Another mermaid coming! Christmas is over, but the New Year is around the corner!

ANOTHER MERMAID 

This little mermaid loves pink, so I am trying my hand at yet another one. I will be mailing off the first one next Monday or Tuesday along with some things I made for my niece.

You can see the container I use for the yarn. I had to find something my tall, nosy puppies could not stick their head into. Works pretty well as long as I remember to close it when I leave the room (and stick in the project into the container!). It's a dog food container with wheels.

I finally decided to take the time to fix my counter height chair that was so rocky you could not sit on it.

I had to find some "specialty" tools to tighten all the various screws. ALL of them were loose.

Then I found that one of those holding the seat to the legs was on a walkabout! The hole meant for it had been drilled incorrectly which is why it wiggled out. I found my drill bit and cleaned it out to make it wider, thereby accepting the new screw.

Had to hunt down some of the pieces as I ended up putting them in various places as I moved around the dining room. Sheesh! 

Once completed, I put all the pieces back together, having to "ad-lib" the one that I "fixed" because there was no "inside" that the other three had. Needed a longer screw, and all the accouterments to attach it to the seat.

I received several wonderful gifts, but special mention goes to my daughter-in-law, Julie, who makes jewelry. I can't remember all the gems, but she has made several pieces in this style for me. My favorite are the pink pearls! I love these, though, too!

Julie sells her 18K gold jewelry in what they call "trunk shows." She sells at Neiman Marcus and visits about three or four places each year. Hard work and must be exhausting to fly around so much. My step-son does travel with her occasionally.

Hope your Christmas/Holiday has been a happy one!

MY LITTLE MERMAID

MERMAID AFGHAN 

My niece mentioned that mermaid afghans for the four children would be appreciated. I wasn't sure that it was something I could pull off with my carpal tunnel, so did quite a bit of searching for patterns. It took me a few weeks to come up with what I wanted to do. I did like the crocodile stitch look best, but since it is a LOT of post stitches, I knew I would be incapacitated after half way with the first one.

I decided to do a stitch I liked well enough, but the pattern had you start at the bottom and go up, which the way I saw it, made the "scales" going up the wrong way.  Plus the pattern did not have a children's size. The next pattern did not have the stitch I liked, but did have a child's size. Didn't like the tail, either.  Then the third one had the crocodile pattern.

After much contemplation I went ahead with starting at the top with the stitch I liked. I wasn't sure about the width, but since it would be open I felt that however large it would be okay as this was a 10 month old and she would not know the difference! LOL!

This is the bottom before I attached the fin/tail.

Then I discovered after all that planning I ended up putting it on wrong. The opening was to be at the back.  I had to search to find the yarn that I had used to attach it to the bottom so I could detach it! Yikes

At the time I started it I had a hard time making the stitch correctly that I liked so well. Eventually I had it figured out so the top portion is a little different, but looks okay. You can see if you click on the photo. The very top rows are in line with the body, but the ones below in blue are not. 

It took some pulling, but yay! I found it yarn that hooked the two together.

Took that baby out and resewed it.

I love the way it turned out….with the exception of some of the top stitching that was an experiment. Still, it's for a baby so will go unnoticed by her. Just have to keep my fingers crossed she can be put in it! Tried to make the bottom portion a little roomier for her toes.

CHRISTMAS IS OVER, BUT HEARTS SHOULD STILL BE EXCITED FOR THE NEW YEAR AND THE PROMISES IT HOLDS!!!   

JOY TO ALL!!

🎉 🎉 🎉

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !!!!!

…and happy everything!! I can't remember how to spell it all, but wishing everyone a special holiday season.

I put a tree on my front porch. With the dogs I didn't want a huge accident! I trapped Santa inside my house, so if you didn't get any presents you know why!

I did put up a small tree on the little card table. Just right!

My prizes for being a good girl this year! Little doggie ornaments, one for each pup with their name on there.

Wishing you the most joyous time of the year!