Week 44

A blessed Sunday to all of you out there.  It has been a wonderful week here and I am blessed beyond all measure.  I am finally totally out of my thumb splint/brace and my crafting has taken off again.

These are the bed socks I made for my mom out of worsted weight.  It is "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby in the colorway Aegean.  I was worried about making such a thick sock. Never having made a sock from this weight yarn, I was concerned they would be too warm. Not need to worry about that.................she loves them.  She was super happy on the fact, they came up a bit past her ankle and kept her nice and warm all night long.  They stayed on her feet and never came off.  A big plus for her since she is unable to reach down to put socks on and off.

Since she loved them so much:

I started another pair for her.  I have tons of worsted weight yarn and it is ALL variegated. Lucky for me, she doesn't care about color as much as she does warmth.  I will say, working socks in worsted weight, they sure do knit up faster.  Once again, I am not using any pattern.  I cast on 40 stitches on size US 5 needles and do a 2x2 ribbing for 2 inches, knit for 1 inch, do the Fish Lips Kiss heel and then knit until I am 2 inches from the length I need.  A very basic easy pattern that I can do without looking at a pattern.

I completed the Radiating Dragon Fly throw for the prayer shawl ministry at church.

I am in love with the colors.  It ended up being about 40 inches square, so should do nicely for someone wanting a bit of warmth for their legs.

I had to start another prayer shawl project right away.

This time I am knitting the Stitch Sampler Shawl.  This will be the first time I have worked with Crafter's Secret yarn.  It is from Hobby Lobby also.  I would rate it between, I Love This Yarn and Red Heart, for softness.  I do believe that once it is washed and dried, it will soften up quite a bit.  These are nice big skeins for a fantastic price.  I normally do not knit a prayer shawl as it takes a bit of time for me.  But, I saw this pattern about a month ago and fell in love with it.  One of the other ladies in the prayer shawl group has made it already and it turned out very nice.  I am striping it to give it some interest.  Once again, using the jewel toned yarns to brighten up someone's day a bit.

I did not add anything to my stash this week.......shock!  I was too busy trying to relieve the stash of some yarn.

Today, I have already planned my menus for the week and made out the grocery list.  I will be heading to the store in a little while to get said groceries and then I will have the rest of the day to relax and knit away.  I love days like that.

It helps that I woke up at 3:30 this morning so I could accomplish all of my 'to do' lists. Seems like I am waking up very early every Sunday now.  That is fine, I can take a nap this afternoon if need be.  Dinner is already in the fridge marinating (steaks) and hubby will grill those up tonight for us.  So I really do not have anything left to do but go to the store.  

I am looking at my schedule for the week and it is again normal.  I do have to get our guest room cleaned up a bit though.  My brother is coming to stay for a week for Mother's day.The guest room has become a bit of a storage area for us, and I need to weed out some things in there that are not being used and won't be used.  I think I hear Goodwill calling my name LOL.  I actually look forward to decluttering the room.  Call me weird, I know.  I have a vision in my mind of living a very simplistic life and being more of a minimalist.  Well, other than having a stash of yarn.  Someday, my dream will come true.....................maybe.  Hubby is not on the same page as I am..............yet.  He is getting better though, so maybe in the next 10 years I will have converted him totally.  MAYBE!

Time for me to get off to the store so I can get home and clean the veggies and fruits and then relax with my yarn and needles for the day.

Until next time......................happy crafting!!!!!!!!

Tough Friday

Today was good and yet tough too.  I did 4 loads of laundry this morning while hubby cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms.  I still have 2 more loads of laundry to do and should complete them tomorrow.

I started another pair of bed socks for my mom.  She loves the worsted weight socks.  That makes me happy as I have TONS of worsted weight yarn.  The first sock is already past the heel and onto the foot.  I would like to complete them this weekend. 

I ordered a set of interchangeable knitters pride nova cubic platina needles yesterday.  They were delivered today.  My fixed are wonderful, but when I am working on a shawl that is 60" wide,my 32" fixed are a bit tight.  I am in love with the cubics.  I can knit for hours without any hand pain.

