I'm Here!!!

I have been away for awhile.  So much has been going on.  I didn't want to get online and complain about life, so I took a break.  

Brad's mom had gotten very sick right around Thanksgiving.  We lost her January 19th.   My emotions have been mixed for not wanting her to go and knowing she is in a much better place and in no pain.  One of the sweetest moments was when packing up her things and finding one of my little crocheted owls in her purse.  It was like she left it there for me to find.

Cancer is so cruel.  

So, now....I am back.  I ran across some little grannies I had crocheted in a drawer, so I thought I would share them for some hooky inspiration!!!!

I am really liking grannies in tiny frames!!!  I have one on the windowsill in the kitchen, and it makes me smile when I am at the sink.  

Check out this tiny box!!  It belonged to Brad's mom.  I absolutely love it.  

This is so tiny and so Vintage-y I can't stand it.  The tiny photo is one Brad's mom had in her room of her and her father.  It is also in the windowsill in the kitchen.  I could not stand the thought of sticking it in a box.  We need these reminders of our past around us. I feel like it keeps us connected.  

I have been doing some knitting, mostly socks, some painting to.  I actually did a little canvas!!!!  Now talk about therapy, picking up a paint brush and a blank canvas is awesome.  I will try to get a picture of my little painting posted.  I have also done quite a bit of thrift store therapy!!  

Phoebe is doing just fine and has been a little snuggle bunny!!!  Winter is still here, so we spend most of our time side by side while I am knitting!

Love to All!

Dawn

 

Finally!!!

Happily I share the pictures of my latest blanket.  I have had to keep it top secret until it was given to its new home.  And boy, has that been hard!!!  It's not that I can keep a secret, but I was about to bust to get it to its new home!

Do you like the little bug on it??? 

I really enjoy making granny blankets like this.  I love the join as you go method!  And I like the bands of granny squares sandwiched between rows of granny stitches.  And this time I tried something new.  A final row of solid colored two-rounders border the blanket.  I love them, although there was a lot of ends to weave in, the final effect is so worth it!! 

I also learned a couple things making this blanket, which is always pretty cool.  First lesson learned, Resolve Carpet Cleaner will remove red dye that bleeds onto white!!  Oh, yeah!!  I was freaking!  When I went to block it, the red yarn bled a little.  I wasn't sure what to do, and my husband said try some resolve!!  Thank God it worked!

I also picked up a few tips on the little squares border.  It could be worked a couple of ways.  In strips or attach them as you go.  I attached them as I went around the blanket, which I think I prefer. 

All in all, I am ecstatic with how it turned out, and when I gave it to my girlfriend I believe she was, because she immediately teared up! 

After Christmas I think I am going to make a granny blanket for my bed.  I'm planning it in my head now.  It will definitely have red in it, too!

It just makes me smile!

Finally I got the tree up.  I am keeping it simple this year.  It's pretty.  All vintage!

And I found the tinsel icicles at Target.  Yay.  I had a small box of ornaments that come from Brad's Grandma's house.  You can tell they are old and have been used year after year.  So this year, I decided that's what I wanted to do.  And I love it!

Check it out!  Isn't he cute?  I think it is paper mache or stiffened fabric.  I have a couple more made like this I will share next week.

 And who doesn't remember these!

I have a few more ornaments left over, so I may do something with them if time allows.  I used my old quilt top for the skirt.  One made by my grandmother's aunt, so it is seriously old.  It makes me happy to be able to use it! 

I'm off for now.  Have a busy day ahead and a full week.  Plus, I haven't bought any presents yet!  Oh my!!

My Most Recent Addiction!

the African Flower...I am eat up with it.  LOL.  Y'all crocheters know exactly what I mean.  You crochet up that first motif and BAM...it's like crack!  Yarn crack!  That's how I was after my first African Flower.

I picked up one of those little foot stools at the thrift store, you know the one, they were so popular in the 70s.  I only paid $3!  My husband looked at it like I was nuts for bringing it home.  I just said, "just wait till I get it done!"

