It's Done!!!

This is officially now the biggest thing I've ever crocheted !!!  It's been keeping Jo warm for several nights now.  It is heavy!  I did the last few rows on cold nights and it was so nice to be almost completely under it as I crocheted!
It looks great in her room -- all white walls & furniture with POPS of color!  I took some photos last week while her room was clean.  It's really very artistically decorated right now.  LOTS of art supplies handy:
Old mirror I found at a thrift store for $1.00.  Her desk is white, but covered with brown kraft paper so she can doodle.
Monster in a bottle, thrift store jewelry box she painted, and her own clay sculpture on top:
This is one of Great's bowls that I brought back in my carry on luggage:
Very unique ring holder, in front of painting we bought from a street artist in SF on our 20th anniversary.
And... I've already started my next big project.  This one is for Lauren.  It's probably a throw instead of a full blanket.

Current WIP

Here we are last night as we watched a couple of episodes of Psych.  I was too weak to do anything but crochet.  lol...  This is the blanket that I started on our Christmas trip.  It might be done by next Christmas.  It's a nice project to do while we watch TV since there's no pattern to it.  Jordi has already claimed this one!
Recognize any of the yarns?  Some came from Great's stash.  A couple are Lauren's that I "borrowed" when I sat next to her on the plane.  (BTW, L, did you finish that baby blanket you were working on?)
And here is the queen of the house.  This is the chair at my computer.  She just waits beside me on the floor and stares at me... waiting for me to get up so she can sit there.  :-)
I should have taken a picture of my giant basket of yarn that I keep in the living room now, too.  Haven't seen that in any home decor magazines.  Maybe someone needs to come up with a home decorating magazine for people with hobbies -- all our magazines look like no one actually lives in the homes!

My Model

Jordi modeled my scarves & hats for me today.  She just tolerated most of them but I think she was enjoying my creamy organic cotton scarf a little too much!  I'm gonna have to watch her with this one.  It's my current favorite scarf.  I felt like I was crocheting cotton balls when I was making it and I love wearing it.

We just got back from Christmas caroling so I haven't had time to work on the rest of the photos yet.  And some I can't share 'til after Christmas since they're gifts.  But sooner or later, you'll see all of them!  (AND our tree, SE!)

A Homemade Christmas

Wow... I knew I'd been crocheting a lot this year but I didn't realize how much until I got all my scarves out & counted them.  I've made over 50 scarves this year!  I think all of these are still available in my Etsy shop, which means if they haven't been sold by Christmas they might be someone's gift!  So if you see one you really like let me know... hint, hint...  I'm trying to make a scarf for all the ladies at work which is one reason I have so many.  Most are really easy patterns and don't take much thinking so I can do them while watching TV, waiting to pick up Jo, talking with someone, or riding in the car.

I've always enjoyed making things for other people and even more so in the last few years.  As most of you know a large part of our "Christmas gift" is the plane trip to Texas.  I think I enjoy spending time with the family & visiting more than the gifts.  Although I have to say the process of opening the gifts is a lot of fun at the traditional Pipes' Christmas! lol....  (I don't know if those marrying into the family think the same thing or not.)
I like planning out what to give people even though we don't spend a lot of money.  Which is another reason I don't think drawing names would work.  I think I'd draw a name and then throughout the year think, "Oh, but so-and-so would like this," or "I can make this for them, too."  And I'd end up still giving something to everyone in the family.
I also like the idea of reusing and recycling things.  Some of the yarns I'm STILL using are from Great's stash and I need to get more while I'm back in Texas, too.  Plus, a couple of you on my list are getting "antiques" -- Lynne, it's a good thing your friend isn't in our family... I'd give her something that she'd consider "used" instead of "antique"!

So, who else is making presents this year?  If you're not making presents, buy handmade things from someone else.  You'll be supporting local people and still getting unique gifts.  Go to a local craft mall or buy on Etsy!  I love Etsy!  I may share some of my favorite sellers there in a few days.  

