My family left this morning

Well, after one week (and only one fight with my brother) my parents and brother left this morning to go back home to Canada. It was a nice visit and a wonderful Christmas. Here is a pic of all of us (you can just see me peeking over the shoulders of my sons) and then one of my kids with my parents. My dh is the grumpy looking one....geesh! Learn to smile, man!!

Lookie Lookie!!! Jimbo Hooks

Will ya lookie at what I got for Christmas!!! My daughter and son got me 2 Jimbo Hooks for Christmas and my swap partner got me another. I'm in 'hawg heaven' right now!! Woo hoo!!

Merry Christmas to everyone

Thank you to everyone that has read my blog over the past year.

Things are going well with my parents and brother here for the holidays, so far. It is the eve of Christmas Eve and there is still shopping to do, cookies to bake, gifts to wrap.......all the fun stuff.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and I'll talk to you in the 2007!!!

Christmas Meme

Tagged by Jaye

Attach a photo of one of your current holiday displays:

1. Egg Nog, Mulled Cider, or Hot Chocolate?
Egg Nog, fresh on Christmas morning, made by my father!!! It's a tradition.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Always wrapped

3. Do you decorate the outside of your home with lights? Any other displays?
Are you kidding?? Inside, outside, displays inside, displays outside.........gotta love it!!

4. Poinsettias, Holly or Mistletoe? Pointsettias and Mistletoe

5. When do you put up your decorations?
I put up my outside decorations (usually) the weekend right before Thanksgiving and then the inside gets done the beginning of December.

6. Do you prefer to give or receive?
Ok, let's be honest.....as mother's when we say 'no, don't get me anything, spend the money on yourself'...it really means, I bought a load of stuff for you, you'd better get me something nice too or you'll never hear the end of it. However.... I do enjoy giving something to someone that I know they are going to love. It makes my holiday!!

7. Cut tree, live tree, artificial tree, or Festivus pole?
I much prefer a cut tree but dh is scared of them so we have a very nice artificial tree.

8. Have you ever made a gingerbread house?
Every year!

9. Do you display a nativity scene?
No, it's not something I've ever done

10.When did you learn the truth about Santa?
What truth???

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
I lived in Canada for the first 34 years of my life I grew to resent snow, except on Christmas Eve. I do miss it on Christmas Eve but beyond that..........dread it!!

12. Can you ice skate?
I learned when I was a kid

13. Do you open your gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
My kids exchange their gifts from each other on Christmas Eve. Also my mother (Grammy) always allows them to open one gift with is always pj's and something for them to do. They love it!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Being with my family. After moving to Texas in 2003 I only get to see them a couple of times a year, when I used to go over every Sunday for dinner. So being with them when they come down (they're on their way as I type this!!) is the best part for me.

15. What is your favorite holiday cookie?
Sugar cookies

16. What tops your tree?
A star

17. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Goodness, there are so many. So this is Christmas by John Lennon is an alltime fave though!

18. What is your favorite Christmas movie or story?
Has to be, without an ounce of a doubt....It's a Wonderful Life!! It's not Christmas until I watch it!

19. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? If Yum, how do you eat them?
Just like them for decoration on the tree......other than that..yuck!

20. Do you send Christmas cards? If yes, do you enclose a letter or picture?
I try to send cards but don't always succeed. My cards are usually have family Christmas cards made so I guess that counts as a picture. I enclose a letter in some.

21. What kind of lights do you decorate your Christmas tree with? White lights, or another solid color, multi colored, candles, or a novelty light such as bubble lights?
My tree is prelit with clear lights but I do prefer colored lights.

22. Favorite Christmas memory as a child?
I don't have one in particular because they were all great. I aways enjoyed going to my grandparents house where all of my mother's brothers and sisters came with their spouses and children......a big, full house of love!!

23. Best present that you have received?
This may sound rather corny....my mother bought me this. A small wrapped up box (very small, smaller than a ring box) and it had a tag on it saying something along the lines of, 'you can never unwrap this gift but every time you need a hug, know there is one in here for you from me'....or something like that. Seh bought it at the dollar store......which she found funny.

