Merry Christmas

Hello everyone! I just wanted to do a quick post wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

We are enjoying some wonderful snow and our son being home from tech school.

Fun snowman we made!

Loving how the snow dusted my garland and wreaths!

My beautiful Christmas wreath that my daughter made for me!!

I made some fun candy sleighs for the kiddos!

I also made a few crochet gifts that I sent out to a couple of relatives.

Scarf and a few ear
warmers!

A couple of beanies and boot cuffs!

Enjoying the ending of Fall and onset of Winter

Hello everyone!! Sorry for my long time away. I have just been enjoying Fall and now the onset of Winter. I have been doing some moderate mountain biking and hiking these last couple of months. My husband and I celebrated our 22nd Anniversary this past weekend. We did a quick weekend getaway to Yellowstone National Park. I had been a few years back, but my husband had not and he loves all things nature. I am going to bombard you with a few pics that we took. It was a very overcast weekend with snow and rain, so many of the pictures just don't show how vast and magnificent Yellowstone really is. I hope you enjoy.

This is the view at the West Entrance coming in from Montana. It was early morning and this river was lined with fly fishermen.

Gorgeous lone buffalo. They are throughout and we actually had a road block from a few. One really huge one came right up side our car and just looked in. I felt like we were in the State Farm commercial. He did do us a favor and went and made the few buffalo blocking the road move along and allow us to pass.

This is the beautiful canyon area around the Upper Yellowstone River Falls.

This is one of the two coyotes we saw. These little buggers caused us a great scare while hiking. They must have came upon a wolf pack's territory because while on the hike we were surrounded by wolves that we could smell and hear howling and yelping, but we never saw. I was so scared, but we kept our cool and waited for all the commotion to subside and then high tailed it back to our car.

Very beautiful coyote. It really is hard to capture a fast moving coyote on film, but I think it turned out pretty good. It had stopped for a brief second before running across the road in front of us.

This cute raven was perched on someone's car when I began taking a pic. He then flew down right by my foot and kept walking up to me. I think he was trying to make sure I got his good side.

These moose we saw in the Grand Teton National Park right outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. There was about 10 all together. It was really cold and snowing at this point. Many people were walking right up to these guys to take a picture. Not me, I have no desired to be stampeded by a bunch of irritated Moose.

Of course we had to watch Old Faithful do its thing!!

All and all it was a great trip. My husband loved all the geysers and hot spots that are scattered throughout Yellowstone. I think I hiked more to see geysers and hot pots more than anything. But it was all worth it to see the great big grin on my husband's face.

I can't post without sharing a couple of things I have crocheted the past few weeks. I haven't done as much as usual, but I just have to be outside during these months of the year!!

Everyone have a wonderful week!!

FO Friday - Ripple Blanket & Slouchy Beanie

I finally captured some pictures of a couple of my finished projects. I have more, but just ran out of good light to take pics yesterday.

I am on this ripple/chevron theme of late. I think it is the easy repetitiveness that I enjoy. Then the end results are just amazing to look at.

I used Red Heart Soft yarn in colorways of Seafoam, Teal, Off White, and Chocolate. This one has become my couch blanket! It is extremely soft and cuddly!!

I also began a few Christmas projects. I can post one of the projects because it is for my daughter and she has seen and checked out the sizing already. It's a cute slouchy beanie. I used the pattern by Calleigh's Clips & Crochet Creations called Key Tab Slouchy. It was a quick afternoon project that I could put down and pick back up without missing a step. There are also patterns for fingerless gloves & boot cuffs that I plan on making along with the beanie.

I used the Red Hear Soft Teal yarn that I had left over from the Ripple Afghan. The buttons are cute ones that I grabbed from Joanne's Fabric.

Have a wonderful weekend! The weather is cooling down and we have some bright patches of reds and yellows scattering across the mountains. I plan on taking a nice leisure hike this Sunday and capture some of these amazing colors.

