Tuesday, August 12, 2014

It's about time?

Yes, it has been months since I last posted.  I've thought about it a few times if that helps.  So here's the short version of the last few months:

Michael and I drove back home across I-90 with a few detours like Mt. Rushmore.  If you ever get the chance to see Mt. Rushmore, I highly recommend it!  There are no words for the experience, you have to go there yourself to understand.
I'm so glad we took the "long" way.  Had 2 flat tires along the road, but they were fixed in short order and it really wasn't horrible.  If it had been August, that might have been a different story.
Once we were home, life got busy and I tucked my MB3 away for the summer.  I have pulled a few balls of  yarn out here and there to have something to work on while we traveled, but those haven't netted much in the stashbusting totals.  I have a small pile of finished bracelets for the Christmas Child boxes though and that sure feels good.

Since I don't plan on picking up the crochet for another month yet, I'm only stopping by to tell you about a giveaway at a blog I just started following.  Check it out, ok?  Crafty in the Med


And I will leave you with that.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Just a Little Something (I threw together)

Miss K spotted an adorable dress on her way home from the grocery store one day and since Easter is tomorrow, we bought it.  It screams her name if you want the truth and I'm thrilled we were able to get it.
The downside? Said dress is clearly made for summer and spring has barely arrived in this corner of eastern Oregon.  Just 3 short weeks ago there were still roads closed with snow blockades.
The upside?  Mama knows how to crochet!  Here's that little something I threw together yesterday afternoon, and finished this morning.  Its on the kitchen table being blocked to help smooth out any imperfections and make the corners nice and square.  Button closure will be added when its dry.  (That's not my fingers drumming you hear, honest!)



 Its a variation on the BRIGHT PINK shawl made earlier this spring.   For this one, I used a K hook, and on the edges instead of clusters of 3 DCs, I used 2 DCs.  It makes for a bit lacier look, and there's still plenty of warmth for springtime here.  The border is one row of a simple single crochet.  Why work harder than I have to?

Tomorrow I'll get her to model it and photos will be shared.  Because I can.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Worship practice

When Michael and Stephen were younger, I longed for the day when they'd be interested in joining in on the worship team at church.  Michael chose instead to run the sound system, and the closest Stephen got was playing drums for youth group when he was in high school.  So I've settled in to a nice comfy place at the piano, with Lee doing most of the leading and only occasionally playing guitar.  It works, but its so much better when others join in.

Saturday afternoon Kimberly asked if her and Anthony could lead on Sunday and I was more than happy to say yes!  They chose 2 songs and I chose 2, and then we went over to the church and practiced for about an hour.  It was amazing!  Anthony played guitar, I played piano, and we all 3 sang.  At times it was like it wasn't practice at all - it was just us 3 singing to the Lord.  If Lee had been there, that would've been the cherry on top.
I'm thankful for this time with my kids.

Happy Sunday!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

SO Excited!

Just got off the phone with son #1.  He's finishing up his time in the US Army on May 1st and will be driving from Ft. Drum, NY to PC, OR the next week.  I offered to fly out and drive home with him and he said YES!
So now I just have to find some extra cash (lol) and a flight.

Can we say "ROAD TRIP"?!!!!!!!!



Friday, April 4, 2014

DETERMINED!

This picture is my 2nd attempt at a "mood blanket".  I like the pattern just fine, but I didn't put it on the bed (oops) to see how wide it needed to be, and its barely wide enough for a lapghan.   Where's a rolling eyeball when you need one?  Oh, and btw - MB1 (moodblanket1) was made into a scarf.  It just wasn't flowing right for me.

The basket has all the larger balls of leftovers from various projects, the plastic bin has bits and pieces I intended to use in loom-knit hats, but decided to incorporate into the new blanket instead, and MB2 is in the metal bucket.  If you look closely at the plastic bin you can see my hook on the beginnings of MB3.  The pattern is called "Granny Scrap Blanket" and I got it off of Ravelry.  Super easy!
And now I'm off to crochet!  Determined to GET IT DONE.  Smile.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

When hubby is gone.....

