Productive Monday

Today was a good day. I was bound and determined to get some sort of crafty things done today and I succeeded!!

First I finished up a card and bookmark (which I will post at another time as I really like how it turned out!) for the wonderful Sue, aka Mrs.Micawber, as a little (very little!) thank you for the wonderful package she sent

when I won a giveaway on her blog :) Inside the small surprise package were these wonderful earrings

Which I love. She has a really great tutorial on her blog if you'd like to make your own (*click here*)!

After that it was a little jewelry making of my own :) I chose to do some of the beady and crochet cotton variety

Then I finished up this long-neglected hat that has been shoved aside for want of a button

         

And to finish off the day, I made some cupcakes to send to work with hubby. I guess the guys there are still in a state of disbelief that I can make them with a box of mix and a can of soda! Yep, one box of cake mix mixed with one can (355mL) of soda, bake as package directs! Can't get any easier than that!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Monday! Please check my side bar to see all the blogs I am trying to link up to today :)

P-I-F in 2012

Found via Kathleen (a surprise every time), via Natalie (Marigold's Loft), via ? (Hopeful Days) via Naomi (Nome's brag-a-long) who seems to be the originator of this particular thread of giving, because she didn't link to anyone! Thank goodness, because that was getting to be quite the link train there! Whew!! :)

Soooo here are the guidelines (be sure to read them all...):

1. I will make something and mail it within 365 days to each of the first three people who comment on this post.

2. By being one of the first three to comment, you agree to play along by also posting on your blog and offering the same to your readers!

3. You must, obviously, have your own blog, both so you can offer a P-I-F and so that I can stalk you and find out a little about you so I can tailor the gift I make to suit you:)

4. You have 48 hours after commenting here to get your P-I-F post up on your blog. If you do not, then the opportunity will be passed on to the commenter after you.

5. PLEASE leave a way for me to contact you because I am going to need your mailing addy!!! 

Can't wait to see who is going to participate!! Thanks for playing along :)

Books, Baking and a Bunny!

I've been 2.5 weeks without internet... without Ravelry... without crochet inspiration... with boxes up to my ears... and nary a moment to crochet!!

ACK!

It wasn't really as bad as I thought it would be (fortunately) and I have somehow had the time to read, bake, spend time with overly-fussy-stressed-from-moving children and a even squeeze in a tiny bit of hooky to boot!

I even have evidence of it all! Look:

Reading:

I made it all the way through the book on the top, part way into the book in the middle (sequel to the first) and even managed another chapter in that bottom book. Priorities, people, priorities- Dr.Phil knows his stuff, but fantasy is better than reality, I swear it to you! LOL

Baking:

Blueberry Quick Bread (modified to 1/3 recipe for a loaf instead of a bundt and used mixed berries instead of just blueberries) and what remains (24 hours later!) of the Banana-Pecan Bread (sans nuts). Both come from the New Good Housekeeping Book. I can't recommend that book enough for baking. Every recipe I've used from this thing has worked perfectly!!!

Hooky:

He is a HEAVILY modified of the very popular pattern here, as indicated by his demure size:

He's all lopsided and holey and face-less, but there's just something about him that already makes me wanna love on him!!

Check out my sidebar for all the link-ups I *try* to join on any given day!

Thanks for stopping by :)


PS: Stay tuned to my blog because sometime in the next 48 hours I will be sharing a P-I-F post where YOU could be the recipient of a wonderful/joyous/spectacular something something made by yours truly :) 

HERE is the link to my Pay-it-Forward/giveaway post!! Please comment, join in, and have some fun :)

Finished: Sucrette's Granny Poncho

So, here it is, in all it's glory :)

In honesty, I still have to weave in the ends and add the flower I made, but it's 95% done, and that's good enough to just call "done", right?!

Biggest was super happy about it and said she is going to wear it every.single.day. This was after jumping, screaming, and vibrating in happiness, none of which I expected! Love when my hard work is appreciated :)

Apparently, it is best when worn in conjunction with some groovy disco dancing...

Or running around the front yard!!!

Overview:
*Pattern: Sucrette's Granny Poncho
*Yarn Used: Red Heart Soft Yarn
*Colours used: Navy, Berry, Teal, Off White, Grape and Turquoise (from the neckline down).
*Total yarn used: Maybe 2.5 or 3 balls. I used almost half a ball of each of the 6 colours.
*Time spent: about 15 hours (but this included a rough start, and the making of a flower... and all that weaving of ends that I still need to do...)

Thanks for taking a peek, and if you are interested in making your own poncho, you can find Angie's CAL groups via Ravelry, Flickr and her blog, Le monde de Sucrette (just click the links!) :)

I'm Participating in Sucrette's CAL

Can't get the html code to work! Click HERE to be taken to the CAL post.

There's also a Flickr Group and a Ravelry Group for this CAL too!

The idea behind the CAL was to finally make something for yourself... however, I just don't see myself wearing this... 

Fortunately, I have other people to make things for, two beautiful, wonderful little people in fact! The only other time I ever made a poncho was for Biggest when she was about 1 year old. It's just very serendipitous that this CAL came along just as Littlest is turning a year! How could I not make this?!

I am using Red Heart Soft yarn. It's soft so it will feel good, but it's also 100% acrylic so it will be washable and wearable for little ones! Plus, it was on sale at Michael's, so I could afford to buy a bunch and not feel guilty!

Biggest chose these colours:

So I set off to work:

I had a bit of trouble starting. I knew I wanted to do a row of single crochet to start, but both times I went to join the ends together after my first row of singles, it was all twisted up! I finally had an aha moment and decided instead to do a round of foundation singles and it worked much better :)

Can any of you tell were I made my big boo boo on this? It was not a pattern fault of any kind...

I messed up the colours Biggest had chosen!! I used navy instead of the wine she had originally picked :( Oops! Fortunately she didn't notice when I had her try it on this afternoon to make sure I had the right size...

Such a silly girl! She was making all these "heart" and "peace" signs with her hands that it was blocking the poncho! I finally convinced her to make the heart on her lap, but the consequence was her trying to restrain laughter! LOL Love her sooo much :)

Can't wait to continue with this. Will finish this up in no time, and then just have to wait for the weather to be good to take it outside and get some good pics :)

Thanks for taking a look,