the last day

Well, tomorrow is my last day at my current job. I tried the corporate life for two years but I think once you've worked for yourself it's difficult to work for someone else. I'll be going back to work with my husband doing IT work on a contract basis. I'll probably be working 12-15 hours per week. This means I'll have a lot more time for all sorts of things. I've decided that a big change like this is the perfect time to make some other changes. I've made a conscious decision to change my philosophy on life and make changes in how I live to institute this philosophy. I call it the "love" plan. Here is the manifesto:

• I will love myself - to show this love I will commit to eating healthier and moving more


• I will love my home - to show this love I will make my home the best it can be inside and out


• I will love my family - to show this love I will be more patient, thoughtful, and kind


• I will love my job - to show this I will not complain or procrastinate


• I will love my community - to show this love I will donate time to a cause

I hope to make many positive changes in my life but I will not beat myself up if I cannot meet these high standards. They are simply something for me to strive for.

I'll be posting lots on what I'm doing specifically to meet the above goals especially some great projects I have planned for loving my home. I've already started with the project I posted about a few days ago.

Whew, that was deep, wasn't it. lol Don't worry, I'm not going to get all preachy or anything, I just want to be happier and not have so much anger and stress in my life.

Anyway, I've been hooking away the last couple of nights on these:

Just a little smile

I saw something on the way to work today that made me smile. I actually had to do a double take to make sure what I thought I saw was really what I saw: A construction worker, all decked out in his fluorescent vest sitting on a pile of wood playing an accordion! I can only assume that this gentleman got to the job site a bit early and broke out his accordion to get in some practice. It made me smile! So wonderful to see someone who not only plays the accordion but brings it with them to work. Kudos to you Mr. Construction Worker Accordion Player Man!

I finally got accepted into the drug cartel known as Pinterest. Check it out if you don't know what it is, but be warned! This site is pure-d Internet crack! I'd love to make some friends on there so if you're already hooked follow me and I'll follow you. Sounds like a bad 80's song doesn't it? Anyways, I'm carefully adding my first pins and spending entirely too much time perusing the pins of others.

On the crafty front I've been hooking away on this:

I can't ever get the colors to come across as true when I take them at night with the flash. They're actually leftover yarn from other projects and are richer in real life. I'll try to get a daylight shot over the weekend. And thanks, I'm quite fond of my polka dotted thermal jammies. :) I'm also looking at new cameras. I like the idea of one that does good low light pics since my house is never full of sunlight like some people's is. This works ok in the summer in Florida since it keeps things cooler, but not all that great for picture taking. Here's something else that I enjoyed tonight:

This is Breyer's Carb Control Ice Cream with frozen blueberries. So yummy!

Bit of a headache so I'm off to bed!

last minute ta-dah

I finally have a finish! I'm trying to get my crochet WIP's down to a more resonable number and finished this one tonight:

Very easy v-stitch and shells done in mint green. Not my usual color range but got the yarn on super clearance and it will tickle someone's fancy. Close up:

Hopefully I'll have another finish in the next few days.

Sometimes that's the way things go

Howdy!

Tonight's project (if I get done sanding on DH's car in time) will be:

This is a wedding gift for my coworker who is getting married at the end of May. Easy granny squares joined as you go. I also weave in the ends each time I work on it because it would drive me batty to have that many at the end.

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In other news... the variegated and black afghan just isn't working out. Here's a picture of the back:

I'm not happy at all with the way the "trough" stitches in the variegated look. I might play around with this to see what can be done to make it look more like the front. I really don't want someone to be able to tell which is the back and which is the front.

Later,

Cheryl

Song of the day:

Drive

Assemblage 23

Box Covering and What to do with those random varigateds?

Happy Sunday!

Today brought two new projects. I know, I need to start something new like I need a hole in my head; but life's short and I have PADD (project ADD) so there you go. The first one is crafty in nature and involves an idea to cover the ugly boxes I use to store my WIP's in. I work in an office type environment (yes, I have a cubicle!) and we go through a lot of paper. The boxes that the reams of paper come in are perfect for large projects:

And you can see on my post yesterday how I use the lids. Well as useful and sturdy as these boxes are... they're downright ugly. So I got the idea to wallpaper them with some scrapbook paper. Here's what I've done so far:

Not beautiful, but surely a bit less ugly. I'm still working out the best way to cover these.

