Merry Christmas, Everybody!

Luke 2

1 -5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.
6 -7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
8 -12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."
13 -14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
15 -18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.
19 -20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

I wish you all joy and love and peace. I wish you Jesus.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas and Family

Christmas always makes me think of family. Every year, I wish I could go back and see my family, but something always gets in the way, usually work, finances, or both.

I grew up poor, but my parents loved Christmas. Mom and Dad both were big kids when it came to Christmas, and I tend to romanticize that, I'm sure. I remember wonderful Christmases, and lots of new toys. I'm sure they were cheap, Mom and Dad didn't have much money and there were eight of us to buy for, but we didn't care, they were new toys. Christmas was different back then, smaller things made a bigger difference. Now we live in a world of plenty, and kids are more spoiled. I'll talk about that in another blog, I'm sure. I remember when taking a candy cane off the tree to eat was a treat.

December 23 always makes me think of Dad. He used to say 'It's the Eve of Christmas Eve.' I used to love that. To this day, I say that. It seems to really make Christmas Day that much closer. It means as much to me as Christmas Eve. It stretches Christmas out more. Isn't that fun?

Ah, I'm rambling. Merry Christmas, y'all!

The house is all empty.....

The kids have gone off to their Dad's for a week. I'll pick them up Christmas day. Until then, the house is mine. It's nice, but I do miss my boys. A little. Ha! I'm sure I'll miss them more later, though right now, I am enjoying the peace and quiet. I'm getting the house clean, and crocheting, and reading, and watching what I want to watch on TV.

2010 Afghan Calendar

So I got my 2011 Afghan Calendar in the mail today. Do you know how much I love crocheted afghans? I tell you, I could make nothing but one afghan after another and be totally content. I love afghans. I love making them, and I love using them, and if I know someone else who likes them, I love giving them as gifts.

So I'm looking through this calendar, which is beautiful, and remembering 'Hey, I have the 2010 one downloaded, and haven't printed it out yet. I got it a while back, when it was on sale. It's available here, as a PDF file. It's totally worth it, even at full price, though I don't think it's full price even now. It's $8.95, and I'm sure it was more than that when you could have it mailed to you. I know I paid more than that for the 2011 one. Wait, I just checked. Nope, I paid $8.95, just the 'plus shipping' is where the extra came in. That's fine, totally worth it.

Anyway, so I'm printing out the patterns from the 2010 calendar, and I thought I would share those pictures, because these afghans are just gorgeous. They're all made with worsted weight yarn, except one baby afghan, but it's all easily accessible, even if Walmart is all you have close to you.

This is the January one, called Purple Majesty. It's pretty. I am working on a similar one, by Ellen Gormley, called the Sunny Spread. That one is based on squares, though, and this one is what, hexagons? I like it a lot.

Here the February Queen of Hearts. Oooohhhhhhh, pretty........

March is called Sunshine Lace. It does look like sunshine, doesn't it. That's just what we all are looking for in March, isn't it? Sunshine?

This is April's Heirloom Baby Afghan. It's the only one not made with worsted weight yarn. Duh, it's made with baby yarn. I don't make baby afghans, just because I don't know anyone with babies. If I did, I would make them an afghan. This one's pretty.

Well, I must make this! It's the May afghan, The Yellow Rose of Texas. Besides the fact that it is pretty, I do have a thing for the whole 'Yellow Rose of Texas' thing. I live in Texas now, and my boys are all born in Texas......... I'll get on that at some point. Ha!

The June afghan, Pineapple Promise. I like it. It's frilly and feminine. You need a little of that here and there, though I am not actually much of a froufy person. I like beautiful things, though.

How Americana. I love Americana. I like red, white, and blue things. This is July's afghan, called. America's Heart. Although I like this one quite a bit, I like the one in the 2011 calendar better, I think. I don't think I'll be making this at all, though I do like it.

This here is the afghan that made me want the calendar. It is August's Rose Recital. I love it. I like anything that is a piano design. I'll definitely make this one. My list gets longer......... sigh....

This is actually the afghan I like least. September's Woodland Ripple. I don't like granny ripples, and I do believe that is the only configuration in which I do not like grannies, or ripples. I love them pretty much any other way, particularly.........

this way. Okay, is this cool or what! I have to make this! It's the October Pinwheel Afghan. I am so loving this new twist on an old classic.

Here is a gorgeous one for November. It's called the Filet Ripple. Man, I love this. Dare I say I want to make it?

