Current WIP's

I have a few WIP's that I didn't frog over the winter. These are the ones that I felt like continuing to work on, for some reason or another.

WIP #1

 Granny squares in Aran, Buff, and Cornmeal. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add another color (not really) and how to sew them together. I really like these colors put together but I can't seem to find any of the Buff and Cornmeal yarn in the stores around here. So...I'm in limbo on this at the moment. All of these squares were made with yarn from my yarn stash. Now I'm out of these colors and have to buy some more.

WIP #2 

 These are the Knit A Block A Week blocks that I started in January of 2014. I had so much work in them that I hated to frog this project. So I picked up the knitting needles again and finished the blocks last week.

 After putting them out and a lot of rearranging, this is the final layout for the blanket when I started seaming the blocks together. I'm glad I took a photo of this as I referred to it often.

 This is a quick photo of the finished blanket. I absolutely love it! So does Small T. She has requested a knitted chevron blanket in white, gray and light blue for college. *sigh* I've never made one of these, so it should be interesting.

WIP #3

 Turqua granny squares with white centers. I used the yarn from my stash, thinking that I had a lot more of the Turqua. But no...I can't find any. So this project is in limbo until I buy some more yarn. Shouldn't be too long though.

 A gratuitous up-close photo of one of the squares.

WIP #4

 The Pink Camo knitted diagonal baby blanket. I finished this last week, but haven't taken a photo of the completed baby blanket

WIP #5.

The Cherry Red and Heather Grey chenille throw. This is in the beginning stages and I started it with yarn out of my stash. I think I have some more of it downstairs, but I haven't been down to search for it yet.

More WIP's without photos:

The first one is a white knitted baby blanket that I'm following a more complicated pattern on. I've never tried anything other than a basic or easy knitting pattern, so I'm hoping for the best with this.

The next one is a Seabreeze color baby cardigan that is crocheted. I'm actually to the part where I can sew in the ends and add the button.

Then I have a soft yellow baby dress that is crocheted. I'm only about 1/3 of the way done on this one.

These are ALL of my current WIP's.

Prom Season

The month of April was Prom Season around here.

 Small T attended the Northwestern Prom with Curtis.

 Then a week later, she went to her own prom with Royce, a fellow classmate.

 The three cousins, all dressed up for prom....Small T, Awan, Z.

They didn't try to color-coordinate, I swear. It just happened.

Prom King (Joe) and Prom Queen (Small T).

Changing It Up

Over the course of the past school year...

 I went from being a blond...

to a ginger!

My mom said..."I haven't seen you with red hair since you were little".  You see, I was a ginger until 2nd grade, then my hair went blond like Small T's. Crazy, right? But, I'm loving the short red hair!

Frugal Meal Tip

After the family graduation party, I had a gazillion hot dog buns left over. I didn't want them to go to waste, so I looked for creative ideas for using them up.

 One of the things I did was to make the buns into garlic bread. It was easy to do and tasted just fine. I made up some garlic butter and spread it on the bun halves. On one of the pans of buns, I added some Italian seasoning as well. Then popped them into a hot oven to crisp up. Yum!

Here's a photo of the frugal meal I put together with the garlic buns. I cooked up the small portions of pasta that I had, added spaghetti sauce, then topped it with cheese. Underneath it all was a reheated leftover hamburger patty from the BBQ.

Tasty and frugal...what more could you ask for!

My Last High School Graduate

Five days after my last final, Small T graduated from High School.

We kicked off the celebration weekend with a huge family BBQ on that Saturday.

Here's Small T holding her cake up for a photo.

Two of her cousins were also graduating and we all partied together.

Z is on the left, Awan in the middle, and Small T on the right.

These three were in the same class, in the same school.

Z belongs to my youngest sister, Annie, and Awan belongs to my second youngest sister, Marie.

Could any three kids look so different? Crazy, right?

The next day, Sunday, was graduation or commencement.

 Here is Small T receiving her scholarships.

 She's receiving her diploma.

 And now she's graduated. Look at that smile!

 Once again, the three cousins. :)

 The three moms with their children beside them.

 At the actual graduation party we held for her. I love this blue dress she is wearing and she's also got on the pearls that my uncle gave to her when she was 13.  Every girl needs a good set of pearls, in my opinion.

 Her graduation cake, cupcakes, and a small photo collage.

It turned out to be a wonderful, yet hectic, day.

Congratulations Tianna!

I'm A Sophomore!

I'm proud to say...my first year of college is over...and I'm now a Sophomore!

 First semester...I got all A's.

 Second semester...I got all A's. Which was much harder to do.  Trust me. The classes were more challenging and I carried 6 more credit hours than I did the first semester.

I had a few road bumps along the way.

 Back in September, I stubbed my toe in the corridor at school and when I was stumbling along, I fell into the wall and broke my arm. It was a huge pain in my neck since 3/4 of my classes were computer heavy and involved massive amounts of typing.

Then during second semester, I broke 3 vertebrae in my back on February 22nd, then I fell down the deck steps in the rain on March 18th and broke my ankle.