24. Turkey, Ham, Seafood, or Soup for your holiday dinner?
Has got to be, without a doubt, turkey on Christmas Day.

25. Describe your favorite Christmas ornament.
I made, using Cross Stitch, a few ornaments for my grandmother in years past. When she died they all came back to me. One says 'Holidays are a time for family' and that's my favorite.

FI.NA.LLY!!!

I can't believe it's finally over and done with. Let me tell you...these last two weeks have likely been the very longest of my life!! Last Friday, December 8th, we finally moved in to our new home. It only took me a few days alone (kids at school/hubby at work) to get things all unpacked and organized.
We had some problems with our heater, but thank goodness it's been extremely mild here this week so it hasn't been a worry. It's fixed now though, just one of the things you encounter when you buy a house I guess.
The biggest thing? NO DSL!!! Yes, I'm accessing this using a stinking dial up connection.....I can barely stand it!! Oh well, if that's the biggest trade off I have to make then it's worth it.

We put up our Christmas lights today...finally...and they look really nice. It's about time though. Likely the longest I've ever waited to put them up, but then again we had other things going on. It was almost 80 today so it was a very nice day to put them up.

Chico is doing very nicely by the way. He has healed quite well and you'd never know he had a run in with a truck....thank goodness!

The next big thing? Well, my parents and brother are due in on Wednesday. I'm tellin' ya, I'll be glad when December is over so life can take on some form of normalcy!!

Awful scary day

What an awful day!! The only time of the day I ever let my dogs outside without being on a leash is at 5:00am when nothing else is going on. They take a pee and come right back in. This morning I heard a terrible noise and a dog yelp. I knew it was my newest little buddy, Chico.I ran outside as fast as I could to see a pick-up truck driving away and nothing else. My dh came outside right behind me and said "Lisa, Chico's right here, on the porch." He was scared and shaking. I thought, 'ok, maybe he didn't get hit by the truck.' Then I saw a couple of small abbrasions on his 'knees', his chin and his 'armpit'. We took him to the vet to get checked out. He had no broken bones. Just a couple of 'road rash' spots, especially one under his armpit. He got some pain killers, some antibacterial cream AND his full set of shots, including rabies, which we were going to take him in for soon anyway, so at least that's done. $178.00 later.........geesh.......I can't tell you how happy I will be when this week is done!!!Thank goodness Chico is ok!!

And 18 shopping days......

Making himself right at home

Well, Just an update to let y'all know Chico is settling in juuuuuuuust fiiiiiiine!! He owns the bed and sleeps in between me and my dh every night, under the covers. I swear, between my 7 y/o son, a cat and the dog, I'm not allowed in my own bed....lol.

A couple of quickie projects

Well, while waiting for this whole 'house thing' to come to a conclusion (should be by the end of this week...finally) I had to get a something to preoccupy my mind..and hands. I made this camo doggie sweater for Chico...he's not sure what to make of it just yet. I also made a pink camo hat for my daughter. Hmmm, now what to do tomorrow.........

So this is what a roller coaster feels like....

