Lot's to do!

Well,
I started work on the raggedy ann and andy afghan today and it is proving to be tougher than i thought it would be.It's not the stitches them selves as they are a simple sc . It's the way you have to try to carry the colors you are switching back and forth between over the top of your stitches.I'm not used to this and i am having a hard time doing this.I guess i'm just not that coordinated i guess.It is not looking as nice as it should when i try to do it.I am afraid to just cut the yarn and weave in the ends as they don't give you any extra yarn for this and i don't want to run out.I have only done like two rows of the pattern where the color changes come in.for a total of seven rows all together.Maybe there is a video that is out there some where on the net that could show me an easier way to do this i will have to search it out.As i am really wanting to do this afghan and i know i can do it.If i just figure out the right way to do these color changes.

We are going to be getting our partners for the kitchen swap on crochetville either tonight or tomorrow.I had forgotten about signing up for it.
I'm looking forward to doing another swap the holiday one was fun.But i am now starting to fall behind on my projects so I guess i need to maybe put the raggedy ann and any afghan aside for a little while and maybe just work on it one day on the weekends or something as i have WAY too much catching up to do.I still have to get my sisters blanket done,finish my nieces blanket,get my son's RR started,I still haven't gotten any scarves done either for the scarf drive for Crafting for a cause.though if i can figure out this goofy machine of mine the knitting one i got ,it would go so much faster, i could do several of them in a day and get caught up pretty fast.Plus now i am going to have to start my projects for the kitchen swap as soon as i get my partner.
whew,guess i better get off here and get some work done!

Pay it Forward Update and a friendly reminder

I have decided that instead of only doing a pay it forward for 3 people who comment and say that they want to pay it forward also , but i would like to do it for 6 people total! :) Why you ask would i be willing to do this for twice as many people? Well my hope is this,i hope that maybe by exposing this great idea to more people,then it will get even more people to do something nice for more people.Now i'm not saying i expect these six people to pay it forward to 6 people too.This is just something i would like to do. For the two people that have already commented that they would like to "pay it forward " and for those who don't know how this works i would like to remind you how it is supposed to work so here is the "rules" of how it's supposed to work.

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog

You must post this on your blog also in order to recieve your Pay it forward gift.
as this is the whole idea.have fun with this!

Thank You For Making My Day

I never started crocheting for charity to receive a pat on the back or any thing of the sort.I started doing this work to give back to others and to hopefully bring a bit of happiness to others.In turn the only thing i ever hoped to gain was a sense of accomplishment.But i must admit lately i had been feeling a bit discouraged.Not because of any one other than my own personal feelings that I'm not able to do "enough" I have been trying so hard in the last couple of months to learn new skills and learn how to make things other than just blankets.But it just seemed the harder i tried the further i fell behind.Not only was i not able to learn to make some of the "project"s i wanted to learn to make , but by spending so much time trying to learn to make other things such as hats,baby bonnets etc i wasn't working on the blankets i do know how to make. So therefore NOTHING got done this month for my charities.Though i did get two blankets done for a young lady friend of my son's who i know really could use them as her family isn't giving her any help.so i do feel good that i got at least that much done. I get discouraged sometimes too lately when i look at all of the wonderful work and things that my fellow crocheter's are able to do .Some of these ladies (and gentlemen) have been crocheting for just as long as i have (about 6 months now) some for even shorter lengths of time than me.That was really getting to me.I felt like so why Can't i do these things ? Why can't i make so many things in such a short time too? Then My little sister posted a comment on my blog that i would like to share here,this is what she had to say;

WOW!!! I am your little sister but if I was your big sister I would be
little in the shadow of all that
you have and are accomplisihng with your life.I read what you wrote about being disabled and to those of you who don't know Dawn or haven't known her long she's amazing!I never have nor do I
currenlty see her as disabled. The reason is not that she isn't, it's that even though she is, you don't notice because of all the things she has been and is able to do. And one of the most inspiring things about her is she never lays down & wallows in what she can't do but instead gets up and shows me and the world what she can do.
I am very proud of you and the work you put into this & all the wonderful things you make.Love, Christie

I sat there and just bawled my eyes out when i read this.It was so kind of her to say these things.It made me realize not only that i have been being too hard on myself lately,but she is right, i am not one to sit and wallow in my own b.s.It was time for me to pull my self up by the boot straps and stop feeling sorry for myself.It was time for me to realize that anything worth doing or learning for that matter is worth taking the time to do so.I have come this far learning mainly on my own and when i really take a step back and look at what i have learned and accomplished in just a few short months i should feel proud of my self and grateful.Christie ,you really made my day and gave me the motivation i needed to pull myself out of this slump and get back to work doing what i love so much!The rest will come in time if i stay at it. I guess i just need to learn to be more patient with all of this.I Also want to take the time to thank all of you who not only take the time to stop by and read my blog,but to those of you who have left me kind comments also,and for those who have sent me "beginner Pattern,lent me help and advise.It is all very much appreciated! To my sister,Thank you so much for always knowing the right things to say when i am feeling down and for giving me a kick in the pants when i need it,lol but most importantly.. Thank you for being such a great sister to me and for truly Making my day.... I love ya sis.

