Daisy Blanket Squares Connected

Happy Sunday Friends,

I've been spending most of the day inside to avoid swollen feet but I did slip out to make a run to Michael's Craft Store for the Vanna's Choice Sale and extra 20% off coupon good today and tomorrow.

As of today I am 35 weeks and 2 days pregnant. In one week and 5 days she will be considered full term and I think she will stay in for at least that long. This morning I was craving milk and drank about half of a gallon.

So back to the yarn. The yarn is on sale 2/$5 and then with the extra 20% (even sale items!) each skein is only $2 each. Unfortunately the store near me has been out of white for a few weeks now so I was not able to stock up on that. I've used other yarns but I really like Vanna's Choice and Vanna's Baby for making baby hats and blankets. The yarn is consistent and has a nice thickness to it without feeling bulky. I used Vanna's Choice in White for my Pink Daisy Blanket and Debbie Stoller's Washable Ewe for the Pink and Yellow.
The ends still need to be woven in, but the 5 by 5 squares are now complete and connected.

So now I have to decide if I want to add one more row and make this a 6 by 5 square or if I should leave it as it is and just add a nice border. For now I am putting it on things that the baby would use it with such as the swing to see how I like the size. Right now I am still undecided.

For those of you who are celebrating the end of the summer this Labor Day Weekend I hope you are outside enjoying the lovely weather. I remember Labor Day weekend always seemed sad when living up north. Summer was over and it was time to get ready for another school year and another cold winter. But now living down in Florida, school started weeks ago and the summer weather will be here for at least another month so it is just another weekend of beautiful weather. Which I will enjoy inside this year doing final preparations for the baby's arrival.

Enjoy the long weekend and happy crafting!

xoxo Susan

Connecting My Daisies As I Go

Happy Tuesday Friends,

Luckily we came out of the storm (Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac) with minimal rain and not too much wind. The east coast of Florida was not so lucky, they are experiencing some flooding. Back at work today with just few bands of rain and lots of sunshine inbetween. I hope things are not too bad for those north of the Gulf of Mexico as the storms moves north.  

I have been connecting my pink daisy squares using the connect-as-you-go method. Usually I tie in my ends before connecting but this time I am leaving all of my ends until the end. I have never left all of my ends out until the end so it is a little nerve racking but I wanted to see if I like doing it all at once better than doing it little by little. I think little by little may slow me down because I dread the periods of time when I have to tie them in, so I may not work on projects as much knowing if I am at a point where I would tie them in before proceeding.  

 

I was able to whip up a little baby cocoon for my little pumpkin yesterday. The Lion Brand Wool Ease, Thick & Quick is on sale this week at Michael's for $5 each. I will post the pattern for this tomorrow. I can't wait to put my little pumpkin in this and take some photos. I bought a light blue and a pink color to make a few more! They are very easy to make and look nice and cozy for babies.  

Crochet Baby Cocoon, 17 inches long

My due date is 38 days from today. In general, I am feeling pretty good. Walking is more like waddling and I dread trying to sit up from my bed every time I have to use the rest room at night, which is about 3 times a night. We can't wait to have our baby girl here!

xoxo Susan 

Hurricane = Crochet Weekend!!!

Hello lovelies,

I have been having trouble publishing posts from my iPhone so I figured I better get on the laptop today and get some real posts up. Last Sunday was a beautiful Sunday in Sunny FL and I was happy to be able to get in some crocheting and relaxing by the pool. I had a nice morning swim and picked up my hook and added some pink to my daisies for Baby M's blanket.

J went on a fishing trip and caught some larger grouper, so we had a nice grouper and salad for lunch. A perfect summer Sunday in Florida :)

Now a week later, we were preparing for Tropical Storm Isaac/Hurricane in Southwest Florida. Hubby and I opted to forego putting up the Hurricane Shutters on our windows since the storm was going to be a Category 1 at its worse if it did indeed get to us. Putting up the shutters takes several hours and we were glad we did not put them up since the storm moved further west and passed us as a tropical storm. We did not really get any heavy downpours in the Fort Myers area just some rain here and there and wind. We had much worse weather last week with a heaving down pour and thunderstorm. Thankfully!

Luckily, on Friday before the end of the day, my work announced it would be closed today! So I have been looking forward to crocheting the day away all weekend. My Pink Daisy blanket progress is coming along. All daisies and pink are done. I am going with a 5 by 5 but will reassess once I have the white border. I am thinking I may need to add a sixth row.

As soon as this blanket is complete I need to make her a little hat to wear home from the hospital. I made sure I had some light pink yarn to match her going home outfit. Since I am a crochet baby hat making kind of gal, I better get some other hats ready too so she can wear a different one each day we are there (2 days as long as all goes well). Maybe a baby cocoon too?

Hope your week is starting off great!
xoxo Susan

Cloudy Sunday = Crochet Day!

Hello Friends,

I hope your weekend has been delightful. Yesterday my friend Jessica and I had a lot of fun. It was her first time visiting our new house so after I gave her a tour, we went through my box of crochet projects - some finished some WIPs. I told her one of the first actually things I made was a granny square way back when I first learned to crochet. The Granny Square has something about it that makes you feel like you have accomplished something by being able to finish a piece of a project after you make a square.

So after clarifying the difference between single and double crochet she started on her very first square and I forgot to take a photo! Probably a good thing, I do not want to scare her away by snapping photos of her stuff too soon. Next time I will for sure though. I even forgot to take a photo of the sun dried tomato dip, it was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! You must try it if you have not made it yet. I halved the recipe since I do not typically make it for a large amount of people. Plus if you make only half the recipe you can make it again a few days later since it only uses half of the jar of sundried tomatos, perfect for bringing a batch to work or a party then having some at home.

On Friday night I spent some time looking at blankets on Pinterest for baby M. When I saw the one I just HAD to make for her. The pattern is a daisy square and I found it on Tillie Tulip's blog. I am going with pink background since I love pink for baby girls. The light blue looks great too though.

 I am using my new Debbie Stoller Yarn - Washable Ewe (remember the skeins I got for only 97 cents!!!). This yarn is 100% wool so even though it has lots of "holes" it should keep my little baby girl warm. I am loving the pattern and the way it is turning out. I must get back to hooking away!!!

xoxo Susan