YOP Finale for year 2013-2014

Well, here it is...the last update of the 3rd YOP.   In reviewing my projects it doesn't seem like I got as much done as I wanted to and there was much "stumbling" but I was amazed at how much I learned this year and how proficient I am becoming especially in knitting.   I would no longer call myself a beginner at this stage and that is thanks to all of you who have commented on my projects, encouraged me and given me some great advice!
Here's what I completed this year:

Completed for YOP1314:
1.  Pillowcase with Crocheted Edging  
2.  Ear Flap Hat - for Uriah
3.  Birdie Decoration 
4.  Bunting - Project #2 from Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench
5.  Bunny Buddy Blanket - made for Uriah
6.  Grandmother's Favorite  -  5 (washcloth)
7.  Pumpkins and squash - I think I got this pattern from  Dawn's blog also.  http://dawndavis.blogspot.com/   I can't remember now...oh, I am getting old!
8.  Granny Square thread crocheted bookmark - gift for Kay
9.  Roll Brim Hat - for Jim
10.  Roll brim hat - for Ben
11.  Waffle weave dishcloth from Mason Dixon book #1- sewing in ends....so many!
12.  Irish hiking Scarf
13.  Preemie Crocheted Hat for 2lbs (1)

There are more WIP's for sure but what I am most pleased about are the skills I picked up this year which is always part of my goals; to learn and expand my capabilities.

Skills and/or new frontiers:
Crocheting with crochet thread
Knitting cables
How to put in a "life line" in knitting
How to pick up dropped stitches in knitting
Using DPN's
Amigurumi crochet
Crocheting edging onto something

You can check my sidebar for my complete list of WIP's (there are lots still)

And so you won't go away "empty handed" here are a few pictures..........
I didn't have this in my project list or on Ravelry at all and I think I made it last year but anyway this was what got me excited about making toys.

 I finished the spots for giraffe #1 for Sam.  I just need to make pom poms for the mane, attach appendages and embroider the face and it will be done!  Wow!  An FO maybe next week too?

I also got Susan B. Anderson's book on toys...the 2nd of my toy books from her.  This one has the giraffe pattern in it and so much more!  She is phenomenal....she has a blog and does pod casts and right now she has a drawing going on and she has them quite often.  I love her recommendations for yarns and Etsy shops and patterns also.

Here's giraffe #2 for Grayson on the needles!  This is the outside.......

 

and the inside.........

I also got this book on embroidery from Alicia Paulson who I adore.  I love her needlecrafts, her knitting, her crocheting, her house, her family, her sewing and quilting, her recipes (and her husband, Andy's ,who also cooks), her decorating.....let's just say I love the whole "package".

Here's  a sampling from the book........

Shelf edging!  I love shelf edging!

Love these curtains!

Happy Trails!  I'm off to plan next weeks YOP's for the 2014/2015 year!  So fun! 

Miracles abound in the Queen's Kingdom!

I don't know if you believe in miracles but I do.  I have several a week or several a day...I guess some days it doesn't take much to impress me but this one I'm going to tell you about is pretty impressive and I've got plenty more where they came from if you ever want to hear about them.  But this one just happened so......
My daughter and I haven't seen each other in 3 years...long story but mostly financial issues on both sides.  She didn't think she would be able to come down this summer either.  Now you see why I want to move back North.  I've never seen my one grandchild, Grayson.  Anyway, the night before last I was laying in bed knitting and the storm had finished and I looked out my window and there was the biggest, most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen..I mean EVER!  I was so excited I hopped out of bed and grabbed my camera.  I tried to take pictures through the window but I could tell it wasn't working that good so I even went outside in my pj's to take some.  I'm big on "signs" and I knew this was one but not sure what it meant.
 These pictures don't do it justice at all..........

 I still get chills just looking at the pictures and remembering how awesome it was in person.....I was so excited that "the girls" thought something was wrong.  I kept trying to get them to look up at the sky but they just kept looking at me wondering what was going on.

 There it is just outside my bedroom window.....

 The next morning my daughter called and she said she had gotten up and felt so joyful and had a feeling that something very good was going to happen that day.  I told her about the rainbow and we both agreed something was in the works.  We both went about our days and she called me again later.  She was in tears and right away I got scared and asked what was wrong but she "No, no,  these are happy tears!"  I asked her what was going on and she explained to me that she was in the library parking lot and was just going in and when she went to check her purse to make sure she had her library card, she found an envelope in her purse addressed to her.  Inside the envelope was money that her Bible study group had collected so she could come down and see me.  She had gone to Bible study the night before and hadn't looked in her purse since then.  By now we were both crying and neither of us are "cry babies"..well, at least not me..LOL! 
So, if any of you don't believe in miracles....big or small...my advice is Start Believing!  I'm so excited she is coming down and I get to see my grandchildren and my daughter.  I have never seen Grayson in person and he will be 3 this July.  I'm SO excited!  He and Sam will be attending "Camp Grandma" with all the privileges and amenities that select membership includes!  Happy Trails!  Watch for miracles.....they're out there!

Books and more books!

I have gotten behind in telling you about some book news.........I just got this today.  I have been waiting and waiting for it to come out in paperback and there it was at Wal-Mart today!  I love this author and I loved her first book Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.  So guess what I'll be reading tonight?

I also finished this book...for the second time.  I will probably reread this book once or twice a year it is that inspiring!  This book speaks to my soul and the author and I have a lot in common.  I wish she's come out with another one like this but it wouldn't be the same because now she has a job at Mother Earth News and probably doesn't need to "budget" anymore. LOL!   Plus, people really liked her book and it is still selling.
 

Last year I went to a garage sale and the person had evidently been to the Laura Ingall's Museum in Mansfield, Missouri which is about 3 hours from here because she had about 4 or 5 of these little books about the Wilders and the Ingalls.  If you're not familiar with Laura Ingalls she wrote The Little House on the Prairie books.  She married into the Wilder family.  I gave all my books by Laura to my daughter as she grew up reading those books.  I thought she would love these too but I want to read them before I give them to her....is that wrong? LOL!  They will be part of her birthday gift and I will wrap them up as she loves to have lots of little things to unwrap.  Her Christmas stocking was always her favorite because "Santa" would wrap every little thing in it.  What was "he" nuts?  Anyway, I read this one and I love reading about these families as Laura's Little House on the Prairie books were based on her own life.  These were only 10 cents each at the garage sale.....what a deal!  They were listed as $3.95 each on the back.

I picked up this used book at a sale a while back and I got it to give to her also.  It's a hoot.  Of course I'm reading it first! LOL!  Books are a great gift because you can read them and then give them.  It helps if the person has the same taste in books. Ha! Ha! 

When I was cleaning the other day I was also dusting and rearranging my books and I ran across this one which I started reading (of course). It is actually newspaper essays written by a stay at home Mom in Maine back in the 50's or 60's I think.  She was a journalist major in college and her writing is fantastic.   She lived in Kennebunk, Maine.  Each article is unique, like a little short story.  I love "real" life books, not reality shows.  This was really a diamond in the rough and I can barely put it down it's so good.  

That's all for now.  I need to go make supper.  I hope you had a great Monday and I'll catch up with you tomorrow as Wal-Mart day is exhausting. LOL!  I have more to share tomorrow though so stop by.  Happy Trails!

YOP Sunday

This is the second to the last Sunday for this year's YOP.   Next Sunday is the wrap up and then on to Year #4....I cannot believe it!  I have not gotten much of anything done this week except I was really good at being scatter-brained.  All of a sudden I got the urge to clean and clear out and trust me, that doesn't happen often enough around here so I had to go with it....it really wasn't a choice if you saw my house. 

 

I have "miles to go before I sleep" but I dusted, vacuumed, washed windows, and even took my wicker outside and hosed it down (the easiest way to dust wicker).  I hung new curtains....really I just hang towels and dresser scarves for curtains using clips and tension rods).  I took down the drapes and threw them out after trying to wash them....they were my Mother's good silk drapes but they were old and the sun had it's way with the edges of them plus I can't afford to have them cleaned...the last time it cost $60.00 so out they went!  I like everything in my house to be "scrubbable".  Now, if I could only get rid of all the carpeting! LOL!

