~ Sucrette's granny poncho CAL ~

I've joined 'Sucrette's granny poncho crochet-a-long' over on Le monde de Sucrette.  A while back (when I used to work) I went to the Hobby Lobby that was a short trip up the road and bought 3 skeins of the 'I Love This Yarn!' in 'pinkytoes sparkle'.  It's just been sitting in my stash ever since because I didn't know what project to make with it.  I knew I wanted something for me, but I didn't know what.  Last night I finally decided - a light-weight poncho.  I'll be using the 'Light & Airy Poncho' pattern from Free Patterns. com. 

If I decide that I actually like to wear it and it looks ok on me, I will probably make a blue one too. 

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day.  :)

~ stuff ~

Ventered out today to make a baby blankie delivery to the Bowie/Crofton Pregnancy Center.  I met Karen there today - she was very nice.  Sorry I have no pictures - I was so nervous, I forgot to take any.  I don't know why I get nervous - everyone is always so nice - it's just that I always have this feeling in the back of my mind that they're going to say "oh good Lord - no thanks".  Now I know that that will never happen, but I just can't shake that feeling when I'm walking in the door.  

Isn't there a song like that?  Oh no - that's 'Hooked on a Feeling' - never mind.  (are you singing that song now?)  :)

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I've finished putting the off-white border on all the granny squares that I have received so far.  I laid them out on the floor to see what they all will look like together.  They're perfect.  Thanks to everyone that sent me a granny square.  :)

  
I had to stand on my desk to get this picture, so before I climbed up there I asked God to watch over me so I wouldn't fall.  Vince and Bobby went to the campground and I really didn't want to lay on the floor until they come back home tomorrow.  Yes, Bobby got to go this time - I'll go next time.

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Does anyone have any dog-walking tips?  I would like to walk Tex & Ladybug by myself, but they seem to walk me most of the time.  They are always pulling and they really don't listen too well when I tell them to slow down.  Tex weighs about 58 lbs. and Ladybug weighs about 20 lbs.  Look at them - they're my bad dogs.  :)

 
Thanks for dropping by - have a great day.  :)  

~ Liebster award ~

Linda of 'Linda Crochets' have very kindly awarded my blog the Liebster Blog award.  (Linda explains on her blog that 'Liebster' means favorite.)  Thank you very much Linda - I really appreciate your kindness.

Now, I have to tell you 5 things about myself and pass this award onto 5 other bloggers whose blog I enjoy.

* 5 things about me:

- I love to organize stuff
- I collect coffee mugs - every once in a while, I go through them and give some to family members so I can keep collecting
- I have 3 sisters (Teri, Laura and Julie) and 1 brother (Darrell)
- when I was around 12 yrs. old, a neighbors rooster attacked the back of my legs - good thing I had my snazzy, shiney black patent leather boots on or he would of tore me up (yes, I had shiney black patent leather boots - I thought I was the cat's pajamas)  :)
- my knees crackle like hard plastic wrap - or as my Vince calls it 'cracka-lackin'  (I really should get them taken care of) 

Now to pass this award on to 5 other blogging friends - (if you don't participate in blog awards, that's ok - I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy your blog)

- K @ Aurora Blythe
- Beck of 'Beck to Vintage'
- Susanne of 'Forget-Me-Not'
- Susana of 'La ventana azul' 
- Melissa of 'Lazy Daisy Crochet'

~ Two on Tuesday ~

Two things that make me happy:

* making plans for a trip to the campground

* straigtening up my craft room

- a couple notes about the video:
   - I referred to my table as a bowling ball table - it's a bowling pins table (I don't know what I was thinking)
   - in my last video, I made mention that I was going to donate some yarn to the old folk's home - well, I took all this yarn there and the lady said "Thanks, but no thanks" - so I ended up donating the yarn to Goodwill.  My Vince made a joke with me saying that the next time I go to Goodwill I'm going to find all this yarn, get all excited and buy it all back.  He's so funny.  :)

 

~ baby blankie 20b ~

Finished up this granny square baby blankie last night.  I crocheted it with various brands of worsted weight acrylic yarns - Red Heart, Bernat, Loops & Threads, Vanna's - and it measures 30" square.

For Rnd 1 of the border I joined with a sc in the corner, ch 4 and sc in same corner.  (Ch 4, sc in next ch space) all around with (sc, ch 4, sc) in each corner.  Join with a sl st to the 1st sc.

