All this spare time...

I had surgery on the 22nd to remove my gall bladder.  I didn't recover as well as hoped and, consequently, I am off work until February 2.  What to do with all this spare time?  Oh, I know!  Crochet!!!  Yay!!!  My parrot from a previous blog entry is still under construction but I have also started work on a beautiful scarf for my sister's birthday.  I am currently about a third of the way done with it.  Here is the pattern picture (NOT my picture!).

You can find this pattern here.

I am issuing myself a challenge in 2015.  My Ravelry queue is nine miles long (lol) and I have decided it is time to start working my way through it.  When I am finished with this scarf I am going to pick a pattern from my queue and start tackling them one at a time.  I also want to spend more time designing so I will likely have several projects going at once.  On the bright side, I will have lots of cool stuff to blog about.  :)

So much happening!

Hello everyone!  Perhaps my lack of posting recently can be forgiven when I explain that not only have I been working, but I have a new grandbaby and I had a gall bladder attack the other night that landed me in the hospital for a while and now I am planning to have surgery on Thursday.  Ugh.

Anyway, I have several things to show you.  Maybe you remember my last post and the owl hat that I made for my cousin's baby.  In case you missed that post, here is the picture again.

Isn't it cute?

I have since completed the set by making matching booties...

Crafty friends can find the basic pattern for these at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crocodile-stitch-baby-boots

and mittens.

Crafty friends can find the basic pattern for these

at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-mittens-13

If you have been keeping up with my blog you also will know that I have been working on a custom order parrot for a friend.  It isn't anywhere close to done as yet (He is going to be quite large and lots of work), but here is a progress pic for those who might be curious.

Crafty friends looking for this pattern can find it at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amigurumi-red-and-green-macaw--red-parrot---crochet-pattern-pdf

Knowing that my little grand daughter would be arriving any day I made this little sweater dress for her on Tuesday, January 13.  

Crafty friends can find this pattern, which I have personally used dozens of times and highly recommend, at http://bellabambinaknits.blogspot.com/2007/08/sweater-dress-pattern.html

And, on Wednesday, January 14, the beautiful little recipient made her appearance.

Olivia Marie

6 lbs. 11 oz.

20 in. long

So, as you can see, the last two weeks have been quite busy around here.  I hope you are staying busy and creative as well.  As always, thanks for stopping by,

Happy Last Day of Christmas Break!

     Oh how I hate to see the end of a good thing.  Tomorrow, the children of our community return to school, and my hubby and I return to work.  It has been a wonderful two weeks.  I don't want to give up my crafting time, my relaxing time, my "wow, I love my life" time, but life is what it is and we have to work, right?  
     As if said return to real life didn't suck enough, my little boy has chosen today to get sick.  He is currently running a temperature of 102.5 and his face and ears are blazing red.  His head and eyes hurt and he has a sick stomach.  I'm pretty sure there will be no school for little man tomorrow and no basketball game tomorrow night either.  Poor little thing.  :(
     So, I hate to admit it, but I didn't get much accomplished today.  I took my daughter, Sabrina, and ten-month-old grandson, Sebastion, to a restaurant to meet up with my grandson's father whom he has only met one time in his little life.  Sabrina was so nervous.  So was Sebastion's daddy.  It didn't go well.  :(
     Anyway, what I DID accomplish was to finish the owl hat I was working on for my cousin's new baby.  I am fairly happy with it... except for the eyes... I just can't seem to get them done to my satisfaction.  Here are the pictures of MY completed owl hat.  Please let me know what you think!  Again, if you are interested in this pattern you can find it here.

     Now that I am done with the hat, I am going to start working on the booties and mittens she requested in matching colors.  I am using the following patterns.  These are NOT my pictures.  They belong to the pattern designers.

Find the pattern for these booties here!

Find the pattern for these mittens here!

I know, looking at my hat pics and these pattern pics, that none of it really matches, but I am holding out hope that in the correct colors it will be an awesome set!

     I didn't get any more work done on the parrot today as I had hoped I might, but I have to just take it one day at a time I guess.  :)

     Well, it is getting close to bed time and tomorrow is a busy day so I will say good night for now.  Thanks again for stopping by and visiting with me.  I hope you come back soon.  :)

     Happy crafting!

It's an Owltastic Saturday!!!

     Happy Saturday everyone!!!  I hope your day has been fabulous!  Mine has been absolutely OWLTASTIC!!!  I know, I know, wrong bird.  I am supposed to be hard at work on a parrot.  I had a request from my cousin for an owl hat, mittens, and booties for her new baby and I took a parrot break to work on those.  The owl hat is almost done.  I don't have pictures yet (wow, that's becoming a habit) but I have a link to the pattern on Ravelry and a pattern picture.  Here is where you can find the pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crochet-owl-hat-newborn-adult and here is a picture from the pattern.  Again, NOT MY PICTURE.  I will post some pictures of my own work for you to ooooooohhhhh and aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh over tomorrow.  :D

Aren't they adorable?!?  The one I am making for my cousin's new baby girl is brown and pink but a brighter pink than what you see in the middle picture above.  The pattern is simple enough but I truly just hope it turns out well.  The eyes are always a challenge for me.  I'm never happy with them.  :(

Hugs and well wishes and, as always, thanks for stopping by.  :)

A Bird in the Hand... or on the hook...

     A friend made a request yesterday for an amigurumi parrot.  I found this pattern and it was just what she wanted.  Last night I purchased the pattern and OH MY GOODNESS!!!  It is 44 pages long!  Granted, I only need 32 or 33 of the pages myself (I don't work from diagrams/charts) but I have to admit that the pattern is rather complicated.  Ah well, I love a challenge and I am super excited that I have the necessary yarn in my stash.  
     The two grandbabies who are not currently living with me, 3-year-old Colton and 15-month-old Kalex, are here visiting for the weekend so crocheting time has been limited.  Colton wants to play with the yarn balls and Kalex thinks my lap is his personal seat.  lol  It's ok, though.  I have missed them both like crazy.  Anyway, I have only managed 11 rounds of the parrot today and right now he honestly looks a little funny.  I don't have any pictures this evening but I will post some tomorrow.  I will show you what he is supposed to look like when he is done though.  Remember, this is not my picture.  It belongs to the pattern designer and can be found at the link up there ^^ ^^.

Isn't he beautiful?

     For tonight, however, I am exhausted and I hear my bed calling me.  Thanks for stopping by.  Remember to check back in for progress pics as my parrot comes to fruition.  :)

I'm back and 2015 is going to be MY year!!!

I have a couple of projects to share with you that came straight from my stash.  On Christmas Eve (my birthday, by the way), my wonderful sister brought me a bag of crochet yarn her boss had given her to pass on to me.  It was mostly left-overs and scraps.  You other crocheters out there know how it goes.  Someone stops crocheting or a crocheter passes away or whatever and there is always that bit of older yarn that no one lays claim to that you wind up giving away.  I have a lot of it in my stash because I NEVER pass up on yarn.  I love it all and one day will use it all!

     Anyway, I have this bag of yarn that my sister brought me and now I am determined to use it up.  So far, I have made two hats and a scarf.  This first hat was made holding a strand of a worsted weight red (not sure of the brand but it's not incredibly soft so I am thinking maybe RHSS or something similar) and a strand of some kind of red furry stuff (similar to fun fur) together and using a J hook.  I based it on the pattern at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basic-hat-pattern-version-7 but made several modifications to the pattern.  My mother has already laid claim to this hat.  :D

Next, we have the other hat and the scarf that I created using a skein of Homespun in the Harvest colorway that was also in the bag of yarn.  This hat was based VERY loosely on a pattern I found online, but now I cannot find it again.  The scarf was part of that online pattern as well.  If I find it I promise I will give credit!  

This scarf was a first for me.  I have never made one this short before.  :)

     I hope you have enjoyed all the eye candy and I want to thank you all for stopping by.  Happy New Year and I pray that you have a safe and prosperous new year!  God bless!