Weekend Crafting & Summer Biking

I decided to refurbish an old rocking chair that I have had since before my son's birth. It was in great condition up until we made an across country move. We have had to keep  it on our balcony due to not enough room inside and the winters really did it in. I lightly sanded it and then spray painted it a gorgeous aqua blue. Now I just need to make a cute patchwork cushion for it!!



   

Before & After
 

Very easy to do and I had a lot of fun with my daughter. Now she is claiming the rocker for her bedroom.









Summer biking

The hubby & I decided to do some mountain biking on Sunday. We biked at Park City Mountain Resort. They have so many great biking/hiking trails. We decided to do an uphill only trail that connected at the Mid-mountain trail. Well, uphill meant a 2500 vertical foot climb! I was so ready to throw a bike by the time we crested the top! I hibed (hike pushing bike) most of the uphill because it was so busy on the trail that I would stop and let better bikers pass me. Once I was off I thought why not just do some hibing and take a few pics.

Thistle being harvested by a honey bee

Fallen Spruce tree...love the texture!

Nice stopping spot on the trail...still have 2 more miles of going up at this point!

Armstrong Trail...can you see the vertical climb? It was uphill still at this point.

View of the ski slopes at Park City Mountain Resort.

The merger of Mid-mountain with Armstrong. These guys had biked 8 miles from the Canyons Resort at this point.

Park City..what a beautiful view

Park City was a silver mining town in the late 1800s upto the mid 1980s. There are so many mine shafts all over the mountain and throughout the city. This one is above the Silver Star lift on Park City Mountain Resort.



 

 

 I hope everyone is having a wonderful  summer. I have enjoyed my summer so far, but I am looking so forward to the fall. I love biking these mountain trails in fall because the colors are so vibrant and it is so much cooler!

Biking & Crocheting...my two stress relievers

I haven't finished any items this week, but I have been able to make some leeway with the African Flower Afghan. I have made 16 more African flower motifs, they just need to be squared up with the white...that I don't have because I need to go buy more today.

Yesterday was a breezy sunny day so I biked to work. When I know I have some downtime during work a bring along a couple of skeins of yarn and do some crocheting. Since I had to bike home after work, I decided to take a long bike ride and ended up at one of my favorite parks. I found a nice shady spot and whipped out my crochet items!

It was so nice and breezy. I crocheted and watched kids run all over the place. It's so sweet to listen to 5 year olds carry on conversations. They are so precious at that age.

 

I always put my yarn and crochet items in a Ziploc bag so they won't get dirty in my backpack. A was able to complete a few motifs.

 

After sitting for awhile crocheting, I decided to head home and begin dinner for the family. The bike path wraps around a soccer field and they had the sprinklers going! Yes, I acted like a kid and rode right through them! I was completely dry by the time I made it home. Another reason why I place my crochet items in a Ziploc bag!!

 

Go and check out actual FO Fridays @ Tami's.

FO Friday - Granny Square Scarf

Happy Friday!! I finished my scarf and it turned out great. I ended up using 3 balls of the Lion Brand Woodland Tweed. I could have used another half of a ball but decided not to. I didn't add buttons because I think it looked good without them.



I love the striped effect this yarn produces!



Everyone have a great weekend! Please hop over to Tami's Amis blog and check out other FOs for this week!

WIP Wednesday - Granny Square Scarf

Happy Wednesday!! A few weeks ago I was attempting to work on the sweet eleanor scarf. I had to frog what I had started and start over. I decided to attempt it again when I went on a car trip at the end of June. Well, this pattern takes a lot of counting and that is difficult to do when you are riding in a car with a talkative hubby! So I decided to just go simple and worked on a granny square scarf. I would have completed it during our road trip, but I only took along two balls of yarn! It needs probably another half of ball to complete it. It has sat on my crochet pile for the past couple of weeks and now it is time to finish it up.

I love this yarn. It is Woodlands Tweedstripes by Lion Brand. I love the blue accent color. I will add a couple of buttons at one end so it can become an infinity scarf.

I have also worked on the African Flower afghan by making more squares. I am almost out of the white yarn, so I will need to replenish my stock. Looking at what I have completed, I realize that the color scheme is pretty much blue, sienna, and white. I wasn't planning on a prominent blue look, but I do seem to have a lot of blue yarn in my stash.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Maybe I will have this scarf completed and can post a FO on Friday! Please take a moment and hop over to Tami's Amis blog for many other WIP's!

Claiming Blog on Bloglovin

I have made the plunge and now enabling my blog to be followed on bloglovin. Come join me!

Bloglovin

WIP Wednesday - Same projects but with some progress

Happy Wednesday! Every Wednesday all I can think about is that Geico commercial with the camel...Woot! Woot! Hump Day!...LOL!! Okay if you haven't seen it, it is quite hilarious.

I have been steadily working on all my open projects. I squared up a few of the African Flowers for my afghan. I had about 16 that needed the white border. Then I crocheted about 16 more over the 4th of July holiday. I have about 40 squares total and need probably 100 more!

I found a great site to help calculate how many squares I would need for a queen size blanket. You can go here  and there is a chart that gives you the number of squares needed for your afghan according to the size you are wanting to make. Granted it might not be exact if you are planning to add border, but it gives a great idea of how many needed.



I tried using embroidery craft thread to make some flowers. They turned out really nice, but I am not use to using such a small hook and thin thread! It takes some getting use to that's for sure. I used this tutorial for a 5-petal flower and then added some buttons. Very crafty!!

No new projects this week, just trying to get some headway on the same ones.

Take a moment and check out Tami's Amis and Other Creations blog for other WIPs.

Now I will leave you with some gorgeous tree canopy pictures!

Pinterest Inspiration - Gorgeous Crochet!!

I will admit that I am addicted to Pinterest!! Where else can you go and find so many wonderful ideas and creativity! So today I am sharing a few pins that I find very inspiring. I don't think I will be making any of these anytime soon (mainly because I have a lot of work left to do on my open projects), but I do love looking at these wonderful crochet works. :-)

This is just a gorgeous afghan!! So many different types of granny squares all worked together! Pin is courtesy of Clothogancho blog. This blog has so many great pictures of her crochet work!

Framed Crochet Squares as art! This is a great idea to add some splash of color to any room. Plus, you can decide on the exact colors. If you tire of them, then you can make more and replace! This pin is courtesy of Marian van Kooten-Stok.

I have made this afghan, but I think I will have to go with a more earthy tone next time!
This pin is courtesy of Tartlime from Flickr.

One more pin from a blogger I love to follow:

 



Dawn Sparks of Fiddlesticks blog has so many crafty ideas. She has a color palette that I love.

 

Well, that is my ramblings for today. I hope all have a great week. I am now going to go back on Pinterest and drool!