Next Project?

Well, I'm a bit bored with the Camo squares I'm making.  So....I need something to brighten up my day and take my mind off the drudgery for a bit.  I was thinking about making these "Colorful Stripey Fingerless Mitts" from the Crochet in Color blog.  Aren't they lovely?

(photo courtesy of Crochet in Color)

It's a free pattern and can be found here http://crochetincolor.blogspot.com/2011/10/colorful-stripey-fingerless-mitts.html .  I love the look of these....the many colors.  I'm thinking of doing mine in red and white stripes or red and black stripes.......the school colors.  That way I can warm up my hands while still being able to clap.  That's important....the clapping part.....lol.  So, what do you think?

Sports and Band Highlights

When I was writing up yesterday's post, I forgot to include some of the baseball, softball and band photos that I've taken over the last two weeks.  Here are a few highlights.

Big C stealing 2nd base during the Bucklin/Macon Co. game.  He went on to steal home plus another base during this ball game.  I have no idea what got into him because he doesn't normally steal bases.  He can't run fast enough to do so.  But I'm super, super proud of him.  He was 3 for 3 that night, with 3 R.B.I.'s.

 Getting ready to pound the baseball, yet again.  He's on a roll this year! 

 Small T is in the outfield (right field).  This is the Glasgow game that was played in the pouring down rain.

 Still pouring down rain at the Glasgow game.  Big C pounded another one out to center field.  We were tied, 2 to 2 in the 2nd inning and the game was called due to the weather.  The 2 runs that we had were due to this ball that Big C hit.  Bases were loaded and he got a double out of it.

 Small T chasing a ball at the Cairo game.

 Big C, meeting and greeting, at the Glasgow make-up game.

 Carrollton Band Day.  This past Saturday.  Our band is coming up to the starting point.

 Starting it off.  Small T is in the front row on the right.  She plays the flute.

 She said she wants to be a flag girl next year.  Hmmmm.....she also says she needs a shorter flag.  The pole is too tall.  LOL  Don't tell her, but I think she looks like a circus monkey in this photo.

Our official band photo for this year.  Looking good!!!!

So, that's my highlights from the past 2 weeks.  Between the 6 nights of ball games and the band day, I took about 200 photos.

What I've Been Up To....A Misc. Adventure....

I've had a lot going on since my last post.  With two kids in high school, we're always busy in the evenings but it's been even more hectic than normal with 3 ball games each week.  I like it that my kids are involved in sports and school activities, but we've had absolutely no downtime at all.  Not even on the weekends.  I did manage to find a bit of time to try a new recipe this past Sunday.  It's for Taco Soup.  You can see what it looks like in the photo below.  I tweaked it a bit and I'm sharing the recipe.

 Taco Soup (recipe adapted from the Taco Soup IV recipe found at allrecipes.com)

note: this makes a huge pot of soup...and I mean HUGE

3 lbs of ground beef (this is basically a family pack of it)
1 large onion, chopped
2 (29 oz) cans of tomato sauce
2 sauce cans of water
1 (15.5 oz) can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15.5 oz) can of whole kernel corn, drained
2 (1.25 oz) pkgs of taco seasoning mix

In a large pot, brown ground beef and onion; drain grease.
Add tomato sauce, water, beans, corn and taco seasoning.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or so.
Serve with corn chips, shredded cheese, and any other condiments such as sour cream and black olives.
Yum!

 I've finally finished the baby blanket I was working on.  I also have the pattern wrote up.

 Here's a closer view of the stitch pattern.  

 Another view of the blanket stretched out on my couch.  Here's the free pattern.  Hope you enjoy it!

V-Stitch Baby Blanket (free pattern)

size is approx. 30 inches by 36 inches.

Bernat Baby Coordinates yarn (it takes approx. 1 and 1/2 skeins for the blanket)

G crochet hook

ch 123.  (blanket is worked in clusters of 11 stitches plus 2 for turning)

Row 1- work v-stitch (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in 8th ch from hook, sk 4 chs, *work v-stitch in next ch, sk 4 chs, repeat from * across until you have 5 chs left.  sk 4 chs, dc in last ch.

Row 2- ch 3, turn.  work v-stitch in each ch 2 sp across, dc in 2nd ch of beg ch 2 (turning ch).

Row 3- repeat row 2 for pattern, working last dc in beg ch 2 of previous row.  On the last row, do not fasten off yarn at end, you'll go straight into working the edging.

*I worked 48 rows total for my blanket.

For the edging,

Row 1-ch 2, work 4 dc in corner sp.  Then, working down the side of the blanket, put 1 dc in the 2nd ch of the ch 2's, and 2 dc in each ch space, down to the next corner.  Work 7 dc in corner sp.  Then working along bottom of blanket, work 1 dc in each ch 2 space of the v-stitch, and work 4 dc in each ch sp, across to the next corner.  Work 7 dc in the corner sp.  Then working up the side, put 1 dc in the 2nd ch of each ch 2 and 2 dc in each ch sp up to the next corner.  Work 7 dc in the corner sp.  Working across the top of the blanket, work 1 dc in each dc and in each ch 2 sp across.  At the final corner, work 2 more dc  and join to the 2nd ch of the beg ch 2.

Row 2- ch 2, work 1 dc in each dc around.  In the corners, where you worked the 7 dc, work 3 dc in the 4th dc of the 7 dc group.  Join with a sl st to the 2nd ch of the beg ch 2.  Fasten off, weave in ends.

 I made a sweater and cap to go with the blanket.  I used the same yarn - Bernat Baby Coordinates.

For the sweater, I used this pattern http://susan.kraus.net/pages/pattern4.html.