We went to have dinner with our neighbors tonight.  We have been friends for many years.  They both have some health issues.  The wife has lung cancer that has metastasized to her brain.  She has undergone radiation treatment for that.  Her original brain tumor is gone but now she has 5 little ones that have appeared. She has to decide if she is going to undergo radiation again or not.  Her husband and children are putting a lot of pressure on her to do it. I told her, I would support what ever decision she chose.

The husband had a mild stroke about a month ago and spent 3.5 weeks in the hospital.  Almost 2 weeks of that was in ICU in a medical induced coma.  He is learning how to talk and swallow again.  He is also taking care of his wife, which is an added toll on his health.

Their adult son does live at home and their 2 daughters are also in town.  All the "kids" are doing what they can to help, but they all have jobs and families too.  This is first time we have been with them since the husband has been home from the hospital.  It was very hard to see the decline in the 2 of them.  They are such great people and have always been there when we needed them.  Now it is our turn to be there for them.

It hurt my heart to see these vibrant people being reduced to homebound persons.  We never know what is in store for us.  I had talked to one daughter, last Christmas, and told her I didn't expect her mom to make it to Christmas 2017.  I still believe that.  If she leaves this world, I don't think it would belong before her husband would join her,.  One of the toughest Fridays in a long time for me.

Until next time. . . . . . . . . . happy crafting! 

Spring Time

I have been admiring all the lovely photos of spring blooms around the world.  Spring is very short lived here in the desert.  We do have flowering plants though.  I grabbed a shot of my favorite blooming tree today.

This is a Jacaranda tree.  It has the most gorgeous purple blooms all over it.  The blooms last about 2 months and then it is just a green lacy leafed tree.  I don't have one of these in my yard.  They are very dirty when the flowers drop and make a mess of a swimming pool.  So I admire all my neighbors trees.

Here is a succulent that I admire.

I have no idea what it is but I love looking at it.  There aren't thorns on it as there are on most cacti.  As it grows, the new growth comes in red, then goes to yellow and then green. Sorry for the fence post in the middle of the photo.  This was taken from the car in a hasty move.

I went to the Prayer Shawl group this morning and so enjoyed being there with the ladies.  It is so nice to see what everyone is working on.  We do a lot of pattern exchanges which is so much fun.

I am sitting here, smelling the scent of baking banana bread.  Hubby loves banana bread and I hate throwing over ripe bananas out.  I noticed the other day, our fruit market had a large box of over ripe bananas.  I so wanted to see if they were just going to throw them away and if so, could I take a few off their hands for free.  I might talk to the manager there and see if that is a possibility.  

As soon as the bread is done, I will be off to visit my mom. I have dinner planned and then hubby and I have adoration tonight for an hour.  That is another crafting time for me.  Prayer and knitting go together quite well.

I love this face.  This is Enrique.  He is sooooooo my dog.  I can not go anywhere without him right on my heels.  When I am watching TV in the evenings, he lays right next to me the whole time.  He is always next to me in bed too.  He even sits right outside the bathroom door while I take my shower.  When I leave to go to my meetings or shopping, he stands at the door with the saddest eyes.  When I returns, he just about blows up with enthusiasm 

AHHHHH, the bread is out of the oven, the house smells heavenly and I am going to knit a few rows before I head off to my moms.

Until next time..........................Happy Crafting!

Wonderful Wednesday

It has been a wonderful day.  It started early, like 4 AM early.  It doesn't happen often, that I can't sleep.  When it does, I take the opportunity to enjoy some quiet me time.

This morning, I did a bit of a clean up in my craftroom.  Our Grand was coming over after school and she needed a place to do homework.  Her desk is in my craftroom.  While I was in there, I cut out the sleep shorts, for her.  What a huge mess.  The fleece was horrible to cut. It shed everywhere and sewing it turned into a major pain in my side.  But she loves them.  I thought they looked so horrible,  I wouldn't even take a photo of them.

