Take 2

My last sweater attempt was less than wonderful, so I tried again. Using the same yarn, I made this little sweater-jacket. With the variegated yarn, I can't get a decent photo of this one. I did a detail round of X stitch towards the bottom and around the sleeves. You can't see it at all in the photo but instead of buttons, I added ties to the opening with cork-screw dangles.

Very boring in the photo, but cute in real life. This sweater will go to Marine Corps Kids.

Busy Busy Busy

Things have been very busy lately - long hours at work - too many things happening at once. It's all good, but a bit stressful. Once again, this is cutting into my crochet time. Not much to write, but I thought I'd share this delightful e-mail that my good buddy MJ (who claims not to be a crocheter, but who just finished a fabulous baby sweater and hat set) sent to me and that made me smile. Hope you like it too!

Have a fabulous STRESS FREE day!!!!

PLEASE DO YOUR PART
Today is one of the many National Mental Health Days throughout the year. You can do your bit by remembering to send an e-mail to at least one unstable person.

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My job is done! (LOL)

Life is too short for drama & petty things. So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly! From one unstable person to another... I hope everyone is happy in your head - we're all doin' pretty good in mine.

Sometimes it just doesn't work

I made this little cotton jacket tonight, and it just doesn't work. It works in the sense that its wearable, but I just don't like it, and I'm not sure what would make it work.

I used the same yoke pattern as that from yesterday's sweater, but did an open mesh for the body and sleeves. I think I just don't like it.

When I finished it, I felt like I wasted yarn. Well - live and learn. It's fun to try new things - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

Cotton Cuteness

With all the craziness lately, I haven't had time to crochet at all!

Yesterday, I left work early so hubby and I could drive up for our nephews graduation party. We missed the ceremony last week because of the floods, so we really wanted to make it for the party. Of course as we hit the highway, the skies once again opened up, and we had to drive through some nasty storms.

Eventually it calmed down, and I was able to concentrate on some crochet. Long car rides are perfect! I was able to finish this little cotton set in under 4 hours.

I used this pattern from the Kollegiate Hooker. I made a mistake somewhere on the front - my sweater overlaps a bit, but I straightened the edge as I went, moved the buttons down to mid-chest and it really came out cute. I love the way the designer worked the yoke of this sweater and created the arm holes. It was very simple and created neater underarm seams than some other patterns I've used. I also improvised on the sleeves just a bit to avoid having to sew any seams. I followed the designers pattern, but worked in the round to eliminate the need for sewing. I'll definitely be using this pattern again!

I didn't follow her pattern for the cap, but used her basic stitches to make a coordinating sun hat.

I'll be donating this set to Marine Corps Kids.

Thank you!!

To everyone who has left comments and sent me e-mails after my last post, thank you very much!! We're fine!

Last weekend was very long and not a lot of fun, but it's also all in the past. We were able to move all of our boxes and furniture. We lost some things, but not too much, and we still have a home. The owners of the house we're renting came down and we gutted the basement down to the cinder blocks - it's not pretty, but its safe. With new rain we are still taking on a bit of water, but there is little left to be damaged, and we now know where the water is coming from and can handle it pro actively.

Our new house took no damage from the storm and the contractors are working feverishly. We should be able to move in sometime next month and that will be a delight.

Hubby and I still have hives, and they seem to be flaring up for both of us. Last night mine were particularly bad and kept me up most of the night. We'll be buying Allegra today, and if that doesn't stop them, it will be time to see a doctor. Other than that, we're good.

The news for people around us isn't as positive. Yesterday we drove to Northern Indiana to attend our nephews graduation party (we couldn't attend the graduation last weekend because the roads were closed because of the flooding and we need to attend to the mold and water). As we traveled north we passed through some of the areas that were hit the worst. Still lots of standing water, and many many homes with evidence of a lot of damage. Yards filled with piles of rubble that just last week were people's furniture and belongings. A very sad situation.

Many towns around here suffered from the flooding much worse than we did, and are still trying to cope. We had very bad storms again yesterday. The news from Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and other areas of the Midwest is really horrifying.

