Saturday, May 28, 2011

Oprah

I don't know how many of you out there are Oprah fans, but I am, and have been for many years. It saddened me this week when I watched her last show, and it made me realize how much I appreciated a program that tried to get the facts straight on things that mattered. I learned a lot, mainly that we have worth, no matter how small we are in this universe. I know I for one will miss this woman and her generous ways. I have laughed and cried with her. She has shared her struggles and we can identify. I am sure that she will continue to do well in her life. Right now 25 years has come and gone so quickly and I for one think she should have stayed right where she was. Call me a bit selfish, I do not care. What better joy could one have in their life than to make so many good things happen for others? It restores my faith and shows me that there are still good and caring people out there in this world. God Bless you Oprah and keep the faith ♥

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Wonderful Saturday :)

I had a very good Saturday evening and I just have to yack a bit about it. Spent some time with my oldest daughter Rachael and a couple of friends and we went to a place called The Spaghetti Warehouse in Toledo Ohio. We had the best lasagna. An added bonus was that we had coupons for a buy one meal, get a second one free. The restaurant has an atmosphere that can't be beat. The booths are made with old time beds, the head boards and foot boards that is, and there is what was once a train car that is inside the dining area and it is equipped with seating. Come to think of it, it could be an old time dining car, only reminds me more of a trolley-type rail car.  There are Tiffiney-style lights and huge stained glass windows. The service was fast and our waiter was super friendly and on the ball with serving us.  Sorry about the quality of the warehouse pic.                       

Then after we had our meal we went to the Huntington Center for the awesome performance of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria. For 2 years I have wanted to see them perform, ever since watching a program on our PBS station about this group that comes from Canada. They are completely AWESOME!!!!! and I would go and watch them again if the chance comes. I wish I could describe them, but my description would be inadequate. One just has to go and see for themselves. It was great to diviate from the routine around this house. The only thing that could have made the evening better would have been had my youngest daughter been able to attend, but she had to work. ♥

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Slippers!!

A TA DA moment this morning for the finished slippers that I made my oldest daughter Rachael. The ones my mil made for me years ago had a yarn bow for decoration and I decided to do a step up and fancy mine a bit with a crocheted flower and a pretty button from my button jars. I do think they turned out pretty. What do you all think? Rachael loves pink, so these will be a hit with her. I do have a pattern written by my mil on a paper. I used the slipper she made me to pick the pattern off because I admit to being too much in a hurry to dig around in my pattern tote. As with so many things she wrote down for me, I have no clue where she got the pattern, or if by chance she thought it up herself. ♥   
   
Front view slippers.

Wanted to show a side view, but not happy with this pic cause it makes slippers look like they are different sizes,  perspective, everything in front looks bigger of course, lol

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Just touching base with all of my friends today. Another cold and rainy day here in Northwest Ohio. It is one of those days that makes you want to curl up in a nice warm blanket with a good book, watch a movie, or grab your needlework. I do have a good book to read, a gift from my youngest daughter Meghan, a book I requested for Mother's Day. I have been checking it out and wondering what yummy dish to try.


And I do have a movie ( Donnie Darko) to watch, it arrived in the mail today. I understand it is a strange movie. For some reason I am in the mood to watch strange and hard to follow movies. Yesterday it was Doran Gray, you know, where the portrait gets older and he doesn't. It was the revised version (2009) and it was creepy. I do not recommend it for the faint of heart and it does have adult content.


And then I also have my crochet. All those pink granny squares in the pic below will make a pair of slippers like the one you see in the above pic. It may not look like much, but you just wait, give me another day or two and you will like what you see. The older slipper is one of two pair that my mil made for me and I have had them for years, they wear like leather and fit nicely like a sock and keep your feet warm. They have survived numerous washings and abuse. My son-in-law saw them on my feet on Sunday and asked me to make him a pair in Steelers colors, and another pair in Michigan team colors. I looked at my oldest daughter and asked her if she wanted a pink pair and she said, "Of course!"...........