I also went to the crochet class today and had 3 students I got to supervise.  They were a joy to be with. One was a young man.  He understands this craft so well.  I am impressed.  

On the crafting front,  not only did I make the sleep shorts, I turned the heel on my Spring Tulip socks and did a few rows on the Stitch sampler shawl.

I attended a school board meeting tonight and am now kicking back watching reruns.  I will work a bit more on the shawl tonight before bed and then read a few chapters in my book.

I haven't heard whether mom likes her new bed socks or not.  I go to visit her tomorrow so will find out then.

Until next time. . . . . . . . . . . . happy crafting! 

Completion

Another busy day here in sunny Arizona. My day started fairly early and ended........well, it hasn't really ended yet.

Hubby took his car in for his bi-annual Auto Butler.  It helps protect the paint from fading, peeling and even chipping.  We have done this on our last 2 cars and it is wonderful.  His last car was 10 years old and the paint was as good as the day we bought it.  Remember,  we have harsh sunshine here 7 months of the year. So this service is worth every penny we pay for it.

While hubby was busy, I went to my BFFs house to occupy her dog while an appraiser was there.  Her dog is a big lover but is not appreciative of strange men  being in his kitchen.  They can be in any other room but not the kitchen. If you are female, you can do what you want in any part of the house.

After that,  I picked up hubby and went grocery shopping. It was a short list, so we were done within an hour.  We came home and had a quick lunch.  

I picked up the Radiating Dragonfly throw to work on.  A miracle happened. ..........,,,I finished it!!!!!!!  I even sewed on the tags for our prayer shawl ministry.  This means I can cast on a new shawl.  I chose Stitch Sampler Shawl.  I have four jeweled toned colors to make this with.  Hopefully it will work well........time will tell.

Hubby and I went for $.99 tacos tonight at our neighborhood restaurant.  We decided to look over their menu just for giggles,  we saw they sell shots of tequila (welcome to the southwest) and there was a shot on the menu for $250.00!!!!!!!  Needless to say, I didn't order that, lol.

I didn't get around to making the Grands sleep shorts.........yet.  Hopefully tomorrow, they will get cut out and MAYBE sewn.  I'm not holding my breath though.  My schedule is pretty booked until about 2  tomorrow afternoon. 

So, until next time. ............Happy Crafting! 

Almost on schedule

I almost did all the things I had planned for today.

I finished bed sock #2. It felt good to have it done.  Mom was quite pleased with them and will let me know if they work well for her.  If so, I will be making more worsted weight bed socks for her.  I have lots of worsted weight yarn and nothing planned for it.  The best part.......it only takes 2-3 days to complete a pair. 

I was able to get my hair cut this morning.  Finally!  I wanted to do it before Easter, but got sick.  It is done and I am happy that it is once again short and spiky.  So easy to take care of.

I was going to go grocery shopping today but.............I just picked up the items I needed to make tonight's dinner. I will try and go shopping tomorrow.  Hubby stopped by Grand Daughters school today and picked up gift cards for the grocery stores we will be going to.  A percentage of the gift card purchase price goes towards her tuition.

I was going to sew Grands sleep shorts tonight, but never got to it.  I have tomorrow afternoon free so............I figure that would be the perfect time to do some sewing.

I also need to get back to my dragon fly throw and complete it. I want to start a new shawl but won't until the throw is completed.  I pretty much took tonight off and loved on my dogs and watched baseball on TV.  Oh, I did watch DWTS too.

So, off to bed I go.  Another busy day tomorrow.

Until next time............Happy Crafting! 

Week 43, 9 more to go!

Well, hello everyone.  Another fine Sunday it is here in the great state of Arizona.  It is a wee bit warm outside, so I am happy to be inside updating my blog for this years "Year of Projects" post.  

Thursday, I went to see my Ortho Dr and was told I could be out of my brace most of the time.  I still need to wear it to sleep, drive and doing any chores that require lifting with the thumb.  I am so happy..............................My knitting needles are so happy...................this makes everyone happy that is in contact with me too.  LOL

So what did I do this week?

