Sunday, July 31, 2011

Everyday Creativity {Gail}

Did we get creative this week? Yes, we2 did! Does it have to do with crafting, sewing, or other artistic or hobby-like pursuits? Not so much. Sometimes the everyday requirements of our life (to include sleep) prevent those types of creative activities. That means, if you are a creative person, they are going to
*Boing!* out in other ways.

Here’s a few situations where creativity and imagination made an impact this week from my side. I’ll let Sam figure out where her *Boing!*s happened and report.

Grocery issues! Oops, forgot to pick up flatbreads at the grocery store. No spinach tomato pesto pizzas. Make some pasta salad instead: what’s in the frig? Chop some of those tomatoes (and don’t forget tot get more for the pizzas); put some quartered onions on the grill with the chicken; grate some parmesan from the freezer; melt some cream cheese with minced garlic and thin it down with pasta water – stir! That’s getting creative.

It’s son’s best friend’s birthday? He ended up sleeping over? I gotta leave early, but can’t neglect some kind of celebratory Something! No breakfast treats in the house, so run to the market, get the bakery lady to write a HB message on a coffee cake, grabbed two Vanilla Frapps from Starbucks, and with my creativity I added some small bit of birthday celebration to the morning. Not my usual home-baked goodies or Blueberry Buttermilk Pancake recipe, but smiles and hugs.

Daughter’s stranded with an overheated car in hot eastern WA; pet rats are suffering as is she. Get creative: Buy some ice and bottled water, grab plastic bags, set their travel cage on the ice, wet down the cage and/or drape a wet Something (what’s in the suitcase?) nearby the cage for evaporative cooling. She already had a small cup of ice cubes in the cage – great thinking! May I say, thank goodness for cell phones.

You get creative more times a day than you may realize. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with craft supplies. Choosing your clothes from separates and adding accessories counts, making a meal without using recipes counts, figuring out how to coordinate time schedules and errands with your family – these are all creative pursuits!

Don’t forget 2celebrate your daily creativity!

Gail

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Creative Efforts Win the Weekend {Gail}


I posted on Friday that I was being overwhelmed trying to figure out which projects to work on.  I thought laziness might win, but even if I hadn’t worked on anything, it would have been Creative Paralysis from Overwhelm, not laziness. Like my label? LOL ;)   Anyway, I managed to focus on 2projects after tidying up my sewing room from some frantic button and ribbon searches.

I ended up sorting through and organizing (once again!) my buttons and trims. This is not a hardship for me! Last week, I had to dump some full containers to find what I needed, and getting them put away right then was too much mental effort. I had fun re-sorting and trying once again to find a storage method that allows for easy access, easy recovery, but doesn’t take up any unnecessary space.

On to the projects. First project, finished! Crocheted infant ballet slippers for Samantha’s photo prop box. Actually, I finished 1 1/2 times, as I made 3 slippers instead of just a pair. I figured they are kind of like socks and one may go missing, right? These work up really quickly if you aren’t confused by slip stitching. I’m a math and numbers person, but crocheting in the round always gives me fits with counting my stitches! More experience is helping. It would also help to keep my stitch markers handy.  I chose Caron Simply Soft yarn for these, as it has a satin-like sheen to it like a real satin ballet slipper. I am really happy with the way they turned out.


Project supplies and finished slippers.
One more bow to add.  Aren't they cute!?


Infant ballet slipper . They're so tiny.

 Second project, progress made. Sewing a sister-dress to a dress I previously made. They will go to two adorable young sisters I know.

The big sister dress has been finished for a while now.

The little sister dress is all but done. My progress this weekend included finishing the barely-started bodice, cutting out and prepping the skirt, getting the back of the skirt put on, inserting the center lap zipper. I was planning on putting in an invisible zipper, then realized I didn’t have one. Since I DID have a regular zipper, I went ahead and put it in. Tasks remaining: front skirt, side seams, hem, and embellishing. This one is not going to be an exact match, embellishing-wise. Tomorrow I need to see if I can find some sky blue ribbon or trim, or possibly the pink or peach, to go with the brown mini-rickrack. No flower appliqué for this one. They are sisters, not twins!

Big sister dress, just a few touches on the embellishments to finish.

