Greek Keys Update

Life has been busy here in our "neck of the woods".  But, I have been working on my Greek Keys afghan and enjoying the simplicity of the design.

Please believe me, this is not a difficult pattern.  The genius of this type of mosaic crochet is that you carry your yarn up the side of your afghan.  The only time you have an end to weave in, is when you run out of yarn and add a new skein.  

The body of the afghan will be solid.  You continue with the same stitch pattern, just using one color, and it creates a subtle (and pretty) texture.  

A stitch at a time... 

a row at a time.

Before you know it...

the blanket will be complete.

:-)

Happy Hump Day!

HDP

Weekend Thoughts

It's cold this morning with a bit of frost on the ground.  

I'm gathering together the little ones lessons for the day and thinking about the weekend.

We have a busy one planned full of fun family running around; an early indoor soccer game and we hope to see The Secret World of Arrietty sometime over the weekend.  "G" movies are few and far between, so you have to take advantage of them when they do come out.  

I'm hoping to get in some good crochet time this afternoon and will post some updated photos in the next couple of days.

I changed my blog to a more spring-like look, what do you think?  I was tired of the winter theme and even though we have several more weeks of winter left, my thoughts have turned to the changing of the seasons.

Wishing you a wonderful and blessed weekend.

HDP

Thoughts of Spring

My mind has turned to thoughts of spring.  

We've had a lot of gray skies and rain the past few days.  If it isn't going to snow, then give me spring with it's pretty bursts of color!

I'm looking forward to my peony bush bursting with buds...

A splash of color from my creeping phlox...

Cheerful daffodils and crocus that never fail to bring a smile to my face...

Sitting out on the deck with hook and yarn...

and, listening to the birds sing their cheerful song as they busily build their nests.

Just a short couple of months...

60ish days...

and my part of the world will be bursting with beautiful color...

I can't wait!

Wishing you colorful thoughts of spring!

HDP

Happy Valentine's Day!

¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love.

 - 1 Corinthians 13:13 -

(NKJV)

May your Valentine's Day be blessed

with the love of family and friends.

Happy Valentine's Day.

HDP

A New Project - Finally! :-)

I finally settled on a new project.  I know, I know, it's really taken me a long time to figure it out.

I decided to make Greek Keys from Lily Chin's Mosaic Magic.  I'm using yarn I have on hand.  I purchased this yarn to go in another afghan that I don't think I will ever complete; might as well make good use of my yarn supply.  

I'm making the afghan to go with a recliner we have in our lower level.  It is the same color as the pillow shown in the picture.  I think the VC in Honey looks nice with it and the Beige will tone down all the busyness of the pattern in the chair fabric.

- - -

It's a beautiful day here...

the sun is shining brightly...

melting what little snow we have...  

and the wind was gently blowing...

making my chimes ring so prettily in the breeze.

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful Sunday.

HDP

Me and The GE Commercial...

Someone suggested I find the GE TV commercial on You Tube, I never thought to do that, but I FOUND IT!  

I'm on for a nano-second in two different sections of the commercial.  You'll just see my back and my hair is pulled back in a bun.  I'm the one standing in the engine (and wearing a skirt) in the video at 0:11 and 0:36:

:-)

Here's another photo of me (and the young man) that was also in the commercial.  

He really was an engineer.  

:-)

Ahhhhhh, to be in my 20's again...

That was a fun walk down memory lane.  

Thanks for sharing it with me.

A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.

- Unknown -

HDP

Thank you!

I'm honored!

Thank you Debi Y. at DLY's Hooks and Yarns; Lovestitches at Stitch of Love; and Linda at Linda's Crafty Corner.  They've each passed on the award of ...

TO ME!  

So based on the "rules" of the award, I'm to tell you seven things about myself that you may not know; here we go!

• I was in a General Electric (GE) TV commercial back in the early 1990's.  I was an engineer in the commercial and got to have my hair and make-up done.  My 15 minutes of fame as the saying goes.  That's me standing by the mock-up of the GE engine.  

• When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be a princess.  

• I have a twin sister, fraternal, who, aside from my husband, is one of my best friends.

• I've lost 30 pounds since spring of last year; yay me!  :-)

• I was on the drill team in high school (that's me and my sister all those years ago; I'm on the left.)

• I love to swim and when I was young, probably had gills.

• I love to crochet!  (So that might be something you already know, but I'm running out of things to say.)

With all sincerity, I thank each of the ladies for thinking of me.

Now to pass on the award!  

Please note, if you don't accept awards on your blog, that's OK, I just want you (and others) to know I enjoy reading your blog.

