Yarnjeannie's Crochet Cache

Hope it's not too late for another ornament pattern. I've been making these and having a lot of fun with them - different color combinations, etc. I'm getting a jump on next year - I love handmade ornaments. This one is easy. You can use worsted weight yarn, and it doesn't take much at all to make one. The finished ornament will be 4-5 inches tall, depending on the number of starting chains and the size hook that you use. I used a G hook and chained 31. You will work into the chain on the opposite side, instead of inserting your hook under the top two strands of the chain. Work into the third strand on the back. Sc into the second chain from the hook and in each chain across, for a total of 30 sc. Finish off, leaving a loose end (you'll work this into the fringe). This is the right side of the work, and you'll keep the right side facing you. Attach your second color with a sc in the first sc, leaving an end that you'll work into the fringe. Sc in ...

Today is Tuesday, according to the calendar. However, it's my Monday and my Thursday. HUH? I didn't go in to work yesterday because of the snow. And it's a short week because of the holiday, so having worked today as the first day of my week, it's my Monday. And because tomorrow is the last day of the work week because of the upcoming holidays, it's also my Thursday today. So it's Montuethursday. Have I confused you? Welcome to the club! This past weekend, because of the snow, my brothers and sisters weren't able to get together for our Christmas celebration. We have to set another date. In the meantime, I'm still making ornaments! I'm having so much fun crocheting ornaments that I want to be sure I have enough for myself. They are really cute and I wish that I could show you, but my family hasn't received theirs yet and I want them to be a surprise. So I will definitely post photos after we exchange gifts with each other. Now that w...

  Hoping that everyone has a wonderful Christmas with many blessings. Here is a photo of our blessing, grandson Justin, on Christmas morning.

Let me explain the title. Last year at Kohls, I went coat shopping. Searched the racks until I came across a certain coat. It fit well, it was very warm and comfy and I had my choice of colors. Could have purchased a blue one, might have selected a green one, even had the option of choosing a tan one. But nooooooooo - my hand was drawn to the red one. I had second and third thoughts as I made my way to the counter with it. Too late - whipped out the charge card and this red beauty was mine! The red coat has been on standby ever since the winter cold arrived. Instead I duck out the door in a homemade sweater coat, or a quilted lightweight jacket and head to work or the store. I tell myself that it isn't that far from the door to the car and I can stand the shivering and shaking until the car warms up to make the trip. Then it's just a little fast shuffle to the store, or work, or wherever. But today it is blustery. The winds are whipping and I can hear garbage cans r...

I have been busy - I came up with an idea in my dreams last night. I dreamed I was making more Christmas ornaments. I guess that means I've been making too many, huh? Anyway, this morning I sat down with red, yellow and white worsted weight yarn, and based on the sushi roll design, I fashioned a Christmas drum ornament. Here is the pattern: You will need worsted weight yarn, as I mentioned earlier, and a size G crochet hook. You can use any three colors you wish. Gauge isn't really that important, because you can make adjustments to the number of rows as needed. Start with white yarn and make 6 chains, single crochet into the second chain from the hook and in each chain across to make 5 stitches, ch 1 and turn. SC into each ch across, ch 1 and turn - make a total of 22 rows, changing to red yarn in the last st, ch 1 and turn. Repeat with the red yarn to make a total of 14 rows of red. Weave in the loose ends of yarn as you go along. (Please be aware that you may need ...

I have 6 gifts completed and one nearly finished. I have lots of time (???) to keep going. Here is the latest finished project - for my boss. She is very sweet and introduced me to sushi for lunch by sharing her lunch with me one day. So I made these for her. I hope she doesn't mind hanging sushi on the tree. If she thinks they are too weird for the Christmas tree, she can set them on a knick-knack shelf, if she has one. I'm the kind of person who likes all kinds of handmade ornaments, so I would like these. I hope she does too. I think I will also make one of my personal designs - a Christmas mouse - just in case she doesn't want sushi on her tree. What do you think? A back-up gift just in case?

I made a shawl intending to give it as a Christmas gift, but no one seems to be able to use it. I've asked everyone and everyone I've asked said that wool is too itchy. I'm going to try to soften it with hair conditioner following the instructions here and if it works, I'll give it to my sister-in-law. She doesn't read my blog, so it's safe to post a photo.