Man, I just can't put in to words the emotional roller coaster I've been on the past few days. First, we closed on our house (this one that we sold) yesterday morning. We were in great moods and feeling on top of the world. Then.......by 4pm we were feeling lower than slugs as the house we were planning on closing this morning ran in to snags and we weren't going to be able to get a clear title to it, meaning we could not buy it. Now, keeping in mind that we have to pay the guy who bought this house $25/day for rent if we have to stay here after Sunday Dec, 3rd, which works out to $750/month.....on a house we just owned and has been in my dh's family for nearly 80 years.
Yesterday morning my computer broke down......done....dead....kaput!! So, I drowned my sorrows last night by going out to buy a new one. As soon as I got online I looked for a new house to buy. Found a couple to look at.
We get to our Realtors office this morning and he says 'let's just over to the title company and go through the motions. If he doesn't show up by 5pm he'll be at default anyway.' Fine, we went over there. We get there and it ends up not being nearly as bad as we thought and 'things' could be fixed. Bottom line.......we will still be able to buy the house (the glitch was on the sellers end, not ours) after even though the closing date is going to be early next week, instead of today. GREAT!
Now, dh (for lack of a better phrase) and I are fighting over stupid stuff. It's amazing to me how you can go through all of these ups and downs and never fight about anything, support each other wonderfully and then once things are on an even keel, you fight over asinine things. I just don't get it!!
Yeah, I know we'll 'kiss and make up' but it just frustrating to have to go through it at all. I DON'T UNDERSTAND MEN. If anyone out there does, I'd love a tip about to disagree with him without making him feel like 'you're not on my side'. I swear!!!

Like a hole in the head

That's just how badly I needed to happen what happened to me today. (confused yet?)
Well, some of you know we just sold our house. We close tomorrow. Then on Friday we close on the new house........stress galore!!
The weather has been crazy today....almost in the 80's today and now all of a sudden it's about 40, going down to about 18 with the windchill over night.........gotta love Texas weather!!
Well, all day I was seeing this little fella in my yard. Very cute. Very friendly. Very loveable......but I ignored it....like a good 'girl'.
Then DH and I were sitting outside and it came right over to me, jumped up on my lap, laid it's head on my shoulder and sighed...then he licked my face and closed his eyes, again with his head on my shoulder. COME ON!! WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE IS THIS??As some of you may also know I've been looking for another 'itty bitty' ever since my wonderful Dachshund puppy died a few months ago. I've been looking around and (I think) DH was going to get me one for Christmas.Well, it's too cold to just leave him outside. Can't just turn my back on the little guy.
Then, out of the blue my dh...who is the world's biggest sceptic...says 'well, looks like we have to keep him. He took such a liking to you, you can't just ignore that. He found you, that's more important than you finding him'. My daughter went up and down the street asking if he belonged to anyone...no one had seen him before so my dh is certain he was 'dumped'... . So, maybe it was just meant to be........May I introduce to you.......Chico

He's a young dog from what I can tell and is a Chihuahua mix....not even as big as my cats....
My daughter said..."the poor thing, being abandoned like that" to which I replied "are you kidding? He just hit the jackpot!"

DH's king size ghan

TADA!! Here it is! Hubby was bugging me for a while to make him a blue 'huge' ghan. This has been a work in progress for about.....hmmmm.....6 months I guess. I used The Crochet Dude's 'dudessembly' joining techinque. I love the way it turned out. My favorite row is the red one.

I thought I'd take a pic and show y'all before I put it in a safe garbage bag for transport the our new house. It'll get wrapped up and put under the tree. Don't know if DH will be able to wait that long but ...........ha ha ....he has no choice!!

Ribbed Newsboy hat

Well, we were at WalMart yesterday morning and my daughter goes to the scarf section (like you really need them in Texas.....but anywho...) and sees scarves with flowers on them, just like I made for a swap so she calls me over. "Mom, you made one just like this!!" She was amazed. Then she saw some crocheted Newsboys and falls in love with them. She actually wanted me to buy her one...puhshaw!! I told her I could make one and to go pick out the yarn. She picked out Bernat's Softee Chunky in white and I found a pattern I liked (Ribbed Newsboy Hat pattern at TepperWear's site ) and got to work. I whipped it up in no time and what did she say? "Mom, that's so awesome! I like it a lot better than the one I wanted from WalMart". Yes, I'm a star...*smile*. I had enough of the 2 skeins left to make to make her a skinny scarf. Here are a few pics. White doesn't photograph that well, so please keep that in mind. It does look very nice in person.

Let the games begin!!

