White Bird, Idaho

On a recent trip up to Canada (thus the absence from here) I took this photo of White Bird...more of the town is to the right. To the left, and out of view, is White Bird Grade which is a road going up the side of a mountain with many, many hairpin turns.  This is a really beautiful part of Idaho and where the trees start to show up more and more after leaving the high dessert of Southern Idaho. Actually, the prettiest places were near Julietta, Moscow, and up the 95. Beautiful hills, trees, and farm land.

The bottom photo is of the real White Bird Grade before the new highway road was put in (it is to the left of the photo, but you can't see it!) - notice the zig zag lines! It's a real road!

Now back to reality....working on crochet and keeping track of my daily company for the next 3 weeks! ;o)

Sometimes things just don't work.....

Have you ever had one of those days? Weeks? Months?

Well, this has been one of those months for me. I am not sure if it is the stress of dealing with my husbands cancer issue daily, my own minor health problems, or doing too much and stretching myself thin. I remember last year I was able to be in 6 swaps at once with no problem, and finish early. This time I feel stretched at 3.....and I'm forgetting to make squares that I promised people. That makes me feel awful, especially as one of those wonderful people is my BFF.

I started a project - the mood one - and misplaced it. Forgot about it. Looked for it. Yesterday I finally found it stuck in a bag with doll "stuff" - and I'm so behind on it. My original moods were pretty cloudy, so am glad even with the stress that I'm looking forward to bright yellows!

I had decided a few days ago that I needed to adjust my "crochet corner" and get it better organized. I am one of those who, when in a hurry, tosses something aside in a bag to get it out of sight. THAT is how my things get lost. Then the yarn starts meeting other yarn and they look like they are trying to have yarn babies! For goodness sake....so I have spent the better part of this weekend winding skeins, re-organizing drawers of yarn, and also purchased another storage unit with drawers for books. It is a bit harder to use than having them in a magazine rack where you can see the binding and name, BUT they are neater looking and I can see most of them through the see-through drawers.

I have my new all-in-one cart organized, too....and have found the best way to utilize it to the fullest. This is the cart that I have a Patent Pending for the design. Right now my BFF has one, and I have one being tested by a lovely lady named Donna Hammell who is known for her Tunisian patterns and crocheting skill. I'm excited to be finally getting to where I can start having them made and sold!! Yay! One thing for sure - even though I designed them for Tunisian graphing, the cart is perfect for organizing yarn and various items for crochet. I'm told it will work for knitting, but still have to have one more person check that out for me! ;o)

On a different note - I have to share. So, here are the granddaughters with their parents .... the whole family is beautiful! THIS cheers me up tremendously!

FINALLY - The Rockland Throw

I am about finished with the weaving in of the ends, but just have to show this beauty to you all. This is for my SIL Carol who lives in Michigan. It took me so long to do that her winter type weather is nearly over and more than likely she won't be needing it until the coming winter.  It was made with love and adoration for her love and acceptance of me into the family. You see, I married the man who was married to her SIL.  Carol's husband was the eldest brother to Amy - who passed away in 2002 of bone cancer.  From all I know of Amy she was a wonderful, delightful person who was a friend to many.  To be able to come into a family of such a fabulous lady and be accepted so readily is amazing. Carol helped that come about, as did all of Amy's brothers and sister, and her father Dick.  I am truly blessed to know them and be a part of their lives, however small that part is.

So, just as a token of my feelings I made this for her. I have another one I am putting together for Amy's youngest sister, Pam, and one for each of her brothers.  They have all given me warmth and I wish to return the favor! ;o)

I loved doing this pattern for the beauty and ease, but have found that I am so use to swaps that doing the same pattern over and over and over again (19 hex's) I get bored easily! Bad girl! I think the colors in the second photo are more true.

I added two rows to the join to give it a little extra depth...it is still smaller than I thought it would be, so more of a lap 'ghan, but still very lovely.  You can find it here ... Rockland Throw by Doris Chan.

Happy Crocheting!