Still Away...

Away from the snow & ice my family at home are dealing with. Sitting here in NC where the season is still "winter" but I can wear my flip flops and t-shirts comfortably. Yeah, some would say it is cold but I'm not one of them. I don't mind a cool breeze where I can get away with wearing my light jacket and not be uncomfortable. Now if I needed my coat then I'd say it's cold here. But so far so good.

It's been a pleasant, uneventful visit so far. Other than the fact that I've seen more Discovery Toys and have fallen in love with a few of their games. I would not look twice at it in the catalog or even online but playing with it person I'm hooked! I can't wait to play it with my granddaughters. What you wonder could I be babbling about? Wonder no longer it is called Flip Flop Faces and it is a very fun game. A bean bag game & you have several options for play. We chose to play where we needed to match the color bag to the bowl and we opted to play to a certain number of points to declare a winner (mind you 'we' are all adults & this game is for 4 yrs & up)... Needless to say for me to go on & on about it I must think it is fun!!! My mom played with us and determined she did not care for it at all. (poor mom, just could not make the bowls flip flop over and score some decent points). We return, to God please decent weather, early next week sometime.

The toys will come with us so Sarah can demonstate the toys & we can all play with them. Two other games that are very cool in my opinion are ~ Wiz Kids and Quick Call these are both games that adults can play with or with out the kids & enjoy. But there are still a few I haven't had the chance to play yet so I may be reporting on more later.

Finished the ripple afghan & it is lovely. I'm very pleased with it & will take pictures & report on it more when I am home. (can't do things to easily from someone else's computer).

Miss blogging will hopefully be back in full force when I am home with some pictures & more.

Wishing you all frog free projects!

Leaving in the morning... see you in Feb.

I'll be packing this afternoon. Leaving in the morning. Be back in early Feb. sometime. Hopefully with some pictures to share. Amusing road trip story to share??? Ya never know!
My mom has the "glamorous" job of keeping me awake on the road.
I'm bringing serval projects with me in the hopes that I can get them accomplished while I'm there.
Wishing you all "frog free" projects while I'm gone.

Ripple baby throw

All I can say is I'm totally "hooked" on this pattern. I've gotten through the first "color band" as I decided to call it ~ and it measures 8 inches which means I need 5 "color bands" to = 40 inches. I have 6 rows of blue, 1 of powder yellow (looks almost white until you put white next to it and then you see the color), 6 of lavender for the "color band". I will put one row of yellow between each color band as well. Then trim all around with one row of yellow, one of blue & one of lavender. I know my niece will love it, gender neutral and in colors she likes.

I have to admit I fell behind on my baby stepping but did manage to sort the old newspapers this morning before getting online. I'm going right back to the baby afghan and see if I can get another color band done before having to "do" something else. My goal is still to have this one finished before I leave for NC.

Wishing you all "froggy free" projects :) and if the weather is cold where you are ... stay warm, if you're weather is warm stay cool :)

North Carolina here I come :)

Okay I am not leaving this minute! But yes I will be leaving this week. Driving on down to visit with my dd & sil. My mom & I will have a nice visit with them and then we'll bring my dd home for a lovely visit and so that she can attend her cousin's baby shower. While she is home my lovely daughters in love (law) & I will host a Discover Toy party allowing Sarah to show everyone the great products Discovery Toys has available. (You can go to www.discoverytoys.com/SarahPollie to ck out her online catalog & you can order online too.) There is a sale going on right now that ends on Feb. 6th so if you have any toy needs (whether for birthday's or any other gifts or perhaps you are a day care provider you really should know about Discovery Toys. They have toys suitable for children with special needs.

Okay I'm not the toy consulatant my dd is... so go, look, bye!

As for my progress with my baby gifts OUCH!!! I'm still working on Heather's baby afghan ... started my niece's baby afghan (love the pattern by the way... using a free pattern from Lion Brand... spring baby ripple throw ??? I can't recall the title exactly but I think that was it)

And of course I will be getting back to that project so I can make some real progress on it. So just popped in to say I'll be leaving by/ before the end of this week.
Wishing you all frog free projects!!!!

Deadlines looming decision time...

So I have decided that as much as I want to go to the baby shower this Sat. for Heather I simply can't. I have a very small gift for her and have started the baby afghan for her but I really want to concentrate on working on my niece's baby shower gift. Of course if I could finish Heather's by Friday evening I could go to the shower on Sat. and not have to think about that gift any more... so I don't know what to do. I guess I'll give myself until tomorrow evening to complete the afghan & if I haven't then I will just stop & begin working on the other one that I need for Feb. 7th. There will be a second shower I can attend in April for Heather so I have choices.