Well, got the word today.......actually got two words. He's coming! My parents just let us know a few days ago that, seeing how we are moving in to a new house and will be there for Christmas that they are just way too nosey and must come down to see the house. That's great. My kids have only missed one Christmas with them so it's always nicest when they're here. I did get word today that my brother is also coming. Before I go any further let me say this....I love my brother, he's a great guy....etc......BUT, we always get in to it at some point because he's very self-righteous. Wish me luck........
I am looking forward to seeing him as I've not seen him since 2004, so 2 years ago. You'd think when you grow up your adolescent sibling ways dissolve.......nope!!

What to make my parents

Well, I once asked my mother if she would like me to make her anything, like an afghan, and her response was 'hell no. Why would I want more thing to pick up?' So, I never asked again. That was over a year ago. So, I called today and asked and I got a favorable response......scarves. She and my dad both want scarves. She wants tassles....he doesn't. So........off I went. I made this scarf for my mom today. I'm not a big tassles fan, but I put them on there anyway. I think I made it too long though....it's about 8' long. She'll wrap it around her neck a ocuple times....lol
Here's a pic... the tassles don't look even but they are, it's just the way it's laying.

SnB Color Bay blanket

I just finished this for my step son for Christmas. It's the Color-Bay blanket from the Stitch n Bitch book. I did not use the exact colors used in the pattern....but I rarely do. It only took me about a week to do. But let me tell ya, all those little 3 round squares got monotonous after a while. I was glad to finish the last one this afternoon!! Here's the pics of it....... It looks better than the pictures give it credit for...........

Ok, here's the news

We sold our house. It's been on the market for over a year and I've been very anxious about the whole thing. We've also put a contract on another house........with all of it coming to a head by December 1st. All this time, nothing, now it's full speed ahead!!

To be honest, I've been flipping out a little bit today. I have a habit of always expecting the worse. So my stress level is off the charts right now........my poor hubby.

This is his grandmothers house, that has been in his family since the 30's. It was left to him when she died. When we moved in here together, with my 3 kids it was small but the kids were younger so it didn't matter so much. Now 2 out of the 3 kids are teenagers and they all need more room...their own rooms. So, really he's doing this, selling the house for me and the kids. I feel guilty on some levels...a lot of levels...but he tells me to look at it in the way that he's giving up the house for me but to look at it this way....... "I love my wife so much I want to give her what she wants and deserves. " Now, while that's harder for me to 'get' I'm trying....trying....trying. I have the best husband in the world!!

Bidding on a Jimbo hook

Well, I'm doing it!! I'm bidding on a Jimbo hook!! I soooooo hope I win one!! I've heard so much about them!! Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

Update: I won! I won! I won!! I'm so happy. I also ordered one so I'll be getting 2 Jimbo hooks! I can't wait. Merry Christmas to me.....*bigggg smile*

What's new pussycat...whoa whoa whooooooa

Good morning everyone. Just thought I'd pop in to say a little hello this morning. Well, I'm not sure how many people read my blog but at least I think a couple of people do. So I'll catch y'all up to date.
Just for the record.......don't you just love that Britney Spears and 'Fed-Ex' are over? I don't know why, but this just makes me so happy!!
I've been busy crocheting for Christmas as well as testing a few things for Crochet Garden and loving it. It's a nice break from doing the same ol' same old. I just finished a couple of Christmas ornaments that I made for a couple of different swaps and I really like them. I will likely make a bunch for my Christmas tree this year. They were so easy and only took about an hour from first ch to the last decorating tie.
Cute huh?
Ok, I'm off for now. I can hear my hooks calling me...........can't you hear them? If you listen hard enough I'll bet you can.................