For Rnd 2:  sl st into ch-4 space, (ch 3, dc, ch 2, 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in same space, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc - which is called the 'open-shell stitch') in each ch-4 space around with (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in each corner ch-4 space.  Join with a sl st to top of beginning ch 3.

For Rnd 3:  sl st into next dc, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 space, sc in next 2 dc, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 space, ##sc in next dc, *sc next 2 dc together, sc in next dc, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 space, sc in next dc.  Repeat from * across.  Sc next 2 dc together, sc in next dc, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 space, sc in next 2 dc, (sc, ch 2, sc) in next ch-2 space.  Repeat from ## 3 more times.  Join with a sl st to 1st sc.  End off.  

That last round was a little tricky to write out - if you have any problems, just let me know.  

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day.  :)

~ and the winner's are ..... ~

There was only one (1) entry for the plastic canvas book so.....nisilynne, you are the winner for that one! 

And the winner for the baby crochet book is.............Sharon Gardner!  Yay!

Please email me at dlyrs@juno.com with your mailing address, and I will get your books out to you as soon as I can.  Thanks for playing along.  :)

~ 'Yarn Madness' giveaway ~

Madeleine of 'Yarn Madness' is hosting a giveaway.  Hop on over to her blog and sign up for your chance to win one of her very generous prizes.  Good luck.  :)              

~ granny squares & a giveaway ~

I received another granny square package in the mail yesterday.  These ones came from Pat of 'Hooks and Books'.  Pretty colors Pat - thank you very much.  :)

~~~~~~~~

I mailed out everyone's granny squares today - so to Rob, Criossa, Renee, Tara, Bev, Sarah, Pat and Stephanie - be on the lookout for a small package.  Thanks to everyone who joined in this granny swap with me.  :)

~~~~~~~~

Now for the giveaway.  If you would like a chance to win one of these prizes - be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment on this post only.  Let me know if you prefer the baby crochet book or the plastic canvas holiday book.  I will pick the winners names out of my super large coffee mug on Sunday, Mar. 25th, 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. 

The 1st prize is a hardcover copy of 'Oh Baby! Crochet'.  This book is in very, very good condition.  I looked through it once and that was about it.  You can see more of this book here:  http://www.amazon.com/Oh-Baby-Crochet-Glenda-Chamberlain/dp/1592172571#_ 

The 2nd prize is a hardcover copy of 'Happy Holidays in Plastic Canvas'.  I bought this book a couple of weeks ago from The Dollar Tree.  It is not in perfect condition - it has a scrape on the back cover and some tears and scrapes to the paper where the wire spiral is.  Overall though - it's in very good condition.  You can see more of this book here:  http://www.e-patternscentral.com/detail.html?prod_id=4508&cat_id=5&classification_id=K

Also included in the 2nd prize is the 'Threadbared' book I posted about here:  http://hooksandyarns.blogspot.com/2011/12/threadbared.html.  It's good for a laugh - and then you can pass it on if you'd like. 

~ squares from Bev & Sharon's giveaway ~

The mailman stopped at my house yesterday and brought me a package - these granny squares from Bev of 'One Yarn After Another'.  They're very pretty and I've been sitting here trying to pick my favorite one but I can't do it.  I love all three.  Bev also sent me the cutest little button which was attached to my yarn bag shortly after opening the package.  Thank you so much Bev. 

I'm really enjoying these granny swaps - a great big "THANK YOU" to all my blogging friends who have joined in with me.  :)  

~~~~~

Sharon of 'Sharon's Eclectic Retreat' is going to have a giveaway once she gets to 100 followers.  If you like vintage patterns, or if you like slippers, or if you like both - hop on over to read her post about it and to start following.  :)

~ craft room video ~

Here's a short video I did this afternoon.  :)

p.s. the window stuff is called 'Gallery Glass'.

~ granny squares & tulip bowls~

Today I received in the mail, granny squares from Cynthia of 'TwoLuLa'.  It's the 3 on the bottom.  Pretty work Cynthia - thank you very much.  As you can see, I'm slowly but surely working on all the squares that I have received so far.  I'm only adding a sc border and then I will whipstitch them together.  Nothing fancy - I'm going to let the pretty squares do all the talking.  :)

~~~~~

I went over to my Mom's for a visit today and she gave me these Fire-King tulip bowls.  My Mom received these bowls at her bridal shower 55 years ago.  There used to be 4 of them, but over the years the 2 smaller ones were broken and these 2 are showing their age.  I still love them though.  :) 

~ little coasters ~

Here's a set of coasters that I'm taking to the campground.  I really don't know why since no one really uses coasters - but they look like they belong there. 

