s n o w

If you never hear from me again this is why:

(Piper is the only one who loves the snow right now)

Good Luck to everyone else battling the elements!

Monster Crew

I'm a big fan of monsters.

Not scary monsters per say, but fun-loving happy monsters!

I'm such a big fan of monsters I decided it was high time I dedicated a series to the monsters I love in my print shop. Here is the crew:

(franklin)

(Beatrice)

(Ruby)

(Morton)

(Miles)

(Leo)

(Edgar)

That is the crew so far. Hopefully there will be more to the gang in the future. As of right now Franklin has to be my personal favorite, with Beatrice being a close second (I think I may partial to those antlers!)

Whose your favorite?!

Flickr Favorites - G r e e n

1. Blanket Progress 2, 2. Sugar (levels)...ah, honey, honey, 3. the penny rug bouquet, 4. Garden Dress

Not only is green my favorite color, it is also a sign of spring.

I realized spring must certainly be approaching when today we are receiving a ton of rain, as opposed to a ton of snow. Just as Mitsy said on her blog, the rain is a welcome site as it means warmer temperatures are here!

I'm seeing more and more green grass appear from under the snow everyday, another welcome sign of spring.

But the biggest sign that spring is approaching was our return to one of my favorite places:

1. Washington HQ1

Seems like months since we'd taken a walk in our favorite park with the dogs. Of course a record amount of snow, and my husband receiving a kidney transplant were obvious reasons why we couldn't spend all winter walking the park! Last Sunday I said it was high time we got out there, snow or not, and walked out towards Washington's Headquarters. It was a wonderful afternoon.

And it was certainly a sign that spring is right around the corner.

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Details

(photo of my mom's in progress granny squares blanket)

So I have had quite the response on my finished Summer Garden Squares blanket! Thanks so much for all the nice comments :)

There were a few questions asked about the blanket itself and I thought this would be the easiest way to answer them.

So:

1) You can find the pattern for the scalloped edging on Lucy's (Attic24) blog here. You will need to scroll half way down the page, past the crochet bag instructions, to the "Shell Edging."

2) Here is a breakdown of the yarn I used:

Caron Simply Soft -1 skein (315yds) in heathered plum

Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby -1.5 skeins (255yds) in sweet pea

Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Solids -1.5 skeins (255yds) in light grey

Loops & Threads Impeccable Solids - 2 skeins (536yds) in aran

Red Heart Ltd. Soft Yarns Solids - 2 skeins (512yds) in Sea Foam

In total I used 1,873 yards of various acrylic yarns.

I chose acrylic over wool because I live in a household with two dogs, and machine washing my blankets whenever I need to is a must.

I purchased most of this yarn for $2.50 a skein and in total I spent right around $23.50 to make this afghan.

I think that should do it! Now I am off to finish another row of squares for my mom's blanket. Fingers crossed it will be done sometime next week!

Complete!

A while back I had posted a picture of the latest crochet project I was working on. In the picture were four measly granny squares. It didn't look very exciting.

But about 40 more squares later (and a whole 'lotta edging too I might add) I finished my first granny squares afghan!

And within minutes of placing the blanket on my bed, this little girl decided the blanket would henceforth be hers:

(I'm still working out how to tell her it's actually mine)

My favorite part is that scalloped edging. It was easy to do and finishes off a blanket in a most lovely fashion!

The pattern is compliments of Lucy, over at Attic24. She has a wonderful tutorial with lots of pictures if you are a newer crocheter like myself.

Right now I am working on ANOTHER Garden Squares afghan for my mom. She took one look at my finished blanket and said, "If I buy you yarn will you make one for me?"

A day or so later my grandmother informed me she ripped out the knit blanket she was working on and wondered if I'd use the yarn to crochet HER a Garden Square blanket.

I've got a lot of crocheting ahead of me.

Update

This is LONG overdue (but better late than never. . .right?)

I've finally added some new cards to my shop:

Take a peak, and tell me what you think!

Flickr Favorites - Busy, Busy, Bee

1. My Vintage Pad - Home Tour Oxford, UK, 2. bathroom brights, 3. Electric rainbow - baby blanket, 4. My Vintage Pad - Home Tour - Teena V of Norfolk, England

Where have I been?

The question really is when can I take a break!?

I'll give you a run down of what's been going on in my little corner of the world.

First, I decided to change my bedroom. I have beautiful gray walls and dark wood furniture in the room. I initially accented everything in oranges and greens, but have recently decided I wanted to use steely purples, cream, and lavenders to lighten everything up. My mom has sewn together half a dozen new pillows for the bed, and I've recently finished crocheting a beautiful granny square blanket that matches the new pillows.

Then there was a blizzard. A record breaking amount of snow was coming our way and Lee and I decided to visit family so that we would miss it. When we came home 5 days later to a winter wonderland, there was a second blizzard. We've not received mail in a week. Grocery stores are no longer stocked with the basics. And because my husband had a kidney transplant less than 2 months ago, I've been shoveling our way to the outside world for days and days and days.

Our dogs haven't had proper exercise in weeks and beginning to become destructive in their boredom.

What could make things even more exciting you ask?

We decided to remodel our front entrance and downstairs bathroom in the middle of the chaos. We put in a new sink, toilet, and ceramic tiles on the floor. We repainted, and repaired surprise holes in the wall. We did it all while being told that the garbage men couldn't haul anything away for a week.

It's been crazy.

But, my husband went back to work today, healthy and happy.

Some more snow fell, but this time it wasn't as hard to shovel it all away.

And our bathroom and front entrance is beautiful.

Now if only Valley Forge Park would open back up so that the dogs and I could get some much needed exercise and sunshine!

Flickr Favorites - Picture Land

1. Sneak Peak Southern Engagement Session, 2. Sommerfreuden., 3. Song of the Flower, 4. love foolosohpy

Sorry for the lack of posts. . .again. But this time it's because I've been very busy with updates for my Olive and Ruby shop on Etsy. (and it's not cards) Right now it is a secret, but all will be revealed in a few days.

Maybe you can guess what the surprise will be based on my flickr favorites? :)

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