Lauren's Life Stitches

Pineapple Coasters

2009-10-04T19:52:00.007-04:00

Wow! It's been quite a while since I posted to this blog. I guess I sorta got burned out a little and needed to take a break from my crocheting. But I'm back again, doing smaller projects. :O)

This is a work-in progress. It will be a set of pineapple coasters when finished. I still have to add little criss-cross stitching on the body of the pineapple.

This is my own creation, and when I get this set finished, I will be adding the pattern on my website. One of many gifts I will be crocheting this year for Christmas. :O)

God Bless,

Ballerina Puppet progress

2009-05-12T14:06:00.010-04:00

Here's what I've done so far on the Ballerina Puppet pattern from Laura's Left Hook. The head and both arms are done, plus the little finger hole thing that goes inside the head. One half of the body is finished here. I still have to do the other half and the legs. Then put it together and finish off with the hair. The little ridge on the body is where I'll attach the tutu.

I think it's going to be so cute! It's a little smaller puppet than I had pictured, but it will be perfect for my granddaughter's little hands. :O)

Ballerina Puppet - Beginning

2009-05-11T11:26:00.009-04:00

I'm testing a pattern for Laura's Left Hook of her Ballerina Puppet. I just love this pattern! She did a great job of writing it and it is very easy to follow so far. :O)

Here's where I have started the head. The yarn I am using is actually a slightly more creamy looking off-white than the picture shows. So far, I'm not overly happy with the Red Heart Soft Yarn. It splits too easily while crocheting, but it was the closest to flesh-colored yarn I could find.

I think my granddaughter will end up with this puppet. She's in a little preschool dance class and wears a little tutu... and looks adorable! (No Grandma bias here.... yeah, right! Ha ha!)

I'll post more as the project progresses...

This picture is similar to the pattern I'm testing for Laura.

My 'Happy Tears' Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T20:27:00.033-04:00

I wanted to share with you just what a wonderful family I have! Yeah, yeah... I know... we moms ALL say that, right? Ha ha! But, I'm bein' fer real! *wink* Take a look-see...

First, here's what was ordered for me for my garden. A Chinese Empress Tree and a Sungold Butterfly Bush, I can't wait for them to arrive!

Next, here's a lovely Azalea from my oldest son. Azaleas don't seem to like the spot I picked near my driveway, so I'm going to find a better spot to plant this one.

The card from my Granddaughter. And my oldest son's CRAZY card to me. LOL! We both know what this card means and we had a good laugh with it. :O) Oh, the challenges of parenthood. Ha ha!

Next, this is a really big card made by our two teenagers (13 & 14.5), with a little help from Dad. :O)

The smaller picture (from the top center of the big card) is a note from my younger son (the 14 year old). It says, "You are a cool Mom! Keep doing that ASL ~ Love Chris" (I love being called a "cool mom") I've been learning American Sign Language. I didn't even realize he was paying that much attention! Ha ha!

This is an envelope taped to the bottom left of the big card, which said "To the Best Mom". After opening it up, it said, "If there were a billion ways to say 'I love you' then we'd say them all. But since there's only one, then we'll say it a billion times!! WE LOVE YOU, MOM!!"

This was the bottom center part, using scrapbook letters and some letters that my daughter did herself beautifully in Calligraphy (the really fancy black letters cut from white paper), which says, "Happy Mother's Day! Love, Chris & Taylor 2009" The other picture is from the top right; a note from my wonderful husband. :O) It says, "To the Dear Mother of my children. Happy Mother's Day! 2009 John"

These were across the center of the big card. They say things like, "Dream" "Cherish Family" "Celebrate Together" "Treasure the Gift of Friends" "Mom"

The drawing is from the bottom right of the big card. Such a cute & sunny scene! I love it! The other is the note from my daughter (the 13 year old). It says, "Mom, I love you so much. No matter how many times we fight, or get mad at each other, just know that nobody on this Earth has a better mom. You are the Best!! I will always love you! Love, Taylor"

God has surely blessed me with a Wonderful family! And I had a blessed Mother's Day, with happy tears!

God Bless!

ASL "You Raise Me Up"

2009-04-29T14:38:00.009-04:00

I've now started a new blog for my sign language journey. Click on the link to the right under my profile picture. I've decided to leave this one on here because I can't seem to move it over without losing all your wonderful comments. :O) In the meantime, you can watch this one here...

This is my first try at recording myself doing a song in American Sign Language. I just love the language. It's so beautiful and expressive.

And I absolutely love this song! I hope you like it.

Here's the lyrics:

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.

You raise me up... To more than I can be.

A Contest for My Daughter

2009-04-24T22:38:00.004-04:00

My daughter Taylor is in a contest and needs people to view her video. The more views, the better her chances of winning. :O)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FHb3-PCIJw

A big thanks to the wonderful firefighters at the Margate City, NJ fire house who graciously let us video in the firehouse and helped with moving trucks out and holding the ladder. (I think they thought we were crazy. Ha ha!)

Please take a look and then pass it along.

Thanks!

Cheeseburger Casserole Recipe

2009-04-17T13:56:00.008-04:00

No, that's not me in the video. Ha ha! But, this is my recipe! :O)

This is so cool. Amy is such a sweetheart and she was so kind to feature my recipe on her YouTube channel, USAFireAndRescue. She has such great, easy recipes, too! Be sure to check it out!

