Ann Crochets

Long time, no post

2012-01-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

When I discovered it had been over a year since my last posting, I was surprised. I knew I hadn't done anything since the summer but - wow. That's too long! I'll try to do better now.

I finished an afghan recently with a bit of a story behind it. I bought the yarn several years ago when we were in Arizona. I had wanted to do a 'picture' of a sheltie. Unfortunately, I never could make that happen - too many problems with the math of translating the image from one size to another. So I picked a cat design figuring most dog lovers are also cat lovers. The afghan has 12 blocks like the one below. After they're attached, there is a brown border. I think it turned out fairly well all thing considered. The afghan will be raffled off at the American Shetland Sheepdog Assn. national meeting/dog show in Orlando in early March. I blocked the afghan yesterday and will have it trussed up and ready to ship. I hope it raises a lot of money for sheltie rescue ;-)

Christmas is coming

2010-12-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

I recently made up several scarves at the request of a shop owner. Unfortunately, the shop is now out of business. Before I list these on Etsy, I'd like to give you an opportunity to buy them. I will offer 10% off the original price and shipping will be exactly what the USPO charges me - or those of you living near me, we'll work something out ;-) I usually use PayPal but am open to other options. Remember that Indiana Sheltie Rescue receives a minimum of 20% of each sale. You can see pictures of the scarves at AnnCrochets on Photobucket. Thanks and happy shopping!

Aleutia's dress

2010-10-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

This picture didn't come out very well - nothing new about that! But it's Aleutia's dress-to-be. Believe it or not, the colors are red, white and blue. It measures about 9" from top to bottom. I will take it along the next time I see her and decide where on the T-shirt to attach it. It lays fairly flat right now but will (I hope) ripple gently when attached. I'm not too impressed with the outcome and will probably tweak the pattern a lot. But this was my first try for this kind of a project so I'll consider it a successsful experiment and a learning opportunity.

2010-10-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

I see it's been a month since I was here last. Times flies when you're having fun - or are just busy! I continue to wonder how a retired couple can stay so busy. I've finished up several crochet projects and am still working on getting them ready for Etsy. (How I hate taking pictures!)

Another project that has kept me busy is I found a shop in Lebanon where I now have things on consignment. If you're in the neighborhood, check out Apron Strings. It's on the east side of the square in Lebanon (Indiana). I took several capes/stoles/shawls in in the middle of Sept. The two women who run the shop each bought a stole and kept another one for the shop (which sold the first weekend there). After talking over what they want, I made a scarf and stole and took them to the shop last week. They also accepted some of the new things whose pictures I'd been agonizing over. I feel like I dodged a bullet by not having to list them on Etsy. Hopefully this will turn into another outlet for my crochet.

I finally got started on another project that's been patiently waiting for me. I found a couple of T-shirts on sale and thought how cute they would look with ruffled skirts. I'd been mulling over the project for a while and figuring out how I wanted to do it. This weekend I started the actual crocheting. The shirt will have 3 tiers and each will be a different color. It's going slowly as I am having to figure out each step. I'm also taking notes along the way so I can re-create it with another shirt later on. Then there's the fact that I screwed it up and had to frog (rip it, rip it) it and start over when I was half done - bummer! The first shirt is white and I'm using red, white and blue yarn. I debated about the patriotic colors but tonight when I talked to Aleutia she was telling me about her new flag pin with an American flag so I think I'm going to look real good when this is over ;0 )

If I get enough done, I'll add a picture of the dress/T-shirt so you can see what I'm talking about.

I didn't really forget.......

2010-09-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Since the stroke I seem to have ADD and have a lot of trouble sticking with things. I have so many things that slip through the cracks only to resurface eventually and require attention. It's quite frustrating! I am aware that I left some loose ends on previous postings and thought I'd rectify that.