I am waiting for our Christmas bonus at work to be paid - I wish they would give it to us in time for the big sales after Thanksgiving, but beggars can't be choosers. I'm just appreciative of the fact that the company I work for gives us a Christmas bonus. So while I'm waiting for the funds to do some Christmas shopping, I am spending the time crocheting Christmas gifts. I made a pair of fingerless gloves for a friend who types but says her hands are cold at work. I used the pattern found here at the Crochet Spot . It's a beginner pattern, but it looked like the best choice for making this item for someone when you're not sure what size to make. These are stretchy, so they should be okay. I'm not sure if that friend reads my blog, so I'm not sure if I'll post a photo of them yet. But if you are looking for a simple pattern for these gloves, check out the link. Now on to look for another pattern for a Christmas gift.

I've been away from blogging for a while, but the good news is that I've been crocheting. I've finished a shawl for a sister-in-law who is ill. I've started another one, too. I also finished a sushi scarf, but I'm not real thrilled with it. It has a giant center, and not much white surrounding it. I wish I could unravel it from the starting end, to make the pink center smaller. Does anyone know if this is possible? I am starting a hat for my grandson too. It's wool, so it should be warm. I found some lovely autumn colors at Joann's, and if you purchased 5 skeins of yarn, you got a free Paton's tote bag. It's a real cool bag, canvas with pockets. Thanksgiving is coming up. I still don't know for sure what my plans are. Do I stay home and cook for 3 people, because my husband has to work that day, or do I travel to my sister's house, where she is hosting Thanksgiving dinner for most of my family? It's cheesy to leave my husband ...

Well, it was back to work this week. A lot of e-mails to catch up on. I think that our trip was truly the best vacation we've had. I would book that trip again in a heartbeat! Time to start saving my pennies again! I did pick up a hook and some yarn and I'm making another half-granny shawl in autumn colors. I'll post photos as I go along. Little Justin stopped by in his "mall" Halloween costume last night. He was a tiger, and cute as a button. Here is a video of Justin dancing to the music of a toy I brought home for him:

Day 10 was a lovely port in Aruba - Orangestad. What a colorful and peaceful looking harbor. There are lots of shops visible from the ship. Wayne went scuba diving on this island, but wasn't at all happy with his excursion. He went with a shop called Mermaid Diving. They did everything that he was taught not to do! They were very careless with their divers' safety (one of the divemasters would not do a safety stop on the way to the surface). Wayne did a safety stop in spite of the divemaster. The excursion leaders also touched and broke off pieces of coral! You never touch living coral in the sea - a touch can kill it! One of the divemasters also reached into a hole in the coral and pulled an octopus from its lair. You should never bother the animals you find either, especially not for the entertainment of your tour group! Wayne was so angry when he returned. Day 11 was another quiet day at sea - sobering to think it was our last full day on the cruise. We sunned, ...

Day 8 is a quiet day at sea. Time to rest and relax after visiting 6 islands. I’ll take a few minutes to tell you about our dinner companions. We were fortunate with our seating assignment this time. We have 2 ladies traveling independently – Susan from Alabama and Mel from Alberta, Canada. Mel has been having fun participating in a lot of the ship activities, especially scrapbooking. Susan takes the adventurous excursions, like zip-lining. Chris and Peter are a married couple from the UK, together for 46 years. They are a delightful pair and have been trading grandchildren stories with Wayne and me. The food on the cruise has been great. I think Wayne has had escargots for appetizers every night. The few times we’ve eaten at the buffet for lunch or breakfast has been fine as well. Day 9 Curacao is just beautiful! Bright colored houses everywhere. Wayne had a diving excursion planned here with the Dive Bus. I went along for the ride, and intended to hang out on the publi...

Day 5 St. Lucia is a lovely island. We did the beach excursion here. I was a little disappointed. I thought we should have gotten more beach time here. I did a little snorkeling here and saw a few fish and some spiny urchins. The water was calm and clear. Lots of residents wandering the beach trying to sell jewelry and fresh fruit to the tourists. Wayne had to ask one man to move on when he sat down on my beach chair! All told, I think we were less than 2 hours on the beach. There were a few complaints from some of the group of passengers on this trip. The water was very refreshing and I’m glad we got to see the beach. Day 6 Our day at Barbados was good and bad. They have a real set up here. The cruise ship passengers don’t get to the tour buses until they pass entirely through the terminal with all their shops. On the way back after your tour – same thing. They have doors blocked off so that you have to walk all the way through the shopping area, past every single stor...

