Where does the time go?

From left to right: Sandi, Sarah, Skylar, Savannah. At the Braves Game on Memorial Day 2010.

Seriously? 

How did Terry and I get to the age that our oldest daughters are now 21 and 19? Has it really been THAT long since we brought them home from the hospital and celebrated their first few Christmas days? You mean I'm NOT 25 any more?  

I can look and see they aren't 9 pounds 12 ounces or 7 pounds 5 ounces any more. I can't hold them in my lap or cradle them in my arms like when they were infants.  But how did it happen so quickly? Where did all the memories - of things we swore we'd NEVER forget - get buried in our brains? I'm sure if I could remember ALL those moments, I would more easily realize the time that has passed. But they are filed away somewhere in my brain and they only surface when someone else says "Hey, do you remember when ...?

Remember when Sarah was bent over the sofa and we wondered what she was doing only to have her stand and turn to us with 5 pacifiers in her mouth?

Remember Savannah sitting in the backseat as we drove down Old Conyers Road after church one Sunday evening and hearing her little voice saying "I'm meeeeeellllllttttttiiiiinnnnnggggg!" like the witch in the Wizard of Oz?

Sarah eating her birthday cookie

Savannah heading out for a night on the town with a friend.

Of course I know that we didn't set out to raise our girls to stay children. We were rearing our children to become wonderful, mature, responsible adults. I must say that, to date, they have not disappointed us. They learned their lessons very well and we are extremely proud parents of our two adult daughters. 

Now to complete the task of rearing the last two daughters so we can say the same of them in another 7 years. :) I love you girls!

I just found the following quote on the blog Real Life Stuff and I think it fits here:  "It happens before you know it... the handprints  get higher and higher, then suddenly - they disappear."

Bows

I saw very quick and easy pattern last week sometime and just had to try it. I used a smaller hook, more rows and then a MUCH larger hook and followed directions to a T. Here are my results. The picture isn't great again because I used my phone but you can see well enough. My 12yo is trying to make some of her own. I'll post some better pictures of our tries later. :)

WIP Pink Baby Shawl blanket

I haven't done much on it but then again, this IS a work in progress! It will end up a nice receiving blanket size and it's owner is due to arrive in February so I've got time. I need to get it finished though so I can work on all these other WIP's!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This picture shows the color best. The picture below was taken in a different setting and with the camera in my cell phone.

First time I posted it here

This morning. :)

If you would like to participate in the Wednesday Work In Progress, please click on Rosie. We would love to have you play along!

Wednesdday WIP - Assorted

 So, I'm still working on this round ripple baby blanket, however, I've put it down for a few days to work on some special requests from my 12 year old. Other things like that kitty hat from last week. She has requested a Panda hat now. When I mentioned that I had a few people want to know WHERE??? So I created a toddler sized one shown to the right. I'm now working on a larger one for my daughter and yet another pattern for a child between 3 and 8. My daughter wants one slightly smaller but very similar to the kitty hat. Meanwhile I found a different hat I'm working on that I think would be very cute. No pictures of either of those just yet. ;)

I'm also working on this pink baby shawl (that's what the pattern calls it) that will be a nice large receiving blanket size. It takes a little more concentration for the pattern but I'm loving working on it! I love the color and the feel of it in the Caron Simply Soft yarn.

So, what are YOU working on this week? I'd love for you to share! You can see other WIP's by clicking on Rosie's picture and joining the WIP circle of friends!

New WIP - Round Ripple

Yes, I've started a new blanket that I call a round ripple. But before we get to that, I wanted to show you the completed pink hat I had started. My intent was to make it a scarf with a built-in hoodie but I was crocheting during the church business meeting that lasted entirely WAY too long and ran out of yarn. (In my mind, that right there should have ended the meeting!)

