Too Too Too Cute!

Ok, I just bought some patterns and I'm SOOOO excited.
These were designed by the wonderful and famous Cupcake (designer of the tea cozy and fan bookmark featured here).

Tell me that these are not the cutest and most useful little things ever! They're pot toppers. Like a hot pad to lift the cover off of hot casseroles. I LOVE them!!!

I must finish all my other works in progress first, so it may take some time for me to make these, but if you crochet, you too can buy the pattern for yourself at her etsy shop.

How time flies!

I feel like its been forever since I've had any finished projects to post. I do plan on having a busy crochet weekend. Must finish up some WIPs that I've been avoiding - sewing the photo pocket onto the baby book, and finally giving Gerry Bear some legs!!! Also need to get the last of the bookmarks for the shower done and carded up.

I'm also working on a baby blanket that I think is going to be amazing. I'll post the photo and pattern when I get it finished, but it's different from anything I've ever done, and if the assembly goes well I'm going to be very happy!

So - lots of WIPS but nothing to show. I also have made some charity commitments. I need to make some chemo caps, some squares for the group blanket that I'm working on, and some toys and blankets for a cat shelter in Anchorage that really needs some goodies for the cute furballs.

Besides crochet, its been a good week. Hubby finished making our wedding weekend "video" from our photos. What great memories!! And some other exciting things in the works. I think this worm needs some finality. All good things are worth the wait, but....

It's official! We're Great!!!

On Sat July 23rd, at around 12:30 in the afternoon, hubby and I officially became great! My husbands wonderful niece and her wonderful husband had a little girl. 8 lbs 3 oz of baby love! We'll get to meet the little sweetheart next month, but we love her already.

And we're ready for even more greatness in November when my niece has her baby!

Life is good.

That's what friends are for

For me it's a big compliment when somebody asks me to crochet something for them. I've only been crocheting for less than two years, and still have a lot to learn. I make a lot for charity and for gifts, but if somebody asks me to make something for them, it makes me feel really good about my progress.

A friend asked me to make a receiving blanket for a baby girl, so I made this one using crazy stitch. I love how fast and easy this stitch is. It's relaxing - doesn't require a lot of counting and marking, and it results in a nice textured look that appears a lot more intricate than it really is. What good is a baby blanket without a matching hat? I made to coordinating hats - one for an infant and one for a big girl (toddler) size.

I hope baby can use them.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I might have mentioned (ha) that my niece and her husband are expecting their first little one. We don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl, but we do know that the little Rookie will be a big Yankee fan!!!

To make sure that the little slugger is all ready for games, I made this little sweater and cap.

This sweater was made in Caron Simply Soft. It's made with large hooks so it's fairly light weight. The baseball buttons are perfect for our little sports fan. The pattern worked up quickly and easily, I finished it in one sitting.

The cap is also a really quick project. It's made with a shell pattern so it won't be too hot to wear during the game. The pattern can be found here.

Let's Go Yankees!

Tea and Cupcakes, Anyone?

I have a dear friend who is crazy about tea, so when I got serious about crochet, I promised to make her a tea cosy. Recently Cupcake (the same designer who created the fan bookmark) published a new design for a popcorn style Tea Cosy. I love it and decided that I had to make it.

It was really fun! I've never done anything using popcorn stitch before, and I enjoyed it, and love the texture it gives the piece. For this cosy and hot pad I used Lion Brand Cotton in three shades. I think it's cheery, and I'm sure my friend will like it. Sadly, I don't have the right size and shape tea pot to model it properly, but my friend assures me that she does.

If you want to make this cosy and/or hot pad, you can purchase the pattern here for $3. And if you do, check out some of her other patterns - she creates some wonderful designs!!!

A prayer for peace

I started this blog because I love to crochet, and its a great way to share my love of crochet and some of the other happy things in my life. I'm generally not very outspoken about politics, yet I sit here in comfort and read the news of bombing and terror in Israel, and I literally feel sick.