ROUND RIPPLE AFGHAN

Well i finally settled on a pattern for my son's blanket.I am going to try to do a Round Ripple For those who have never heard of these or seen how neat they are take a look at this one at Gail's blog.
Round Ripple

Now of course the one i am going to make for him is not going to be a spider man one LOL It is going to be in camouflage but it will be the same shape.I am hoping he will like it and that he won't think it looks feminine.I have seen these done in various different color combos and they looked great.I have seen them done in very masculine colors and they looked just fine.But he's 18 and you know how young men can be.

The above pattern isn't the pattern I'm going to be using.I am going to be using a woman's pattern from crochetville.org the crochet message board i belong to.She is from Australia i believe.Very nice lady.Her pattern seems very easy to follow too.

I am asking for permission from Aggie May to post her pattern.As i would love to share it with all of you.It seems like it will be a great beginners pattern.
I am going to be starting the Raggedy Ann & Andy afghan today as long as i have time.I have a physical therapist,Nurse etc coming over today to do some assessments for me to see if there is anything they could do for physical therapy for me to improve my legs and to see if they could help out with getting around better.They are also going to see if they can get me a few things i need like an electric wheel chair, a wheel chair ramp for the front of the house, an orthopedic hospital bed rather than this old relic i have for right now,they also are going to look into getting me a medical alert thing.(the thing you were and if you need medical help etc you push the button and they call an ambulance etc.They are also going to see about getting me a certified nurses aid or helper of some sort since for one i am home all alone for many hours.some times as much as 13-14 hours.

and i have a need to have some one take me here and there such as the store, doctors apts etc.as i obviously don't drive anymore.
It would be nice just to have some one here to talk to even if it's only for an hour or so.It gets very lonely and pretty depressing.I have no one that comes around to see me.I really don't have any friends to speak of.My best friend is from Wisconsin.I have not gotten to see him in several years.Not since i first moved back home here to Illinois from Wisconsin.Well folks that's all for now.
Dawn

Rageddy Ann and Andy Afghan

I am just about done with the trim on baby Elise's baby blanket.One side of the trim to go.I played around with several different stitches to get a ruffly look to it.I finally decided on chaining 3 then single crochet repeat.The little loops when done in clusters of 3 or 4 make it look ruffly.It's not quite what i had in mind,but it looks cute i think.I still want to try to sit down and make a blanket with that sweet stripes yarn and i will play around a bit more with the edging and see if i can't get it the way i want it to look.Have you ever had a picture in your head of something that you just couldn't put into words ?That's pretty much what this is like.

Anyways,I got a Raggedy Ann & Andy Afghan kit at Hobby Lobby awhile back when i first started to learn to crochet.I had totally forgotten about it.While trying to go through my yarn " stash" to figure out what i could let go of and possible sell on ebay to help pay for some of my medical expenses. I came across the bag where it was still in it.I got a heck of a deal on the kit.It normally sold for over $40.00 but i got it on clearance for $10.00! The yarn is worth more than that.

Anyways,so i decided that i would make it for myself as my "Me project " i have been promising to make myself for fun.I had promised my self awhile back but just never could get myself to pick out a pattern.(guess it goes back to that feeling guilty for taking time out to do something for me.) I didn't realize when i bought it that it's a graph pattern.Not that it would have mattered at the time i was so new to crochet when i bought it that i wouldn't have known what a graph ghan was.

I'm a bit nervous about it since i tend to have a problem with keeping my stitches all lined up straight.plus of course theres the making sure i keep count properly, but it's easy stitches simple Single crochet for the most part.til the end of the pattern then i will be learning some new skills such as the reverse Single crochet,and making and sewing blocks together.

I will try to post pictures as my work progresses.

Pictures of What I Sent To My Holiday Swap Partner

Well i finally went on over to my Holiday swap parner's blog today and copied The pictures she took of what i had sent to her for the crochetville swap.Neither one of was able to take pictures our selves before we shipped the items out.So anyways with out further ado here are the pictures i have been promising.Some of them are a bit dark as she has been having problems with her new camera, but i tried to "clean" them up as best as i could.

Well now i've gone and done it uggh

So i sat down to finally make my first baby hat with my knitting machine.Actually my first project at all with the exception of some practice things.Anyways , i was almost to the end just about to the point where you take the hat off the machine when all of a sudden i hear POP! I knew even before i looked.A needle broke right off! I'm so mad at that damn machine i don't know weather i want to scream or cry.:( so i guess that's the end of that.Oh well.It was a pain in the behind to use anyways and it certainly wasn't saving me any time constantly having to rip it all out every time it would drop a stitch. (which was allot)

so i guess it's back to teaching my self to make hats doing it by crochet.which don't get me wrong i love my crochet.I just thought this would be a nice way to get some done quickly when i wanted to, plus i thought it would be something to do during the times i get burnt out on my crocheting.Even though i love my crocheting , i still need a break now and then.

Knitting Machine

Well just when i was about to give up i finally figured out how to get my knitting machine threaded and ready to start using.Now i just need to practice a bit more with scrap yarn to get down the right tension.I must say the instructions it came with are lousy.If it were not for a video i found through some ladies in a yahoo group i joined i would have never figured this thing out.There are still some things i need to ask about such as once i am done with what ever i decide to make with it,how do i "bind" off etc.but i hope that with a little help from the ladies of the yahoo group i should figure it all out.

I think i will work on some scarves for the scarf challenge for crafting for a cause first since i think doing it this way will hopefully go much faster then i could do by hand .Then once i get them done and out of the way i may try making a couple of hats to get the hang of how to bind off a hat so i can try maybe making a one piece hat scarf combo for myself like i have been wanting to make.I only wish that there were more patterns included in the instruction book or available online.It's kinda like you are all on your own.

Baby Elise (my sons friends baby)was born yesterday.She is a couple of weeks early but you sure wouldn't know it .she is so round and cute! I finished her second blanket finally.I just need to figure out how i want to crochet the edges.I will try to remember to take a picture of it before i get it ready to ship out.

Swap Swap Gals

I want to join Lisa's new swap group Called Swap Swap Gal's . In order to do this one of the things i need to do is answer some questions and post them on my blog so here goes:
What are my hobbies? Well obviously i like to crochet,but i also enjoy reading true crime books and other non-fiction books, I like to play online games at pogo.com,I like to play cards,i enjoy writing in journals,though i haven't done it in awhile now.I like to write poetry.

What crafts do you do? at this point only crochet really.Though i have started to take an interest in soap making and i received a knitting machine that i hope that i will learn to use.

Favorite colors? I love purples,pinks,pastels,pretty much anything but green

Favorite animal? That's a hard one as i love dogs and cats. I have a little chihuahua that i love dearly and he' s my little buddy.

All dislikes:I don't like French vanilla flavoring of any kind eeww, I am allergic to wool,and banana's,I don't like anything with nuts in it,I don't like the color green,I don't like novelty yarn i just can't work with it.

Favorite candies? pretty much anything chocolate .i love chocolate.but i can't eat the dark chocolate due to a heart condition(it elevates my heart rate too much) I also like the chewy sweet tarts love those!

Favorite smell goods? Vanilla,cocoa,strawberry,coconut,coffee,orange,peppermint,peach

Anything else you may or may not like?
Would love to receive a round ripple afghan (i know that's a tall order,but i have tried and tried to make one and just cant),I like tea cups and anything that has them on them,note paper etc,I like stationary,snail mail,hand made book marks,love those cute bed dolls,doily's,journals,fat bottom bag or any bag to carry my crochet stuff in to make trips back and forth to the hospital easier when i get my treatments,a handmade purse would be cute,any wood hooks in sizes f through I,a warm sweater for my chihuahua,bubble bath.I think that's about it! LOL

I am sure some of you who are not into this sort of thing are probably wondering what this is all about.well a swap is basically a gift exchange except you know who your partner will be.Thus the reason for filling out this survey to let your partner know your likes and dislikes. If you would like to check out Lisa's crochet swap site check it out here: swap swap gals
One of the requirements though of the swap is that you also must have a blog.It doesn't have to be on blogger you just have to have one.
this sounds like so much fun and i can't wait to join in on the fun!

I've got the blues

Yesterday was my birthday.I Don't know why ,but the whole day i was so depressed.I am still feeling pretty down today too.I guess i it's because i sat down and reflected a bit about my life and where i am as opposed to where i thought i thought i would be at this point .I never would have thought i would be pretty much homebound and have all of these serious health issues.I thought the health issues were over in my late teens.I have been through more serious health scares in my short 36yrs then most people in there 80's.