Crocheted Beanie

Look, Lauren, a hat that fits!  This is a different pattern than the one I sent Mark.  I still had to work on the pattern a bit to make it fit.  So I guess I can say this is an original! 

I think Jo takes after Great... she is a hat person!

I started off today unpacking the things we got at Ikea.  I got a rack to put over the stove & hang utensils on and some drawer liners.  Oh, and some Christmas things that we won't mention yet.  Nothing too exciting.

After that we went to the scrapbook store in Antioch.  Met Angie & her friends there.  They were there for the crop, but I didn't see much work being done.  lol... I spend my gift certificate and got some TG papers that you'll see (hopefully) in the next week or so.  Then we tried out a new place for lunch - Rubio's.  I had a fish taco.  They were advertising lobster tacos, too.  Maybe I can convince Granpa while he's here to go try one with me?!?

Then we went to Kohl's and Marshall's.  Jo needed a new warmer jacket (see photo above).  I should've taken a picture of the whole jacket, but didn't think about it.  Now she'll be warm on her walk to school.  Sounds like Lauren's cold up in MI.  Don't think this jacket would be warm enough for her.  We hope to see some snow pictures on her blog soon.

Today I'm thankful for my big soup pot... it's full of Momma's beef soup right now.  Or at least as close as I can get to it.

What I Crocheted Last Night

Did the whole hat in one evening at home.  Jo picked the colors.  Fits a little better than Mark's, huh?  Sorry 'bout that!  I'm working on another but probably won't finish it tonight 'cause we're about to leave for choir.  

Pray for Jo's friend, Rachel, she's in the hospital with stomach pains & they don't know what's wrong with her.  Thanks!

LOTS of Halloween Pictures

Our office is really fun on Halloween.  Our original doctor loves Halloween -- it's his favorite holiday so he likes for us to dress up.  Some of the employees spend months planning their costumes!  I did mine the week before.  :-)  Maybe next year I'll work a little harder at it.  We have about 30 employees so these pictures just show a few of us.  It's an oncology office and our patients really enjoy this, too.  Here's Little Red Riding Hood & the Big Bad Wolf:
I think the best costume of the day was our pregnant NP who came as a man with a beer belly.  (Don't worry, she didn't drink the beer & the cigarette is fake.  lol...)  You wouldn't recognize her if you saw her today... she's really a beautiful woman!
Our day was really busy.  Oh, we FINALLY got our new shelf at work so I spent about 4 hours moving charts.  I was exhausted.  Came home, laid down for a little while, then got up & went to Fall Fest at our church.  Glenn & I were in charge of the Pumpkin Toss booth.  I think Glenn was sad that we didn't get to actually throw pumpkins.  Instead, we had a fake pumpkin with the top cut off.  The kids had 3 chances to throw candy at it & they got to keep whatever made it inside.  It was fun... did that for 2 hours.

Jo & her friends helped out at the fall fest, too.  They were candy runners.
Had to take this pic for Lauren.  Graces first Halloween!  Isn't she cute?  She gets to take her first plane ride this month -- all the way to Australia!
Then Glenn & I went over & crashed the Rock party.  Met Sarah Palin & a voter:

Then Glenn & I went down to Jade Garden to get some real food while Jo & her friends finished up at the fall fest.  Their party didn't start 'til 9 so we had some time to waste.  They wanted to go trick or treating but Glenn wasn't going to let 3 15yo girls wander around in the dark... even if there were still a lot of families out walking around in the neighborhoods.  (I haven't seen so many people trick or treating in a LONG time.)  So we dropped them off at the end of a street & followed them in the car.  Glenn liked this kind of trick or treating.  :-)  Oh, yeah, we made them give us some candy, too.

On another note...  here's a pic of the hat I made this week.  See, Lauren, it doesn't look that big!

For Grandpa!