I grabbed my Spring Tulip socks and worked on the second one and now it is ready for me to do the heel.  Of course I will be doing the Fish Lips Kiss heel again.  Then all I have left is the foot on both socks, to complete.

My mom has been telling me she needs more bed socks.  This time I am making them with worsted weight yarn.

I started this one on Friday night and finished it Saturday.  I have started the second one
 and am hoping to have it ready by my visit to her tomorrow.  I have to make them in 100% acrylic, as the facility where she lives washes and dries EVERYTHING.  The socks I made her before had about 10% wool in them and they are so stiff and nasty now.  I really do not have a pattern for this sock.  Just kind of winged it.  If they fit, I will make more of them for her.  

We had our Grand on Saturday.  So we did a little shopping.  I found a pattern to make her, her sleep shorts she wants.  She found a fleece material and is so excited to have something that soft to wear to bed.  I should be able to make those as soon as the bed sock is completed.  I would like to have them done by Tuesday, when we get her from school.

On our shopping trip I found this yarn.

I have seen these lovely types of yarns all over the place, but they are all wool.  That made me very sad (insert sad face here).  Well, I am now a very happy person.  JoAnn's had these in 100% acrylic and they were on sale.  I bought 3 of this color as I was told it would take that much to make a shawl out of them.  So my stash has been enhanced a bit more.

Do you realize, we only have 9 more weeks before YOP 6 is completed and YOP 7 will start?  I swear, after Christmas, the time just flies by for the YOP.  I looked at my list the other day and it is no where near where I thought I would be.

 YOP 6

Baby Items:

Seamless Cable Booties (Decided not to do them)
Corner to Corner blanket COMPLETED

Socks:

Celtic Denim Sock  HAVEN'T TOUCHED
Hermiones Everyday Socks COMPLETED
Snoqualmie Socks HAVEN'T TOUCHED
Car Socks  HAVEN'T TOUCHED
Pedicure Socks  COMPLETED
Spring Tulips Socks WORKING ON THEM
Scatterby Socks  HAVEN'T TOUCHED


Shawls:

Stockinette Hug COMPLETED ALONG WITH 8 OTHER SHAWLS


WIPS:  DID NOT TOUCH ANY OF THESE OTHER THAN THE C2C

Boxy Top NOT TOUCHED
Hubby Socks  NOT TOUCHED
Dive In Shawl  NOT TOUCHED
Log Cabin Afghan  NOT TOUCHED
Corner 2 Corner baby blanket COMPLETED

Sweater/Jacket:

4  Azel  (Matching sets for 2 mother/daughter teams)  MADE 2 OF THEM


Dishcloths:

6-12 of them, varying patterns MADE 4 THIS YEAR

Other Items for the Year:

Test knits/crochet  HAVE DONE 3 THIS YEAR
Try something new for me in knitting  LEARNED HOW TO ADD BEADS TO KNITTED PROJECT
Photos of completed projects  YUP..........
Give myself the right to change (add/delete) this list as needed  DID THAT A LOT.  JUST LOOK UNDER THE SHAWL CATEGORY LOL

Will I be able to complete anything else before the 9 weeks are up.  I certainly hope so.  Now that my thumb is back in business, I am hoping to complete my Spring Tulip socks, my Radiating Dragon Fly throw, Mom's bed socks and maybe another test knit of some socks that are coming up soon.  Time will tell if I make it or not.

On to my life in general.  I finally started to feel 100% on Thursday.  That was a week after I got so ill. Unfortunately, hubby caught what I had that same day.  He has been puny ever since, although, he did finally start to eat real food again today.  He should be back to normal around Thursday of this week. We have no idea what is was, but we didn't like it at all.