I made the pattern for the flower appliqué from the fabric print itself. That’s one way to get a very coordinating embellishment! You can scan the fabric, or stare at it long enough to understand it. I then use Auto-shapes in Word to create a clip-art style pattern. Add hem allowance all around if needed, trace, cut, and apply! This appliqué was traced onto Steam-A-Seam Lite from the computer printout, cut and fused in place, then the edges were zig-zagged. I will be adding some hand-stitching and some tiny white buttons on the brown flower appliqué to make it resemble the flowers in the print.


When I sew, I let my perfectionist tendencies take over. I love taking the time and effort to get the best results I can. Things like the way the seams meet up across a zipper (see picture) make a difference to me. I know that no-one else might notice this, except for another perfectionist sewist. I’m still going to take the time for these details because it makes me happy! 


Detail of the back of the dresses.
Matching seams like this make me happy!


See my sample card? I’ve started making project cards, so I can spontaneously shop for pending projects. As long as I remember to take them with me, this has been working really well! I also can keep a file of finished projects to smile about!

My swatch shopping card for this project.
Written info is on the other side of the 4"x6" index card. Cheap, easy!


Friday, July 22, 2011

Creating FOOD

So far all of our blog posts have been about crafting.  But when we started this blog we meant to make it about all sorts of Creating, not necessarily crafting.  So here is a post about some food creating.  Yesterday I used our smoker for the first time all by myself.  I smoked a half of a small pork shoulder so we could pull it and use it for dinner.  This post will unfold through the pics…
 
Take pork shoulder, cover in seasoning of choice.

 
Seasoning of choice was WSU Espresso Seasoning & Rub.  Which is delicious!

 
Put Cherry Pellets into the smoker…

 
…Then watch this bad boy come to life.
 
Once Grill is to temperature (225 this time, a good amount of smoke, but not super slow to cook), put the pork on fat-side up.


I’m going to say that looks pretty delicious, even raw.  Lol.


But it looks way more delicious when it is getting close to temperature.  The seasoning on the outside starts to form this yummy crisp glaze.  Many times we spray it with apple cider to keep it moist and to form an even sweeter glaze on the outside, but yesterday I let the seasoning do all the work.


Ok.  So waiting and waiting and smelling that smoke all day starts to make me a little hungry.  This 3-4 pound piece took about 6 hours to reach 190F which is perfect pulling temperature.


I let the pork rest under some foil and dish towels until hubby got home from Lowes.  He pulled the pork for me.  J


At the beginning of the day I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the pork, but by now I had decided we had enough of pulled pork sandwiches, and we were going to turn this one into enchiladas.  While hubby was pulling pork, I whipped up some lime-cilantro-sour cream.  (One juicy lime+1 cup sour cream+cilantro… recipe calls for 1tbsp, but since we LOVE cilantro you can tell I added a lot more!)  Then I set it aside to meld together as I made the rest of our meal.


I decided that even if I didn’t use all the meat for the enchiladas, the meat would still be good with a little bit of enchilada sauce and a small can of diced chiles mixed in.  So I threw it all in a container and shook it up!


My hands got messy so I stopped taking pics, but all I did was throw the meat mixture into some multi-grain tortillas, roll them, put them in pan, cover with green enchilada sauce, olives and cheese.


Then I baked this sucker for about 30 min at 400F.  20min with foil, 10 without so cheese could brown.


And voila!  Enchiladas with lime-cilantro-sour cream, and some leftover rotel tomatoes for garnish.  Delish!!!

Btw, waited to post this until today because I wanted to post pics of what I used the leftover meat for.  BUT, in the excitement of my pork nachos coming out of the oven, I totally forgot about pictures and just chowed down!  They made delicious nachos with some more olives, cheese, and jalapenos.  Can you tell we like Mexican food?  YUMM.

Now, to go clean the kitchen before company arrives…

Sam


Tornado of creative possibilities meets quicksand of laziness. {Gail}

Aaah, the eternal question of the recovering procrastinator: Do or Be? I can't decide what to do, so I sit and think about it all! Shall I sew? What shall I sew? Wallhanging project, tunic, the baby clothes I need to finish off. Shall I knit or crochet? Which project? Fixing hats, making infant ballet slippers, knitting on baby blanket project.

Then there are the two free self-paced classes I just registered for at Big Picture Classes Check THEM out! I could work on those projects.

Then there is the tiny paper mache box I need to decorate for a gift box; the scrapbook page of Samantha at 11 months on the swingset, plus all the unstarted projects. DON'T let me go there!

