What, not even a mug?

So I got this lovely set of dishes for Christmas the other day. They were at H.E.B., the local grocery store, but I thought they were nice, and I don't have any Christmas dishes, so I got them. What I didn't realize was, there are no cups in this set. Look at that on the box, because I did not notice it when I was buying them. It's a 12-piece set. Four dinner plates, four dessert plates, and four bowls. What? No cup and saucer? Not even a mug. Nothing to drink from. Yes, I know, there are goblets out there, and I have some, and there is crystal, and I love that as well. And Christmas is eggnog time, served from a punch bowl and cup (is punch bowl one word or two?) but I like tea, and I like to drink tea from a cup and saucer. Dang it! Now you know good and well, I will not take those dishes back, I will use them. But they should have some kind of a cup with them, shouldn't they? Yeesh!

Finishing up

Well, I am just finishing up the stripes on my Granny Stripes Blanket. It's just about time to move on to the border. So now I have to decide just what that border will be.

I have been looking through this fabulous border book. It has lots of ideas, lots of great pictures of things to put on the edge of your project. It's a great book. I have several options I'm considering. I want something that will go with the granny stripes, not too open weave, not too light and airy, but I don't want to flat up repeat what is going on with the stripes. I also want the border to be substantial, not an afterthough.

Here are some I think would be nice.


This is border #5. I like that it is substantial, and curvy, with the shells, which I think would go well with the grannies. I would add a few rows of color first, because I think the border needs to be as colorful as the stripes.

I like this, too. It's border #15. This is, is it too like the grannies? Would it not stand out, or would it look like I'm just hurrying through the border?

I like this, too, it's border #24. Only thing is, I wonder if it is too open. I wonder if it would go with the grannies. Those stripes are fairly substantial. Could this border work with the blanket?

This is one I like as well. It's border #121. Only thing is, while yes, it is substantial, I wonder if it is TOO substantial. Is it too much? Will it overpower the blanket, especially if I add a couple of rows of color as a beginning border. My thought is that I am going to do first a row of grannies around the edge, just to establish an even edge, then go with maybe a couple of rows of solid color, solid double crochet, just to kind of solidify the edge, then do the chosen border.

Well, what do y'all think?

Out shopping.....

Well, I put my Granny Stripes blanket down for a minute, and I made up this little washcloth. I think I'm gonna use it in my kitchen this holiday season. See, I found this book at Hobby Lobby this past week. Cute, isn't it? All about towel toppers and dishcloths. Looking at this book, the first thing I noticed is, am I crazy, or are all those towels available at your local Walmart? Hmmmm.... oh well, doesn't matter, I'm at Walmart way too much anyway... heck, I got a lil crush on one of the managers. LOL More about that if ever anything develops. Ha ha ha ha ha! Anyway, I'm gonna make me some little towel toppers when I'm in the mood, they just take a couple of hours to do. These are not those old ones where you cute the towel in half, either. You make these up and insert the towel without cutting it, if I read these right. That's cool to me.

I'm still working on that Granny Stripes blanket, though. In fact, I'm about done with the stripes. Just two or three more color stripes, which is four or six rows, then I'm on to the border. I actually am still trying to decide on the border I want, but that's no biggee. It's probably just more excuse to look through my borders book. Ha ha. As an aside, while I was shopping, I picked up that 'Beyond the Square' book that I've been wanting. Yeesh, yep, it's an addiction.

Anyway, I got me this hook, too, in a G. I use the G more than any other hook, I find. I am still deciding, but I think I like that little extra handle. I'm still working it out, but I may buy some more of these.

Also bought me a little some'pn, some'pn. Looked too good to pass up. Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors, and you know, 'tis the season and all....... y'all wanna join me? I'm just about to settle in.................

Y'all have a lovely evening...................

Ack! My house is a mess!

Boy, it is chaos here. I have been trading bedrooms with the boys, and the house is crazy. We're kind of arranging the boys' room, because this is, I'm sure, one of the very few times it will look presentable for a long while. LMHO

David's corner looks so cute. I was going to buy him a cheap little $40 Walmart dresser to put his toys on, but he chose something else. A little shelving unit from Walmart, but it's cute. Then he put his trains into a couple of little tubs on the bottom shelf, and his boom box on the top shelf so he can listen to his tunes........ so cute. I've put some toys and books on the other shelves, I'm sure those will change often, and I hung his favorite numbers poster above it, and he's all set, in his bottom bunk (Jon's bed is the top bunk.) with his table, and access to his toys.