Yes I will allow myself to continue on with Heather's baby afghan if I can get it completed by tomorrow evening then I will be very happy. If I can't then I still have time for it so no problem.
I think I'm making a simple granny square afghan for my niece but I'm not 100% sure I will have to be totally committed to whatever pattern I chose since I want it finished for the shower this Feb. 7th. And I want it finished before I leave for NC next week.

Okay so really loving the pattern I'm working with for Heather's baby afghan but don't think it's right for a "gender neutral" gift. I think it's lovely & if my color choice were different then maybe it would be good as a "gender neutral" gift but in the New Aran Twinkle it seems "girly" to me ... I may not think that way once it's finished but so far that is my assessment.

Gotta get back to the hook & yarn ... pretty little things won't make themselves!
Wishing you all Frog free projects.

Hook's been busy busy busy...

I've been sort of dragging my hook in the process of making all these baby gifts I need /actually want to make. I wasn't "thrilled" with the patterns I had before me ... mind you I only looked at about 50 to 75 so I could have kept looking until I found the "perfect" thing.
I have really enjoyed the Hexagon Granny baby jacket (I posted about it earlier it's found on Bev's site ~ Bev's Country Cottage) ... anyway I wanted something that easy but different.
I looked through an old book of mine titled The Pattern Library Crochet published in 1981 by Ballantine. And in there I came across a Flower Hexagon. So my brain working the way it does said hexagon granny folds just perfectly for a baby sweater why not use this motif and do the same thing???
Made the first motif (actually tried enlarging it on the first go round but quickly saw I was making errors in the process so had to frog back to the row before my attempt to "make it bigger" ... finished the motif as the pattern directed & really liked the end results. Made a second one & could not see how it would fold into the proper shape. You see you make petal shapes in this hexagon and it folds a bit differently then the granny hexagon. When I decided to simply chose two sides to make the back then did the best I could to 'fold' the rest into a shape that could be a baby sweater. I love the end results but will admit it has a unique shape to it which is probably what I love in the first place.
I tried it on my two 'baby dolls' one that is supposed to be the size of a real newborn and one that is supposed to be the size of a baby 3 to 6 months old. It looked better on the larger doll. But could be put on the newborn baby too. So I will give that to Heather for her baby shower (they are expecting a girl) then I was really excited to get started on a baby afghan for her as well but I still didn't care for the things I had started nothing seemed to spark any interest for me. Until I was playing online yesterday. I can't tell you what directed me there but this is where I ended up : http://www.crochettoday.com/freeprojects.aspx

There are free patterns listed there and I selected the Super Simple Throw (May '08) and sat to work the swatch ... loved it and so after finishing the baby sweater I started this super simple throw (not as large as the pattern calls for of course!) Using a "K" hook and baby yarn and so far loving it ... I'm so happy to be productive on this project. I might actually attend the shower coming up this weekend not sure. Depends on a few factors. (like if I can get this baby afghan finished in time ;-)

In the mean time I have many things going on and I'm preparing to drive to NC with my mom to visit my daughter & son in love. And when we return my daughter will come home for a brief visit. And attend her cousin's baby shower. So I'm busy busy busy these days with looking for just the right pattern to give me the results I want for these baby gifts.
Wishing you all warmth, peace, joy & happiness and that the frog will abstain from visiting your projects today :)

Emailed my beautiful niece & discussed the "colors" for the baby afghan I would like to make for my new great nephew or niece. We don't know who is about to join our family but we all are very excited to meet the newest family member when they arrive this March. I admit I did try to discover if she knew and was just keeping it a secret based on something my mil said but my niece stated that they really don't know so I believe my niece & chalk up my mil's comment to have been a mere misunderstanding. The result is that I will work with blue & lavender (possibly another color that works well with the two I have on hand) for the baby's afghan. It won't match the baby's bedding selection but it will be unique (I love that factor) and it will be in colors that my niece likes so she will be more inclined to use it rather than put it in a closet untouched. Now I just have to work out the design I have in mind & if that doesn't work I'll have to search my extensive pattern library to pick out just the right one.
I have finished the adorable white & yellow sweater for a newborn baby. (That will go to my niece.) I decided that for three of the baby gifts (1 boy, 2 girls) I will make simple sweaters & maybe include a small amount of money in the card or go out & pick up a cute little outfit to join with the sweater. Then my other friend I want to make a baby afghan & a baby sweater for her little girl. She doesn't want pink, she told me she would actually prefer blue for her daughter than pink so I'm using Red Heart Soft Baby colorway Laddie for the baby afghan I'm making her. Not sure what I'll do for the sweater as I don't plan it to be a "set".