Ya gotta try this one. It's so simple and I remember my Mom making this often when I was growing up. It was also a favorite of my Dad's. And now my kids love it too. :O) My mom calls it "Goulash" but I like my name better. *grin* She used to make Hamburger Stew, and with the leftover hamburger, she would make this casserole the next night.

Thanks Amy for the little plug to my YouTube channel (which has very little on it yet. Ha ha!) God Bless!

Bunny Blanket Buddy Completed!

2009-04-12T17:23:00.017-04:00

First, I hope you all had a very Blessed Easter! We were with family on Good Friday and Easter Sunday and we had a very nice holiday weekend. I thank the Lord for this holiday we can share and be thankful for what He has done for us.

It's finally finished! And just in time to give to my grandaughter for Easter! Yeah!

Now, I have to tell ya what happened with the eyes (things happen for a reason)... I mis-read the bottle of fabric glue (which I was going to use to attach the googly eyes) and would not have had enough time to glue them on and have it dry to give to her. No problem, I figured I would simply crochet some eyes.... Nope! My case of crochet hooks was nowhere to be found (it was hiding from me, I just know it! Ha ha!) So my daughter Taylor came to my rescue and said, "Mom, how about if I make you eyes with my plastic canvas?" "Yes!" I said very excitedly. (Can ya picture it?)

So we cut it to size and she got to work on them. I figured I would just whip stitch them on and add tiny eyelashes. Mind you, this was all happening on Easter morning. I would see my grandaughter early that afternoon! Yikes!

Anyway, all things worked out and here's the finished blanket. I'm so pleased with this one! And I like these eyes so much better. :O)

Notice how I attached the ears? I used really big buttons! I saw in a magazine an amigurumi bunny and the ears were attached like that. I thought it looked so cute, so I decided to do these ears the same way. Like a lop-eared bunny.

You can see one of the hand pockets here.

Here she is trying it on! I think she really liked it. She didn't say much though... I think she didn't quite know what to do with it. Ha ha! That's her daddy (our oldest son) with her. :O)

Okay.... maybe not? Ha ha! Don't ya just love that face? LOL! I'm sure though that she'll get plenty of joy out of it. Nothing like snuggling up in a comfy play blanket. Ooooh, I just wanna kiss those cheeks!

The hand pockets were my own addition, and were not in the original pattern from Vanna's Afghans A to Z. Also, changing the ears and using the stitched eyes instead of the googly eyes was a change from the pattern. Finally, instead of 38 rows around the blanket, I stopped with 35 rows, and it was still plenty big enough for her! I'm so happy with how it turned out. :O)

Bunny Blanket Progress

2009-04-10T14:49:00.009-04:00

Here are the pieces before being attached, or stuffing the muzzle. I also haven't gotten the googly eyes yet. But I wanted to share the progress so far. I have today and tomorrow to get this done! Yikes! This is for my grandaughter for Easter.

The ears & muzzle are just put in place on the hood, but I wanted to show how the ears are white on the inside and pink on the outside, so I turned one the other way. The original pattern shows the ears attached to stand up, but I like them laying down, and I think they would fall kind of down when it's on her head anyway. :O)

Here's both ears as they will lay when attached. Also, I changed the ears slightly from the pattern. I thought the pattern's ears were too straight, so since I'm making these ears lay more like a lop-eared bunny, I widened them a bit towards the bottom, which you can see with the ear on the left. I like them much better. :O)

I've also added hand pockets to the two side points of the blanket. I plan to make it so my grandaughter can pretend to be a bunny with this blanket! I'll post pictures tomorrow (hopefully) of the finished blanket. This blanket pattern was from the book Vanna's Afghans A to Z.

I've got a few more surprise details to add. What are they? Well.... you'll just have to wait till my next post to find out! Ha ha!

A Little Miracle from God

2009-04-09T21:54:00.009-04:00

Now, here's a post with no pictures or videos! Ha ha! It seems strange........

Wow, I haven't shared this one in a long time! It's been nearly 6 years since this happened and I love reading it again and again...

_________________________________________

This letter was sent by my husband to our pastor on July 30, 2003, the day before our 10th Anniversary, relating a couple of very special days in our lives in late July, 2003.
-----
I have a remarkable story I wish to share with your congregation. Under normal circumstances, I might have come in and shared it personally, but as you know I recently had major surgery and am still recovering. I would like to thank you and your church members for all your heartfelt prayers and support, particularly for the children who have needed it at this time. Since Laurie would simply turn beet red and nearly pass out at the thought of relating this in public before the church membership, I ask that you read this email in my stead. For while I doubt this epistle will be worthy of being canonized, I do certainly think it is worth sharing.

No day beats a day when you know God is in your life. This past Tuesday, Laurie and I and our family had just such a day. Prior to my going into the hospital, we knew that the transmission in our car was slowly going. However, with all the medical bills and the extra insurance we had to purchase, acquiring the new vehicle seemed out of the question. So, we hoped and prayed that God would preserve our transmission or see us through in another way. The weekend before my operation, my mother saw a car for sale locally. We called and found out that the owner was an old friend of my father's he had gone to high school with. And since I was my father's son, he practically cut the cost in half making the car affordable to us in cash.

Now, the car is a 1988, and if you can just picture your "father's station wagon", you have the image perfectly. Not exactly the sexiest vehicle on the lot, however it had a sturdy V8 engine, a good transmission, and it would serve in an emergency if I were in the hospital and our car broke. Laurie and I discussed it and prayed, and felt that this was too visibly a gift from God to be turned down in our time of need. It was certainly a relief to my mind going into surgery knowing that my wife and children would not be stranded somewhere without means of transportation.