1. Sarah at Sarah's Sweethearts
2. Mia at Mia's Country Living
3. Kris at Simplify
4. JoAnn at JoAnn's Creativity Blog
5. Tammy at T's Daily Treasures
6. Barbara at Crochet:  Made in K-town
7. Caroline at The Kansas Hooker
8. Teresa at Diddle Daddle Designs
9. Shani at Happiest at Home
10. Tina at Morningstar Academy
11. Gillian at Eclectic Me
12. Olga at Lacy Crochet
13. Holly Louise at Crafty Holly Louise

Like I said earlier, if you don't accept awards on your blog, that's OK.  

If you do, pass on the love!

HDP

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

- Winston Churchill - 

Happy Friday!

HDP

Ladies' Night

Tonight I'm hosting a small ladies group get together in my home.  

I made some raspberry thumbprint cookies to serve and I'll be making a TACO DIP before everyone gets here.  This dip is really good and I highly recommend it.  

The RASPBERRY THUMBPRINT COOKIES are actually a Christmas cookie that I make every year.  But with the raspberry jam, I thought they looked festive for Valentines Day as well.  

My sweet sister stopped by yesterday and brought me the pretty Chrysanthemum.  It made my day.  Yellow is such a cheerful color.  

Not sure how many will be here, but if no one shows, the house got a good (and much needed) scrub down.  

:-)

"Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them."

- Count Leo Tolstoy -

HDP

Daydreaming Dishcloth Pattern

Last Friday evening, I headed out to Joann's to get a change of scenery.  I was armed with coupons I'd received in the mail recently, but I didn't have any intentions of buying anything.

Famous last words.  

I found this really pretty cotton yarn on sale and the colors reminded me of spring.  Since it doesn't look like we are going to get any snow this winter, I guess I'll start "daydreaming" about spring.  Hence my new dishcloths.  See below for my Daydreaming Dishcloth pattern.

Click on PRINT FRIENDLY to print your copy of the pattern.

Daydreaming Dishcloth

by Heather Prusia

© 2010 - 2012

Materials: 

·         MC - 2.5 oz 100% cotton (I used Lily Sugar'n Cream - Rose Pink)

·         CC - 1 oz 100% cotton (I used Lily Sugar'n Cream - Lava Lamp)

·         I (5.50 mm) crochet hook

·         Blunt-end needle for weaving in ends

Finished Size:  9.5 inches square

Gauge:  4 inches = 7 shells across x 13 rows

Skill Level:  Easy

Special Stitches Used: 

·         Shell:  (sc, ch 2, sc) in indicated stitch

Note:  Turning chain (tch) has not been included in the stitch count.

Directions: 

Ch 27

Row 1 -   (RS) sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across (26 sc).

Row 2 -   ch 2, turn, sk 1st sc, shell (see special stitches) in next sc, *sk 1 sc, shell in next sc, repeat from * across to last 2 sc, sk 1 sc, sc in last sc (12 shells).

Row 3 -   ch 2, turn, working in ch-2 sps only, shell in each ch-2 sp across, sc in top of tch (12 shells).

Row 4 -   Repeat row 3 to desired length.  

End Row-ch 2, turn, working in ch-2 sps only, (2 sc) in each ch-2 sp across, sc in top of tch (25 sc).  Do not fasten off. 

Border:

Round 1- With RS facing, ch 1, sc evenly around work with (3 sc) in each corner, sl st to beg sc, fasten off.

Round 2- With RS facing, attach CC in any corner, ch 1, sc evenly around cloth with (3 sc) in each corner, sl st to beg sc.  Do not fasten off, do not turn work.

Round 3- ch 1, rev sc evenly around cloth, sl st to beg st, fast off. 

Finishing: 

·         Weave in ends

Abbreviations: 

beg.... begin/beginning

CC..... contrasting color

ch....... chain stitch

ch-..... refers to chain or space previously made (i.e. ch-1 space)

ch sp. chain space

MC..... main color

mm..... millimeter(s)

oz....... ounce(s)

rem.... remain/remaining

rev sc...reversesingle crochet

RS..... right side

sc....... single crochet

sk....... skip(ped)

sl st.... slip stitch

sp(s).. space(s)

st(s).... stitch(es)

tch........turning chain

WS..... wrong side

HDP

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Dear hubby is on the other side of of his 4th decade this weekend...

Chocolate cake with chocolate icing served with chocolate ice cream were his request.  

Rib eye steaks on the menu for dinner...

My life has been blessed with him by my side.  

A great marriage is not when the 'perfect couple' come together. 

It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences. 

 - Dave Meurer -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HDP