Yesterday, I got a chance to visit with one of my cousins who I had not seen in about 6 years.  One nice thing about cousins is..............................you seem to just pick up where you left off the last time you saw them.  There are a total of 26 of us cousins with 25 of us still living.  We all keep talking about having a cousin reunion.  I think it would be a grand idea, but need to find someone to spearhead it.  It has been 17 years since we have all been together at one time.

After my visit, I went to lunch with another cousin that lives here during the winter.  He is getting ready to leave next weekend.  It is so nice to have a bit of family around.

This coming week, will finally be back to normal.  I have my crochet class on Wednesday and Prayer Shawl Ministry on Thursday.  I visit my mom on Monday and Thursday.  Grocery shopping will be tomorrow, although, I did get the menus for the week planned today as well as the grocery list made. Tuesday morning we clean the house and then we get our Grand after school until Daddy comes for her, after he gets off work.  Wednesday is pretty quiet until that evening, when, hubby needs to go to church to Sacristan for the mass.  Friday is the day where I catch up on my crafting, journaling, communications, laundry etc.  There are never ANY plans made on Friday.  Saturday morning is for resting and maybe watching a movie while Saturday afternoon sees us going to Mass and then out to eat with friends.  Sunday rolls around and we start all over again.

And I retired for this LOL

Until next time....................................Happy Crafting!

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful for all my blogging friends that sent up prayers for me yesterday. 

I am thankful for my Doctor who is giving me some hand freedom.

I am SUPER thankful that I am being allowed to try knitting.  If it hurts, I need to stop and reapply the brace.  Otherwise, I only need to wear the brace while driving, sleeping, doing laundry or anyother task that requires a bit of oomph.

Should have seen the smile on my face when I received the news.  I should be totally out of the brace in the next couple of weeks.  By the end of next week, it should only need to be worn to bed and driving.  He said, those are the times my thumb is at the most vulnerable. 

So, I am closing this update now and grabbing a pair of needles and giving it a whirl for a little bit.

Until next time...........Happy Crafting

YOP Week 42.5

Talk about coming late to a party.........................LOL.  With Sunday being Easter, and being with the family, I just didn't feel right taking the time to update the blog.  I normally update my blog on Saturday evening and then just add a few finishing details on Sunday morning before I publish it.  Needless to say I did not do that this time.  

I was horribly sick from Friday around until Saturday evening.  I missed Good Friday Mass (that made me super sad) but did  manage to go to the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.  I finally am back to normal as of this morning.  It was the most awful I have ever felt in years. We have no clue what I had, but so far, no one else has shown any signs of getting it.  So we are kind of thinking it might have been food poisoning.  I ate something on Thursday and it never seemed to settle in my stomach and I think that is what it was.  I lost 10 lbs in 2.5 days!  I did put 3 of them back on, just because I started to eat again.  It made my weigh in this morning with WW look pretty good LOL

I am now back to being my old self and just had to update my blog.  If I go more than a week without updating, it seems I have WAAAAAAY too much stuff to talk about.

On the crafting front..................................I did not get my Radiating Dragonfly throw completed.  

I am on the (hopefully) last color though.  If it doesn't seem big enough after this purple I have a red to add to it.  If it does seem big enough, I will use the red for the border.  Either way, red will be put on this to complete it.

I am in love with the dragonfly pattern and would like to do a shawl with these little critters in it.  Since I know how to make them now, I figure I can design my own pattern and make it happen.

Yesterday, hubby and I and Grand went shopping and we happened to stop by Hobby Lobby and I picked up some colors for the said shawl.

I am so in love with the bright jewel tone colors.  I just think they brighten up a room when placed around................................and no.......................I do not have jewel tones all over my house.  But I do wear them quite often to improve my mood.  I have never worked with Crafters Secret yarn before.  The price was right and it is still much softer than Red Heart (nothing wrong with RH but it kind of irritates my hands) and machine washable and dryable.  Things that are very important when dealing with very ill people and their families.

While we were out yesterday, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch out.