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The second thing I've done today is to figure out what I'm going to do with all those leftover and clearance skeins of varigated yarn I have.

I found this pattern in my book 154 Wave Patterns. Ah-ha! Have the variegated bits show through the black! I think this will look awesome!

Happy hooking,
Cheryl

Song of the day:
Motherless Child
Martin L. Gore

Tumbleweeds and Mountain Streams

Hello folks,

The project for last night and probably tonight is:




Pattern is No. 28 Tumbleweed from Liesure Arts' book 154 Crochet Wave Patterns. Done in Caron Simply Soft in Colors: Limelight, Ocean, Persimmon, Sunshine and Blue Mint using H hook.

This will go up on my Etsy site for sale when it's done so keep checking because this one is a beauty!
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I'm really, really, really, looking forward for our trip to the mountains next month. (I'm just a bit excited) Here's a picture of the stream that runs behind the cabin that we rent.



This was in July and it was soooo green compared to home. I just can't wait!

Song of the Day:
And I
Wolfsheim

Hexagons, and Memories

Hello! Today's project is the hexagon blankey. Pattern comes from Lucy at Attic 24. You can find the link to her blog in my blogroll. The colors on this one are "different" lol. I wanted boy without blue and I think this does it. The colors in the picture are off a bit. The blue really isn't blue, it's a dark teal. So it has dark teal, burnt orange, olive green, and dark purple. I really need to get a new camera!




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When my aunt and uncle were here last weekend they brought a rocking chair that belonged to my grandmother. She passed away recently and I aquired several things from her estate. I've set up a sort of memorial for her in the living room. I specifically asked for the library table and the funky Japanese lamp. The rocking chair has been added along with a cross stitch I did for her and a small picture. It hurt to lose her. She was my Nana and she will be remembered and missed.



Everyone have a great night, I'm off to watch The First 48 and make some hexagons!

Song of the day:
Pipeline
Depeche Mode

Boy Time

Tonight's project is the Super Boy granny square afghan. Very easy pattern, just granny squares, two rounds per color then one round of gray for the joining so that it actually ends up with two (one from each square).



In other news: I had a great visit from my aunt and uncle this past weekend. They were only here for one night, but we did a lot of catching up. Sunday was actually their 46th wedding annaversery. Congrats!

Also, things are looking good for our trip to the mountains next month. I can't wait. We've had Fall and Summer in the Smokies but this will be our first trip in the Spring. The owner of the cabin we rent says that everything will be a riot of bloom. I can't wait.

I found this growing in my semi-abandoned garden today. I planted these several years ago and this is the first year I've had a bloom. So lovely!



Here's tonight's dinner:



This is squash, zuccini, broccoli, green peppers, and beef sausage sauteed together. Then I made the sauce from scratch: dijon mustard, vinegar, and mayo. I eat low carb so for me it was just this in a bowl, for the other members of the household I made some pasta for them to have it over. I'm trying to cut down the amount of cheese I'm eating so I made the sauce instead of putting cheese on it. Turned out yummy!

Song of the day:
Extraordinary Machine
Fiona Apple

More Scarves and A Blanket

I've been crocheting like a mad woman and have a bunch of finishes to share. First off are a few scarves:


This one is the ribbed SC pattern done in I Love This Yarn Stripes. One skein only makes a child size scarf.


This one is rows of alternating DC and SC done in I Love This Yarn Ombre Pink Camo.


Here we have a granny square scarf done in Red Heart Ombre "Melon Berry" and I Love This Yarn Solids "Hot Rose" and "Peach".

Now here's the exciting part... I finished a baby afghan!




This is done with all I Love That Yarn in Solids. I used a I hook and the square pattern comes from 99 Granny Sqares by Leisure Arts. This took me about 5 nights to finish. I love how it came out!

As usual, you can find all of these finishes for sale in my Etsy store.

Thanks for looking and happy hooking!