My 12 year old daughter liked the hat just like it was but requested one addition - kitty ears. So, I made a pair of kitty ears and sewed them on. The hat is a bit big for her but she likes it so she gets to keep it. Maybe one day I can get a picture of her wearing it to share. :)

Kitty Ears on hat

So, now on to the new round ripple blanket. I saw this in a pattern book while I was out of town last weekend. I knew I didn't have room for the book in my luggage so I read through the pattern pretty well and was able to get it started. Now I need to go buy the book so I can finish it correctly. LOL However, I think I'm doing pretty well on my own so we'll see what happens. I've worked a round ripple before but it was more of a 7 point star pattern. I like this one because it almost has the look of a cabbage rose in the middle to me. We'll see how I add the other colors as I go. Here is the picture...

 

 

variegated white, yellow and green baby round ripple

I've also begun another tiramisu blanket.  Haven't gotten very far but it will work up quickly and I'm expecting to have some time to work on these projects next week!

If you have WIP, please join our posting group and share what you are working on! Just click Rosie's picture and follow the easy instructions.

SURPRISE!!

My sisters and I totally surprised mom for her 65th birthday by flying me out to visit without she or my dad having any knowledge or even a hint of a clue. This video is her response when she opened the door. :)

Happy birthday mom!!

Pink hat WIP

I had seen a picture of a project I wanted to make but decided to work up my own pattern instead of purchasing one. I started thinking one direction on things and changed my mind after a bit of work. :) Then I ran out of yarn (I was using leftovers to figure this out) and my youngest said to leave it like this but she made one request - that I add kitty cat ears to it. :) So, I'm off to find the right pink and white to make the kitty ears to go on top. 

I do now have a much better idea for my original project so my daughter gets a hat she likes and my other recipients will benefit with a much nicer project when I work theirs up in a couple of weeks.

Please join our WIP group by visiting the link below (click on Rosie's picture) and post what you are working on!

Wednesday WIP - Tiramisu Set completed & Baby Booty Story

Completed Baby Gift Set

So, here is a photo or two of the completed set I had been working on. It turned out beautiful in my own opinion and I'm ready to make another for someone else expecting a baby soon. :)  


You can click the photos to enlarge them

Now, I had promised a few people the "baby booty" story. First of all, here are the completed booties I sent with the set to my friend.  Once I figured things out, they turned out well and I plan to make more for gifts to others. :)

 

Ok - lesson learned...when you start working on a pattern, read it COMPLETELY through. I found this booty pattern in the middle of a set which had a sweater and bloomer pattern, the booty pattern and then a hat pattern. Since the booty pattern was in the middle, that is where I began and ended. Didn't check anything else except the materials needed for the hook size. :)

Frankenstein Booty

Platform Booty

Please note that patterns written in the UK use the same terms we use but have different explanations.  So, once the first booty made it extremely clear that I had used the wrong stitches and ended up with a platform booty, or as one daughter said, a booty to fit baby Frankenstein's foot, (insert total surprise face) I thought about it (still not looking at the pattern) and changed my stitches.  Here are pictures of that first one... Now you can see why my kids said it looked like platform shoes or a Frankenstein shoe. LOL

Bottom is still too deep

So, now I've changed the stitches to what I think is the correct conversion. I was still off a bit as you can see...

Comparison shot

And so here is a shot of the properly crocheted set. Moral of the story is to always read through your instructions COMPLETELY and check every page of a multi-page pattern for extra notes, conversion charts, etc. If I had done this, I wouldn't have made the mistakes because it was clearly stated on the LAST page of the pattern in a set of two stitch charts - one for the UK and one for the US so you could easily figure out which stitch you needed to use.

Properly crocheted baby booties

 If you have a work in progress, feel free to join our WIP group and share. it doesn't have to be needle work, it can be anything! Just click the picture of Rosie below. :)

Wednesday WIP: Tiramisu again

I'm still working on the Tiramisu blanket that will have a pink ribbon running through the border. Here is a picture showing my progress so far. Haven't gotten much farther but the main portion of the blanket is over 1/2 finished and I think the pink ribbon I chose will be gorgeous. 

Clicking the pictures will make them larger.

Join us for our Wednesday WIP sharing by clicking on the picture of Rosie the Shepherd below.

One WIP complete and ...

Another about to the halfway point.

Here is the completed set I gave away today...

This blanket was crocheted on the diagonal. Easy to do so long as you keep accurate count of your stitches. :) This yarn was self striping which turned out really nice in my opinion. 