About a year ago I said I would try to figure out how many hours went into a particular item - particularly as that related to the price I was asking for that piece. (Basically someone said my work was under-priced.) I kept track of the hours involved in a shawl. It got to be a royal pain and ultimately I quit counting. I can tell you that when I quit, the number of hours stood at 55 and the shawl was maybe 3/4 done. I can't remember exactly what minimum wage rate is, but assuming it is 7.15 an hour and that I worked 60 hours (a VERY minimal estimate), the price would be $429 and that doesn't include the price of the materials. Because most of my crocheting is done in conjunction with another activity - watching tv, riding in the car, etc. - I don't 'pay' myself even minimum wage. At one point I roughly estimated the hours involved in crocheting the blue bedspread that's currently on Etsy. I think I paid myself $5 an hour and the estimated price came up as $2200!!! With a price tag that big, I'm likely to die being the proud owner of that bedspread! So I start with the cost of the materials and then add enough to hopefully strike a happy medium between what I think it's worth and what I think people will be willing to pay for it. Most of my work involves large items and it's unrealistic to think I can equate the time spent on that to someone whipping out a scarf or two every evening. That might prove to earn $10 an hour. So I'll continue to crochet the items I like and then try to find someone else who likes the same thing. Hopefully I'll make a little money, the Shelties will make some money and I'll be satisfying the creative juices that flow in my veins and there will be customers out there who are happy with a handmade whatever!

My other dangling project was a 'new project' from June 2009. It was to be a round tablecloth. The thread was on a big cone that came without any labels for yardage, size, fiber content, etc. I really like the thread and enjoyed working with it. Not long Thanksgiving, I realized that the cone did not hold nearly enough thread to finish the piece. So I put it away for a while until I could decide that I wanted to do about/with it. Ultimately, I elected to unravel a couple of rows and then finish off the round of pineapples. It turned out to measure about 45" in diameter and I sold it a month or so ago.

So now you know what happened to those two things - I am sure you were all waiting ever so impatiently to know ;-)

My blue ribbon winner

2010-08-04T07:03:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of the white shawl that earned a blue ribbon at the Indiana State Fair this year. It was adapted from a round table. I don't have exact measurements right now - it's still on display at the Fair until August 22 - but the size is probably a 'large.' Once the Fair is over, I've got to take a lot of pictures and write descriptions to be ready to list the things on Etsy.

State Fair Results

2010-08-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today was the open house and preview of exhibits which is just for exhibitors. The fair starts August 6. Out of 7 entries, I took a first, a second, a fourth and an Honorable Mention. I was delighted. I would love to be a little mouse during judging and see exactly what they look for/at and how the decisions on placings are made. Two of my ribbons were for new items so I don't have pictures of them yet. But here are pictures and thoughts about two of my entries:

Or not. I've been having 'issues' with Google and it looks like it's extending into the blog as well as both of my email accounts. Grrrrrrrrrr. I can't get the pictures I want to upload.- or more accurately, I can't get it to upload anything! My lavender baby afghan is in the Afghans album at AnnCrochets on PhotoBucket under the name 'Lilac Cricle.' I really like this afghan and was glad it got an Honorable Mention.

So now I'm off to have a chat with Google. Wish me well........

One fair down and one to go

2010-07-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

I entered 5 items in our county fair. I'd like to boast that I received 5 blue ribbons (which I did) but I can't see much to brag about since everyone in the crochet section (and most other categories as well) received a blue ribbon and I don't think I saw a single ribbon that wasn't blue (except the sweepstakes winner) in all the needle arts classes. Maybe I'm odd, but to me a blue ribbon is a symbol of being the best. Therefore giving a blue ribbon to everyone lessens the value of each ribbon. I'm all for it if they gave a ribbon (pick any color but blue) and awarded that for participating, and could even accept two or three blue ribbons in a class (depending on the number of entries) for really good work, but I think to blanket the division in blue is not the right thing to do. I realize that comparing a county fair to a state fair is kind of unfair because of the differing sizes but......... I don't remember how many places they award at the State Fair (maybe 5?) and they also give a few 'Honorable Mention' ribbons which I always was proud of. I felt like I'd made the final cut and had had a shot at being declared the best of the best.