OOoooooooohhhhhhhhhh, and this........ so pretty. And while it doesn't scream 'Christmas', it definitely says it. I love this one.

I am totally thinking one of my New Year's goals may be an afghan a month, at least. Wouldn't that be fun? Heck, I have sooooooooo many afghan patterns, twelve would not even take a bite out of my list of afghans I plan to make........... There's still that beautiful calendar I got in the mail today after all...... maybe I'll post the pictures from that one another day here soon.....

Y'all have a fabulous day. Get your fingers out of that chocolate! Ah, never mind, getcha some...

You've come a long way?

Or is it just baby steps? Well, truth be told, it's probably somewhere in between the two. Ha ha. I have been crocheting since I was about fourteen or fifteen. I remember my grandmother crocheting all of us kids vests for Christmas one year, and Grandma was a great crocheter. I remember her working on several things, though I won't say every time I saw her she was crocheting. She did it enough that I equated crocheting with her, and still do. I still have aunts who crochet, I know Aunt Mandy does, I think Aunt Ruthie does, Aunt Julie used to for sure. But I didn't learn from my family. I learned in school, from my Home Economics teacher in seventh grade. And truth be told, she did some funny stitches. She called the slip stitch single crochet, and her double crochets were funny. But she provided the base, and I learned the rest from various books, and some magazines I think maybe my grandmother or mother had around the house. I remember when I first learned to crochet, my father put me to work making him a bunch of granny squares that he was gonna have someone put together into an afghan. He would show off those blocks to anyone who came by, but they somehow never became an afghan. Around that time I remember making a few purses, some scarves, and some mittens.

So up until about a year ago, the above picture was pretty much what I did with my crocheting. Ripple afghans, usually in three colors. Ha. I referred to myself as kind of a 'one trick pony'. I loved my crocheting, but didn't really venture out. That afghan I call 'Neopolitan', because it reminds me of Neopolitan ice cream, the colors and all. Those are all Red Heart colors. I don't think I had ever really shopped for crocheting supplies anywhere other than Walmart, although I had shopped at craft stores for all kinds of other things.

Anyway, last April or so, I decided to venture out, and learn more about crocheting. I knew I could do it, I had tried an odd project or so with a little success, and anyway, it's easier to succeed at something you love, right? I was going to start with a garment, because I had never made anything wearable beyond those mittens so long ago. I was about to start with a cardigan from Crochet! magazine when my aunt asked me to make her a cape. That cape was kind of ugly, and I didn't like it, but she did, and I felt like I did a pretty good job with it. Then I went on with the cardigan, which I did finish, and have never taken a picture of it. It's made with worsted weight yarn, and I felt like it was too heavy to wear, so I haven't. Ah well.

Then I went on to this cute little hat. I like it. Ignore that little old lady beneath the brim, she's just some crazy mothering chick who happenned by. Ha ha ha.

Poor old Danny modeled the top so I could get a picture. I promised I wouldn't show his face.

Anyway, I think I've done pretty well this year with the branching out and all. I've made purses, afghans in different shapes, tree skirts, all kinds of things. I've played with new stitches, new yarns, all kinds of things. Even started that big beautiful Cathedral Window Afghan, though I haven't gotten far. I want to try even more things in the coming year. I want to do more thread crochet, make more mittens, make more practical things (though, to be honest, what's more practical than a nice crocheted blanket, and I make bunches of those.....) and all kinds of other stuff. There are a million more projects I have waiting in line, I have become addicted to downloading patterns, and don't even go there about all the magazines I like to buy, not to mention my digital subscriptions to Crochet! and Crochet World. Yeesh, where will it end. Well, heck, who says it ever has to! Hope there are hooks in Heaven!

Ha ha.

Y'all have a wonderful day.

He's 16, He's beautiful, and He's mine.

Today is Number Three's birthday. He's sixteen. I'da thought he'da been driving by now, but not yet. Just not that excited about it. It'd be nice for me, I'd love to turn over the wheel, but whatever. I'm sure he'll be driving before too long. He's a good boy, he helps me out a lot. I always say, the good thing about your kids is they are just how you like them, and Tim is just how I like him. He's got this weird sense of humor, and he helps me around the house a lot, from watching David while I work to figuring out all the computing crap I can't. Ha.

Here he is with his Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake. I love ya, baby, happy birthday.

Y'all have a great day.

Ta - Dah!

