Back at Work

Hooray!! Hubby is back to work after being laid off for about 3 months.  Yes, lots of other people have been laid off for a lot longer than that,  but our second daughter was only 2 months old when this lay off happened.  And of course panic set in.  This seems to be a horrible pattern for our family.  When our first daughter was born he was laid off right away too.  So we have decided on no more children lol.  Well truthfully, we decided on no more children for many other reasons.  Like my having to have a c-section every time, and the horrible healing afterwards.  So even though we didn't get our son, we have two beautiful daughters, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. 

Bookmark

So hubby was bugging me for a bookmark.  He's not the most avid reader, but whatever, I aim to please.  So of course it took me FOREVER to think of what I should do.  I tried to make a filet crocheted bookmark, but apparently I suck at filet crochet.  Well, to be fair I've never tried it before, so I didn't really know what I was doing.  I would love to learn how to do filet, I've seen so many beautiful masterpieces!!  But that's another story altogether.  I decided I would make hubby a manly square and add a chain and tassel to it.

That seemed to satisfy him.  At the time, I couldn't afford to go out and buy new crochet cotton, so I used my variegated orange.  I think it looks nice.

There isn't really a pattern for this.  I just picked a nice square that I thought he would like, and when I had joined the last round, I slip stitched to the end corner on one side, and then made a length of chains.  I cut the end of the string, and made a slip knot, then I cut off about 10 lengths of string, fed them through the slip knot, and tightened the knot.  Then I folded the lengths of string in half, and used the end of the slip knot string and wound it around a few times, and then tied it off and blended it in with the other lengths of string.  Whew, hopefully you can understand all of that!!  If you need any clarification just let me know, I would be happy to help!  

Butterfly

I've been quite busy with so many projects on the go. But that's the way I like it! I get bored so easily with bigger projects, I need to have something small to work on. I think it's the feeling of almost instant gratification with smaller projects. I feel as though I've accomplished something, so I start working on the bigger things again with more steam in my hook! These are some of my butterflies. I'm going to be putting magnets on the back of them. My grandmother requested 22 of these bad boys to give as gifts to some friends in her social clubs.

This pattern is copyrighted. Do not sell this pattern. You may sell what you make from this pattern. Feel free to post a link to this page on your blog or website.
Materials:
Small amount size 10 cotton thread
Steel Hook #5/1.7 mm
Small amount of black embroidery thread or sz 10 cotton thread (for body)
Magnet or Pin
hot glue

Ch 8. Join with sl st to form ring.  I tuck my tail from the ring in behind my stitches as I do the next few rounds, to weave it in as I go.

(Beginning Ch 3 counts as 1 dc)

R1)  Ch 3, 2 dc. *ch3, 3 dc* rep 5 times more.  Join with sl st at top of beg ch 3(first dc). (8 ch 3 sp)
R2) Sl st to 1st ch 3 sp. Make a shell; Ch 3, 2 dc, ch3, 3 dc in all in sm sp. Make a shell in next ch 3 sp; 3dc, ch 3, 3 dc. Continue shell in every ch 3 space from R1.  Join with sl st at top of beg ch 3(first dc)

R3). 10 dc in first ch 3 sp. *Make 1 sc in space between shells from previous row.  10 dc in next ch 3 sp. * Repeat for each ch3 sp.  Join with sl st to first dc. Sl st once more and fasten off, pulling tight on your thread tail.  Weave in ends. 

This is what you should have when you're all done! Next, line up your edges evenly, and fold in half.

With the butterfly folded, tie the black embroidery thread or whatever you are using, small pipecleaner is cute too, down the middle of the butterfly, creating the body of the butterfly. Tie your knot near the top, and cut the ends of the thread fairly short. I use these short thread ends for the antennae of the butterfly. Now you can glue a magnet or pin to the backside if you like. These are super cute, and work up quickly! Enjoy.

Starghan

Wellllll, I am still hunting for the elusive USB cable. I have so many projects to post!!!
I am currently working on a purple themed Starghan for my second daughter, Madison. She was born in February, so purple is perfect for her very own special blanket. I'm really loving how quickly this blanket is working up. I want to make it pretty big, so I finally have a use for most of my yarn stash lol. My hubby will be thrilled about that! I made a continuous granny square blanket for my first daughter, she's now two, and the poor blanket is falling apart. This upsets me terribly. I am so careful to make sure that I weave in my yarn tails so securely, So this just means that she loved it to death lol. So after I'm done with little Madison's blanket, Lindsay and I are off to the 'string store' as she calls it, so I can make her a bigger, better blanket!
Here's the pattern I'm using for the starghan, I will post a pic soon of my progress!
Happy Hooking
Chromium Star Blanket
****UPDATE**** Hooray for technology! I finally can start posting my photos!!! So here is the starghan that I've been working on for Madison.