It had been a busy week getting ready for the fair. Then this week just past was busy with freezing corn, getting my State Fair entries ready and just life in general. Saturday morning the county fair entries were released. I picked them up and headed for Indianapolis. I took 3 of the entries from the county fair to the state fair along with 4 others - total of 7. I dropped off my entries at the fairgrounds then headed north to Camel for a dog agility trial. Indiana Sheltie Rescue had the concession stand and a bake sale as a fund raiser. Bob spent Saturday and Sunday at the track. It's so good to see him feeling so much better and able to do things like that. But we're both pooped tonight!

The state fair entries were accepted yesterday and today. I'm not sure just when the judging is but the fair opens August 6. The Indiana State Fair does something I think is nice: On Sunday, August 1 there is an open house for all the exhibitors to come and see the exhibits in the Family and Home Arts Building. There usually are punch and cookies (Archway, of course) and it's neat to get a sneak peek at all the entries and see who won what. I hope I can go that day.

So now I just sit back and wait to see how I did. Actually, I probably won't be sitting all that much, but you know what I mean ;0)

Fun in Sugar Creek

2010-07-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is a non-crochet posting. This past weekend we had a family outing. We took our camper to a campground on Sugar Creek in west-central Indiana. We were lucky to have great weather. Ale stayed with us the entire weekend. Our son David, his wife Jessica and 17-month-old grandson Cason came Saturday. I think everyone had a good time. The lower picture is of Bob and Ale in Sugar Creek.

The picture on top is of Cason getting Sugar Creek washed off. He really enjoyed the shower and tried to do it himself and wasn't the least bit interested in whether he had an audience or not!

This was our first camping trip since we got home from Arizona in April 2009. It was good to get away but I keep forgetting how much work is involved in going camping. You spend a lot of time and energy hauling stuff out of a perfectly good home into a smaller space. And before you're out of sight of home, you've started the list of 'what we forgot!' I'm old enough I'd just about rather make arrangements for food delivery for the entire weekend and just stay at home.

It's Fair Time

2010-06-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

For the first time in several years, I'm planning on entering some of my crochet in the Hendricks County Fair and the Indiana State Fair. I haven't exhibited at all for several years and never have been able to do both fairs the same year but each have changed the dates enough that I can enter the same items in both fairs. But it's tight. The entries from Hendricks County are released on July 24 and have to be in Indianapolis the next day.

I have always felt I wanted my entries to be something a little special. So this year I am making a shawl and cafe curtain especially for the fairs and then also entering other items that aren't new (although the rules say the exhibits have to have been made within the last three years). I loved the curtain pattern - roses in filet crochet. The designer did a great job with the pattern. Unlike a lot of filet, the roses really pop out. The shawl is from a pattern for a round tablecloth that I really liked. The pattern called for six panels. I took out 2 panels so it looks like a pie with a couple of slices missing. It was a challenge to figure out how to do it but I think it's going to make a wonderful shawl. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Summer in Indiana

2010-06-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

No new pictures tonight. Just the musings of a native Hoosier who remembers James Whitcomb Riley's line 'Ain't God good to Indiana.' (I really don't remember HIM!!! I'm not THAT old!)

The lightening bugs appeared at the end of May. They just seem to lend an enchanted element to a summer evening. I enjoy watching them rise from the grass/soy beans/hay and disappear. They return to the grass and the next evening, it all starts again. The wheat will be ready in the next 10 days or so and shortly after that, they will disappear for another year.

Thinking about them got me to remembering other summer bugs from my youth. I realize now that I haven't seen a June bug for a long time. They usually came before June and stayed most of the summer so I'm not sure why they were called June bugs. I remember hearing them buzzing around and I guess bouncing off things. They made a big 'pop' when they hit something.

Then there were the oats bugs. These little black bugs used to be everywhere in the summer but have been gone for a long time. They were small enough to come in to the house through the screens. I don't remember them ever flying. They just sort of 'infiltrated' everywhere. I remember them in the butter - yes back then we had real, honest-to-God butter and it sat out all the time and so was very soft. The bugs got caught in it. Every fall we would take all the pictures down from the walls and remove all the oats bugs that had worked their way behind the glass. As I said, they were every place - even on us. And in pre-air conditioning times, they stuck to our sweaty bodies. Ok, now I've grossed you out so I'll quit. But it's just another indication of how much things have changed 'down on the farm'!!!

