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

Pink Daisy Blanket Coming Along

Happy Weekend Friends,

I was up bright and early getting organized after a week of work. I have been squeezing in a little crochet time here and there and can't wait to have this daisy blanket complete so I am stare at it!


My friend Gina is coming over today with her daughter McKenna for some swimming fun! She is also bringing lots of baby goodies her parents were kind enough to drive down to Florida from Buffalo.

Will post some photos of our fun tomorrow!

I am posting from my iPhone and can't seem to get the photos to show up in between text - any advice?

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

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