Learning to Crochet.

I've been trying to learn a Queen Anne's Lace

crochet pattern.  Ugg, talk about frustrating.

My first scarf attempt was an utter failure.

It took me about fifteen starts and unravels,

before finally getting it.

I am just a beginner at crocheting,

and this pattern may have been 

a bit beyond my experience level

plus I'm  left handed.

Now that is a big problem

when it comes to looking 

at the instructions and figuring 

everything out.

Finally something clicked, and it's working.

Perhaps not the way it was meant to be

according to the instructions, but 

it's working for me.

The work in progress (photo above)

is actually the start of my third scarf. 

It's a bit addicting, cause 

you want to make just one more shell,

and then another.

I didn't like the way the first

scarf looked after I finished.

The yarns I used made a big difference

in the way the scarves look

when they're finished.

The second scarf I made with 

a solid colored yarn with sequins

woven into the yarn.

That scarf turned out pretty, 

but the photo didn't.  

I'll have to try for a photo again.

Just not now.

This third yarn choice is fuzzy, 

and I like the gradual color change.

My first scarf 

was made with a wool multicolored yarn.  

The colors are way too bold and 

change too quickly for the 

crochet pattern to show up. 

 It looks like a chunky

scarf with blotches of color.

I don't think I'll take photos,

and I'm probably going to rip it out

to reuse the yarn for some other purpose.

I first noticed these scarves on a blog

called Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Here  is her blog at it's current page.

Claudia called them Obsession scarves,

so that's the name of the pattern I looked

for to no avail.  

Later, she did name the pattern

and with a quick search I found a tutorial

that I thought would work for me.

http://mrsmicawber.blogspot.com/2011/03/queen-annes-lace-crochet-scarf-tutorial.html

The blog with the tutorial  is called 

Mrs Micaber's Recipe for Happiness.

~~~

Rick and I

were running on tired this past week.

For three nights in a row,

Liberty has started barking around

2:30 in the morning. She sleeps in

the laundry room just across the hallway

from ours.  It was weird

 as she usually sleeps the whole night. 

She really went nuts,

when I let her outside to go potty

at 4:30 in the morning.

Later:

Our neighbor told us why.

There's a bobcat prowling

around the neighborhood at night.

That must have been what Liberty

was worried about.

It didn't happen the last couple of nights,

so maybe we're through with all that.

~~~

The ACS Think Pink Tea

is back on the schedule this year.

It's later next month, but I want

to be ready for it by the end of this month.

 I purchased fabric for the tablecloth,

and napkins last week.

Now I just need to

 get to the sewing machine.

I should be doing it now,

and instead I'm blogging.

Priorities ya know. 

~~~

Speaking of sewing projects,

I have several stacked up besides 

the  tea tablecloth and napkins for eight.

I purchased cute fabric for a 

kitchen window valance.

I need to get a restart on my pearly p. pillow.

I wasn't happy with the first attempt.

The fabric wasn't laying right 

while trying to baste it to some batting.

So, I needed to get some fusible fleece

and I'll start over on that project,

after the tablecloth and napkins.

There's also a major project ahead,

that I've been procrastinating on.

I need to reupholster

our couch and my chair.

I've had the fabric for quite awhile.

Possibly quite a long while.

Wish me luck on those last two items.

Ugg.  I don't think it's going to be easy.

~~~

OK it's time to either

get the sewing table cleared off

or head downstairs to make dinner.

I think Rick would prefer dinner.

~~~

I have photos to share from our trip

to Mt. Lassen over Labor Day weekend.

That's next on the blog I think.

The following weekend we went back

to Brooking's to celebrate a

Happy 85th Birthday for Rick's mom.

On the way home,

we were thinking that that's the last

road trip for quite awhile.

We need to do some Autumn work

around the house before the rains 

settle in,  and then we saw the

road sign to Crater Lake, Oregon.

Wow, we haven't been there yet,

and wouldn't a trip there this fall

be nice?,  oh my. 

~~~~

Rick's grandmother's nick name

was

"Gallivanting Granny".

I think

wanderlust must run in the family.

~~~

OK, I've typed so long

that now Rick is stopping at Costco

on his way home from work,

to bring back a rotisserie chicken for dinner.

Dang... I got out of making dinner.

~~~

 I really have to go.