Being so close to surgery, I asked Billy, my father's friend if he wouldn't mind driving the car over to my mom and dad's and settling the paperwork with them, as I would be going to the hospital the next day. He did so gladly and as I drove up to the hospital the next day I noticed the car in my parent's driveway and was comforted to know that it was there for the day when our transmission went. And who knew what day that would be.

Well, apparently God knew... and Tuesday we found out also. Laurie and I went down our street heading toward her parent's house to pick up our children. As we approached the White Horse Pike, we both noticed how heavy all 4 lanes of traffic seemed to be. Now, understand, in 12 years we almost never go the back road way to Laurie's parents. It was only 5 minutes by the Pike, and though we might come back home using the back roads, again, we almost always use the Pike to get there. But looking at the traffic, and then at each other, we agreed we were in no particular hurry and felt we should just turn around and go the back way. So Laurie made a u-turn and drove another 20 feet and an invisible hand touched the hood and said, "stop now". And it did. If we had pulled out onto the Pike, we would have been across 4 lanes of heavy traffic, a woman and her husband only a week out of surgery, stranded out in the middle of South Jersey summer traffic on the White Horse Pike. As it was, the car broke down about 5 yards from where we wanted to park it and put a "for sale" sign on it anyway. And to prove that God is a God of detail, [our street] slopes upwards from the White Horse Pike, so all that needed to be done, was to let go of the brake and coast it into the parking spot, saving me the trouble of rupturing my incision trying to push it off the road. Laurie and I got out and walked the 100 yards or so back home smiling. Certainly, the happiest people to have ever dropped a transmission you have ever seen.

And lest you think this morning of minor miracles ends here, let me continue with all haste. When last we tuned in, our station wagon "ace in the hole" was parked at my mom and dad's. So when we got home, I called my mom. I caught her just as she was going out the door. She was heading to her bank to do her weekly banking. When she heard our story, she said it would be no problem, her banking could wait till the next morning, and she would run the paperwork for the car down to us. She happily agreed to watch over me while Laurie set out on her adventure to the DMV. About 5 minutes later mom arrived. Using her dad's car, Laurie set out on her way, and mom and I started driving back to her house. On our way, we met 2 cop cars screaming from the direction of her bank, followed by a third, then a fourth and a fifth. I joked to my mother that either there was one heck of a "blue light special" at Dunkin Donuts, or those were men on a mission with a purpose.

When we got to my mom's, we flicked on the police scanner to find out what all the hubbub was about. A bank had just been robbed ... my mom's bank. If the car had not broken down, and she had not come down to get me, my 62 year old mother, with a heart condition would have been in the lobby of that very bank when a desperate man pulled a gun, forced everyone to the floor, and demanded the bank's deposits. My mom looked at me and though visibly shaken, we were all relieved and thankful that again, God was watching over us.

I wondered what God would do in the afternoon for an encore. I was sure there were some ponds and streams in South Jersey that hadn't been parted if he wanted to do an oldie but goodie. But I personally, was extremely thankful for the little miracles he had worked in my family's life that morning. It is comforting to think that two weeks ago, God knew exactly what our needs would be that Tuesday. It is humbling to reflect further, that since time eternal past, since before the first star burned in the sky, God knew John and Lauren would need him that day, and God planned accordingly. All we had to do was listen.

I ask that your church say a prayer of thanksgiving for me and my family, and encourage them to keep the faith. No day beats a day when you know God is in your life.

Your brother in Christ,
John

ps.. if anyone needs a grey '93 Oldmobile without a transmission, please see Laurie. She knows where you can find one cheap.
____________________________________________

MY God is an Awesome God!

(I've GOT to learn the sign language for that! Ha ha!)

My Daughter and Her Flute

2009-03-25T18:53:00.017-04:00

This is my daughter Taylor playing Lovebug by the Jonas Brothers on her flute! She was practicing and I heard her and went into her room and asked her to play it again so I could video it. :O) We both love this song. ("I dropped my pencil!" Ha ha!)

Now here she is just being random with her flute teacher Bethany. Bethany is wonderful, very talented on the flute (you'll hear her play solo in the video) and is just a fabulous teacher for Taylor. Taylor just loves her! They were being goofy in this video, dressing up and playing their flutes. They played together and separate, and Taylor played Lovebug by the Jonas Brothers on her flute as well. (See? I told ya she loves that song! Ha ha!) The first song they play together is what they call the "Awesome Sauce Song". Ha ha!

See? They're crazy, right? Ha ha! But we just love Bethany!

Our Little Ewok!

2009-03-24T22:00:00.034-04:00

I thought I'd update ya on our little Shih-Tzu, Beans that came to us on Christmas Eve. I posted about him when he first arrived, when his hair was really short. Well, this is now, 3 months later. :O)

Beans

Now look at him next to a picture of an Ewok...

Now tell me Beans doesn't look just like a cute li'l ol' Ewok!

Cuter even. Or maybe even a baby Chewbacca in that bottom picture! Ha ha! He's such a sweetie too. And spoiled rotten! Ha ha!

Bunny Blanket Buddy started

2009-03-23T13:41:00.015-04:00

Here's my progress so far on the Bunny Blanket Buddy for my Grandaughter for Easter. I found this pattern in the book Vanna's Afghans A to Z (page 12) It's called a Blanket Buddy and it will have a hood in the corner that looks like a bunny face. I am also planning on adding a few more cute touches which I will show you as I do them. I can't wait to give it to her!

