Wishing You ....

a Christmas filled with love, warmth, happiness and laughter. May all your Christmas wishes come true !

Busy December

WARNING... picture heavy post ahead.  I wanted to show you all the projects I have been crazy enough to tackle and/or finish this month. I only have a couple more small sewing projects to finish and then I can relax!

So go grab yourself a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and maybe a Christmas cookie or two  ... here we go:

I started off the month finishing up this baby quilt for my nephew and his wife who had their baby girl Natalie on November 28.

My Christmas crafting started with making this wreath from a wire coat hanger and dollar store ornaments.

Then I made these trees out of styrofoam cones and sheets of felt.

The crocheting started with this cute Elmo hat for our great-nephew Kael.

The bench outside our front door needed decorating, so I made this Snow Mama, complete with her very own crocheted hat!

I made several of these snowman shirts. This one is for my sister, but I also made smaller versions for my two great-nephews and a onesie for my newest great-nephew (without the bows of course).

That same great-nephew got other Christmas onesies, and his Mama and Daddy got crocheted hats (as well as some homemade cookies!).

A friend came over one day and we made these Christmas trees out of cardstock and wooden finials and candle holders.

I sewed these pillow covers for a friend who has a room in her house that she has decked out in red, white and blue and patriotic items.

My most time-consuming project of all was this T-shirt rag quilt I made for my nephew for Christmas. It includes t-shirts from when he was little all the way up until now (he is 23!). This is also the largest quilt I have tackled... it could easily fit on a twin/full bed.

Another sister wanted a Christmas shirt too, so I made this ornament shirt for her.

Finally, I made a scarf and matching hat for myself!

I'm sure I missed a few other little projects, but you get the gist of what I've been up to!

If you want the particulars of any of these projects, just leave me a comment.

Happy Holidays everyone ... I'm going to go take a well-deserved nap  :)

Twelve Days of Christmas

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me.


What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

This week, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each
element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.

Just Checking In

Hey everyone.  Yes, I am still around, just busier than a one-legged man in a butt kickin' contest!

As usual, I have way too many things on my plate... darn that Pinterest for giving me so many ideas :)  I guess I need to stop reading blogs and Pinterest so I don't come up with even MORE crafts I want to do for Christmas.

This weekend I will be putting up my Christmas tree and decorations, and hopefully Mr. S. will get some outside lights put up. The forecast is calling for snow, so not sure if that will happen or not.

Thanks for your suggestions for my crocheted poinsettia. I looked around Ravelry for ideas and came up with this:

I like it, but I don't think it would make for a good afghan.  So I don't know what this will end up as... any suggestions??

Lots to do today - pay bills, and do some Christmas crafting. It is cold and windy outside, the perfect kind of day to stay indoors and craft away!

Have a good weekend all.

Monday Happenings ... and Help Needed

Hi all! Hope everyone had a good weekend. It is busy, busy around here. We will be heading to NM for Thanksgiving so that we can see this new little guy:

This is my great-nephew Kaiden who was born November 15 (and he is laying on the quilt I made him - well, his top half anyway!) We are so excited to get to meet him and visit with family.

On a different note, I need help from you experienced crocheters out there. I found a pattern and started working it up in Christmas colors, and it reminds me of a poinsettia:

I would like to make a bunch of these and put them together as an afghan. I have no idea how to do that though, as I have never tried doing something like this on my own without a pattern to refer to.

Do I need to put a "square" around the flower to frame them up, and make it easier to join them? If so, how do I do that? I got the free pattern from here.

Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving  :)

Gift Exchange Goodies

My partner in the Holiday Gift Exchange received her package in the mail yesterday, so I can finally show you what I made for her.  When I found out she was pregnant with her first baby, I knew I had to include some things for little Madalyn, as I love making baby things.

For Jaclyn, I crocheted her this cowl using one of my favorite yarns, Sensations Angel Hair:

For baby Madalyn, I made a blanket with her name on it:

The back of the blanket is a cute owl/butterfly print:

I got a pink Onesie and added a little bear applique on the front and a cute little bow and button on the back:

I crocheted a baby hat with flower:

And finally, I made a pair of baby booties:

This is the first pair of baby booties I have ever crocheted! I'm not really sure why I never did before, but I found a really easy pattern here and I whipped these up in no time.

Hope you enjoy everything Jaclyn... can't wait to see pictures of Madalyn when she is born!

Tuesday

Original blog title, huh? Ha Ha! 

I had to do a post so I wouldn't have to look at that crocheted uterus I posted yesterday! For those of you wondering about it, I guess it was crocheted to cheer up a friend who was having surgery. I've seen some unusual crocheted items, but that is one of the more unusual ones!

I am making slow but sure progress on my bobble blanket:

I had to change up the pattern a little bit... it calls for changing the color every third row. However, I only have two skeins of the ivory/white color, but more of the pink and green. So I decided to double up the pink and green rows so I don't run out of yarn. As far as I know, they don't make the yarn I am using anymore, so I want to make sure I have enough of it.

I also just made something that I have never crocheted before. I can't believe in all these years of crocheting I had never tried these before, but I finally made some and love how they turned out. I can't show them to you until my partner in the Holiday Gift Exchange gets her package from me.

Any guesses as to what it could be? A correct guess might win a prize!  :)

Hmmmmm

Now here is something you don't see crocheted very often:

11-11-11

What a fabulous date it is today! I'll bet there will be lots of weddings today, as it would be an easy anniversary date to remember.

It is also Veteran's Day today. Mr. S. is retired military, and we both had relatives who served in WWII. Let us not forget those who gave of themselves so that we could enjoy the freedom we have.

I have been busy crocheting (and sewing), but I can't show you any of it yet, as I am making things for my partner in a Holiday Gift Exchange. I can't wait for her to see what I have made for her - I hope she likes everything. Yes, you know me, I couldn't just make one thing now could I??? Ha Ha

Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend.