Day 2 - St. Croix DH has gone scuba diving this morning, leaving me to get into trouble on my own! I attended the Cruise Critic meet and greet at 10:00 am and I was impressed that the ship’s officers went out of their way to attend. There was coffee, tea, orange juice and pastries set out for the meeting and the officers took the time to speak to us about their duties. One of the gentlemen was in charge of food services, and I was impressed. Over half of the ship’s crew was under his direction. There are about 500 employees working in the food sector. Each of the officers then spent time talking to all of us individually or in groups, answering any questions we might have had. After the get-together I headed for the Aqua Spa for a facial and massage. Heaven! When Wayne returned from his excursion, we took a walk around the small vendor tents along the end of the pier and found a T-shirt for Justin. Not much else going on there, so we returned to the ship. I wish I was braver and felt c...

Hi from the ocean blue! The first and second day of vacation are over – but there’s still plenty to look forward to! We decided to fly to San Juan a day early, so that there would be a mad rush to the cruise ship pier on Monday afternoon. At the airport we were able to upgrade to first class seats for DH and I – what luxury! I was always one of those folks who said “First class – what’s the point? Economy class gets there at the same time.” Well, let me tell you that there is quite a difference. You aren’t squashed next to your neighbors like sardines, no one climbing over you every time they need to use the restroom, no one jostling you on their travels up and down the aisle. The seats reclined until you could lie flat and sleep as though you were home in your own bed! Well, you probably have a much better mattress, but you get the idea. Flight attendants really do bring you hot towels in first class – I thought that was a movie thing! Snacks and meals you don’t see in econo...

On Sunday morning, we head for the airport. I've been looking forward to this cruise. I don't know if I'll want to come home. 11 nights - 8 ports. We will be visiting Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, St. Croix, St. Kitts and St. Lucia. Tomorrow will be a "last minute, running around, repacking" kind of day. I have finished a shawl in autumn colors. I am making shawls - one for a SIL fighting Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and I will make one for my son's fiancee's aunt, valiantly fighting breast cancer. The shawl I finished is a half-granny shawl. I've only ever made these in solid colors, but I alternated rows of light tan, light sage green, carrot and a lighter shade of green (I don't remember what it's called). I do like the way it turned out - what do you think?

We're already packing for our trip! Are we anxious and excited? YES! Gathering items as we think of them and adding them to a single bag. Watch us forget and leave the whole bag at home! LOL! I still need to pick up some yarn. I intend to work on a shawl for my sister-in-law. I thought the half-granny shawl is a nice warm one. I made one for myself and one for a friend already.

Yesterday I accompanied my son, his fiancee and my grandson on a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo. What a great day! My grandson was thrilled with the animals there. My personal favorite are the giraffes. I took a lot of photos, including a few (ha-ha!) of my favorite grandson. Okay, more than a few. It's only 13 more days until our vacation. I really can't wait, but I'm going to miss the kids so much. I'm attaching some of the photos I took at the zoo.

Vacation! I am so looking forward to doing NOTHING! DH and I are going on a cruise to celebrate our 30th anniversary (a late celebration) and I'm planning on some quality time by the pool. Breakfast from room service, coffee on the balcony and checking out the islands we haven't been to yet. I'll be posting photos and notes about our trip whenever I can. I will miss my kids and my sweet little grandson, who is such a source of joy in my life! DH took me to the pool this evening and I had a refresher course in snorkeling in preparation for our trip. I'm not comfortable in the water so teaching me to swim or snorkel is a difficult proposition. I did okay though, but definitely need a few more lessons. We got chased out of the pool early though - lightning storm. I will keep this short - I'm tired and will be turning in early. Tomorrow I'll have to visit a yarn store or two in search of a suitable yarn for a shawl. I'd like to take one with me on the ...

Having finished a sweater for myself, I whipped up a sweater for my grandson Justin. I hope his mom will send me a photo of my little guy wearing it. I figured that since the weather is cooling off, a nice toasty sweater would come in handy. I didn't intend it to look so much like mine, but I love the look of Red Heart Fleck yarns. Mine is Buff and the baby's is Aran fleck. And here is my little ray of sunshine!

