If anyone ever wonders why it takes me so long to finish a project I will tell you. It goes like this

I find out that i am about to become a great grandmother on the 24 of Feb about the 1st or 2nd of Feb. And as i start making a mental list of the stuff i need for what i want to give as a gift to the new little baby. I want a ‘sacque’ with bonnet and bootess, another set of bootees and a blanket.

I start to work ; i had ordered some yarn for a Barbie project and since that fell through and it was about the right type for baby yarn (which used to be thinner than it is nowadays) with this yarn and I only have one skein but that is enough to start out with and i can order more from Herrschners. No problem; they always carry this yarn. But the the first rude awakening happens. That yarn (which is the afghan yarn) is not what i thought it was. It was not as nice as it had been the last time I had ordered some (2 years ago). Well, i start any way and find that it is working up rather nice anyway and so proceed to work on the item and then check with Herrschners and find that they had put this yarn on won of there great sales and I can only get some in blue or green that nobody wants. The I go look around for the pattern (on eBay) for the blanket and the 2nd pair of bootees because i cannot find the book that i had around here and so had to spend time and money on that.

Well another week goes by and the sacque is as finished as it is going to get, i think. about half done. the books have arrived and it is a good thing that i didn't try to order yarn for that as it was not what i thought. and so have to go and find another pattern as i don’t have the money to get some at this time. It is a good thing that i have this other yarn sitting around from another project that just would not work out so I try the other patter and find it will be alright. But the bootee are working out just fine; i have size 10 thread in white! Amazing! And they are so cute and finished. The blanket is done this far but i don’t care for the edging and want to use the other edging on another blanket. And Life goes on. It is now 2 weeks before the baby is due (cesarean section) what’s a grandma to do!

Things are looking up at the moment though, the Yarn i ordered from Herrschners came so I can get started on the white afghan. I wonder if i can finish it in time…

I think it is about time i wrote something. I have not done anything much since the holidays. Have been looking around the internet for various and interesting stuff. Here is one link that you might be interested in: http://www.gizmology.net/dollhouse.htm. This is a work in progress.

This man has a very interesting site for those into making things a Barbie-size dollhouse. If you click back on the bottom of the page you find there are more interesting things.

Another link I will be visiting soon is this one: http://www.onlinediscountmart.com/aw-f5223.html. I think that is the cutest little tea set ever! Have fun!

It's Christmas!

The loveliest time of the year. And it isn’t just because of the decorations and presents. It is because of the Savior’s birth. The gift God gave which started the Shepherd's and Wise men's gifts. Which is why we give presents at this time. It is nice to remember the reason why we give gifts. When up in heaven we all, we will still be giving gifts. But I wonder what kind. Worship? That is a gift we can and will be giving; it is the one that the Bible speaks of. Our crowns; the Bible say we will lay our crowns at HIs feet. I am so sure of that…I can’t imagine that God could give a gift of any crowns to me. I have not done anything deserving of any crown, so I will gladly lay mine at His feet. And I will tell Him that the only gift I need and am the most grateful for is the one of salvation.

A Snowy Winter Day...

Well it is getting very close…just 2 days away from Christmas eve and I am making fudge and finished these slippers. I just love the colors in the Fun Fur (Lion Brand Yarns) and know that Ali will also. The pattern will be available pretty soon but you can add an edging of the fur yarn by making a (sc, ch 6) twice in each stitch around the edge of your crocheted slipper. The slippers were done single strand of knitting worsted and a size ‘G’ aluminum hook.

We have 6 inches of snow and it is snowing now as i am writing this. It always looks so pretty with everything covered in snow. And I am listening to the radio station; they are playing Christmas music and that just adds to the atmosphere. After making the fudge i placed it out in the snow to cool. Now I have to go bring it in and package some up for the neighbor across the highway.

More on the 'Boa'

Well, folks, this is to be Ali's Christmas gift and asking her to do the posing would give it away, right? So I had to go in search of another Model.The one at hand also volunteered! Voila! He love to ham things up and does an excellent copy of "Jack Sparrow" (complete with costume he and His Mother and Sister put together for him). He even has earned a little money for his act. And since I could not choose which photo to put up, grandma decided to put them all up. So here they go…

The weather has been in the single digits around here with snow so the scenery is just perfect. Behind Jeremy are our Juniper trees, which are prevalent in this area, and since Pepper had to go outside for his business, we took pepper with us and that is the leash Jeremy is holding onto.

The pattern for this is really quite simple; making a couple of chain loops per row of one sing e crochet stitch is all it is. The yarn does the rest.

BOA

• Size 'K' aluminum hook
• 2 skeins of Fun Fur or Cha Cha

ch 2, and sc in 2nd ch from hk, (ch 14, sl st in 14th ch from hk) twice, turn.

Repeat this row for the length you want. I did not use but about 1 7/8 skeins for the length.

You may have to dig in the yarn for the single crochet but it is there. And actually turning just after you finish the single crochet stitch makes it easier to find it when you are ready for it.

Out Shopping

My daughter was having fun! She brought home a couple of bags of the furry yarn in different colors from the Dollar tree. Along with that was the silent request “Mom, make me something.” She says (out loud) ,“bought you something”. And I said silently, “Oh, goody!” while out loud I said, "For Me????", as if i didn’t know.

Then I had to go do some shopping of my own. On the internet to see what ideas i could find that would use this kind of yarn. I already know what i want but would rather have some input from somewhere else and so I went to Coats and Clarks’ web site to look for patterns and found a bunch. But there is one that I thought would work just fine and i didn’t have t work up a pattern after all.

My boa – picture will be posted later

New Irish Edging Pattern...

Have put up some new stuff on the crochet pages of my regular site: http://justanothercrochetsite.net/irish_edgings.html

These are from a vintage booklet and are quite pretty edgings. I also want to point out that these are not "true" Irish crochet but utilize elements of done in the traditional crochet method. The are easier or more familiar to us. Most of my Irish crochet is what I call American-Irish, which is an adaptation of the real Irish method of making lace (taking elements and crocheting them together). However i cannot be for real sure that the Irish did not do this style as I do not have the proof either way.