WIP to finished shawl

2010-06-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I had wanted to put a picture of the unfinished shawl on top and the finished shawl below the text. But after 2 attempts, I'm going to let it go where Google in its infinite wisdom thinks it should go. By the time I figure it out, I'll be too old to fix it!

The lower picture is a recent WIP (work in progress). It is a teal shawl made in fingering yarn. It shows the white yarn I used to mark the increases on each row. Sadly, it also shows the strap of my camera :-( The top picture shows the FO (finished object). The basic pattern is Doris Chan's All Shawl but I didn't make it a complete circle and I added the three bands of openwork. It is shaped like a pie with a couple of slices missing. I like that shape because I think it stays in place better than most triangular shawls. I am pleased with the finished product. It measures 27" deep.

More crochet

2010-06-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

I've made a (however belated) New's Year Resolution. Beginning with June, I will post more frequently - I promise! Bob's doing much better now and I have been finishing up projects. I took pictures of the bedspread tonight but forgot to measure it. So I'll have to spread it out again - grrrr. This scarf is one of the projects I finished recently. I was just playing around with the stitch (lacet) and #20 thread. After blocking it, I think it might look cute with a big, floppy bow. I'll be posting it on Etsy soon.

Our 'new' Sheltie

2010-03-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

This is Ceasar, the Sheltie who joined our family in September. He came into rescue in July, 2009. He had been shaved for some reason. This picture was taken shortly after he arrived. Now, (March, 2010) he has a full coat and thinks he's quite handsome (as do we!).

When you're ready to think about a new 4-legged family member, please think about a rescue rather than a breeder and especially in place of a pet store. Most dogs coming into rescue are already house-broken and beyond the chewing age and other puppy annoyances. No matter what breed you like, there is probably a rescue group who would love to help you find a new forever friend.

I finished the bedspread and will block it when the weather is better (will put it outside on a sheet to block). The teal shawl is almost done. I had a project in mind but abandoned it when I decided it was just beyond my mental capabilities. Since the stroke, I've not been able to follow a lot of directions and the pattern I wanted to do was just beyond my skills. So I dug out some UFO's (un-finished objects) and will try to get them ready for Etsy. I plan to start listing again after the first of the month.

2010-03-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

Well, no pictures today. Just wanted to prove I was still alive. Since my last post, Bob's illness, surgery, the holidays, unending medical tests and chemo have pretty much put any idea of posting on a back burner. Right now Bob is in the hospital recovering from an infection so it's pretty quiet at home. The dogs realize something isn't right and are pretty subdued (most of the time).

I have to admit it has been a pretty productive winter for crocheting while waiting in doctor offices, hospital rooms, etc. I have finished 2 shawls - magenta and royal blue and a tablecloth that started as a doily and grew to be 54" square. There were several headbands as I worked out a pattern for my brother the cyclist. And I have almost finished a bedspread that I started 5 years ago - just a final row of single crochet around the perimeter. I started it our first winter in Arizona. After the first summer, it was big enough that I put it up during warm weather and only worked on it during the winter. Now I'm working on a teal shawl. It's far enough along that I'm already planning my next project. It gets to be a challenge to have things that are portable when I really don't 'do' little items very often (except requests from family).

Tis the season!

2009-10-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

I listed the first Christmas item on my Etsy shop today. I'll be adding a several things over the next few days. Not a lot of truly Christmasy things but things that might make nice presents - useful, pretty and handmade. Shop at AnnCrochets@etsy.com. I also have a lot of things on PhotoBucket under the name AnnCrochets.