I crocheted myself a present! I don't often make things for myself, but it gets cold at work sometimes. I thought it would be nice to have a something handy. I started one day to crochet a rectangular wrap using Red Heart Buff Fleck yarn, but then wondered if I could make a sweater instead. So I crocheted until I had a back piece, measuring it on myself as I went. Then made two front pieces, again measuring as I went along. Once I thought it would work, I sewed (crocheted) all the pieces together. Next, starting from the armhole, I crocheted the sleeves from top to bottom. The border is gray and brown, to accent the flecks in the yarn. I am debating making pockets for it. I tried it on and I like it! It's a keeper! Maybe someday soon I can sit down and write the pattern. It was all made in half-double crochet and single crochet. I think that I should be able to determine the number of stitches and write down the directions, just in case I want to make another one.

The grange fair has come and gone again, and I'm glad to say that I was able to submit 3 items for judging in the needlework competition. My favorite was the L'il Buster doll, a Kathleen Early design. I won a blue ribbon with him, and was thrilled to find out at the end of the fair that the doll was also selected by the judges to compete for Best of Show! The Best of Show award went to a lovely quilt, but I'm happy nonetheless that my work was chosen as one of 5 items considered in the BOS contest. I also submitted a baby afghan. It was a simple round ripple blanket, in a combination of melon and a creamy buttery color. It was awarded a fourth place ribbon. I'm very happy with placing fourth, because I honestly did not expect it to place for a ribbon at all. The third item was a dishcloth which I thought had a very interesting pooling pattern. It didn't finish with a ribbon, but I did see some very lovely dishcloths in competition with it and totally agreed...

I see that Blogger has initiated spam filters! It's about time! Is it a coincidence that my last post was a rant about spammers on my blog? I think not! Just kidding - I know that I haven't single-handedly saved Blogger-land from spammers. I'm sure glad to see spam filters, though! I finished my doll and delivered him to the Grange Fair yesterday for judging in the needlework competition. I am hoping he wins a ribbon. I don't have a nice photo of him right now, but will take a picture when I get him back on Sunday and post it. I like the way it turned out. Thank you, Kathleen Early, for your design and your help with the problem I had with the instructions. It was a minor setback, but once I passed the bottleneck, the project finished up nicely. I also entered a small round ripple baby afghan and an unusually patterned dishcloth. The afghan I don't expect to win a ribbon, as it's just a simple little blanket. I am hoping to place with the dishcloth,...

My husband, my sister-in-law and I spent a pleasant 4 days/3 nights in Nags Head in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I returned with the thoughts of BLTs and plain tomato sandwiches in my mind, and went to pick some tomatoes from my garden. There were 4 just starting to ripen when we left. Imagine my surprise to find them gone. Not just the ripe ones, but someone stripped the entire plant of tomatoes, even the green ones! A friend suggested that it might have been an animal, but I believe it was a 2-legged tomato thief. The plant was picked clean – nothing broken and no half-eaten fruit in the area. As if that’s not bad enough – I have another rant! What’s with all the spam comments on my blog lately? They come through in foreign Asian characters, a new comment every day. Thankfully, I had the foresight to set up my comments to be pre-approved before publishing, so I don’t have to go in to delete comments all the time, and my readers aren't subjected to this trash. I w...

My eyes were opened in a shocking way last week. I was looking forward to a new haircut and color and made an appointment with my favorite stylist. She has her own shop and recently moved to a new location. As part of the change, she now styles hair in front of a full-length mirror. OMG! I discovered (well, I acknowledged…) that I have enough middle-age spread for 2 middle-aged women! What a buzz-kill. I’m blaming the above-named parties for their Mocha Frappes and Coffee Coolattas and Iced Lattes. I finally wised up to the fact that I’m not really drinking coffee, but actually an ice-cream mixture with maybe a drop of coffee thrown in the mix. I became addicted to these since the Frappes were introduced (that being my drug of choice). The large size has well over 600 calories. I will be going through frappe-withdrawal, as I’ve made up my mind that I’ve got to stop before it’s too late. My pants are getting tighter and Dunlap’s disease is evident – as in my tummy dun-lapp...

My first home-grown tomato sandwich of the season was fantastic! It was worth the wait. There are about 4 more just on the edge of ripening. My Swiss chard has improved immensely. I was throwing away every stalk when it first came in. It looks nice now and I should have enough for a sidedish soon. The kids are home this weekend, so I want to stop by to see them today. I sure miss little Justin. He's a cutie and a sweetheart. I didn't get any crocheting done yesterday, but I'm back to work on it again today. Yesterday was a tough day for me. I had a very hard time getting up and moving around, and wasted half the day away. I'll be starting dinner soon. I'm making stuffed cabbage. Well, not really stuffed. I couldn't find a head of cabbage large enough for me to find leaves that could wrap around the meat mixture. So I'll put full leaves on the bottom of the pan along with shredded cabbage, form the meat mixture into meatballs, and then cover wit...