Sunday night, I will let you know how it went. I have great hopes :D

Thursday, July 21, 2011

A Practical Craftiness

So this is me, admitting that not all crafting is necessarily practical.  At least in my case.  Please don’t pass this post along to my husband  ;)  BUT… seriously, I have spent over the last 6 years or so, hundreds, maybe more (eep, I’m not actually going to say thousands because I don’t really want to know!) on scrapbooking/cardmaking supplies.  Now, my hobby room is fully stocked (and by fully stocked I mean there are always more things I want to buy, but the budget really isn’t allowing that right now) and I have completed how many scrapbooks?  Erm… a big fat 1!  I have several more in progress, but only one fully completed album.  And I have made a few dozen cards, but in all reality, so far the venture into the world of scrapbooking has not really been practical in terms of money and time.  I do LOVE it though, so there is A LOT to be said for that. 

ANYWAY, last week my Mom and I actually got together and used our crafty set of skills and did some practical goodness to my house!  (And then we did some playing too, of course!)  I had bought some couch covers a while ago to make my couches not looks so much like the college hand-me-downs that they were.  Not to mention, one was rust colored, and the other blue/green with dots, those just don’t go very well in my head.  But these stretchy covers just did not fit very well.  They were stretchy in the wrong places, which meant bunching of fabric in some areas, and parts of the original color showing in others.  Ugh.  I figured out how to make them look okay by tucking and such, and I lived with them for quite a while.  But recently when we had to switch the couches around, the stretchiness was so bad on the back of one of them that I could see that ugly rust color halfway up the back of the couch, and the back was no longer against a wall.  L  So I called Mom, and she brought up her sewing machine, and we pushed, prodded, sewed, and switched the main cover part from couch to couch, and ended up with a much better looking system that will hold me over until some day I can buy new couches!  Here is a glimpse at our practical craftiness escapades…

Before, lots of ripples.

During, trying to figure out where to sew.

After, Not so bunchy arm and bottom.

First Couch Completed! And lookin pretty good,
if I do say so myself!

Second Couch, Before, So much fabric!!!

Second couch complete!!!
And its not pictured, but no more rust color showing on the back!

And then after we were done with the couches, which really didn’t take more than a couple hours, we played with some new toys Mom had bought!  In particular we were loving on these Heidi Grace box templates!  Not sure what I would use them for yet, but they were so cute, and easy to make too!

Overview of the "Heidi Grace Template Project Pack"

Open Box

Closed Box
Cute and Easy!

Maybe a good little box for Christmas treats or goodies for people?  I’d have to find the right kind of paper though… hmmmm

Now the brain is swirling with ideas  J

Sam

Monday, July 18, 2011

My own quilting style: Obsession Quilting {Gail}

I have created my own style of quilting which I call Obsession Quilting. I named it that a few months after creating the quilt shown below. It is aptly named for two reasons -- the quilt has one theme, and represents an obsession by the quilter or recipient, and you get to obsess about the fabric and design as you create it. It is a style of quilting that's not for everyone. The designing itself is somewhat like orderly crazy quilting.

My other lovely daughter, Sam's sister Becca, love-love-loves frogs! Since she was 12-ish, and continuing now into her 20s, frogs are her thing. Becca also likes bright, cheerful, playful colors as this quilt shows.


Obsession Quilt #1:
Becca's Frog Quilt
50 different frog fabrics, 6 almost-solids
I started collecting fabric (oh, yeah, me and my fabric habit... *takes a moment to dreamily consider beautiful fabric*) Uhhh, ok, back to topic: I started seriously collecting fabric for THIS quilt about 3 years before I made it, just because every frog fabric spoke to me of Becca. During part of this time, she was away at school and I missed her! I kept the growing collection a secret from her. A few months before her 20th birthday, I decided to make her a frog quilt for her gift. Then I really went on a frog fabric search! I perused all online fabric stores I could find; I searched manufacturer's product listings; I looked in every fabric store I came across... OK, so that last one is actually pretty normal behavior, but now I had to lay eyes on all frog fabrics while I was there. I also went through my entire fabric collection to find all frogs no matter how obscure!
Eventually, I had a basketful of colorful frog fabrics, and knew there was no quilt pattern out there that would let me feature each one in a unique way. The colors were not all related; some fabrics were apparel fabrics of different weights and appearances, and the scale of frogs ranged from 1/4" to 5-6".  So, bringing my "re-engineer everything" mentality, my various levels of quilting, sewing, collage, and fabric experience, I decided to piece custom blocks based on the fabrics and the call of the frogs. Ribbit!

