Spring has Sprung...

So it's been awhile. I've been on Spring Break this week. And Sweet Pea had her birthday. All week-long festivities of it. I swear she was able to spread it out for what felt like forever!! But it was a happy birthday for her. Busy for Mommy and family, but it's worth it.

Because of the festivities, some travel, and a hectic work schedule crochet and everything else has been on hold.

George has been hibernating. I fed him and put him directly back in the refrigerator last week. This seems to have done him some good, though, as he is very happy and active this weekend. I'll make our normal batch of bread this weekend and call it good.

I've been crocheting very little. With the exception of the drive to my hubby's parents' house last week. I took that time to make some kitchen scrubbies. I hate sponges. I think they are dirty, smelly, and hard to keep clean. So I made these little scrubbies that work really, really well!! This is the pattern. I made it with some cotton yarn I purchased years and years ago and never knew what to do with it. The bumps on the scrubbie seem to work really well to get stuck on gunk off of the dishes and you can just throw them in the wash. So much better than sponges. And the pattern is super easy and fast. I've memorized it so well that I can make a scrubbie in about 20 minutes. I've made about 4 for our kitchen and 2 for my Mother-in-law. I'll keep making them until I run out of yarn. :)

The other big project I tackled while I was on Spring Break (my "break" was basically one day after the traveling, working... during break, and getting Sweet Pea's birthday stuff done) was to clean and organize the playroom. UGH! two and half hours later and it was finished. I can safely say that the child does NOT need anymore toys. Does NOT need any more art supplies, and the next person who gives us play-doh is going to get an earful from me. (Of play-doh that is....) It looks wonderful, though. So much better. And we're working on the kid to get in the habit of picking up her toys and putting them away as she finishes playing with them. (yeah....right.)

Yesterday was so nice out that we even got to go outside and play. Sweet Pea's swing-set and playhouse are open and ready for the summer. My dad got her a new glider swing for the set and we got her some plastic drums that attach to the swing-set. We will attach those today. With the nice weather I got to get out in the yard. I got the puppy-poop cleaned up, the sticks picked up, and my strawberry patch raked out. Everything seems to have survived this horrible winter. My apple tree is budding and both my blueberry bushes survived. The raspberries are....well I don't think you can kill raspberries.  As soon as it is a little nicer we will dig up the suckers from the raspberry patch and transplant them along our other fence. They are Sweet Pea's favorite food, so we can't have too many. (Famous last words.) Last summer we found some wild black raspberries in our yard and we are really hoping we can encourage those to spread, too. I think I was most surprised to see that my rhubarb lived. I really thought I killed it last year. 

I really can't wait to get out and clean up my garden and start planting. On the list to grow this year:

Tomatoes (Heirloom varieties.)

Cucumbers

Red Bell Peppers

Black Beans

Artichokes

I'm going to have to go get some nitrogen rich fertilizer this year. I try and rotate my tomatoes every year, but with the black beans and cucumbers needing the fence to climb on, I'll need to plant the tomatoes where they were last year. I'll find some good fertilizer and it'll be fine. I hope. We have friends with pet bunnies, so I can get some bunny poop. Best fertilizer in the world.

The artichokes will go in pots as will any herbs we plant. So excited! I got canning supplies for Christmas so we are planning on canning jellies and pickles for sure. I also want to buy peaches, pears, and apples from the farmers markets to can fruit for Sweet Pea's lunches next year. She is a fruit bat, and I'm so tired of buying fruit cups for her.

We always freeze tomato sauce, and my hubby likes that better than canning so we'll continue to handle the tomatoes that way. I also want to try canning roasted red peppers. And maybe invest in a food dehydrator for sun-dried tomatoes and dried fruit.

Well, the sunlight and my back yard is calling me. I'm sure I have more puppy poop to pick up and my lavender plant needs to be uncovered before it smothers. So happy to be able to get outside!!

Glitter, glitter everywhere...

I apologize in advance for the large post. Lots of pictures to come!

First off, last week I got an email from a major online retailer that had just settled a lawsuit with some publishers. The result was a $13 book credit. At first I thought it was only valid for e-books, but discovered it was good for a print book, too! So exciting! I truly prefer print books when I order pattern books, so I was really happy. I ordered this book. I LOVE this book. The borders are amazing. I really want to find all sorts of projects that require fancy borders just to use them. But instead of using them as borders this week, I realized that some of those borders could be put to a different use.

