Wahsega Valley Farm

Crochet projects - part 2

I'm trying to stay caught up with my blogging, but with a healing chicken (update soon), posting lots of silver jewelry on ebay and just taking care of the cabin, etc., it's been difficult. I'm behind once again!

And it's a dark and dreary day. I can't wait to see the sun again!

Here are pictures of the rest of my holiday crochet projects. The first group shows Sarah (who should be a model) wearing the hat, arm warmers and scarf I made for her:

It's gotten so warm here lately that it might be next year before she has the need to wear them though! The next arm warmers I make will be with much finer yarn and I'm thinking about making some socks soon too. The latest Interweave Crochet Magazine explains how to make them so well that it doesn't look too intimidating. And I still want to make myself some leg warmers. If it was colder, I think I'd be doing just that, but with our warm weather, my brain is on my veggie garden instead.

Here are a some boring ol' hat and scarves that I made for myself:

I want to make a lacy shawl and some kitchen curtains, but haven't had the time to sit down long enough to get either going. I started the curtains last winter, but the pattern didn't float my boat. So I'm going to start over. No point spending hours on something that doesn't make your eyes happy, right?

Oh, here is a picture of the apple and pear & ginger butters I made for gifts this year; I forgot to post pictures of them:

The apple butter is woooonderful. It cooked in a crockpot for about 18 hours or so. The pear butter was good too and didn't take nearly as long to make, but the apple just hit the spot. Yum.

That's it for now!

Crochet projects

I crocheted quite a few things for gifts again this year, so thought I'd post pictures of some today and the rest later this week. Crocheting is very relaxing for me... nothing like watching a good movie (preferred: Masterpiece Classic ones) and crocheting on a cold, winter day. It's a bit on the sedentary side, but I make up for it when I hang with the chickens every day raking and toting and doing chores outside. 

I made two throws that are similar, though one is bigger and the colors vary a bit. Here is the smaller one I gave to my friend Laurie in California:

They can be used seam side up or seam side down, depending on preference. Here is the larger one for my son Jesse and his family (shown seam side down):

I also made a few things for Margot again this year since it's just so much fun. Mike and I went to Atlanta to visit on Christmas day and I got to take pictures of Margot modeling her new things. Here she is in a sweater and ear-warmer set. I was just so glad it fit her. This yarn is super soft and warm and I think it suits her!

This next sweater was made with the neatest yarn; it has lycra in it, so stretches and was fun to work with and I love the colors.

Margot is checking out the fringe at the bottom; they hang in a curly-cue fashion. The colors look different in each picture because one was shot in daylight and the other with a flash. It was raining on Christmas day making it very dark inside. 

I thought Margot might like a pocket sweater and here you can see she has her hands shoved into the side-opening pockets. She sure looks like her mama here.

I also made her a little poncho, though she will have to grow into a bit before it'll fit quite right:

And here is another picture of the cat I made for Margot, looking cool and casual. 

When I gave Jesse and Sarah some of my soaps, I decided to make washcloths to go with them as well. I labeled the soaps differently this year for a change... wrapped them in some fabrics I had:

Here is a closeup of the washcloth I made for Margot, showing the stitch I used on all of them; it's a cool looking stitch:

I'll post the rest of the crochet projects a little later this week; I'm still editing pictures and getting caught-up computer-wise since getting back online.

Back online

It's nice to be back online again! Being without a computer is a hardship these days since I use it so much for research and keeping in touch with the rest of the world. Being the introvert that I am, and living in the boonies... well, it's just a necessity! So it's wonderful being back. 

I have lots of things to catch up on and many pictures to upload and edit so will begin all that and make a for-real post very soon. Oh yes, and comments and emails to respond to as well! At least I have a good excuse for being behind this time. 

Before signing off though, here is a picture an Amigurumi cat that I crocheted this year for my granddaughter, Margot. She is wearing workout gear - leggings, a sweatband and a tank top. It's my first three-dimensional project and was a lot of fun to make.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and not eating too much! 

A little more crochet

I thought I'd post some "last of the season" crochet pictures before I forget since I'm moving from indoor activities to outdoor ones. The only crochet I might do in the warm seasons here are the kitchen curtains I'm working on. But winter stuff? My head wants to move away from winter stuff!