I so appreciate all your kind words and encouragement. It is a wonderful feeling when friends and strangers take the time to leave a comment or send a warm e-mail!! We are fine. A little itchy and tired, but overall, very very lucky. Thank you all so much, and please remember all those in other parts of the Midwest who are still suffering from these storms and need our prayers and help.

Hurricane Season

After living in Florida for 12 years, it's a great feeling when June rolls around and you don't have to say those two horrible words "hurricane season". I won't miss the storms, the warning, the putting up and taking down of shutters, the hoarding of groceries and gas and batteries. No - there is nothing about Hurricane Season that I'm going to miss!!

Ironically though, in all the time I lived in Florida - with all the storm watches and warnings, with being hit by 2 hurricanes and a bunch of horrible "no-name" storms, with the daily summer thunder and lightening downpours - I never once had water damage from a storm.

Then I move to beautiful Indiana - outside of hurricane territory, and bham! We got hit with a storm yesterday the likes of which I have never seen! It only lasted about 45 minutes, and the wind wasn't that horrific, but the rain came down like nothing I have ever seen before. Flash floods in all the major intersections, scary lightening, some trees down - and a flood in our basement. The same basement where my formal living room and dining room furniture and all my still-packed boxes are stored.

At first we thought it came in from under the door, and just mopped it up. Then we realized the carpet was soaked. We decided then that the water leaked in from the crawl space. We got out the carpet cleaner and sucked well over 10 gallons of water out. Hubby, bless him, spent a few hours moving all our boxes to get them off the ground and up away from the moisture.

More sucking of water from the carpet today, and hubby finally gave up and rented a super-powerful shop vac. More sucking of water when he noticed that the other side of the room was also wet. The side where all my good furniture is stored. He pulled away a section of my entertainment unit to find that water had poured in from there, soaked the rug, ruined the molding, and damaged my furniture. Not only was the wall and furniture wet and damaged, we have mold. Oh joy. I so thought I left this all behind in Florida. Not a happy Worm!!

So I called my boss and told her I won't be at work tomorrow, and we'll be looking for a U-haul truck and a storage unit. I think the furniture may be a total loss. It soaked up quite a bit of moisture on the bottom, and I don't know if the mold is a health hazard. We only seem to have one damaged box. The rest seemed to have remained relatively dry. The boxes are all blocking the rest of the wall unit and the dining room furniture, so until we move them to a storage unit, we can't even assess how bad the damage is.

We called our rental insurance company and they'll be out within a few days. I'm hoping they'll cover the furniture, storage unit and rental truck. We called our landlords. They'll be out to assess the damage. This house has never before had a wet basement, and I fear that they have a fairly substantial problem on their hands. I just went downstairs, and there is still a lot of water soaked into the carpet. I don't know if it's still seeping in from somewhere, but they'll have a lot of work to do.

And to add insult to injury, today hubby and I both broke out in hives. Not happy and itchy!! At least the benedryl I took seems to be taking the edge off. It's also putting me to sleep.

So not pleased.

Hurricane Season in Indiana. Who would have thunk?

Short and Sweeter

I enjoyed making that last Short and Sweet Cardigan so much that I immediately started another.

This one was made with Sugar 'N Cream cotton yarn, so its perfect for cool Summer nights. I used a solid yarn in a shade of dusty rose and trimmed it with Butter Cream Ombre.

I love the way this one turned out, and am pleased to donate it to Marine Corps Kids.

Short and Sweet

A few weeks ago we went to visit my niece and her daughter Olivia. On the way up in the car, I worked on a little sweater for Olivia using the Short and Sweet Cardigan pattern on the Lion Brand website.

The sweater was so fast and easy, that I had it almost finished after the 3 hour car ride. It's a great little pattern, and I enjoyed making it.

After my little no-crochet slump, I decided to make another. I liked the pretty colors in the TLC Baby Amore yarn, so I decided to use that. The yarn is thicker than the pattern calls for, so I did a few minor modifications. I followed the stitch count for the smallest size in the instructions, but sized it for a toddler. It only took two evenings to make, and I think it came out cute.

This yarn is a bit warm, but I'm hoping that this will be a cute jacket for a little girl for next fall or Spring.

I'm donation this sweater to Marine Corps Kids.

I think I'm going to make another - this time in cotton. It's getting too hot out to work with warm yarns!!!