Granny Afghan in Progress

Here''s what I have done so far on my granny throw. 

Many more squares are done, but I'm working on weaving in ends before I join them.  I have to do that as I go, otherwise I'd never finish it if I left them all till the end.  I'm not loving it right now.  I hope as I get more added it will look better to me.

Here's an example of great color - look at my new lunch bag.

Wouldn't these colors make a great kid's stripey afghan?   I had a really nice Eddie Bauer, sort of back pack type lunch bag, but this guy chewed it up.  

Innocent looking isn't he.........Not.  He's a devil.  Oh he can't be.......if you have any cupboards you need cleaned out or any bottles of butterscotch schnaps you need opened......he's your man!  Oh yes, and did I mention that he can open the refrigerator.  Yes, well he can, as well as remove a whole dozen of eggs - without breaking any of them.   I love him to bits. 

More later.....

Have a great weekend!





Great Pattern Books

Until recently I mostly relied on patterns that I could find online, but I couldn't resist these pattern books and now I'm hooked so to speak.  There are many patterns in each and every one that I have added to my list of things I want to make.  Now all I need is the time!  I don't believe any of them are particularly new, but they are indeed new to me and I spend alot of time just browsing through them.  The one that features thread patterns is a vintage find from ebay.  I loooove old advertising!

Look at some of the great designs.  Actually, I have already made a couple of things from "Everyday Crochet" and also from "Positively Crochet".



Return to Blog

Only a year since I've updated this, no wonder I don't have any followers.  Oh well, still wanted to post about some of my crochet projects from the last six months or so.

I made this tank top for my son's girlfriend.  Her favorite color is pink.  She loves it!

Then I made some bags, hats and a couple of shawls.    

Currently I'm working on a granny square afghan.  I've made lots of afghans, but never a granny square.  These pics are just to show what colors I'm using.  I still have not figured out how I will place them when I put it together.  There is also a lighter green in there too, but no pics of that yet.







Two New Cardigans

Hi there, hope you're having a good weekend.  I'm just checking in to show off these two cardigans that I finished today.   The burgandy one is the Chevron Lace pattern by milobo.  She has a ton of patterns on Ravelry and you can find it there if you'd like to make one.  The color is off a little in this pic, not quite that red.

 This kind of teal green is a pattern by Joy Prescott that was published in the May 2009 issue of Crochet.
I love this pattern.  I think though if I make it again I may make it just a little bit longer. 

 Here's a shot of the shell pattern on the sleeve cuff. This was used on the trim as well. I think it really adds to it.

I used Sinfonia yarn to make both of these.  If you've never used this yarn, give it a try.  It's so nice to work with if you like cotton.  It's a DK weight and it's mercerized.  I love it!  I've never seen it in any of the stores around me - I order it from Creative Yarn Source.  She has a lot of colors.  I need to get myself some more now though. 

I probably shouldn't have been inside crocheting today, it was so gorgeous in my neck of the woods today.  Sunny and warm, but not too warm.  I did get my mums planted today and I can't wait till they're blooming.  I'll show you a picture when they open. 

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to look at my pictures.  I'll check back soon.  Tomorrow I'm heading to the airport to pick up R, he's coming home from a race he went to in Indiana over the weekend.  I'm anxious for him to get home so the dogs will have someone else to pick on besides me.   Ciao!

Vintage Christmas Tablecloths

Hello!  For fans of vintage textile and fabric, etc. I want to show you my collection (meager as it may be at this point) of vintage Christmas tablecloths.  I just love these colorful cloths.  It's not every holiday season that they are all pulled out and used, but I can't help myself, I just have to keep collecting them even if all I do is get them out and look at them.  If others of you adore these as much as I do please comment and let me know about your collections as well.  I'd love to find other bloggers interested in vintage items like these.

  These are two of the first ones I picked up.  The first one is smaller - I tend to like the small ones the best.

One of my favorites - and then a close-up of the
corner.

This is the village scene, which is my favorite.  I'm afraid mine is a bit faded in the red areas, but still very nice.  Here's a close-up of it. 

And the last one which is actually the first one I got.  These were all ebay wins - still looking for more and sometimes at estate auctions (another thing I love).

None of these are very rare patterns, my budget does not allow for some of the more uncommon patterns.  Oh well, maybe some day.  I'm happy if I can add one or two a year.  I'd like to try my hand at making some tote bags out of some of the larger ones that have alot of color.  I just haven't been able to bring myself to cut up any that I've collected so far.  But I've seen some on ebay and they are so cute. 

Speaking of vintage cloths and what not, I found two old doilies when I was getting out these table cloths.  Not sure who made them, but they were in my grandmother's collection.  They do need blocked and pressed, but even so I think they're lovely.

I took all these pics with my new Canon (well, new to me - it's not a new model camera).  I definitely need to spend some time with all the settings, but I don't think these turned out too badly.  What do you think?  Thanks for looking - gotta go pay some bills.

Camera On the Way

My new camera is on its way to me!!  Yay, now I will have my own to carry with me and take pix whenever I want.  Here's the one I went with.  It's a Canon Powershot A530.  I won the auction on ebay on Friday and I can't wait to get it.  I sort of wanted to go with a Canon because we already have Canon software loaded on our computer so I thought that would make it easier.  I read alot of reviews for this and for my purposes and skill level at photography, I think this will be fine.

I'm anxious to play around with it.  One of the reviewers said that if you take the time to read the manual and actually use all the features, you can get some really nice shots.  So, we'll see.

Wanted to show you my african violet.  It's blooming like crazy.  I love it.  This plant is very dear to me because I bought it for my mother over twenty years ago.  She kept it and nurtured it for many years and now that she's gone it's back with me.  I hope you enjoy it.  I just love the color.

As much as I'm not ready for cold weather and snow I am looking forward to my Christmas cactus to be in bloom.  This is a picture of it from last year.  I hope I get as many or more blooms on it this year.

More later.....

Love This Lavendar Top

One of the items I worked on this summer was this cute little top for my niece.  I love the color and the fluttery sleeves.  I used Sinfonia (one of my favorite yarns for clothing).  Not my own pattern but definitely modified by me since it was designed for an infant and my niece is 4.  The designer's name escapes me right now but I did post that on Crochetville earlier in the summer. 

I also made a couple of shrugs to wear over sleeveless tops at work.  I love this red one,

and then a basic black one.

I'm itching to work on a multicolored afghan, but it's been waaaaaay too hot for me to have an afghan on my lap.  I did start one but had to put it aside not only because of the heat but also I discovered thread crochet this summer and found out that I love working with thinner yarns.  Never thought I would.  I am working on a shawl in #3 mercerized cotton, but no pics of that yet.  It's a really pretty cornsilk color and I want to wear it to work this fall with a shawl pin.  Any ideas where to get really unique shawl pins?