Rain! Just in time, as the landscape around here has really turned brown. Our gardens and flower beds need watering every night. We got a good soaking downpour last night, with two more thunderstorms earlier in the day. My garden is looking good again. My tomato plants must be 5 feet tall, with at least a dozen green tomatoes on it so far. I can’t wait for them to ripen. I really look forward to the first tomato/mayonnaise sandwich of the year! And BLTs – yummmmmm. The doll I’m crocheting is coming along nicely. After having some trouble crocheting the first hand and arm, the second one went easily after receiving the detailed instructions from the designer. At this point, I’ve finished as much as I can and I’m waiting for an order to come in from Joann’s. I decided to order plastic doll joints to connect the arms to the body. There are instructions to attach the arms using a homemade assembly with wire and plastic lids, or a professional assembly using a stove bolt. I’m ...

I've finally gotten into the groove - picked up the pattern for a doll I've been wanting to make for a long time now. I love the Kathleen Early dolls, with lifelike features. I'm making "Lil Buster" to enter into the Grange Fair in August. The legs and body were a breeze, but I've been hung up on crafting the right arm. I must have been out of touch with crochet for too long, because I frogged this arm so many times, I could have pulled my hair out! But then I would have had to crochet myself a wig! Anyway, try as I might, I just couldn't get the stitch count to come out right. I've been reading patterns for years now, and this pattern is well-written but I was just so confused. I finally e-mailed the designer and asked her for help. She was kind enough to reply with a more detailed set of instructions, and this was just what I needed. I now have the arm completed to the point where it is almost ready to be attached to the body. I'll star...

Well, this is going to be one hot summer! We must have hit 100 degrees today. I went out to the grocery store this afternoon, and couldn't wait to get home. The AC in the car just couldn't kick in fast enough for me. I started a new crochet project. My sweetheart ripple afghan is going on the back burner again for a while. I took a close look at it, and it's not going to be suitable for the grange fair. In all the time I haven't been working on it, it's been sitting on the back of my loveseat. My min pin has been pulling it down, mushing it into a comfortable bed and the afghan looks beat up already. It's okay. I will finish it and it's going to be a "keeper" afghan. My new project will be for the grange fair. I'm starting a Kathleen Early doll - L'il Buster. It's a fine project to carry back and forth to work with me - I can work on it at lunch time. So much easier to pack than a full size afghan. I'll post photos whe...

Today I saw something that touched my heart. It was the sight of my husband, standing on a ladder, putting a baby bird back in its nest. My son discovered the bird under the tree and came inside to tell us that it was injured and the dogs were barking at it. I went out to see it, and realized it was a baby who, although unhurt, wasn’t able to fly yet. It had fallen out of the nest. I moved the baby away from the dogs’ line of vision, but worried about leaving it on the ground where a neighborhood cat might get it. The poor thing must have been hungry because he opened his beak wide as could be when I picked him up. My DH was getting ready for a trip to NY, but took the time to ease my fears by putting the baby back where it belonged, with Mama Bird harassing him to no end in the process! What a guy! I count my blessings. The heat wave has broken for a few days anyway. It’s not so humid and “melty” outside. I hate days when the humidity makes the air as thick as soup, and I f...

I got a call from my DS's girlfriend on Saturday. She was so excited! My son proposed to her on Saturday. I'm so happy for them both! She is a sweet and loving girl and a wonderful mother to my grandson. My husband and I are proud to welcome her into our family - she is the daughter we've always wanted. No wedding date has been set yet, but the kids are talking about sometime next summer. I spent the weekend with my nose buried in a Kindle, reading a book called "Tender Graces". I loved this book and recommend it highly. The author is Kathryn Magendie. It struck a chord with me, being a child of the 60's - candy cigarettes, plaid pedal pushers, bikes with cards in the spokes or streamers on the handlebars. Looking forward to finishing the week, and enjoying the upcoming 3-day weekend. I hope we have nice weather. We came out of one heatwave only to be caught up in another, with only 2 days in between to cool off. It's going to be a hot hot su...

