Afghan of Old - 2008

An Afghan For My Brother

In 2008 I decided to make an afghan for my "little" brother. At one time green was his favorite color so thought I would make one that had green in it. I don't think I hit the nail on the head, but it was a grand effort! I wish I had chosen another color other than the rust/orange but it still looked good. 

This is Maggie, my beloved Border Collie sitting in front of the afghan before the finishing touches went in.

The afghan had stripes to make it "plaid" which was a line of yarn pulled through with a crochet hook, loop by loop through spaces created by the original crochet project.

You can see how they were "inlayed" here.

The pattern was "Pretty in Plaid" in Vanna's book "Vanna's Afghans All Through The House."  I think my brother liked it. All made with Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice yarn.

Finished and gifted in 2008 - a LATE birthday present by two months!

SCARF (almost) & SNOW!!!!

MY  SCARF

Just about finished with my scarf. It looks wider than it is. I should have added two more stitches as it is a tiny bit narrow.  I'm holding it so you can see the black waste yarn. I am trying out the Kitchener Stitch. I have made one other item using it but don't remember what it was, and the instructions were not as good as the one I found on YouTube. We shall see how it goes.

A  SNOWY  MONTH  GREAT  FOR  CRAFTING!

Part of the backyard taken from the upstairs room where the cat stays.

I had forgotten how much snow falls here. Since they said only 16 inches of rain, my brain incorporated rain/snow as precipitation together! Nope…11 inches to 13 inches of snow, PLUS 16 inches of rain.

I think we have had about 10 inches of snow over the last four weeks, and about 1 inch of rain over the last two days. Maybe less. But, isn't it pretty! 

I'm asking Santa for boots made in Canada for Christmas!

This is Ginger the slimmest and longest of the three dogs. She is also the pushiest! However, normally always sweet.

Taken right after a three in show. It's chilly, but beautiful.

Across the street.

MY  TV

Have you ever wondered what happens if you put too much pressure on a TV screen? They aren't like the old ones with glass. It "bleeds"…. and hard to see the actual TV shows, but not impossible. I am filing a claim for this and several other broken items from Bekin's. I know they are going to fight me on this. In all the years I have never filed a claim with them ever…five moves later I finally had enough. And I fear what to expect….a denial of most of the claim, and since I did not get the most expensive coverage, the payment will be small. But, it should be done.

The worst is my roll top desk. The driver for Bekin's put it together incorrectly and the middle drawer is ruined. Several little things are broken. 

So, if you move, take photos (my vacuum cleaner so far hasn't shown up) of everything before they come to pack. I mean everything! Open drawers and closets, etc., and take photos from more than one angle. It will be my saving grace for several items.

🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻

Hope your December has actually been memorable and special, and wishing you the best crafting ever!

New Scarf with Malabrigo

Once again in my favorite type stitch…this time dc then sc in an even number of stitches, always starting the row with a sc. I love the texture and coloration

This is made with Malabrigo Rios in the Cielo & Tierra colorway (meaning Heaven and Earth or Sky and Earth).

My kitchen is coming along! He should be finished installing tomorrow, and then the many who installs the granite takes over. That should be finished late next week.

The dogs were enjoying the big room (and their cookies) until the furniture came. Below is the living room and the door to my bedroom (which you are looking out in the photo above).

The new flooring shows up nicely in this photo. It is all covered up now in rugs and furniture. It's a mess! I think it will take me a good year to make it out from underneath this mess. So much for paying Bekin's to unpack everything. Hah! Boxes everywhere!

There are two bedrooms upstairs. The stairway and the bedrooms are all carpeted in a lovely grey sculptured pattern in squares. 

🧶🧶🧶

I need to dig through all my yarn and boxes to find a dark blue yarn to make my niece a scarf. She and her hubby put me up for over a month while waiting for my house to be ready. It isn't "ready" but I could not stand waiting any longer so moved in while construction was going on. It was supposed to be finished already but they didn't show up for about 8 to 10 days worth so it drug on. Nice job, but they could have done better had my furniture not been in the way - which I keep warning them about.

I think it will all be said and done by the 18th or so of the month. I have blinds coming in, and a few follow-up projects on the list. It will all take time.

 

What's YOUR favorite crochet stitch for a scarf??

STITCH?  WIDTH?  YARN?  LENGTH?  COWL?  INFINITY?

 SCARVES 

I have made a few…some pretty, some not so pretty. I'm never sure exactly how wide to make a scarf. What is your favorite width? A particular stitch?

Sometimes my "favorite" stitch comes out looking different if I change yarns or change the stitch a little….like using a sc/dc combo, or a ss/trb combo.