Look, it's a tree skirt! All done! Ta-dah! This is Katherine Eng's '7-Hour Tree Skirt', with a little Julie added in. This pattern is in the December, '08 edition of Crochet Today, or you can get it at e-patterns dot com. I'm thinking I've seen it somewhere else as well, but I can't remember where.

I made it in 'I Love This Yarn' red sparkle, and I made it bigger than the pattern. I put more rows between the shell rows to make it bigger. I also added the edge to it. To me, the edge in the pattern was a little anti-climactic, it lacked oomph. I wanted a bigger edge, kind of finishing with a flourish. I looked for patterns for an edge, but couldn't find what I had in mind, so I kind of made one up. It's just a shell like in the pattern, five double crochets in one space, then two double crochets in each of those five, then for the last row, it was a double crochet and a picot in each of those ten stitches. I think it turned out very pretty. I may use this edge again, you never know. I also didn't add a tie, and I didn't finish the inner edges. I frankly didn't see the need. I wrap a skirt around the base of the tree, so it doesn't need a lot, and the edges were pretty as they were, I thought. Anyway, it turned out just like I had it pictured in my head. Isn't it nice when that happens? It did, however, take more than seven hours to complete, but that's because I went bigger.

My son's cat, Kasumi, approves. So nice to know!

Y'all have a great day!

Pretty Little Collar and Cuffs

So I was an infomercial, and I noticed this. This is Petula Clark singing 'Downtown' on an old episode of Ed Sullivan, but what I'm looking at is that pretty little collar and cuffs on that basic black dress. I like those. I like them a lot. I could do that, I think.

Y'all have a great day!

Katherine Eng......... I love her!

Look at these two afghans! Aren't they beautiful? I really like them both. Would love to make them both, and I may, but don't hold your breath. My list of things to make is really loooooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg.................... the by-product of too many subscriptions, and a rich availability of patterns on-line. I think I'm a pattern hoarder. Pity. Or not. LOL

These patterns are both available at the Red Heart site for free. They are also both designed by Katherine Eng. So many patterns I find that I love are designed by her. Right now, I am less than a row away from finishing her 7-hour Tree Skirt, and have a few of her other things on that long list. I'm sure she has a blog somewhere. I need to find it. Then again, would that really be a good idea......... I'm sure I'd just find more things for my list.............

I admire great designers. I wish I could do that.

In case you want them, here are the links for those two patterns.

Carousel Throw

Sampler Throw

Y'all have a great day.

Absence....

....makes the heart grow fonder? Yeesh, one can only hope, right? I haven't blogged in like, three weeks. Tut, tut, tut..... Terrible, terrible.

I've been crocheting, been working on my tree skirt. I'm using that 7-hour Tree Skirt pattern, but I'm adding to it, making it bigger. I like my tree skirts big. I'll show it when I'm done, which should be very soon. I'm also still working on that Granny Stripe Afghan, which is also very nearly done. Christmas, you know, that takes a lot of time. Things come to a screeching halt this time of year, without my meaning for them to do so.

Meantime, of course I've been shopping at the Salvation Army. I went there one day because I really need a different sofa. That one I got for free has seen its last days. Precious David. It took him a while, but he worked on it bit by bit, and finally tore up that back cushion. Got it right off of the couch, piece by piece. Sometimes you just gotta laugh. But I digress.

Anyway, so I'm at the Salvation Army, and I find this sweet little writing desk. I wanna think it's vintage or something, but that little hole cut out of the back makes me question that. Why would someone put a hole in the back, other than to allow a plug through? So it's probably not as old as I would like to think it is..... but I love it anyway. I like the tole painting on it, and it's just cute. I think it makes a nice addition to my bedroom. The little chair came with it, though I'm not sure it really 'goes with' it. I'm thinking maybe it's just something someone used with it. I do not like the 1984 blue cushion cover. I think it needs something in needlepoint. I can fix that, though.

There. That's my little desk. Now for my rant. LOL

So I saw "The Twilight Saga - Eclipse" last night. Rented it. Man, I am so glad I rented it, as opposed to seeing it in the theater. Man, do these movies get more and more over-acted? It's almost too predictable, just how much that Edward is going to brood. There's very little smiling, even when they are supposed to be doing a 'love scene'. And the kisses. Not attractive at all. They just don't really look like they're enjoying kissing each other. I don't know. I'm sure I'm going to keep watching until they're resolved, but I'm more and more disappointed by those crazy movies............

Anyway, y'all have a great day. I'll try to get more blogging done.... LOL