I made some little knitted flowers from a book I got at the library.  It was fun making something small and quick.

I was able to practice decreasing. I now know what k2tog means–so exciting!

I used some yarn scraps that I had and turned the little flowers into brooches. Now I need to make a pretty little fabric basket to house my newly growing brooch collection.

Here are some other books I borrowed from the library: 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet, Fabric Jewelry & Wrap Style. They are all really great.

Wrap Style has some beautiful wraps that I would LOVE to make. My favorites are in the above pic.  Unfortunately, the patterns look like gibberish to me–makes no sense whats-so-ever. I really need to learn how to decode all those letters & numbers! I will though! It’s a big goal of mine to knit something other than hats & scarves before the years is done.

I’ve had this incredible desire to knit, which I’ve only done a teeny bit of.  Mostly I crochet.  My first project was a beanie, on the round.  It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.  You Tube helped a whole bunch.  First I watched this, then I accidentally dropped a stitch and found this.  Thank goodness! I thought all was lost. I am half way through my second beanie now.

Then I had to make this delicious popcorn.  My first attempt was disasterous. I used a very heavy bottomed pan which kept cooking the syrup after I turned off the heat, making it burn all too quickly.  The second batch was much better, but oh so close to becoming burnt like the first. Next time I will add some nuts and watch it very, very closely.  Yes, there will be a next time…

I made a few things during the long driving stretches during our trip.  I am usually prone to car-sickness, but I did well.  Just a few curvy spots made me a little whoozy, but I managed to keep my hands busy for the boring parts of the drive (AZ & mid CA).

I forgot washcloths for the camping part of our trip which were very much needed for little sticky hands and messy faces, plus we didn’t have anything to clean up dishes or my gritty feeling face either.  So, three different cloths did the trick.  We managed to keep them straight: the square one for the boys, smaller round one for me and the big round one for dishes. They worked out well.

I also made a little sewing/needle book to keep in my purse. I’ve been needing one for a while.

I’ve been wanting to make one of these crocheted ripple blankets for ages!!  I finally figured it out and have managed 5 whole rows.  It’s kinda smallish, but big enough to place on my lap, or around my shoulders.  It won’t be finished until it gets cold again next year (hopefully).

I finished up my patchwork swap stuff yesterday and sent it off today.  Can’t wait to show you what I made.  I’ll have to wait until the recipient receives it first.

This is my first ever crocheted plushy.  I had to make it after I saw it on create via one pretty thing. It was sent to my little friend Ruby, whose daddy is a math professor (I made these for her when she was just a wee one).  Thought they’d appreciate a little Pi on Pi day.

Can you believe that I am STILL sick.  I had been so proud of myself for not getting sick from Novemeber through February, then BAM!! I’m knocked off my butt!  I think I have progressed to a sinus infection.  The whole left side of my face is in pain. Some tylenol and a whole lot of napping helped me survive today, along with some acv gargling, eucalyptus steam breathing and garlic.  I was up until midnight last night coughing myself to tears, literally. I have got to get better and am a strong believer of natural remedies. I’m not a big fan of the doctors office or of antiobiotics either.  So, tomorrow I’ll be on a strict regimen of acv gargling, garlic, sleep, steam and tea.  No sugar either.  I’ll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck.

I always like to have my hands busy.  It’s comforting to me.  Whether it be typing on the computer, holding/clicking my camera, drawing with ink, pencil or paint brush.  I am constantly clicking my pen at work too.  I am sure that it is incredibly annoying.  It’s especially true with driving long distances (if I read I will puke).  My husband is the king driver of the household.  He is ALWAYS behind the wheel.  Except for once when I had to drive because he busted his chin in a bike accident.  Oh, and the time he had surgery.  Yep, he pretty much has to be injured or ill to be in the passenger seat.  I don’t know what will happen when the boys start driving.  Well, let’s NOT think about that just yet.

Anywho, that is a very looong winded way of saying that I have to crochet when we go on long driving trips.   Even if I don’t know what I’m crocheting, I always take my crochet bag with me.  Sometimes little squares or flowers.  When we drove to the Grand Canyon, I decided to make water bottle holders for two of our bottles.  My Kleen Kanteens have sewn bottle carriers, but these needed something too.  Those stainless steel bottle can be cold on the little fingers. So, I made these with some cotton yarn. Finished both on the 4 hour drive.  They are much better than the holey tube socks we were using before.

Kind of a silly thing to say, being that I live in one of the warmest places in the country. In my defense, I’m getting a little too acclimated to extreme summer heat which there by makes me a big baby when it comes to cold. Secondly, my craft room is the coldest room in the house and third, my hands are always cold. Who can work with conditions like that. So, I’ve been working on these fingerless hand warmers. They really do the trick, even though I only have one done. The other is 3/4 of the way done and I thought I’d better share since this is the last day of my “Month of me” posting. I think I did pretty well, getting most of what I wanted done and feel pretty good about it.

 So this is how I’m doing with only one hand warmer. I wear it on my right hand for a bit to warm it up then switch it over to the left and I keep it there, leaving my right hand free to move the mouse, paint, draw, carve–the things I’ve been doing lately. Eventually I will get the other one done. I am only able to crochet when watching tv or movies (which I rarely do) and that makes it a lengthy process. (p.s.  there is no pattern for the gloves , I was just winging it).

Another thing that keeps me warm is Hot Fudge Pudding Cake from thimble.   It’s really tasty, especially when you remember the baking powder.  Don’t ask, but it’s an essential ingredient.  This recipe works really well with soy milk and earth balance.

I made these hats for my guys in only a couple of hours.  I think I may need to make them a little longer so that they fold up.  They are for when we go up the mountain with the snow and cold.  I might be making matching scarfs.  I love the color combos–very much my guys.

We also attempted to do the annual holiday photo for sending out cards (which will probably be very late).    These are some of the outtakes, although they are pretty darn cute too.

These washcloths went to Kelli for her Mozambique Goodwill packets that will be going out to lots of little youngsters in Africa. One is for her (rainbow sherbert) and the other went into the packet of goodies that my Super-E helped me with. He wrote a very nice (and long) letter in Portugese.  It’s too cute.

(Kelli, I sent them out this A.M. and am very hopeful that they will arrive quickly since we are so close.)

 

Another little bag I’ve been working on. Not exactly what I had envisioned, but close. It’s small too, but perfect for just the essentials.

I’ve been messing around with some different crochet stitches and thought I’d make little washcloths to see what they look like. They are made from cotton yarn of course.

The first stitch (grn,wht, blue) is called the “up and down stitch” which is alternating single and double crochet stitches. The second is called the “basket weave stitch” which is stitching to the front, then the back of a stitch- or something like that. It took me forever to figure this one out. I’m still learning how to read crochet patterns.

My brother-in-law thinks that crochet patterns are really some kind of secret code for women to tell eachother girlie information and secrets. Ha!

On another note, I made this very yummy and very moist zucchini bread. It is the perfect breakfast treat or afternoon snack. I always double the recipe for 2 loaves when I make this recipe because it is soooo good! The recipe is from How It All Vegan by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. The recipe can be found HERE.