She loves to go out to lunch with us and we had a wonderful time with her.  I know in a few years, she is not going to want to spend 'quality' time with us old folks.  Hubby had wanted to spend his day cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, but I convinced him to go with us to enjoy what time we have left enjoying her childhood.  We never got to do this with our other Grands since they all live so far away.

After lunch, we completed our shopping trip and came home.  By then it was 93 F outside and we were all hot and sweaty.  Of course Grand decided we should go swimming.  I may be old but I am not stupid.  I knew the pool was cold but she insisted she was going to go.  Not wanting to be an old fuddy duddy, I told her to go ahead and I would sit out there, in the shade, with her.

The water was 70F!  Sorry, but my thighs don't go into the water until at least 78F.  She swam for about 45 minutes and then got out to get ready to go home.

I completed my mom's taxes that evening and hubby took me out to dinner for $.99 tacos at our local eatery.  They are really good and it is super close to home.

I did want to show you a photo of the Grand with her completed Iris costume on.

She made the crown herself from the scraps of tulle we had left over from the skirt.  Another crafter is in our midst.

I go back to the orthopedist tomorrow to find out if I am healing yet or not on my thumb. Please say a few prayers for me.  I really need to get out of this splint.  It is so hot here and my arm is sweating all the time now.  I take it off while watching TV, just to let the splints cushions dry out.

Until next time..........................................Happy Crafting!

Long Week

This has been a very long week for me.

As I posted earlier this week, my mom got admitted to the hospital. They thought she had developed bronchitis from a sinus infection.  Now they are not so sure. It very well could be related to the leaky valve in her heart.  Her lungs were very crackly and she wheezed with every breath.  She finally got discharged this afternoon.  Neither of us know what changes will be made to her medications or anything else. She most likely will be having this problem again and again.  I will say.............her sense of humor never dampened.

When I went to visit her Tuesday, she joked about being on the top floor and being in the penthouse.  Then she started chuckling and said "actually, I'm closer to heaven here. Won't have as far to go if I die." She cracks me up.

Wednesday, our grand daughter did her presentation of Iris, Greek goddess of rainbows.  She was excellent.  It was a Greek banquet and we were all treated to Greek food.  There were 24 children and each and every one of them worked very hard on their presentations. Those 6th graders were fabulous.

I helped with crochet class at the same school that afternoon.  I don't think we are going to make it through all the projects we had planned. There were only 2 projects too.  This group doesn't seem to be as into handcrafts as others have been in the past. Maybe next year we will have a good group.......,if we do it next year.

Today was prayer shawl ministry. I worked 8n my Radiated Dragonfly throw.  I am hoping to complete it this weekend.  I will start another crochet project right away. I so enjoy making items for the ministry. I try to have one prayer shawl or throw going at all times.  They usually make great TV projects as they are pretty easy going patterns I choose.

Tonight, hubby and I went to Holy Thursday mass.  Tomorrow night will be Good Friday service and then Saturday the Easter Vigil. This is the busiest time of the year for hubby and I.  We are very involved in our church so we will be spending many hours there over these 3 days. Easter Sunday we will have our day of rest with the family. 

Tonight, Hubby and I are watching the movie "King of Kings". It has been quite a while since we saw it. This is the perfect Holy Week movie. It is long and we won't get to bed before tomorrow morning....but still worth it.

Until next time............Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!

Monday and My Obsession

Today dawned bright and beautiful.  Bright sunshine, lots of singing birds, a gentle breeze blowing...............................absolutely lovely.  My brother in law and his brood took of early this morning for the zoo and we will meet up with them for dinner tonight.

Then the first phone call to put a little damper on the day.  Mom called to tell me not to come out and visit her today.  She is really sick and going to the Dr this afternoon.  I had told her Thursday, she sounded like she was getting sick AGAIN but she said she felt fine.  Parents.......they never listen to you LOL

So I decided to do a bit of errand running for my Daughter in Law.  She needed a half slip for the costume as the tulle keeps tangling up with her legs.  I also picked up some Downy Plus that helps reduce static and straightens out the wrinkles. Hopefully this will help all that tulle behave on Wednesday.