I started off by choosing a few related sizes and cut fabric for hours. I cut squares and rectangles centered up on the specific frog designs in the fabrics. A few fabrics had interesting all-over prints with a good flow, so I made some large patches with plans to quilt and embellish them cleverly.

Then I decided to try some quilt techniques I knew how to do, but never had. I made a rag quilt block (lower right of center, pink heart). I made a paper-pieced frog from a pattern I downsized (will fill in credit soon!); it looks like her pet fire-bellied toads (center left, yellow frame). I made my first kaleidoscope block with a frog centered on each blade (just above the rag heart, turquoise frame). I made some postage stamp sized 9-patches and 4-patched them with other blocks (far right, partway out of this picture). Eventually I started framing my cut patches up with the 6 almost-solids, and went back to the fabric collection for custom cuts to create mosaics. I did this to fit spaces, give a bit of rhythm to the colors and lines, and to feature groups of frogs from the same fabric or with the same theme: there's a dancing area, there's a mommmy-takes-care-of-little-frog area, there's a learning area, a princess area, a leaping area, and more.

Then I began to embellish and quilt, which gave me the opportunity to sneak in little messages. One block is "tied" with machine-stitched hearts in matching thread (she'd find this bit of love eventually, right?); one block on the far left center (solid green) has 3 buttons meaning "B. loves frogs". There's a frog applique, a rhinestone frog iron-on, and more.

The back is pieced from large pieces leftover from fabrics that were cute to look at as a whole, but that were only included in small pieces on the front. There is a LOT of leftover fabric, but you have to do it that way. A lot of it can be turned into a less-obsessive patched quilt. Or 2. Or 3.

Of course, I have a few more frog fabrics since I finished this quilt; I just couldn't stop! Let me just say, the fabric designers did a great job with the frog theme.

I am working on a new Obsession Quilt. A coffee-theme this time. First a wall-hanging, eventually a quilt. Quite possibly a bag or two. This one's for me!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I love buttons! {Gail}

I don't even have pictures to post, but I purchased some clearance buttons today -- they inspire me! I got some large buttons, for accents on bags. You'll be seeing some of those in the near future. I got little buttons to use on cards and small crafting items. I got some JUST BECAUSE I LIKED THEM! I do that a lot.

I have a bin of inspiration probably numbering in the thousands... we're talking literally decades of "oh, those are great buttons, I can see myself using those for..." Hmm, still waiting for those projects to happen! When my son, now almost 19, was in pre-K, on 100th Day (of school), every child was supposed to bring in 100 of something. Pennies, Cheerios, Lego pieces... he brought 100 different buttons! It was so fun. I sealed them inside a plastic bag, and also sent along a list of questions such as, "Can you find a button with 4 holes, 2 holes, one hole? Can you find a button that looks like a Ritz cracker?" The teacher kept them for the rest of the year. So that's how I can estimate my total quantity!

Have a fave button story/project/use? Let's hear it!

Gail

Monday, July 11, 2011

“Birthdays are good for you…

…Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest!”  I ran across this quote as I was researching some birthday card ideas, and it definitely made me laugh.  I started as a pure scrapbooker… but branched into making cards as another creative outlet and logical step when I already owned all the materials needed.  I tend to look through card magazines first and through my fave online scrapbook/card making FREE magazine…  http://www.scrapbookandcards.com/

After getting some inspiration I either go off on my own to create or sometimes I will follow a pattern or idea pretty closely, just using my own color scheme.  For the two birthday cards I made recently I followed a pattern pretty closely.  I honestly couldn’t tell you what magazine they came out of because I saw them at work in the break room and the cover was ripped off.   

The first card I made was for my sister-in-law’s birthday.  I loved this card idea because there was opportunity for lots and colors and patterns and yet they all tied together somehow. 


I used these really awesome handmade papers for the strips across the middle that came in a big pack from Michael’s for 10bucks.  The bottom strip I folded so that it looked like a ruffle and added some dimension.  The yellow paper was heavily textured and shiny so it looks great in the light.  And you can never go wrong with a flower and a button for the center!  J



The card base was black cardstock, and I really like how it offsets the bright spring colors.  I used white embroidery floss to hand stitch around some of the edges to frame it even more.  Some tool shout-outs for this card:
LOVE my corner punch/embosser.  It has four different designs that both punch and emboss the corners, I used it here around the Happy Birthday label.
LOVE my Martha Stewart Scoring Board.  Once I figured out how to use it well, it has been an invaluable tool for card and envelope making! (Pictured underneath the card)


My Sister-in-Law, Stephanie just moved to Hawaii where there are no big name craft stores.  Being that she is a fellow crafter, my present to her is a “Crafting Care Package” with some essentials and fun stuff once she gets settled into a house over there.  I just made a little tag to put on the inside of the card to tell her that.