2009-09-30T19:37:00.001-07:00

Well, I am amazed to see it's over a month since I posted. That's what happens when life gets in the way of good intentions. The dog bed was not a success. I may try it again with 2 strands of yarn and see if it works better. In the meantime, I've not been working on THE tablecloth either. I have started a wool shawl thinking I might have it ready by Christmas or at least cold weather. I know it wouldn't be enough in Indiana in winter but other places might find it just right.

And I've got a request from the granddaughter that I'm trying hard to deny. She wants a crocheted teddy bear - and a crocheted elephant. It's sweet that she has enough confidence in my crocheting skills to think that I can just whip them up. But I'm not sure my skills are up to a project like that. And then there's the fact that I don't like crocheting little things. I'm happiest when crocheting on the biggest possible item. And I want to do it in one piece - not a bunch of parts assembled to make a big project. So I'll just have to think about it and maybe convince her a store-bought teddy might be better since she could have that right now. One that I crocheted, on the other hand, might not be done in time for her wedding (she's 4!).

They're done!

2009-08-28T07:50:00.001-07:00

Got the two afghans done for my granddaughter's friends. The pictures are above. The smaller one is about 32 x 20 plus ruffle and the other is about 53 x 25 plus ruffle. I decided to go with ruffles on both. Hope the kids like them.

Now I'm dividing my time between several crochet projects and computer learning. Indiana Sheltie Rescue is having a picnic in Sept. to celebrate 10 years of rescuing shelties. I'm making a prototype dog mat to see what everyone thinks. This mat will be made of yarn scraps to I might eventually use enough yarn to justify buying more! During digging out the yarn for the mat, I found a couple of UFO's (unfinished objects) and will get them ready for the picnic too. I'm going to have some of my crochet stuff there to sell. ISR receives 20% of most of my sales and 100% of things made from scraps and donated yarns.

Then there's this computer thing. ISR is now using Twitter as their 'official' communication tool. Well, I have a blog, FaceBook, PhotoBucket, multiple email addresses, etc. So now I'm learning yet another system - Twitter - and also learning a system I got to manage it all! At my age, who'd have thought I'd be knee deep in technology! I think I need a laptop to keep up with it all from my rocking chair!

Only for the grandkids

2009-08-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

In the past two weeks I've taken on a couple of new projects that have taken me away from my intended pursuits. As a bit of background, I've done a couple of small blankets for my granddaughter which she loves. She calls them 'poofies' - who know where that came from! Two weeks ago when she was staying with us, she said two of her little friends needed poofies too. She even knew what colors she wanted for each. Well, what crocheting granny worth her salt could turn down a request like that? I certainly couldn't. So I've made two small afghans - sized appropriately for a 2-year-old and an 6-year-old. I finished the second afghan this afternoon and blocked it. Oddly enough, both afghans came out not quite the size I wanted, so I've blocked both of them before adding the edging - not something I normally do. I've decided to do a white ruffle edging for the bigger afghan since the colors are white and shades of blue for a little girl. The smaller afghan is also for a little girl and it's white, pink and blue. I may put a white shell edging on that one. But I've still got all the yarn ends to weave in and then crocheting the edgings so I'll be lucky to get them done this weekend. Until then, not much is getting done!

I worked on 'the' tablecloth for a while tonight for the first time in probably 2 weeks. I just finished round 47. It has passed the point of taking one hour to crochet one round. So it's going to progress more and more slowly as time goes on.

I've not made much progress in putting numbers together for figuring the hours of work in a crochet piece. I really wish I'd spent more time absorbing things my uncle the engineer told me. At one time I had mathematic formulae for figuring things like how much thread I would need to increase the size of a doily from X" to Y" and other things like that.

Better Late Than Never

2009-08-12T07:03:00.001-07:00

I'm still working on 'the' tablecloth but it's slowed down recently. This most recent picture shows it about two weeks ago. It was at about round 42 and I'm up to about round 51. It's grown to over 38" in diameter.

