Finished a few more items.......

A prayer shawl finished. Friend, Barb, and three of her book club friends furnished the yarn for this prayer shawl -- I crocheted it -- this coming week Barb will find a "home" for it. The "model" is rather short, so the shawl won't be as long on most people ;-)

  

Also finished more adult size caps.  Now working on a few family gifts and then will get back to shawls and caps and baby bonnets. 

Keeping Busy......

         

August 6, 2010

Just finished up 4 more little caps for newborn babies.

These are quick and fun -- shortly will be back to more 

       of the adult size for Halos of Hope. 

August 3, 2010

Yesterday I finished up the friendship/prayer shawl I was working on.
~~~~~

Also did a few more baby caps for the hospital.  As soon as I know if the pattern for the newborn babies is OK I will do up more.  Fortunately you can get several out of one skein of yarn.  If anyone has any simple crochet baby hat patterns I would love them.  It is always great to have different patterns to use.

A Delightful Evening.....

On Thursday evening went to see Shrek the Musical onstage at the Cadillac Theater in Chicago.  What a nice evening with daughter and two youngest grandsons.  

From 7 to 70+ it was a night to remember.

Halos of Hope

While at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair visited at the Northern Illinois Chapter of The Crochet Guild of America.  One of their projects is Halos of Hope.  Now, this is something I can easily do -- and I always have some yarn at the house, so last night I set about locating a pattern and ended up with the one pictured. This goes quickly and is an enjoyable, simple, pattern to do.  I have five finished now of this pattern and hope to turn them in to the Halos of Hope group at the Stitches Midwest show in a couple weeks.  If I don't make it to the show I have local options also.

Added another colorful little "halo"

July 31, 2010

Today I added two newborn size caps.  

Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Festival

Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair -- Grayslake, IL -- July 16, 17, 18, 2010. A WONDERFUL place to spend a day. Here's a link to some photos -- if you are in the area, do go. It was fantastic and I did come home with some wonderful items.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gramsmac1/s

ets/72157624517022338/show/

Yarn Ball Winder & Yarn Swift

Received my Yarn Ball Winder from KnitPicks today -- it is great - I used it with a very reasonably priced Yarn Swift that I got off eBay  ( eBay #280488065848) and in no time, I 

had a wonderful, neat, pull out ball of yarn.

I had a lot of fun using the "stick" (Nostepinde) to wind yarn balls, but my wrists began to ache -- so the Ball Winder is a very welcome addition.

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Beautiful Sky .... Severe Weather

Although there are tornado watch/warnings -- have had the strong wind and heavy rain -- the sky was beautiful.  Hope your monitor will show the gorgeous orange/pink colored clouds.  They were so very beautiful. Here's a couple pictures -- enjoy.

New Plum Scarf Begun....

The gray lace crochet scarf (see previous post) was fun to do .... so since I had some lovely Plum colored yarn from Knit Picks, decided to begin another scarf.  Depending on your monitor, the plum color is fairly true and I love it.

Two 2010 Graduates

This June, 2010, we have two grandsons graduating.

Luke is graduated high school and Drew graduated 8th grade.  

Congratulations Luke and Drew -- we are very proud of you and 

all our grandsons.

  

June 4, 2010 -- Progress

Scarf finished on Saturday, June 12, 2010
84 inches in length




Last night I worked some more on the Lace Scarf -- it is now 38 inches long and just about ready to begin work on the second half. Need to attach to "top" neck area and work the other half in the opposite direction. A very light weight, airy, scarf.

June 9, 2010

I have managed to add about 12 inches since this photo was taken. I hope to have time in the next few days to get this scarf finished. It is turning out very nice -- will be hard to "gift" this one -- may just have to keep it 

for myself LOL.  But, I did received a lovely yarn order from Knit Picks 

so will be able to start another as soon as I want. Forest green, plum or a gorgeous variegated purple.

Another Beginning ....

June 2, 2010

           ... Another new project - I began this last night --- about 5 inches of the projected 84 inches --- the 3 terrific         hooks are the different size hooks used on this lacy scarf. It feels very delicate in the sock weight yarn...

  