So yeah I'm into baby mode! Besides all the crocheting I'm excited because I will be able to go visit my daughter & son in love and bring my daughter home for a visit with the family & she will be able to attend my niece's (her cousin's) baby shower. While she is home she will put on a Discovery Toy party (she is an independent consultant for Discovery Toys) http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/home/SARAHPOLLIE ck out her website if you need toys for someone special in your life. I purchased the working trio dump trucks and the giant peg board and the playful designs gave them as Christmas gifts & loved all of those so went back & ordered some other items that I'm waiting to receive. I know it is hard to purchase by description and much easier to decide when you see something in person & can touch it and actually play with it first. So the party will give all of us a chance to see what her new career looks like. It certainly sounds like fun playing with toys at home parties.

Wishing you all frog free projects and baby steps to accomplishing whatever your working on today.

Design mode hit ...

Yesterday was weird in a way. First off we had snow followed by ice. My poor hubby has a terrible cold and he couldn't decide if he should stay home or go into work ... thankfully (in my opinion) he opted to stay home. Which meant I stayed home all day as well. But while I went bewteen baking and crocheting and cooking and crocheting I had decided to go ahead & see if the pattern I had in mind for a baby afghan would work. So I'm now 4 rows completed on a baby afghan I am working on... not sure if I like it or not. First off the orignial idea came from a scarf I worked up in ww yarn this is being worked up in sport weight 3ply yarn so not sure if the weight of the yarn is the issue or if it is simply that this particular yarn seems determined to snag on my hook every other stitch. Managed to work 2 rows before getting so upset I switched hooks. Yes I know you really should not change hooks but I just couldn't stand the snagging any more. You guessed it ...the problem was not my hook since the yarn continued to snag. Anyway I've got it under way & the shower it is intended for is coming up fast so I will stay with it & see what happens. Not sure how I want to edge this yet so that is another design feature to work on... I attempted to write out the pattern last night so I might be looking for pattern testers at some point in time.

Along with hubby being home & my never bothering to get dressed (I normally love pj lounge days) I never got around to my baby step program either so now I'm two days behind in my "baby stepping" to decluttering the house. I have to go out today for the crochet class at Alpha so I am not sure if I will manage to get just 5 minutes to clear one more small space or if I will have to come home and force myself to get it done. Time will tell.

Wishing you all frog free projects and now snag free as well!!

All Around the Mulberry Bush 12 in. Sq pattern

This is my original pattern for a 12 inch square that I call All Around the Mulberry Bush or All Around for short.

All Around the Mulberry Bush 12 inch Sq. by Anne Fatato Sept 2004

I do not have a gauge other than when finished you should have a square that is 12 inches all around when this is worked to 10 rounds.
This square uses two contrasting or complimentary colors of ww yarns & an H hook.

Working with color A chain 4 join with a sl st to form a ring. Ch 3, 2 dc (in ring now & for rest of round one); ch 2; 3 dc; ch 2; 3 dc; ch 2 & draw up a loop, join color B through the second chain st just made & work 3dc; ch 2 join with sl st to top of beginning ch 3 of color A.

Round 2 : continue working with CB by:
ch 3, working in same corner space work 2 dc; work 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next corner space; 3dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next corner space- leave off CB ... picking up CA - Ch 3, working in same corner space (should cover color join) work 2 dc, complete next corner sp by working 3 dc, ch 2, join w/ sl st to top of ch 3 of CB... go back to CB to complete round 2 . wk 3 dc in corner sp & ch2, join w/sl st to top of beginning ch 3 of CA.

Round 3 : (Pattern should be now established, CB "follows" CA) Working with CA: ch3, working in same corner sp wk 2 dc, ch 1, work dc in sp (makes the side); ch 1, (work corner) 3dc,ch2, 3dc; ch 1, 3 dc, ch1, work corner, ch 1, 3dc, ch 1, 3dc ... pick up CB ch3, wk 2dc in same corner space, ch 1, 3dc, ch1, finish corner by working 3 dc, ch 2, join w/sl st to top of chain 3 of CA. Go back to finish last corner by chaining 2 & joining w/sl st to top of ch 3 of CB.