I'd been intending to get back to this for a while but life has a way of interfering. Since the last time I posted, we've added a new family member and we're all in the process of settling in together. We are now fostering a Sheltie for Indiana Sheltie Rescue. He's getting accustomed to us and we to him - the canine equivalent of seeing how everyone squeezes the tube of toothpaste. Now we're waiting to see if we will pass or fail the course 'Fostering a Sheltie 101.' One of the biggest challenges we face is continually finding new foster homes for the dogs because the foster families fall in love with the dogs and adopt them. Eventually, even the biggest family reaches a limit and there's no room for a new foster dog.

It's been a cool, wet summer in Indiana but we've not had any major storm damage here from all the rain, wind and lightning. The Indiana State Fair is going on and it's always fun to go look at all the exhibits, animals, activities - and PLEASE don't forget the food!!!

I recently had a fellow Etsian tell me that my work was under-priced. That got me to thinking about how to explain to you about the time involved in something like a tablecloth. I'm trying to come up with some figures but it's a slow progress. I'll try to have it organized into something semi-coherent in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, hug a Sheltie!

July 4th (early)

2009-07-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here is the lavender baby blanket I mentioned a while back. It's so soft and has a sheen to it. It would also make a wonderful shawl - just fold it in half.

I'm still working on the tablecloth. The pattern is called "Big Event' by Hiroko Hanai. I'm up to round 32. We're not expecting a big holiday. We did all our celebrating last weekend with the hometown birthday celebration. I'm trying to work on more booties for Cason. I need quiet to concentrate and there's not been much of that available lately. I did one little blanket for Cason earlier and last week made another. This is also blue but is larger. I'm not sure what there is about the pattern but both kids seem to really like the feel of the blanket. Since all 3 are made of different yarns, I'm assuming it's something about the pattern/stitches that they like.

I got Dee's tablecloth blocked and she's very happy with it. She's still not sent me pictures as I asked.

I'm still working on learning FaceBook and all the other things related to my shop at Etsy. I seem to take one step forward and three back. It gets discouraging at times. And I worry about things at ISR (Indiana Sheltie Rescue) in today's economy. Donations are way down and dogs keep coming in. I wish I could get some regular sales income coming in to help ISR.

Busier than ever

2009-06-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've made some progress on the tablecloth but not much. I stopped to crochet 10 filet stars for the incoming Worthy Matron of my Eastern Star chapter. And our son and daughter-in-law had a yard sale last weekend that we did a lot of work for. This weekend is my hometown's 175th birthday celebration and that's been a lot of work lately. And the weather went from wet, cold spring to muggy summer hot overnight so it's not been much fun to be outside at all. I usually like to sit outside in the shade and watch my hummingbirds and other birds in the yard while crocheting.

Here is a picture to show the progress I've made on the tablecloth. I used some gold thread to mark the round I was on with the post on June 12 to show much I've done since then. I'm currently on round 25.

Staying busy

2009-06-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

I started a new project Monday (June 8). It will be my portable, carry-along WIP (work in progress) until it outgrows being portable. And if I stick with it, it will eventually grow beyond portability. It's now Friday and I'm up to round 18. Things worked in the round, as this is, start out with just a tiny circle - usually not much bigger around than a pencil. Then it grows round by round. Eventually, it will take well over an hour to work one round. This is a tablecloth that has 100 rounds and is about 14" in diameter now so by my math (which is admittedly poor) the tablecloth should be 70" or more when I'm done.

Work, work, work

2009-05-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

A friend came out Monday and we spend the afternoon working on Etsy things. Sandy is really good with computers and their various programs. And she's got good ideas and a good camera - what more do I need in a friend! We hadn't seen each other for a while so it was a good excuse to reconnect.

She had a lot of good ideas. One big one was related to my photography. She commented several times about various items and said the photos just don't do them justice. She took several pictures of the lavender baby afghan and I'm sooo pleased with them. They show the pattern better than any picture I've tried to take. I wish I could post it here but I can't right now - it's read only. But she has me convinced I need to take a different type of picture - maybe even use live models.

My brother is also helping me with picking an avatar. I took pictures of several small doilies and he's going to put them into avatar size and we'll see what they look like. I'd like to settle on an avatar soon to go ahead with the whole theme of a logo (as much as I hate to put Lady out of a job). I'm also looking for business cards and back to trying to put together a brochure.