This is the last winter combo I made for myself... it didn't look like much lying around, so I'm modeling it:

 
And here are the little tops I made for Margot's first birthday, starting with a peasant top:

 
 and two really simple sleeveless tops:

 
 
I made Sarah, my daughter-in-law, a hat and scarf set to send along with Margot's gifts. I actually used a pattern for these two; I rarely do. The scarf pattern is called the Branching Leaves Scarf, and I found it while cruising on one of my new loves, Ravelry.com ("a knit and crochet community"). It was so much fun to make and I've made myself one too, in a light brown color:

 
 ... and here's a picture when I was blocking it:

 
Sarah said she liked slouchy hats, so I made her Caron's Urban Jungle hat. Super simple and fast to make. It looks better on someone than lying here:

 
And a close-up of the stitches:

 
Now I'm working on my kitchen curtains. I want something lacy that the sun can shine through yet not blind me with light at the same time. I love the windows I saw in Germany and have wanted pretty windows like that since I visited there. I started off with this haphazard pattern:

 
... but decided it was too busy and not that pretty and the design was way too small, plus... making lots of filet stitches just isn't fun for me. So I decided to make a plain lacy kind of fabric:

 
 
... but it's way too boring, so I'm still thinking about the look I want. I'm considering creating the branching leaf scarf pattern above and just widen it (by adding additional panels) to the width. It would be fun to make and it might be just the look I want...dunno. I'm making the curtains out of mercerized cotton and while it's quite small to work with, I'm pretty fast at crocheting and it's fun. We'll see if I have time this summer though! Probably will after being outside in the hot garden all day. Since it'll be daylight until almost 9:30 here in the summer, it might work out just fine.

So that's it for crochet for the time being. Right now I'm studying ducks and trying to decide which breed I want to get. Their shelter needs aren't quite as demanding as chickens, so I might be getting them first. But more on all that soon.

Lotsa crochet

I had a lot of fun making gifts this holiday season and thought I'd finally post some pictures. I mostly crocheted, but also made some body butter (with a new recipe I came up with) and painted Margot's little chair. Oh yeah, and Mike's "Why I Love You" jar that I mentioned in this post. I love making things so had a great time - and benefitted by improving my crochet skills - though still have a long way to go for other things I want to make. Anyway, here are some pictures.

This is Margot's chair as it looked when Jesse, her daddy, had it as a child - only Mike had already repaired two of the spindles here.

 
And here is how it turned out after I painted it, in Margot's room. It's much happier looking now, huh?

 

I made this hat and scarf for my friend Laurie in Mill Valley, California. It's my favorite yarn right now in my price range...Lion Brand's Homespun - love the colors:

 
And this set was made for Sarah, with her modeling it in this post. The scarf was made from this super easy pattern in more Homespun. I love how it spirals and want to make one for myself soon. Very quick to make.

 
The scarf below was made for Mike's daughter, Jessica, and the picture just doesn't capture how pretty this yarn is. It's more Homespun by Lion Brand, in "Tudor".

 
I made this long circular scarf for Sarah. It can be wrapped like a shawl, scarf, over the head - and in any number of ways. I wish I had a better picture of it and what it can do.
 
And here's a sweater for Margot to wear with her little jeans:

 
And the sweater set seen in a previous post:

 
And one of the cardigans:

 
And Margot wearing it at home:

 
And another sweater (I was having so much fun experimenting):

 
And Margot modeling it:

 
Another cardigan and scarf:

 
And Margot wearing it:

 
I also made some hats, shown here. The top one is Mike's and the other two are for my son, Jesse and/or Sarah:
 
Here is Sarah, wearing one:

 
And Jesse and Margot with their hats on:

 
Phew, that's a lot of pictures and my computer is really slow today. I think that's about it!  

Happy New Year everyone!

Went to town...

I needed to mail some Christmas packages today, so bundled up and went to town. It's not as cold today as it's been lately, 34F now at midday, which is pretty typical. I think it's been two weeks since I left the cabin! I drove the long country road towards the city square - enjoying the bucolic scene of cows grazing and how stripped bare everything looks now that winter is here full force. I stopped by Mike's new shop to see the progress he's making there and then he joined me on my trip to the post office and yarn shopping.

In or near Atlanta this time of the year the post offices are too painful to deal with. You must wait in a looong line if you're lucky enough to find a parking space. But here there was no line! We were in and out in a minute and I can't tell you what a wonderful thing that is. Small towns have their good and bad, but one good is that there just aren't that many people here to clog up the post office - or any store.