Continue working around until round 9 is complete . To work round 10 (last round) finish off CA, and continue working with CB until round 10 is finished. You should have a 12 inch square.

There is one picture of this sq in my projects at Ravelry. If I get a chance I will work up another one just so I can have pictures to share. No promises as I'm really busy these days.

Anyway standard copyright ... don't sell my pattern if anyone is interested send them to my blog to get a copy of the pattern for themselves. If you find any errors let me know so I can correct them. Thanks!

Murano Glass Vase

The vase the glass master is making before our very eyes is being blown now...

Then shaped....

Before the finishing touches he had removed the vase & put it back on the pipe upside down (if you look carefully at the above 2 pictures you will see the bottom of the vase is blown out then shaped but then for more shaping work the bottom of the vase is now on the end of the pipe and the top of the vase is facing us) then he placed the vase back into the furnace ... not sure if he added more glass to the piece or just made it hot enough to work the finishing touches... but whatever he did sure made it beautiful! Don't you agree?

Keeping up with my baby steppin'

Yes! I am on a "roll" so to speak with keeping up with the baby steps to de-cluttering my home. If I can just keep devoting a mere few minutes here and there the small areas will be cleaned & clear of the clutter. Which I do believe will spark the necessary stamina to work on the larger areas. So far it has been very low key & truth be told only I would actually notice the minor changes that have been achieved. But there is a valid reason for that my sweet hubby wouldn't notice the small changes until the big ones occur. He has learned over the years not to touch my mess and so now he ignores my huge mess as best he can.

There are reasons for this being the right time of my life to follow through on these things that have been building up inside of me ... procrastination can only get you so far before you must do whatever it is you are supposed to do and that is what has happened to me.

And it is true that you are more creative in an environment conducive to creativity. Which would be clean and uncluttered yet still have you surrounded by the things that help your creativity flow. When I finish my decluttering and have my home set up the way I'd like it to be my fun things will still be surrounding me so I can be as creative as I would like. Some times it can be scary to have so many ideas bouncing around inside of me that I just don't know how to harness them. I don't know how to commit them all to paper so that they can be possibly carried out some day but they are there. Some have stayed a very long time others faded away. But the creativity is a force to be reckoned with and procrastination has no place in the truly creative process. My desire to allow my creative side to have full expression has grown to the point that procrastination has to step aside or be blown away from the force of my creativity.

I will have my organized craft room, my organized home and my ideas will be kept somewhere handy so that I can act upon them as needed.


You can clearly see that baby steps will take me so far but the rest will have to be done with mature steps. The rest of the story will have to unfold at a pace that allows me to still tackle all of the "must do" items on my crochet list. I'm sure I'll manage to tell you all about it successes or failures.

Baby Steps to Progress

I feel good about my baby steps taken yesterday in de-cluttering my home. I told you how I began my day with the 5 minutes to clean the top of my night stand. Later in the day I cleared another area and began a bag of give away clothes. Today I will do another small area. Maybe two. I have my crochet list of "Must Get Done". Once those items are taken care of then I can concentrate more fully on my surroundings. The goal is to make progress daily ~ every little bit thrown away or given away is a step closer to being completely de-cluttered. Trust me I have had this in mind for too many years now & it is long over due to become my reality. I have been the Queen Mother of Procrastination. I'd like to change my title. Not sure to what exactly but I've already steered one generation in the wrong direction thinking that procrastination won't really hurt you when it most certainly can & does. Perhaps it's not too late to make the positive changes so my grandchildren can reap the benefits of my "wisdom" ??? LOL

I've finished the hat for my mom. I must admit I do like it. It is colorful, but it should be very warm.

Here is a pic of Adriana's toddler bed afghan. It is a Project Linus pattern called Granny Ripple.

http://www.citiusa.com/grannyripple.html

I have tried to make this pattern several times & never seemed to "get it" don't ask me why since it is a very easy pattern. Once you have worked the first two rows all you do is repeat row two until it is time to fasten off. And the picture does show it off pretty well that it resembles a granny due to the "granny shell" and it is clearly a ripple!

On to other memories... I have several more photos to share regarding the Murano Glass demonstration but am not prepared to post them right now. If time permits later in the day or sometime early in this week I'll do a post of photos or perhaps two.

