Today I’m sharing two more projects that I completed in February.
The first is a crochet project that I started in December. It now adorns the back of my husband’s recliner unless it’s nap time in which case we might find my husband snuggled under it.
If you’ve followed my blog for a while you might remember the puppy paw print scarves that I have made. This time using the same basic stitches I made an afghan. The free pattern can be found here.
The finished afghan measures 56 inches wide by 74 inches long. It took about 8 skeins of yarn. I began towards the end of December and worked on it an average of one hour each evening, so I would estimate that it took me about 60 hours to complete. I will admit there were a few times that I discovered I had missed a stitch and had to frog (rip out) a couple rows of stitches to go back a fix my mistake.
The other project that I completed in February was the hoodie I made for Addie.
This one came together a bit quicker than the one I made for Jackson because I had an idea of what I was doing but it was still a long and complicated process because there are a lot of pieces to assemble in this pattern.
After finishing the afghan I started crocheting a baby afghan that I hope to have finished in a couple of weeks. I’m not sure what my next sewing project will be, but I expect that my sewing will slow down as the weather gets nicer and I begin to spend more time outside. Is anyone else looking forward to gardening season? 🙂
The days are flying by and before we get too far into November, I wanted to take a quick look back at things that happened in October that I haven’t yet blogged about.
Crafting
I made a batch of soap in October, something I haven’t done in far too long. It won’t be ready to use for a couple of weeks yet.
I also did a little sewing. Granddaughter Addie’s birthday was this week (it’s hard to believe she is six years old) so I made her an outfit. The top is pictured below. I also made a pair of matching leggings. He birthday party is today and I’m excited to give her this gift. She always loves new clothes.
Over the summer and into the fall I had been working on some projects to donate to the humane society. I made 7 fleece blankets that they will use for the dogs that they care for.
Puppy Paw Print Scarf
I also crocheted eight, puppy paw print scarves and three chicken potholders that I donated for them to sell at their annual Pawzarr, a fundraiser that they hold each year in December.
Chicken Potholder
I decided to deliver these items to the humane society on October 10, my late mother-in-law’s birthday. I chose that day because the humane society was mom’s favorite charity. I thought the donation was a nice way the memorialize mom. The staff at the humane society were very appreciative.
House Plans
Things are coming along with our house plans, not quickly, but building a house isn’t something that happens quickly. We did get the permit to install the septic system. Since the permit is good for three years, we shouldn’t have to worry about it expiring before we can build the house. We have a quote from the excavation company for building the septic system and digging the foundation and we are working with the builder to put together the house plan and get the figures of what it is all going to cost.
Recommended Reading
The first book on my recommended reading list this month is one I read earlier this year but I’m sharing it in honor of Veterans Day (November 11) the day which we in the USA honor our military veterans.
The book, No Surrender, is about World War II hero Roddie Edmonds and is written by his son Chris Edmonds years after Roddie’s death.
From Good Reads:
Spanning seven decades and linking a sprawling cast of heroes from every corner of the country, No Surrender is an unforgettable story of a father’s extraordinary acts of valor in the treacherous final days of World War II and a son’s journey to discover them.
Like most members of the Greatest Generation, Roddie Edmonds, a humble American soldier from East Tennessee, rarely spoke about his experiences during World War II. Not even his son Chris—who always considered his father a hero—knew the full details of Roddie’s capture at the Battle of the Bulge or his captivity at Stalag IXA, a Nazi POW camp. But when Chris’s daughter was assigned a family history project, Chris reread Roddie’s wartime diaries, which set in motion a series of life-changing events.
Called to learn his father’s story with a renewed sense of passion and purpose, Chris embarked on a years-long journey, interviewing surviving POWs under Roddie’s command, and retracing his father’s footsteps, from Fort Jackson, Georgia, where a boyish Roddie transformed into a seasoned leader of men, to the patch of grass near Zeigenhein, Germany, where he stared evil in the eye and dared a Nazi to shoot.
Chris Edmonds, along with New York Times bestselling author Douglas Century, takes us to the front lines of this inspiring multigenerational story, revealing in gripping, novelistic detail Roddie’s previously untold heroism—and the lasting effects his bravery had on the lives of thousands, then and now. “What was most remarkable about my journey to discover what my father did during the war,” Chris writes, “was the realization that any one of us has the untapped potential to do something incredibly courageous. We all have the potential to change the world simply by standing up for what’s right.”
A quintessential American story of bravery, compassion, and righteousness, No Surrender is a shining example of the transformative and redemptive power of moral courage and a celebration of faith, family, and service, the very characteristics that continue to define us today.
