Monday, June 30, 2014

Happy Gratitudes (16-24)

Joining in with Taryn for Gratitude Sunday...
 
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart,
it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
 
Winnie the Pooh


 
Details...


Sunsets...


freshly mowed grass...

 
big slides and hearing them laugh...


reflections in the water...


street art...


our local museum that rehabilitates injured animals...

 
wide open spaces...

 
starting a new project...

Friday, June 27, 2014

for Anna Raine

 
Another sweet little baby blanket for Anna Raine
who is scheduled to arrive Monday, June 30.
 


I had originally planned to do a Granny Square blanket. 
The more I worked on it, the more unhappy I became with it.
I ripped it out and waited for inspiration.  It finally came in the mail last Friday.
This pattern was from Simply Crochet, Issue 19. 
This is the first time I have attempted something other than a
Granny square, ripple or stripe.
 


The border was really fun to work up.  I changed up the heart border that the pattern called for with just a simple scalloped border.  I will definitely try the heart border on my next one.



Ta-Dah...one sweet little blanket.  Perfect size for a crib or a stroller. 
Also perfect size to wrap up a beautiful little girl to hold and give lots of kisses to.
 


I love the waffle looking border!
 


All wrapped up and ready to go!


(pattern for roses and leaves HERE)
 
Linking up with
Nicole
 
 
 
 
 



Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Happy Gratitudes (1-15)

 Joining in with Taryn for Gratitude Sunday.
 
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Melody Beattie
 
Chasing rainbows...

Iron work against a hot summer blue sky...

This park and hearing their laughter...


laying under this tree...


Grasshoppers...


Unexpected pop of color...


Mosaic fish on buildings...


Ferris Wheels....


Red birds...


This rabbit...

 
Red hummingbird feeders

Cascading flowers...


Sunrise walks


Old rusty signs....

Summer storms...












Wednesday, June 18, 2014

for Skylar Catherine

This time, making a baby blanket was simple.
I started this one back in March
 
I know this momma very well.  She is always happy.
She is energetic and always ready to go and do.
She is an artist with a love of bright colors.
She has wanted to be a mother for the last 15 years and
her dream is finally coming true.

And her favorite flowers are daisies. 

Put that all together and TA DAH...
 


She wanted it bigger than a standard baby blanket. 
 


 Something they could grow into. 
She said she pictures them under a tree reading books
and taking naps and having tea parties.


I am so happy for her!

This blanket is made for fun times, for parks and the beach.
I'm really really happy with how it turned out. Actually, I am hugely, enormously happy!
 Working on this blanket has been a total pleasure from start to finish, 
I don't think I will ever tire of granny squares. I love their simplicity. 
 



 


 

(It. Will. Not. Lie. Flat!!)  Maybe a few too many loops on the edging!

It is a very colorful, cheerful and happy blanket


Putting so much love and happy thoughts into this blanket
 has given me a great deal of pleasure.
 
 So easy and relaxing.


One last shot! 



Linking up with
 

Friday, June 6, 2014

A Sweet Baby Blanket

I work around a lot of guys. 
Guys who can work on and fix just about anything.  
And just in case you didn't know,
guys are completely different from us. 
A recent conversation with a work guy went something like this:
 
Guy:  "Hey, do you still make those yarn blankets?"
 
Me:  smiling "I do."
 
Guy:  "I need one."
 
Me:  "Sure...what color(s) do you want." 
 
Guy:  "Its for a baby."
 
Me:  "Boy or girl"
 
Guy:  "She's a girl"
 
Me:  "What color is the Mother using?"
 
Guy:  "Don't know"
 
Me:  "Is she registered anywhere?"
 
Guy:  "Don't know"
 
I almost start laughing, because how can you NOT know? 
 
Me:  "What color do you want?"
 
Guy:  "Whatever color you think she would like."
 
Me:  thinking...Oh ok...you mean the lady I don't know? 
whatever color she would like?
 
Me:  "When do you need it?"
 
Guy  "Two weeks."
 
 Good enough. 
 
So armed with "she's a girl" and "baby blanket"
this is what I came up with....




Color:  Light Dusty Rose

 
Hook size:  4

 
HDC, join as you go Grannies


I hope whoever she is, she liked it. 
I need to ask him, but I bet he won't know!


Linking up with:
Lauren
Nicole

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

May....Where Did You Go?

 
This was the beginning of a post I started back on May 1... 

"There is no perfect or better way...there is only today, exactly as it is.  I appreciate the simplicity of today...sitting by an open window while the rain falls, the wind blowing in drops that land on my shoulder.  I can feel everything beginning to ever so slowly shift.  Becoming the change I have been both anticipating and dreading.  I want to stop time for a little while.  Enjoy this little slice of life for a bit longer, before it is gone. But, change is coming, ready or not.  I can't stop it, can't even slow it down, I am going to focus on every little moment May brings."

Now already into June, I realize that May was so much, so full of breath-taking moments. 

heart-happy, high moments....


(blurry and out of focus...but still one of my favorite because of that grin)
 
 
We are so proud of this guy! He attempted so many things that weren't easy. He failed some times, by traditional definitions, but he never quit..and here he is.  You may not be able to see it, but that look?  That look is pride, which means more to me than that standard diploma he just walked away with. We love him so deeply and completely for who he is. Just as he is. His gifts are plenty...He reminds me every day that life is so beautiful and hard and so good.

"One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."
  Sigmund Freud
 
 stinging tears of loss moments....

(she wasn't the prettiest thing to look at, but we loved her.)
 
Beautiful moments...












Mother's Day moments....

(we don't do "posed", real life is always so much better)



Just Because moments....


Sister and Brother moments...





Naked is always the right choice moments...(ha!  well for some of us!)


Lady Bug moments...


Thank you, May!