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‘m busy working on this baby blanket for my nephew - so far I have 16 1/2 rows completed and I need at least two times that to go, maybe three times. I haven’t decided yet. I never timed how long it takes me to crochet, I just work on it a little at a time. Well today I timed it - and wow.

It takes me about 10 minutes per row for this blanket, I’m not sure how many stitches across but it is a double crochet. So 16 1/2 rows times 10 minutes…. 165 minutes = 2 3/4 hours. What! Seriously? I am amazed. I honestly don’t feel like it took that long but maybe that’s because I’m only doing a row or two at a time and then walking away.

I really want to make an afghan for myself. I’m thinking a couch lounge blanket size. I haven’t started because I don’t have that much yarn and I admit even though I am a newbie crochet’er, I have yarn standards. I don’t want to buy just whatever yarn at the local craft store but the problem is also that I just don’t know what kind of yarn to buy. I see people making these afghans with scrap or leftover yarn they have - my leftover yard consists of some 100% cotton, a couple of red heard baby and another cotton.

Do you make an afghan with cotton?

Maybe I’ll stick to baby blankets and scarves for the time being. Oh and I made those fingerless gloves last year - I ended up giving them to my step dad who is a golfer and he loves them! He actually wants another pair but while these ones ended about the middle of the palm of your hand, he wants some that go all the way to his knuckles. Sounds like a quick and easy gift for him!

If only my Dad were so easy to buy/make for!

I forgot about the holiday weekend until yesterday. Chris got a three day weekend and we spent our time cleaning up the house. I did get a few more rows crocheted on the baby blanket I am making but didn’t get a chance to do anything more with the tie blanket. I listen to Mom’s Morning Show each day and I think tomorrow I am not going to browse around online while listening, but rather work on the blanket. I know I can get the rest of the blanket finished in that time.

I’m working on finally starting my craft podcast! I’m seeing all these new podcasts coming out and I’ve wanted to start this for over a year - it is about time I just do it. I have a lot of emails in draft mode to various people for interviews and a huge list of ideas. I am still deciding on a day of the week to have each show come out, but I’ll keep you updated. I need to find music for this week’s show and put it together then it’s finished.

Twenty years ago today my Grandpa passed away. I grew up next door to him and I was 9 and in the fourth grade when it happened. I loved living next door to my Grandparents! We’ll get that chance again soon and I can’t wait to be moments away from my Grandma again. My Grandpa always wore those sweaters that buttoned up with three or four buttons on the bottom part and had two pockets. He always had mini snickers and though he went blind years before I was born, always knew who walked in the door, even if us kids were in packs. After he died my Grandma kept mini snickers in a bucket above her sink. I still cry when I think about him, but I suppose that is normal. I didn’t get a chance to talk to my Grandma today though, since it was a holiday all my other relatives were at her house and on the internet (my cousin lives with her and he is too cheap (yeah I said cheap! Hahahaha) to pay for a second phone line for the internet - however he stands dialup I’ll never know…) so the phone was constantly busy.

First I always cut off the edges - with a print it is because the edge is white, and with a solid it is because the edge is tighter woven and that is just a preference of mine to cut it off.

Then I lay the smallest piece on top of the largest, so I can match them up and cut away the excess.

I never used to cut a square away in the corner, but after doing a few blankets with diagonal cuts I realize cutting the square makes a cleaner corner.

Then cut the fringe - I always do a what feels like a natural cut with my scissors - then it is just one cut versus a couple of short ones. Plus I like this length - not too short it can’t be tied and not too long.

Here is a shot of the fringe tied.

I finished one side yesterday and will have another side done tonight. It doesn’t take too long to cut and tie so these are quick and easy gifts to make. I bought a lot of solid pieces on the Friday after Thanksgiving a few years ago and am finally using them!

I finished one side of the fleece blanket tonight, pictures will be coming tomorrow. I’m thinking I may finish the blanket tomorrow so I can put it into my Christmas gift box, which is nicely coming along. We have to clean the garage tomorrow as well but since we do this at least every other month or so, it won’t take that long.

No craft fair for me today, we stuck to our plans of hanging out with friends. I took lots of pictures of the kids playing together since today is the last day we’ll see the babies for quite a while.

How is your weekend shaping up?

Or I should say busy and still crafting!

I did three more rows on the blanket I am crocheting - and folded the fleece nicely when I was cleaning up. I know I said I like the orange, I think i just need the pieces together a few more days before I am really used to it!

I changed my mind about going to the local craft fair this weekend - the same one (I mean put on by the same people) is going to be about an hour away next weekend. I’m trying to plan a get together with my roommate from college and that would be about meeting in the middle for us. Even if she doesn’t want to go to a craft fair, we can do dinner and visiting after I look around.

We had a friend over for dinner tonight, she is so fun to be around! Sadly - okay not sadly at all, she is separated from her husband and not living super close like she did before. Of course before she was not nearly has happy as she is these days, so it is a blast to hang out with her. I completely blame her for my coveting of Coach handbags too.

Tomorrow we plan on hanging out with friends as they are going on vacation next week and when they come back, their girls won’t be with them - so it’s the last time we will see the babies for quite a while I’m sure. We are good friends, the type that no matter where the military sends you, you keep in touch so I don’t worry about that but it will be sad to not see the babies anymore. The youngest is a year and a half and last spring it was her who got my baby fever fired up - I used to invite them over for dinner just so I could hold her.

Sunday I think we will clean up the garage. I still need to go drop off my donations but that will have to wait until next week as I’m sure most of the places I want to go will be closed on that day.

Whew! I’ll need a nap after all of that! Funny how you can have no plans for weekends on end, then when you get ready to leave and area you have to start scheduling things!

There is a pink and purple fleece tie blanket - basically you lay two fleece fabric pieces together, cut fringe and then tie the fringe twice. The bottom fabric tie will end up on top - see how it is darker on top? That’s the purple.

And here is the fabric for one blanket I am making for a gift this year. I admit I was not too happy with having to use orange - another thing I am trying to do is use what I have, and I already have orange! - but after looking at it all day long, I think I like it.  Once it is all together the orange around the edges (since that is all you would see when you look at the print side) will look nice.

I did get started on the other crochet blanket tonight as well. I did the starting row and then about 1/3 of a second row. It’s been cold here so I’m thinking of lounging on the couch with a blanket and a good movie and I should have a good bit of it done. Do that a few times in the next couple of weeks and done! The fleece blanket is much faster, maybe 15-20 minutes per side is all.

A friend of mine taught me to crochet one day. It was a quick and easy lesson and I caught on right away. I went online and found NexStitch.com with fast loading videos and easy to follow along instructions. That fixed it for a couple of stitches that I just needed to see vs. being told about over the phone.

Then I bought The Happy Hooker. I LOVE that book! The first half is the basics - easy to read and understand instructions and also illustrations. The second half is full of patterns. Lots of cute funky ones like crocheted belts and skirts and completely cute ones like the pattern I used for a blanket Alice’s dolls ended up owning.

I’m bringing this up to remind myself! I promise I’m going to start the blanket I’ve been talking about this week, I am determined to do so because it takes time and I love the idea of doing an all handmade Christmas.

I got out my fleece for the tie blanket - I’ll have pictures on that tomorrow as I did get the fabric ready to go, which takes just a few minutes and then actually making the blanket doesn’t take very long either.