Happy Friday Everyone! Geez, this has been the longest 4-day week ever!!! I'm ready for the weekend! I am going to be at my sister's house until Tuesday, taking care of her dogs, while she goes on a little vacation to Reno/Lake Tahoe. We have the 2 greyhounds, and her 3 dogs are much more rambunctious than ours. So, I decided it would just be easier on everyone if I just stay at her house. She only lives 30-40 minutes away, but sometimes it seems like she's in a different state. :) Anyway, I hope to get a lot of crocheting done over the weekend. Speaking of . . . crochet . . . I just finished my 12-point, round ripple "Sunshine" lapghan. My best friend is going through a messy divorce and needs something to put a smile on her face. So, this lapghan will hopefully signify that brighter days are on the way. Hope she likes it! Everyone have a great weekend.

Ready for Hump Day!

It's only Tuesday, and I'm already looking forward to Saturday! The long weekend wore me out, and today was a killer at work. Now I'm just looking forward to some downtime.

Well, I can now post the pictures of my crocheted "organizer boxes". The pink/blue one was my first, and I have gotten so much use out of it. I decided to make one for my MIL for Mother's Day, which we were just able to celebrate yesterday because we've all had the respiratory crud the past few weeks. I didn't want to post a picture until after I gave it to her. But, anyway, she loved it, and I hope it will encourage her to get her hook flying. She's the only one in my family who seems to appreciate and encourage my new "addiction"! :)

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!

My thanks goes out to all the brave Americans who have unselfishly given their lives for our country. And, my thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers who are there now, ready to lay down their lives for our freedom. Today, I also like to take a special moment to remember my friends and relatives who have left us, especially my dear mother, who was my best friend in the whole world. She left us way too early, and I miss her every day. Love you, Mom!

As for the pictures above, I am still trying to get caught up on posting pics of my early projects. These are newborn hats that I really enjoyed crocheting. The one at the top makes me laugh. It said it was for a newborn, but my 10-year-old can wear it. It's still a cute pattern, but I think I'll not give it at my next baby shower. :)

I'M POOPED!

I think I mentioned I started my new job this week. After being sick last week, with the cough and headache lingering this week, all this excitement is wearing me out! I've almost been too tired to crochet. Almost, I said! :) Well, I'm still going back and playing catch-up with posting pictures of my early projects. The first pair of shoes are granny slippers. They're kinda cute, but the picture isn't helping them out too much. The second "single slipper" is one of a pair, but the other one ended up being a dog chew-toy. :) The last slippers are Baby Uggs. I should've put my ruler up next to them . . . they're about 3 1/2 inches long and so adorable. I made them one weekend for a guy at my husband's work . . . well, not for the guy, but for his new baby boy . . . but after I finished them, I didn't think there was any way his hefty newborn was going to fit in them. So, I'll have a gift for the next baby that comes along.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

I was trying to go back and post pictures of my early projects, but I thought I might ought to throw in a couple of recent pictures to show that I have at least ventured further than caps and scarves! :) I made these little guys for my mother-in-law for Easter. The small white and milk chocolate bunnies were my favorites.

Hope everyone is having a great week. I'm busy at my new job and loving it! I can't wait to start working from home in a few weeks.

First Day At My New Job!

Yep, I started a new job today! I've been doing contract medical coding

for the past few years, and our biggest contract was cancelled as of April

3rd. So, my fingernails have taken quite a beating the last few weeks,

nerves from not having any work. But, alas, I started working today.

After some in-office training, I'll be able to work from home. How cool

will that be??? :)

Well, this picture is of one of my first scarves. I wasn't sure how to

photograph it, and the picture really doesn't do it justice. It's made with

Lion Brand Homespun, and it made up really fast, even though it's

quite long. The pattern came from the skein wrapper.

Good night, my precious 9-year-old!

My baby girl will be in double digits tomorrow. My goodness, is she ever excited!! It's actually past my bedtime, but I had some last-minute presents to wrap, so I thought I would do some nips and tucks on my new blog and add another picture or two. I've crocheted tons of stuff since last November, and I'm really kicking myself now for not taking pictures of each and every thing I've made. There were countless coasters, koozies and wash cloths created during my first couple of months, but none of them were photographed. Oh well, I'll just have to be better about keeping track of everything from here on out. As I try to catch up on posting pictures of my projects, I think I'll start back from the beginning and work forward. Hopefully, we'll see some improvement along the way. :) The pictures above were of my first two hat and scarf sets. I crocheted these in December and gave them as Christmas gifts.

I'm Making History With My Very First Blog!

Happy Sunday, Everyone! That sounds funny, considering there might be one or two people who read this. :) Anyway, I thought maybe I should figure out how to do this blogging thing, so those of you who have found me following your blogs won't think I'm a stalker!

I'm excited about creating this blog, and I hope you will be patient with me. I consider myself to be computer-literate, but for some reason, I've never developed an interest in the "Myspace", "Facebook", and now "Twitter" crazes. I was drawn to this blogging community through my searches for crochet information. After reading some of your blogs, I decided I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and begin sharing my passion for crochet.

Here's a brief history . . . All the females above me in my family tree have been very crafty, especially with needle arts. My mother and grandmother made beautiful clothes for me when I was a child. My mother was very skilled at sewing, knitting, and crocheting. When I was a teenager, she patiently tried to teach me how to crochet, but I could never get past a few rows of single crochets before getting bored to tears! At that time, I thought crochet was just about making afghans and doilies. (Anyone heard that before?) I never dreamed you could actually make something CUTE and useful with yarn and a hook.

Well, years went by, and my mother made countless afghans that she gave away. Fortunately, my sister and I were the recipients of many of her labors of love. Mom is with Jesus now, but I know she looks down on us approvingly when we snuggle up with her beautiful handiwork. I can also appreciate now just how much work she really put into those little projects!

So, how did I get to be where I am today . . . absolutely obsessed with crochet and yarn and hooks, and other tools of the trade? Back in October, 2008, I got something on my homepage that said, "How to Crochet a Granny Square". When I read that, a little lightbulb went off in my head, and I thought, "I could crochet a baby blanket for my first grandchild." Well, this is funny for many reasons. First, I was envisioning a granny square magically becoming a blanket . . . . just like that! This was also funny because not only do I not have a grandchild, but my almost-newlywed daughter and son-in-law have no plans of giving me grandchildren in the near future. :) So, I'm not really sure why I had this little vision, but oh well . . . I just took off with it.

I emailed my mother-in-law, who also happens to be extremely talented and crafty, and asked her if she could teach me how to make a granny square. It was almost Thanksgiving, so she told me to get some yarn that I liked, and she had hooks, and we would make granny squares after our big turkey dinner. So, do you think I should hold my mother-in-law responsible for turning me into the obsessive yarn addict that I've become? :) The couple of granny squares I made that day turned into 25 by the end of the long weekend. Funny thing is, I've got about 75 squares made now, but they're still sitting in a drawer, waiting for me to decide what to do with them. I've moved way past those original grannies, and have decided that if/when I get my first grandchild, he or she will deserve something very cuddly, not my first attempt at crochet with scratchy acrylic yarn!

Okay, so that was not such a brief history! But, it tells you how my crochet journey began, and I hope each of you who finds this blog will join me and share your thoughts and ideas along the way.

By the way, the picture is of a scarf I made the week after I mastered those darn granny squares. So, it was officially my first completed "project". I've taken lots of pictures this weekend, and I'll get them posted in the days to come.