What's going on

Hey y'all. What a whirlwind the last few days have been, with it only getting to be even more like a whirlwind by the end of the month.....hopefully.....if all goes like it should.
First, let me tell you what I've been crocheting, then I'll get to the other part. I've been doing a ripple blanket in blues with a Q hook and 3 strands of RH yarn, for my DS Matt. I ran out of yarn at 8 'blocks' of color and I need 14 'blocks' so I'll have to go yarn shopping.........what a shame...lol. So, not wanting to be with a project I decided to try the 'Color-Bay Blanket' out of the Stitch 'n Bitch book. I'm not using the exact colors that were used in the book because they're too girly for a boy, but I think he'll like the pattern.
Hmmmmmmm, as I've been typing this I've been thinking about what I would type next and I've decided to wait. Everything is not finalized yet so I'll wait until it is before I fill you in. I will say this though, or rather as this of you if you are reading this.......... say a prayer, think a nice thought, whatever it is that you do, for me and my family that all turns out well.
Thanks so much, it means the world to me.

Can you smell them????

Well, with all the talk of THE cookies I just had to make them. As soon as the kids and the hubby were out the door this morning I got started. It took me about 2 hours from getting the ingredients out to cleaning up when they were allllll done. Here is the finished product....made about 80 cookies or 6 1/2 dozen. This is what they look like when I roll them out (I couldn't find my rolling pin so I used my hands and a glass.....lol) and cut them into 'squares'.

My cat even wanted in on the action. He jumped on the cookie sheet.....I was not amused to say the least. But when I saw the pawprint I just had to leave it!! lol

So, I'm letting them cool down and then going to put them in the freezer. They are definitely the best when they are cold. They melt in your mouth, literally!!
See the recipe in the post below.

Peter's Shortbread Cookies

Well, I searched and searched, literally for days and could not find this recipe. I even posted a plea to C'ville thinking I had sent it someone, but nothing.
Today, while looking through pattern drawer......TADA ..... there it was, the precious recipe.
I decided to post this recipe here just in case I ever misplace it again. Go ahead and try it, you'll just love it. Trust me. BUT, please do not submit this recipe anywhere as your own.
It was given to me by my old neighbor. He was (10 years ago) a widower and in his late 60's. He took a liking to me and my kids because he didn't like what he saw of my ex husband (note the EX husband). He'd invite us over for tea and cookies. He always had these cookies in the fridge and one day I asked him where he got the recipe. He told me it was his own and the secret was the 'fruit sugar' instead of anything else. He gave it to me because he didn't have any children to give it to. I felt honored.
I ended up splitting from my ex and shortly thereafter moved to Texas. I don't know if Peter is still 'with us' but I think of him many times a year, every time I make these cookies. Thank you Peter.......

Peter's Shortbread Cookies

1lb butter (has to be butter)
1 cup fruit sugar (+some for rolling after baked)(has to be fruit sugar....no substitutes....can be found in baking stores)
1/2 tsp or less salt
1/2 cup Corn starch
3 1/2 cup flour (+1 cup flour)

Make butter very soft. It is easier to mix this way. A little tip is to cut butter in small pieces and place in a bowl that is sitting in hot water in the sink. This will melt it so watch that it does not separate. Mix so it does not separate.

Mix butter, salt and fruit sugar. Blend thoroughly. Add cornstarch. Add flour gradually. you may have to knead by hand.
Take one additional cup of flour and add small portions as you mix until dough begins to crack. you may not use all of this last cup.
Roll out 3/8" to 1/2" thick, in squares or cookie cutter.
Cook at 325F for approximately 20 minutes. Watch closely as they are easy to over cook
Take out when they have a golden tint.
Roll in fruit sugar when cool enough to handle. Store in fridge or freezer for best taste.

Note: I may make some tomorrow and post a picture. I'd make it today but have to go trick or treating in a few hours.

Yummy yummy yummy!!!!!!

Robotic Halloween

Here is my little fella, Austin. Here in our small town they have what's called 'Brick Street Trick or Treat', where the kids can go to all the stores on the brick street ('downtown' has roads made of bricks instead of pavement) hand out candies to all the little trick or treaters. People around here don't really trick or treat, instead there are Halloween parties and carnivals. On Monday we may go to a carnival in a town close to ours and on Tuesday there is something called Hallelujah Night at a big church in the area and it's a lot of fun for the kids, instead of going trick or treating, when you may get things that are not the safest. Austin loves loves loves Hallelujah Night and talks about it all year long so he's excited about Tuesday.
Anyway, here's his costume. I made it last night using cardboard boxes and duct tape. He's a robot. I love it! He got so many compliments today it wasn't funny! Everyone just thought he was adorable!! I thought so too............

