Lovely Weekend

Sunday was just beautiful weather wise. It was so warm and sunny. Unfortunately, oldest daughter had to study - what better place to study than outside!! Warm, sunny weather makes AP Chem much more palatable!!

Studying and beading.

Reading - her VERY favorite past time!

I was cleaning and working on a class quilt to be auctioned off at our school auction. The kids came in and dragged me outside to be with them. Boy am I glad I went!! It was so very relaxing to just sit and crochet at the little table they brought out there for me. Hanging out with the girls in the sun was the best thing I could have done! Laundry, dishes, floors, and fabric cutting could all wait..... These was R.E.L.A.X.I.N.G. to be done :o)
Working between beading and writing a story. She said her ideas come to her more freely whens she is working on something else. Like mother, like daughter :o)

More Chem - poor girl

7 more hexis - 28 in all

7 more fish. Last week I laid them all out on the table. Well, not all of them, there were too many. I started arranging them in rows and discovered that I now have 140 fish. Only 40 more to knit less these 7. WOO HOO!!! If I keep up with these Tuesday Tallies, I could be done with the knitting in about 6 more weeks- I just can't believe it!
7 more bear pieces :o) Eyes, nose, parts of ears and face. I had a really hard time with that nose and it is not done as the pattern calls for. I just couldn't figure it out. After a few hours and more rip outs than I could count, I just fudged it and made my own nose square. I might go back in the future and try to make it again, but for now I am happy with this one.

Head on over to Carole's for more Tuesday Tallies.

Reverse Appliqued Pillow

I had been wanting to make one of these pillows for a VERY long time, but had just never done it. I kept putting this idea at the bottom of the stack and just kept thinking about the possibilities. Well.....my 13 year old nephew needed a gift and he is very hard to get things for. He is very logical, super brainy, and very science/math oriented but not into regular kinds of toys - he likes really expensive electronic stuff. Preferably that he can take apart, figure out and put back together again - and he is good!!

When I was racking my brain for a gift, this idea just popped into my head and I thought, "This is perfect!!". I cut one piece of knit jersey into a 36" X 18" rectangle (the grey) and I cut the dark blue jersey into an 18"X18" square.

Pinned the dark blue to the grey and freehand wrote his name on the fabric.

Then I pinned around it with WAY, WAY too many pins and sewed on the lines!! I had to stop pretty much every other stitch or so to take them out, but I was worried about slippage and I didn't want to have to unpick and start over.
The I cut away the dark blue inside the stitching and presto!! A fun pillow for my nephew. I put a 16" pillow form inside and it worked out pretty well. My nephew LOVED it - he carried it around all the time while he was here visiting.

The tutorial I used is here.

For more finished objects, take a look at the wonderful things posted at Tami's.

Gingerbread Bear Progress

I have been working on the Gingerbread Bear Blanket and it is coming along pretty well. I have been making the squares (1 a day) and last week I discovered that I had enough to complete the first section.

I sewed them all together using the whip stitch and this is how they look. He is going to be so cute!!

As you can see from the picture on the pattern, I have completed the section beside and including part of the left ear. I am working on the squares now that include the section with the eyes and the nose. I can't wait to finish that section and get them put together!!

There are other in-progress projects posted over at Tami's. Take a look :o)

Tuesday Tallies

Another week has flown by - It is amazing to me how quickly time seems to be moving lately. I think having these weekly check-ins (and deadlines :o) is helping that feeling right along :o)

7 more hexies - 28 total

7 more fish - ?? total - I need to get that all sorted so I can put some of them together.

7 small grannies - these are for the bear itself - I think I will tackle the eye grannies for this week.

For more "One-a-day Project Tuesday Tallies" head on over to Gingerbread Girl.

Granny Stripe Blanket Finish!!

I am so happy with this blanket!! I started this about two years ago before I knew anything at all about crochet. It is my very first crochet project and the one I learned on. I fell in love with Lucy's blanket and followed her tutorial exactly. I can't tell you how well this worked - her instructions were fabulous and worked perfectly. I took this blanket along with me on camping trips and then it was put aside for other gifty type things and rested there for quite a time. I finally pulled this out about a week ago and to my great and happy surprise, there was not that much left to pull it together and finish it.

It is warm and I love it. I am hard pressed to share it unless I am also under it :o) This blanket measures: 51 1/2" X 58 3/4"
I also followed the edging that Lucy recommended and am so happy with it. I left out a row of double crochet after the light pink color because I wanted to end with the dark purple and only had a bit of that left.

More color!

I am in love with those little picots! And they were so easy to do!

I can't get enough of this blanket!

Final edge picture. For being my very first finished crochet project, I am quite happy with it. It goes to show you how well the pattern was written if a complete beginner can make something like this from it.

Click here for more finishes.

WIP #76

My WIPs have been getting a lot of attention this past week. I find it so hard to see the difference on a cross stitch project though so I am glad that there are before and after photos.

Before

After. I filled in some of the little stitches that were missing and started on the back stitching. It is going slowly, but I am starting to feel that excitement when a big project is nearing it's end. Hopefully lots of progress will be made this week!
This is part of a huge granny square blanket I started a few years ago and then banished it to the box. Do you see a pattern here?? This is what happened to the granny stripe blanket (which is finished except for a few little bits and will be revealed soon!).
I really love these color combinations. This yarn was also used in the granny stripe blanket, but I liked it so much I started this one as well with just these four colors.
This is where I am at now and it will become my new yarny WIP to work on. I'm not quite sure how big it is now, but it is not big enough. My very precise way of measuring these is as follows: crochet (or knit) until said blanket it long enough to reach from my neck to past my toes - then it's done!! How's that for precision :o)

It's time for Tuesday Tallies!

Boy, I am really getting excited about these tallies. I have been able to keep up (so far!) and it feels great!

First up, my hexi puffs - I really like these little guys - they are sooo cute and soft.

Here are all 21 of them together! Such hexi puff greatness :o)

The next 7 fish. I think I need to actually take all of them out and make a count. I only need 180 and I think I might be getting close.
More of the squares for the Gingerbread bear afghan. See those dual colored squares? They were quite the challenge to begin with. I now have enough to put together one little part of the blanket - we'll see if I can get that done this week.
I couldn't resist showing a picture of the 13 year old sewing on her very own sewing machine. We broke down and got her this for the holidays. She has been using mine and also doing quite a bit of hand sewing making clothes for her and her sister's dolls. I love her designs - I will try to get pictures of some of the things she has been coming up with. I can't wait to see what she does next!

Her first finished projects using her machine - little bags for her friends and teachers.

More Tuesday Tally goodness over here.