CROWNS for Sweet Pea's 3rd birthday party!! I simply cast on my stitches over a headband and then worked the patterns back and forth. In case you're wondering, my favorite to use from the book is #22 as it looks like a snowflake crown in honor of Elsa.

As you can see, I crocheted beads into the pattern to create jewels. And the best part? One crown takes me approximately 10 minutes to make. So I have 5 crowns made as of this weekend. I think I'll make one more in purple. I was pretty surprised that when I gave Sweet Pea her choice of them, she chose the white one. I also mentioned that I can make her one in any color she wants later. 

But alas, there is one problem with my crown plan. We have one little boy who is attending the party. Sooooo... TADA:

Mouse ears! Again, an easy-peasy project. I just cast on stitches on the headband and then made two circles of the size I wanted. (You can find tutorials for circles all over online.) I then whip-stitched them onto my base row, and voila!

With both the ears and the crowns, I sprayed them heavily with spray starch and pinned them into the shape I was happy with to dry. I let them dry over night, sprayed them again on the other side and let them dry thoroughly. We will see how they hold up! I'm thinking about selling them as I get better at making them.

In other projects, my snowdrop shawl is turning out amazing! I am about half-way done. I'm hoping to have it finished and blocked in two weeks. Totally doable, I think.

I also made Sweet Pea a headband holder yesterday. I was so sick of them falling all over the place and getting stepped on and lost. So I took an empty oats canister, strung a ribbon through it, and hot-glued some fabric over it. I need to make a decorative something for the ends to cover up my half-assed glue job, but it's functional right now.

(pardon the stray sock in the background...)

Now onto the project you've all been waiting for. I made the tutu...

YIKES!! There is glitter everywhere in my house from this thing. I didn't even bother hiding it from her once it was made because, to be honest, I didn't want to put it in a closet and get glitter all over my clothes, coats, or anything else stored IN those closets. It turned out beautiful, though, and I think Sweet Pea will LOVE it. I just need to sew the elastic and it'll be all done. But I'm not feeling it today. I don't want to hand sew it today. It can wait.

I think it looks a bit like a skirt a snow queen would wear!

Just a small sample of how much glitter is in my house right now. Even after vacuuming!!

So that's what I've been up to this week. Busy, busy, busy. But all fun projects! And I promised Sweet Pea an afternoon of movie watching. We are going to make the couch into a bed, cover it with soft pillows and fluffy blankets, and cuddle while we watch a certain movie that is set in a snow storm. Oddly enough, it'll only be the 3rd time I've seen it since we bought it. Only....

D's Afghan

This past February I decided to make afghans for my nieces and nephews for Christmas. For my niece, D, I ordered a Stylecraft Special DK Colour Pack and decided that I'd look at the colors and decide what inspiration hit me. 

After trying several stitch patterns, I ended up choosing an old stand by, the crazy stitch. 

I love this stitch pattern. I love how it looks. It's easily memorized and I find it easy to do. It was the pattern that my mom used to make the one and only afghan she made just for me. And I used it when I made my daughter's baby blanket before she was born. The one she drags everywhere with her. 

I wrote out the pattern, including the stripe order for the colors. I'll post it here, just because I'm really loving how it's turning out.

D's Afghan

For a blanket approximately 48 inches wide.

Size F (4.0 mm) hook
Stylecraft Special DK Colour Pack
Abbreviations: dc = double crochet, sc = single crochet

My color order:
pomegranate
wisteria
aster
saffron
plum
sherbet
shrimp
spring green
lipstick
aspen
lavender
fondant
magenta
turquoise
clematis
meadow
cloud blue

Chain 240 or length desired. (Multiples of 3)
Row 1
3 dc in 4th chain from hook, * skip 3 chains, sc in next chain, chain 3, 3 dc in same chain. Repeat from * across row. End with sc in next chain.

Row 2
Chain 3 to turn. 3 dc in sc of previous row. * sc in next chain-3 space of previous row, chain 3, 3 dc in same chain-3 space. Repeat from * across row. End with sc in last chain-3 of previous row.

Repeat row 2, until desired length is reached.

Change colors every two rows.

When afghan is the desired length, bind off and then take the last color listed above (cloud blue) and stitch two rows of the pattern along the bottom of the afghan, then sc the side edges in a color of your choice following his pattern:

Sc in each sc and 3 sc in each ch 3



Here's how it looks so far:

I will keep posting updates and any changes/corrections to the pattern, but it's going along very well!

I'm happy with it. I love the colors even more than I expected. I thought it might be too much, but I think it'll be perfect!