I think I'm on the 24th row here and I need to do 38 rows before starting the hood. Darn, those rows take forever to get to the corner as the blanket gets bigger! LOL! I know it looks like the start of a pinwheel! Ugh! But I will block it when it's done and that will fix it.

Closeup of the stitches

Jonas Concert Tickets!!

2009-03-23T13:22:00.009-04:00

My daughter and I snagged some great concert tickets for the Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009. We got seats 5 rows from the stage right by Nick (Taylor's favorite Jonas).

Going to the concert is her birthday present and she is thrilled! Here's her random video she made showing her excitement. Ha ha!

We're going on July 24th and it'll be a blast! The website for the venue even showed us a virtual panoramic view from where we'll be sitting. So cool!! Although since the Jonas Brothers have designed a cool new stage, the view will be different, but Hey! With seats 5 rows from the stage, we can't go wrong! Ha ha!

Free Highlighted Bible on CD

2009-03-10T11:57:00.026-04:00

We interrupt this blog to bring you a word from our sponsor...

Okay, I'm going to add a shameless plug here. Ha ha!

My husband's ministry, Eternal Answers Ministry (EAM) is releasing our King James Highlighted Bible in PDF format on CD for FREE (with just $3.00 shipping.) We have had it available for download, but the file size was a bit large so we're now offering it for free on CD. Those of you who have a slower internet connection will love this!

Here's the little blurb from our shopping cart:

"Our Highlighted Bible is an annotated King James Bible with notes and commentary from our own Christian scholars as well as other contemporary and historical commentators on a vast variety of subjects, such as Science in the Bible, Spiritual Truth in the Bible, Biblical History, and much more! We've even included some photos! Currently produced in PDF format."

It's color coded and cross-referenced, and it even explains where we get the Bible and which translation is the most reliable and why... (and yes, there is a difference!)

Here's a link so you can view a sample PDF of the first few pages. You will need the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the Highlighted Bible. It's a free download and you can find it HERE.

To find out more about our ministry and order the CD, click HERE or click on the link in the right hand panel. For right now, our cart is only set up to ship within the continental USA. (If you live outside the 48 states, email us to find out about shipping costs.)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog... *wink*

Comfort Shawl

2009-03-06T18:36:00.007-05:00

The picture on the left is me showing off my comfort shawl... I hate how I look in pictures, so I trimmed the picture to just show off the shawl. My daughter however, is a complete ham! LOL So maybe I'll just have her do my modeling from now on. Ha ha!

You can find the pattern for this shawl at LionBrand.com. I just love it! It's so warm and cozy. The pattern called for Chenille Thick & Quick, but I used Jiffy Mohair-like yarn and a size P hook (I think), and I also made the starting chain a little longer. I had been gifted a couple of skeins and it felt so soft I wanted to use it. I didn't have quite enough, and the color was no longer available, BUT, I found someone on Ebay who had some so I was able to finish the shawl! Yea!

You can barely see it in the pictures but I'm using a crochet hook as a shawl pin to hold it in place on my shoulder. I saw that on the internet somewhere and I thought it was such a cool thing. Ha ha!

Winter Love Afghan - changes/progress

2009-03-03T07:37:00.008-05:00

Here's an update on my Winter Love Afghan. I've changed how I was connecting the squares together, by using the Flat Braid method. You can find a video tutorial HERE. I love this method!

I'm using Vanna's Choice yarn in Cranberry, White & Dusty Green. The cranberry & green match my Living Room colors. I've got two full rows done and I need to have 8 rows for the full blanket (8 rows of 5 squares = 40 squares; 20 of each pattern)

I am anxious to get it done, but I will have to put it aside (again) for a bit to crochet my grandaughter's Easter gift - a Bunny Blanket. More on that later.... lol

These patterns are from SmoothFox's Etsy Shop. I used the 7x7 Easy Snowflake Square pattern, and the Revised Heart of a Child pattern (which I 'revised' just a little for my needs. lol)

Lattice Rose Rug

2009-02-24T14:48:00.011-05:00

Lattice Rose Rug

Pattern from Crochet! Magazine, March 2009 issue

I finally finished the rug for my Mom's birthday! The pictures are when I blocked it and had it drying, but you can see how I did. I had it blocked on a foam board with towels over it, and this was the first time I tried to block anything. I'm really happy with how it came out! I can't wait to give it to her. Her birthday is Feb 25th, but we're celebrating on Sat, so I'll give it to her then.

Close-up of the Flowers in the Center

It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, but it was a bit of a challenge doing the 2 strands together through the whole thing... a little hard on my hands. lol

With the pattern was an identical pattern for a matching doily, done with cotton thread instead of worsted weight yarn, so I'm going to give my Mom the pattern since she crochets with thread and I don't. She makes beautiful doilies! So this way she can make a matching one for her bedroom. :O)

Jonas 3D Movie Promotion!

2009-02-22T19:41:00.006-05:00

My daughter Taylor made this video of what she did to promote the Jonas Brothers 3D Movie.... with a little help from Mom LOL!

This was SO much fun! I can't wait to take her to see the movie. I may make me a T-shirt with "Moms 4 Jonas" on it. LOL!

Surprise Tickets!

2009-02-15T18:07:00.006-05:00

I surprised my daughter Taylor with tickets to see the new Jonas Brothers 3D Movie at our local theater on February 27th. She knew we were going, but she didn't know I had already bought the tickets.

She was VERY excited! Since we are picking up the tickets at the theater when we go, I did a video of the confirmation screen on my PC, and I also printed it out to show her. I'm looking forward to going with her. It should be a Blast!

Winter Love Afghan... beginnings

2009-02-13T10:05:00.007-05:00

Heart Afghan progress

I had posted about this afghan before (I called it the Heart Afghan), but at that time I was doing grey squares between the red heart squares. I changed my mind. :O) Those grey squares just weren't working. The top 2 squares on the left are stitches together, but the other two are just laying kind of in place. I used Vanna's Choice (love that yarn!) in White and Cranberry.

So, I got another pattern from SmoothFox which was the snowflake square you see here. I thought it looked so cool with the red hearts! Both squares are from SmoothFox and they can be found in her Etsy Store. I used the 7x7 Easy Snowflake, and the Revised Heart of a Child (which I revised again for my needs. *wink*) patterns.

So this afghan will be great during Winter, from Thanksgiving straight thru till Valentine's Day! Sort of a Winter Love thing. LOL! Yeah! That's what I'll call it...

Winter Love Afghan

Yeah, I like it. LOL! I'll keep you posted on the progress, but I had to put it aside for a bit to do my mother's birthday gift, and start on an Easter gift for my grandaughter.

Jonas Bros 3D Movie!

2009-02-06T13:57:00.006-05:00

My daughter and I are getting ready for the Jonas Brothers new 3D Movie! This is a widget to buy advance tickets and we can get points for posting it.
Soooo......

Oooh, and we get points for this one too! LOL!

There ya go! LOL
It's gonna be fun and I can't wait to see it with my daughter. :O)

Crimson Ice Flower Granny

2009-01-13T12:35:00.007-05:00

I've just designed my first Granny Square! It's a 5-sided Granny (so, yeah, technically it's not a 'square' LOL) I love the 3D effect, and the little "icicle" spikes keep it from curing up too much.

Crimson Ice Flower 5-sided Granny

I had fun doing this one. It just popped into my head (yet, again lol) when I was trying to figure out what to do with my Heart Afghan that I'm working on. I can't use this 5-sided one with that afghan, but I will make one sometime using this pattern.

I have the pattern available for purchase in my list to the right, or you can click HERE. The pattern also has an option to add another row of white if you so choose.

Recent Hats & Scarves

2009-01-12T13:55:00.018-05:00

Here's a few of the hats and scarves I made for Christmas gifts this year. I couldn't post these hats & scarves earlier because they were a surprise. :O) There's still a couple I need to get pictures of. I forgot to take pics of them before giving them as gifts! :\

Sunshiny Day Hat & Casual Scarf

This is my daughter being her random self. LOL! (And yes, those are Jonas Brothers posters behind her. lol) This is the pink hat and scarf set I made her for Christmas. The pattern for this hat can be found HERE, however this pattern called for a puff stitch, but I chose to use a popcorn stitch instead. My puff stitches were just coming out way too tight! lol And I adapted this Casual Scarf pattern in the same way to match the hat.

Brown Hat with Red Trim

This is a hat my husband asked me to make. This one wasn't a Christmas gift, it was just because he wanted to keep his head warm. :O) I basically did this one on the fly, from memory with a pattern from Mikeyssmail on YouTube. I just used the basic increases that I've used before with his pattern for beanies and just periodically tried it on my husband's head! This one of course, has the extra fold up rim, so it's not really a beanie. :O)

Camo Hat

You're being watched!! :O LOL! And, last but not least, is the Camo set I made for my younger son. I can't remember which pattern I used for this one. I'll have to look it up and add it here later. This has a basic scarf to match but it's not in the pic. He's always got this hat on his head! LOL

Now to get a pic of the black hat I made for my older son, the scarf I made for my granbaby's mommy, and the scarf I made for my best friend, and the hat & scarf set I made for another friend... More pics to come (I hope) LOL!

Heart Afghan beginnings

2009-01-11T09:05:00.006-05:00

Well, now that the Holidays are over, I hope everyone had a Joyous Christmas and enjoyed a nice start of the New Year. My first blog of 2009 is the start of a new afghan. Only the 2nd afghan I've ever tried, and the first one was started 35+ years ago.... and is STILL not finished! LOL

This was my own idea. Very simple really. I'm using Lionbrand Homespun yarn for the gray (Eduardian color) squares and the white borders, and Vanna's Choice cranberry color yarn for the red hearts and the white squares (which aren't done yet). I hope these two yarns will go together okay. They're both so soft!

The cranberry hearts are part of a pattern called Heart of a Child from SmoothFox's Etsy shop. I really LOVE this heart pattern, which will be in the center of a white square when finished.

Then I will be connecting the gray squares alternated with the heart squares for the afghan. This one is for me. :O) I've spent months making things for everyone else so now this is for me. My recliner is in a chilly part of the room so I can't wait to get this one done! It's going to be so soft and warm! :O)

My Daughter Elf-ed Herself Jonas!

2008-12-28T08:39:00.018-05:00

Our daughter Taylor is a HUGE Jonas Brothers fan and she "Elf-ed" herself with the Jonas Brothers (and their little brother Frankie.) This was so cool! LOL!

This was from ElfYourself.com where you can add pictures that are made into elves faces and they do this really spectacular dance! She purchased the little video that was created so I'm adding it here so you can see it. It's a riot!

The quality is better on the original. Uploading it to the blog cut the quality. Sorry. But you get the idea... LOL

It was a very Merry Christmas!

2008-12-27T22:52:00.026-05:00

Our Christmas was so special this year. We spent it with just our family - just my husband, myself and our kids... a nice quiet day enjoying the blessings God has given us, and the wonderful gift of family. Our oldest son also visited with our grandaughter and she was just a joy!

We had a special addition to our family this year - a precious little doggie who arrived on Christmas Eve. His name is Mr. Bean and he is a little 4 pound Shih-Tzu. Mr. Bean is 4 years old, is very shy and needs lots of love and attention which he is getting and adapting to quite well. :O)

He is such a loving and special little soul, and seems to have become my little shadow. LOL! You can see he's wearing his little DOG SWEATER I designed and crocheted for him. It fits him quite well!

My husband gave me a special gift as well. It holds balls (or cakes) of yarn. With this yarn stand, I can have up to 6 different colors at my fingertips while I crochet! My father-in-law helped him make it. I came up with a much smaller idea, but I didn't expect this! I LOVE it!

I need to add a rubber washer in the middle of the dowel to keep the two cakes separate. This will go well with the Scripture Afghan pattern that my son gave me, and the vintage-type sewing basket from my daughter. My mom used to have one of these when I was a kid and I always thought it was so cool. And I can't wait to try the Scripture Afghan! :O)

Our kids requested that we go nowhere for Christmas day and we gladly granted that wish. We had such an enjoyable day. Just spending time together, having fun and making probably the best Christmas dinner we have ever had! LOL We made a surf-n-turf dinner and it was wonderful! We played some new games and just had a great time! My daughter had a very Jonas Christmas. LOL She was given several gifts of Jonas Brothers items which she loved!

Oh, and my two youngest kids also got me jars of Elderberry Jelly! I love the stuff, and have only been able to get it from Lancaster, PA when someone takes a trip there. So, it's a very special treat for me. :O) Ya know, Smuckers used to sell it in the grocery stores when I was a kid. I miss that. lol

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too! Now, I've got to get started on more crochedting. LOL

God Bless!

I Am Santa Claus!

2008-12-19T22:13:00.006-05:00

Okay, it's settled! My husband always says I'm Santa's Chief Elf, but I've got news for him...

Christmas Character by QuizRocket.com

So there! LOL

A Very Merry Christmas to all!

Striped Keyhole Scarf

2008-12-15T09:36:00.017-05:00

Another Christmas gift is complete! I made this Striped Keyhole Scarf for my Grandmother. She is 90 years old and going strong!

Striped Keyhole Scarf

I just love this pattern! I saw a similar type of scarf for sale on the internet, but I could not find a pattern for what I wanted, so I made one! You can find it HERE. It's really quite easy to make.

Now, on to the next gift! I have 2 hats yet to make, finish the trim on one scarf, get the buttons for my DOG SWEATER, and crochet the rest of my SNOWFLAKE ORNIES.
Merry Christmas!

Popcorn Garland on our Tree!

2008-12-13T21:38:00.013-05:00

Remember that POPCORN & CRANBERRIES GARLAND I posted about earlier? Well, we decorated our tree today and I got a great picture of the garland on our beautiful lighted tree! My free pattern can be found HERE.

The Garland on our Tree

I just absolutely LOVE this garland! It just says old-fashioned Christmas to me. Actually, where we had to put our tree this year was more in a corner so we couldn't put as many ornaments that would be able to be seen, so we picked our favorites, the really special ones, and the tree is still loaded with ornaments! But that's what Christmas is about... the memories, the special ties with loved ones.

May you have a happy, joyous Christmas!

Doggie Sweater

2008-12-13T11:35:00.012-05:00

Crocheted Doggie Sweater

Here's a new thing I've come up with. A little Doggie Sweater! This one was made for a little dog about 4-5 pounds. My friend breeds adorable little Shih-Tzus and she gave me the idea to try to come up with a little sweater for them. They're such sweet, loving little babies.

You can find the pattern HERE. This doggie sweater is made with 2 buttons, so you don't have to pull it over the dog's head.

This is my own design and I had to guess on the size, since I didn't have one of these sweet little critters at the time, but it fit my little Shih-Tzu perfectly when he arrived.

Snowflake Ornies

2008-12-08T07:59:00.009-05:00

I've been busy making Christmas gifts! This year I'm doing a lot of hand crocheted gifts, which I'm really enjoying. I wanted to get back to a more old fashioned type of Christmas and not so much of the commercialism and materialism associated with the holiday in recent years. One of my latest are these cute little snowflake ornies!

Snowflake Ornaments

They're done with a sport weight yarn, white with a thread of silver going through it. Then I'm adding a little loop of silver thread so they can be hung on the tree. These are so quick & fast! Each one only takes me maybe 15 minutes to make

I found the pattern HERE. It's actually a pattern for a snowflake garland, but I just made the separate little snowflakes. I chose not to use them as a garland since I've made my own popcorn & cranberries garland for our tree (one of my free patterns listed on the right), but these are just so cute as little ornies! I just love them! I'm trying to do at least 15 of them... more if I want more than one on my own tree! LOL I've got at least 2 sets of 4 ornies to do and other single ornies as little gifts. I'm also busy making a few beanie hats, a few different scarves, 2 hat & scarf sets & a neck warmer for my grandmother. Are we sensing a theme here? LOL!

I've also been working on a new original pattern for Christmas (no, not this year, LOL) It'll be ready to purchase in late Winter/early Spring 2009 if all goes well, so that you'll have plenty of time to crochet this one for next Christmas. :O) I just need to test out the pattern to make sure I've got it right. Keep watching for it!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!!

Cushy Slippers

2008-12-03T12:49:00.008-05:00

These are slippers I made for a birthday gift. They were relatively easy to do and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. They actually look better on the feet than they do in the picture though, I think. LOL

Padded Sole Slippers

They have a double layer sole - the pattern called for 2 separate soles made and then crocheted together one on top of the other. They feel so wonderfully cushy on the feet! I may just have to add that aspect to other slipper patterns I do if I can.

I found the pattern for these Padded Sole Slippers on Ravelry HERE. (You need to be a member of Ravelry to view this pattern, but if you crochet or knit, it is worth joining and it's free!) Again, I used worsted weight yarn I had in my stash. I can't wait to give them.

Water Bottle Sock

2008-12-02T21:15:00.010-05:00

This was a fun one to do. Every night I freeze about 1/3 to 1/2 of my bottle of water, then fill with water when I'm ready to go, and it keeps my water nice and cold at work. And the bottle sock absorbs any condensation that accumulates on the bottle. It's actually gotten me to drink a lot more water which is a good thing. :O)

Water Bottle Sock

That "flower" section on the top half was a first for me... It was a little confusing at first and I had to try it, frog it, and try it again, but once I figured it out it was kind of fun to do. I actually did this at work in under 4 hours! Yeah, it gets kinda slow at work at night. LOL

I found the free pattern HERE. This fits a 24 oz. water bottle perfectly and it has a neat little drawstring at the top. Why not use a bigger bottle? I like to drink water, but not THAT much! LOL!

Black & White Checkered Scarf

2008-12-02T18:50:00.013-05:00

Another project for this Christmas. A Black & White checkered scarf. Well, okay, so it's actually charcoal gray & white, but who's keeping track? LOL! That's what I had available, and I always try to use up some of my stash if I can (before it gets too big.)

Checkered Scarf

I made this as a Christmas gift for my older son's girlfriend and it was the first time I had tried the checkered design. A friend on a crochet Yahoo group pointed me to THIS pattern (actually for a dog sweater), and I used only the part of the instructions that made the checkerboard pattern and adapted it to make my scarf. I made each color 3 sc, and did that for 3 rows before alternating the colors. Then I edged the whole thing in the gray. By the way, if you try this, your yarn may twist up a lot so you will have to stop periodically and untwist it. I haven't yet mastered the art of keeping my yarns straight. LOL

My left hand cramped up something awful doing this one! I think I was tensing my hand up too much trying to hold both the yarn I was actually crocheting with and also the yarn of the alternate color that I was crocheting over top of. I used Lion Brand Homespun yarn, which is very soft and has this cool looking bumpiness to it, but which makes it really hard to see my stitches. So that, I guess, added to my cramped hand problem. But, all in all it came out pretty good I think. About 3/4 of the way through the scarf I was getting the hang of it and was able to relax my hand a little, but even now that it's done, my hand still gives me fits now and then. Aspercreme to the rescue! LOL! (I've been told that Tiger Balm works better, but I like the 'no odor' thing. LOL)

I also received some great tips from a YouTube crochet friend, Mikeyssmail about proper posture and positioning of your body in the chair when crocheting to ease tension. Thanks Michael! :O)

Merry Christmas all!

My Life "Stitches"

2008-12-01T16:51:00.012-05:00

Okay, I'll periodically update this to keep it current. Here's a little bit about me & mine....

My passion right now is crocheting. I say 'right now' because it used to be decorative painting! I did love to paint, but I've suffered from "burn-out" and just really needed to simplify things. Crocheting seems to fit that bill for me. I've been spending quite a bit of time in and out of hospitals & doctor's offices with my husband who is Diabetic and suffers with chronic pain from Diabetic Neuropathy, as well as other complications from the Diabetes. So, I've found that the crocheting is easy to grab-n-go! And it's so relaxing for me! Taking my crocheting along is a great way to pass time while sitting and waiting. I couldn't do that with the painting.

I'm married to a wonderful man, my hubby John, who is a Christian Apologist. We have a website that features a downloadable highlighted Bible with commentary, pictures, quotes, and more. It's cross-referenced and color-coded by subject matter, such as Science in the Bible, Spiritual Truth in the Bible, Biblical History, and even shows you where we get our Bible and which translation is the most reliable (and yes, there is a difference!) Right now it's in PDF format and the file was getting too large, so we're now offering it free on CD for just the cost of shipping. You can find it here. We have seen so many blessings through this ministry and every day God gives us both the strength to do what He wants us to accomplish. Check out my article, A Little Miracle from God about a very special set of circumstances that happened to us, and was so clearly the hand of God working in our lives that we just have to share it!

We have 3 children; 2 boys and 1 girl, and 1 granddaughter. God has blessed us with a wonderful family and opportunities to pursue His will in our lives. Our oldest son, and daddy to our granddaughter, is 27. Our second son is 14, and our daughter is 12. We homeschool the two youngest. Every Friday night we have "family night" where we watch two old sitcoms (such as The Honeymooners) followed by a good family movie, or once in a while a movie that has to do with what the kids are studying. For instance, we just watched The Right Stuff since they were learning about the 1960's and when we began space travel, the Apollo missions, etc.

