New Pattern - Soft Facial Scrubbie

 

Early Mornings...

Since I opened my home daycare, my mornings have been starting earlier and earlier. Most days, now, I have to be up at 5:30 am just so I can be somewhat awake by the time the kids start showing up. I don't mind it too much, in fact, I'm starting to get used to it.

But, when the weekend comes, oh my do I look forward to not having to set my alarm. I don't usually sleep in anymore, my body is used to getting up now. But the simple  fact of not having to be up by a particular time is heavenly.

So, you can imagine just how pleased (notice sarcasm here!) I was when my son's puppy Charlie, woke me up at 6 am to go outside. My one day this week I had to sleep in (I had a baby here yesterday from 7-12) and that darned dog has to wake me up before the sun rises.

One nice thing about early mornings with no kids, though, is that I have time to think and to plan. And time to be creative. This morning, I was able to put together another free pattern for all of you! It's not quite ready yet, I still need to get pictures, but by tomorrow or the next day, it will be ready for sharing.

I have also completed almost all of the squares I need to finish up the Flower Garden afghan to go along with the Flower Garden square pattern. It's going to be gorgeous, I promise. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm incredibly pleased with how it's coming together.

After that, my son has already planned out what will be next. He's put in a request for his very own applique afghan, so that will be not only the next thing on my list of wips, but also the next big project that I'll be offering here. I'm very excited to start working on it. I have it all planned out in my head, it's just a matter of getting it on my hook!

Well, it's a cold, cold morning here and I have a fire that needs tending. And more coffee to drink. Maybe I'll go snuggle up under my afghan to keep warm. :)

Happy crocheting everyone!

8" Flower Garden Afghan Square

This is my newest pattern and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. This one is available for purchase through my Artfire studio.

All you have to do is click on the photo and you'll be taken directly to my Studio where you can purchase the pattern for $1.50.

Soon, I'll be adding a full afghan pattern to go with this square. It works up very quickly and it's absolutely lovely if I do say so myself! :)

What A Great Day!

Well, yesterday was a fantastic day!

Not only did I post my very first afghan square design, 6" Sunburst Square, but not long after that, I received an email from AllFreeCrochetAfghans.com letting me know that they had featured my square on their site! Isn't that the most exciting news? What a way to start my day today! :)

I was also able to finish up the Noah's Ark baby blanket I've been working on. This isn't my own design, it came from Annies Attic, but I adore the look of it. I'm overall happy with the result, although my house is a bit lopsided. I figure the ark must be on a wave, so that explains it. Right? :)

And finally, I started on my very first baby blanket design. I'm going to need more yarn, which I'll pick up this weekend, but I'm very excited about how it's turning out so far. It's a nice basic design for the body, but it's the added little extras (that I'm not telling you about, you're just going to have to wait to see!) that will really make the blanket extra special.

Now, if I can just keep myself and the rest of the house healthy, I should have the body of the blanket done this weekend. We've had a bad chest cold go through the house. I've managed to avoid it so far, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to. I'm not feeling well at all this morning, and I'm afraid it may have finally caught up with me. I'm stubborn though, so the virus and I will have to duke it out today and see if I can come out on top again. :)

6" Sunburst Square - Crocheted Afghan Square Pattern

 This is a fantastic scrap buster pattern. It uses small amounts of any colour you would like to add. Have fun with different colour combinations to make either a fun, scrappy afghan, or an elegant, colour co-ordinated throw.


Size: 6" Square
Materials: Small amounts of worsted weight yarn yellow (A), fuschia (B) and white (C).
                Hook size 5 (H)

Special Stitches:

Beginning Cluster: in space indicated, ch 3, then leaving last loop of each stitch on hook, dc twice in same space, loop over and draw through all three loops on hook. 


Cluster: In space indicated, leaving last loop of each stich on hook, dc 3 times in same space, loop yarn over and draw through all four loops on hook.

Instructions:

Row 1: With colour A, ch 4, slip st to form ring. Ch 3 (counts as first dc here and throughout), dc 11 times in ring (12 dc). Finish off.

Row 2: With colour B, join with sl st in any dc. Beg. cluster (see special stitches), *ch 1, cluster (see special stitches)  in each dc around. Join with sl st in beg ch 3. Finish.

Row 3: With colour C, join with sl st in and ch 1 sp, ch 3, 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in same space (corner made) ch 1 *3 dc in next ch 1 sp (twice), ch 1, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc in next ch 1 space (corner made). Rep from * around. Finish off.

Row 4: with Colour B, join with sl st in corner ch 2 sp. Ch 3, 2dc, ch 2, 3 dc in same space (corner made) *ch 1, [dc, ch 1, dc in next ch 1 sp (V stitch made)] three times, 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in corner ch 2 space (corner made). Repeat from * around. Finish off.

Row 5. With Colour C join with sl st in corner ch 2 sp. Ch 3, 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in same space (corner made) * (ch 1, dc in next ch 1 space, ch 1, cluster in next V st) three times, ch 1 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in corner ch 2 sp. Repeat from * around

Potholders!

As promised yesterday, here are the potholders I made for my exchange partner.

This is by far my favourite pattern for potholders. It works up quick and easy, it's thick and durable and it's pretty too! I made this set while watching Letters To Juliet, so two hours start to finish for a full set of potholders. Not too bad, if you ask me. :)

I wish I could share the pattern with you, but I got it from a book I no longer have. I can't remember what book it is, and for all I know I've changed the pattern since I first tried it, but copyright rule and all that make it impossible for me to share. :( If I ever come across it again, I'll be sure to link to the pattern for all of you.

Lookie What I Did!

About a week ago, I finished this lovely little doily called a Small Exchange Doily from Panda Crochet. Isn't it gorgeous?

I'll be mailing it off this weekend, when I finally have time to get to the post office to my exchange partner from my Ravelry group Crochet and Knit Exchange. (I know, not the most imaginative name, but it's straight and to the point and people can find it!)

If I have time tomorrow, I'll show you photo's of the potholders and 12" square I have ready to mail too. I'm very proud!

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday everyone! I have to admit, I do love Mondays. We've been given a fresh start on the week, and the possibilities are endless!

I thought today I'd share a little something different with you. Since I didn't get any sewing done over the weekend (bad me!) other than cutting up more strips, I don't have any new photo's of the quilt to show you. So, I thought I'd share with you, the crocheted quilt I'm making for my daughter for Christmas.

It's made up of hundreds of 3 inch squares in different colours, some solid, some triangle. Right now I'm still working on the solid squares. I'm on the last batch of those, I need 84 and I have 38 right now, so I'm almost there. One I finish those, I'll start on the triangle squares, which is a new one for me. I've been crocheting since I was 5 (which equates to a loooong time. LOL!) and I've never attempted these before. So, I'll be learning something new which is always a good thing!

Here is what I have completed so far. Each pile has 10 squares in it, so I have 130 completed.

Once I finish the solid squares, I will need in triangle squares:

40 white and fuschia
32 white and green
108 yellow and fuschia
36 fuschia and green

So, as you can see, I still have a ways to go. Once the kids get back to school, I'll be able to find time during the day to sit down and work on it, though. Since this is only one of 4 afghans that I want to complete for Christmas presents, I really need to get a move on! LOL!

Today's Update

I'm heading off for a drive today to pick up some more fabric from a very generous soul. It will take about an hour, but honestly, that's still a lot less expensive for me than buying new fabric to practice on.

Monday's are my weekly Home Blessing Hour courtesy of the Flylady. I'll be taking an hour today to go through my house, wipe down windows, mop the middle of my floors, dust, change the sheets on the beds, etc. It's a fantastic way of keeping on top of things and giving my home a fresh new look to start the week.

Tonight for supper, we are having

Autumn Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups water
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup potatoes, cubed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp brown bouquet sauce (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaft
1/8 tsp basil (if no bay leaf, use 1 tsp basil)
6 tomatoes (4 cups)

Cook meat till brown. Cook and stir onions with meat until tender. Stir in rest of ingredients except tomatoes. Heat to boil. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add tomatoes. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender.

This is an amazing fall soup. It's hearty and filled with so many deicious flavours. It's perfect for stormy, rainy days like today. I'll be serving it with homemade bread, still warm from the breadmaker.

Have a fantastic day!