I was not able to find a half slip in a child's size.  Guess they don't need to wear them.....EVER!  I got her a woman's small and left it with a couple of large safety pins for mom to cinch it up for her.

After that, I headed home to have some lunch and a bit of quiet time with the hubby.  We had some recorded programs we wanted to watch and this was the perfect time to do so.

As we were sitting there watching one of our programs, the phone rings again.  This time it is my mom's Dr.  He is sending her to the hospital with bronchitis and A-fib.  He thinks she is in a bit of heart failure again.  Her lungs are sounding full and wheezing real bad.  There is nothing I can do at this point but sit and wait.  He said he will call me again after he sees her after office hours and let me know what is going to go on.  I have no idea if she is in the emergency room or if they have her in a room at the moment.  So I sit and wait.  She has not been in A-fib for over a year so this is kind of a set back for her.

I have been crocheting on my Radiating Dragon Fly blanket this afternoon.  It is coming along nicely.  The square is getting larger so it is a bit slower going right now.  I am on a teal color right now and have 2 more colors after that to complete it.  I am hoping it will be large enough for a lap blanket.  If not............I will find a bright red to complete it.  Then I will be doing a border in black.  It is a nice TV project but is starting to get a bit warm on my lap.

As the title of this post suggests, I have an obsession.  It might even be called an addiction. Not the kind you go into rehab for though.  Although, I think my hubby is thinking of opening a rehab center just for this addiction.  And it is not for my yarn addiction.  That one he doesn't mind, since the yarn is made into useful items for home and charity.  Nope, this addiction I loving call LLR.  Also know as LuLaRoe.  It is a clothing line that is only available on Facebook.  My darling Daughter introduced me to this clothing line about 8 months ago. Since then, I have managed to obtain an entire wardrobe of LLR.  I have leggings, 2 different styles of tops, maxi skirts and have just started wearing and loving one of their dresses.  It is the most comfortable clothes I have ever worn.  The best part........with my dominant hand in a splint, I am not able to use anything with buttons on it.  All of LLR is pull on clothing.  Well, all the LLR I have is.  Tonight, there is a sale on the dresses I have just started wearing and I have one all picked out to buy once the sale starts.



This is one of the high low dresses and I love it.  I don't have to worry about bending over and exposing things that are best left covered.  This will be my third dress in this style.  It can be belted, tied, worn over leggings, etc.  I like it just as it is because it is flowing and super cool in the heat we have here.  Needless to say, since it is a sale, the price is much lower than what is showing.  That is when I purchase my clothes.  I won my second dress so that was FREE!  

Only 1.5 hours before the sale starts.  I want to be the first one on the site so I don't loose out on this dress.  I am really getting into colors too.  I even mix polka dots with geometric shapes for some outfits. Yup, I am in my second childhood.  My thought is.........Life is too short to wear boring clothes.  I have had a mostly dark toned closet for several years.  Thinking it would hide the fact I was 75 pounds over weight.  Now that 20 pounds are gone, I have decided, there will be no more hiding.  And the best part.................These clothes will fit even after I make my goal weight.  So I don't feel like I am wasting any $$ on clothing.

This is Holy Week......................I am trying to get all the laundry and housework done before Thursday evening.  I truly want to focus on those last few days of lent and what it means to all Christians around the world.  So I will be very busy on Tuesday and Wednesday as I have 4 beds that need the sheets washed and 2 beds need to be remade after that.  I also have about 3-4 loads of laundry to do besides bedding, my dogs have pedicure appointments, Grand Daughter's last basketball game, crochet class not to mention a bit of house cleaning to do.  Depending on what happens with my mom, I am sure there will be some extra visits that need to be done so she knows she is loved and thought of all the time.  I also need to pick up a ham for Easter dinner.  Thank goodness that is all I am responsible for.  Sides and desert are being handled by others.

Until next time........................................Happy Crafting!!!