Spring break ended on a good note - we bought a car, finally.  A 2006 Kia Sorento in black and gold.  Must admit, the gold wouldn't be my first choice, but its a classy looking rig, and had the one thing I really wanted (heated seats!), so I'll overlook the gold.  Besides, it took a full month to find, so I'm glad to have that marked off the to-do list.
We came home Friday and on Monday hubby left for his annual IMS (Incident Medical Specialist) conference in Hood River.  Usually when he's gone, we stock up on chick-flicks and spend the evenings catching up on all those he'd never be interested in.  This year though, there's still much unpacking and organizing to do, so I spent Day 1 cleaning out the hall closet.  Fun, right?
Said closet is now a happy place.  The top shelf houses the musical instruments plus all the pictures that will be hung on the walls, someday.  Shelf number 2 has all the quilts and blankets neatly folded, for once.  Shelf number 3 has a mix of finished scrapbooks, folded sheet sets, and Michael's mail that is waiting till he is discharged from the Army in May.  On the bottom I've put the fans that will come in handy with warm summer temps, but are so in the way the rest of the year, plus my finished yarn creations in one of those Rubbermaid totes that we all love to have.  (Right?)
I was left with the question of what to do with the yarn stash.  There just doesn't seem to be a place where it isn't in the way.  I am working through it, honest.  Still, I don't think I'll ever be completely stash-less.  I'm not even sure I want to be.  Smaller stash, good.  No stash?  Not-so-much.  For now, the two 3-drawer plastic containers are side by side against the wall in the closet.  I'm thankful they fit even if it makes the closet look a bit crowded.   Michael will be home soon and his space reassigned, but that's only enough room for one of the containers.  Eventually the pictures will make it to the walls and then there will be plenty of room.
One can dream.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

BRIGHT pink shawl

About a year ago or so, I was given this BRIGHT pink yarn to make scarves with.  But it was so BRIGHT that I had a hard time getting motivated.  Besides, I had plenty of yarn in my stash already so I kept putting it off.  Finally, in light of the challenge to use up some yarn that had been languishing in some deep dark recess somewhere, I decided to buck up and do something worthwhile.
If it had only been a single skein, a scarf would've been the easy answer and I would've been done already.  But 3 skeins just seem to need a bigger project.  After some rooting around on Pinterest, I stumbled into a blog called "Laughing Purple Goldfish" which had a "Simple Triangle Shawl" pattern for free.  Seemed like the ideal project, and I could send it to the rehab center with Mom's quilts and the other shawl I've already finished.
Here is the finished product:

Monday, March 17, 2014

One-skein wonders

These two scarves are my response to a challenge from Linda at Linda's Crafty Corner.  Since I joined the stash-busting challenge for the year 2014, I'm determined to drastically reduce the excess here.
The challenge was to take that yarn that you regularly pass over in favor of something else and put it to use.  Since I have several that qualify, but none of them really work well together, I figured it was time to divide and conquer!  The blue one is done in my version of a grit stitch, and the brown one is from a free pattern I picked up at Michael's awhile back.  Both were simple enough, but the brown one used up the yarn faster.   Both are one skein of yarn.


First Shawl, ever

In early February my 91 year-old mother fell and pulled some abdominal muscles.  She spent 10 days in a rehab facility which was not the most pleasant of experiences, but she did it with grace.  While there, she noticed several residents who complained of being cold all the time, especially around their necks and shoulders.  She promised to bring a pile of homemade quilts (lap-sized) back once she was able.
I thought about it for a while and then decided that I could crochet a few shawls to go along with her quilts.  Shawls, in my mind, are better than a quilt because they target the shoulder/neck area, and aren't quite as heavy.  A scarf might do the trick, but it would have to be fairly wide to cover both neck and shoulders, so I decided to meld the two.  This is the result:



The pink and blue variegated yarn I've had for over a year and couldn't find anything in my stash to go with it, so it sat.  Then Mom gave me the dark pink when I was over the last time and it fit.  Good thing too because I'm not all that fond of the dark pink on its own.
Need to weigh it so I know how much stash I burned and then it can go to Portland with us when we go over for spring break.  YES!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Two stitches learned


The purple hat is my first attempt at crocheting a hat AND reading a pattern.  The mint green scarf is my first scarf done by pattern.  It was fun, but takes much more time than the freestyle I'm used to.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

And so it begins.....

Like many things in life, its hard to know where to begin.  Hey - I got the page up and running, that should count for something, right?  Perhaps I should start with an explanation of the title.  Yes, that would be good.

"Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle", a poem from junior high that brings rememberances of happy summer days and continues to roll around my in my brain almost 40 years later.  Not that I've ever tried watermelon pickle, mind you.  I'll stick to Hermiston watermelons picked up at the fruit stand as we pass through Hermiston itself, thanks.  I'll just borrow a portion of the title because it seems so fitting.

Each day that I live is full of gifts - some created for me, some created by me, some meant to share and others to hold close to my heart alone.   This space is set aside to celebrate these gifts.  What shape it takes on remains to be seen.  For now, I'll close with this thought:

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."  
                                                                  Ephesians 2:10 NASB