My second recommendation this month came about as a result of a recent conversation with my daughter. As she inquired about our family ancestry, I included that, although it is undocumented, my dad has always claimed that we were somehow related to the Donner Party.
“The Donner Party?” she asked, as if she was familiar with their story, and indeed she was. After our conversation I did an internet search and found the following website with the story of the Donner party, a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. This account is written by Eliza P. Donner Houghton, the youngest Donner child and one of the few survivors of the trip. The entire story can be found at this link https://www.genealogytrails.com/ill/donner.html.
The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate
by Eliza P. Donner Houghton CREATED/PUBLISHED Chicago, A.C. McClurg & co., 1911.
SUMMARY Eliza Houghton (b. 1843) was the youngest child of George Donner, one of two Springfield, Illinois, brothers who organized the ill-fated California-bound emigrant party that bore their name. Eliza and her older sisters were rescued by relief parties that made their way to the stranded travelers at Donner Lake, but their parents perished, and the girls were left to make their way alone in the West. The expedition of the Donner party and its tragic fate (1911) begins with Mrs. Houghton’s account of her childhood and the family’s tragic overland journey, and rescue. She continues with her life as an orphan, first at Fort Sutter, and then with a family in Sonoma and with her older half-sister in Sacramento.
While this piece is not rated in stars, for anyone who enjoys learning about U.S. history I think it’s worth your time to read this first-hand account.
Hello and welcome! I hope you all had a nice Christmas. We did. It was a blessing that the storm that wreaked havoc across much of the country did not disrupt our Christmas plans.
One of the gifts I made this year were these gnome towel toppers. The free crochet pattern can be found here. I made several of these as they worked up pretty quick and were budget friendly to make. I didn’t make them in red in green as the original pattern calls for because I wanted the recipients to use them throughout the year not just around Christmas time. I knew when I started making these that one of them would be for my next-door neighbor, Karen. Like me she is a cook and a crafter, and she and I like to exchange homemade gifts.
These gnome towel toppers have a ring crocheted inside them to hold the towel so the towel can be removed and washed. The gnome hat loops down and buttons so it can be hung, usually on the oven handle.
On the Tuesday before Christmas, I took Karens gift over to her. As I handed her the gift she said, “Oh, I have something for you,” then handed me a gift bag. We opened our gifts at the same time and then had a good laugh.
Karens gift to me were the two towels, with toppers, pictured below. The first one I saw was the Gnome for the Holidays one.
The strange thing is that she and I had never even spoke about Gnomes before, we just thought they would be a good gift each other.
As the days get warmer and longer the amount of time I spend crocheting is greatly reduced. I can’t say that I don’t do any crocheting during the spring and summer because my hook and yarn are always at the ready and you never know when I’ll just pick it up and I do have one project in mind that I would like to get done before fall.
Any way let me show you the last few projects I have done. None of these really fit into the “quickie” crochet category that a couple of my previous projects did.
I made some sunflower pot holders that I gave to my daughters for Easter. I think they look better in real life than they do in the picture. I think I will be making some more of these since I did not keep any for myself.
Here is a link for the sunflower pot holder pattern.
The next project is one I worked on most of the winter. It is and afghan I made for my daughter Tina. Like the pot holders, I don’t think the photos do this justice. The colors were much more vibrant than they appear in the photo.
In the above photo it is folded in quarters. I took a photo of it opened up but for some reason it would not download to my computer.
My husband loved this blanket and whenever he would see me working on it he would ask me when I was going to have his blanket done. I guess I’ll have to make another one for him.
There is no pattern for this. It is simply double crochet stitches done in a square. I loved using the self striping yarn.
I did add a shell stitch boarder for the very last round to give it a touch of class.
The afghan was not a difficult crochet project at all – just time consuming because of it’s size.
The last project, despite being small, is one of the most difficult crochet projects I have ever done. I had actually started this project two or three times in the past only to become frustrated and give up.
This time I completed it. It came out bigger than I like for a book mark (about 4×6 inches) and the stitches are not as uniform as they should be so I am trying again using a smaller hook. I did apply a coating of clear craft glue to this so it will hold it’s shape. I do have a link to this pattern saved somewhere on my computer so if any of my crochet friends would like to give it a try just leave me a comment and I’ll dig it up for you.
I was looking for a bunny hot pad pattern when I came across this Easter basket pattern. It seemed simple enough so I decided to give it a go. They did work up very quickly. I think these will be just the right size to fill with Easter treats for the grandkids. I added the color trim on the ears to differentiate between Jackson’s and Addy’s.
Don't Eat It! Soap and Skin Care 