My room is crazy. I'm not posting a picture of it, because it looks terrible. Ha. It'll be really pretty before long, though, and I'll show you pictures then.

Y'all have a wonderful day!

Family weekend

Happy birthday, David! Yesterday was his birthday. We had a busy day, he had fun, and we capped it with Boston Creme birthday cake and Butterfinger ice cream. He enjoyed it.

I've had a nice weekend. Well, Friday evening and Saturday morning. I am working this weekend, which always tears the weekend up, I think. I work two twelve-hour shifts on the weekend, so it's pretty much a wash after Saturday. I have the Friday off before the weekends I work, so I can do something Friday evening, and early Saturday, before I go to work at 6 on Saturday. But I had a good time. My oldest son, Dan, came up (with his Dad, but that's another story you don't want to hear... LOL ) to visit me. He's a sugar. He needed school clothes, said he only had one shirt that he's washing every day, didn't have shoes except his flip flops, and needed a jacket. So I took some of that car money and took him shopping. I'll buy the car next week. LOL Took him to Old Navy and got him some shirts, oh that's a nice store. I also got him a sweat jacket, and another little sleeveless jacket, that oughtta be enough for Texas. Then I took him to a little shoe store with great prices, spent $25 and got him two pairs of shoes, and then to Target, where I got him some pants and a backpack, because he said his was tearing up. It was fun to shop with him, and fun to spoil him some, too. I'm so glad to have a job again, where I can do that now and then.

When Dan and his dad got here, they brought Jon a present. His Aunt had found him a little dog that needed rescued. He had been found on the side of the road a couple of months back as a puppy, and a friend of hers took him in, but she (the friend) had way too many dogs, and this one needed a good home. Well, Jon's been bugging me for a dog, and he wanted a weenie dog, and this one is some sort of a weenie dog mix, so it's a perfect fit. We are all in love with Mario.

I'll be off Monday to rest up from the weekend, and will probably crochet some more then. Meantime, y'all have a great day!

Cathedral Window Afghan and a giveaway!

So I've been wanting to make this afghan for a while. Good night, I know. I always have so many things going. But I work on them all. This is the thing I'm using right now for those 'I just have a few minutes, but I wanna crochet.' moments. It's all about making small pieces to piece together right now, so it works for that. I've made the center, see how I'm using Fall colors for it? That's because I picture this eventually in my living room, and I love greens, reds, and golds in my living room. Heck, I love greens, red, and golds anywhere. LOL I'm using Red Heart Fall for this. I'm also using burgundy, coffee, and buff, also Red Heart. I plan to use this afghan decoratively, not for cuddling in, so the Red Heart is fine. I've got the center made, and I'm working on the little pentagons surrounding it now. Those pentagons are made using two strands of yarn together. That's the first time I've done that, and it's not hard to do like I thought it would be. This center octagon kind of curls up, but I'm not worried about that. The weight of those pentagons is gonna straighten it out, I'm sure. Once I've got all the pentagons done, I'll show you another picture. Don't hold your breath, because I'm not going to hurry with this one, I think it'll take a while. But I'll let you know. LOL

Meanwhile, a lovely young lady found my blog, and invited me to participate in her giveaway. Her name is Catlyn Berry, and her blog is here. She makes lovely bags, and is giving one away for Thanksgiving. Nice? Yes. Y'all drop by and register. It's a beautiful bag, isn't it?

WIP - More Granny Stripes

Well, there I am, crocheting away on my Granny Stripes. It's getting bigger. In fact, my journey with the stripes is drawing to a close. I laid the thing on the bed last night, and it's about big enough. I think just one more repeat of the colors will do it. That will be about 78 inches of stripes. Then, I have the border left, and I am still trying to decide which will be the perfect border. I'm looking through the book Around The Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman to try to find the border I want. I kind of have an idea of what I want, just haven't made my final decision. Anyway, first I've got to get these stripes finished. I'm anxious to have this thing done. It's so pretty, I can't wait to get it on my bed.