HDC Knit Stitch Beanie

Hello Everyone! Oh my, I cannot believe it is already the last week of August! Kids are back in school and our neck of the woods is starting to cool down. I have been steadily working on some crochet projects. I will hopefully have a post up with some FOs on Friday. It's just weaving in the tails that might take a while to complete.

I follow a lot of great creative blogs. The other day I came across a new post by Kinga @ My Hobby is Crochet on how to turn the HDC (half double crochet) stitch into a knit like stitch. I love the look and feel of knit stitches. I do want to learn how to knit, but just haven't been able to self-teach yet. So when I read the tutorial provided by Kinga, I had to try it out. So I decided to work up a hdc beanie. I have crocheted many of these for myself and my family. The only thing about crocheting up these beanies is you don't have that spongy feeling you do with a knitted beanie. By using the technique Kinga showed in her wonderful post, I was able to do up a beanie in a spiral look that turned out spongy and soft. I am currently working up another in black for my husband.

I did a couple of single crochet rows for the brim but also did every other sc stitch in the back post.

I used the Half Double Crochet Beanie pattern by Elizabeth Roggasch.

I love how this stitch technique looks and feels. The whole beanie is just so soft and spongy! Thanks again to Kinga for her terrific tutorial!!

Chevron Afghan

Hello all!! Sorry for not posting much this past month, but I had knee surgery mid-June. I am slowly getting back mobility and range of motion in my left knee. I am stuck on crutches for another week or two, but hoping to be able to ditch those bad boys for good really soon. While being off my feet for these past few weeks, I did get my Chevron Afghan completed!! I really love how it turned out. There were days after surgery where I would be counting my stitches and the next thing I knew I am waking up from a cat nap. One thing about crocheting while rehabilitating is that it is better than counting sheep!!

Chevron Pattern found on the blog All Things Bright and Beautiful by Andrea Baker. I can say that the pattern by Andrea Baker is very easy to follow.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I will have to write this summer off this year for any cool outdoor activities, but I will get many crochet projects completed! There is always a silver lining. :)))

Project Planning

Hello! Hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far. All is well in my Creative Corner. I have been perusing Pinterest and Ravelry looking for the perfect projects to work on these next few weeks. I have to have knee surgery next week and will have plenty of down time to start and hopefully complete a couple of projects.

I have collected all the yarn and colors I want to work with and now I think I found the perfect projects.

Chevron Pattern found on the blog All Things Bright and Beautiful by Andrea Baker. I loved the pop of red she used on her afghan. I have been wanting to work up a chevron blanket but couldn't figure out a color scheme that I wanted. When I saw Andrea's with the red stripe between the bright white I knew I wanted to do one with red and white, then I saw this charcoal grey and those were my colors! If all works out well I will make a matching pillow to go with the afghan.

Picture courtesy of All Things Bright and Beautiful by Andea Baker

Textured Stripes Throw is a pretty simple looking pattern, but what drew me to it was that it uses the shell stitch to give it a very neat texture look. I'm planning on using the seafoam blue as a few accent stripes between the chocolate brown.

Picture courtesy of Laura Dyer on Ravelry. This is what she worked up using the Textured Stripes Throw Pattern by Marilyn Losee.

I am now at the design stage of my Rosie Posie Granny blanket. I try laying out the squares and figuring out a pattern on the floor, but I sometimes need a more precise breakdown. I came up with a template in MS Word that I use to configure a few different layout patterns. I have narrowed it down to two now and just need to make a decision. I will have enough left over squares to make a matching cushion. I have a few more squares I need to block and then I will begin joining the squares with the invisible join method. After I have all the joining complete I have to figure out a border and which colors to use. I really can't wait to see all these cute rosie posies all joined together!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Hopefully I will have a FO to share soon!!

I am linking up with Tami's blog today. Please check out other shared WIP's !

