Merry Christmas!

Here is our tree....with gifts ready to be unwrapped in the morning. It takes up most of the open space in the living room....its a wide tree but I think it looks great.

I want to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy your holiday......be safe.

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P.S. I Love You Cap and Keyhole Scarf

I had no intention of doing any kind of designing until after the holidays but this was rather unintentional. I made a pair of the Fingerless Mitts (same pattern that I used last year) for my son's g/f but I couldnt find a scarf and hat pattern that would match it so I made one up. I like the way it came out and am considering writing the pattern down next year.

The P.S. in the pattern name comes from "post stitch", which is what this set is entirely made of. Its a very thick and warm set and I hope she likes it. I know I do :)

Hope everyone out there is enjoying their holiday season. I know things are tough all over but they WILL get better....I have faith :)

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And the Winner IS......

I am sitting here with slips of paper that have the names of the entrants to my contest. And I am about to choose one of the pieces of paper and announce the name of the winner of the Elann Esprit yarn. Good luck, ladies!

Drum roll please.....brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrump!

And the winner is....

NAIDA!!!

I am sure you all join me in congratulating Naida on winning the contest! And I want to thank ALL the entrants for participating.

Naida, I will contact you by e-mail to get your mailing address so I can send your prize out to you. :)

Although the contest is ended, I will have another one next year. And I want to ask anyone who is interested to make more swatches of your favorite stitches, take a pic and send it to my e-mail address identifying what stitch it is. I want to start an online stitch collection that will be available to anyone who comes to my blog and accesses the page link. I will put the link to the left and it will permanently remain there.

Oh...btw....you may notice at the bottom of my posts there are REACTIONS. Even if a visitor to my blog doesnt want to write a post, they can still check off one of the selections. I hope more people will utilize this....its totally anonymous and, I think, fun :)

I hope everyone's holiday crocheting is going well. I have finished a poncho for my SIL and am just about finished the last of my charity pieces.....a hat and scarf set for a little girl. If I dont get back before Thursday, I wish everyone of you here in the U.S. a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING! And if you are traveling, take care and come back safely!

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Contest Update- Entries

I am little disappointed that I have so few entries for the contest despite extending the deadline. But HERE are the entries so far. You still have time to get your entry in...it only takes a few minutes to do up a 5" swatch and e-mail me a photo. Again, the address is sandy42@hotmail.com.

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World Champion Philadelphia Phillies!

Well, the baseball season is over and it was a wild playoff. But the Phillies pulled it off. My Phillies won the WORLD SERIES and are the Champions!! After 28 years since the LAST World Series win, they finally brought it home. The games were exciting.....the parade today was memorable. I just want to thank the team for a great year and an even BETTER one (if thats possible) next year!

Because of the World Series, I am extending the contest for another week......so get your entries in. I will have the entry page up in the next couple days.

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Mike Nesmith Would be Proud

You know who Mike Nesmith is...right? Well, if you don't, he was the lead guitarist of The Monkees. And if you ever saw the tv show, he used to wear a green ski cap....even in the summer. This cap reminds me SO much of his cap.....and it's a classic design. I found out that in Canada, it's called a "toque" but its all the same hat. Find the pattern HERE..... it's super easy and also easy to adjust to any size. This cap was made from the Caron One Pound worsted, but you can use any yarn with a comparable hook. I have made 3 so far...one in rose color Simply Soft with a pom-pom on top. It's a very thick, very warm hat....perfect for winter. I am making these for charity and I think they will do the job. This cap I am crocheting a matching scarf for using the same BLO stitch. It just might become your favorite winter hat pattern. And the mitten patterns on the same page are terrific, too. Enjoy!

I am waiting for more entries in the contest. The month is half gone so come on and join in!

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The Contest

Here we are at the first of October...and, as promised, here is what you need to do to enter my contest and win the Esprit sock yarn pictured in my previous post.