I'm linking up with Marie Anne at Every Day Crochet for WIP Wednesday. Come on over there and see what everybody else is making. I'm headed there from here.

What is it with these things?

Well, this article here says that the McRib is back. For the next six weeks, apparently, we can go to our local McDonald's and order up what I (and my son, Tim) think is summer goodness. Okay, yep, it's November, but that sandwich says summer to me, and when I sit in McDonald's eating one, it reminds me of backyard barbecues, fireworks, and swimming pools. In my mind, I see kids riding on bikes past houses with bunting hanging on the porch. Pretty Norman Rockwell, huh? Ha, ha, I just like this sandwich that much.

What is about the McRib? Do you know that they have 26 grams of fat? Yeesh, 26? 26! Wow. That's a lot of weight gain. Well, they're out for six weeks, apparently, so maybe I can keep it down to one this go-round. I'm gonna try. I'm trying to lose some weight I've gained lately, so I don't want to blow it all on a sandwich, but it's a good sandwich, and I do wanna have it once.

You know McDonald's keeps us loving the McRib by not having it all the time. I'm sure if they put on their menu permanently, we would get tired of it and start fussing about all that fat. But since it just comes out to play occassionally, we consider that some sort of special occassion, and run out to get them. Heck, we plan a trip to McDonald's just for the purpose of getting one. Ridiculous!

What about y'all, will you go get a McRib? Do you like them?

Gorgeous Scarf

Isn't it nice when you find just what you're looking for? I mean, you picture it in your mind, you know just what you want, and lo and behold, somebody else had exactly the same thought, and figured it all out for you? I have been thinking I want to make something I can throw on over a T-shirt to dress it up, not a necklace, not a scarf, kind of a cross between the two. I had something white and sparkly, maybe kinda lacy, maybe kinda not, all pictured in my mind. Turns out Robin Chachula had the same idea. This is my version of her Beatrice's Scarf. I'm doing it in Vanna's Glamour white (diamond) yarn, so it's sparkly. I think it's gorgeous so far, if I do say so myself. I can't wait to have it finished. I know, I have so many projects going, but it's okay, they all get worked on. See, I need this scarf, though.

Here's Robin's version, in a pretty yellow. It's in the new Interweave Crochet Accessories magazine, which is chock-full of wonderful things to make. Wanna see?

This is the cover. That scarf is, um, interesting. I still haven't decided if I like it or not. Spread out, it looks better than it does on the cover. There's a better picture inside.

That little chain scarf is cute, too. I don't know if I'll ever make it, but I might, it could be fun.

I like Maria's Scarf, too. I might make it. I'm actually thinking I might see if I can figure out how to make it wider, and use it as a table scarf. It's really pretty. I find it interesting that the names of the scarves in this magazine are all possessive, Maria's Scarf, Beatrice's Scarf, Piper's Chain Scarf, Carmen's Jazz Scarf, like that.

I might make those socks, too. I like to make socks, and crocheted socks are nice to wear around the house. They keep your feet all toasty warm, but you're not wearing shoes, so it's perfect for me.

Lots of help making hats. Patterns, several of them, and an article called "Circle In On The Perfect Hat". Helps you kind of wing it yourself.

These purses are cute, too. I love to make purses. Wouldn't it be nice if they would sell like I wish they would, then I would have an excuse to make purse after purse after purse. I would be in Hog Heaven!

Look at all the pretty jewelry patterns. I am going through a thing where I wanna make crocheted jewelry, and there are lots of patterns here. Fabulous!

I love this book. I'm seriously going to make several things out of it. I think I'll still be pulling out this magazine next year, there are so many projects in it I want to make. And for less than ten bucks, I think that's fabulous. Interweave Crochet has a preview of the magazine (I have not put anything near all the pictures in.) here. Go check it out. Seriously, there are a lot of beautiful projects here. And I really don't think there are many, if any, that would take much time to complete.

And, by the way, I'm loving the afghan in the advertisement on the back cover of the magazine, too, so it's literally a cover-to-cover thing for me. Ha ha ha. That afghan is a free download here.

Y'all have a wonderful day! Happy hooking!