Tunisian? I like it as long as I use a stitch that won't make it curl and it will look good on either side.

I forgot off hand what they call the stitch I like..sc/dc or ss/dc or ss/trb. They are all the same but different!

I did make a scarf for myself, although I found it a big too wide. I did like the stitch, however. It is treble crochet crosses, with sc in-between.

Of course, there is the Rick Rack Stitch that I enjoyed for awhile. I think it made a better looking blanket, though. Fun to do.

So, I think 4 to 5 inches is plenty for width. My grandniece seems to love those really wide long scarves. Tried twice to make her one, but never could get the hang of it, and it takes so much yarn. I did buy some in her school colors, but with my moving so much I'm not sure where it is. She'll graduate before I get around to it now!

??    A thought    ??

One other thing…I have thought about making a scarf with a short narrow length that would go behind my neck (I'd have to situate it just perfectly when putting it on) so I don't have all that bulk back there. Just one area would probably be enough…I like infinity scarves which is why it feels like too much fabric. If it is too long then I don't get the warmth around my neck and chest area. If it is too short I feel like I am choking.

HOW  ABOUT  YOU?

In the House!

 

Bag full of tricks! 

Finally pulled out of the back of my car. All my hooks, needles, etc., etc., etc.! Tomorrow the yarn arrives and one must be ready for such an auspicious occasion!!!!

House renewed!

Upstairs bedroom. The other is a twin. Closet is behind me. The two upstairs bedrooms are larger than the master. However, the master IS downstairs! LOL! Any guest will have to change their own sheets if I'm not up to walking up the stairs, below. I'm on the first landing looking up toward the bathroom, and the bedrooms are to the right and left of the top landing.

Tommy Socks below enjoying his new flooring!

This is the living room looking at it from the foyer, or entry. The dining area is to the left. That door to the right is my bedroom. The flooring is beautiful if I do say so myself, and I do. The baseboards have already been put in, as well as several doors.

My bedroom…moved the bed to the wall on the right of the bed (inside the door to the right). It's a full (traded up from a twin!) and gives me more room to have dog beds in the bedroom. It's still a tight squeeze.

No real crocheting going on. I have hooks and needles, but no yarn! Tomorrow the furniture and all that yarn will be delivered!!! Yay! The crochet room will also be the cat room, but it won't be where I do my crocheting. Just where I keep the yarn in the bins…cat trees, a twin bed and one chair. Plus a book case. I plan on doing my crocheting downstairs. Less mess for any visitors to see. 

This and That…

Coco in jail…like most inmates, she tore up her bed!  This is the second time. It happens when I visit her and then leave, and that night she rips up her bedding. At least she goes in the place in back to sleep. The other two don’t. Riley tore up his bedding a day or so later, but the blankets are still “alive”.  

I miss my crochet. All in storage in Austin still. I have asked that my furniture be shipped, finally, and the delivery window is from the 17th to the 25th. Will be so glad to be in my home.

Tommy Socks gets out of his cage some during the day. He sure hates to go back in. The vinyl has been put in his room and it is painted, so he can get out more. I plan on putting a door lock on his room so people don’t accidentally open it and let him out. His hair was shaved when he had to go to emergency when he had too much insulin. Poor soul.

It’s snowing now. Has been all morning. The snow is not exactly staying on the ground…melting on the roads and sidewalks, but the grass and ground is looking whiter. Not WHITE. They keep saying it is “raining” but it is still snowing here. I have to drive north to my house to pick up the vests for the dogs and then drive them to where the dogs are housed in the hills east of there. Ugh.

My babes in the yard of the kennel. Coco, Riley, and Ginger.  Riley is doing so much better. He had a dual infection…bacteria and yeast. He has even been taking off a few pounds and look’s svelte!

Here is hoping I will be able to move in the house late next week with a bed and the dogs! I have some clothes, of course, and a coffee maker. Not liking the Folgers Colombian coffee any more. I think they are putting the Classic in half the pods. Sometimes it tastes good, sometimes it doesn’t.

Miss my yarn!!!

 

TROT PETS INC., (FKA Sespe Pets, Inc.) - DOG BOWLS

BANKRUPTCY FOR TROT PETS

Just as I thought….they are going belly up. Such a shame they could not get their act together. They still have their web site up to sell bowls which should be taken down. Creeps.

I know they tried…a bunch of young people…BUT the tell tale signs of a company in disarray were all there. Not just the fact they used China to make the goods, that they came late, but they couldn’t get the orders straight.