Take care,

and I'll try to get back to the blog

sooner rather than later.

How I Learned To Crochet Snowflakes, and Catching Up.

1.   Copy a crocheted star garland pattern from  Becca's Patina Moon blog.  Print out and save the instructions with the best of intentions.  

2..  Get inspiration from Amy’s  Keep'n The Sunny Side  blog  post on crocheting snowflakes as well.
(Click on the word blog to visit either site.)

3.   Take  the star garland crochet pattern to JoAnn's and search for the correct sized crochet hook  and  linen yarn.

4.  Wonder if  that linen yarn  is available at a specialty yarn store, because JoAnn’s  doesn’t have it.

5.  Decide that maybe crocheting  a star garland with linen yarn isn’t going to happen yet.

6.  While at the store, remember Amy’s snowflake garland and decide to purchase fuzzy white Wool Ease yarn which is a  wool and acrylic blend.

7.  Later in the afternoon  call three friends  to ask some basic questions on how to start.

8.  Leave messages on all three answering machines because no one’s home.

9.  Wonder about calling a fourth friend who also crochets when the phone rings with helpful answers from the first friend to get home.  Thanks B.

10.  Feel stupid asking about how to even find the end of the yarn without destroying the skein and ending up with a huge knotted mess.  I know the end is tucked  inside, but I couldn't find it.    I also needed to know if I  should wind the yarn into a ball before even starting to crochet snowflakes.

11.   Find Amy’s post on the crocheted snowflakes that has the necessary You Tube video instructions. 

12.  Stop and start video  twenty times while trying to understand and keep up with the instructor.
The Kindle was handy  and right there in my lap to watch  as I struggled with  the instructions from a right handed person.  I’m a lefty.

13.  Answer phone and greet husband who is on his way home.   Realize that dinner time is in  20 minutes when he gets home and I hadn’t even thought of what to make for dinner yet.  Thanks be to Trader Joe’s for some tasty  selections from their freezer section.  Because I can steam broccoli  quickly and put  a 'good enough' dinner on the table when I’d been gone most of the day.

14.  Return to the crochet project and continue to restart the video a hundred thousand times.

15.  Realize that even slightly fuzzy yarn is not a beginners best friend.   Shoo Liberty away  several times.

16.   Trade a hand full of treats for my  skein of yarn with a half finished snowflake.   Not an easy quest when Liberty decides that that skein of yarn was just too enticing and she wanted to keep it.  Keep away is Liberty’s favorite game….   I think I’ve said that before.

 17.  Continue  to stop and start the video  and finally finish my first crocheted snowflake.

18.  Decide I need written instructions so that I wouldn’t use up what’s left of my monthly bandwidth allotment by watching this one 13 minute video over and over.

   Restart the video one more time and  hand write the instructions into a notebook.  At the same time, I’m using my cell phone  as a voice recorder so that I can listen to that instead of the video.

19.   Start a second crocheted  snowflake and concentrate on how the yarn is supposed to flow through the fingers with the correct tension.   Decide to have the ladies show me how to wind the yarn through my fingers  Sunday night at Bunco.

20.  Set aside the yarn for a second.    Then retrieve the skein of yarn and a half finished crocheted snowflake from Liberty yet again.   Curse.

21.  Resume the project with wet slobbery yarn.

22.  Finish the second snowflake.  It only took 4 hours to make two snowflakes.      I need 10.

23.  Lie awake early in the morning with this very blog post running trough my head.  Get up and write all this down and save it for when I have a guilt free blogging block of time.

24.  Use phone video  camera to record the you tube video.  Now I can watch the video on the phone any time I need to and watch it without using bandwidth.  Smart idea and yeah, it happens once in awhile.

25.  Sunday night:  Take photo of friends hands while asking questions on just how to hold the yarn                   through the fingers.

26.  Eleven snowflakes later:    Finally get it.  Can now crochet a snowflake in 30 minutes or perhaps 20 without distractions.

27.  Realize that one of the snowflakes in the above photos is backwards.
28.  Refuse to care.
29.  Wonder about how to attach snowflakes to a chain stitched banner line and think of stitching some pearl beads to the snowflakes.
30.  Remember to say this.  Pine cone pitch and crochet don't mix. 

Whew!  Time for tea.

This seasonal flavored tea 

from Trader Joe's is my current

wet weather favorite.