Make a swatch of your favorite crochet stitch....about a 5" X 5" square will do. Take a photo of it and send it to me at sandy42@hotmail.com Make sure you include your name and an e-mail address that you can be contacted by. I will create a web page with all the photos of the swatches I receive and I will put a link to it from my blog. At the end of the month, I will randomly choose a swatch and the creator of that swatch will be the winner. You have till the last day in October to make your swatch and send me a photo of it. Contest will end on midnight EST, Oct. 31st. I am looking forward to seeing all the entries and the different stitches.

Good luck and...

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I'm BACK!!!

I know its been forever...or so it seems. But family comes first. Now that my mom is settled in the nursing home and her house is sold and finances are taken care of, I can relax and get back into my blogging. And I did NOT forget about the contest. It will officially begin on October 1st. Since I have been gone 3 months, I know a lot of you have given up on me and I want to be fair so that everyone has a chance to win, I will let the contest run for the entire month of October. The prize will be what you see in the photo....3, 50g. balls of Elann Esprit cotton/elastic yarn.....perfect for a pair of crocheted socks! On October 1st, I will post what the contest is about. Its very easy and anyone who crochets can enter.

As for what I have been up to for the past several months, I did NOT stop crocheting. In fact, if you check my Flickr link, you will see several new FO's. I am not going post a lot about them here. Most were gifts for my b/f's grandkids. Right now, I am working on charity pieces....a poncho, a sweater, hair scrunchies, hats, scarves, etc., along with holiday gifts. Most of these I will post about in the near future. On my hook at the moment, is the Dusk Sweater  from the Fall edition of Interweave Crochet. Its a pretty easy, but very lovely design. I cant wait to finish it.

That's all for the moment. Now I have to go around and visit all the blogs of my friends and fellow crocheters that I have not been able to get to for so long.

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Southwest Salsa Sport Socks

How's THAT for alliteration? :)

I still haven't gotten my D's bag done....ran out of yarn. This week I have to take a trip to the craft store. But my sock yarn has been calling to me for quite awhile now and I just HAD to make a pair. I found the basic pattern for this pair HERE, but I changed a few things to make it fit me better. The result was these socks. They are made from my stash of Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. The yarn is SOOO soft and comfortable! The color is Nasturtium and it is HOT! It reminds me of fresh salsa. I wish I had a pair of clear shoes to wear with them. This is not a difficult pattern and I will probably make more.

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Butterfly Wing Shawl

I LOVE this shawl. The pattern is definitely a keeper. It's easy but it looks SO elegant. Took me only 2 nights to make it. I used Cotton Plus instead of a laceweight yarn but, surprisingly, it's not heavy and it drapes SOO nicely. Not to mention it's easy care....machine wash and dry. This is the second one I've made and it wont be the last. Find the pattern HERE.

I want to thank everyone for their birthday wishes, here and on Ravelry. Yarn artists are the BEST people! Next post will be about the contest....I promise! :)

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Another Birthday

Today was my birthday....I am now 54. I dont feel any older :)

It was a nice day. My D came over and visited with me....we had fun. She brought me a balloon bouquet and some fancy beads from the party store.....she said she was broke :) I told her she didnt have to get me anything.....it was nice just being with her.

When my b/f came home, he had a lovely bouquet of flowers in a pretty mug/vase for me as well as the SWEETEST birthday card. Inside was an envelope with $200 for me to get my hair done! I blubbered like a baby. I was NOT expecting anything since he already spent $400 on new glasses for my birthday. I have the most GENEROUS b/f.....I dont know if I deserve it.

Will be back soon with the contest. Hang in there! :)

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Holy Cow!!