However, it makes the booties appear not to match in a way. If someone takes a close look though, they will see all the same colors and patterns within the set. I liked the cute little hat except I ended up with a bump of sorts in the back. I didn't have a chance to figure it out so I'll pay more attention on the next one.

 Click the pictures to enlarge them.

All wrapped up and ready to go!














And now for the one in progress. You can't tell the difference in this close-up but I'm slightly over 1/2 finished and I purchased the ribbon to go through the border this weekend. I'm excited to be working on it and getting closer to seeing the end result. 

And here is the green and white heart blanket, booties, and bib all ready to go to it's new owner as well.

Wednesday WIP: Tiramisu

 And a new project has begun. This is called a Tiramisu blanket and the pattern may be found here. I've made it before with pink as the main color and brown for the border with a pink ribbon around. This one will be all antique white with a pink ribbon around.  It's a tad larger now than when I took this photo yesterday and I hope to have it completed in the next 2 weeks for a gift.

 I have also begun work on another pair of baby booties for someone who just had a baby boy. As you can see, I haven't gotten very far. This is just the beginning of the cuff portion. These work up pretty quickly so I hope to complete them this afternoon or tomorrow - depending on the time I have to actually crochet today, which is one of my busiest days this week.

The photo below is of the yarn I'm using. I saw it on clearance at Walmart a few months ago in just a couple of colors and grabbed a lot of it. My daughter said I spent $28 just on that yarn that trip. How could I pass up that kind of savings on some great baby yarn? It's still selling at Michael's for over $4 a skein!

And yes, it is in a zip top baggy. I find that is handy when I'm taking something small with me. It keeps the hook with the project and keeps it from getting dirty when I'm out and about and I can squeeze most of the air out of the bag and make it almost flat for putting in my handbag.

We would love to have you join in on our Wednesday Work in Progress circle and share whatever you may be working on.
  Doesn't have to be crochet, or even a craft! It does tend to keep me going when I know someone is expecting to see how much more I've completed - even if it is only a row or two each week.

T1Diabetes Awareness

 My youngest daughter who is now 12, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, also known as Juvenile Diabetes on December 23, 2004 at the age of 6. Yesterday she drew this picture on her t-shirt and painted it in. She is thinking of making them to sell to help raise money to find a cure. She needs to find a way to have them printed. Meanwhile, I just wanted to share with you.

Finally completed ...

Well, after several people commented about the finish on the green and white blanket, I decided to end with 5 rows of the white and let it be. I'm very pleased with the look. I went on to make a hat, booties and bib to make it a complete set. Here are the pictures. :)

Now I need to work on a completing a few other projects. ;)

Wednesday WIP - Green & White progress

I've accomplished a little on this blanket in the past week. I'm now at the point of trying to decide how many rows of white before I switch back to green for the final one or two rows. I am currently working on the 5th white row. Also, when I switch back, do I want to continue the "granny" pattern or put a scalloped or ruffled type edge on it? 

I realized too late that I had changed from using an F hook to a G hook, which has worked fine but is causing the granny portion on this outer section to ruffle a bit. I think it looks fine but leads me back to the question of how many rows and do I add an additional edging? I welcome your comments on this!

If you have a Work In Progress of any kind, please visit the link below and share with the rest of us!! It can be any type of work, not just crochet or needle work!

purple washcloth - new project started now a WIP

So, Marie Anne wrote a new pattern for a washcloth or dishcloth and I just HAD to give it a try even though I only completed one round and added one more to my blanket today. That's why I stopped at the end of row 3 of the washcloth. I can stick that one in my purse and work on it anywhere. :) Anyway, I thought I would go ahead and share. I really like the purple color.

I couldn't decide which picture showed the color the best but I believe it's probably the bottom one. It's called Hot Purple and it's Lily Sugar'n Cream.

You can find Marie Anne's pattern and lots more information at http://tinyurl.com/3459cxg and http://macrochet.blogspot.com/ and then check out the other participants in her Wednesday "WIP" (work in progress) by clicking the photo below of Rosie, the German Shepherd.