YOP week 41

 

This header is very appropriate for this weeks YOP update.  I have just about busted open by holding in all I have to show and tell you about this week.  I am so happy and proud of every thing.  Ready???????????????? Let's go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First up..........I told you on Wednesday, I would upload a photo of my Grand in her Iris costume when I got it.  Please don't laugh to hard.  I realize Iris did not wear roller skates but................the grand was wearing them when we asked her to try on the tutu and crown. There is a bit more tulle being added to the tutu as it was a bit too sheer.  Iris is the Greek goddess of rainbows.  Do you think she captured the idea?

I finished this on Tuesday evening.

The Angel Wing shawl.  I truly enjoyed making this.  I doubt this will be the last one I make like this.  Super easy but not boring to work on.  Good TV project.

Since that was completed, I really needed another project on the hook.  I read all the YOP posts last week and ran across a post from Erin. She had had made the cutest blanket.  I loved it so much, I decided to do one for our prayer shawl ministry.  It will make a perfect lapghan.  I got it started on Wednesday afternoon and this is how far I got.

The test knit I did about a month ago for Knitterarium is published.  I can not finally show you the photos of the socks I made.  They are called To Darcy With Love. They were super easy to knit up.  The pattern was interesting but not so hard you had to have total concentration while doing them.

I actually used wool yarn to make these.  They will be given to a dear friend who also knits socks.  I know she will take great care of them.

 Loved the cuff design of them.  I do believe I will make these again too.

BUT.............................the biggest new of this past week was this.

A couple of months ago, I was notified there would be a new shawl crochet book coming out.  I am in love with doing crochet shawl and had a bit of a sneak peak and fell in love.  I pre-ordered it and it came in this week.

Look at these lovely patterns.  The book is titles "A Garden of Shawls" by Karen Whooley.  I am so excited to receive this book.  But the book is just the beginning.  It seems I was one of the first 50 people to pre-order the book so I got some extra special gifts because of it. Take a look at this:

 Locking stitch markers.  I love them.  They are so nice and thin I can use them on the most delicate of fabrics.

An adorable stitch/progress marker hand made by Ann Tudor.  I love the little owl.  Can hardly wait to use him.

A mini skein of yarn from Anzula.  It does not say how much is in this mini skein, but I am sure I can make a little something with it.  Maybe some beaded/knitted jewelry would be fun with this.

And last but not at all least:

This gorgeous, squishy, soft, precious skein of superwash yarn.  I know I keep saying I am allergic to wool but................for some reason, I have been handling this wool for several days not and there has been no rash appearing anywhere!

It is made by Cloudborn and is a finger weight fiber.  I am just about to burst!  I so want to start knitting with it but...............................I am still in the splint for another 2 weeks!  I am barely able to crochet and knitting is totally out of the question.  So, I put this in my craftroom and am trying not to go in and pet it everyday.  It really is that soft!

That is all with my fiber fun for the week.  As for my life:  I got my car back on Tuesday.  WOOHOO!  I so missed having my car.  The rental stunk.............literally.  On Friday, my hubby's brother came into town.  He brought our niece, great nephew and our niece's boyfriend with him.  They are all staying with us.  They are not around too much.  My BIL has activities planned everyday with them.  They are having a lot of fun and it is nice to get to see them and get to know the great nephew a little bit more.  (He is 6 but will turn 7 on May 2.  Just ask him LOL)  They will leave on Tuesday and then it will be quiet for a couple of days.

This is the start of Holy Week for us.  Today is Palm Sunday.............things will be kind of quiet until Thursday when we celebrate Maundy Thursday, then Good Friday and then on Saturday we will have Easter Vigil.  Easter Vigil is when ALL the people, who have been preparing, all over the world will be brought into the Catholic Church.It is a huge night for us and the service lasts anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. I went through this in 1999 and can not think of a better way to end Holy Week.  

I will try to post again next Sunday, but there are no guarantees.  I will be at church until 11pm and then on Sunday, we are having a family dinner and I will go out and visit my mom that day too.

Until next time...................................Happy Crafting!