WIP Thursday

I wanted to share with you my newest crochet project. I found the most fabulous pattern on Pinterest ... do you Pin?  If not, you are missing out. There is so much neat stuff to be found on there - crochet, recipes, quilting, sewing, home decorating ideas - you name it, you can find it there. It is a great source for inspiration and project ideas.  If you do Pin, you can follow me using the button on the top right-hand side of my blog. If you don't, and want to, let me know and I will send you an invite.

Anyway, this is the pattern I saw and fell in love with:

Isn't it bobble-licious??? Yes, I just made that word up... ha ha!

You can find the free pattern here. She used Lion Brand Cotton Ease, but I am determined to use up my stash, so I am using up some Red Heart Designer Sport that I've had for awhile now.

Here it is so far:

Once you get the pattern established it is really easy. I love how the bobble stitch looks. I am making this for one of my expectant friends and I just picked out the colors because I liked them, but as it turns out, those are the colors she was planning for her nursery! How lucky am I??

I have not forgotten about the other beautiful bobble blanket I posted about awhile back. I will definitely be making that one too, for a different friend. Yes, I have lots of baby blankets to make!

Have a great day - I'm off to craft and crochet now.  :)

Crochet Projects and Other Stuff

Happy Sunday all!

I wanted to share a few crochet things I've done in the last week or so. I am trying to branch out and make new things that I've never made before. Here are some things I've tried:

Mug Cozy for my morning coffee

Small Basket

Toddler Headband/Earwarmer

I also tried a new scarf pattern that I got from Sarah at Sarah's Sweethearts. It is called the Surreybelle Scarf and you can find it under her Free Patterns heading.

This scarf can be made in a couple of hours (I love easy, quick patterns like that). I think it would make a lovely afghan too ... I may have to try it.  Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your wonderful patterns  :)

I recently won a giveaway ... have you ever heard of the Sharp Crochet Hook? It was new to me, but I'm so glad I won it. It will make doing the crochet edgings on the flannel baby blankets so much easier, because I won't have to find a hemstitcher or poke holes into the fabric. The hook does all the work for you.

Here is what it looks like:

You can find more information about it at their website here.   Once I give it a try, I'll let you know how it worked for me.

If you want any of the patterns for the projects I posted today, leave me a comment and I'll get it to you.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

Thursday Already - and New Crochet

Wow, where has the week gone? I meant to post a couple days ago, but got busy!

Had a great weekend visiting family in NM.  I did not get to see my nephew's girlfriend that I made all the baby stuff for, as she is in the hospital in another town until the baby arrives due to some complications. So far everything is okay, they just want to keep her in the hospital so she doesn't go into premature labor.

I did get to see my two darling great-nephews and we went to the NMSU-Idaho football game to see my other nephew, who is in the drum line for the NMSU Marching Band.  I wished they all lived closer to me so I could see them more often.

On the crochet front, I have started learning a new technique (well, new to me!) It is called Tunisian Crochet, and Mary over at Crocheting the Day Away posted a great tutorial about it here.

While I was in NM I got to go to Hobby Lobby (so love that store!), and I picked up an Afghan hook while I was there. It is pretty easy to do, I am just having problems crocheting it a bit too tight, as my work is curling up on me. I will continue to work on it and see how it goes. I really love how it looks. Take a look at this picture from Mary's blog:

Isn't it neat? I love how it looks.

Even if you don't want to learn a new stitch, you should check out Mary's blog. She does absolutely beautiful crochet work, and is such a sweetheart too!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Busy!

Posting has been/will be sparse around here ... trying to finish up baby things before my trip to NM tomorrow. I have to finish the baby quilt today (I know, talk about last minute, huh?) do laundry, pack, etc. etc.

I'm off ... have a lovely weekend all!

CAL Cowl Finished

Here is my completed cowl:

I did not make it as long as the pattern called for, but the next one I think I might. That way I can wrap it around my head twice and it will keep my neck and ears warm! I might gift this one to my Mom, as blue is her favorite color.

The yarn I used was Lion Brand Jiffy Quick & Easy Mohair Look Yarn in Heather Blue and I used an "M" hook.

Hey... Where'd my Comment Go??

I am having trouble posting comments on some blogs ... it's strange, some work just fine, but on others I type my comment, press the button and then it's gone! Gotta love Blogger :)

I have been busy working on baby stuff for my great-nephew. Here is what I have finished so far:

Still need to make a quilt, diaper wipe case, a fleece blanket with crocheted edge and some Pee Pee Tee Pees. Oh, and I have to have it all finished by next Friday, as that is when I leave to go visit them in NM. Guess I work better under pressure!

I will post about my finished crocheted cowl later today (I hope). Have a great weekend all.

It's Monday

Just a few weekend projects to show you. I made another baby hat.... I know, I know, another baby hat?? I can't stop making them I tell you! Guess another hospital donation will be forthcoming!

+

I tried two new yarns on this hat. The yellow one is Deborah Norville Everyday Soft Worsted in Baby Yellow (found at Jo-Anns) and the pink is Bernat Giggles in Tickled Pink. You can only find this yarn at Wal-mart stores, it isn't even shown on the Bernat website! I liked both of them; may go back and buy some more of the Bernat Giggles, they had it in several different colors, and there was a pattern on the paper wrap for a Rainbow Blanket that was really pretty.

I also made this cute Pumpkin Coaster while watching football yesterday:

I also finished the baby quilt I had been dragging my feet on:

Next I will work on the one for my nephew and his girlfriend... I will be seeing them in a few weeks for their baby shower, so I can't drag my feet too long on that one.

I need to go clean my house and pay bills. Ugh, would rather be crafting!