I cant believe it! I missed my Blogiversary! I thought about it last month and then I got wrapped up in family stuff and I totally MISSED it! It was May 16th of last year that I started this blog journey of mine. I have enjoyed every minute of it. But its success is mainly to due to all the wonderful people who have visited my blog and commented on my projects. Without YOU, I would probably have stopped this thing ages ago. It wasnt my intention, initially, to look for people to visit.....I just wanted to have a place to showcase my work. But the warmth and support of all of you has inspired me more than I ever thought I could be. So its partly YOUR blogiversary, too. And to celebrate, I am going to have a contest, which I will go into more detail about later. Its my way of thanking ALL of you for coming here and reading about my crocheting. So stay tuned :)

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Mystery Shawl

Yeah....I said I was going to work on the bag. Well, one of the ladies on Ravelry wanted to have a Mystery Laceweight Shawl CAL, so having never made a laceweight shawl before, I couldnt resist. If you have a hankering to CAL, go over to Tracey's blog....the directions are there. You can see here how mine is so far. I am using Patons Lacette and a size "I" hook. The lacette was a bargain....found it at JoAnn's reduced from $6.49 a skein to $2.97. I bought 8 skeins, and should only need 3 for the shawl. I will post more photos as the shawl progresses. I think its a gorgeous pattern and I have never done anything this elaborate before.
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An Experiment

I found a pattern in the book Crochet for Babies for the Get Up 'N Go shirt. The pattern calls for it to be made in 2 pieces....front and back....but I wanted to see if I could make it in one piece. And this is the result. Its more a sweater than shirt but I only had 2 seams....underarm and side. I like how it came out. Its a size 2T so its too big for Sydney, but I am going to give it to her anyway....she can wear it next year.

Next up is the Lotus Bag for my D...she will be thrilled since I started it last FALL :D

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For Sydney

I dont know why, but I seem to work better under pressure. I dont ENJOY working that way, but I am more productive. I have had Sydney's outfit half done for WEEKS but just decided yesterday that I HAD to finish it since her birthday is next week. So here it is....the Pretty in Pink Sundress and Hat from the Simple Crochet for Cherished Babies book. (If you click the link and scroll down, you will find they show some pages from the book and you can pick up a pattern free! ) I used Cotton Plus and a G hook instead of DK weight yarn and and E hook so its heavier but I like the easy care of the yarn. The shrug I designed myself....I thought the dress needed a LITTLE something so you could dress it up or down. I think its a perfect add on.

Not sure what the next project will be...maybe something for ME? :)

ETA: The outfit was a hit.....especially the shrug. She put it on Sydney right away and she wore it for the rest of the party. Everyone thought it was so cute. I havent seen any patterns for baby shrugs so I just might have to write it down and share it. :)

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Carefree Days

I just finished this cardigan and shorts set for William. I am very pleased with how it came out. This is an 18 mos. size but the patterns goes up to a size 4T. The pattern called for a DK yarn, but I used Cotton Plus, which did make it a bit on the heavy side, but I figure an outfit like this is more sportswear than playware. The pattern is from the book, Crochet For Tots by Nancy Queen. Its a very easy pattern......in fact all the patterns in the book are very easy. Some might say boring, but I disagree. Such patterns lend themselves well to changing. You can use different stitch patterns, change the sizes of the sleeves and pants legs, use your imagination and make it your OWN creation.

Now its on to Sydney's outfit.....her birthday is approaching.

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The Crochet Liberation Front Patch

This is my latest project. I volunteered to test the pattern for this patch for Share....she designed it for inclusion in the new Crochet Liberation Front crochet pattern book, which will be offered for sale later this year. I am hoping her pattern makes the cut. I really liked it and that was the main reason I volunteered to test the pattern for her. If you are on Ravelry, you can join the Crochet Liberation Front Forum or if you dont belong to Ravelry, you can check out the CLF blog.

This was really my first foray into anything remotely resembling Tapestry Crochet. Its not tapestry, as the back and the front arent identical. but keeping track of the different colors and picking them up and letting them down correctly took time to master....and using thread and tiny hooks made it even more challenging. After a few messed up tries, I finally got the hang of it. Oh, and the patch isnt narrower at the bottom...thats my lousy camera work. Its an even rectangle :)

Now I just have to figure out where I want to put the patch. I am going to use Heat Bond to adhere it to whatever I finally decide to put it on. A jacket, maybe? Or a project bag? Where ever I put it, though, its going to look cool! Many thanks to Share for giving me the pattern and the opportunity to make this great patch!