Today I also received my first yarn order from KnitPicks -- I am very pleased with the color, quality and price of the yarn.  Shipping was prompt and I know I will order from them again. This lovely yarn is 'gently' variegated. It is a fingering weight Merino wool with nylon. This will be made into a light weight, yet warm, lace shawl.

My Wonderful "Heartwarming" Gift.......

Heartwarming gifts are gifts given and received "out of the blue" 
and from the heart.  This is the heartwarming gift I received yesterday. 

A framed "Daybreak" print from an original painting by Marie Mason 
it is 18x24 inches of love - just look at that beautiful dog

My love and thanks to the giver -- I will cherish it always. 

Look what came to "Live" at our house...........

I am so excited and thrilled.

For a long time I have wanted to learn how to spin ...

now,  hopefully, I will be able to learn.

My new addition is an Ashford  "Joy"  Spinning Wheel

It is beautiful, folds up and fits in it's own travel bag to go where ever I go.

First two photos of my new beauty, the last photo is of a huge bag of carded wool 

that came with the wheel  for me to practice with -- and the middle photo is publicity photo.

   

Past Week Happenings......

What a fun few days.

FedEx brought a package, compliments of dear friend Lynn. The darling sheep is a tape measure, three fantastic buttons (she knows my love of different buttons) and a absolutely fantastic necklace that she made for me. WOW, with friends like this, life is good.

Also I spent time using my new N crochet hook from Wolfenwoods --it is a dream to work with -- and I have a good start on a new shawl in the basket weave pattern.

Click on photos to enlarge

Thanks for the dance....................

-----THANK YOU FOR THE DANCE -----

Last night was grandsons concert at his school. The theme was Broadway Musicals -- he did great in his classes song and dance routine -- then, just as I was leaving their home for Elgin, he asked me for a dance -- we have done this before and it is always such a delight -- the photo was after we finished the dance, just saying "Thank you for the dance". Isn't it wonderful? I KNOW how lucky I am with my 7 grandsons -- they are all so precious and special -- and to have photos like this one keeps the memories alive for us all. Thanks, Aim for the photo ( It is wonderful having a photographer daughter to catch these special moments) - thanks C-man for the dance. Love you all. PS the smiling face in the background is my handsome son-in-law.

A Bit of Crochet

I am having fun with my beautiful new crochet hooks -- completed 2 shawls -- each is 72+ inches in length -- and the red shawl/cape is almost done -- 5 more decorative shell rows and then the edging -- all these were made (being made) with my wonderful new hand made wooden crochet hooks -- they are so wonderful to work with

The red shawl/cape is being created with with the smooth elegance of the hook pictured above -- the hook was created by William Barnes of Graydog Woodenware 

The tow shawls above were created with this lovely hook it is a 

WolfenWoods Original and made by Max Wolfen, woodcrafter

A Fun Place to Visit...............

I thought it would be fun to share this uTube with you. It is from the opening night of   Billy Elliot  in Chicago. If you can stick with it until Jesse Jackson quits talking  (he's really there less than a minute -- but Jesse never misses an opportunity have his face filmed LOL)   anyway, right after Jesse, on the left side, you will see a lovely lady photographer  taking pictures of the four Billy's and Sir Elton John ---  that lovely lady is our daughter, Amy. For a change, the photographer is in  the photo. CLICK HERE for the short video For anyone who might not know, Amy is a professional photographer in Chicago.

Gifts Great & Small

It is the time of year that "March of Dimes" holds their annual fund raiser.  Once again DD and family will be walking the walk.  Times are tough, but many small contributions is as great a gift as one large.   To see the personal story of how our family got involved, click here:  Drew's Story

Peu de Sac

Another little cell phone case  
(peu de sac = little bag)  
this one I made for friend, Lynn.  Thanks for the French title for them, Lynn -- they sound much more elegant as a "Peu de Sac" than as a cell phone bag LOL

Billy Elliot the Musical -- Oriental Theatre, Chicago

Daughter Amy, her mother-in-law Cindy, and mom (me LOL) went to the April 3rd matinee of the 

performance BILLY ELLIOT.  See an earlier post for more.  It was a delightful afternoon. This photo was taken 

as we departed the van to see the musicial, BILLY ELLIOT, at the Oriental Theatre, Chicago, IL.

       Jackie         Amy       Cindy