eventually be.  I couldn't believe it when he said, "Sweet... and I like the colour, too.  I like really getting practical stuff."  I could now breath a sigh of relief.

Later on that day, Mitchell and my hubby Paul, ventured out with the dog for a walk.  It brought tears to my eyes when Paul later revealed to me the discussion that they had while on their walk.  He told me that Mitchell mentioned again how much he liked the afghan, and said, " There's nothing better than having an afghan on the couch."

As I worked away on it this past month, I wanted to make sure that it was long enough to cover his 6"3" frame... because to me, there's nothing worse than laying on the couch with an afghan that is not long enough!

Stitched with Vanna's Choice yarn in Oatmeal

 

Close up of edging.  Finished size 44" x 74"

I'm sure it will be much appreciated when Mitchell comes home after a long day of working out in the cold and there's his cozy afghan waiting for him on the couch.

Tracey

What Do You Do?

It is the first day of 2012.  It is 5pm.  I'd had a late lunch, the house is tidy, the dog is walked, I have a loaf of bread in the bread machine and hubby is gone for the day... now what should I do?  Why stitch of course!! 

I turn on the TV and come across the movie "27 Dresses".  Chick flick... perfect!  Decide to check my email one last time before I settle in my chair and all of a sudden everything goes black.  The hydro is out.  Wait -  only for a second -  and it's back on.  Oh no!  It flickers again and again and then total darkness.  OK... no worries... even though it's very windy out, it probably won't be out for very long; right?  Wrong!!!  There goes my perfect night of stitching, not to mention my loaf of bread in the machine which still had a couple of hours to go!!

So what do you do when the hydro goes out?  What do I do??  Get out my little book light and read Ghost stories of course!

  A Christmas gift from my daughter and SIL.

 In the meantime, Paul arrives home.  Takes Willow for a walk in the pitch black.  Comes back, and being the nice wife that I am, I give up our only book light, so hubby can work on his cross words. (Note to self: add a second book light to shopping list.)

So after 5 hours of living like pioneers (how did they do it?!!), the hydro comes back on at 10:05pm.

I may as well go have a look in the bread machine and pitch the ruined loaf.  I am surprised to see the lid of the bread maker pushed slightly open... the bread hadn't started the baking phase when we lost power, and so it has been "rising" all this time! I am about to throw it out when I wonder ... hmmmm... why don't I try baking it in the oven?  ( I guess my brain is still in pioneer mode!)  What do I have to lose?

Online I go and find wonderful info on the bread making process with pictures too!  Since the mixing is already done, and  the recipe says to let the mixture rise for 4 hours or more, the hard part is already done! 

As it looked straight from the bread machine.

Covered  with olive oil and salt... it's now "resting" for 30 minutes.

I bake it for 35 minutes and voila!... there you have it.  OK, so it may not be the prettiest bread you ever did see, but at least I salvaged it and it's edible for the most part.  (Was still a little doughy in the middle.)

 So my bread making adventure is now over, and it is time to put January 1st, 2012 ( and me) to bed.  I have to admit that I am still pouting a little over the fact that not a single X was made on my fabric today.

What a difference a day makes!!

Well my frown was turned upside down the next morning when Bonnie emailed me and invited me to her place for a day of stitching!!  :^)

All was well as I headed over to Bonnie's house around 12:30 with my bread (and stitching) in hand, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of her homemade hamburger stew, ice-cream dessert and left-over Christmas goodies.  After a 10 hour day of stitching, talking and munching while watching the 1991 TV series of Dark Shadows, I walked home thankful for having our hydro again... mostly because it allowed me to have such a wonderful day together with a dear friend.

Tracey

A Change Will Do You Good

While cross stitch is my #1 love (in terms of crafting), crocheting runs a pretty close second.  Depends on my mood.  And the weather. (Colder weather and cozy yarn just seem to go together). Sometimes it's just good to mix things up and put the stitching aside for a bit.

While perusing the Ravelry site a while back, I came across this scarf pattern that I really liked.  After reading through the instructions, I thought, "I think I can follow this one", and printed it off.  Well, a couple of days ago the mood struck, and the air was chilly, so I was good to go!  I just happened to have the perfect yarn to use for this too... a ball that I found the day Bonnie and I had our shopping adventure.  It was in the clearance section for $1.90 at Hobby Lobby marked down from $5.29!!