The pattern for these coasters is the first 4 rounds of the round ripple followed by 1 round of sc.  They measure 5 1/2" across - perfect for large glasses or mugs.

Here's the link for the round ripple pattern:

http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/angelcrafts/patterns/roundripple.html

~ Two on Tuesday ~

Two things that make me happy:

* waking up in the morning to a bright, sunny day and planning out what to do.

* a new haircut and not letting myself be upset about it.  Let me explain.  My hair was almost shoulder length - I went into The Haircuttery and told the young lady that I wanted my hair layered.  I explained it as best as I could, and I even showed her the length that I wanted - she seemed to understand because she kept shaking her head 'yes' and saying 'ok'.  Welllllll - I came out with a boys haircut almost.  It's ok though - considering my last 2 haircut experiences, I kind of went in there expecting the worst.  It just seems to always happen to me.  So - instead of being upset about it - I just put on my pink polka dot headband, checked my make-up and went to the grocery store.  No one laughed and pointed, so I guess it's not too bad.

Here's a few pictures - sorry, no makeup today so I don't want to show my face.  :)

Looking at these pictures - it doesn't look all that bad.  My hair has a natural craziness to it, so it goes where ever it wants to go. 

  (pretty little polka-dotty headbands)

~ cupcake plastic canvas coaster ~

Well - it's supposed to be a cupcake - kind of looks funny though.  Oh well, no matter - I'll use it anyway.  :)

Materials:
- 4-ply worsted weight acrylic
   - brown
   - rose
   - pink
   - soft white
- embroidery thread
   - brown
   - rose
- 27 hole x 27 hole piece of 7-count plastic canvas
- large eye yarn needle
- 1/2" red button

Directions:
1.  Using the continental stitch, work piece according to the graph.

2.  Whipstitch the edge with soft white.

3.  Embroider accents any way you like, or you can follow the top picture.

4.  Sew red button to top of cupcake.

   

 

~ baby blankie 19b ~

Finished up this baby blankie last night.  I crocheted it with various brands of 4ply worsted weight acrylic for the middle circle and Loops & Threads Impeccable for the rest.  It measures 24" x 30" and I used the 'squircle v-3' pattern.

I like patterns that are toteable - I crocheted 5 of the circles while waiting with my nephew Spencer at the doctor's office.  Actually, I sat in my car while he was in there.  I find that that is more comfortable for me - and I don't take the risk of catching anyone else's sickness.  I also walked over to the McDonald's and got some coffee - so I was happy.  

~~~~~

Speaking of doctor appointments - my nephew's appointment was at 2:00 - they didn't call his name until around 3:00.  Why do they overbook their appointments like that?  It's totally ridiculous.

~~~~~

(picture from BuyVinylFence.com)

Update on our fence problem - I'm going to go with the 6' white vinyl fence.  City of Bowie says that we will have to file for a variance on the zoning code and that will cost us $200.00 - and there's no guarantee that we will get it.  What!?!  Holy crap.  See - this is what happens when you follow the rules.  We have so many neighbors around here that have just simply done what they wanted to do with no consequences - i.e. neighbor behind us is taking up half of the right-of-way with his driveway - neighbor up the road has chickens and a rooster - neighbor down the side road has a used car lot in his back yard - and so on, and so on.  Sooooo irritating.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.  :)        

 

~ 27th anniversary ~

Today is our 27th anniversary - here's to 27 more. :)

~ ragg crochet pillow ~

Here it is - my ragg crochet pillow:

I've always liked the look of ragg quilting, but since I don't quilt I came up with my crochet version.  All you need is this:

and a little time.  Crochet nine (9) closed granny squares:

Working thru the back loops of the square on the right on the 2nd row, and the front loops of the square of the right on the 1st row, sc across.  (Your sc ridge will be on the front of your project.)  Now pick up the next squares and join them together the same way.

Repeat for the second line of joining.  Turn piece and sc the remaining 2 join lines across.  Ch 1 to hop over the intersecting joins.

