Mission Accomplished

Mum received the pink and cream throw in today's mail and would like to also use it around her shoulders when she's sitting in bed and not just as a lap throw- well that's fine by me. I ordered the animal amugurmi patterns from RoxyCraft - I was so excited I could barely stay at work today, all I wanted to do was play hooky and give it a try. Well I don't have any stuffing in the house, so it's probably good that I haven't started any yet.

Two more sleeps before I fly with my brother to visit mum and the other brother. I'm leaving the dogs with JP and the neighbour and both assure me everything will be fine, but all it takes is one thunder clap (which is in the forecast, btw) and she's a freakin' maniac. Ooooh boy, I'm a little nervous about that.

I'm trying to get a project finished for my brother before I leave, but can't divulge the details because sometimes he reads my blog - which is fine with me, except when I want to talk about him.... you know?

Amethyst Boucle, Part 2

Here's Part 2 of the Amethyst coloured boucle - one beret and matching gator to keep mum warm this winter. There's still another skein + to go, but don't hold your breath for Part Three. Like a butterfly, I've flitted off to a different yarn, this one cream and a fluctuating blue for a pillow. I'll probably make it large with a denim fabric backing. Photos to come once a little bit more progress is made.

It's the Victoria Day long weekend, and yesterday rained all day; today it's warming up a bit. I just watched 2 episodes of Dead Like Me, which JP had rented for me. I love that show. How come all the shows I like get cancelled, like Beggars and Choosers? That was so good. Well at least I've got The Sopranos, for about another year.

Happy Sunday! So glad tomorrow's a holiday too, and I've got Friday off so it's going to be an okay work week.

Nothing says lovin'...

OK, so this is Project One of the amethyst boucle. It's a beret. I couldn't find a suitable model so Mr. Dough-Boy had to do, he's pretty helpful, don't you think?

Next up is a gator for around the neck, and then I was thinking of using some of it as the accent colour in a doggie sweater. Then when my mom is walking her dog in the fall and winter, she'll be able to keep her head and neck warm and match with her boy, Finnegan. Sound like a good idea?

I'm going to give all the co-ordinating items at the same time, so it might take a while before I can send it off.

That's what I've been up to; physio for my ankle, and knitting. JP came home on Friday with a six pack of Diet Coke, and a couple of magazines as a treat for me! (I'm simple, aren't I?) It's raining this long weekend, so you pretty much know what I'll be up to. We don't like to be on the roads on the long weekends. It's just too crazy out there.

Amethyst Boucle - What would you do?

I found 2 1/2 balls of Bernat Soft Boucle in a thrift store. I thought it would be easy to do something with it, but once I got home and checked my patterns, I can't find anything (besides a scarf). Any suggestions?

It's apron time

JP and I went thrifting on the weekend... check out the cute apron I found. The waistband and pockets have been smocked to make the design using the fabric pattern. It's very well done, someone was a very good stitcher. Isn't it just adorable?

We also found lots of older restaurant/hotel serving plates with 60's designs on them and I found some amethyst boucle which I bought for my mom, but now I don't know what to do with it. It's not really good for crochet, it's better for knitting since you can't see your stitches. I'm thinking of a pillow or seat cushion and maybe adding an intarsia design. Suggestions are welcome.

We've had great weather this past weekend and week coming up, today it's supposed to be in the 30's. Too bad I'm stuck at work, but I have had a few breaks outside. This is the kind of weather you want to kick back in, not weed and work. I do have to mow the lawn, but I'm not doing it at 30 degrees!

Happy Mother's Day

My mom doesn't live near me, so I didn't get to spend time with her, but my brother and I will be visiting in 2 weeks so she'll get extra special attention then. My brother that does live near her, had her over for lunch and it sounds like she had a good time. Whew! I worry about her. It must be tough to hear about other moms and their special days and then having your grown up kids live in different cities and not get anything special; oh I did mail her some stuff earlier, but it's not the same as being there.

Wishing all you mothers and 'others' a wonderful day.

Through the Throw

Well as I rested with my foot elevated, I finished the lap throw for my mom . I wish I had more pink to do the whole thing in one colour, with a soft grey border, but things didn't work out that way. Pink and Cream are good summer colours and perhaps she'll leave it on her balcony to keep herself warm in the evenings. It's not for Mother's Day, it is a 'just because' present. Those are the best kinds aren't they? She said she liked surprises.

I think I'll mail it to her, even though I'll be seeing her in about 2 weeks. I know I always like (good) surprises in the mail. Hmm, we'll see.

Now it's back to stash diving to see what's the next project. I really should get back to the 'big' cross stitch, but I find it is more cumbersome - there are so many parts and the lighting has to be just right, where as with crochet, you can do it anywhere and usually you just need your hook and your yarn.