Busy Bee is Me

I haven't had a chance to update in a few days, but I was able to finish a few things. First off, here is my first attempt at an amigurumi character. It's a hippo. I didn't give him eyes, it was just more of a test of the pattern, but I think he turned out quite cute nonetheless.




Next are a couple of scarves. The first is another striped and ribbed one in white and red. You'll either be mistaken for Waldo or a giant elf. Done with a I hook and I Love This Yarn brand yarn.



This next one is a granny square scarf. I've decided I really like doing granny squares! This one is again done with an I hook in I Love This Yarn. I'm not sure what the color is called. The pattern is from a book "99 Granny Squares to Crochet" by Leisure Arts.





I've now started my most ambitious project yet, an afghan! It's a granny square pattern, but they're actually hexagons. I'll post a pic of one square tomorrow.

As usual the scarves are for sale on Etsy so check it out.

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Twofer

I finished two scarfs last night!




This one is a plum and black striped skinny scarf. The pattern is just single crochets in the back loop to get a ribbed effect. Worsted weight yarn with a J hook.




This one is what I call my "Manly Man" Scarf. The colors are navy, black, maroon, cream, and brown. The pattern is alternating singles and doubles across each row giving a bumpy kind of result. Done with a J hook.

Both of these are for sale in my Etsy store. Check it out by clicking in the banner on the right.

Happy Friday!

The Next Scarf

Here's the scarf I was excited about. The pattern is the most difficult I've tackled so far and I think it came out beautifuly.






They're crossed triple crochets. The pattern is adapted from a book of dishcloths and is done in a sport weight yarn. The yarn is Baby Bee in "Sugar Plum Camo". Of course it is for sale on Etsy.

The next scarf..... its a striped purple and black number for my rocker daughter.

Cheryl

Scarf in Moss

Surprise! It's another scarf. This one done in a solid moss green color. I used a worsted weight yarn and a size J hook. The pattern is rows of V stiches, DC, SC, DC, then V repeated. It was very quick to stitch up.






For sale in my Etsy store!

Tomorrow, I think I might post another scarf lol.

Boo!

Here's the halloween scarf.



I really like how this one came out. It's a very simple single crochet that's done in the back loop only which makes a great ribbed texture. The yarn is "I Love This Yarn" worsted weight acrylic in color "Boo!" and I used a size J hook to get a chunkier feel. The size is 5" wide by 56" long (not including fringe).



It will be up for sale in my Etsy store which you can find links for on the right hand column.

Next project is another scarf done in sport weight with a great pattern. Hopefully done tomorrow!

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Off and Running

Weeeeellll.......

I think I'm hooked (pun intended). I finished the latest scarf last night and I really love how it came out.



It's quite long, about 6ft and measures about 4" wide. It was made with Bernat Sox yarn which is a size 1 Super Fine. The color is camouflage. I don't think it looks camo-ish at all. The colors are a celery green, taupe, tan, and the brown looks a bit purply, so overall the effect is not very masculine at all. The pattern is rows in the following order: 3 rows SC, 2 rows DC, 1 row TC, 2 rows DC, then repeat. I used a size D hook. This one took a couple of days to finish mostly because the yarn is so thin that the rows are very small and it took a lot of rows to get to six feet.

If anyone is interested I will be posting this scarf for sale in my Etsy store.

Next project? Of all things.... another scarf! I might have found my niche already. It will be a Halloween scarf. Look for it tomorrow!

OMG She's a Hooker!

Well the financial situation might be pretty bad, but it's not that kind of hooking! I've actually picked up crochet again. I've tried it a few times in the past, but never really got into it. This time it seems to be sticking. Also, I've developed a severe case of yarnitis. I can't stop buying the yarn in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. So without further ado here is my first finished project:



This is a simple scarf that was made by alternating rows of SC with DC. Very simple, but I think it came out pretty good. It was made with a skein of worsted weight Red Heart yarn in "Artist Print". I used a size J hook.

My next project is another scarf done in fingering weight yarn. I should be done with that one tonight, so look for a new post.

Oh, and as for Cross Stitch, look at the link on the right, I've consolidated the WIP links into a single page, check it out.

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl