The Granny Hex

When I was little, the weight of my blankets was crucial.  The heavier the better and I was always piling more and more onto my bed.

My favorite blanket was a blue granny square afghan my mom made when she was in high school because even though it was fairly small, it was really heavy.  And the best thing about it was that it was actually made out of granny hexagons!

So when, in my search for great granny square patterns, I came across this . . .

Granny Hex

. . . I was pretty excited!  It brought back a bunch of fabulous memories and was just the comfort I needed on such a rainy, dogless day. 

I think I'm gonna start a hex right now!

Disappointment And The Resulting Boredom

Well, in predictable fashion - our adoption fell through at the last minute.  And I really mean the last minute.  I actually drove the 45 minutes out to where she was to pick her up, only to basically be turned away.  So no dog for us today.  Only a house full of unused dog supplies.

And since I had planned to take the next four days to acclimatize our new addition, I now have nothing to do.  So you guys gotta help me!  Any crafts you wish you had time to make?  Recipes you always wanted to try?  Anything that can take my mind off of this huge disappointment would be greatly appreciated.

Woe Is Me

First of all, let me all remind you that I'm still sick.  I think it's the flu or strep throat or something because I don't have any cold symptoms.  Just a sore throat, achy muscles and a mild fever.  It's really the achy muscles that's getting me though.

Anyways, I hope you will all pity me.

And this whole dog adoption thing is turning me into a ball of stress.  I don't want to get into too many details here, but I'm honestly completely exhausted with this whole process and I'm soured to the point where I don't think I will adopt a dog again. 

While there is definitely something to be said for adopting an older dog who's already trained, I honestly think it would be easier and less stressful to buy a puppy from a breeder and spend a year training it and then another year going through the adolescent phase.

Sorry for the downer.  I'm hoping that all will go as planned tomorrow and I won't be sick and then you can all enjoy the fabulous photos of our new pup and I will be back to my cheery old self.

In the mean time.  Humbug!

Wash Hands After Reading

Well it finally happened.  After almost two years of being illness-free, I caught a cold.  I've been in bed all day on one of the sunniest days we've had all year.  What a nuisance!

Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow because I need to go shopping for dog supplies!

Also, I think I'm going to crochet our new pup her very own granny square blankie.  Do you have a favorite granny square pattern?  If so - pass it along - I'm gonna make it with a variety of square designs.

Now go wash your hands before you catch it, too!

Fingers Crossed . . .

Well - I've been away for a while.  Too long.

Mostly because I've been working on this new project.  My boyfriend and I have been looking for a dog for a few months now and for the past week or so we've been going through the adoption process for this Formosan Mountain Dog currently named "Sam" or "Sitka", depending on who you ask.

And what a process its been!  Which is why I've been AWOL - it has pretty much been taking up all of my time and mental energy and I haven't been feeling up to writing anything - until now.

This morning we met with a volunteer from the organization - The Penny Foundation - and it sounds like it's all good to go.  So without getting my hopes up too much, as far as I can tell we'll be taking home our new family member on Wednesday. 

So wish us luck!

And help us find a name!  Because honestly, we don't care for either of her current names.  Here she is:

I'm thinking Suki. 

How H.P. Lovecraft Made My Day

This past week has been full of ups and downs!  I'm looking forward to a new week - maybe one less emotionally draining.

Anyways, I thought I would share one of the ups with you.  I got requests from two friends/friends of friends for crochet work.  One of them requested this for her cousin's new baby due in November:

And one requested this:

While the first one is an adorable bear costume I made several months back for a photographer (Nikki Scott) - the second one is not something I completely understand. 

If you're wondering, that's my handsome boyfriend in the photo sporting a special request he made of me this past winter - a Cthulhu ski mask.  Odd, I know, but according to him - something that has potential to be incredibly popular.

And it turns out that he was right.  Because today, one of his coworkers mentioned that he'd like one as well.  Go figure.