It becomes overwhelming at times.It becomes very lonely too.I may not have always liked some of the jobs i have had but at least i had allot of friends to talk to .There are allot of days that go by that unless a bill collector or two calls my phone may never ring at all.Plus the frustration i have been dealing with the last several months of the constant pain and not knowing the cause. There are times i just want to sit down and cry or scream out.but i don't well most days i don't.There are just some times the pain is so bad i can't help it.

Paul was so sweet ,he brought home a cute card and a birthday cake for me.along with a ready made rotisserie chicken dinner for me. I really didn't have an apetite but didn't have the heart to tell him that , so i went ahead and ate any way.I think he was disappointed that i didn't have any cake though . I just couldn't I felt so sick to my stomach and my stomach was in such knots.

I need to snap out of this .

Pictures of Projects I've been working On

Well i finally got around to taking some pictures of the projects I've been working on.Here's the one of the "candy" soaps i did.I really like the way they came out.So i made some more.The chocolate hearts are the first ones i did.The other's are the second batch i did,Which i experimented a bit more.The chocolate hearts were done using the instructions from craft magazine and the rest came from various Internet sites i found.Thought i had bookmarked the site , but i guess not which kinda stinks because i would love to make some more for gifts.Oh well I'm sure if i look hard enough i could find it again.Sorry about the glare on some of them.I decided to wrap them in saran wrap since some of them are going to be going in the basket in my bath room for the "Guests only" i didn't want them to get chipped up or anything and wanted to keep them nice until some one uses them .
Here is the picture of the "pink cammo" Blanket i am working on for my niece.It was supposed to be done for Christmas but there was no way i was going to be able to get it done on time having been in the hospital for several weeks in November and was so deathly ill there was no way i could work on it while i was in there.I didn't feel much better when i got home for several weeks either.anyways.I have been working on it a little here and there.It wasn't supposed to be as big as it is turning out to be.(it will likely turn out to fit at least a full size bed)

but This was one of the first "full size" afghan patterns i tried and not understanding much about "gauge" in a pattern i just went with the size hook the pattern called for.Had i known better of how to measure for gauge i would have realized i should have went WAY down in hook size.LOL oh well.I also have had to run all over to look for skeins of this yarn as i quickly ran out of yarn with the fact that i was using far too big of a hook and so therefor it used up quickly the amount of yarn the pattern called for.

When i went back to the store i originally found the yarn at they told me that the color had been discontinued.DISCONTINUED??!! Gasp!! I panicked now what was i to do? Well i scoured all the stores in my area and couldn't find it.Thank goodness Paul found it in a Hobby lobby store on his lunch hour one day.which i thought was pretty sweet of him I don't know too many guys who would go scouring craft stores for yarn.LOL

well Anyways, I had him buy every skein of this yarn they had.since i have no clue how much it's gonna take.He thought i was absolutely nuts! I have probally 30 skeins of the yarn.I also made him pick up that solid hot pink and matching "cammo brown that you see stripes of.I decided that The design of the cammo yarn while cute was a little too busy and needed something to break it up a bit.I know the 30 skeins is probably way too much yarn even for a blanket that may turn out to fit a full size bed. but i wasn't taking any chances and i figure i will either make something out of the left overs or i will sell the left overs on eBay as it seemed to be such a popular color.I still can't believe they discontinued the color already.It had only been out a couple of months.I hate that.

I still need to get my butt in gear and decide on a pattern for my son's cammo blanket and get working on it.He's been patiently waiting on it for some time now.I just can't find a "manly" pattern that i like.Plus i don't think it gets all that cold in West Virginia as it does here.Not sure on that one though.I want it to be something he will get allot of use out of . not just a month or two in the winter.

I asked him to pick out a pattern when he was here.He picked a really hard pattern though that is way above my skills right now. Not that i didn't try to make it.I just couldn't figure it out.

I am just about done with the baby afghan for his female friend though i forgot to take a picture of it so i guess that can wait til i am finished with it.I figure if i stay at it i will be done with it by the end of the weekend if all goes well.

You say New years resolution .. I say To Do List..

So every one is making "new years Resolutions" I have thought allot about that this year.I make "resolutions" every year and usually i forget about them only a short time later.I don't think i take these "resolutions" seriously.I guess it's just something i thought of as some Corney tradition.
So this year i think i will take a different out look on the whole thing.I have sat down and made a bit of a "To do list" instead.I have always been a List maker.I think i get this from my mom.(oh lord i AM turning into my mother.. it's the curse.. LOL) Anyways.I think if i look at it this way i may actually get something accomplished! so here goes.....