Farewell

Saying goodbye is never easy.  Especially when you're saying goodbye to someone who's always been there.  My little brother has moved away to start living his life on his terms.  Moved  too far away for my liking!  He left this morning, and all day long I cried, and worried, and cried some more.  He moved about 18 + hours away.  So although he hasn't left the country, it feels as though we're oceans apart.  I just finally received a phone call from him, reassuring me that he has arrived safely and found his new home with no problems.  Although he did have a bumpy landing at the airport, he wasn't delayed for any reason, the weather is good, and now he is waiting to meet his new roommates.  He hopes to start college in the fall, if everything works out with the student loan people.  But I swear that guy has a horse shoe up his butt, it all seems to fall in to place for him.  I know he will have a great time in Thunderbay, and although he has only been gone since noon, I miss him already!

Family Fishing Day

Well, here in Canada we have Family Fishing Weekend, every year in July.  It's the only time you are legally allowed to go fishing without a proper license.  So for the last two years my brother-in-law has gotten everyone together to have a fun day of fishing.  One of our uncle's brings his bbq and we all bring a little something to eat.  This year was great!  We go to a great little park with lots of prime fishing and a playground to boot.  So our oldest, who is 2, had a great time on the slides and swings, and watching mommy and daddy 'fiffin' as she calls it.  We were lucky enough to have Chris's mom watch the baby for us also.  Blue gill were biting all day long, and one enormous carp, I've never seen a fish so big!  I can't post any of my own photos, I lost my stupid USB cable for the camera!!!  So here's a pic of the water snake that kept swimming in front of our lines, and scared some of the cousins!! 

Construction

Wow, so much to do in blog world! I'm really getting in to 'accessorizing' my blog right now. I've been searching for the perfect template and layout, and extras. There is so much to choose from, I wonder if I'll ever be finished customizing! On another note, my venture in to the world of Socks, isn't going so well. My bouclé yarn is just way too bulky for this type of pattern. I've scrapped it after 4 attempts. And man is that yarn HARD to unravel! It's so delicate, almost like cotton candy the way it just separates from itself. So that's been taking even longer, being so slooooooow unraveling, and it just melts away from itself. I've been tying it back on, good thing the bouclé texture is so lumpy and crazy, my knots blend right in! I think I'm going to save this yummy yarn for some warm mittens!

Socks

I just started crocheting my first pair of socks last night. I glanced at the pattern really quick while my hubby and I were watching t.v. I guess I should've been wearing my glasses. I had crocheted 40 rows of sc just to find out that it was all supposed to be in back loop, creating the ribbing. Grrrr.
It was frogged sadly. I was so mad at myself!! I am using a soft bouclé yarn, and I've never tried this kind of yarn before. It was pretty hard at first to see the stitches, but then I got in to it and loved it. I will definitely be using this yarn more often. It creates such a dense fabric. It will be perfect for mittens in the winter time! Here's a link to the pattern I'm using, I'll post my own pic of the socks when they are done!
http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/crochet/basic_crocheted_socks.php
The pattern creates a sock in one flat piece, and then you join the seams together. I still want to try a pattern where you begin at the toe and work up, but haven't found the perfect pattern yet!
Happy Hooking!

First Post!

So, here we are! I have to admit, I am a little excited about this. My very own blog, it took me long enough to conform to the world that is blogging lol. I lurk everyday in the blogging shadows, admiring the daily musings of fellow crafters, finding great patterns and recipes, and other things in blog world. So I thought to myself this morning, I want to have my own blog! I doubt that anyone will read it, but it's nice to have somewhere to share a thought, to escape from housework, and vent a little. And that brings us to now, my little baby blog. I took forever thinking up a name, and then changing it a zillion times. I still don't know if I like it lol. Oh wells. I eventually hope to post some pictures of projects, I have a 35 mm Nikon that takes beautiful pictures. Sadly, the digital camera I have compares nowhere on the same scale. It looks more like a cell phone picture. You'll see the difference! I will definitely post some links to my favourite places, and share my family with you. Chow for now