I'm making Mike a warm hat for when he's working since they don't have heat yet in the new shop, and as I was drooling over a yarn I'd not seen before, Mike checked it out and said that was the yarn he'd like me to use for his hat. It's another Lion Brand yarn called Tweed Stripes and this one is a combination of browns and blues... quite pretty:

 
Lion Brand's "Tweed Stripes" yarn 

I can't wait to see how it works up. I still have a few things I want to make before Christmas so need to get to it. After the holidays are over, I'll be more flexible again and will visit here more often. In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying this special time of the year.

A little crochet

I'm such a bad blogger these days...

But I've been busy making gifts for the upcoming holidays, among other things - and here are some pictures of three crochet gifts I'm working on and having fun with:

 

 

 

I can't show too much; it might ruin surprises for peeking eyes. I have a few more things to make too with yarn and must get to it!

I will try to be a better blogger soon.  :)

Margo's baby blanket

Happy New Year!

We got back from our first long stretch at the cabin over the holidays and while I am editing photos and getting my head back into city living and work mode ...sigh... I thought I'd add some pictures of the blanket I made Margo, my granddaughter who is due in March. I had a lot of fun making it and am now inspired to greatly improve my crochet skills. My son gave me two crochet books for Christmas and they are most helpful. And I'm chock full of ideas and projects I want to make.

Margo's blanket...

 

 

I also made a market bag for my friend Laurie, who lives in the San Francisco area...

 

I really enjoy the process of crocheting and if I can keep Zena out of the yarn (it has become her prey for some reason), I'm going to stay busy with it this winter.

And now I have about 300 pictures to edit from our almost two weeks at the cabin. We made quite a bit of progress and I'll write more about that very soon. We had a wonderful time and it is so different from living in the city. It was difficult coming back!

What am I going to make?

With the holidays around the corner and a granddaughter on the way, my mind is reeling with things I want to make during the next few months. In fact, my brain is all a-clutter trying to figure out how to approach everything I want to accomplish in the allotted amount of time. I have a feeling these next few months are going to fly by and catapult me into 2010 and very close to my retirement date. Time will go sooo quickly. It already is.

I ordered a bunch of books last week on several topics and received three of them yesterday. One book, Candy Crochet by Candi Jensen, is so much fun and I'm inspired to make this outfit for little Margo:

It's just too cute and wouldn't take much time to put together. And I'm thinking about these "Ugg" boots too:

 
That would go quite well with this little kid poncho:

 
There are just too many things to choose from to create! And having a girl to make things for is different from a boy. Here is my son and the sweater I made for him when he was little:

Making things for girls is different because they can wear more types of clothes; at least I think so. Just like grown women can wear more types of clothes than grown men. Generally speaking that is. And girls are usually open to more colors too.

So I have all kinds of images and thoughts popping into my head of things I want to make - and that's just in the world of crochet and little Margo. I need to get my head together for soap and lotion and body butter making too! 

Energy jump-start

Every year when the cool weather arrives, I get a boost of energy and all the things I like to do in autumn and winter start rolling around in my head. Suddenly, after the lazy days of sumer, there is too much to do. This is the time of the year when I like to:

1. Make soap
2. Create new skin creams and butters and natural body recipes
3. Crochet all kinds of things
4. Bake bread and winter foods
5. Clear out clutter from the house prepping for our move to the farm
6. Make as many holiday gifts as I have time for

And now that I'm going to be a grandma soon, my crochet brain is particularly going into overdrive thinking about what I want to make. A little blanket for sure, but check out this sweater and bootie set from www.garnstudio.com:

Is that cute or what? I don't care for the traditional tiny stitched soft pastels for babies, so this is more my cup of tea. I've never made baby things, so it's going to be fun.

And, I need to pull out all my natural body recipes. I don't create things in the summer because for butters and creams particularly, they just don't like the hot and humid weather. And soap is too hot to deal with. So, I'm anxious to look over the recipes and decide what to make. I'm totally out of body powder and that might be the first thing I put together.

With my new Vitamix I'm going to finally get around to grinding my own flour and making some bread. I've been reading a lot about spelt lately and want to experiment with it. I like the fact that it's not been hybridized like wheat, and is the same as it was thousands of years ago. And it has way less gluten than wheat and is much easier to digest. Check out The Wonders of Spelt.

Yep, my brain is racing with things I want to do. I love this time of year... I feel so energized and will just have to figure out how to squeeze it all in. Too much to do... too much to do. How fun.