Even though it is considered a yarn for baby items, I found the colour and the coziness of it the perfect combination for a new scarf.  As I started crocheting, I found that the pattern was extremely easy and worked up very fast which is a bonus indeed... especially since I'm sure my fingers will soon be itching to pick up that little needle again...

Tracey

Luck O' The Irish

March is here, so it's time to gather up all things Irish and green to display on the mantle.

You may remember the heart garland I crocheted for Valentine's Day. Well on YouTube I found a video on how to crochet a shamrock. Along with the video, the lady gives you a link to her blog where you can print off the instructions as well. I have to admit the shamrocks were actually easier to crochet than the hearts. It took 5 minutes to make each one so the whole thing took a little over an hour to complete.

It's always fun to add a little extra something new to each holiday collection every year!

Tracey

Have A Heart

What a fun, quick crochet project this was! Thanks to Hillery over at 22 Threads for the link to the instructions. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I had it stitched up from start to finish in just one evening. Bonus!!

I got the yarn from the very limited selection at our Dollar Store (I would have preferred the yarn to be less bulky), so then if I messed up I wouldn't be out a lot of cash. I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I normally don't have much luck with a pattern that is done in "rounds" :^)

Now, my Valentine decor usually doesn't go up until the first of Feb., so that's why you don't see anything else in celebration of that day. I just wanted to share a picture now so that way all you crocheters out there could get a head start on your own heart garland.

Oh, and just a reminder, you still have time to get in on the draw we are having to celebrate our very 1st Bloggiversary! You can find out all of the details here along with a peek at all of the goodies you could win. We hope you will join in the fun!

Tracey

Crochet Night at Anita's

At our October cross-stitch meeting, Anita gave us all a beautiful tin pumpkin stuffed with goodies: tucked amongst the treats was a gorgeous crocheted dish cloth. She's always making us dishcloths, but this one was different. When Anita found out how excited we were about this new pattern and yarn, she thought it would be fun to have a crochet night the next time she hosted.

Of course we (and when I say we, I mean I...) decided to start on a more challenging pattern as our learning tool. Rather than learn how to chain, the difference between and single crochet and a double (besides 2,,,), or even HOW to read a pattern -- we just jumped right in with both feet. (or should I say 8 hands).

Knit one, pearl one. Oops wait a sec, wrong saying...

*Chain 3. Eat 3. Rep from * to end of dish.

Starting out... a flood of memories came back to me (and when I say back I mean 'haunt') of the days that my mother attempted to teach me how to knit and crochet. My difficulty was with the tension, I was either too loose or too tight, and I couldn't hold the tools just right. "Practice", she said. "Just watch my hands". Watching my mothers hands reminded me of watching Speedy Gonzales - which then made me think I'd rather watch cartoons. No A.D.D. here!

So, back to Anita Gonzales: Anita very patiently sat with me to help me learn and self-taught Tracey helped Jody along. Both Jody and I have had a stressful week and every time I would bitch & grumble about the tension of my yarn, or Jody would curse "shit, bugger damn"someone would say "It's a dishcloth - it doesn't matter - keep going" After a few hours of learning and tearing out the sentence got shortened to "It's a dishcloth!:"

It's a dishcloth!

"It's a dishcloth" really puts things into perspective doesn't it?
Along with a slew of sayings:
"How important is it?"
"In the grand scheme of things..."
"At the end of the day..."
"Five years from now... will it really matter?"

This is a excellent example of why we love to get together: Live, Laugh, Love and remind each other that we are there to support one another. To lift the ones who are down and turn the frowns upside down.

After we finished crocheting, Anita brings out 3 large bags and surprised us with an early Christmas gift. She had crocheted an afghan for each one of us!!! Thank you so much Anita, we appreciate the time and effort that went into these treasured keepsakes.

Seriously - I'm snuggled in my afghan right now as I create this page.
Bonnie

Jody's (left) - Tracey's (middle) - Bonnie's (right)