Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Rainbow “Bow Ties” Afghan

Hello crocheting friends!  Hope this finds you all doing well. All is well in my neck of the woods.  Some of us are still dealing with colds and such, but over all we are doing well. It’s been a dark and dreary week here, but given the weather events in other parts of the country, we can certainly count our blessings!

Here is the latest project I have been working on.  Finished it up last night, and snipped off all the ends this morning.  That job was very easy to do because I was able to crochet over all of the ends, thus eliminating the need for all that weaving!

SAM_1583-001

I will tell you what was annoying, though.  The white yarn I used for the border.  I was constantly coming upon thicker spots in the yarn.  Had to keep snipping it and starting again.  That was rather irritating.

SAM_1581-001

All is well that ends well, and here is the finished project. And yes, the white is supposed to be a bit ruffled.  :) In the first picture, my new stuffed bunnies are posing for you.  I got them at Wal-Mart for 74 cents each, on clearance.  Yes, they’re mine.  I love them!  LOL

SAM_1585-001

SAM_1593-001

SAM_1601-001

SAM_1602-001

SAM_1589-001

This afghan was great for using leftover yarns. It would also look great in a multitude of color schemes, I am sure! If you’d like to make one of your own, you can find the Bow Ties stitch pattern in this book.

Thanks for looking, and enjoy your day!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Easter Weekend

Hello All! Hope you had a lovely Easter weekend.  Mine was very nice.  It started out on Friday when Rick took me to Pittsburgh’s Phipp’s Conservatory. I absolutely loved seeing all the beautiful spring flowers.  Just gorgeous! What I didn’t like about the trip is the city aspect of it.  I mean no disrespect to anybody who enjoys the city, but I just simply do not enjoy cities. I’m a country girl and I love being able to walk across a road without the fear of being ran over by somebody who doesn’t pay attention to crosswalks.  Seriously, this one driver scared the living tar out of me the other day.  My nerves just can’t take it. Thank God Rick will drive in such areas, because I sure won’t.  Thanks to him, I was able to visit my mother in a Pittsburgh hospital before she passed away.  Anyhoo, all that being said, here are just a few of the pics I took at Phipp’s.

IMG_4424

IMG_4594

IMG_4620

IMG_4630

IMG_4645

IMG_4660

As for Easter Day, it was beautiful!  The kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt.  Rick and I apparently did a very good job of hiding the eggs, because there are still three lurking out there somewhere! LOL 

Here is a picture of me, and my three loves, that was taken on Easter Day.  The sun messed with our picture taking, but we didn’t let that stop us!

IMG_4797-001

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

“Leaping Stripes & Blocks” Pretties

Hello all, and I hope you’re all doing well! All is well here at my house…at least for the time being.  I am working at getting better from this bronchitis, and I have been doing some crocheting while I’m working on getting better.

Both of the things I am going to show you today are using this pattern.

This is a mat I use on the kitchen table to hold the napkin holder and salt and pepper shakers.

SAM_1318-001

SAM_1320-001

Next, I used the same stitch to make a small afghan.  A lapghan or perhaps a baby afghan.  I’m not sure yet. I took it outside for a photo shoot today. The wind wasn’t being very cooperative, but I took some pics anyway. LOL I call this my sunset afghan as it reminds me of the colors of a gorgeous sunset!

SAM_1333-001

SAM_1335-001

I put a shell edging on it.

SAM_1337-001

SAM_1341-001

This stitch pattern is soooo easy, and it lends itself to tons and tons of color combos!  Great for using leftover yarns. :)

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

New Look for My Kitchen

A while back I bought a pretty piece of vintage fabric at Good Will, not really knowing what I was going to use it for.  Last Monday it hit me…”new” kitchen window toppers!  So I got out my sewing machine and after stitching a few straight lines, I had new window toppers. I wasn’t finished yet, though.  I thought they needed some pretty crochet borders, so I got busy with that project. Here is the first one. I didn’t have a pattern for the edging, but I did look at edging patterns online to help get an idea of what to do.

SAM_1273-001

SAM_1275-001

SAM_1285-001

After the second one was finished, I decided I needed some new pretties on the wall beside it.  This second window is above my kitchen sink, and it shows the wall pretties in place.

SAM_1305-001

Here are close-ups of the wall pretties!

SAM_1298-001

SAM_1299-001

SAM_1300-001

SAM_1301-001

Next on the project list was this pretty wreath, which I just finished last night.  I cut up a lid to an old plastic ice cream bucket to use as my base, and then crocheted over it. After that I made a variety of flowers and leaves for it, just as I had for the “wall pretties”.  No patterns for them, just did my own thing. I thought a blue bird would add just the right touch, so added the bluebird.  Thought something was missing, and that’s when I came up with the crocheted chain bow.

SAM_1310-001

This evening I started working on a placemat type of thing that I will use in the middle of my table.  Stay tuned for pics! 

I’ve been sick for about a week and a half now.  Went to MedExpress Sunday night and got an antibiotic for acute bronchitis. So crocheting is just about the only thing I’ve been doing this week.

Hope you’re having a great week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Signs of Spring

March 31st is when I took the first three pictures.  That was the first day I had seen robins in our yard this year! They were a welcome sight.

IMG_4065-001

IMG_4067-001

IMG_4077-001

The following pictures were taken yesterday, April 1st.  I took a little walk looking for some signs of Spring. 

I love watching the birds bath! I took lots of pics of the birds bathing, but these with a bird in each puddle are my favorites.IMG_4137-001

IMG_4153-001

These little birdies are really hard to see right now!IMG_4175-001

IMG_4194-001

Last, but not least, some pretty little green shoots!IMG_4094-001

IMG_4219-001

IMG_4220-001