Your next step is to join the Bernat Boa novelty eyelash yarn with a sc to the first sc on any joining ridge, sc in each sc across with a ch 1 to hop over the intersecting joins.

Repeat for the other 3 joining ridges.

For the outer edge, join Bernat Boa novelty eyelash yarn with a sc in any corner, (ch 1, sc) in same corner.  Sc in the front loop of each dc around with (sc, ch 1, sc) in each corner.  Join with a sl st to 1st sc.  End off.

***Debi Y's version***
 
~~~~~

There you have it - simple as pie.  (mmmmm, pie)   

I only made a front piece - I already had a fabric covered pillow so I just tacked this to it - and I didn't feel like making another piece because I've got to get back to my baby blankies.  Speaking of - I think this would be good for a blanket - just need more squares of course.  Maybe one day.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great crochet day.  :)   

~ WIPW ~

I'm hookin' up with Stephanie at 'Simply Crochet and Other Crafts' for today's WIPW.  This is a sneak peek of my next project.  I'm also still working on the 2 baby blankies I showed you last week. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great crochet day.  :)

~ granny square swap #3 ~

***sign-ups closed***


Hello everyone - it's time for the next granny square swap.  If you would like to swap a granny square with me - please leave me a comment on this post only. 

Here's the specifics:

* one (1) 6" granny square
* acrylic yarn
* any color

The deadline to mail the granny squares will be the end of this month. 

I can accept ten (10) people for this swap.  If you sign up for this swap - (and if you haven't already sent me your address) please send me your mailing address to: dlyrs@juno.com

Thanks for stopping by and have a great crochet day.  :)


***sign-ups closed***

~ 2 more plastic canvas coasters ~

Vince and I were out and about again yesterday running errands (his days off are Friday and Saturday) - we stopped at alot of places, but my favorite was AC Moore.  I picked up a few things: 2 crochet hooks, 2 small decorative paper punches (a butterfly and a flower), a mill-ends bag of bulky yarn, 4 sheets of plastic canvas and a pack of 10 plastic canvas squares.  Oh, and I also bought 3 large jar candles. 

When we got home I made up 2 more coasters.  The one on top I call 'I love my coffee' and the bottom one I call 'Springtime patchwork'.  I think I shouldn't of cut the heart shape out - should of left it as a square.
 

I also wanted to show you how I keep my embroidery threads - a little plastic canvas bobbin.

I think that's it for now - I have to get back to my crocheting.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great crochet day.  :)

~ my WIP's and other stuff ~

I know - I'm a day late and a dollar short.  I joined in at 'Simply Crochet and Other Crafts' yesterday and then forgot to post here.  The granny square is the beginning of a baby blankie.  Remember 'Le monde de Sucrettes' giant granny along a little while ago?  I had fun with that so I decided to crochet another.  Notice my white with black spots crochet hook?  That was the very first crochet hook handle that I made - it matches my dog Tex - and it also matches the cows in my kitchen.  :) 

The other project is my 'squircle v-3' pattern worked into another baby blankie.

**Tip:  taking a picture of your WIP with the crochet hook helps when you go back to work on it.    

~~~~~

This is the side of my back yard.  When we bought our house in 1985 all those houses were not there (there's more down the way) - so we have had a privacy problem since.  If I sit on the patio, everybody and their brother looks at me as they go by.  I wave at them but more than half don't wave back.  (How rude.)  I know it's really not a big deal but it does bother me.  Vince and I can't seem to figure out what to do - we've talked about bamboo, but that is a very invasive plant that will take over the whole yard so we don't want that.  We've talked about adding lattice around the patio but that will just cut off the yard.  I'm thinking a 6 ft. tall wood fence will do the trick but I'm not sure the City of Bowie will let us do that.  Do any of ya'll have any ideas?

~~~~~

This Sunday evening is the 6th season premier of 'Army Wives'.  The preview is pretty cool looking - the wives are walking through a storm and one of them "will not weather the storm".  I thinks it's Kim Delaney's character Claudia Joy.  Kim Delaney seems to have a drinking problem in real life, so she needs to take care of that.  What a shame - I remember her when she was on the soap opera 'All my Children' a long, long time ago.  Well anyways - that's where I'll be on Sunday evening.

~~~~~

Thanks for dropping by and have a great crochet day.  :)