While I feel that lately the US is a political mess, I'm glad that I live someplace where people have rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It seems so simple, but I guess it's something that can't be taken for granted.

I read the news and I read blogs and I'm saddened and shocked by so much that I read. The bias and the misconceptions of what is happening. Yes - lives are being lost on both sides, and every life lost is a tragedy. How do a people fight against terrorism? How do you protect yourself from individuals who want to destroy you and who will strap bombs to their bodies in order to do so? So many people here are stating what Israel should and shouldn't do - as if there are any easy answers. There aren't. The situation is tragic.

What should Israel do? Israel should survive! Israel should protect her people and her right to exist. The fighting isn't over land - it's over something so much more important. We say that we value the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but we seem rather selfish in those values. The state of Israel has the right to exist. I also believe that the Palestinians have the rights to their own homeland and to live in peace. But when terrorists fight to deny another people the right to exist, how can there be peace?

I sit here in relative comfort. I crochet - for my friends, my family and for those who are in need. But what can I do for Israel? I can speak. I can pray. I can remember that while I sleep in a comfortable bed, Israelis and Palestinians are sleeping in bomb shelters.

I don't know how to achieve peace. I don't know the best way to end terrorism. One thing that I do believe though, is that all people should have the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and we all need to fight for that.

Together people can do great things.

I'm very lucky to be involved with an internet group of some terrific people. Many of these people have become my best friends in real life. I invited them to join me in a labor of love, and make rectangles to create an afghan to donate to a good cause this coming Thanksgiving. Several of these people are beginner crocheters or knitters, but they wanted to get involved.

This is the first rectangle I've done for the project - nothing special - just a rows of various stitches - DC, Popcorn, Tunisian, V stitch, and X stitch. Alone this piece isn't much, but when everyone's pieces are joined together, we're going to have a beautiful afghan to donate for Warm Up American and/or Blankets for Canada.

Babies on their way

With two babies expected soon there is a lot of excitement in our family. Hubby's niece is expecting her first baby this month. I finally got around to finishing the baby book for her little cutie. Using iron-on embellishments I personalized the book and added some flowers.

My niece is expecting her first in November. She and her husband have decided not to find out the baby's sex, and are decorating their nursery in beautiful shades of yellow and green. I just finished the striped baby book for them. I still have to make the photo frame for the cover, but that part is easy.

Inside the books are 28 pages of important baby information. Birth stats, family tree, baby's firsts, holidays, birthdays etc.

I'm so pleased with how these turned out. I think they'll be nice gifts. And I got myself a gift too! I went to Kinkos to print out the pages in color. $0.99 a page! They must be nuts. Luckily, Office Max had a demo color laser printer on sale. I got it at half price! I'm sure it will pay for itself before the end of the year.

A picture says a thousand words

Last night we finally got all of our wedding photos. Good things are worth waiting for. We had a great photgrapher who got some amazing shots. Our wedding day was a great great day, and my hubby is amazing! Ain't love grand?

Another chemo cap for a friend.......damnit

Today I found out that another on-line crochet friend has a niece who is going through chemo treatments.





I offered to crochet a cap for her, and decided on this pattern.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. This was a very easy pattern and worked up very quickly. It is soft and comfortable and open enough to not be too warm for summer. I'll definitely be using this pattern again, but will keep hoping for the day that I can just make caps and forget about the chemo part! Someday soon there will be a cure.

Baby Blocking

Just finished this hat and carriage cover for one of my on-line friends who had a precious baby boy last week.

I used a pattern that required a new stitch, what the designer called a "single crochet front back bobble". I really enjoyed this stitch as it was fun to do and added some dimension to the blanket.

My choice of the self striping Baby Coordinates yarn, however, might not have been thet best. I love the yarn, but I think the dimension and color changes made it harder for me to maintain the pattern correctly. The carriage cover is quite lopsided, and I was hesitant to send it to my friend.

In the end, I wet it and blocked it, and while not perfect, it is shaped better now. When it dries, I'll pack up the set for baby.