So, after that first motif I knew exactly how I was going to use it.  Don't you just love it!!!  I keep moving it all over the house to find the perfect spot for it.  LOL!  I experimented with the base using different colors of rows and kept ripping it out.  I decided I liked the solid black the best.  It just makes it all pop.  All those colors make my little hooky heart skip a beat!

So, yes, I am now totally consumed with this pattern.  And yes, I have started making more.  My next venture is a bag for moi!!

I think it is going to be awesome.  I love those big messenger style bags, and I think that is going to be where I am headed with these.  My plan is to use only bright solids.

Paired with my vintage Little Red Riding Hood rag doll it is perfect.  My mom confiscated this little doll from her mom.  It was made by her aunt, so it is  old.  My guess would be that it pre dates me, so that would be at least 50 years.

I cherish these little hand made family treasures!

I also worked on more butterflies.  I changed them a little by adding some beads, making a short chain and tassel, and adding a key ring...they make awesome scissor fobs.

My sofa has a way of eating my scissors...but not any more!

I think they would also be great to hang off of a purse.  The beads and tassel was like icing on the cake...it just made them!

Maybe I have inspired some of y'all to make some!

Well, it's Sunday evening, so we are going to watch some Mad Men and chill out.  Of course, I am crocheting African Flower motifs.  Y'all have a wonderful week!

Tah-Tah

I'm having a love affair with spray paint!

Due to some distraction from the spray paint aisle at Lowes and the Thrift Store, progress on my granny squares has slowed down just a bit! 

I have been wanting to make some of these little desert stands for some time.  After finding some really cheap candlesticks at the Goodwill I couldn't stand it.  The vintage plates are some that were given to me.

Aren't they adorable!!  Needless to say I've got more to do.  Just waiting on the weather to cooperate.

I found this wooden compote at our local thrift shop for $7 bucks, it was screaming for me to carry it home and spray it down!  LOL!  Does it not perfectly compliment my squares?  I am thinking that I will crochet a six sided granny to go in the compote.

I am thinking maybe a couple more rounds and I will stop.  I plan on using this mat in the middle of my kitchen table. 

Let me share just one more thrift store find before I go!

SCORE!  Y'all know how much I love owls.  I had to have him.  He's totally vintage and looks perfect in my kitchen!

He even inspired me to make oatmeal cookies to go into his little belly.  LOL!!

That's it for now!  

Grannies and Dacshunds!

Greetings from Phoebe!  Like her blanket?  I snagged it at the thrift store for $9!!  I couldn't stand it.  The bright colors caught my eye from an aisle away.  It is very well crocheted.  It does need a little repair, which is no biggie.  I couldn't stand it...someone put a lot of work into it, and their it hung...all neglected and unappreciated.  I began to wonder if my things will end up like this when I am long gone.  I hope she (I am pretty sure it was made by a she!!) would be happy to know I have her blanket and absolutely love it!

So, what have I been up to???  You name it.  Busier than I want to be I'm afraid of.  Brad's mom has gone into assisted living and we have been in the process of packing up her things and getting ready to sell her condo.  It is so full of generations of family momentos.  Pictures and newspaper clippings from her childhood and actually her parents' childhoods.  All very well marked so we know who the people are in most of the old pictures.  With Brad being an only child, it's been up to him to get all this done.  I'm helping as much as possible.  I do have a respect for family history, so it will all be kept together, and maybe a bit more organized once we gather everything.

Needless to say, it has taken huge chunks out of my Hookie time!  But, I have managed to get some progress on my granny square project and am excited to share some pictures!

I have managed to complete a round of squares.  I chose to do them in tones of gray.  And as I am working I am just letting my ideas flow.  I think I will continue until I have a good sized square, which will go in the center of the dining room table...I think.  LOL.  Doesn't it have a real vintage feel to it, with a pop of funky color.  My girls in knitting group are all eyeballing it.  It's my hope to spend this afternoon working on more squares.