I'll take Dee's tablecloth to her Monday. I will wash it and dye it Sunday then just keep it in the frigerator until Monday. I'll block it at her house. With that project over, I've got a request from Jessica for booties for Cason as well as a little blanket like the one I made for Aleutia. The blanket is a no-brainer but the booties take a lot of concentration (for me) so that will have to be a project for a quiet day - and I'm not seeing any of those coming along for a while. Maybe I should ask that my Mother's Day present be a day by myself.

Shame on me

2009-04-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

When reading this, just keep in mind that I just finished rearranging all my yarn and thread after bring about three trash bags full of 'supplies' home from Arizona......

I went to Senior Day at Goodwill today with good intentions. I was looking for some jeans and I did come home with three pairs of pants and a pair of shorts. But I also found some thread and yarn that I just couldn't resist. There were 3 cones of sport weight yarn - teal, magenta and blue - that I would guess to be 1# cones and all were full. There was also a 7-oz skein of tan sport yarn and a tall cone of white crochet thread - size 10 and at least 2# on the cone. All this for less that $5! I'm one happy camper tonight!

I also finished crocheting Dee's tablecloth so in a day or two, I can get the ends tucking in and put that in the FO pile. Later I'll pick a day to take it to her house to dye it and block it. I'll try to remember to get pictures before then. I am pleased with it and hope she will be too.

Home Again

2009-04-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

We are back from Arizona after a (thankfully) uneventful trip. We even had a tail wind to help push us most of the way home. The first orders of business were to meet and get acquainted with our new grandson and catch up with the rest of the family. Everything is pretty much back to normal now and I'm ready to resume blogging and reopen my Etsy shop. I've already updated my policies and such and will be restocking the store either tonight or tomorrow. So I guess I'm ready for spring!!!

See you in the spring

2008-12-26T13:13:00.000-08:00

We'll be leaving for Arizona in a couple of days. The weather's been so bad lately, we'll be glad to be out of here - providing the bad weather doesn't follow us like it has in the past. I've closed the Etsy Shop until we get back. While we're gone, I'll be busy with new projects - mostly for Cason who will be here when we get home. Since I'll not be taking any of my shop inventory with us, even things listed here won't be readily available. Hope to see you in the spring.

Picture Frame Afghan

2008-12-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

24: This soft afghan is called a picture frame afghan. The center is crocheted from camel colored yarn. The ‘frame’ has strips of dark brown, teal, light brown and brick. It measures a generous 67 x 48 and is washable. The sequencing of the 'frame' is 2 rows of dark brown then - from the inside to the outside - single rows of brick, medium brown and teal and 2 rows of dark brown. The price is $70.00.

Blogging 101

2008-12-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

Here we go! As I said in my 'mission statement,' this blog is intended to get more of my crochet items on the web. I didn't get my Etsy shop up and running as quickly as I'd planned and now the time is too short as the current listings will expire just about the time we leave for Arizona.

I can see I'm going to have to practice putting the pictures where I want them! I'll figure it all out eventually. In the meanwhile, please bear with me.

322: This Christmas tree skirt is sized for about a 3’ tree. It is 12” wide and has a slit to make it easy to put around the tree. It is made of Christmas yarn – green, white and red with a gold thread lending a sparkle. Care instructions: Machine wash and dry. For best results, use a lingerie bag. Machine on gentle or delicate setting using warm water and any detergent that does not contain bleach. Machine dry at delicate setting. Immediately after drying, remove from machine. Do not press. You can also hand wash. Removed article from water supporting it with both hands and gently squeeze out excess water. Do not wring. Roll in a towel to absorb remaining water. Then spread flat on a dry towel and shape to measurements. Allow to dry. Do not hang. Do not press. Do not dry clean. The price is $10.00.

I'll take PayPal or ????. With the holidays getting closer, I'll try to mail things out within a day or two. I charge actual postage plus 50 cents to cover packing materials.

The shelties all thank you for looking.