Completed CAL - Wildflower Shoulder Bag

Rebecca Langford over at Little Monkeys Crochet did an outstanding job with this CAL. She had over 4000 in her group and she kept the group fun and very respectful of one another. That is a feat of itself. I so enjoyed this CAL. There are so many talented fellow crocheters and I think my like button on Facebook has broken. My home feed was and still is filled with such beautiful and creative pictures of this great shoulder bag.

The first week of the CAL was making the flower squares and I must say I finished them up very quickly and was anxious for the next part to be published. We had to hook up 6 total. I used some really cute bicycle buttons for my centers. This picture shows a mess up, I guess I was so excited that I did a hdc (half double crochet) row for the last row instead of sc (single crochet). I had to frog the last rows on all 6 squares and correct this problem.

Week two was the joining of the squares and making the top portion of the bag. As well as attaching the slip rings for the bag strap. Many other members of the CAL really showed their creativity at this point. Some did different color stripes. Just the color combos were so amazing to see. I stuck with a taupe and seaspray blue color scheme.

Part three was the toughest part for me. You had to make the bottom of the bag and the strap. I kept coming up with the wrong count in stitches. It might had to do with me watching Hell on Wheels while doing this part. I was distracted by Anston Mount and his character Bohaneen. But I got it done and worked up the strap.

I can say that I am totally in love with this bag. I am now using it as my project bag. 

And what is inside this project bag you may ask? Well I have begun another bag but making it slightly smaller by only using 4 squares. I started on it yesterday!

My very first CAL and my very first crocheted bag was a great experience. I hope Rebecca at Little Monkeys Crochet plans another one in the future. This was such a positive and supportive group of crocheters. If someone had a question there was always many others that could answer it. And again seeing all the varieties of color combos, bag straps and embellishments was so inspiring.

4th of July and a CAL

We have had some really hot weather lately! Yep we went from rainy and cold to no rain and crazy hot!! Oh how I can't wait for Fall & Winter!! But the 4th of July festivities are wonderful here in the Wasatch Mountains and we are lucky enough to either sit in our drive or make the short walk across the street to the resort and watch the wonderful fireworks display.

I have decided to do a Crochet Along project!! I have always looked at different CALs but just never made the commitment. I found this CAL on facebook and joined the group the moment I saw it! She has over 2000 members now from all over the world. I think it will be fun plus I have never crocheted a bag before.

Picture courtesy of littlemonkeyscrochet. 

My linen stitch afghan has gone into hibernation these past couple of weeks. It is just too hot to crochet with wool right now. Once the weather begins to cool down again I will get back to it.

Other than biking and hiking the trails around town, it has been a rather relaxing summer. Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July here in America.

SUMMER FUN

Well our June has been a mix of rain, hail, and beautiful sunshine!! We have finally got a break in all the rain these past couple of weeks. We have been enjoying graduation ceremonies, hiking, biking, and DIYing!! Plus some extra fun time crocheting outdoors while listening to the laughter of kids playing in the park close to our townhome and the song birds in our shady trees.

First off my daughter graduated from high school this month!! She was doing the online virtual high school program and decided not to walk for graduation. She did go and support her friends at her old high school. She is a low key type of person and didn't want a big fuss made over it.

So a picture of a graduation bouquet that one of her friend's gave her. It was very sweet and thoughtful of her. My daughter said for us to save the big celebration when she graduates from college! Wow, I'm not ready to think about that just yet!!

We have enjoyed some great off the beaten path hiking up around the Provo Falls area near Mirror Lake! It was raining most of the time while we were hiking, but it didn't deter us at all!! I am loving the wildflowers that are blooming all around us. Here are a few we captured along our hikes and a hiking selfie!! :))

I was able to go on a nice long bike ride this weekend. I started on the rail trail then jumped onto Round Valley which then I biked through the Kimball Junction area to Willow Creek Park where I followed the trail path onto McPollin Farms. It ended up being a 20 mile loop. It was so sunny and warm. A lot of other bikers were out enjoying the pleasant weather along with lots of hikers with their four legged pals!