Sprained Ankle

Well the swelling got worse, and what I thought was just a strain, turned more into a sprain with super swelling and bruising. I did go to the doctor who said it was more swollen than it should be and had an x-ray to confirm there were no bone chips floating around. Then he told me to expect about 3 weeks recovery. Yikes! And of course the weather is super sunny all week and prime dog walking weather! What am I going to do?
I'll have to sneak out there anyway, I can't let those animals go that many days without exercise.
I've thought about a rollerskate or a rollerblade, but I'm afraid I'll fall off and hurt it even more, and that wouldn't be good.

I guess I'll be getting lots of reading and crocheting done. I'm just working on the edging for my mom's throw. Pictures soon to follow.

Ouch!

Today I woke up at 4:40 and then at 5:40 and I was in a fabulous mood, ready for the day, excited about getting it all done! Then I opened the door to let the dogs out, and saw it was heavily overcast-one notch down. Twenty minutes later as I was walking the dogs, I stepped on the side of a little rounded gutter/trough in the street and twisted my ankle - bam, another few notches down. The rest of a day seemed to not be as full of hope as it was at 5:50am.

I'm just glad I happened to be close to home when it happened, so I only had to limp a few blocks back, and that I could limp home, because I just didn't want to call JP at 6:00am and have him drive to get me and put my dogs in his nice car!

When that wash of heat came over me just after I stumbled, I knew it was a big more serious, but I'm so glad it wasn't broken. Do you know that rush of warmth when you hurt yourself? That's a big warning your body sends out! I just sat on the ground for a few minutes and then hobbled home. Poor doggies, they have no idea why their walk was suddenly suspended. And I wonder if I'll be able to take them tomorrow. Maybe I'll try my rollerblades...

You Pansy!

Last year I planted some pansies, and they decided they liked me so much they returned this year! And they are all very healthy too! I'm super happy because once or twice before pansies in that very same spot withered away from me.
We're finally getting some nice weather, but it's cold. Brrr. It's almost like "what's the point of having clear skies and sun shine when it's only 18 degrees C?" Of course depending where you live, you're probably shaking your head at me and saying to your screen that I'm very lucky and should be quiet! Ok! I get the hint.

I ran out of yarn for my mom's raspberry lap throw. I've started with some cream. I wonder how far I'll get with that. Watch me be one square short again. Now it will have an alternating pattern. I've had to use a 7mm hook to get close to the same gauge so it's a bit "lacy" shall we say. Hmm, this might just end up a 3 colour "throw" the size of the floor!

Rasp - berry!

Well it turned into a rainy weekend, so after completing my last project, I went stash diving and found 5 balls of yarn my mom had passed to me. I end up doing things backwards. I take the yarn someone gave to me, then look at the colour and quantity and see what I can make with it. Then I page through all my patterns and books (again) and find out what I have a pattern for and whatwould be suitable to make. In this case I found a pattern for a throw which was pink with a grey border, so I decided to make that pattern. It'll be for my mom. Here's a sample of one of the raspberry coloured crocheted squares. I'll make as many as the yarn allows and then decide to either make it smaller or add contrasting colours of squares. The border will either be grey or cream, I haven't decided yet.

We went out for dinner last night and amongst the conversation, for fun, JP dropped a yarn joke - one about frogging. No one really got it, but I thought it was cute. He probably wanted to see who noticed, or who would know. Whether he wants to or not, he's being absorbed in the yarn world. Dinner was a family affair with one sibling's family sitting in the middle, we were at the end of one long table. At first it felt like we could just sneak out and no one would notice, but then the family in the middle left, somehow it became much more enjoyable. They probably said that things went downhill when we arrived! Funny little world we live in!

Model Behaviour

Yay! The dog sweater arrived at my mom's in record time (I mailed it on Saturday). And, even though it's May and spring-like in most parts of Canada, she has snow in her city today - can you believe it? Finnegan had been running about in the snow and was cold and wet and then the mailman delivered the package.

So here he is, poor sad doggy... the things we do to our beloved pets.

My mom also liked the socks I sent and her other Mother's Day presents... yessssss! I wish I could be there on Sunday, for Mother's Day but I'll be visiting her later this month, so I don't feel like a total schmuck!

She liked it! She really liked it!

JP gave the girl at work the scarf and she really liked it. JP almost thought she got teary, and even took a really close look. She called me and was practically squealing with excitement! Don't you love when your creations are so well received? I do. I'm a sucker for that.

It's a cloudy, super windy day. I think I'll work on that BIG cross stitch. I wish I could get more than 1 square inch of progress in a sitting.