At the controls Justin in the pilot's seat - boy, I need a haircut! I did it! I can't believe I did it! I actually flew a plane today! What a trip~ I was on the controls once the instructor taxied into position and took us down the runway. He told me when to pull back on the yoke to gain altitude - I did and - AMAZINGLY! - we were in the air. He let me make the turns and bring the plane lower or take it higher. I kept finding myself with a death grip on the controls until about 2/3 of the way through the lesson, when I became a little more relaxed and the flying seemed easier. We encountered a bit of turbulence when we approached the clouds (it was an overcast day today) but the turbulence didn't bother me at all. The instructor took over once we made the approach to the airport at the end of the lesson. I had a wonderful time, and the instructor assured me that I didn't frighten him into changing professions, so I guess everything went okay. That's little...

Certain aspects of my life handed me a lot of lemons over the past 5 years and I lost my recipe for lemonade. I sank to depths I don’t want to see again. But this is going to be a big year for me – I’m feeling so much better. Tomorrow I will be taking my first flying lesson. It’s an introductory lesson, and if I like it, I hope to pursue a private pilot certificate. I am looking forward to it and hope to have some pictures, or even video footage of my adventure. Check back on Sunday to see how it all went! Wish me luck! This is also my 30th wedding anniversary year – the actual anniversary doesn’t come until later this year. My husband and I are splurging and celebrating with an 11-night cruise in the Caribbean. I love cruising and we’ve done a 4 night (our first cruise) and some 7-night trips since then. This will be our longest cruise to date and the acid test of our relationship. Will we still be able to stand one another after 11 nights at sea? LOL! I don’t see why not ...

No special plans today except to catch up on laundry and to catch up on crochet as well. I have been making progress with the sweetheart ripple afghan. It's slow going for me as most of it is in single crochet. I went up to check the garden this morning. We've had a lot of rain and the tomato plants have grown quite tall. My pepper plants are still quite small, but they have peppers on them the size of large gumballs! My swiss chard didn't do well this year. Most of the leaves are turning brown. My potatoes have taken off this year and I hope to have a crop like last year's. We've had such hot muggy weather - feels more like late July and August than it does June. This will be an exciting week for me. This coming Saturday will be my flying lesson! I am really looking forward to it! I'll have to ask the pilot to take photos for me so that I can post them here!

It's early and I'm about to get ready to return to work this morning, after a very enjoyable 3 day weekend. I did crochet a bit - worked on the ripple afghan. And I got to spend most of the day with my favorite (and only) grandson. What a pleasure he is! My husband and I had such fun with him - he is so full of joy and is such a good little boy. He spent some time taking piano lessons from his Uncle Tom yesterday - check out the video! We had a cookout yesterday, interrupted by a serious storm, with thunderclaps and hail! Of course, that's when my dinner needed to come off the grill. After retrieving the meal, I looked like a drowned rat! It gave me an excuse to climb into my jammies early and relax until the kids came by to fetch Justin. What a great weekend!

Take time to remember those who died in service of their country, and the veterans who were fortunate enough to return to us. Bless them all! We are in the middle of a 3 day weekend. It's been lovely so far - hamburgers on the grill, baked potatoes and macaroni salad! Yum! This evening, it will be shrimp and scallop kabobs. Staying home this holiday weekend was a good choice. I have family at the Jersey shore, and would love to have spent time with them, but I haven't had much time with DH lately, and it's nice to have him home for a change. I have plans to take DS to fill out a job application today. I sure hope he gets full time work soon! I also want to take time to crochet - I have that sweetheart ripple afghan to finish. It would really make a great grange fair entry. And I just received 3 new patterns in the mail. I've been wanting to make some Kathleen Early dolls for a long time now. I ordered the patterns and will be digging through my stash soon, ...

Good morning! I just retrieved the lavender and white round ripple from the washing machine and the coffee stains are gone! It's in the dryer now and will come out soft and clean and will be able to find a new home with a patient in a NICU in California. I'm so happy! I've started a new baby blanket, a blanket that is just one big granny square. That will also travel with its lavender buddy to CA when it's finished. It's a sunny morning and I'm feeling so good today! Anyone who follows this blog knows that things haven't always been sunny for me, and at times seemed downright dark. But things are so much better now - seeking medical treatment was definitely the thing to do. Depression doesn't have to beat us. I'm searching my stash of projects for something to make for the upcoming Grange Fair in August. I haven't missed a year since I first entered a project in 1993. I wasn't a winner that year, even though I was so very proud of the...

