Rainy Day Roses

On this rainy day I am staying inside where I am still working on scattering roses with my hooks and needles. I'm enjoying the different color combinations of the Debbie Bliss cotton washcloths and now have 4 roses completed. This yarn is nice to work with because it is so soft and comforting while it glides through my fingers. And before I know it another little rose has blossomed!

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The other project I have going {because I NEVER have just one at a time}, is more rosy slippers. There's a need for more PINK, of course, and then I must make a purple & off white pair. I sold a pink pair at the local yarn shop this week. So now I still need more for gift giving and selling.

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I really enjoy making both of these items because, well ... after all ... there are ROSES involved {and plenty of PINK}!

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Also, today's tea selection is, naturallly ~ Rose Petal ~ in my beautiful china cup and saucer set that Hilary gave me for Mother's Day a few years ago. Gotta love a daughter like that!:)

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~And last, but most certainly not least~ I leave you with a picture of my favorite rose covered Princess ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Scene of the Crime {otherwise known as Miss Phoebe in the Kitchen with the Knitting Needles}

While Gabby was finally napping yesterday afternoon, I picked up my knitting to finish the roses for the poncho I'm STILL working on. When I reached the point of being ready to bind off 90 stitches for the last flower, I laid everything down on my kitchen table and left the room for about 5 minutes. During that time Chelsea went out the back door to leave for school but had forgotten to do something in the kitchen and returned for a brief moment. From the other room I said another goodbye to her. Upon my return to the kitchen {now known as "the scene of the crime"}, I found Phoebe wanting to "help" me along with my project. Apparently even SHE realizes I'm taking too long with this one! Now~ I had to ask myself, "How did a long bodied, short legged fur pants get ahold of something that I KNOW I left on the table? I looked around for an accomplice, but... alas, there was no cat in sight, and as I mentioned before, Gabby was sleeping. Without wasting too much time thinking about it {I AM a blonde after all}, I confiscated {which the dictionary says means: to take or seize by AUTHORITY} the stolen articles, returning them back to the kitchen table.

Then {still being a blonde}, I left the kitchen again, without thinking it might be a good idea to investigate the scene of the crime for anything else that might be out of place. {You'll never see me on CSI!}. This time it was approximately 10 minutes before my return to THE KITCHEN. At which time I discovered the before said THIEF {little Miss Phoebe} EATING MY READING GLASSES! This time, as cute as it was, grabbing the camera was NOT my first thought. Instead I made a lunge for the glasses and Phoebe, thinking it was all a great game at this point, held firm to her looted bounty! After some struggle ensued I {being the one in AUTHORITY} won the battle. However, the victory was a short lived one... you guessed it... I'm off to Vintage Optical here in town today to replace the reading glasses. And ~ doggone ~ those were my favorite little "rose colored glasses". They're still somewhat usable, if I don't mind puppy teeth marks in the lenses and being scratched half to death on the side of the head when I put them on and they pull half my hair out! The problem is, I've always had perfect eyesight but I got over that about the same time I got over being 40. Now I must have these little cheaters if I want to actually SEE what I'm knitting.

By the way, to solve the crime at last, I finally figured out that when Chelsea returned to the kitchen momentarily, she must have knocked my knitting and glasses onto the floor in her haste to get back out of the house, because sitting there on the chair, where I had been sitting before the whole crime occurred, was the diaper bag from her car. {Once again~ Blondie didn't notice that until the last minute!} Therefore, you see, it wasn't Phoebe's fault after all. It was Chelsea's. This makes Phoebe feel MUCH better about the whole thing. Now she can put the unpleasant episode behind her... until the next misunderstanding takes place.

Help! I'm Crocheting & I Can't Stop!

Here's a sneak peek at the poncho I'm working on. I finished the crocheting and construction of it this afternoon. Instead of adding an elaborate edging I opted for the old standby scallop. Anything else would have fought with the pattern too much. Tomorrows project will be finishing the knitted roses {I have one done}, then making the leaves and some I-cord stems. Once it's all put together I'll take a proper picture of Griselda {my name for my mannequin~ don't ask me why, it's just the first name that came to my mind ~ how weird is that?!} wearing it & show just what embellishments can do! I mean, after all, I DO like to fling flowers on anything that will stand still and take it.