Our daughter loves crafts, art, reading, writing and plays the flute quite well! She also is a HUGE Jonas Brothers fan. I enjoy their music as well and we share a lot together through this interest. She will tell you that I'm obsessed (LOL), but I'm not. My "Jonas Brothers" was the Bay City Rollers in the 70's. Both groups have similar fun, pop/rock kind of music that I really enjoy. Okay, okay, I WAS obsessed with the BCRs at the time - literally wallpapered my room with their pics and posters, had every album, knew every lyric, knew all the facts about each member of the band, etc. Oh boy, what fun I could've had if we had the internet and YouTube back then! LOL! My daughter and I both keep track of JoBro television appearances and fun, new videos of them that we send to each other. I have to say, I enjoy that the most - the fun that we share together with this music. When I was a teen and into the Bay City Rollers, I wasn't able to share my "obsession" with my mother since my mom wasn't at all into that kind of music, so she really didn't get what I was so excited about. Now though, my daughter and I can share that fun! I love it! And I totally understand her excitement. :O)

Our 2nd son is very much into military aircraft, paintball, and medieval weaponry. Wow! Hard thing for me to get into, but I do try. He's also into 3D animation and computer graphics and has created some amazing things! My husband understand's that stuff better than I do... I think it's a 'guy thing'. LOL! I do love to watch the aircraft; we live near an airport (though I don't at all want to fly in one, they are fun to watch.) Our son amazes me that he can look at any plane flying in the sky and immediately tell me what kind of aircraft it is! He knows his stuff! And speaking about the Bay City Rollers, I had the chance to totally embarrass him in the grocery store the other day. LOL! Well, isn't it a parent's prerogative to embarrass their kids once in a while? *wink* The song "Saturday Night" by the BCRs came on over the loud speaker and I, of course, got all excited and started to sing along (quietly) and dance (a little). He just wanted to crawl away, but I grabbed his shirt sleeve so he couldn't go anywhere. LOL! Gosh, I love those moments.

Our first son, and oldest, works in sheet metal. He is a wonderful daddy who loves to go snowboarding and sometimes paintball. We don't get to see him as much as I would like due to our conflicting work schedules but we talk on the phone regularly. He has blessed us with an adorable little 2 1/2 year old granddaughter who is just such a joy! She was actually quite fascinated with my crocheting the other night! Cool!

So, there's a glimpse into some of my life "stitches". So, the blog's not going to be *all* crocheting, but I will include a lot, along with little peeps into our lives.

God Bless!

Kiley's Hat

2008-12-01T13:20:00.006-05:00

This is a crocheted floppy hat I made for my precious grandaughter, Kiley for Christmas. She is such a joy and I can't wait to see her wearing it!

Adorable Ruffles Hat

I found the Adorable Ruffles pattern HERE. It was easy to make and was the 2nd hat I ever crocheted. I was able to use up yarns I had on hand, except for the green trim, and then I added a round button and a heart button to hold up the brim.

Kiley is such a treat to be around. The other night I was visiting her before her Dad went out, which is when I stayed to watch her. She kept calling the hook a pencil, and I showed her how the "hook" worked with yarn. Well, she just had to try it herself. I gave her a bit of yarn and a big plastic hook to play with and she was walking around saying "crochet" (She's 27 months old). It was so cute!

Popcorn & Cranberries Garland - Crochet

2008-12-01T13:10:00.008-05:00

This is another of my own original crochet designs. I wanted to make a faux string of popcorn & cranberries for our Christmas tree.

Popcorn & Cranberries Christmas Garland

My free pattern can be found HERE or listed in the box on the right. If you can do double crochet, you can do this! I can't wait to see it on our tree this year. With each Christmas season getting more and more commercialized and materialistic, I love going back to an old fashioned Christmas, and the real meaning of this wonderful season.

When we wake up Christmas morning, the kids open their stockings while their Dad and I wake up and get some coffee. :O) But, before opening our regular gifts, we read the story of the birth of Christ from Luke chapter 2. And no, we are not forcing our kids to do this when they'd rather be digging into those gifts. They ASK to do this every year now, it means that much to them. It brings us back down to what the holiday is really about and sets our priorities on what is really important.

I hope everyone has a safe, wonderful, old-fashioned Christmas season!

Color by Degrees Afghan - My old/new project

2008-12-01T11:26:00.006-05:00

Okay, I'm new at this blog thing. I actually started up this account for a contest, but since I really like crocheting and have been doing several projects lately, I thought... why not?

Color by Degrees Afghan

This is my oldest project. Color by Degrees Afghan - my own original design. My pattern can be found HERE or listed under My Patterns in the box on the right. It's a very simple afghan starting with a row of granny squares and then using only double crochet stitches & chain stitch. The design is a little unique in that I increase the width of the stripes as I go along.

I started this afghan after my mother taught me to crochet in the early 70's... some 35+ years ago! I never finished it. I took it out a couple of times and added another row or two, but that was it. It stayed packed away for years in the back shed (I hadn't even realized it had ended up in there!) A few years ago we cleaned out that old shed (turned it into a screened pool house) and I came across my afghan, still in perfect shape believe it or not! So, I packed it better and moved it into my craft area of the house.

Recently, I got back into crocheting, and am loving it! So, I dug out that old afghan. I am determined this time to actually finish the thing. LOL! Although it will have to wait till after the holidays since I am busy crocheting Christmas gifts. The colors don't match anything in my house, but that's not the point! It's the sentiment, the memories, the determination to finish it that will make it special. And the fact that it was the first real thing I actually crocheted. :O)