I'm happy to say that I finished the little lavender and white round ripple I started a while back. I've picked it up here and there and only accomplished a few stitches before putting it down. But I stayed with it and here it is - in all its coffee-stained glory. You may remember an earlier post in which I described a miserable day involving spilled coffee and my little blanket. I decided to finish it and wash it afterward - I'm hoping the stains come out. I think they will. Once it's cleaned up and nice and soft, I'm going to find a good home for it.

Hi, everyone. I've been away from blogging for a while - my apologies. I've been working through some issues since moving from one job site to another. I'm starting to feel better about things, feeling a little more comfortable each day. I work for 2 bosses now, and both say they are glad to have me there. My poor self-esteem at this time keeps me from believing that fully. But I hope to work through that issue as well. My son, his girlfriend (hereafter referred to as DIL)and my beautiful grandson will be leaving on a cruise vacation tomorrow! They are going to Bermuda. Dear DIL"s family will be sailing as well. I'm not sure how big the group is, but I'm guessing at least 15 people. I hope they have a fantastic time. I wish I could have gone as well - my DH and I were invited. But my heart was set on a special 30th anniversary cruise later this year. I'm going to be missing them all for the week they will be gone. I hope they send lots and lots...

I have to say - what a beautiful weekend I had on the 24th and 25th. On Saturday I started out the morning just sleeping it away. I don't like to do that. I used to like to get up early and enjoy the day. At lunch time, DS came out to ask if I would get something for him for lunch - we decided on Taco Bell. I got my shoes on and headed out the door, only to encounter the most beautiful sunny day I've seen in a while. I ran my errand and decided to stop by my dear friend's home to visit. She has been a rock during my recent difficult times, just as I supported her during her times of trial. We had a very nice visit and I suggested heading to Shadybrook Farm to see if they had any seed potatoes available. We both planted potatoes last year and got bumper crops of the best potatoes I've ever had. We took a ride, and I ended up buying some more flowers for the front flower beds, along with some vegetable plants. We did buy the seed potatoes - just need hubby to ti...

What a busy day - a dentist appointment, an eye doctor appointment and I decided to paint my kitchen. I'm painting if for the second time in six months or so. I don't know what I was thinking last time, as in my mind's eye it would have been beautiful. On the walls - UGH! This time, I think I'll be happy with it. I've made good progress with the painting too. I promised my husband he didn't have to paint this time, as it's his least favorite chore. I've got almost half the kitchen done, and will have my son here to help me move the fridge and other pieces of furniture. Here is a cute video of my grandson called "The Binky Game". No explanation needed, I think.

Taste = good; Presentation = abominable. In turning over the container the bread baked in, the handle flopped down into the middle of the opening and the bread slid loose, with the handle breaking the loaf in half. It does taste good with a bit of cream cheese on it! I'll wrap it to keep it fresh, as it would make a good breakfast. It's cranberry walnut. I made it through my first week in my new assignment. It's lonely there so I sit out in the sun or read. I'll be sure to take my yarn and hook with me. I would have crocheted last week, but forgot my crochet hook. To those of you who bake bread, please don't weep for this loaf. It will certainly not go to waste!

It was a "fish out of water" day at work today. I didn't sleep well on Sunday night and spent 10 minutes running around the house looking for my keys, cursing under my breath. They were in my hand all along. I don't know what to say. The day consisted of doing attendance and getting my workspace in order. I know it will take time to get used to all the new names and faces and I'll be missing the familiar faces. We'll see how it goes..

It's a little after midnight, official Easter Sunday. Have a wonderful holiday! Yesterday I received a gift in the mail that I bought myself with the last of the balance on an Amazon gift card. It was a bread machine. I haven't had one for a long time. I tried out one of those boxed bread mixes this morning...a little flat and the top looked like hills and valleys. Disappointing. The second loaf of bread I made this evening hoping it would turn out better. It's a gift for my friend for Easter. This one was made from "scratch" using a recipe from the booklet that came with the machine. Ahhhh - much better.

I got a call from the kids to watch dear little Justin today. They have moved into a new home and needed to take the day cleaning out their old apartment. Would I mind watching Justin? Of course not! I watch him learning more and more each day. At one point, he picked up my car keys and tried to stick them in the keyhole in the front door! If he had been a bit taller, he might have reached it (not that they would have fit). He took his first couple of steps on March 5. He walked about 10 feet in the living room today, and I see him stepping more and more on his own without holding onto anything. I picked up yarn and hook again today while Justin was napping. I'm back to the lavender and white and coffee-stained round ripple. I'll work on that more tomorrow.

