Monday Making

On a rainy, rainy day...

ALL you need is a nice warm fire

and a PROJECT!!

I am working on a new baby blanket.

The babies just keep coming and I LOVE 

having 

a quilt or afghan READY 

when I find out someone's expecting

OR...

my kids let me know their friend "needs" one.

I am using an assortment of yarn

found at the thrift store.

Someone had a nice little group of soft colors

that I think go together nicely.

I didn't have to do ANY thinking at all

when it came to color selection!!!

I am changing colors as the MOOD STRIKES!\

and I LOVE the different sized stripes.

:)

what are YOU making this week??

Monday Making

At the end of a busy day 

I enjoy sitting down and working on something.

Recently THIS is what it's been.

Lots of pretty yarn

and rows and rows of crochet stitching!!

I do NOT need another afghan.

But...

I DO NEED this calm and peaceful project

at the end of my DAY!!!

:)

This afghan is made with the spike stitch.

A very simple stitch

that makes a simple afghan INTERESTING!

Now it's YOUR turn!!!

What are YOU making this week??

Friday Finish

When my Mom said she'd like an armchair pincushion this week....

I hopped over to pinterest and looked around.

;)

It's so easy to find inspiration there!

I used ONLY the scraps

that were ON TOP of the other scraps!

I didn't have time to dig too deep.

The bottom piece is actually an orphan block.

I added a nine patch pincushion

and some little pockets.

There's a pocket for scissors

and a bigger pocket for thread scraps or something else!

Inspiration for this project came from Amy.

Hope you like it MOM!!!

**********

I'm not the only one who MAKES at my house.

These days, I have a nurse who works with my foster baby.

She WHIPPED this little beanie up

after I purchased a BEE costume for the little one.

Isn't it SWEET????

Those little antennae are simply AMAZING!

Monday Making

There's a lot of MAKING going on this week at my house

Even though I'm SITTING around quite a bit

with a broken foot!

It's not THAT bad.

I crochet, sew or knit

while someone ELSE does the dishes!!!

The above afghan is a work in progress 

using a NEW TO ME stitch called the spike stitch.

I found instructions on youtube....

My "GO TO" source these days.

It's so much easier to watch instructions

than to READ and try to figure it out.

Why am I making another afghan when I have so many??

If you wondered that...

You're not a MAKER.

I've also been doing a little bit of cooking.....

Hobbling as I go.

We have a garden FULL of produce

that seems to supply most of the FRESH food in our meals.

I LOVE having all the choices my husband 

included in the garden this year.

I did a simple stir fry with the vegetables above.

I'm also working on gifts.

Special requests from the kids.

The above coasters are from a pattern on craftsy.

It's a free pattern in my pattern shop.

I made these a bit bigger than the pattern states.

I LOVE to adjust patterns to the particular project.

A little bigger??

NO problem.

JUST....a little bit of math.

I really like the BIG stitches I added to these.

In my opinion...

a LITTLE bit of hand quilting goes a LONG way.

It adds SO much!

:)

See??

Sitting around a lot means you get MORE done...

not less.

I just finished this sweet sweater

and....

Thinking about what color yarn to pull out for the next one!!!

This is the 5 hour sweater that takes a LOT longer that 5 hours!!!

It's a classic....

You can find it on Ravelry.

What are YOU making this week???

Monday making without a party

I'm making this week.... But the party will have to wait.

Trying to add a linky party while camping is a bit tricky!

Too tricky for this girl!🙂

Hope my regular monday making friends don't mind waiting until next week to link up!

I'm camping with a broken foot so there's lots of sitting going on!!!

Good thing I have yarn!!

I started a crochet afghan using a new to me stitch.

I'm also just beginning a knit dress for this cutie!

Camping is fun.... Even if you have to sit the whole time!!

Friday finishes

I finished this small sweater/vest recently for my 12 year old.

She's happy to wear it...

AND...

I'm happy it FITS!!!

UNLIKE sewing...

You NEVER really know until it's ALL done and

OFF the needles!!

The pattern is here.

Many of the Ravelers added cast on stitches to make it fit an adult.

;)

I hope to try that soon.

SO many PROJECTS I want to make......

;/

While I was knitting...

the nurse who has been working with me was crocheting THIS!!!

She dug through my stash of yarn

and came up with this wonderful blanket!

It was made with a basic crochet stitch and then

the BRIGHT colors were chain stitched FIRST and then woven through.

She finished it off with a bright blue border to hide the woven ends.

I am SO tempted to copy this project!!!

Happy Friday!

Hope the weekend brings you TIME to MAKE!

Little kitchen helpers

Knit......

Or.....

Crochet????

I used to crochet these little dishcloths before I learned to knit.  They are a great way to practice stitching!

Just wondering if my friends in blog-land have a preference?

Do you like them knit?

Or crocheted?