Can't wait to show them to you when they are finished. I think I will put pom-poms on her pair or maybe a crocheted flower. Also here is a web site that I ran across back in winter and do suggest you check it out. This artist is amazing and what she does with crochet is awesome. So if you find a free moment go to http://www.joanavasconcelos.com/english/home.html   and when you get to the home page click on the WORK floating tab. The years I thought to be most interesting were 2005, 2006, and 2008, although they are all good. Make sure you check out the piano. Enjoy! ♥

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Rain or Shine, My Hexagon Blanket


Two days ago it was so hot and muggy you could hardly stand it. The air conditioner went on. Now let me tell you, it is hard to be positive when things just don't seem to be in your favor. Yeah, the ac went on and it wasn't cooling the house. Now you say, well, that happens. Sure it does, but the house was built about 20 years ago and this is the 2nd central air we have had professionally installed. The first was always acting up so we went ahead and replaced it. Well, the second one isn't much better. This is the 3rd year in a row it has had to have a shot of freon......yeah, there is a leak. So we called our ac man, and after 3 calls and messages left he returns the call and says he will be out in the morning. Morning came and he never showed up till around 1:30 that afternoon. He worked on it a bit and put some dye in it and said he will return today on Sunday morning.


It is now almost 2:30pm and guess what, the man isn't here yet. Not only that, but after he left yesterday it got cold and started raining more, so needless to say, we were freezing! We ended up turning the ac temp back so it wouldn't kick on. My children came home for burgers on the grill and just as we are about to get them cookin', here comes the ac man. He checked the coils on the unit and finds out that part will need to be ordered and replaced. We grilled our burgers and tried to enjoy our meal. But despite all the fiasco with it all I did manage to find a dry place to hang my finished hex project. Yes, it was raining lightly but the rail under the porch eaves was dry and I managed and made do with what I had. It did turn out lovely don't you think?      



Now that I can see it from a distance the sage green seems to be the right choice and I do agree with one of yesterday's comments that the flowers look like they are in a field of green. Any other green might have just been too much. I did not want a kelly green, and a lime green would have been too bright for me. I am all about older colors, more laid back and it does make the flowers pop out better. I think a brighter green would have been competition for the flowers, but one never knows unless they try some samples done in different shades of green. The biggest challenge was trying desperately to make sure I spread out the flower colors well enough so that they were dispersed evenly as possible.


When laid flat it is one big hexagon. There are 169 hexes in all. The widest row is the center with 15 hexes across. Rows decrease from there with 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8. There is only 1 row of 15, and 2 rows of each of the other. I added 3 border rows of single crochet around the entire blanket. The first border row kinda melts right in with the edge hexes and was done in the sage green. The second border row is a beige and the 3rd, and last row, is the sage green again. The pattern can be found if you Google "About Crocheting African Flowers". The link can be found somewhere in my postings if you search African Flower Motif or African Flower. Check out these sites because all of the ideas from other crafty people are there and you will not be disappointed. Would I make another one, you bet ya!! This blanket has extra meaning to me because I started it soon after my husband started his chemo treatments. I took my crochet hook and bag of yarn and some days I crocheted and others I sat with tapestry needle and would weave in the tails. It was what kept my hands busy and my mind focused. ♥

Tomorrow I Put A Hex On You


Early Saturday morning I completed my hexagon blanket. As promised I sewed all the hexes together by hand. Then I went around the entire thing with 3 rows of single crochet, first row sage, second row beige, and third row sage. These 3 rows framed the blanket nicely with a simple touch. I had planned to take a photo of it outside on the deck, that way the natural light would give one a better idea of the true colors but.......it RAINED all day here and that changed my plans. So, if weather permitting I will try and get that photo sometime this Sunday morning. I hope to do this pattern again in the future. It was so fun and one that I never got tired doing. It did help to weave yarn tails from the very start and not to wait till the end. Anyways, I have posted a couple of pics for you right now. I am happier than I was originally with the sage green.♥