Sorry... I couldn't resist.  See how many tomatoes I picked today?  And there's the chicken I grilled, too.

Also, I reopened my crochet shop on Etsy.  I have 9 scarves so far and another bag I need to photograph & list.

BTS Night!

Jo called on her way home from school to tell me the grocery store was putting out pumpkins.  I think we'll go tomorrow.

Tonight was back-to-school night.  I got to meet all Jordann's new teachers.  It's hard to imagine how many students there are.  There are more students in her high school than in my whole town when I was growing up!  Last year she went to a school where there might have been 500 in K-8.  Now she has 500 in her Freshman class!

She also finds out what small group she's in tonight.  Glenn's bringing her home.  Hopefully I can stay awake 'til they get here.

I'm off to start a scarf -- it's striped and the first stripe is burgundy, Lauren.  Guess what color the second stripe will be?  :-)  

How Does My Garden Grow?

Grandma & Grandpa... do you remember how big this was when you were here last week? Look at it now! I cut it completely back this winter and it's grown this much in TWO WEEKS! This is a Jackman Clematis and will be covered with purple flowers soon. I'll post another picture when it is. The orange peels & nut shells seem to be working so far. No cats have used it as a litter box since we put them in.


Remember, the bamboo is 6 feet tall:

And here's Jo's "salad bowl". She wanted a gnome in our garden so we have one riding a snail through the lettuce.

Happy tomato:

And here's what I've been crocheting on. I was wanting to try this pattern for a while and I thought this would be nice for a cool spring night. Bought the yarn last week at the quilt sale. G'ma, your quilts were much prettier than the ones they were selling.

Lauren's not home from the softball game yet. We have our last choir practice before Easter tonight. We'll be doing it FIVE times again. This really should be the last time we'll do a musical five times. Hopefully we'll be in the new building in April. Lauren is off school tomorrow. Jordann has a half day and Glenn's off so he's going to pick her & friends up and take them to a movie. I have to work all day -- again to fill in for someone who took the day off.

We're watching our new favorite movie tonight while I crochet. I am NOT using these crochet needles that I found with some of GG's things. Can you believe how small these are? I think you could crochet sewing thread with these!

L's softball team won 9-2 yesterday but lost today. They have another game tomorrow. Busy week for them! I also made some new packets of game pieces to sell in my Etsy shop. OK, now back to singing along with Enchanted...

Friday

Another Friday and another trip to Home Depot and El Torito -- without Lauren. She's had something to do the last two Fridays. We're practicing for when she goes to college in the fall! And she was accepted this week by New Tribes Bible Institute. That's the same school I've told you about before. The only difference is they moved her to the Jackson, Michigan, campus instead of Wisconsin. I guess the other one was full. This weekend she is going to Tijuana with the rest of the Senior Staff and adult leaders for the spring break mission trip. I should have some photos to share with you when she gets back. Meanwhile, here are a few I don't think I've shown you.

Here's a picture of a scarf I made for a coworker. I didn't have time to set up my mannequin so I just took a photo in the bathroom.


And I think this is still one of my favorites.

We bought paint and flooring tonight for the bathroom. I can hear Glenn upstairs now making a lot of noise. Guess I'll go see what he's doing.

And, thanks Dawn for giving me an idea on how to make my banner fit. How does it look now?

What have we been up to?

Well, as you know, we're supposed to be finishing up the living room. All that's left is the crown molding. It's laying on the floor in the dining room. But here's what Glenn did last night instead!


Yes, we had another leak. So we've made a couple more trips to Home Depot. Meanwhile, I did a little more crocheting this week. I've been wearing a neckwarmer instead of a scarf. I had some extra yarn so made one for my crochet shop on Etsy. Lauren modeled it for me. I haven't taken any photos of her since her haircut... take a look!!! She cut off 10". Enough to donate to cancer patients!

Angry Lauren:

Happy Lauren:

And this little package is on its way to Texas! Hmmmmm.... wonder what it could be?