Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Easter Bunny, A New Crochet Rug & a WIP


I think that is hysterical. I better get yarn too!


GOOD MORNING!

It is a glorious sunny day here in West Virginia. We got lucky and the snowstorm on the east coast skipped my little town. Thank goodness it did because I am so ready for winter to be over. At least the calendar says it's spring. 

We are having some health issues in my family. We just found out my father's grandmother has lung cancer. At the moment we have cancer in our family on both sides. My mom's grandfather has been fighting, I am fighting Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and now my dad's mother is fighting. 

My grandmother is not in the best of health and they offered radiation but we don't think she is going to take treatment. They can up her pain medication to make her more comfortable but that is about all her treatment plan includes. We are about 2.5 hours away from the David Lee Cancer Center here in WV, and radiation is everyday and it's such a hard drive that we just don't know if driving back and forth is possible and she does not want to. 

It's sad. I have this ache in my heart. My grandparent's are so special to me and to have something like this go on is very hard and it's especially hard on my mom and dad. It's hard to take treatment, to focus on my health and have all this other sickness go on.

My treatment is on hold for a month but I go back soon. I have to have a CAT scan because they think they saw something on my last ultrasound. It makes me nervous, but I chose to focus on the good days. I am thankful I have the support of my family no matter what happens. Without them I wouldn't be as healthy as I am.

LET'S GET TO THE CROCHET!

As you know from my last post I have been working on a newborn bunny outfit for a friend. Well, once I got the bunny all completed and showed it to her, she told me it was supposed to be blue! I don't know how I missed something as big as a change in color but I did. In all honesty, it was no big deal to make new ears and a tail. I was finished again in under an hour. I think it turned out very cute even after the color change. 

What do you think?


I think it's adorable and it's just in time for Easter. I hope she is as happy with it as I am. I have never made a baby ANYTHING so I was pleased with the easy pattern.

You can find the link HERE

I love the site REPEAT CRAFTER ME. This is where the bunny pattern came from. She has a puppy pattern just the same as the bunny that I have to make as well. I am just waiting on the right color of brown yarn. I use the site often. The free patterns are very nice and useable. I find myself going there when I am looking for something easy to do. When you look at this pattern she also posts the link to make the diaper cover. That pattern was simple as well, all I needed to do was find a button. 

Not long ago my friend sent me some Wool-Ease Chunky Yarn. 


I have been trying to decide what to do with it. I finally decided to make a rug. A long rectangle rug for my bathroom. 

I didn't have a pattern. I just went with my own.
2 dc rows, next row 2 dc in first 2 st, sk 1 st, dc in the next until end. I also went around the whole rug with a sc in the black chunky yarn.

This pattern turned out really nice. It's the first pattern I basically done from scratch.

Here is my rug...


I love the way it looks and it is so soft.

Here are a few pictures of it close up and done.




This last picture is a close up of the stitch rows.


I only had 3 skeins of the Wool-Ease so I decided to use my scrap stash yarn in chunky black to make a few odd rows to make the blanket longer. It worked out nicely.


I finally got to use my new Susan Bates hooks. I used an N hook to make this blanket. The hook was so comfy in my hand. They have bamboo handles. I want to complete my set of these great hooks.


I found this really funny this morning. I had to post it.

I am moving right along with my granny square top.

You can find the link HERE

This is a simple top.

I have one granny square done and it turned out really pretty. I used a 3.5 hook for my Elann Tarantella yarn in Bermuda Sunrise.




Those are a few pics of the yarn and my little progress about a week ago.


This is the granny square in it's completion. I am making the pattern in a medium. I just realized how huge the granny square looks in this pattern. Actually it's only about 23 rows.

Now I have to make one more granny square for the front of the top, and then I can seam it up and make the neck opening. I love how the bottom has slits on the sides. It won't hug my hips. It's a simple, comfy top. This yarn is wool and it is going to need blocked. I hope that when I wet it it will make the yarn softer. I just use vinegar, shampoo, and regular conditioner when I block an item. I have never used a commercial softener before. I just looked on the internet and found instructions from a crochet site on how to make my scratchy yarn soft.

I used this site to read up on scratchy yarn and how to fix it....HERE

It's from Mommy On A Shoestring.

This is an easy pattern, easy to fit your body and the pattern instructions are very easy to read and she makes the math for the fitting very simple. I am terrible in math and had no problem at all. Now if I could only figure out the correct way to make a swatch. *sigh*

I can not wait until it's finished. This will be my 2nd crochet wearable. I hope it turns out as lovely as I think it will be. No problems so far.

Now, I need to get out my yarn and hook and start on the front granny square.

That is all I have on my hook at the moment. 

I have some beautiful Angora yarn in a soft orange that I would love to use but I only have 3 small balls and I can't find a thing to do with it. The yarn is calling but I can't settle on a pattern.

I have had a little crochet block lately.

I am having a hard time finding ANYTHING to do crochet. 

Nothing is speaking to me.

I HATE that. 

I do have an afghan to put together but it's all whip stitching and I just can't get into it. The unfinished and not put together afghan was a recycle from a friend who didn't want to take the time to put it together. She found a bag of random pieces in a bag and thought I may want it. We don't know who it belonged to or who took all the time to make it and not put it together, although we think the whole afghan is there. I am still not sure that I have enough white hexies but I am hoping I do. It looks like it is all there when I lay it out. I am slowly making progress on it but it's slow going. 

Here is a picture of the afghan that the nice lady found for me. It's close enough. I was not sure how the edges were supposed to be. It is not straight on the edges. It's somewhat jagged because of the shape of the flowers. It is really going to be pretty when I finally get it done.


It is lovely. The bottom picture is the actual pieces I have to put together. The afghan is rather large. I have about 20+ flowers and many, many hexies. It will fit on my queen bed when its finished. I had a hard time finding the pattern to put it together. I made a post and a nice lady found it for me. It's actually a quilt pattern. It's called grandma's garden or spring garden. I may work on it today since it has gotten my attention again. I feel guilty that it's so nice and it's just sitting there in the bag it's been in for who knows how long. I need to finish it to find it's full potential.




I want to wish all my readers a HAPPY EASTER! 

It's my favorite holiday. We all get together and have a nice dinner. I get a white chocolate bunny every year, we make eggs. It's just a nice time for the beginning of spring. I look forward to it all year and it will be here before I know it. 

With the sickness in my family this Easter is especially sentimental to me.

So, spend some time with your loved ones. Eat a good dinner, hide some eggs, just don't forget where you hid them!

I will be back with another post soon.

Thanks for sharing today with me.

Keep Hookin!

~Crystal



















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