Crochet

I decided that I wanted to learn more about crochet. There are a lot of really nice things out there in blogland that would be so cool to make and also all the amigurimi animals that I think are so very cute. I have also been reading a blog named Attic 24 for a quite awhile now and love her upbeat positive attitude. All the colors on her blog and then her description of crochet as "hooky goodness" have just won me over to trying to learn more crochet. I bought the book 200 crochet blocks for blankets, throws, and afghans by Jan Eaton and have decided to work my way through it one block at a time. I have started at the beginning of the book and am working my way through all the blocks labeled as "easy.

Block #2: Tiny Textures
Block #3: Square Target (although it is not very square!)

Block #5: Twin Stripes

Another Block #5 just because...

Attic 24 had a pattern for a granny blanket. I decided that I would just jump in with both feet and give it a go. Above is the first chain and I counted VERY carefully. The first couple of rows were a bit challenging for me, but after a few fits and starts, I got the hang of it.

These are the first six colors. All from Lion Brand, all Vanna's Choice. The first 4 colors were in my stash as they were used to make a sweater for DS#2.

I do really like the stitch definition! Each row goes pretty quickly and it's great that I get to change colors every two rows. Unfortunately, I waited until the 6th color change to weave in the ends. Won't be making that mistake again!! I plan to weave after every change or else this might wind up on the UFO pile when the crochet is complete!

Just LOVE this "hooky goodness"!

Frivola Scarf #2

My second Frivola Scarf is finished. These are such quick knits. This one was finished in one day, but sat dormant for awhile until I finally got around to weaving in the ends :o)

Started: 5/21/2010

Finished: 5/21/2010

Needles: US 13

Yarn: Frivola by Mondial

Color: 334 Lot: 47

Measurements: 56 1/2" X 4 1/2"

3 balls of Frivola used

DD#1 is the recipient of this scarf.

Obviously it was a big hit!

Sashiko

I have long admired this form of embroidery. I even have several books on it, but I have always been a little intimidated by the neccesity of eveness in stitch length. Well......the local quilting store was offering a class in Sashiko and I decided to jump right in. Our instructor was fabulous!! She had a wonderfully complete power point presentation and lots and lots of hands on help and tips. This is the piece I bought for the class. It is preprinted and we stitched it completely differently to what I thought we were going to do. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This next piece is an attempt at free embroidery. Our teacher let us trace a design onto fabric and try our hand at embroidering without the benefit of the preprinted dashes. It is quite hard to get the stitches even and also pay attention to the fact that they cannot touch other lines of stitching. It's a good first try. I like this so much that I have signed up for the advanced class next month. I can't wait!!

OOPS!! This wound up on my front porch!

Hmmmm....How did that happen?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's! Especially my DH, my Dad, and my Father-in-law!

We did photo cubes again except that this time we used all group photos - 4 with all the kids and 4 with mom & dad in them. I love this gift!

New quilt!!

I picked up a very cute magazine the other day at the store. Better Homes and Gardens Creative Collection Spring 2010 Quilts and More and found this very cute and exciting quilt designed by Julie Herman. I love it and it looks easy enough for me as a new quilter to be able to accomplish. Just in case you're wondering.....no I have not finished the first quilt. The binding is about 75% sewn on and then I will need to hand sew it to the back, but this one couldn't wait!!

It's called "Circle Around" and it was the above picture that caught my eye.
This picture is the one that made me think I could do it. How hard can it be?

I had these rolls of fabric that I had purchased from JoAnn Fabrics awhile ago and I think they will be perfect.

My 32 - 10" squares of colored fabric

My 63 - 10" squares of solid white fabric

The pattern says you can purchase this very nice circle ruler. I went to the quilting store and found it, but it was rather expensive. I would also have had to purchase a special rotary cutter as well as my current one will not work in the special ruler. I had already gone over my "crafting" budget this month because I had to purchase a walking foot for my sewing machine in order to complete my first quilting class. I opted to take the more rudimentary approach and make a pattern out of paper - such a backward thought, I know!!

Anyway, the first couple of circles I cut, I painstakingly centered the circle on the fabric, measuring and making sure it was all "perfect". When I got tired of that (after only 2 circles) I decided to just fold the circle into quarters....

take my fabric square......

fold that into quarters......

And do it this way. Much, Much quicker!!

Here are my green circles - still folded - I think it might be easier to get them onto the white squares if I have the fold lines to make sure everything is centered.

My patterned fabric with the circles cut out. Very clever design! :o)

Busy, busy, Saturday!

Boy, I am truly glad that yesterday is behind us!! WHEW!! First, a friend had his Bar Mitzvah. It was so nice and we were very blessed to be able to share this day with him. Then, straight to another friend's party - He is the big 5-0. It was great to share this day with him also!! Theeeeen - DD#3's big end of year dance recital.
These were not taken at the recital, but at one of the last dress rehearsals and I thought they were cute.

My daughter and her buds from school - they were all in the same dance class together and had a blast. I hope they can do the same next year!!

Tired of baking

I have been baking, baking, and baking every night for last week and a half and the novelty is totally wearing off!! Every class had a party and needed something - of course the kids offered baked goods. Every sport had an end of year party - every musical instrument had a recital with a reception - boy am I glad we're done until August!!

Triple treat cookes in containers that fit in the bike baskets for the 14yo and the 12yo
Banana bread muffins/cupcakes

I actually took the time to use a fancy tip for the frosting this time :o)

I bought a new cake pan on clearance awhile back and just used it now.

Make 3 cakes - 2 with the chocolate batter on the outside, 1 with the white cake batter on the outside.

It's kind of cool how the batters don't mix once you take out the form.

Much to my surprise it actually worked!! A checkerboard cake!

More triple treat cookies - 2 batches for 2 different parties

Chocolate brownies - 2 batches for 2 different parties

Cake pops

I still like making these

And the kids love eating them!

Whew! Time to relax!

It runs in the family!

This is what was happening on one recent morning:

4th grade son
6th grade daughter. Note the baskets of yarn stash on the couch behind her head :o)

"The Scarf"

It's pretty long now!

New blanket + San Juan Bautista

Yup!! Another of those blankets started. Strip #1 of 5 complete. I can do this pattern with my eyes shut which has been so nice - this is the project I bring with me to all the end of year celebrations/recitals/receptions - it is growing of it's own accord :o)

4th grade would not be complete without the obligatory mission project. Actually this year it was totally optional to build one and my son absolutely wanted to build it.

It's quite nice that Michael's carries these cool kits for the missions. Makes them so much easier!! Then there are all the "extras" that one can have for their mission.

Young son did almost all of the work himself. He was quite proud.

I helped get the roof on because it kept slipping and because he didn't have any support structure inside, it kept bowing, but eventually we got it to look right.

Young son would have been very happy if his board had been twice the size so he could have had a huge crop and many, many animals :o)