I finally finished up my futon bed frame transformation project! My husband made a nice large lawn chair that I painted a vibrant teal. I then painted the other half of the futon frame and the husband mounted my planters that I had painted vibrant plum, teal, and yellow! I have some strawberries, onion chives, burpee onions, and lemon thyme planted in a couple of the planters and they are growing and blooming! I planted some petunias, verbana, and lobelia in the other two. The planter trellis can hold even more plants and by the end of summer and fall I am hoping it is busting from all the flowers and plants it can bear. I also have some marigolds in another planter that the husband mounted on the privacy fence. I am also attempting to grow a blue hydrangea in a planter. I am hoping it survives.

My chair needs a cushion made for it. I haven't had the chance to go to Joann's in Salt Lake City as of yet. But I can't wait to tackle that project. Any ideas on the color I should choose? I was thinking either a plum or a cream to match the painted planters.

So with the new chair made and my courtyard filled with pretty plants and herbs I have been enjoying some outdoor crocheting. I am almost to the point on my linen stitch afghan where I need to begin weaving in the ends and start the border!!

I hope everyone's summer has been filled with lots of fun activities and the sweet smells of blooming flowers!!

Cheers,
Winnie

Finished Linen Stitch Cushion!!

It is so nice to finally complete a project for a change!! I am loving how it turned out as well. This project should not have taken me so long to complete, but creativity sometimes takes a backseat. I think the main reason it took longer is the weaving in the ends and deciding on what type of border to do. I really think the right border is essential. It is like the picture frame to your work. :))

Excuse the picture quality, it has been dark and gloomy so no good light to take the pics.

I worked the entire body as one and then connected each end. Then I closed up each of the smaller ends with 2 rows of grey single crochet with an accent of one row of red single crochet. The last row of the border is a picot stitch where I single crocheted into one of the single crochet stitches, chained 3, and single crocheted back into the same single crochet stitch from previous row. I skipped a stitch in between each picot stitch. It matches up so lovely with my chevron blanket that I completed last year.

Now it has found a happy home along side my other crochet items!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend! We have been bombarded with rain for the full month of May and our 3 day weekend is going to be a wet one! Hopefully in between rain showers the husband and I can get some biking in.

DIY Fun

This weekend was filled with fun DIY projects that the daughter and I worked on. One of our projects was up-cycling an old night stand.

We did a light sanding over the old varnish and then painted it a vibrant teal color. Added some cute drawer knobs we found at World Market and then modge podged the large bottom opening with some loose scrap paper we purchased from Michael's Craft Store. Now it is an updated happy looking piece of furniture! Ready to go into my WIP craft room!! I am in the process of refurbishing my son's old room into a craft room. We have a long ways to go still, but each little step gets me closer to the end result!!

Did anyone work on some DIYs this weekend as well? Let me know in the comments!

Cheers,

Winnie

Another WIP Linen Stitch Cushion

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying some Spring time weather. We are going through a crazy weather pattern! It snowed yesterday!!

Snow on the tree and powerline outside my kitchen window.

So no outside fun this weekend. Instead I pulled out a project that has been waiting to be finished. I had ran out of charcoal yarn and had to end up ordering it. No local shops carried this particular color!!

My first plans were to make a small throw pillow, but I have decided to double the size and make a large pillow. I am reversing the red and white on the opposite side. I have 3/4 of it completed and hope to finish up and assemble it tonight!! It will feel so gratifying to finally have a completed project!!

So yesterday was full of crocheting and sipping on a nice hot cups of tea!

Linen Stitch Afghan Update

Hi everyone! Just a quick update on my linen stitch afghan. It is cruising along lovely. I really do enjoy the calming affect this afghan has on me. I don't have to constantly count, so it's such a stress reducing repetitive stitch.

Our weather has been so bipolar these past couple of months. One day we are in the high 60s and the next low 30s. Welcome to Spring in the Wasatch Mountains!! But we are having some lovely signs of Spring.

And with Spring I needed a renewed look in my family room. There had been this wonderful frame sale at Michael's Craft Store and I finally decided to frame all of our Ski Resort Trail Maps that we have collected throughout the years. Needless to say it was a daunting task when each trail map was odd sizes, but we did it and I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

These are just of Colorado and California and we still have a few more resorts to hit up in these states. Pretty much my whole family room is covered in trail maps. And we are missing a few from some of the East Coast slopes. I guess we will just have to revisit them!! I also will need to commission my father-in-law for another shot glass display. He did such an awesome job on these!

Enjoy the rest of your week! They are calling for rain and snow in our area this week. Although I am ready for biking season we do need as much rain and snow as we can get so our water table will be good during Summer.