My brother and I had a very nice springtime weekend visiting with my sister and her husband in South Jersey. The weather was great. She is the most gracious hostess ever! She makes me feel welcome all the time. Her husband is a fantastic cook too! I am thankful for a family that cares about me and supports me through thick and thin. My brother, sister and I walked the beach to look for shells on Saturday morning. There was still a bit of a chill in the air an some hearty souls taking in the sun – not many. After walking the beach and the boardwalk, we went shopping for a while. I undid a lot of my “decluttering” at home by buying new little do-dads. Oh, well. Things at work have been keeping me tense and overwrought. I feel like something cast off to drift in the sea. I have no control – no, I guess I do. I can adjust to the change and go with it. It’s just so difficult when my head tells me something and every other particle of my being doesn’t want to cooperate. I just ...

After 3 huge snowstorms and another nor'easter bringing almost 4 inches of rain to our area, the sun is out, it's over 60 degrees out and the flowers are peeking above ground. I am working on a small piece of crochet work to get me back into the spirit of it. I decided a small dishcloth in spring colors would work. I'll post a photo (I know - I always promise that). It's just been so difficult lately. Changes in my life - ups and downs - I have to keep plugging away. I pray that those days will return. Days when I crochet for hours on end, browse through my pattern booklets to search for the next project - I'm trying, folks!

I woke this morning feeling a little lighter. It's sunny and warm and the birds are singing. I decided on a day of "beauty" - had my nails done and some waxing - in the G-rated way. At some point in every woman's life, she looks in the mirror and says "I've turned into my mother". The cruel joke that nature plays on us is that even farther down the road, that same woman will look into her mirror and say "When did I turn into my father?" The slightly hairy chin, the downy upper lip, the brows going astray - a little waxing will be needed now and then to counteract the werewolf look. Okay, it wasn't that bad. The nice smooth warm wax applied to the brow, the application of the linen and then that first shocking RIIIIIIPPPPPPP! My eyes must have nearly popped out of their sockets. It wasn't so bad after that. The nails look nice though. I got a full set, done in pink and white. My review at work went through, just as I was afraid...

There are people out there who dream a lot and those who dream a little, those who remember their dreams the next day and those who never remember any of their dreams. The experts will tell us that those who remember their dreams are probably only remembering one or two of many dreams they may have experienced during the course of the night (or day). I remember dreams – usually one upon awakening. I’ve had frightening ones that made me wake up screaming, and recurring dreams that I apparently share with a lot of other folks. But lately my dreams seem to disturb me – not in a frightening or gory way. My dreams involve my work life and how I do not fit in. It may not be my current line of work that I’m dreaming about but I’ve dreamt of working other places and I’m not only unsatisfactory but I am a downright disappointment to all around me. And to me as well. I know I carry those feelings over to my current job. I’m about to get judged on the worst year I’ve had in the last 5 yea...

Another huge storm heading our way starting tonight. They are expecting 12-18 inches of snow again in our area, with the snow starting tonight and last from 24 to 36 hours. I'll be heading in to work tomorrow, but bailing early if it looks really bad.

Tuesday was Donut Day – the day before Ash Wednesday. I know that it’s actually Fasnacht Day and that there are very special donuts made for the occasion by bakeries, but I went the cheap route and bought a dozen Dunkin Donuts for the office. I also splurged on a large white chocolate latte. I had my little round ripple with me to work on at lunch, and when I got out of the car at work – disaster! Trying to juggle my purse, my crochet bag, my coffee and the donuts and trying to lock the car, I managed to nearly drop the donuts, spill my coffee all over the crochet bag and drop my car keys. When I got inside to my cubicle, I saw that my little afghan had coffee stains on it. The coffee also found its way inside the bagged white and lavender yarns. I am heartsick. I crocheted with it a bit at lunch time anyway, even though the yarn was getting stiff to work with where it was coffee-soaked. If I finish this little afghan, does anyone think the coffee will wash out? If not, I gue...

Justin watching the snow during the blizzard - isn't he sweet in his little jammies? I've spent the morning printing out free patterns. My yarn is at the ready and I'll be picking up where I left off with my round ripple afghan today, as long as I have enough flexibility in my fingers to hold the hook. We'll give it a try. I'll update later with a photo if this works. Looking forward to getting back to crocheting again. Check in with Beansieleigh on Beansie Babbles - she is celebrating her "blogaversary" and is holding a giveaway on her website .