Gaggle? Flock? Herd?

This morning I was running very late for work. We had VIP visitors, so it was not a good day to be late. As I pulled out of the driveway and drove up the street, I saw something that delighted me!!! Not a deer (that always delights me!), but something totally unexpected.

A gaggle, a flock - let's just call it a big mess of of wild turkey!!! I didn't realize we had wild turkey here, and seeing them was quite a thrill.

I can get used to this country living!!!


On the crochet front, I'm working on a blanket for co-worker who is expecting her baby girl very soon. She has two older boys and is just thrilled to be having a girl. Like it or not, this child will be dressed in pink ruffles and bows for as long as she needs her mom's help getting dressed.

The jury is still out on this blanket. I'm using Bernat Lulu. It's amazingly soft and cuddly, but almost impossible to work with (which is probably why they discontinued it). I'm mixing it with a baby weight yarn to make finding the stitches more easy - I need to get some more done before I'll be able to decide if I like it or not.

Too Much?

I have a problem with moderation. I do understand that too much of a good thing can be bad. Too much wine, too much chocolate, too much ice cream - these things can make you drunk, or make you gain weight, or harden your arteries. I get it.

But too much yarn? Is there such a thing as too much yarn? I didn't think so!

Well, my hubby has finished building my yarn containment center, and for the second night, I have decided to get my yarn organized and neat.

I CAN'T DO IT!!! I just have SO MUCH YARN!

I have a full plastic tub of baby yarn. Another of "Fancy" baby yarn. I have an entire bin of LuLu - I don't even like working with LuLu! I have a bin of homespun, a bin of denim style, a tub of Red Heart, a bigger tub of Caron Simply Soft. I have TLC, and Chunky. I have a bin of cotton yarns, and a bin of wool blends. I have several bins of yarn that I can't even identify. I have enough scraps to fill several bins.

I haven't even got to my hooks, fleece, beads, buttons and ribbons!

I know that I will get this all organized, but right now I'm honestly not sure how!

If anyone would like to share their favorite scrap yarn patterns, I would be grateful!

Wyatt's Sweater

This little sweater was made for the son of a co-worker.

Little Wyatt arrived a little bit early, but he's growing big and strong and will be going home to his family soon. At the rate he's growing, he'll be ready to wear this cotton sweater this Fall!

This was made with Lion brand cotton yarn. The sweater is a variation of the Kollegiate Hooker's sweater pattern. I followed the pattern to make the yoke, then alternated rows of triple crochet with rows of half-double crochet for the body and sleeves.

I love this sweater pattern, and have been having a lot of fun trying different variations.

I hope little Wyatt and his mommy will like this it.

Like Jewelry???

Sure you do! So you should know about my friend Lynn who is an amazing jewelry designer! She makes lovely pieces, and I feel very fortunate to own several of them!

You can read about Lynn, see some of her creations, and enter for a chance to win this pretty heart pendant. Click here to find out how.

Critter Cuteness!!!!

No crochet in this post. Just a link to the cutest video ever (with many thanks to my dear friend Sara for sharing this wonderful link!)

Priorities

We're making really good progress on getting settled in our new home. There are still a few boxes to be unpacked and a lot of things that have to find their "place". All the art is boxed, and I know figuring out where to hang what will take a long time. Given all the work we have left to do, I shouldn't be spending a lot of time on crochet...... but, I do have my priorities.

My baby cousin is all grown up, married and expecting his first baby! This, of course, is very exciting news, and a very important reason to stop unpacking and start crocheting. I made this little sweater, hat and bib for my new baby cousin.

The sweater is a modification of the Kollegiate Hooker's Baby sweater. The bib was made from memory based on the Bernat cotton bib pattern. I made the bib on a plane while I didn't have access to the pattern, so it's not exact in size or in the shaping on the neck, but it works. I also substituted a lightly waved edging for the picot edging to make it match the set better. The hat was made with my Sugar and Spice Baby Hat pattern.

This set was made with Bernat Cottontots in Pretty in Pink and Wonder White.

I hope that my cousin and his wife like the set, and that their little girl will arrive soon, be healthy and happy, and have a long life filled with giggles and dreams come true!

Home Sweet Home

We're in our new home, and we're so happy!!

It's truly lovely! I'm sure someday we'll come to take it for granted, but right now we're enjoying every moment in our beautiful house!

That's not to say it's been stress-free. We still have hundreds of boxes needing to be unpacked. Finding homes for some of our "things" is proving more challenging than I expected. The kitchen and bathrooms are particularly difficult. You get used to how things are in a house, and then when you get to a new house, it's not always so simple to figure out where things go.

For example. Aspirin. This was never a problem. Aspirin goes in the medicine cabinet.... except that this house has no medicine cabinets. We have lots of cabinets and drawers in the bathroom, but no medicine cabinets. So, I found myself standing in the bathroom with a bottle of aspirin and being completely stumped in figuring out where it belonged. I put it in a drawer, but then realized that that isn't kid-safe. Not a huge problem as we don't have kids. But... what if a kid comes to visit? Well, they shouldn't be in my bedroom, and they shouldn't be in my master bath. But kids don't always do what they should do, and they often love to do what they shouldn't do! What if a kid comes to visit, sneaks into my bedroom, sneaks into my bathroom, opens my drawer, finds the aspirin, opens the child-proof cap and swallows a handful of aspirin???!!!! I moved it all to the cabinet. Hated it in the cabinet. Realized the cabinet was actually easier for a kid to get into than the drawer, and moved it back.

If unpacking aspirin is this complicated, you can begin to imagine how difficult I'm making the rest of the unpacking!!! It's all fun though. We're rediscovering a lot of our "stuff" that has been boxed away for the past 10 months. I have lots of "stuff", and I'm sure once I figure out where to put it all, the house will be wonderful!

Hubby has been busy installing closet shelving. He finished our walk-in closet, and is now working on my "yarn containment system" in our upstairs closet. Once he's done with the shelving, I can get my yarn organized and get back on the hook. (I have literally over 15 large cartons packed with yarn and crochet paraphernalia!)

That fabulous basket in the photo was a wonderful gift from our Realtor Jim and his lovely wife Debbie. Jim and Debbie have become good friends! On the day of our move, they stopped buy to surprise us with that lovely basket filled with fresh local produce from the green market. The photo was taken with the cell phone the next day, so the flowers had wilted a bit, but we've been enjoying the beans and tomatoes, and the corn is the best that we've ever tasted!!! The local produce is so delicious, and the basket was such a thoughtful gift. To top it off, when Debbie and Jim came buy, they brought us sandwiches and drinks for lunch! It was such a generous gesture on a day when we probably would have gone without lunch, and it made us feel so lucky to have made new and dear friends!!! ( and a friendly tip.... if you ever have the opportunity to hear Jim perform with his blues band O2R, you'll be in for a treat!!! The band is great and it's always fun to hear them perform!)

So.... it's been a very busy few weeks, but its been a great few weeks. Oh..... and it seems that the hives didn't move to the new house with us!!! We moved on Friday, and immediately saw improvement. As of the last 2 days, we're both hive-free!!!!