Wishing you all frog free projects. May you find the beginning of your new year off to a grand start ~ even if you need to take baby steps like me in order to accomplish something you've managed to put off for years.

Just 5 minutes :)

I took just 5 minutes and cleaned off the top of my nightstand. Dusted it too. Later on I will take 15 minutes & clean another area of my bedroom. (Yes I will use a timer.) That way I will accomplish something positive without taking forever and not feeling overwhelmed. I figure if I can do a 5 minute clean up here or there then a 15 minute to 30 minute on some larger area each day eventually my cluttered areas will no longer be cluttered. Yes in that 5 minutes I had to decide to put things away and to throw out some others. I expect that when I handle the 15 minutes I will be forced to decide what to give away and what to keep, and if I keep it where to put it away. But I also think it will be fairly easy based on the rule if you haven't used it in a year don't hold on to it any longer. I know I have clothes that I haven't used in a year based on my current weight & I can't just hold on to them thinking one day I will be able to use them again. So a lot of my clothes will be tossed into a give away pile. Making my cluttered drawers & closet much more managable. (yep those will be more 30 minute sessions ;-)

Finished Adriana's afghan ... forgot to take a picture so will get a photo soon. Half way thru on my mom's hat ~ will take photos when that is finished also.

Ahhh close my eyes & just think about the glass demonstration. We were brought into a large area and directed to take a seat along the wall where we could see from a safe distance. Across from where we sat I saw what looked like a large furnace and a smaller furnace. There was a setup for the master glass worker to demonstrate his skills for us and behind him was a work area for several artists to learn & hone their craft. From where I was seated I really could not take in much of what was going on behind the glass master who was showing us his skills. Our guide showed us some things and told us what we were witnessing. One glass worker "set up" the project for the master who then came and began working with the hot glass on the end of a very long pipe. He had a bucket with water in it and when he brought some water up with to handle the pipe you could hear it sizzle. (They place the pipe with the glass into the furnace so it is surprising that they can handle those long pipes when they get so hot.) We saw how he used various tools to shape the glass after he blew into the pipe to get the glass to take some shape other than looking like a "blob". A bit of shaping this way a bit of blowing into the pipe and before our eyes this hot blob of glass became a vase. But he wasn't finished yet he wanted to embellish it more so back to the furnace to get the glass hot enough so he could work it some more and when he worked on it more with his tools it was a much prettier vase. And he didn't stop there he then began another project & he chose to make a horse. We saw him use some glass blowing techniques and saw how he worked rapidly with a few tools to make the vase so I was surprised when he took this hot blob of glass on the end of a long pipe and shaped a horse out of it with a couple of tools. It was so fast and amazing to watch. The end result was a beautiful glass horse. Just remembering it still takes my breath away. Thinking we were finished and going to move on to the sales floor for a sales pitch (now that we saw how the glass is made we were prepared for the prices) we were surprised with one final demonstration. Pure glass blowing ... the glass master took a hot piece of glass and blew it so thin and big ~ like blowing bubbles and getting to see the largest most delicate bubble for your efforts~ then just as suddenly he let it hit the ground and the sound that exploded out of that thin bubble of glass was astounding.

May 2009 treat you well

Yes today is the very first day of a brand new year. With the snowfall yesterday, I can look out my back window & see my back yard blanketed in white snow~ looking like a blank sheet of paper just ready for someone to make their mark on it. That is how today sort of feels. Like the first day of the rest of my life.

As I write & re-write and re-write yet again (isn't the delete key a work of genius?) in order to express myself in as concise a manner as possible (yes I do know I tend to be verbose most of the time). Today, I can accomplish anything ,within this year.

I see my house the way I want it to look. And it is really possible. Now that the grand daughters are really at an age of play when they come over they should not be left with only one option for sitting down and no place to move because my stuff is all over the living room (literally) and the kitchen table is the catch all with no place to sit & enjoy a meal. That must change. It will change. But not in the manner of the past. Where it is cleaned off, and within 2 weeks or a month (if we are lucky) and all of a sudden it is the catch all again.

I don't know what type of resolutions you may have in mind for 2009 but for me & my house this is the year I take charge & put my play things in order. This is the year I will show my husband I really do have the right to claim to be a 'homemaker' on our income tax forms. LOL
You know I always sign homemaker but since I don't do anything with my home I feel like I've lied but there isn't any way to put homebound bum and feel good about it either.

So may the year 2009 treat you well and more importantly may you treat yourself well in 2009!
May all your projects be frog free!!!