While I was knitting the rose, this is what was going on around me. Gabby and BaPa {that's Grandpa in Gabby~ese} were kicked back in the recliner watching Toy Story, which is Gabby's current favorite and must be watched about 15 times a day right now. Grammy could do a one woman show on it at this point!

And my little Jose was tucked under his mommy's sweater up on the bed. Though Gabby and I are mostly over our sniffles, there's a sick poochie in the house today. When I wasn't looking yesterday he got some of Phoebe's Puppy Chow and since he has to eat only a special hypo~allergenic food from the vet {THE most expensive kind they have}, he's a bit puny today. We're hoping for a better day tomorrow for him.

Nighty ~ Night everybody!

Creativity Blooms Afresh

I spent the weekend fighting a case of the sniffles that Gabby graciously shared with me. Well, actually... I didn't put up too much of a struggle. Mostly I succumbed by snuggling into my warm shawl I just recently crocheted for myself, with my feet {bedecked in my rosy pink slippers!} propped up and dogs {and a sea of tissues & plenty of hot tea} surrounding me while I pored through some pattern books looking for new inspiration. After knitting 5 pairs of slippers, I was ready to move onto something else.
So, I'm starting with the stitch pattern of a crocheted wrap from one book and reconstructing it to look like a knitted wrap from another book. Then I'll either crochet or knit up some roses to sprinkle across the top and possibly finish it off with a crocheted edge from yet another book. Whew! This creativity stuff uses up some of the little gray cells sometimes!

The three books I'm working with are some of my favorites:

"The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Crochet" by Nancy Queen & Mary Ellen O'Connell
"Knitted Flowers " by Nicky Epstein
"Crocheting on the Edge" by Nicky Epstein

* I really like Nicky Epstein. Does it show?

When the project is finished it's going to be a poncho. I'll show it off in a few days. Then put it in my Etsy shop. {No matter how much Chelsea begs for it!}

Happy Monday to all!

New Year's Resolutions

To be real honest ~ I'm not too big on New Year's resolutions, simply because I know myself too well. However there are some good for me guidelines I try to follow day in and day out every year. To name a few:
*Endeavor to love the Lord My God with all my heart, soul, and might (and teach the little ones to do the same)

*Try to be the best I can be, comparing myself only to MYSELF (trying not to get hung up on my shortcomings when compared to others) - my victory in this one waxes and wanes!

*Love my family and friends as unconditionally as humanly possible

*Live at peace with all people as much as it depends on me

*Remember the order of the day (and moment) should always be KINDNESS (NEVER rudeness)

*Spend as much time as I can get away with being creative!

Of course there are many other MUST DO things for all of us. There's always, housework, housework and more housework...

But in the famous words of Scarlet, "Tomorrow IS another day"!

So, quite frankly my dears, I will most likely float through yet another day of NOT tackling the major disarray of all my knitting/crochet books & assorted paraphernalia that practically screams at me to tidy up a bit. (Notice in the picture of the book case there is still a wrapped Christmas gift waiting for a friend to return home!) What a mess!!! Oh well... I'd really rather spend my time loving on my granddaughter, playing with puppies, drinking tea, and staying elbow deep in yarn!

For now I leave you all with my love and teeny weenie poochie moochie kisses! Be blessed today!

Sweet Confections

On these cold winter days my favorite things to do while nestled in the house are knit, crochet, or bake. I think that's what makes these cupcake creations so much fun. It's like doing all three things! This pretty in pink cupcake is a combination of knitting, crocheting and beading. I love the littles sparkles sprinkled all over the top.

Today is Becky's birthday, so this sweet confection was made especially for her. Happy Birthday Miss Becky! She has a real thing for cupcakes (which is why I am referring to this one as a cupcake instead of a "fairy cake"). She even has a pretty silver and pink

cupcake necklace she wears sometimes. So I thought I would add one more cupcake to her collection.
The other confection that is still on the needles today is working its way towards being a belt, or it can also be worn as a skinny scarf. I love the look and feel of this satiny soft Italian nylon ribbon yarn. The pink, brown, and white coloring reminds me of pink roses and chocolates. It has a zig zag of metallic thread running through the center. These belts are very chic and feminine looking when fringed on both ends and tied around the hips. This one will show up on my Etsy shop sometime this week. It would add just the right touch to a Valentine Dinner out!
As you can see, I had plenty of help with these projects last evening. For starters Phoebe felt like she had to condition the yarn with her razor sharp baby teeth. (Please try NOT to notice the fact that Phoebe is now the third one of my babies to model that same scarf!) Then they all three (Sophie, Phoebe, and Jose) snuggled in around me to keep me warm while I finished up.