To me, another sign the company wasn’t in the right hands was the people who started it. If you look at their past “lives” you will see they started or worked for several companies, some for less that two years, over and over again. I know people finally make it with the “try try again” attitude, but these people did not bring anyone into the company as a director or CEO who actually knew what they were doing. Like someone from that TV show when they present their ideas and others buy into it.

So, I waited for 9 months, maybe longer, watching and waiting and finally bit the bullet as they were shipping and fulfilling orders. I bought one dish for my problem child…and that $80 is now down the drain. 

So, be sure you DON’T go to their web site and buy a bowl.

CROCHET    

That is something (crochet) that I haven’t been able to do. All my furniture was packed up late September and I moved myself to Idaho. Unfortunately, the remodel of the house hasn’t yet been completed and it is going to be November in just a few hours now.  I have all my hooks with me, but no yarn. I searched my car and all my bags and do not have ONE skein!! I can’t believe it, but guess I knew I would be busy. I have tried to find a nice dark blue yarn, but none to be found here unless I go to a local store. Unfortunately, the two that I frequented when living here previously are closed. <sigh>  Life.

I am staying at my wonderful niece Val and her wonderful husband Brett’s house in a nearby town. I feel like a fish out of water, being 75 and having been on my own for years after my sweet Sid passed away. Hard to live with someone in a way, but overall these great folks make it pretty easy. I know, no matter what, they do really need their space back.  I sure do love them, not just for what they have done for me, but for being such wonderful people and so good to everyone. They just had their 5th grandchild, with the 6th on the way! Life multiplying in such a wonderful family!

SO - I am going shopping today to find the dark blue yarn that I need to make Val a scarf for winter. We do have a winter here…for several months starting in November. Another reason I want my furniture to get here soon! The drivers need to make it here in good order with little snow or ice to worry about.

IN CLOSING…

Let me say that I sincerely appreciate you who actually read this and who come back to check every so often. My life here in Idaho will be slower than before as I lost my beloved dog Brodie on the way here. Kidney failure. I think he had a tumor, too, but we will never know. I am still devastated by his loss as he was my special baby. With three dogs now, and none needing medication every 8 hours, I will be freer to take care of myself and the other 3. My cat, who turned diabetic this past February, now only needs one shot at night instead of the two, so I will be able to keep up with other obligations a little better.

Thank you so much for your patience and kindness for sticking with me over the years.

Seafarer' Cap

 Cap for Brother

I made a cap for my brother. He is the one moving further north into colder country. Not that Payette isn't cold during the winter, but he will be where there is more snow, deeper and stays longer. I felt like he needed something to ward off the chill. Will make a scarf to match…or make another had and scarf to match. According to what yarn I can find after I move.

This is Linda. She has been a best friend for about 60 years. She was super super sick with RA when she passed away at a hospice in NM. She had been a teacher, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother, as well as a friend, a sister and one of the loveliest people to have graced this planet. She would have turned 75 next Monday. God's speed, my friend.

I was watching a Norwegian detective show from 2005 and they walked past the computer with the Apple logo! Great advertising from 2005! Way ahead of us for sure. There was a box in the background, too, that had the logo. Later in the show there was a Coke type "ad" so I guess they started the trend.

Luckily my house in Texas sold in four days. It surprised me. One of the complaints I heard was some people didn't like the black screens on all the windows, but the buyers are from Las Vegas, NV, and are used to such things. They sure help to keep the heat down in the house!! 

Thought I would include a view of my craft room…had just about got it set up and then decided to sell the house. Will have to find another place in the new house.

I'll miss my next door neighbor. Such a sweetheart. But won't miss the heat and humidity. My water bill was horrendous! Not to mention the electric bill.  Lucky for me they had over billed me for seven months so I lived off the credit for the last three! 

I may be that there is no income tax, but all the other taxes are higher, and it seems they can raise them willy nilly when they want to. Plus water and electricity are another "at their whim" so all in all it is super costly to live here. I might have been able to withstand the heat and humidity, but not pay for all the rest.

Looking forward to moving into the Idaho home in October!

Finish with my Magical Tee!!

 PHOTO OF NEW HOUSE FIRST

I am moving home to Idaho. Funny that I didn’t consider it home exactly until I started thinking of moving back. They have plenty of snow, but have found since living in TX in 100+ degree heat and 90%+ humidity that snow is okay! My dogs will be happier, too.  

Next

New cap/beanie for my brother. He is moving to a colder climate soon. 

My Beautiful Tee

It is 31 inches long not blocked. 

Did a couple of short rows under the arm so it gave the sleeves a slight curve down instead of sticking out like a real T. 

It is a lovely sweater to wear in my new home.