Something a little different

I took the kids to my father-in-laws parents house this weekend. The boys were very much like little boys. LOL We were out in the country in south Texas. They found all kinds of dead animals. Including a hog, a dog, and a bird. Not to mention the various bones they loved finding. They wanted me to take pictures of the rotting corpses of a couple of the animals. Eww... I said NO! That's just gross. As we went on our walk I did happen to take some really good pics on the old train tracks near by. I used my brand new camera! My loving husband likes to spoil me. :) It's got a 10x optical zoom and 7.1 mega pixels, as well as many other features. I took it out this weekend for a "test drive" so to say. I made these into black and whites. Just because I think pics of people walking on the train tracks always look better in black and white.

My favorite pic is the one on the bottom. Can you tell? This is my father-in-law and my youngest son. I think it looks like it's one of the old pictures you see on the post cards or something. It sure would make a great Father's Day card. I have gotten many good pics with this new camera. I am loving it! These are just some of my favorites. I've been wanting to get some good pics on the train tracks for a while now.






On another note. I haven't been doing much crocheting lately. I'm kind of burned out, I guess. I am beginning to get started again. But I don't expect to be getting anything done soon. I have my step kids down for the week. So I have a houseful! It's loud, rough and crazy. But I love it. I guess that's because I know it won't last too long.

I just started a dear stalker hat for my FIL. Our Christmas isn't over yet. So I still have some time. DH gets home on the first or second of NEXT YEAR. So we will open up the rest of our gifts then. That doesn't give me a lot of time to get it done does it. I guess I better get off the computer and get busy!

Bye, for now!

Sssssssscarf

I actually got a request from my oldest son! He asked me if I could make him a scarf two days ago. He is seven years old, and other than stuffed toys, he hasn't ever asked for anything crocheted. So boy was I ever happy to oblige! I made him a Snake! I used Caron Simply Soft Brights and a J hook. I did it after he went to bed each night and got it done last night. I didn't get a chance to take a picture with him wearing it this morning. Maybe I'll add one after he gets home from school. I also forgot to measure it, so I don't know how long it is. But now that he's been playing with it all morning, it wraps around his neck twice and still leaves some hanging down. He loved it! I didn't tell him that I was doing it yet, so he woke up this morning and found it on the couch. I thought I would go ahead and get it done for him since we got a cold front yesterday afternoon, and it is finally starting to feel like winter around here! Yesterday we almost reached 80. Then the front came in at 2:00 pm and it got down to 47 right before the sun went down. We go from wearing shorts and sandals to sweaters and pants! All in the same day too. LOL

I still need to weave in the ends of that hat below this post. I just keep putting it off. Knowing me, I will probably procrastinate so much that I will me up untill midnight the night before I am supposed to give it to my sister. lol

X-tra Long . . .

Hat











I finished it! This is the hat for my sister. I'm not sure I like it all that much though. But I made it with no pattern. So I guess that counts for something. Maybe it's that it's to tight around the head. We will see if she likes it come Christmas time. I used the same yarns as I did for the Supper Simple Scarf that I made. I used the same hook as well. Sorry about the photo quality. I used a timer for the ones with me modeling it. And now I can see a little black spot on the computer screen. LOL It was pretty simple. I think it would be easily adaptable to fit anyone. It's about 39 inches long with the bottom folded up and the tassel at the top.

And look at all those loose ends to weave in! Ugh . . .

Chocolate Shawl

So this time I decided to make a rectangular shawl. All of the other ones I've made have always been triangular. This one is a Christmas gift for my mother-n-law. I used the repeats from the Ocean Waves Blanket from the Leisure Arts booklet Noah's Ark For Baby. I have made three blankets from that pattern. I liked it so much I thought I would try my hand at a shawl with it. I just reduced the amount of ch at the beginning. I figured out how many it took for each repeat, and went as long as I needed. On the two ends I sc across, so that it would look straighter. And that way I didn't need to worry about doing a border. It took me two skeins of Caron Simply Soft in Chocolate. I love the name of the color, don't you? It makes me hungry just thinking about it. I love how soft it is. I really want to make one for myself now! I think this one is my favorite one so far. I used an H hook, and it ended up being about 56x18.