I didn't try it last year 

when I first noticed it, because 

I'm not all that fond of peppermint.

But after hearing good reviews of it

from another blogger this year,

 I decided to try it.

Not only does it have peppermint leaf

 as it's first ingredient. it also includes 

 green tea, orange peel, vanilla

cinnamon, milk thistle, blackberry leaves

carob, chicory and vanilla bean. Zero calories.

There's a touch of sugar as the next to last

ingredient. Doesn't that sound good?

It is.

Speaking of wet weather.

We've made it through four back to back

storms with tons of rain.

The lake level went up twenty feet in one week.

Not kidding at all.

It has rained buckets.

Now it's time to catch up with 

 a couple of answers 

 to previous blog post comments.

Connie asked me  what the difference was 

between heavy cream, and whipping cream.

I didn't know off hand.

 I just know they're pretty much interchangeable.

  I did look it up

to find that heavy cream has 36% milk fat.

Whipping cream has 30 to 36% milk fat 

and it often contains stabilizers and emulsifiers.

Missy asked what's the name of this mountain.

It's Mt. Shasta

here in northern CA.

Liberty update.

Shhh... She's sleeping right now.

Liberty showed some swelling in

her belly where her incision is last Friday night.

So we took her in for a checkup with her doctor

first thing Saturday morning.

It's not infected and there's no redness or heat.

She's been too active and has irritated her 

inside stitches.  So... she's on tranquilizer pills

for a week to give her a chance to heal better.

It hasn't slowed her down much.

But she's sleeping right now,

and that's a good thing!

Christmas Canister

Remember the Christmas

trees  I was working on

a while ago.

Some  are nestled in

an Epsom salts snow bank

within this glass canister

with a couple of sparkly snowmen.

I'm still on borrowed

bandwidth, but in just

a couple of days the mailman

will deliver a wireless connection

of my very own. 

Thanks Santa!

Christmas Trees ~~~ Work in Progress

Here's what I've been working on lately.

  They're not finished yet.

 I'm sure you can find 

 complete and informative online

tutorials for making bottle brush

Christmas trees.  So, I'll leave

that explanation to the experts out there.

But I did have a hint or two

that might help if you want to

add some glass pearls to your

bleached and glittered trees.

      

1.  The thicker glitter glue from

Martha Stewart's craft line

works better than

 the thin clear permanent

glue for getting the pearls

to stick where you want them.

~

It took me awhile to figure that out...

2.  Laying the Christmas trees on their

sides helps the pearls to stay put

while the glue dries. 

~~~

The ping of pearls dropping off

the Christmas trees onto a cookie sheet,

sounds very much like 

canning jar lids pinging after

coming out of a hot water bath.

  

 It's not nearly as satisfying though...  

Country Living Magazine ~ Pumpkin Craft

Country Living magazine

featured some beautifully crafted pumpkins

this month.  I'm sure you've seen the magazine

and if not, perhaps you've seen a few of the

decoupaged pumpkins here in blog land.

They looked easy enough to make,

but of course I didn't exactly

follow their directions...

~

I used left over paper napkins from

the decoupaged gift bags for last years

Cancer Tea.     

The napkins made this pumpkin

 look rather awesome

and sort of  like stained glass (if you squint).

The pumpkin was from Walmart.

It was a rather ugly orange plastic

pumpkin, but I really liked it's shape.

  Add some paper, Mod Podge,

ribbon and glitter.  You'll need some tiny

sharp scissors and a good bit of TV time because

cutting out so many leaves takes forever...

~

I'm ready for this year's ACS Think Pink Tea,

and anxious for Sunday to get here.

~

R's mom is here for the weekend.  She's stopping

by on her way to their winter home in Arizona.

~

 Starting Tuesday,

we have a full week of

Grandma and Grandpa (babysitting) time

 with our little

 grand daughter Gwendolyn

from Southern CA.

She's three.  

~

I think Blogging time is going to be

hit or miss for the rest of this month.

 ~

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up

with the little one.  

  ~

I think there's a pumpkin patch

waiting for us. 

~

Paper Roses

I love running across wonderful tutorials

out there in blog land.

I love that tutorials  are generously shared

 with a whole lot of  inspiration

 and  "you can do it also" encouragement.

