Christmas 2010

Wow! It has been almost 10 months since my last blog. A lot has gone on since that time. I've found some new hobbies that may be very interesting to pursue. I haven't crocheted anything for a couple of months. Pretty much been living and being happy with my family. Been enjoying a new home and a new baby. (Well he isn't new any more).

Well today for Christmas, the children had a really great time. They received lots of gifts that they were not really prepared to receive. My mother-n-law was here and left today. 2 weeks went by really quickly. My aunt and cousins stopped by to visit and it was really fun having them over.

I love Christmas because you get to share a lot with the ones that you care about very much. I am tired right now and will update this little message later. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Health and Happiness

The older I become and the more children I have, the more I become extremely concerned about my health and happiness. I have been wanting to start a group for women to come together and exercise and do interesting things together, but most females I know are very reluctant. No one wants to walk, play softball, or anything that requires movement!! How do we get each other to become more active? Do we always have to wait until it is late in the game before we improve or keep up our bodies? When do we honestly say, "I am going to keep myself together". I think that we say that all of the time, but do not follow through. Following through might be the challenge for many of us. How do we overcome this challenge? I have plenty of ideas about that but no real solution except "Just Do It".

I have always been a very active person, but it wasn't until I hit 30 and had the 4th child that I realized that I may need to be a little more active. Taking care of yourself, a husband, and 4 other bodies can be a challenging task if your not prepared. And that I wasn't, prepared. I want to continue being active and not let the job become the stress in my life again. My husband has encouraged me to include and cut out somethings in our diet. Which has really helped and was an excellent idea.

My creative spirit has been on the hunt to complete and "follow through" on projects. I am excited to say that I did complete a couple of things since my last post, including: a baby blanket (very cute), another hat, a slide picture album, a birthday party and something else. (I forgot). I find lots of new projects that interest me, but seem to have a hard time getting started with those things. Reading other blogs and looking at more pictures has been giving me the enthusiasm to start completing some of the interesting ideas that flow through me. (Regularly I might add).

If you have interesting projects, any health and happiness tips, let me know. I'm digressing now to indulge in some Ice cream and Trefoil cookies. :) Yummy.

Completed Basket Weave

Well, I have finished the basket weave hat and started a new project. I actually completed the hat about 5 or 6 days ago and did not post it. It did not turn out as cute as I wanted it to, but oh well it was worth a shot. I added about 2 extra rows and did not realize that it would stretch so much or be so large. Guess I should have stuck to the plan. (Ha Ha, stick to a plan, yeah right!) Maybe washing it will shrink the yarn. ?? My daughter asked me to put some flowers or something with some color on it. That sounded like a super idea, so that will be updated when ever I add color. Maybe one of the colors she has chosen for her blanket will work.

Now my sights are set on completing my daughters blanket. I made my two sons and my husband a granny square blanket and now I need to complete my daughters.

I love to crochet, but sometimes get a little side tracked when introduced to other craft opportunities. Like right now, I am thinking about finishing a scrapbook page that I started so long ago. As crafters you all know that sometimes the urge to indulge in another "handy made" project presents it self before a previous "invention" can be finished.

Well the baby is crying. Got to go until next time.

Basket Weave Hat

I just started the basket weave hat. I must say this one is a little difficult to complete. It's hard to work consistantly on this little project and don't know why I choose white. Working the back double crochet was a little tricky, however, that's part of the challenge. Stopped on round 7 and will try to finish by today; no maybe tomorrow. Must say I love Teresa and her youtube tutorials. They are very, very helpful.

Soon I'll come up with my own patterns and show others how to crochet. :) I have shown the girl scouts in hopes that they would enjoy it. Unfortunately, brownies and "young" juniors only have so much patience and skill.

Hopefully it will turn out ok and look like a hat. Stay tuned!!

Beanies for a Cause

It's funny how you start something and are hanging in there for a couple of weeks and then it wears off. Just thinking about how long I will keep this up because I am really excited about it right now.

I just came up with a wonderful idea for me and my girls to do. We can crochet beanies for children with alopecia. My daughter suffers from it and I run out of hairstyles to cover the spots in her hair. It gets frustrating for her and I just want to come up with an alternative to braiding. She really liked the beanie posted the other day. She and I are going to make some other ones with the colors that she likes to wear to school. She also wants to sell them to raise money for the NAAF to help with research. Check these out!

http://4sisters4freedom.com/

http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/ 

Crocheted Puff Stitch Hat

Well I completed something new yesterday while the baby was sleeping. A puff stitch hat! I have never crocheted a hat before so this was a first for me. I followed Teresa's plan from her You Tube site and it made if very easy. Thanks! I couldn't believe how quickly I was able to finish (3 1/2 hours). Check out her video posted below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8lLMHpt1Sw

There were a few changes made though. Instead of 24 puff stitches after round 4, I made 25 and also did 12 rounds rather than 10 to fit my head a little better. (Lots of "puffy" hair) How? Don't ask but it happened. Also made changes in the single stitch at the end to try and tighten the hat up some. It came out very pretty, but the orange doesn't really match anything. However, I will wear it today to my doctor's and hair appointment.

I want to make something else very soon but I am going to try to do a different project a day. So today I'll be working on either scrapbooking or painting.

Well that's it for today! See the picture of the hat. Looks pretty nice huh!

1st Post

Hello,



Just got stared with this. It should be interesting to see what transpires from this blog. I just had a wonderful baby boy and will need an outlet while being at home feeding, eating and sleeping. Creativity comes in so many forms. Let's watch to see which one will work out best for me. Join me on my journey. Lets Go!