I think I like mine knit!

I'm very tempted to UN-crochet the ones I have finished and RE-Do them with some knitting needles.

;)

Don't let me influence your vote!

I added a wooden spoon (decorated a bit with my wood burning tool) and am giving this to my neighbor for being a GOOD neighbor!

Just a little tiny something to say "thank you!"

Finding Fabric and yarn

Walking into a BRAND NEW-to me quilt shop

always feels like HOME.

Somehow my son managed to find a college,

in a VERY SMALL town,

that has a QUILT SHOP!!!

 

10 points!!!

 

I visited him this past weekend.

Enjoyed my VERY FIRST lacrosse game

(son on far right)

and enjoyed TIME with him in Iowa.

 

Even though it's WIDE open country....

 

There was FABRIC!

:)

And yarn.

Had to pick up some yarn since....

I only took ONE sleeve from this project to work on.....

and finished it before my trip was over!

 

I need a little help getting all these pieces together!!!

I'm pretty PROUD of the fact that I have

the FIVE pieces ready to be put together!

This is a size 2 sweater.

I wanted to begin with something SMALL.

After working on this little sweater

I wonder how long it takes to make something

ADULT size?????

 

Cotton yarn crocheted into dishcloths

SAVED my sanity on the plane trip home!!!

 

Busy hands = Sanity

 

Is that a math problem you identify with???

;)

 

 

Thoughts on Crochet and winners

I finally finished my zigzag afghan!

Let me tell YOU....

These guys take a LOT of yarn!

 

I'm a beginner.

I didn't realize the MAGNITUDE of my project...

Until I was INTO it!

It all started with some hand me down yarn.

 

This afghan became too big to lug around..

so the last half was done at home.

 

I was able to use the old yarn for MOST of the project...

but ended up buying a big ball of blue to finish it up.

 

Why did I make an afghan???

Because I tired of making dishcloths

and....

I have ENOUGH scarves!!

;)

After finding my big afghan too big to carry around...

I started this little baby blanket with some yarn from the thrift store.

 

DO NOT begin something unless you KNOW you have enough yarn.

I'm LEARNING about how much yarn different projects take.

It SEEMS I learn ONLY by experience

:/

After being frustrated about the LACK of yarn to finish a blanket....

I bought enough yarn to complete a project.

:)

This one took 4 skeins.

All this crochet represents the last few months of

SOCCER games, holiday TRAVEL..

and WAITING rooms.

:)

 

Gotta LOVE those take along projects!

 

**************

 

I used Mr. Random Generator

to choose

Winners of the little pincushion KIT

 

They are....

Mary, Eva and Michele T.

 

Congratulations!!!!

 

You will be getting this little KIT in the mail soon.

Un-finished Friday

One week AWAY from a sewing machine...

and ALL I have to show for it

are some

UNFINISHED projects!!!

 

Crochet projects.

Yarn travels WELL.

 

I gave up ONE project because I forgot the right size crochet hook.

I gave up ANOTHER project because I gave the hook to my niece.

(good reason, right?)

That stopped me in my tracks on a couple of projects.

The GOOD news is

I DID finish a couple of scarves and ALREADY gave them away!

Hence...

No photo.

 

One week away from a  machine

and ALL I have to show for it is FABRIC!

 

You know...

I was NOT supposed to buy any this year.

(MY self imposed goal for the year)

 

But...

the polka dots above were needed for a backing.

Then....

 

These flannels were spied in the discount bin.

Along with ALL of these.

I couldn't say no.

My machine BECKONS!!!

using UP

Crocheting like a quilter would.

Using UP bits and pieces of someone else's leftovers.

;)

 

This afghan is growing and growing.

I'm surprised at how LONG it takes to make one!!

AND...

How much YARN it requires!

Think I'm only halfway after MANY long drives

and QUITE a few chilly soccer practices.

Patching squares together

after dissecting some plaid and striped shirts.

 

Wondering if there's anything USEFUL here???

Welcoming SUMMERtime

One week withOUT a machine!

 

It was a challenge...

but I managed to keep myself PRODUCTIVE.

 

These pre-printed embroidery blocks

had some QUALITY time with me!

I love how they're coming out!

I plan...someday....to use them in a scrappy quilt

using some fun 30's reproductions.

Nine patch blocks?

Half square triangles???

I get to dream about that one!

;)

We'll see how many more vacations it TAKES

to get them ALL done!

LOL!

This GORGEOUS yarn also

spent time

with my CROCHET hook...

Resulting in a YUMMY scarf...

that I couldn't WEAR because it's SUMMERTIME!

:/

I'm going to wear it AS SOON as the weather turns cool!

I LOVE it!

Had a GREAT week with FAMILY and friends.

What a wonderful way to begin the summer!

 

It was extra special having my niece along

to help out with the younger one during her class time!

I'm Feeling blessed tonight.