How many have your name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 29 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Done!! My daughter's scrapghan

I am very pleased with the way this turned out. She picked out some very nice colors. She won't get it until Christmas though.

As you can see, my son, Matt, was being a bit of smart aleck and 'trying it out'. He did say it was very warm, which was good, just not long enough for him. So I know to make his a bit longer. Haven't quite picked out a pattern for him yet though.......grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! HELLP!!

Another round ripple

Well, here are 2 more FO's. They are both for women at my dh's work who are both expecting little girls. I like the round ripple better though. To me it looks like sherbert ice cream. I love making these! I saw one on Crochetville where a woman was making one with 2 strands and instead of using white as the 'go between' color she blends a strand of the color she just did and the color she is about to do. It looks waaaayyyy cool! I must, I must, I must do it!!


Alrighty then.........off to finish my daughters scrapghan.......

Here we go

Well, 'tis the season......the season for colds and flu.....lovely. Being a stay at home mom, everytime the kids come home from school with something new to pass on, I get it...EVERYTIME!! I swear! Right now it's a bad head cold. Ok, I'll admit, everyone got the cold this time, everyone but my 15 y/o son, who you know has to be the one that brought it home and that's why he's not sick! But they all seem to get rid of it quickly while I tend to hang on to it for much much longer, not sure why, just lucky I guess.
So, go to bed and get a good night's sleep, right? Tried that and slept like a baby last night...a colicky one! Every hour I was up. Head pounding. Nose running. Throat burning. Cough coughing. I swear!! My only saving grace is that I have time this morning to fit in a nap before the little girl I babysit gets here shortly after lunch.
So, now, tell me this. What am I doing here? Wasting good sleep time on my blog? .................. See ya!

Some squares I've received lately

They're all so pretty, aren't they? I can't wait to add them to 'ghan I'm going to put together for myself soon! Thank you to Carol, Miranda and Donnalynn for the lovely squares.

Texas Crochet Weekend

ATTENTION ALL TEXANS........or wannabes!!

Check out this post for some information for what might possibly be the most fun you'll have in the next 12 months! We are planning a Texas Crochet retreat weekend.

If you think you might be interested, come along. Check out the posting at C'ville for all the information but I think it will be just much fun!!

Let me know if you are interested. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have!

FO -- Round Ripple

I finished it!! Yayyyyyy!! Here is my 7 y/o son's round ripple that I'm giving him for Christmas. Yes, it's true, he did pick out the colors and see my progress but it's going away now until Christmas. I was going to add another row but it's as wide as my queen size bed, and big enough for my son to wrap up in, that I would finish it off with the blue. It took me less than a week to do too. Worked up super fast. Now my daughter says she's jealous, even though I'm half way done her scrapghan....... little brat .... lolMy cat Minnie liked it so much, I literally got off the chair after taking the picture, looked up and she was already laying on it. Silly kitty!

Ahhhhhhhh, the rain

As I was sitting on the couch this morning, crocheting, listening to the rain fall on the window, alone in the house with no voices but those on the tv, hearing the the little puppy sounds from behind the couch as they suckle, my hands cool, the round ripple I'm making actually keeping my legs (dressed in shorts....it's still in the 70's after all) warm instead of making me sweat, I thought "I have to blog about this. It doesn't get much better than this."........... so I did!!
Ahhhhhhhhhh, the rain, and the coolness it brings. Welcome Fall! I've missed you!

Happy Hooker Chain Gang

Hey y'all. I just joined Happy Hooker Chain Gang. How cool! Take a look!

