Another baby afghan

When I delivered the baby blanket to my sister the other day, she asked me if I'd have time to make another one for her by Saturday (it being Tuesday). Due to the fact that I was going to try to work with small amounts of several different colors, I settled on another motif style pattern. I honestly didn't think I'd want to do another one so soon after the last, but this one worked up much more quickly. It came out much smaller than I intended, but I love the colors and actually find it to be rather pretty. If my sister decides she doesn't want it, that's okay with me! The motif pattern is actually from a pillow pattern called "Copenhagen Pillow" by Red Heart.

I finished it off by weaving two strands of yarn around the edge of the blanket and tying a dainty bow in the corner. I'm very pleased with the final results.

It hurts my head just to think about it!

My sister has been going to a lot of yard sales lately and has been finding some great deals. Saturday was no exception. She found a huge box of yarn for $3.00. When she called me and told me about it, I pictured a little box with 10-12 skeins of yarn. When her husband walked in with the box, my jaw dropped. Boy was I off. Check out this load of yarn.

It's all in really good condition, too. You can't always be sure when you buy this way, but this is all clean and nice. All of those skeins of blue and red that you see on the right hand side of the picture are Red Heart Grande craft yarn. I have never worked with a yarn that was larger than a size 4 weight. This is a size 6 and calls for an M crochet hook, which I don't currently own. It is super soft and super chunky.

The white yarn on the left is what I typically work with on baby afghans, and the navy is just a standard weight yarn. I have no idea what I'm going to use that chunky yarn for, but I'm sure I will come up with something!!!

Baby Blanket

Lately, I have been browsing through literally thousands of patterns online. So, when my sister asked me to make a baby blanket for my nieces' pre-school teacher, my mind was reeling with ideas. I was so grateful that she was willing to pick her favorite from a brief list I sent her. People generally tell me, "Oh, do whatever you like. I always like what you do." I'm flattered, and I appreciate it. I realize that if people never see the options, of course they will be pleased with what I choose. They don't know any different! However, the few times I have convinced people to pick the pattern they like, it has been a million miles away from what I would have chosen. Of course, when I complete the project, I can (almost) always see why they chose what they did. This blanket, Petal Pink Floral Baby Afghan, a pattern by Rosanna Beck, whose patterns tend to have lots of flowers, is no exception.

I wasn't sure what I thought at first, and it was a good reminder that I don't always enjoy doing afghan patterns in squares that have to be sewn together. However, upon completion, I think it will be absolutely perfect coming from my 5 year old niece, who chose the color scheme. I have to point out that the backs of the flowers have their own kind of beauty. Maybe it's just me?



Now, what shall I do next????

World's Best Stress Buster

I was going through a notebook of patterns the other day and came across an article from a magazine titled "World's Best Stress Buster: Sewing!" In it, they discussed a study conducted at the New York University Medical Center. It says:

"The study revealed that women who sew experience a significant drop in heart rate, blood pressure, and perspiration when compared to women who participate in other leisure activities. When a woman begins to sew, her heart rate drops by up to 11 beats per minute."

"The importance of a hobby or creative pursuit cannot be overemphasized," says Robert H. Reiner, Ph.D., of NYU. "If we don't allow our bodies to rest from the pressures of everyday life, we are placing ourselves at risk for heart disease or other illnesses."

That's good enough proof for me!! I don't sew very much, but a crochet hook is a type of needle!

Variety of Handmade cards

There seem to be certain times of years when I am making loads of handmade cards, whether for birthdays or other holidays. Here are a few I have made lately:

Variety of Birthday cards

Birthday card for my niece.

Anniversary card for my sister.


Mother's Day card for my mom.



Birthday card for my nephew.

Mother's Day Projects

For Mother's Day this year, I decided to do some hand print projects with my niece and nephew for their mom. Since my niece is older(5) and has a longer attention span, I decided to do an actual card.

To start with, we painted my niece's hand and "stamped" a piece of card stock. Then, she made little paper flowers using her fingers as the stems of the flowers. I hot glued rhinestones for the flower centers and we stamped a message. It didn't turn out quite like I had in mind, but she is at the age where she doesn't want/need much help. Her little mind is plenty creative. I just got her started. She had SO much fun with this project.

My nephew (3) likes to be involved but gets bored fast with craft projects (especially if there aren't any trains involved). So, I wanted something more simple for him. I taped a few Popsicle sticks together (one side only), painted them prior to doing the project and let them dry for about an hour. Then we painted his hand and "stamped" the image on the Popsicle sticks.

Once untaped, the Popsicle sticks make a simple, yet very effective "puzzle".

I bundled up the sticks and tied them together with a pretty ribbon. Although I ran out of time, my original intention was to make a little note to go with the puzzle that said

"It's no puzzle why I love you so much!"
Regardless of the fact that I never made the note, my sister absolutely loved the puzzle. My niece and I have plans on making more of these little puzzles. I think they would be such a cute thing to bundle up in a rubber band and take to church to keep their little fingers busy.