*Please don't look too closely at my crazy looking outfit of green flannel snowflake pajama pants topped off by a pink and then a black sweater. OH ~ and the lovely rose colored reading glasses (I am after all a Grammy & I really do prefer to look at life through rose colored glasses!). What a get-up. Or as my mother would say, "What kind of GARB have you got on now?". I say --- whatever it takes to be as comfy as possible while we create!

Making Things Blossom

First of all, I must tell you, the lovely knitting done on the poncho Hilary is wearing was the work of someone elses hands. It was made using a gorgeous Japanese hand painted wool by Noro. A few days ago the girls from Ewenique Yarns contacted me with a finishing job. A customer of theirs brought the poncho in and asked if they knew anyone who could crochet. A friend of hers made the garment for her for Christmas and once she put it on they realized it needed some length added to it. They thought a crocheted border would be just the thing and I always agree with that! I've said before how much I LOVE to combine knitting and crocheting. They compliment one another so beautifully. And you know how I love, love, love to make all things blossom!!:) So, I added one of my favorite borders of crocheted violets. It's actually the same stitch in the "Like a French Melody" capelet for sale on my Etsy shop. I'm crazy about these sweet little flowers. Besides giving the item the extra length needed, they pretty the whole thing up so much. As Hans Christian Andersen said:

"Just living is not enough...

One must have sunshine freedom and a little flower."

So I like to scatter them everywhere possible! Blossoms of every kind are especially wonderful on these cold winter days while we wait for Spring, with its promise of freedom and sunny days, to come to us once again.

"May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;

may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may people blossom in the cities

like the grass of the field!

May His name endure forever,

His fame continue as long as the sun!

May people be blessed in Him,

all nations call Him blessed!

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

who alone does wondrous things.

Blessed be His glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and Amen!" Psalm 72:16-19

Don't you just love the part about people "blossoming in the cities like the grass of the field"?!

My prayer is that God makes me blossom wherever I am so I can be "the fragrance of Christ to those who are being saved and those who are perishing." (2Corinthians 2:15)

Cold Weather Knitting

I seem to be in the hat making business these days. Hmmm... maybe these FRIGID days we're having are the reason everyone wants a hat! Christmas is over but the weather outside is still frightful. As long as I can hibernate inside my house and just knit, (well ~ and take care of babies & doggies!) I have to admit that I think the snow is beautiful. However, I do have at least one dream per week that I wake up to find January turned into April over night. Aah! Wouldn't that be a dream come true:). As much as I love to knit and crochet inside, my absolute favorite place to do these things is on my front porch with a warm, gentle breeze blowing. O.K. ~ back to hats ~ I'm getting cabin fever all of a sudden.

The pink hat Gabby is modeling for me is the one I made Chelsea for Christmas. Mommy is so busy with work and night school that I finally stuck it on Gabby's head for a picture. The green one just like it is a birthday present for a friend and the sweet little pink umbrella stitch hat was an order from my sister who has a baby shower to go to tomorrow. Hope she'll be able to drive over from Peoria this evening as planned to collect it. It just keeps snowing and snowing out there!

And now I really must get back to business. Between giving a private crochet lesson on Monday morning, teaching my Monday night class, and trying to keep up with several custom orders, I still haven't been able to finish the crocheted scarf I started a couple of weeks ago (the one Jose was trying to wear!). Plus I got a call from the yarn shop yesterday and have to run out to pick up a shawl someone wants a crocheted border added to. Actually, the plan is to make Chelsea run out to pick it up so I don't have to brave this weather. Those of you who know me well know I'm not that brave!!!

Now, if I could just figure out how to teach Gabby & these doggie babies how to wash dishes and do laundry my life would be a lot easier. Because who has time for housework?!