Update

I honestly can't believe I haven't blogged for nearly a year!  I haven't been crocheting/knitting/sewing much, at all.  I have been knitting some "Grandmother's Favorite" Dishcloths lately so at least I haven't totally quit needlework.  I haven't had a lot of spare time in a long time, but hope to remedy that by next week.  Then maybe I can start sewing for my newest expected grandbaby, this time a GIRL!  Woo Hoo!  While I love all the Grandboys, a girl will open up a whole new area for me to craft for!  : )  My daughter has picked a room theme of hot pink and black and white zebra stripes this time......my challenge is to make her baby bedding and some room decorations.  I already have some items purchased and ready to work on, other ideas are perking along in my head, now just to get my current obligations out of the way this week to free up more spare time in the evenings after work and on the weekends. 

Last August, one of my friends introduced me to couponing.  It has been so fun!  I don't "extreme coupon" by any means of the word, but now I can get a lot of items for free and I can usually spot a pretty good deal more than I used to be able to do!  : )  Another thing to blog about!  Haha!  I also have become interested in browsing on "Pinterest".  That is a really neat website that you can look at anything you are interested in out on the internet in one place.  I have found numerous recipes, crochet patterns, sewing ideas, etc.  I have also recently been on a kick of "do-it-yourselfism" or as my kids used to tell me, "Mom, you are a granola girl".  Nowdays, they call it being "green".  Haha!  I have recently made my own Fabric softener, window cleaner, mosquito spray and so on.  I would like to find some more of the Foxfire books that my sister once told me about, but those are extremely hard to find.  I hope to be able to blog more again, too!    Have a safe and happy 4th!!!

Here is a new (to me) potholder pattern that I have worked up recently. It is crocheted all in one piece, so there is no need to add a back. It is very quick to work up, and thick enough not to burn yourself on hot pans or dishes. I made the "Americana" one after July 4. I'm still reading a whole lot, especially now that I have an i-phone, I can upload e-books from the library for free and read any time I have some free time. "Real" books currently checked out: Secret of the White Rose, Devil Colony, The Queen's Governess, Crown of Dust, The Daughter of Siena, The Lion of Cairo, Fatal Error, The Beginners, The Bone Yard, & The Illusion of Murder. In the car on audio I currently have "A Discovery of Witches" and "Smokin' Seventeen". I have requested several more from the library that I am still waiting on to upload to my i-phone e-reader.

The Unveiling

What have I been doing lately? I started on Weight Watchers back in September of 2010 and was going to try to get my weight off before I saw my siblings, so I could surprise them. Sadly, my younger brother's Father-in-Law passed away recently, and at that time, two out of three of my siblings saw me then. I have "officially" lost 41 lbs so far (as of today) on WW, and I had already lost 8 lbs on my own before starting with them. I would like to get another 22 or so off. I have added walking on the treadmill into my daily routines to help get me to my goal. I also walk the stairs with one of my co-workers at break time. No crafting, sewing or crocheting, I have been watching Grandkids and reading a bunch. However I saw all the lovely potholders everyone on Ravelry has been doing and am getting interested again in crochet. Now that my weight is down a bunch, I am also becoming interested in sewing for myself again.

Happenings

February arrived with an ice storm, snow, and freezing temperatures! March has brought better weather and a trip to South Padre Island and Seaworld. Sadly, I haven't been crocheting, knitting OR sewing much since October. My oldest GS wants a beanie and a neck scarf made with camouflage colored yarn, so if anything, that will be next on my to-do list. I never finished even one Christmas stocking. The 2011 Potholder Swap is on, so I might get some done to send. I have mostly been absorbed in listening to audio books and reading books lately. I have two stacks of books from the library and just randomly choose the one that looks best to me at the moment. Currently my favorites are "Indiana Jones" type thrillers to Medieval Murder Mysteries, American Indian Murder Mysteries and Ancient Egyptian Murder Mysteries. Not much else is happening around here beyond the regular day to day living.

Short update

It's almost Thanksgiving, and I don't have much to show for crochet content. I think I have almost burned myself out on making potholders for now. I found a cute Hexagon Christmas stocking pattern I want to make, and have one hex block made so far. I've gone back to reading a lot for now.

My grandsons are all growing and getting to be more fun daily!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

This weekend

The above are potholders finished this weekend. Still didn't finish the other magic square (ran out of that color of yarn) or the Hot/Cold Potholder (uh, oh, the loss of interest). The floral potholder is the Rose Ripple pattern by my friend, Claudia Lowman.

These were completed in between going to an all day family birthday party yesterday, and all of our normal errands that we usually run on Saturday.

No photos today. Just a quick update. We didn't travel this weekend, but kept oldest GS and got to keep newest GS ( 2 months old) overnight on Sunday. He still wakes up alot in the night, so the challenge was to get some sleep! :) I have decided that Dh is a "baby whisperer"along with already being an "animal whisperer". He was great with the baby, who actually slept a lot of the night due to his Grandaddy's intuitive attention. The little guy has colic and doesn't sleep well at night. I got to Crochet a little bit, started 2 "magic" potholders for me, but didn't finish either. Almost finished a "Hot/Cold" Potholder, but need to finish the edges up. Probably won't make that one again, as it is kind of plain looking, but somewhat "fussy" to make. I'll add a photo when I finish them.