On to other things now....

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I Am Still Here!

I know its been awhile since I posted. Reason being I havent finished any projects since the hoodie. I have been busy with family issues, but things are settling down. I am working on a few things and hope to be done them soon.....especially the sundress hat and diaper cover for Sydney......her first birthday is in May. Hard to believe its been almost a year. Anyway, I hope to have something new to post soon. Hang in there.....and keep on hookin'!

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Cutting it Close

Here it is....the hoodie sweater I have been working on for the past month. It didnt take me a month to finish it....I got kinda tired of it after I was about 1/2 done and put it aside. But little A's birthday is tomorrow so I was under the gun. Worked on it every day this week and I just finished it this evening. Thank goodness. This was one of the biggest PITA projects I ever did. It was sewing a shirt except you had to make the FABRIC as well as fit it properly and sew it all together. But the finished product is worth the effort, I think. It was good practice too.

Now its on to less stressful stuff :)

The pattern is a Coats and Clarks freebie. You can find it here. The yarn is Bernat Satin Sport in Meadow.

ETA- I swapped out the original pic for this one of A modeling her new hoodie....isn't she cute!?

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Round About Sweater

I just started this a few days ago. Doesn't look like much yet, but its coming along nicely. I have been wanting to try making a sweater and I wanted to make it with as few seams as possible. I found patterns online that were done in the round, but they started at the shoulders.....I wanted to start at the bottom. So I decided to try designing one myself. So far so good. I still have aways to go on the body but its moving along. I chose a pattern with a 2 count pattern stitch so increases and decreases would be easier when the time comes for that. And I am doing the pattern in blo so the sweater has some give to it and isn't stiff. I figure it will be for the coming Fall season so I have plenty of time to work on it. I know most people are thinking about spring wearables but I wanted to take my time with this project.

The yarn I am using is Simply Soft Shadows....I love the colorway. It will go with anything and anything will go with it. I will post more photos as the work progresses. I'm writing the pattern as I go along and hope to try getting it published. We'll see what happens.

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Long, Long Time Ago.....

I have mentioned to a few people in the past about my very first crochet project that I started when I was 12....over 40 years ago. Well, I was sifting through some boxes in storage and I found it. So I am posting a photo of it. Not a very GOOD photo but its the best I could do :)

I began making this doily when I was 12 and stopped about 3/4 of the way through....I guess being a teenager got in the way. I picked it up again a couple years later and finished it and have had it ever since. I am NOT crazy about the color, but I was a kid....what did I know? :) Anyway I just thought I would share it.

If you are curious about the pattern, if I remember correctly, I got it from an old Coats and Clarks booklet called "Learn How To....Knit, Crochet, Embroider and Tat". The copy I had belonged to my mother and I think it was from the late 50's but you can still find copies of it online....I looked :)

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A WIP Finally Finished :)

Here is a project I started last spring and finally finished yesterday. Its the Boteh Scarf from the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet. Its a very pretty pattern....easy but it does take time. I used an orphaned skein of LusterSheen in Sage.....got it on clearance about a year ago at Michael's. I only had 2 yards of yarn left over when I finished....talk about cutting it close :) But its a perfect yarn for this project. Hangs SO nicely. Not sure who I am going to give it to, yet.

Unfortunately, the pattern is not available online but if you can get ahold of a copy of the issue, give it a try.

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Bargain of the Month

I was going through A.C. Moore today looking at yarn and I am getting more and more frustrated with the selection. Note to chain stores that carry yarn: Start carrying more lighter weight yarns and not so much worsted weight. Worsted weight does NOT lend itself well to many garments. And baby yarn is NO substitute.