Here's a closer picture.

No Pictures This Time

I am working on a rectangular shawl for my MIL for Christmas, using Caron Simply Soft in chocolate. Sounds yummy doesn't it? I am using a pattern repeat from a baby blanket pattern that I have used a few times before. I just shortened it up and I am making it longer. So far, it's coming out nicely. I finished up the skein of yarn I was using last night, and went to get another one today. It should be done in a few days or so. Who knows, I may put it down for now to pick up another project. I am lost with only one project going at a time right now. You know how it is, us crocheters like to have at least a couple of projects going at any given time. But since Christmas is getting so close, I've been keeping it to only one project at a time. That way, I know I'll get it done. I have this shawl, an extra long stocking hat, a stuffed frog, and an ear flap hat of some kind to do still. Then I will be done with my must-do Christmas list. Everything I make after that is just an extra gift for some one to have. :) I think I can do that!

The stocking hat that I am going to do, will be my own pattern. I typed up the pattern that I will use. From there, I will make any adjustments that need to be made. Then I will type up a final pattern after all is said and done. I hope it works out like I want it to. I just need to come up with a good stripe pattern. I am using the same colors that I used for the Super Simple Scarf I made. I hope you don't think that I wrote up the pattern for this project before ever trying it out! Actually, It is just an adjustment to the stocking hat from a few posts back, that I gave to my youngest son. I thought it might be easier to make changes if I wrote it out first this time. Then I might be able to see where it is going wrong, and what I can do to make it right.

I took the pants for the doll that I am making to my grandmother today. I needed her to make them smaller to fit him right. But there is bad news there. :( She said her machine wouldn't be able to sew through the thicker material. I have a machine here at home (her old one), but I just don't think I can do it. I've never been able to sew a straight line! But I will at least try to. I guess we will see how it goes. And I still need to die the shirt for him, and hem it up as well. This was a much bigger project than I had anticipated! "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . ."

I am glad that I am at least getting some things made for Christmas, since I will not be able to buy any gifts untill about one week before! Long story, so I won't bore you with all of the details... But in short. My husband lost his job one week before Thanksgiving. He was supposed to still get one more full check, since he had two weeks vacation he hadn't used yet, and they still owed him some overtime. What he got instead, was not even a quarter of what it should be. He started his new job two weeks after he lost his old one. Not bad. But he won't get paid from them until, not this Friday, but next. It will be a huge one. So we will be able to get caught up on the bills and still buy gifts for the kids. But right now we are hurting! We are borrowing money just to get the things we need like groceries and gas for the car. But it will all be OK. We may even have one more huge check come right before Christmas. So I may be able to get hubby something as well. ;)

Supper Simple Scarf!

I made my sister this scarf for Christmas. She said she wanted one to wrap around her neck once. I used Caron simply soft in off white. As well as Bernat Satin in various colors. I had all of this on hand. And I still have lots more left. Except of the off white, which was almost gone already. So I would say that this was a great stash buster. There is only one thing that I don't like about the scarf. That's the length. If I were to do it again, I would add another 20 ch to the beginning. I hate changing colors so much too. But this time it worked to my advantage. I was able to tie them off and not weave in the ends! My most most dreaded thing in crocheting! It just added more to the fringe. Which was perfect, because without it I think there wouldn't be enough fringe.

So, here is what I did.

I used the off white and ch 121 with a J hook.

Then, going down the back bone of each ch, I sc in each across.

(for all remaining rows) I changed colors at the end of the row, ch 1 then sc (in back loops only)across.

Then ending with the off white, I slip stitched back down so that the thickness on that side was the same as the first side.

Then I cut two strands of each color, and several of the off white and added them to the ends.

That's it! So simple!!! I love a project that is so easy and quick. Don't you?

This time, my youngest son wasn't here when I finished, so he didn't model for me. Sorry guys! You'll just have to wait for the next item to see him again.