Pushing along with my Rosie Posie Blanket

Hello everyone! It has been awhile since I last posted. Not much going on except for work and some crochet time. I am enjoying the spring weather of late. I have taken to early morning crocheting on our deck before the sun beams straight down on me. I am still working on my Rosie Posie Blanket. I haven't really started up on any other project, but I have been stocking up on some yarn for a few upcoming projects. I will post those project ideas and yarn colors later. But here is how things are shaping up so far on my current project.

Found these really cute orange cubes for close to nothing and they are working out great for holding all my current project notions and yarn!!

Began blocking my squares!! I decided to block as I go so I don't spend days blocking at the end!

The other day at Michael's they were having a great sale on some of their seasonal items.

Love these chalked labeled canisters and I just could not pass up the cutest ever owl vase!!

Have a wonderful week!! I am linking up with Tami's blog this week. Go check out some really awesome WIPs today!!

WIP Wednesday - Rosie Posie Granny Squares

I'm still whipping up these cute Rosie Posie Granny Squares.

Stash busting is going great but I am running out of the colors I have used. So my dilemma is, Do I keep just using what I have on-hand and make it work? or Do I replenish the colors I am using and stick with this color scheme? I am completely out of the turquoise and nearly out of the purple and cream. I still have plenty of the lemon grass and zinnia, which is great considering they are my main colors.

I am really loving the darker, brighter colors and thinking about staying with these colors. Oh what to do, what to do....

Have a great rest of your week. I am linking up with Tami's blog, so take a moment and check out other WIPs!!

Another Crochet Cushion

I completed my cushion using the linen stitch technique. I think it turned out rather snazzy! 

I'm thinking now a matching afghan would be nice with this little cushion! :))

Take a moment and hop over to Tami's Amis blog and checkout other great FOs!!! Have a great weekend!

Rosie Posie Granny Squares

I am still working on some stash busting projects. I found a really cute granny square tutorial and just had to start whipping some up. I decided to keep at the stash busting even though I would have loved to gone yarn shopping. Sandra at Cherry Heart has so many gorgeous crochet items and she does a great tutorial on the Rosie Posie Granny Squares!

I have a lot of the Lemon Grass and Zinnia Lion Brand wool ease yarn, so I decided to make those two my main colors and use scraps for my centers. I haven't decided on the last row which squares up these cute little rounds. I don't know if I want it to be all the same color or mix up the colors. I figure I have plenty of time to decide and maybe by then my yarn stash will be replenished.

We received some Spring Snow last night!

Take a moment a check out other WIPs going on this week over at Tami's blog!! Enjoy the rest of your week!!

Crochet Pillows!!!

Hello everyone and a Happy Friday!!

I have been crocheting away on a few pillows! It's so nice to do quick fun projects that really do add something nice to my home. I try to be that whimsical art loving and making person, but my practicality personality always perseveres. So I made some really cute pillows these past couple of weeks. If you remember, I posted a WIP on making a Diagonal Pillow here. Well I made a couple and love how they turned out. I found the pattern on Red Heart's website under their free patterns. It is by Kathy Wigington called simply "Diagonal Pillow".

Then I decided to do some stash busting and worked up a Ripple Pillow. I had attempted the ripple afghan stitch before but could not remember the exact sequence. So I found a great video tutorial by The Crochet Crowd. I inserted the video below for anyone who is interested in making an afghan or pillow.

 I had seen a really cute ripple blanket and cushion by Lucy at Attic 24 and wanted to do something similar. I wanted some pops of color but also liked the idea of white as the main color. So I made it with alternating stripes of white and a different color until I reached the length of my pillow. The video tutorial instructed to make sections of fourteen stitches until you had reached your idea width. So that is what I did. I liked the idea of my stripes going vertical instead of horizontal. (okay I didn't feel like making long stripes and opted for the shorter way) The shorter way did pay off with my stash busting because I had just enough of one color to do two rows...whew it was a nail biter!!!

I think they all turned out really cute and provided the splash of color I was looking for. Making the smaller projects using new stitch patterns is helping me learn more and have something quick and cute to showcase.