Maisy had her puppies

Here they are. She had 2 puppies on Sept 27th so they are nearly 2 weeks old....and cuuuuuuute!! The brown one is a complete rollie pollie, weighing in at 3 1/2 lbs already. The black one is almost 3 lbs. We don't plan on keeping either one of them because I still have my heart set on an 'itty bitty' doggie. Anyone want one??? *wink* *wink*
In the first picture of the brown puppy it actually looks like she's having a small burst of energy, when in actually, the camera caught her at the end of a yawn. Of course sleeping is pretty much all they do. They're eyes are starting open too so that's so much more cute! How can anyone resist puppy breath??BTW: they're both female. Maisy is Bassador (Basset Hound/Lab) and the father was a Lab mix so who knows what they'll look like when they grow up.

Crochet progress

Alrighty........here is Austin's round ripple. I think I'm going to add at least another 2 or 3 colors after I get the yellow done. These are the colors he's picked, and while they may not be MY first choice, it's his blanket after all!! It's about 38" so far.

Next, Samantha's 'scrapghan'. I started this off as a baby blanket for someone but she loved it so much I decided to make it longer for her for Christmas. Here it is so far, about half done I think (it's folded in half, by the way) and she's picked out most of the colors for this as well. It works up relatively quickly, just like the ripple so that's great for me, only 2 months from Christmas!
Now, just to put together DH's blue king size afghan and make my other son's snowflake 'ghan'. Still have to get more yarn for that one so I figured if I can get these other 2 done I'll have plenty of time for his. Phew.....who knew making all these things for Christmas would take so long? Certainly not my dear dear hubby, who thinks I should be able to whip up a blanket in a weekend, a king size one that is. Geeeesh!!

Round ripple progress

Well, this is what I started last night. It's a round ripple and I got the info from C'Ville at this thread. It's been working up quite quickly so that's great! I've finished 17 rounds since last night.

K, gotta go, gotta keep pluggin' away!!

So excited

You may not see me around much for the next week. My parents are coming from Canada for a visit. They'll be here tomorrow (Wednesday, September 27th) afternoon. My kids are just thrilled to be seeing Grammy and Grampa again. We havent' seen them since last Christmas, the longest stretch.......hmm, ever I think.
So, you may not see me around much, I'm not even sure if anyone really reads my blog on a regular basis, but I'll be back next week, after my parents leave. I'll have to take a picture or two to show them off!!

Blogger Beta

Grrrrrrr, how frustrating. I got a notice last week about upgrading to the new Blogger Beta version. I'm always one that needs to have the 'newest of' so I switched. It's all fine and dandy, no bugs at all to report, except one thing........no one can post a comment to my blog unless they also have the newest version (beta version). They are trying to fix that and I hope they do soon. Also, it will be upgraded at some point so everyone will have the same thing that I have now.
So go ahead, upgrade, I dare ya............
Or, if you want to leave me a comment just email me at lisa@calmingseas.com

Thanks for taking time out of your day to share a few moments with me!!
Lisa

Canada Square and Texas Square

I am quite pleased with these squares, espeically the Texas one. For DH' s afghan I had to make one square for Texas, one for Canada and one with 2 rings (still working on that one, will post when it's done). I asked for help on Crochetville and got patterns for these. I am especially fond of the way the Texas one turned out. I just think it looks great!! I like the Canadian Maple Leaf too but find it looks 'grainy' especially up close. Maybe the HDC would have worked better than just sc, I dunno. I'm happy enough with it though that I'm going to use it. This was my first forray into crocheting with a graph and found it quite challenging with having to change colors all the time. It took me at least twice as long to make the graph squares as it does for any other. But now that I know how rewarding it can be, trust me, I'll try again!

Coffee Crochet - Canadian Maple Leaf pattern

Texas State - Texas state pattern

I thought I was going to pee my pants.....

Take a look..........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10CGxD0TVig

What I've been doin'

I've been crocheting up a storm, trying to get all the squares I need for DH's blanket. I have nearly all of them done now, just a few left, plus putting it together....the fun part....lol

Don't mind the kitty cat....he just HAD to help me take the pics!!