Ok, now that I got THAT rant off my chest, here is my find.....10 skeins of Moda Dea Jai Alai. Its an eyelash yarn and I have NO idea what I am going to do with it and I HATE working with eyelash yarn. Plus its not particularly practical. But I couldn't argue with the price....99 cents a skein. If I do nothing else with it, I can make a nice soft scarf. This was the only color I could get the same dye lot in and get a good amount. Its pretty, but I would have prefered the blue/green color they had....but there were only 2 of those left. Still, I am happy :)

P.S. Hope you all had a nice Valentines Day. My b/f and I are going out to dinner TOMORROW night instead because we knew no matter where we went, it would be crowded. I dont mind waiting a night. And I got a lovely Swarovsky crystal rose as my gift....its beautiful!

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Not Just a Bib...

This is my favorite baby bib to crochet. You can find the pattern HERE. You can't tell from my pic but it has a fpdc design in it. Its more appearant in the photo on the pattern page. But I like it because it doesn't have ties. Its easy to make....only takes a couple hours. Its not a small bib....it would be too big for a newborn, but an older baby starting on solids would benefit from it.

My b/f visited his little grandson William the other day and the baby's father said they didnt have many bibs for him. So I made this one for him today. Tomorrow my b/f will deliver the bib. I bought some extra cotton ww yarn today to make more.

I havent tried, but you could probably use a finer weight cotton and a smaller hook to make one for a newborn. I might just have to try it. :)

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Sock Stash

I normally dont take photos of yarn but I wanted to show the types of yarn I am using for my socks. No, I dont have stock in the companies...he,he.

The Sockina is cotton and acrylic and it comes in 100 gm. skeins. It tells you on the side how much you need for different projects, but, of course, thats for knitting. It looks like it will make a nice sock. :) The Regia is an experiment. Its a wool blend with silk and acrylic. It comes in 50 gm. skeins and feels VERY soft and may just work for this wool allergic soul.....it better, for the price. :) The Panda cotton is the same yarn as I used in my last post in different shades. Looking forward to trying a new pattern with them....with ALL of them, actually.

Nearly done the second sock of the pair....I will update photos soon.

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I'm Addicted!

Ok...its official. I am becoming sock obsessed. Here is my latest creation.

I started out with a pattern but for some reason, the directions werent working out so after frogging the darn thing a half dozen times, I gave up and just made a simple sock using sc and esc. Nothing fancy but I like it. I used sock yarn for this one....Crystal Palace Panda Cotton in "Roses". I LOVE the feel of it and its stretchy so it fits nice. I bought 2 other Panda Cotton varigateds so you will probably see more socks in future. But unless I hit the lottery, I wont be buying much more sock yarn....I just spent $150 for SIX pair of socks....OUCH. Not all the same brand of yarn, though. But I have splurged enough for now. :)

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Chemo Caps

I finished making 3 Chemo Caps for one of the ladies at K&C...the daughter of a friend has cancer. I have made this cap before in different colors for one of my friends and I really like the style. And I like the added embellishment of the buttons, front and back. I actually like the pattern SO much that I made myself one. You can find the pattern HERE. Its easy, its pretty quick and you can adjust the size very easily. I know there are an infinite number of patterns for caps out there, but this one is my favorite :)

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Latest Socks for Me

I just finished my second pair of socks for myself. I like them even better than the first pair and they were easier. I used the same booklet for the pattern and I also used the same Cotton Plus in Thistle. The white is Cotton Ease in Snow. I used the leftover Thistle from the first pair of socks and about 2/3 of a new skein. I used about a 1/3rd of a skein of the Snow. I still have plenty left over if I want to make another pair.

Now its on to the chemo cap I promised to make for K&C.

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New Computer

Here is a pic of my new laptop. Its great! Its like having a desktop machine you can just fold up and take most anywhere. I have to admit its NOT light, but since I only move it around the house, its not a problem. I am considering crocheting a case for it since they dont make cases big enough for this monster. Thats what my b/f calls it....the MONSTER :)

It will make my posting and web page work much easier and should last quite a few years. Its about as cutting edge as you can get in a laptop for now. Wasnt cheap but it was a Christmas present. Thanks, honey! :)

Crochet Away!