As for YOP progress....a little.......the giraffe's legs are done and I've started on the spots

  I also unpinned and repinned the quilt using my new taped "skewer method".....I'm going to leave the skewers there and just cover with a tablecloth so I will always have it ready

We've had a boatload of rain here which is nice for a change but it sure makes it way down the hills like a raging river......... erosion at work

I finally got my rock layed and now need more of it..........no more wasting money on mulch

Here's some pictures from my walks this week........

Connie...do you know what this flower is?  These are all out in the woods.  It looks like Kalanchoe but that doesn't grow wild does it?

  Wild raspberries!  I have to remember where these are!

 

 Does anyone know what these are?   They look like pom poms!

Coming back out of "the hills" towards the lake.........

Back to civilization........

Someone's put some cute decorations out for the upcoming holiday here in the states!

Have a great week everyone and pray that I get some WIP's wrapped up this week! LOL!  Happy Trails!

Old dog learns new tricks!

 I finally learned how to store onions properly.   And I keep them in a dark cupboard in my kitchen.  Just a plain old lunch bag with holes punched.  It's easy to get all those holes if you fold the bag and punch through several layers.  Thank you to who ever's Grandmother taught her this...I googled it and now I have no idea who it was.
The second new thing I learned is this............this was on You Tube somewhere on a quilting video....thank you again to whoever shared this.......

It may not look like much but this is how you center and sandwich a quilt on a table.  You find the center of the table and using painter's tape you tape some skewers (cheap at the grocery store... used for kabobs) to those cross hairs.  Then when you're trying to find the center of your quilt and laying down your materials you just have to feel where the skewers are underneath all the layers.  "Brilliant, I say....brilliant!"  If you're not a quilter this may not make any sense to you or mean anything to you but, if you've walked around a table with your materials on it a zillion times trying to ensure it is all even, this is a million dollar tip!
Since I was so busy this week....who isn't it seems at this time of year?....I didn't get my bread made.  So, I saw this 5 Ingredient Beer Bread  recipe and decided to try it...........it is very good I think and great if you need bread and are in a hurry or have guests coming.     

 I had it in the morning toasted also and it was delicious.

 Here's the recipe from Half Baked Harvest if you're interested.  You do need beer for the recipe.

I'm finding heart shapes everywhere I look these days.  I take them as a sign of love and affirmation that I am following the right path.

 The one above was from yesterday's walk the one below from today's.

 I walk up a "mighty big" hill that really gets the heart rate pumping and the dogs even need to stop and rest.  I'm not sure if it's the humidity or the altitude.  LOL!  I'm pretty sure it's good for all of us though and you can't beat the scenery.

 The lake is at the bottom of the hill....in fact the lake is actually a huge valley they dammed up and made into a lake.

 Hmmm.....a fairy or leprechaun home?

 Below looks sort of like a honeysuckle but I have never seen pink so maybe not......

 Have a great day and Happy Trails!

YOP Sunday

Is this Week #50?  Does the new YOP start the first Sunday in July?

 Yesterday was Flag Day here in the U.S. so I finally found my flags and put them out.

 The winding down and starting up of YOP comes at a very busy time for me but then what else is new?  I need to get organized!
In case you missed my earlier blog this week...here's the giraffe........

 I have 2 legs done....2 more to go hopefully today.

 If you haven't heard about my sock it's because I haven't been working on it.  One reason is the birthday's looming.  The other reason is because I dropped some stitches and I didn't know how to pick them up.  Well, yesterday I finally got a chance to go over to my LYS in the next town and Tami, the owner, taught me how to pick up dropped stitches....easy peasy!  Skills are increasing which is a definite goal each year.  So, as soon as I finish all these birthday presents I'll be back on the sock trail.

 Speaking of socks....a book I ordered from the LYS came in.  It is a new sock book by Leisure Arts and I just had to have it!  They look to be all intermediate level so this will be good for my sock skills this coming year.

 I also liked it because most of the patterns have sizes for all...men, women and children.

 My hummers are back!

 Yesterday was a simply PERFECT day...cool temps, a breeze and sunshine and blue skies.  Took a nice long hike with the girls....it tires them out but it seems to energize me for the rest of the day.

Today is raining and storms, maybe severe tonight so I'm "hunkering down with my weather radio and my knitting and enjoying a cozy Sunday of RnR! Happy Trails! 
Oh, and Happy Father's Day to all those great dads out there.....you know who you are!