The other card I made recently was for my Mother-in-Law.  Last minute she (and my father-in-law) ended up coming to help with some house projects the day before and on her birthday and I was totally un prepared for her birthday while she was here.  I did however make some amazing homemade biscuits and gravy for breakfast that morning!  J  I made her card later that week and gave it to her the other day.  I thought it was a cute little play on abbreviating Happy Birthday, and I added in the ‘late’ part since I was late in making her a card and she knew it.


These flag ideas have been pretty popular lately, and I think they turned out pretty cute.  I cut quite a few triangles before I found the dimensions I wanted for this card.  For the big lettering I used a stencil and my Le Pen felt tip pens.  Once the flags were on the card it didn’t look quite finished enough, so I added some very light white dots on the blue and chalk-inked the edges of the card.  It added just enough dimension and brought your eye toward those flags!


The inside wasn’t that exciting which is why it isn’t pictured, but overall I think these birthday cards turned out pretty cute!  J

Now, off to use my creative eye to finish editing 4th of July pictures!

Sam

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Crochet/Knitting Progress Update

Mom and Dad came up to help with house project yesterday!  Thanks to their help we got a new bedroom window put in and a good chunk of the back of the house ready for siding!!  During a break for the two of us (our men, busy measuring and cutting OSB to put up), we shared our progress on our yarn projects and I got out the good camera to snap a few shots!  My momma’s post below explains her project.  And mine is just an update to my progress… it’s starting to look like a blanket instead of a scarf!!

It's starting look more like a blanket!
 I will probably finish out this skein of yarn and call it good on size!

Can you find where I switched skeins?
I think I did a pretty darn good job.  :)

Mom's hands spreading out this adorable blanket!

It is so delicate compared to my chunky blanket!

I love the edging!

Look at that pattern starting to emerge!

Heehee, this is Bruce... he was watching us play yarn.  :)


Knitting a Baby Blanket {Gail}

 I'm knitting the Starlit Blanket with Bernat Baby acrylic yarn for Samantha's prop box, and mostly because I was fascinated with the pattern and that was the best excuse! She's going to post a picture soon -- we hung out together yesterday and snuck in a blankets-in-progress photo shoot!

It's a very easy pattern to memorize; it's clever; and it looks so cool! I've never been a fan of baby blankets with big lacy holes in them -- they're pretty, but fingers and toes get caught. This blanket has awesome texture, small eyelets, and delicate appearance. I try to knit one 4-row repeat each day. Except for last week.

I've never knit a baby blanket before. I'm an "occasional knitter" with infrequent bursts. I also am not afraid to give anything a try -- failure doesn't bother me, it just challenges me to try again or to go with some additional creative experimentation! This last couple years, hanging around creative people like never before (including Sam!) has inspired me to be busy with the crafts and sewing that I love. This blanket is the first thing I've knit with very small needles (size 3), with tiny yarn (size 1), and a complicated-over-4-stitches repetitive pattern.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Embellishment Revisited. {Gail}

Well, I left you yesterday with second thoughts about the placement of the flower embellishment on Hawaii-baby's dress. In case you missed it, it is in the second photo's caption.

Plus, I do indeed know better than to put just one of something embellishment-like, floating all lonesome-like on a sea of fabric. So I decided not only to move that one yellow rosette, but to make two smaller ones to keep it company.

So I did.
Then I didn't like any of them.

They seemed to strongly yellow for the yellow in the dress print. And they looked heavy. I am not even posting a photo! You'll just have to take my  word for it. I decided to lighten the look and make new rosettes out of just a single layer of fabric.  
 
Embellishment revisited. Much more balance of color.
Realize that when Hawaii-baby is IN the dress,
the left and right edges of the skirt will not show toward the front.


A look from the top toward the hem.

The new ones have the same torn edge, stabilized with a line of straight stitching as before. But now, with just the single layer of fabric, they are sheerer (more sheer?) and relate to the yellow in the print much better. I only made one small companion, and then covered up the big one's butt (you mean you didn't you know these flowers had butts?!) with a little poufy 4 loop bow out of 3/16" double face satin white ribbon. Looks just like a little corsage, which wasn't my intent. So be it.