My first pair of glasses!  Yes, I still have them, and remember wearing them.  I was three or four when I got them!  The envy of my kindergarten class style'n in my pink horn-rimmed glasses. 

This will give you an idea of actually how little they are.  My eyesight hasn't changed a bit, only now I have this need for bifocals...which I hate wearing!

I found this pair of Brad's baby shoes while packing at his mom's.  They were so sweet I had to bring them home with me. 

Okay...just one more picture.  I am now starting a round of squares that have a very muted peachy tan colors, with that pop of red in the center.  I think it is going to be pretty.  Time will tell.

Phoebe and I wish you all a great week,

full of fun crochet hooky insanity!

Bye!

Scrap Happy Progress

Progress on my Scrap Happy is coming right a long.  Maybe a bit slower than normal, but that's okay.  I am also working on a shawl.  Two projects at one time!  It's a bit out of my norm, but I needed something smaller I could carry with me to knit night.

Look at those ziggy zags!  That's what makes this so much fun to work on, just watching how the different colors come together.  It occurred to me, you could make these into squares and stitch them together.  I may have to experiment a bit with that.  It would be great for using up those tiny bits of yarn!

How do you like my hook bag?  A girl at work had one of those thirty-one bags party.  I ordered this little bag, and instead of having my initials put on it, I had "hooks" on it.  It is perfect to carrying around my crochet hooks!

Let me share some vintage with y'all.  This is a piece of crochet done by my Great Grandmother.  I am certain it is in a hand dyed wool.  I am not sure what stitch, this is, it looks like a type of shell stich.  I am sure I could figure it out or find it somewhere.  I think I am going to add this to my ravelry page, I wonder what she would think of that?!!

This is her.  She was born in 1888 and died in 1962 a few days before I was born.  It gives me such a heart warming feeling to just be able to have these pieces of her crochet. 

Here is the doily she made to go with it.  And yes, that is her iron!  I have more of her items in my possession.  Does this not give you just a glimpse into what her life was like?  It does me. 

Unbelievably, these are in pretty good condition.  There is a little hole in the doily, and the dresser scarf is a bit faded.  I was thinking about doing this same set for myself.  How neat would that be!

Here is another picture of her.  She was tiny!!  I'll stop here.  I could post all day about family history, and share pictures if time would let me! 

Bead-aliscious

I love it when I rediscover stuff! And I have so much STUFF that I have hung onto over the years that I just can't part with. So, the other day I was digging through some of my bead stuff, and came across these little treasures. I just have to share!

These were made by my Grandma Alice, I believe probably in the early 70s. They were mixed in with a bag of costume jewelry which my dad asked me if I wanted. OF COURSE! What a silly question.

Both of my Grandmothers were very skilled with a crochet hook. And you hear me talk about both of them alot. I think it's because I still feel their connection, like they are watching over me! And I have many of their possessions, which I think still have their vibes in them!

These are too cool...and although they were made years ago, and probably considered "vintage"...they are totally wearable today. I've been studying them and I don't think they would be to hard to make...maybe time consuming and a bit tedius.


I love this one! It's super long, and you can wear it like a choker/lariat! Her beading is absolutely perfect. I can remember her wearing this!

Isn't it cool?!

This one is very nice too! My Grandmothers favorite color was lavender, so I am thinking this was probably her favorite. And she wore it all the time. She would wear it as a long necklace, not like a choker. But I think it looks fabulous worn this way.

I have about three of her rings that she made. I believe this one is crocheted. The silver cording is stretched out so it falls of my finger. But this is so bright and sparkly. Love it!

Maybe I can get some pictures of my Grandmothers and post them. And I have one of my Grandma's sewing box with all her sewing stuff in tact, just like she could pick it up and use it at any time. I'll have get some pictures of it and share that, too!

Peace!