Monday, October 27, 2014

Full speed ahead!

Ready....set.....GO!!

I have been working my fingers to the bone...literally!!  I have so much to do, and so little time lately, that I pulled out all the stops this weekend and just worked until I got caught up...whew!!

So....I have caught up on all my SAL's!  Yippee!!  At least until 4 days from now when new pages come out...LOL...but considering I was two and three pages behind in a couple, I feel like I can breath a little.  So....here is

Au Point de Croix



Marquis Francoise



Maryse 



My mother tasked me with making 15 crocheted crosses for the ladies in her organization for Christmas presents.  Since I have so many things going on I decided to knock them out and get them in the mail before the Christmas rush starts up.  Whew...no pictures, but they are finished!!

I've also been trying to make a couple of gifts, and finished one...finally!!  I've wanted to do something special for my friend who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of Breast Cancer.  Here is a ribbon scarf...Now to get it in the mail...



And these turned into earrings for another friend whose birthday is the same day as mine!


 

And here is a bag I decided to crochet as a "traveling project" that I could work on in the car.  You see last weekend was my birthday, and my husband decided to take me away on a trip.  I knew I was going somewhere, just not where or what I would be doing.  So I wanted something to work on in the car if it happened to be a long drive.



Where did I end up, you ask?  In Lancaster, Pennsylvania where we went to a dinner theater to see this...



and we played  few rounds of mini golf...





and we went to see the Ghost Hunters....Jason Hawes and Steve Gonzalves their very own selves!!  I can't tell you how monumental this is...since I've been watching their series on TV since they started 10 seasons ago!!  My husband refuses to watch them because he just isn't into that sort of thing...so for him to buy tickets and attend without me even asking to go was really a HUGE surprise!  Thank you to my guys who made my birthday something really special this year!!





And now you see why I've been missing in action so much lately.......hopefully I'll be back on track with some new project to show you soon!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Sew overwhelmed!

Just another chaotic day here at DJ's digs...I'm sitting here at my computer when I should be in  my stitching place slaving away...right???  LOL!!

Just in the past week, I've undertaken a few new projects.  Some I asked for, some I did not, and some I just wanted to because I wanted to!!  But in the end, I feel like a hamster on a wheel.  Spinning like crazy but not getting anywhere fast.

Well, poor Mom will have to wait on her afghan...but mostly due to her own fault.  Why, you ask?  Because she decided to take an office in her organization where she will have a staff, and she wants homemade gifts for them for Christmas.  She THINKS I'm good at crocheting cross bookmarks and thought that would be a dandy gift.  Yay me...LOL!!  So...I'm making 12 bookmarks.  The first one she didn't like...



So...on to the next...wrong colors...



Hopefully SOME of these will work for her...



I guess this little beauty will have to wait a while longer.  Maybe I'll get it to her before summer...wish us both luck!  LOL!!



The group I belonged to that did a round robin last year...you know the one I haven't finished yet?  This one...




has decided to do another one.  I have decided on a chart from a magazine called Berries, Birds and Blooms by Blue Ribbon Designs... here is my start so far.  I'm hung up on trying to decide if I will personalize it with the title of the group again...decisions, decisions.  I suppose I can wait until it gets back to me...but...I'm afraid it will end up unfinished like the last one...




In trying to decide on a project for the above group, I stumbled across this little beauty.  I debated on using this as the round robin, but since the fabric I had chosen was 40 count, and when I started stitching it was a challenge for me, I decided it wasn't such a good choice for this years project.  So...here is the beginning, I wonder if I will ever finish it....but honestly...I LOVE working on this one!  This is the Weathervane, by Little House Needleworks.  For now it will have to remain on the back burner...*sigh*




Last, but not least, is my little plug for October, and Breast Cancer Awareness month.  In the past few months a dear friend, the mother of a young man at church, the friend of a lady at church and the friend's sister have all been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Some were found with routine mammograms (as was mine), and some found through other means.  It's so important to have your screening done!!  Or at the very least, do your monthly breast exams.  You may not realize it, or even feel like it, but those around you, your friends, coworkers and loved ones depend on you.  So....I found this amazing pattern on the internet, and decided to make something.  It will be for one of those mentioned above, and my guess is I'll be making quite a few (unfortunately).  But the most awesome news is that being diagnosed today means there is so much more hope and advanced treatments than when I was diagnosed 4 years ago that there is hope that you will be cured.  So please...get checked annually.  Those who love you will thank you!!  Here is my progress on this project...



I was invited by my cousin last week to get together to make some pillows for the breast cancer patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  I enlisted the help of the lovely Miss M and her husband, we were joined by my husband and friends of my cousin to stuff and sew 98 lovely pillows.  My prayer is that they will find a cure fast so we don't have to make any more of these pillows soon!  Thanks again for the invite, Cuz, and I hope we can see one another soon!





Today is my Dad's birthday.  It's been more than 5 years now since he passed.  There are times my heart aches at his passing, I miss him so much.  I love that his birthday is in the fall, as it has always been my favorite time of year, so even though it is so sad that I miss him, I can't help feeling warm and wistful on his birthday.  Love and miss you, Dad.  Happy Birthday!


Friday, October 3, 2014

And Sew it Begins...

Well, it didn't take me long to get behind in all those SAL's I am working on!  LOL!!  There are new pages for all three of them that I haven't had time to stitch on yet...but hopefully next week will be a little better?!

I say that tongue in cheek as I'm desperately trying to finish up an afghan I'm making for my Mom before snow hits the Northeast!  I have all the blocks made now, I'm just beginning to sew it together.  This may take more time than I imagined!!  I'm averaging 4 hours to make one strip of 25 blocks.  There are 20 strips in the afghan...so I can only  make about one strip a day...it seems very laborious!!  Here's my progress so far...



I can't remember when the last time was I talked about the Round Robin I was doing with a few other women.  My piece finally came home about a month or so ago.  I haven't had time to pick it up until the other day I decided to work on it a little bit.  I would like to finish it before the end of the year...wish me luck!  Here's where I am so far.  I've been working on the middle square...



Last, but not least, I have to talk about  my beloved Orioles for a wee bit!!  I missed a lot of the games my guys had tickets for this year.  I've been sick for a lot of them for some reason or other.  I did make it to the first post season game last night.  What a game!!  I can't remember when there has been that much excitement, or orange in the stands!!  They really mopped the floor with the Tigers, and my favorite sign that I saw in the stands was the Oriole Bird calling "Here Kitty Kitty Kitty" with a tiger tail hanging out of his mouth!  LOL!!  Anyway, here is how my husband dresses for the game...






The great thing is this was an exciting game...one of the best I've ever been to.  And not only did they win last night....but they came from behind and won today too!!  Let's go O's!!