This kind of flower is quick and easy to make, and versatile. 
You can use it on almost anything --  bags and fabric purses, restyled T-shirts, and of course, baby clothes!






Hope the dress has fun in Hawaii! and Hawaii-baby and her parents, too!
On to the next project! I hear fabric, yarn, and paper calling!
Make that projectS.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Independence, Hawaii, and getting creative.

Happy day-after-Independence Day!

I am hoping this creative blog will help me become independent from sewing and crafting procrastination. With just a part-time job and no young ones dependent on my time, I can pretty much set my own schedule. It’s very easy to get lost in nothing-tasks, like playing computer games or doing my beloved logic puzzles. This blog is now my sewing/crafting time management system, and I'm so looking forward to cranking out project after project!  

I have just today finished a little dress and pantaloons for Sam’s infant niece who is moving to Hawaii this week! Making custom sewn outfits for her was my shower gift. I know the temperatures are warmer in Hawaii than here in Western WA, and in the fall it gets humid, too. I was there for my sister's wedding 21 years ago in September and it was downright steamy. This outfit is 100% cotton – cool and comfy.
 

Finished Hawaii-baby dress.
The panties peeking out look like penguin feet somehow...
Here’s the part where I had 2create! I only purchased 1/2 yard of the pink floral originally, just because I liked it, and now I can’t find more. That means I had to find a second fabric for the pantaloons. The unique shades of pinks and yellow made it difficult to match. I finally settled on this yellow polka dot – it really was the best color available. 

I thought it might take some creativity to make this come together as an outfit. As you can see from the before-picture below, it needed something. I made the little raw-edge flower and thought it pulled the two items together and added a tiny touch of “now”. I might do a headband or maybe a sunhat later, since I have yet to see Hawaii-baby with a bare head!


Before adding embellishment.
Hmm. Second thoughts.
I think I need to move the flower (1st photo) to the other side,
where that big patch of uninterrupted red/pink is.
Next up: adding the cargo pocket to a baby romper, sewing a little girl dress (half done), making Sam a top, making a shoulder bag out of home-dec fabric... oh, and continuing to knit that blanket for Sam's prop box, and... and ... my list goes on!

Friday, July 1, 2011

First Attempt at Crocheting!

The first official crafting post!  I am so excited for this blog because I love to craft, and I love to share, and therefore I will probably craft more so I can share more!  Now a little background before I get into my current project…

I own my own photography business, Snapdragon Studios Photography (.com if you want to check it out, and yes Mom, I did have to work in a plug in my first entry at least).  I photograph everything, but the business features mostly baby and children portraiture.  It is still really new, but I am loving it!  And it fits right in with my crafty nature.  Since my budget is pretty tight (oh, the joys of being a new homeowner, and by new I mean old house with a lot of projects) I have been trying to figure out creative ways to benefit my business.  Right now I’m working on props, hats and blankets specifically!

Ok, so other than some middle school Home Ec, I have never really gotten into yarn crafting.  So this is still super new for me.  Thanks to my Momma, I have gotten a pretty decent start on a blanket that I will be using for a prop.  Once I got the hang of this stitch it was easy sailing, but I definitely needed the help to get started.  I am a visual learner, and patterns and written instructions with no pictures just don’t do it for me.  I might never have gotten past the DC abbreviation, which means Double Crochet, and which basically makes up this whole blanket, without my Mom.  Here is glimpse of what it is looking like so far…


I’m not sure how well the color translates in this picture, but it is a beautiful deep rich purple, and the other yarn is a variegated teal and purple that I am going to do a little ruffle trim around the edge when I have the size I want (btw, even though I am a photographer by trade, you are not allowed to judge these pictures because most of them will be taken with my cell phone).  It’s looking pretty darn good so far, if I do say so myself.  J  It amazes me how much yarn this V-stitch, which is basically two double crochets in the same hole, takes.  I’m about finished with my first skein of yarn and I’m thinking I will need at least two more.  MOM, expect a call when I get to the end of this skein… how do I switch skeins?  I realize I could probably look this up online, but I do love our little chats. J

Here is another closer glimpse at the V-stitch…


It is going to be so soft for babies to lay on!  And I think the texture will photograph really well.  I plan on taking this with me this weekend to my in-laws’ family cabin, and work on it on the beach enjoying the sun.  Side note – SUN!!  finally, Washington, finally.

Happy 4th of July Weekend!
Sam