~~~

I absolutely loved this idea,

so much so that I started dyeing coffee filters

~yes coffee filters*~  right away,

  and added floral wire and tape to the shopping list

 for the next trip to Michael's. 

* I just started noticing coffee filter projects this fall.

I have a feeling they've been around for quite a while,

but hey, they're new to me.   ;-)

 

It's been fun playing around with this idea.

Thanks to Lucy for her wonderful tutorial.

Click:   http://craftberrybush.blogspot.com/2011/01/rose-tutorial-just-for-you.html

You have to go see her beautiful roses! 

Colorful

 You know those baby booties  (click here)

I made and showed a couple of posts back ~~

  I had run out of the embroidery thread I used

and needed just a  bit more

to crochet the second 12 inch shoe string.

So, I checked at JoAnns

 and they didn't carry this type of thread at all. 

 It's DMC's Craft Thread ~ 100% cotton.

  I went to the Sewing Room/Crafter's Mall where I purchased the thread in the first place.

They no longer had the thread hanging where it had been.

 Uh, Oh.

  I was worried that I would have to go

 with my second choice cream color on the shoe strings,

and I had tried that  first,  but didn't like it.

  I asked about the thread

that was hanging right there ~

  pointing at the empty space,

and the shop owner told me they no longer carry it.

OH NO!

But there was a couple of baskets

 of what was left of the thread around the corner,

 and it's on sale,for a quarter a piece.  Oh, sigh of relief. 

 Instead of buying just one more skein at  fifty nine cents apiece,

I purchased quite a bit more for future wool felt projects, plus the correct color for the second shoe lace. 

  I hope to find a new local source,

since I don't have a couple of colors that I would like to have. 

  

Now on to more color.

I've been hand dyeing some paper.

Doesn't that sound so very artistic?

Actually I'm dunking some paper into a food coloring bath.

As easy as dyeing Easter eggs.

So there you go.  I love the colors.

I'll show you what I'm working on ~~ next time.

Pink and Frosty Snowman

Well, this one is kinda sorta finished.

I need to do a bit of touch up.

Cause I was sorta kinda

multitasking ~~~  blog hopping ~~~ 

and mixing up a bit of pink and white

paint and carrying the little tin foil

cup of paint to the desk ~~~

And the foil  cup of paint slipped and

did a bit of a flip flop ~~~

right on top of the computer's keyboard.

 I haven't exactly gotten all the paint cleaned off.

It's probably going to take forever and a day.

 It also slung some paint onto the snowman's

face and  her snowflake collar.

That bit I can fix.

What I can't fix, and hadn't noticed until now ~~

This little snowman has crooked cheeks.

Oh well!

I have seven more to finish.

Wish me luck.

Have a great day.

Unfinished Projects

Perhaps I should think ahead

and start working on a bit of Easter crafts.

Hopefully  I would actually finish in time

if I started now.

I could show you unfinished aprons.

An unfinished crocheted throw.

How about the unfinished Halloween wreath,

Along with unfinished Thanksgiving place cards.

I could show you a stack of unframed

cross stitch projects from years ago.

For now though,

I'm showing you the unfinished, one and only

Christmas craft I attempted this year.

For the tutorial,

follow this link.

  http://creativebreathing.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-cant-help-myself-cute-on-me-monday.html

Elizabeth's work is absolutely wonderful.

I did finish one of the smaller snowmen,

and took it to Seniors for Show and Tell

yesterday.

  I promised to put up the link to the tutorial for a dear friend.

Here it is Bonnie.   Love ya.

I'll show the finished snowman when I get a photo taken.

Today, I'm helping prepare Christmas gift baskets

for the Senior Center Christmas party next week.

I also have ~ have ~ have to get our Christmas tree up.

It's got to be today!

Halloween

 This little chocolate cookie haunted house

was crafted from a kit. 

Perfect for times when you just don't have it in you

to do it from scratch.

 

 Our grandson helped his mama with this. 

Follow this tutorial for these  Halloween topiary candy jars.

Of course it's too late now for Halloween.

But what if they were crafted  with

Christmas candies,

and a bit of Christmas ribbon?

Or what if

you skipped the topiary parts

and just decorated the lids of regular

canning jars with spray paint and ribbons

to hold a Christmas treat?

Home baked cookies and candy?

Sounds like a plan.

Thanks to the Crafty Sisters blog for the great tutorial.