For the cap, I used this pattern http://mkcarroll.com/blog/2007/12/25/basic-crochet-beanie-baby.html.

 This is a weird photo, isn't it?  LOL  Small T is a contestant in the local Pecan Festival Queen contest this weekend.  She has to do a talent, and she's going to do a dance, but there's a unique twist on it.  She's doing it in the dark, with glow sticks attached to her clothing and face mask.  She has rehearsal tomorrow evening and I just did a quick fix of her clothes (with the glow sticks and reinforced packing tape).  After tomorrow, I will have to sew the other glow sticks on the clothes.  So, this photo is her sweat pants and sweat shirt with the taped on glow sticks.  Now, the photo makes sense.

 I also played around with another pattern.  The pattern can be found here http://jellywares.blogspot.com/2010/11/jelly-xmas-star-tutorial.html.  I think I like the purple one the best, but Small T likes the gray one.

Then yesterday, I started working on the Camo baby/toddler blanket that has been ordered.  I'm using my pattern called the No Holes Sc Square.  The woman that ordered this blanket wants something that her grandbaby can't get his fingers stuck in.  Normally, this pattern would end with a 6 inch square.  However, the squares needed to be bigger for this, so I added 5 rows to make it a 10 inch square.  If anyone needs to know the stitch counts for these last 5 rows, please leave me a message.

So, that's my update on a few of the more interesting things that have happened in the last 2 weeks.  I've got to go get dressed (I just had a shower) and head to the school.  I'm subbing in P.E. this afternoon.  :)  Have a good day everyone!

A Glimpse....

of the newest project I am working on.  I'm also writing up the pattern as I go.  So...there will be a new pattern preview before too much longer.  Stay tuned.

Small T and the Bucklin/Macon Co. SB Game

 Small T laying down a bunt.

 Bookin' it to 1st base.

 Small T rounding 3rd and headed home.

End of the game.  We won.  15 to 0.

Mango Colored Yarn - The Tale is Complete

This past Sunday, I finished the Mango colored blanket.  I used the Living Room Afghan Pattern found here http://sarahsprojects.blogspot.com/2010/05/living-room-afghan-pattern.html.  I used Simply Soft yarn in Mango and the edging was done in Sunshine.  The pattern originally calls for a thicker weight of yarn but since I was making a baby blanket/toddler blanket, the Simply Soft made it just the right size.  I used four skeins of Mango and just enough of a fifth skein to finish the last row and a half.  I used very little of the Sunshine for the border. 

Sterling Price Day - Brunswick Marching Band

Saturday was Sterling Price Day in the town just over from us.  Our school's marching band always performs  /competes in the parade.  This year, we won 1st place.

 A great view of the band coming down the street towards us.  Small T is in the first row of instrument players all the way to the right of the photo.  You can just see her.

And here's Small T again...she plays the flute.  I barely had enough time to capture this photo though.  They were marching faster than I could walk backwards.  I need to practice.  :)

Big C at the New Franklin BB Game

Last week we had to travel (over an hour) to the baseball game with New Franklin (due to a huge amount of rain that fell here at home and rendered our field unusable).

 Big C is the 1st baseman and here he is letting the outfielder know that he's ready for a ball to be thrown in to him.  It always kills me to see his arms waving around like that.  lol

 Even though this photo is blurry, I think you can get the idea behind it.  Big C swung the bat good and hard and the ball traveled all the way out to the fence line.  The outfielder jumped up and caught it or it would have been a home run.  Dang that outfielder!

A meeting of the minds out on the mound.

Granny Toddler Blanket in Purples

I managed to finish up the purple granny toddler blanket on Saturday.  I had screwed up and added a sixth row of squares and then had to frog the edging so I could undo the row of squares.  It was off kilter and I didn't like it one bit.  I like it much better with the 20 granny squares instead.  As to the particulars, I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Amethyst, Pale Plum, Orchid and White.  Those are the colors I had on hand and was wanting to use up out of my stash.  Plus, I needed a toddler blanket done in purples so I was killing two birds with one stone.  :)  I also used a size I crochet hook.  The pattern for the squares is my basic granny square from the August 29th post.

The Tale of the Mango Colored Yarn

Once upon a time, there were 5 skeins of Mango colored yarn sitting on a clearance shelf at Wal-Mart.  A yarn-loving, clearance-minded woman named Shelly just happened to see them and bought them up.  Shelly's niece mentioned that she would love to have an orange colored blanket for her newest child, so...the Mango yarn was called upon to assist with this request.  But, my oh my, what a journey it has been in the attempt to make this orange colored blanket.

 This is the most current state of the Mango colored yarn.  It awaits Shelly's pleasure upon the big couch.

 The Mango colored yarn was first worked into this pattern http://www.crochetspot.com/how-to-crochet-blanket-stitch/.  The progress shown was after one whole skein had been worked up.  Yikes.  The pattern is a yarn-eater and Shelly wouldn't have enough yarn to complete the blanket, even though she loved the stitch pattern and would have made a very warm blanket.  So....the Mango colored yarn was ripped out and put into a clear plastic container waiting to be used again.

 Today, Shelly spent some time cleaning the house and while she was doing that, she decided to try out this pattern http://sarahsprojects.blogspot.com/2010/05/living-room-afghan-pattern.html.  The pattern is quite pretty and even though the blanket is for a great nephew, it might pass as a bit masculine in nature.  So, Shelly sat down this evening and lovingly worked the Mango colored yarn into it's current state as shown above.  She is presently working on skein #2.

Here is a close-up view of the stitch pattern.  

So...this is the tale of the Mango colored yarn.  Updates will be given once progress is made.  :)