California Birthday Celebration!

I was lucky enough to make a visit to California recently to attend my Brother Chuck's Surprise Birthday Party. My sister-in-law did an excellent job at keeping it a secret from him. I was his special surprise as I hadn't been home in five years and he was happy to see me. Not only did I get to help celebrate his birthday, but celebrated mine as well. Fun was had by all!!!!! I knitted him these golf club covers and hope that he will use them. In the picture is my Mother, brother Chuck and brother Tim and, of course, me.

California Bound!!!!

I took a trip to California and these are potholders that I made for my Mother's Bible Study Group, which I met for the first time. They were impressed with all the many color combinations.

My Continuing Hat Kick

The head of our security at the office asked if I would make him a hat. Here is the finished product. His name, by the way, is Charles and he is terrific.

Patriots vs. Indianapolis

Here are two fans that were rooting for the Patriots! I don't have a picture of the after-the-loss picture, but they are having fun anyway.

Fun Fur Hats for Kids

My friend, Patience asked me if I would be willing to help make hats for the kids at Children's Hospital Boston out of Fun Fur. I tried knitting them, but so far have only been able to crochet with this yarn. The hats are stretchy and, as I understand it, the kids love the wild colors.

A Hat Kick

Check out my new hats. I'm on a roll making hats for me this time. The neck warmer was knitted by my Mom. Can you tell that I have lost 51 lbs.

Christmas Apron and My Santa Claus

I made this for my sister-in-law who always decorates her home beautifully for Christmas. So, I thought she needed a Christmas apron to go with it. (When I get a picture of her with the apron on, I will post it here. My brother promised to send me one). Anyway, the apron was made with Royale #10 crochet thread and a #10 hook. It took awhile, but I think it was worth it.


I also thought I would sneak in a picture of my Santa Claus (Warren) in his red scarf and Christmas card board that he made.

Neck Warmer and Treasure Bag for Christmas

I made quite a few of these for Christmas gifts and filled them with a variety of items, i. e., lotions, baseball cards, small toys, etc. The neck warmer is knitted, but the bag is crocheted. I still switch back and forth between the two and find that it keeps from getting bored with one project.

Knitting for Kids Update

In addition to the CAPS FOR THE CAPITOL that my Mother and I made, we have knitted and crocheted 11 sweaters for the Guidepost, Knitting for Kids charity. These sweaters will be distributed all over the world in hopes of keeping children warm during the long winter months. The pictures are a sample of the sweaters.

Capital Caps Update

I have 64 more caps ready to mail tomorrow. That's a total, so far of 114, 60 of them have been made by the ladies at Curves, Revere.

Caps on the way to the Capital!

50 caps are on their way to the Capital! This has been a collaborative effort with the women at Curves, me and my Mother. By the way, the beautiful woman holding the caps, is, yes, you guessed it, my Mom. She is here visiting us from Simi Valley, CA and will be staying through til December. If anyone is from Simi Valley, give a shout-out to her. It's fun to have her here as we are having a good time knitting and crocheting. I am on vacation this week and will be attempting to teach her how to crochet. A bit awkward after knitting, but she is getting the hang of it.

Well, off to the post office I go and then home to start my second 50.

What have I been up to? Making Caps for the Capitol!

I know that I haven't written in about a month, so let me catch you up-to-date. I have been busy crocheting and knitting Caps for the Capitol for the Save the Children Organization (www.savethechildren.org). If you have not heard about this special organization, they are asking all crocheters and knitters to make caps for newborns and then on December 9th, the caps will be sent to President Bush to try to get funds targeted for helping newborns survive by covering their heads to keep them warm. I have recently joined "Curves" (weight-loss program) and have made proposed a challenge for crocheters and kniters to make a cap for every pound that they lose. To-date, I have lost 25 pounds and have made 34 caps, plus additional ones from the members that took my challenge. If you are interested, please go to their website and download the free patterns.

Finally....I finished the hooded sweater

I finally finished my first knitted sweater for me. I am pleased with the fit and know that it will be warm and cozy under my winter coat. I am especially proud that the measurements and gauge actually worked well as I did not use the yarn specified in the pattern.

Hooded Sweater "In Progress"

I have been working feverishly on completing the first of many, I hope, knitted sweater for myself using measurements taken by my husband (that was sure a fun event, I should have sold tickets!) and trying to use suggestions from the amplelist digest http://www.ample-knitters.com/ One suggestion that I think is really going to work well for me is increasing the sleeve to fit my arm, by stopping the
increases for a couple of inches then resume to increase I get to the upper arm.

I really can not stand huge baggy sleeves. The picture above is the back which measures 27 1/2 inches and I'm using eggshell Simply Soft.

Below is one completed sleeve and the 2nd one is half finished. I find that increasing in knitting is so much easier than crocheting. I'm using the same pattern http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-hoodedSweater.html that I have previously crochet for myself and can be seen in my archive list August, 2005.

First Knitting Project Finished - Knitting for Kids

Yeah, I have finished my first knitting project. How do you like my mannequin? I knew my husband's IV pole would come in handy for something......

First Knitting Project in Progress

I have been teaching myself to knit. This is my first real project which is a sweater pattern from the Guideposts, "Knitting for Kids". It's for a size 2 child, but by the looks of it, might fit a size 4. I used size 8 flex needles which I bought not really knowing what they were and discovered that I liked them and have since purchased size 8 circular, 9, 10.5, 5, 7, oh, the list goes on and the money is spent. I now need a case for knitting needles to go with all my crochet hooks. I am in the process of sewing this sweater together and will post the finished project shortly.



Then I decided that I needed to make a hat to match and I wanted to try out the new size 8 circular needles. I finally figured out how to get started and, I believe it's looking good. We will see once I get to the decreasing part.

Amanda's High School Graduation

My niece Amanda Bruen graduated from Louisville High School, May 27, 2006 and will be attending Loyola Marymount University in California. Isn't she beautiful? This mile-a-minute afghan I made for her to use in her dorm.

"Mother's Day" Special

Doily and Spring Scarf made with 2 strands of #10 crochet thread

March Square Exchange Pillow

My husband, Warren recently returned from spending 68 days in the hospital and was very impressed to see all my March squares. This one especially caught his eye, being Irish and noticing the shamrock. He wanted to know what were my plans for all the squares received and I really haven't decided yet, but knew that he wanted that square. So this is the results...a Shamrock pillow for his bed. He loves it. A special thanks to Sharon, Moderator of the Group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crochetingbuddies/ for making this square for me and Warren.

Kitchen Curtain

This is my kitchen curtain made out of SouthMaid Thread #10 and a size 7 hook.