I haven't had this many injuries since I was 17 and involved in a terrible car accident.

But, all that is over now and I'm on summer vacation and working at the pool once again. It's my goal to update my blog regularly until I head back to school in August once again.

Thanks for hanging in there with me everyone! :)

Homespun "Crocheted" Doll Blanket - Free Pattern

A few weeks ago, I felt the need to make a crocheted version of the Homespun Knitted Doll Blanket.

I gathered up a bag of mismatched, but somehow related, yarn balls and set to work.

I used a size K crochet hook and started out with a ch of 58. Then it was "sc in 2nd ch from hook, and in each ch across". "Ch 1, turn. sc in each st across". Repeat each row until you have the desired length. The border/edging is a basic sc worked in each st around, with 3 sc in each corner st. I worked several rows of this. Then, I wove in the ends and it was finished. TaDa!!!! Another lovely little doll blanket pattern to share. Hope you like it. :)

LL Bean Colors

I have completed another Homespun Knitted Doll Blanket.

This time, I used what I call "LL Bean colors"....red, gray, yellow and white.

Here are a few photos of the blanket in progress as well as finished.

The edging is a simple sc edging done in a variegated cotton yarn.

The basic pattern for this little doll blanket can be found on my free knitting patterns page.

A Lost Art?

I've heard that Cursive writing is becoming a lost art. In fact, our local school no longer teaches it. What about in your area? Is it still taught in school?

V-Day Inspiration

My final "Valentine's Day" Inspiration choices:

Can you guess which ones I made? One, several, or all? Big Daddy loves these types of gifts!

Senior Ad

Last week, I had to get my stuff in for Tianna's Senior Ad in the yearbook. I emailed my favorite photo of her to the advisor and filled out the paperwork with this quote:

I'm not super sentimental about stuff like this, but honestly, this brings tears to my eyes every time I read it. I think it says it all.

I Will Miss This

Guess where I've been? Yep.  The ball games. Again.

The only part I enjoy is watching Small T cheer. I'm not a big fan of basketball, even though the kids have all played.

 Small T is on the left.

Small T is in the middle.

I'm always glad when basketball season is over, but this is the last year I have any children in school (other than college). So, I'm probably going to miss it. Sometimes.

This Blew My Mind!!!

I saw this one day and I was like "NO WAY!" It totally blew my mind!!! Two of my favorite shows, side by side, and all I could think was "no way!". Was Big Bang Theory based on Dexter's Laboratory????????????????

A Love Story

I have this love story going on...and my husband is tolerant of it. He really is. You see, I LOVE coffee. Every morning, without out fail, that first cup of steaming coffee is my best friend...the love of my life...the pea to my pod. It's been this way for years. In fact, let me tell you about it.

 This is me. (see above) Every morning. 365 days a year. As soon as I wake up, I turn the coffee pot on. Yep. Even before I head to the bathroom. That way, I don't have to wait so long for it to perk. Weird, right? Usually you hit the bathroom first, THEN turn on the coffee pot. Not me. After the bathroom visit, while I'm waiting for the pot to finish perking, I'm getting my outside clothes on. In the Winter, I also add a blanket around my lower half so I'm not froze to death. Then I get my wonderful cup of coffee and head to the front porch. Yes, even when it's -10 degrees F outside. There's just something about the peacefulness of drinking my coffee outside (alone). You see...I'm not a morning person and I'm definitely not a people person until AFTER I've had that first cup of coffee. (see photo below)

Everyone in my family knows that I really don't like people talking to me BEFORE I've had my coffee. It's a fact that we teach our children asap AND it also tends to be a family joke that everyone is great at teasing me about. But, I can't help it. I was born like this. You would think that after 20 years of marriage, my husband would remember how I am in the morning but every now and then he will get a wild hair and forget all about this and actually SPEAK to me while I'm savoring my first cup of pure heaven and then there's the moment when he realizes what he's done and is like "OMG".  I would never tell him, but it's actually quite comical to watch this "aha moment". But it's not funny until later in the day.  At that moment, I cannot be held responsible for anything that may or may not occur, as I have NO sense of humor during that waking up period. I will admit that I always apologize for any negative behavior that has occurred as a result of interrupting my peaceful waking up time. You see, my inner "ass" tends to surface during those encounters, then I have to apologize to the offender, and then my day will start off badly. Luckily, this doesn't happen often anymore. But, when Ty lived with us, it was his great pleasure to "bother" me every morning. He made it a point to do so. It was a game with him and I was aware of it so I was prepared. Anyway, I've tried to give up my "other love" several times but it doesn't work out very well. I have managed to cut it down to one encounter a day, of only one cup. Occasionally, a second cup will be drank but it's not often. So I was wondering, do any of you have another love as well?

Something to Remember...

During some of my college classes this semester, we've really been talking about our professional image and how important it is to project positive traits. One of my notorious faults is that I like to talk. Sometimes I really need to think before I open my mouth and I never remember to do so. I saw this reminder (below) and I keep it on my phone so I don't forget. I also printed it out and stuck it on my backpack so I always see it. It's great advice.