Thursday, May 5, 2011

On the Home Stretch

The first batch. What a fun crochet pattern!
Hello everyone!! I promise to be brief with this posting. Yeah, I know you are all wondering when I am gonna hush about this on-going project of the African Flowers. I give you my word, the end is in sight and I am now on the final stretch of joining the motifs. Ahhh, crazy me, I would be doing the joining by hand stitching all the seams. But I wanted to show you this journey from the first batch to the present time.
Motifs in process of getting the sage green border added.

Before the border round, large hexagon layout. No 2 alike, but no major clumping of colors.

The first row sewn, I started with the center row which is the row with the most hexes.

I will make all the rows first, then join them to the center row.

Even the most unlikely colors were combined with surprising results.

The center row has 15 hexes, next rows will have 14, then 13, etc. till we have last rows which are 8 hexes.

Color combos were what ever strikes your fancy. Just about anything goes.

Center row of 15 hexes so long it will hang over the sides of the queen size bed.

Front and back views of joined motifs. Back is just as pretty as the front. This close up gives you an idea how the next rows will fit right up next to the center row.
And that my friends is where I am at with this present project. Finally I have reached the final step with getting all these flowers sewn together and I hope if all goes according to plan I will have this done sometime within the next week or two. I make this claim loosely for one never knows what will happen between now and then but this is the game plan, my story, and I am sticking to it. In the meantime, do what you love and enjoy every minute of it. I say that all of us who love our crocheting, knitting, quilting, etc., we are women who know that this is not work to us, but a time to relax and let all the stresses go from our lives, even if for just a few minutes. How boring our lives would be without something to occupy our hands and minds. I personally would not want to imagine a world without these things. It is what keeps me sane ♥

Monday, May 2, 2011

Still Hooking Those AF

I am still at it, crocheting away on these African Flowers and hoping to see the end of this project in the near future. I am still not happy with that so-called light sage green, for I really wish it was a lighter shade. Maybe when they are all sewn together I will be more satisfied. It is funny how we get things in our minds and they bug us. I just did not want to have to make an 8o mile round trip to exchange yarn, not with gas prices being what they are. If I was a craftier woman I would have sheep and know all about getting that wool from them critters, spinning and dying it to the color I had in mind and not worry about gas prices and all that hub bub. But, alas, I am a spoiled modern day woman who has grown up with all sorts of yarn at her fingertips. Some times progress is not so good, and we begin to realize that the "good ole days" were truly the good ole days. Also just for a FYI, I would hope everyone checks out Debbie and her Newbie party. You can click here and check out her site as well as reading about the details to join. You can also link to her blog by clicking on her button that I have posted down on the right side column. This party is every Monday. There are some requirements. 

I can't wait to start sewing these together. I have 2 more stacks not in the pic.

Other than that there isn't much new going on in my corner of the world. Our weather is still cool and believe it or not it is still cold enough to have our furnace running. We have been lucky to have had a few warm days, but they came with terrible thunder storms and news the next day of our southern states having had the worst tornado activity in history. On a more serious note my heart goes out to those poor souls. Where does one even begin to rebuild a life as it once was? Some things can be replaced, but the lives lost is not one of them. I think too of the little things that are lost, like family photos and little trinkets that were keepsakes. This would be the time when you would know the strength of family, friends and community bonds. As the years have passed people have become too independent of each other. It kinda makes one think that maybe this is God's way of letting us know that none of us were meant to be an island to one's self and also to remember who is in control. After all, this is not our earth, it is God's creation. It is only lent to us for our lifetime and he would expect us to take care of it and all the living creatures that dwell on it. Try to find good in something every day. Do good deeds, and love one another. My hope for all of you and myself is peace ♥
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~WRITE IT ON YOUR HEART................
THAT THE ONES YOU LOVE ARE LIFE'S MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS~