GTA Donations 2013 Halloween and Christmas

This time my donations were a few Halloween items and some for Christmas.

  This is my wild neon colored Halloween blanket. See who had to assist me as I was taking my pictures. These are all Red Heart yarn. I did a simple double crochet and edged it with a shell pattern. I seem to be able to crochet faster just doing a no brainer double crochet so when I do blankets that’s what I tend to use as my favored stitch. I don’t do too many blankets because I just don’t have the patience to wait for it to be done.

This sweater was made from Red heart yarn. The variegated is called Bikini and I also used bright orange. By using the orange for the sweater sleeves and the hat trim I had enough of the Bikini left to make a second hat.

 

 

 

  The center  of this one is a circle in a square and then just double crochet around. The edging is a shell trim. I think the purple is Red heart yarn too but it may be Caron One Pounder.

Sometimes by the time I donate an item I don’t remember what yarn or pattern I used. Guess I need to start keeping a list.

That’s all I got done for Halloween this year. Now for some of my Christmas items.

This pretty little newborn set is made from yarn that I bought at our local DAV thrift shop. It’s hard to tell in the picture but it has a fine silver thread running through it. My 18 year old grandson said he liked the yarn because the silver in it made it look like it had snow on it. No idea what brand the yarn is as there were no labels on it. It’s kind of fine and very soft. Drapes really nice.

There was enough of the sparkly green yarn to get a second newborn blanket out of it. Just my standard double crochet for the pattern. I got a bit fancy with the edge and did a row of double crochet, then a row of 1 double crochet, chain 1 then double crochet again to make it look like filet crochet, then a row of shells.

This newborn blanket is made from silver threaded red yarn that I bought in the same lot as the sparkly green. Again there wasn’t a label on the skeins so brand is unknown. It’s very soft and fine like the green but the skeins were smaller so only got one blanket out of it.

 

 

This newborn cocoon and hat set is made out of Michaels store brand yarn. It’s soft and easy to work with plus economical. The pattern I used is from www.redheart.com and is called Holiday Baby Cocoon. The difference in this pattern is you double crochet between the double crochets on the previous row instead of in each double crochet. This makes for a thicker heavier cocoon in my opinion. Very easy no brainer pattern once you get the base made.

 

 

This is my snowman cocoon and hat. It was fun to make. I used this pattern from Karen’s Crocheted Garden of Colors. The pattern is here http://karensgardenofcolors.blogspot.com/2012/10/honey-bee-cuddle-sack-with-matching-hat.html and is called Honey Bee Cuddle Sack With Matching Hat. I used Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn. The last few rows I used some royal blue yarn from my stash to make it look like the snowman is wearing a scarf. The extra piece is just 3 rows of double crochet folded over and sewn on to hang like a scarf.

 

I used Karen’s pattern here again. I really like the pattern and it works up fast. The green yarn I bought at Goodwill. It is Caron brand Victorian Christmas Gold yarn, which is weird because the thread running through it is silver. Anyway the color is called balsam. I don’t know if they still make this yarn or not. It’s very soft.

 

 

 

Not real sure I like the way this one turned out but it’s not bad. I was trying to make it look like a Christmas tree with ornaments on it and trimmed it in gold to try and make it look like garland. The idea was there but not sure I like the way my execution of my idea turned out.

 

 

 

   I’m pretty sure the red yarn is from a partial skein I had of Michael's store brand yarn. Went as far as I could with the red I had and finished it off with Lion Brand Pound of Love white yarn. I thought using the black buttons would at least make it look something like a Santa suit.

 

 

  Well, Abby the black lab, the skunk, and their mom have returned home and are no longer staying with us.

 

I know our cat Rocky misses Abby. Abby would clean Rocky’s ears for him. She would just lick and lick for minutes at a time.

 

 

If Abby stopped and Rocky didn’t think she should be done, he would either walk under her and rub against her or he would nip at Abby’s back leg to get her attention to start up again. The crazy antics of our critters.

 

That’s it for now. Take care and hug your loved ones.

'Bout Time Huh?

Sorry I have been absent for so long.
Blogging just hasn't been anywhere near the top of my list lately.
A lot of days I just haven't had the energy to do much of anything. Period.

Many of you know I have diabetes and it's just been kicking me in the butt a lot. Too many really low low's with my blood sugars and too many highs on the rebound.
Some days it seems like no matter what I eat the blood sugars just do whatever they darn well please with no rhyme or reason. And some days the meds work great and other days not worth a darn. If you have diabetes, I KNOW you know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm working with my Dr. trying to get a handle on things, but it sure seems like my body has a mind separate from my brain at times.

Plus any of you have allergies? This weird mild winter we have been having sure has kicked them into high gear too. How can one body produce so darn much snot?? The allergies sure contribute to being super tired all the time too.

On a positive note, I have continued to crochet and quilt as much as I can for the needy babies. I have quite a few projects done, just need to get up the gumption to take pictures and post about them. And get them washed and bagged so I can send them off to Danette at God's Tiny Angels. Will try to get that done this week as I am due for a donation.

For my finale today here are a few pics from Christmas.

Peyton loves her hats and here she is wearing her cowboy hat for us as we are getting ready to leave.

She snagged Grandpa's hat and put it on (she's such a ham).

This is my stepson Shannon's family around their Christmas tree after we all got comfy and had our tummies full.  Shannon, then his son Chase, his special lady Melissa with her son Tanner next to her, and Shannon's younger son Landon sitting in front.

 

I will work harder at posting more often, even if it's only one picture and a bit of news. It will take me awhile to get caught up, but thanks for hanging in there and staying with me.
Hugs to all,
Susie

GTA Christmas Donations November 2011

I don’t crochet as fast as many people, especially with the carpal tunnel and a pinched ulna nerve, but I do what I can as I truly enjoy making items for the babies.

 

 

 

 

Here are the little Christmas hats I made. I tried something different for the pompoms on top. I am TERRIBLE at making yarn pompoms. So......remember when I was making Peyton’s Elmo hat? I had a light bulb moment when I was making the eyes and nose for it. I decided to use the pattern from those to make stuffed pompoms for the baby hats! For me, making them that way took a lot less time and I wasted a whole lot less yarn. When ever I try to make them where you wrap yarn around cardboard and trim it up.....I kept trimming and trimming and never was satisfied. By the time I would get them done, they were pretty stinking puny. So, I tried the stuffed eyeballs route this time and I think they turned out pretty good. At least I am satisfied with how they look.

  Here’s my first little blanket. I got this really pretty yarn at Goodwill! The red and green are made by Caron and they are called Victorian Christmas Gold. I suppose the gold is because of the metallic thread in it. The green is called balsam. Not sure about the red because it didn’t have a label. I’m not sure if they make either one of these anymore.

 

My picture didn’t turn out very good, but this diaper shirt is made from the green that I used on the blanket above.

 

 

 

This blanket is just a rectangular granny square.

 

 

 

This is just half red and half white. I made the border using a strand of each color. Just pretty basic but kinda cute.

 

 

My cat picture this time for this post is Rocky again. He just seems to like getting his picture taken more so than Baby. He was sprawled out on the love seat, getting his afternoon nap in. He was out, big time. He didn’t even flinch when the flash went off.

Sure looking pretty chunky in this picture. I obviously don’t feed him, ha ha.

That’s it for this time. Take care all.

Gosh It's Been Awhile!

Gosh, I didn't realize it's been three weeks since I actually posted anything here to my blog! Sometimes it just doesn't feel like there's much of anything of great importance to blog about. Do any of you feel like that at times?

This is what we woke up to around here in Iowa this morning. It started snowing HUGE flakes about 3 P.M. yesterday afternoon and was pretty slick out by rush hour.

This is looking out our front door. We got about three inches of snow, our first measureable one for this year.

It's really pretty but I'm not big on snow anymore. Maybe cause I'm getting older. Maybe cause I dread the thought of having to go out in it and shoveling the stuff. Not really looking forward to winter this year.

But, we have WONDERFUL neighbors. When I looked out his morning, one of our neighbors had snowblown our driveway and front sidewalk. All I will have to clear is the short walk going to our front door and the stoop. I'm sure the neighbors realize it's difficult for Dan and I to clear the snow with our health problems, and they just jump right in and are more than kind enough to do it for us without us even asking for their help. You just can't ask for better neighbors than that! We are so very thankful for them.

As you can see, the queen and king of the house aren't too concerned about the snow storm we had, lol. Holding down the love seat for their morning nap as usual.

This is just a simple preemie Christmas blanket I put together for our God's Tiny Angels group. We are having an emergency blanket blitz right now. We didn't have enough blankets made for Christmas to take care of all of our NICU's we donate to so we are all frantically trying to get enough blankets made for them. I have another one on the hook right now(Marie Anne, it's your rectangle granny blanket pattern!) and am trying to get it done in time to ship both of them off by Monday. I have about 5 more rounds to go and it will be done. The original pattern starts out with chaining 18 then following the pattern for a regular sized blanket but I started out with 12 chains then followed the pattern and I should end up with a nice 18 inch by 21 inch size for a preemie. Here's the link for the pattern if any of you want to try it, it works up pretty fast!  Rectangle Granny Square Blanket  Some of our other group members are using this pattern too and we really like it!

Here is  the rectangle preemie blanket so far.

Well folks, I guess that's about it for now. I will try to get back to posting on a regular schedule again. I DO follow all of you regularly and sure enjoy reading about what you are up to.

Sunday With The Family

Sunday was my son in law Gary's 50th birthday. Much of our family and many friends went to hang out with him and his wife Shawn to celebrate. They went camping at one of our local lakes and we all congregated there.
The hubby and I spent much of the past few days cooking because it was a potluck of sorts and we wanted to make sure there was plenty of food.
We raided our usually well stocked freezer and cupboards and ended up making baked chicken legs, baked a turkey and hubby boned it out. I made a big crock pot of chili and another crock pot full of green bean casserole (Susie Slop as my kids call it).
A bunch of us in the family are on restricted diets and/or trying to eat healthier, so I made some chocolate sugar free pudding, and sugar free jello with bananas.
Gary's daughter made the cake and Shawn bought sugar free ice cream so us diabetics could join in the sweet part of the celebration.
There was plenty of other food too so if anyone went home hungry it was their own fault.
Even though it turned out to be a pretty warm day (low 90's) with lots of sun (and no rain, yay) we had a decent breeze most of the day, so it wasn't too bad.
It was so nice to get out of the city and lap up the beautiful weather with so many friends and family.
I took my camera but kept forgetting to take pictures, duh!
I must confess I DID take more than a few pictures of my sweet little granddaughter Peyton. She's 10 months old now and growing like a weed.
So the only picture you get today are of Peyton :)

Sitting on G'pa Dan's lap watching Uncle Gary's birthday balloons floating in the breeze.

 

Ok, bored with the balloons. And maybe a little sleepy after eating lunch.

After G'pa Dan let me down, I decided to crawl up in this chair all by myself. Of course, I've got Dad trained to bring me a toy to play with and hang onto it for me :)

 

Ooooooh, pop! Hey Dad, can you catch this?















 

Even with all of the birthday preparation this weekend, I did make time to do some crocheting and got another Christmas present finished up. 
 
This hat and scarf set is for one of the guys. I haven't decided which one is getting it yet, but at least it's done and I can add it to the Christmas gift box.




I made this out of Red Heart camouflage yarn. I knew I didn't have enough of that to use just the camouflage, so I dug through the stash and found this brown yarn called Polished mahogany. The brand is Vonnel. Have any of you heard of that brand before? I haven't. I must have gotten it in one of my "great deal" boxes of yarn from Goodwill or DAV thrift store. Don't really remember. I suspect it's a vintage yarn, but it's in really nice condition and it worked well with the Red Heart. I only had one skein of it too, probably not enough to really make anything else by itself, so this worked out good.
Here's a closeup so you can get a better idea of how it looks. The brown is actually darker than it looks in the picture and goes good with the camouflage. Someday I'll figure out how to take better indoor pictures and get the colors to show up closer to what they actually are :)

Well, that's it for now. I sure enjoyed my weekend. How was yours?