So now I've got two projects to work on that I actually know people are going to buy!  Huzzah!  This week is looking up already :D

Fingernails

Now that I've spent a couple of days hocking my wares all over my blog, I thought I would take a moment to talk about fingernails.

When I was little I hated having my fingernails cut.  I remember my mom chasing me down with a pair of clippers and her exasperation when I would scream and cry as if in pain.  I would let my nails grow as long as possible, hoping she wouldn't notice them - but as is typical of moms, she always did. 

Looking back it seems odd, but at the time I absolutely hated the feeling of that flesh right under the nail touching anything.  Not the nail bed, that's giving me the willies just thinking about it, but that part of your finger tip that doesn't touch much of anything when there is a great big long nail on top of it.  And I hated the feeling of my nail getting squished and sort of flattened out during the nail cutting process. 

Now things are quite different.  Now I hate a totally different sort of weird feeling.  This time it's the feeling of having any length to my fingernails at all.  You know that white crescent at the end?  The lunule, it's called.  My nails never have that for very long.  I cut it off as soon as it starts to make an appearance. 

The reason being is that I hate the feeling of having soft nails - like after a shower or doing the dishes - because I'm paranoid that I'm going to touch something and the nail is going to bend right back.  Just even writing about it is giving me the willies.

So from hating to cut them to obsessively controlling their growth, fingernails have been the lifelong bane of my existence.  And as I'm typing this, I'm noticing a little half circle of white developing there on the end of my fingers.  I gotta go.

A Brown Thumb Gets Its Bloom

As I've mentioned before, I have a great talent for killing plants.  It's not something I'm proud of.  It's not even something I come by honestly as most of the rest of my family grows a pretty mean garden.  I think the problem is that plants don't tend to complain when they're dying.  They just sort of quietly turn brown.  So imagine my surprise when I went to the window and noticed this:

That's right.  Not only is my hoya not dead, but it's thriving to the point where it is using its precious resources to produce flowers.  This is very exciting news in my world.  Very exciting news indeed.

But what's a little bit ironic is that this is the only plant in the house that doesn't have a name.  I specifically gave my other plants names because it seemed like a good way to make the sort of connection which would facilitate my remembering to water them.  The hoya slipped through the cracks in this regard because I didn't expect it to grow at all.  However, both Pete and Samuel are on their way out - it's really only a matter of time - so perhaps there is some sort of bad luck attached to naming plants....

Case in point:  Audrey II

Preview - Purple Flowers Redux

So I made these yesterday.  And they were hugely popular!  And by hugely popular, I mean all my Facebook friends seemed to really like them and a few of them actually reposted the Etsy link on their own walls.  Plus, they got 127 views on Etsy and quite quickly - the most views of anything in my shop.

I was a bit surprised because I made them thinking the colour combination was a bit much.  But turns out people like their colours "a bit much".  Who knew?

So, based on a recommendation for another colour combo - I made another flower bootie.  Here is a sneak peak:

As I'm sure most of you know, with Etsy, timing is everything.  So these won't be posted on Etsy until 6:00 pm PST.  So if you like them, stay tuned!

UPDATE:  The Etsy posting is now available.  Check it out!!

Ballet Flat Style Booties in Turquoise and Purple

Pink and Purple Flowers?! Ummmm Yes Please!

In an effort to do at least one creative thing a day, I made these.  I love pink and purple and when I was finished making the booties I felt they needed a little bit extra.  So I whipped up some matching flowers as well.

Yellow Bear makes an appearance in these photos too - he's looking handsome as always.  Anyways - the hockey game is on, so this post will be short.  If you like the booties enough to buy 'em - you can pick 'em up here:

Ballet Flat Style Booties in Pink and Purple with Flowers

A Bracelet With Polka Dots *GLEE*

My latest creation which was actually created weeks ago is now available on my shop.  And the best part?  I've lowered prices on all my crocheted jewelry - so check it out!

