Super Saturdays

Good Morning Lovelies,

Last night I realized I forgot my tote bag at work with my current crochet project in it, which also has my favorite hooks in it :(  Luckily I have plenty of other hooks and yarn (just a little extra right?) at home to keep me busy this weekend. Last year I bought a little case filled with hooks of all different sizes but I cannot find that little case anywhere. The case may also be in my big bag that I left under my desk at work.

So this morning I am preparing for my friend Jessica to come over for some lunch, laughs, maybe some swimming, AND crochet! She is brand new to crochet. She started just a couple of weeks ago when she picked up one of those "I Taught Myself How to Crochet" kids at Michaels. I was out of town that weekend so I wasn't able to help her get started or show her any special tricks, whatever those tricks may be. Today she is coming over to get going and try some different yarns to practice.

I am hoping to finally get started on a blanket for my little one on the way. I am trying to decide if she wants a little ripple, a granny stripe, granny squares, granny stripe chevron, or do the Circle of Friends pattern. She will probably end up with one of each but which one do I start with????

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/sun-dried-tomato-spread-2

I am going to make this yummy dip for our gathering: Sundried Tomato Dip. I found it on Pinterest several months ago and made it before. I am not a big tomato fan but this dip is DELICIOUS. Well worth the time to make it, and pretty simple to make. I think a nice salad with grilled chicken strips on top will be a nice little lunch for us.

Have a fabulous Saturday!!

xoxo Susan

Finally Friday!!

Hello lovelies,

I am so glad Friday is finally here. Now that I work a regular Monday - Friday work week I really enjoy the weekends much more than before. After work a friend an her two kids came over for some swimming and pizza. Since my summer blogging hiatus we added a pool to our new house!
Since I am almost 8 months months pregnant being able to float around in the pool all night after work has been blissful especially in the hot Florida sun. 

My first time in the pool! The baby in my belly loved it

 We have some LED lights in the pool and it looks like a light show at night when we turn them on. I think the baby will love these when she gets older.

I hope you are able to cool off on the hot summer days where you are. Once things cool off a little bit here I will enjoy crocheting poolside :)

xoxo Susan

Getting Ready for the Baby!

Hello Friends,

My crocheting still has not progressed as much as I have hoped but I was able to get some major yarn deals at Joann Fabrics last week. I dropped my hubby off at the airport and figured I would make a quick stop at the larger Joann's store in my area. I have not purchased any yarn since January due to moving and being pregnant, etc. - so it has been over 7 months since I bought any! Maybe that has played in a role in not crocheting lately. When you buy it you want to use it. However, I had a very large stash before purchasing a bunch more at Joanns...

So, I originally wanted to stop at Joann's to get some buttons for the little sweater I was working on for Baby M. Remember this?

But I couldn't leave without looking and touching some yarn. As I entered the yarn section, I noticed some clearance bins. I also saw yellow signs stating to check for clearance items throughout the aisle. Well, ALL of the Debbie Stroller yarn was $0.97!!! I still had skeins of it from my clearance purchases at A.C. Moore when they got rid of their selection of DB yarn at the end of 2011. But when it was on clearance at A.C. Moore it was not as cheap as this! So I knew what I had to do...

Less than a dollar a piece! So naturally I had to buy just about all of the DS yarn and then a few of the discountined Vanna's Choice in Antique Rose and some others here and there that looked like they may be nice.

I also grabbed some clearance knitting needles, regular (?), DPN and circular so I can be prepared to really go after knitting some lovely things for Baby M.

So now I just need to get down to work and crochet. I have a friend coming over Saturday who is brand new to crocheting and needs some guidance. So I plan to spend Saturday crocheting and having some fun making baby things.

We are now 57 days until the due date! Here is a sneak peak of her room:

I hope you are having a fabulous week. Tomorrow is Friday! And I WILL be back with another post tomorrow.

xoxo Susan

Baby Sweater, the first of many?

Hello Lovelies,

I hope you are doing super and enjoying the weekend. I finally started to make my first baby item and also my first article of baby clothing. Since we live in Florida, we do not use sweaters very often but there are days in the fall and winter when the temperature drops and sweaters are brought out. Unfortunately this past year, we had only about two days like this, but I suspect as 2012 comes closer to an end, we will have weather cool enough for the baby to need to put on a sweater.

I decided to start out with a basic sweater pattern - possibly the most basic one, and I was very happy with it. I used the Lion Brand Free Pattern called Lion Brand Baby's First Sweater, Soft & Simple Raglan Jacket free from Lion Brand website. You may need to make a log-in in order to see the pattern.


The first piece of the pattern - the back



All of the pieces, the back is in the middle, the top left and top right are the sleeves,
and the bottom left and right are the front sides



Putting the pieces together

All the pieces connected and ends woven in

Reading for the collar, trim and buttons!

Overall this was a great little project and I highly recommend it for anyone expecting a baby or wanting to make a sweater for a baby they know. I think I have a good idea now about the shape of a baby sweater and may deviate and make a pattern of my own... after I make a few more to be sure though! This one is in the smallest size and my gage was small than the pattern measurements. So, it will be used for my baby girl when she is first born, or else for one of her baby dolls when she is older :) My next post should be a nice completed sweater, and maybe the start of another one too!

Enjoy the weekend,

xoxo Susan

Memorial Day!

Hello Lovelies,

I am officially back and ready to crochet. We finally have out new house in order and I think I can spend some time having fun with yarn again. Time has been flying by and I have had many changes happening.
First, we moved into our new house.
Then, I accepted a new position an began my job two weeks ago.
And, as I announced a couple months ago, we are having our first baby and last week we found out we are having a baby girl!!!

So, now that I know the baby is going to be a girl, I can get to work making beautiful little goodies for her. I know I could have made gender neutral things before, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time making things that just wouldn't be as cute as they could be if I could use gender specific colors.

I have been practicing knitting, still a long way to go before I am "proficient" but before this baby comes in the beginning of October, I want to make her one of these adorable lamb sweaters I found on ravelry.com: the Sheep Yolk Baby Cardigan. I found this when I was looking for something else on ravelry and I just LOVE it.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/corien/sheep-yoke-baby-cardigan

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Arianette/sheep-yoke-baby-cardigan

Many different color options, I haven't decided which I will do, but I just LOVE this little sweater.
Well I hope you are enjoying the Memorial Day holiday and remembering all of the women and men who serve and served our country.

I need to go organize my yarn. Photos of my yarn staff in its new home to follow soon :)

xoxo Susan

Ready for April

Hello Friends,
My once a month posts have been pitiful to say the least, but I promise I have a very good reason. First we moved, and now we are expecting a baby!!! My first three months of pregnancy were not as pleasant as I hoped but now that they are through I am looking forward to having some more energy and being able to get all of my work done and crochet.

Of course while I have been laying on the couch when I am under the weather, I've been looking all over Pinterest for great things I MUST crochet for my baby-to-be. Since I have not had anytime to crochet over the last three months I do not have anything great to show you, but here are some the of the goodies I have in mind....

We will be finding out the sex of the baby but we will not be able to find out until 8 more weeks, which feels like eternity. Until then I will have to start making some things that are gender neutral, but I can always use the baby to model boy or girl crochet goodies for photos!

I hope your month of March has been filled with spring loveliness. We've been having very hot weather but the sun sure feels good.

Have a fabulous day,
xoxo Susan

Still Here

Hello Friends,

A whole month has gone by without a blog post - right after my one year blogaversary too. Well, we are all moved into our new house and I have not had any time to crochet or craft since my last post. Now that we are settled, I hope that changes and I can start producing lovely pieces!

Although our last community had plenty of birds and wildlife, our new community has so many more birds. This morning this group popped into the backyard pond for a bite to eat.

I hope your hooking is going nicely. I will be trying to catch up on blogs over the next few days. I can't wait to see what you have been up to!

Have a fabulous Tuesday,

xoxo Susan