Here's some photos:

Blue and Black Bracelet with a candle

Blue and Black Bracelet peeking out the window

Blue and Black Bracelet up close and personal

Blue and Black Bracelet takin' 'er easy

This bracelet was SO much fun to make because I love polka dots - they are my favorite pattern.  I decided to do the crochet parts in a square motif to contrast with the circular dots.  I'm lovin' it.

Actually, even though I did a lot of bracelets with the crochet parts in white, I really like the black.  Remember this beauty:

I think the black creates great contrast - what do you think?

You can find both of these guys at my Etsy shop:

Crochet Bangle Bracelet in Blue and Black

Crochet Bangle Bracelet in Yellow and Black

Walking Ain't Half So Bad

Yesterday was the annual Run Up for Down Syndrome.  My gorgeous friend Heather and I have done it every year for the past 4 years and it's always a blast!  And the past two years my wonderful boyfriend Dennis has won the thing *beams*. 

This year Heather and I both had issues with our knees and decided to walk it rather than run it.  In past years it has taken us about 30 minutes to complete the 5Km run, and I wasn't really looking forward to walking that distance just because I thought it would take too long and I would get bored. 

But lo and behold, it was actually a lot of fun.  So fun in fact that I walked another 5Km this morning.  I never thought I would enjoy walking as fitness just because I usually like to do really high intensity stuff and get it over with as soon as possible, but bootin' it all over town for an hour actually felt great.

What do you guys like to do for physical activity?

How Meal Plans Saved Me From Myself.

Alright that's IT!  No more unnecessarily lazy, non-posting days.  Starting today. 

Today I gotta talk about groceries.  You might be surprised to learn that I have a slight problem with anxiety.  And I mean slight - nothing debilitating to be sure.  But one of the things that used to set off my anxiety pretty severely was grocery stores.

I'd show up with a half-assed list of things I couldn't forget (granola bars, milk, deodorant etc.) and then promptly become overwhelmed by 80 different brands and flavors of spaghetti sauce, and torn between the cheap produce and the organic produce while simultaneously trying to figure out what I was going to eat for dinner the following Thursday.  I couldn't think.  I couldn't breathe.  I couldn't function.  I had to get out of there!

This happened every week.  And I rarely had anything to eat in my house except granola bars, milk and deodorant.

And then I discovered meal plans.  They seem like a lot of work, I know.  And kind of stupid.  Because how are you going to know what you'll feel like eating on Friday when today's only Sunday?  But you just gotta do it.  Meal plans saved me and they can save you too (plus, if you put lasagna on Friday and you want to make it on Tuesday - who's to say you can't switch days, right?)

So, all you have to do is sit down with your favorite recipe books, pick the dishes you're going to make and write down the ingredients you'll need from the recipes.

My boyfriend and I like to do it together every Sunday morning.  We'll decide on recipes together, and then I send him to the kitchen to check whether we have the stuff while I make the list.

To do the list, we use a smart phone app called Grocery IQ.  It's free and the best part is that you can sync with someone else so that when you check off Apples on your list, it gets checked off the other list too.  This way you can split up at the store and get things done quicker.  I recommend it if you and your shopping partner both have smart phones.

Anyway, so now when I go to the grocery store I don't have to think about anything because I've already thought about it in the comfort of my own home.  I can just mindlessly grab things off shelves and check them off lists.  Sure I fret about organic vs. non-organic and I usually send The Boyf to the pasta sauce aisle, but believe it or not, I actually enjoy grocery shopping now. 

And we eat healthier. 

And I have one less thing to be anxious about.

If you don't already do meal plans, try it for a month.  Trust me, it'll be awesome.

Blah.

Okay so it's been a while since I've posted anything substantial. 

I think I have a case of the post-vacation blues.  In case you're wondering, that means the reason I haven't posted about anything is that I haven't done anything worth posting about. 

For example - nobody wants to hear about napping, eating cereal and surfing the interwebs.  I haven't even crocheted a single thing since we've been back!

Any ideas on how to get the motivational mojo moving?