My 2008 To Do List

1.Get down to goal weight of 130 pounds (no i'm not fessing up to exactly how many pounds i need to loose,just what i want to weigh LOL)

2.Stash bust!!! (for those of you who don't crochet or knitt this means use up my HUGE stash of yarn before buying any more yarn)

3.Complete UFO's (again for you non-threadies,UFO's are not the flying kind (giggles) it stands for Un-finished-objects)

4.Try my best to make at least one item for my various charities and mail them out.

5.Be brave and start trying out "harder" patterns.

6.Learn to make baby booties,bonnets,Chemo hats,round ripple afghans.

7.Maintain This blog on a regular basis.

8.R.O.A.K as many people on crochetville as possible.(Random Act Of Kindness.,On the ville ,people can have wish lists and if you are able you send pick some one and send them something off of there list as a "fairy god mother" anonymously)

Well that's about it.I will try to keep you all updated as i achieve my "goals"

Latest projects

Well i have Made some of the home made "valentines" soap i had mentioned in my previous post.I think it came out pretty good.It smells so yummy! I used cocoa as the scent since they are for valentines day.I like the way they came out so well i may make some more for "The guests only little basket i want to put together for the bathroom.I want to make some fancy face cloths,hand towels,etc for the basket.I may buy some more molds besides the heart shaped ones i got for valentines day.I'll have to see what i can find.

I also have been working on a baby afghan design of my own.I am using Bernat baby coordinates sweet stripes i think is the name of the yarn.It's a purple and white yarn.I had never used this yarn before,i had actually planned to use this yarn to make a couple of patterns i had seen in this months crochet magazines i had picked up.but that didn't work out as this is the kind of yarn i would call "fragile" and you definitely have to be careful in my opinion with the size hook you use.

So i decided to make up my own pattern.Or try to anyways.LOL what i decided i wanted to do was to use Half Double crochet,and make some bobble stitches throughout,i would like to make a ruffly edging when I'm through.That is if i can figure out how to do that.I have seen others who have done that with the edges of there ghans and i love it.It may take a bit of time to figure it out, but that's OK.

I also have been slowly working on finishing my nieces blanket that i had intended on having finished by Christmas until i had wound up in the hospital for so long in November.That really threw me behind on my time schedule i had allowed my self to get things done.I want to get hers finished up so i can get going on her mom's Chicago cubs blanket.

I have a hard time working on "full size blankets as i find my self getting over whelmed some times and "bored" i guess that's maybe why i like making baby ghans so much.They seem to go so much faster.

I finished a loofah for myself , but want to make some matching facecloths and hand towels to match.I'm a little disappointed with the loofah.I don't know why ,but it didn't come out as well as the other ones i have made did.but that's OK it still will serve it's function. LOL.I used the loofah pattern that's listed in the "pattern links" section on my blog "home page" Still haven't tackled that back scrubber pattern, but think i may once i get caught up a little on other projects i want to get finished.

I Got an Early Birthday Present!

My birthday isn't until January the 17th ,but my Boyfriend was nice sweet enough to get me an early birthday present.I have been struggling with trying to make hats both for babies and i want to make some Chemo hats too for a hospital that i go to for infusion treatments for Genetic Lung disorder.There is such a need there for donations of Chemo hats for the cancer patients.Anyways, My boyfriend knew i had been looking at diffrent Knitting looms, Knitting machines etc.That i thought might help me until i can learn to crochet hats.So He went out and bought me a "knitting machine" now it won't make baby hats like i know he had hoped it would.And actually until i got a chance to look through the instructions i too thought you could make baby hats.but that's ok.I still can make adult hats,scarves,even purses, sweaters and allot more.

I need to have him sit down with me and go over how to actually use it as the instructions are what i would call "guy" instructions.By this i mean they are the diagram type instructions.I have never been that good with those kind of instructions.
I am trying to find out if there are patterns on the internet for these machines some where.I am sure there are as i have found patterns for the Kniffty knitting looms that i had looked at.

I made some home made soap .I used the recipe that i got out of that craft magazine i had posted previously about.It turned out so yummy i am thinking about making some more.They really are easy to make . I decided to use cocoa as the "scent" There almost too pretty to use.I think i may make extra just to "display " in the bathroom along with some crocheted "Just for the guests hand towels and washcloths" i'm going to make .I also made myself a loofah.It came out ok i guess though i can't figure out why it didn't come out as good as the previous ones i have made.

Still not feeling all that well , and i am STILL waiting to get into the specialist about my legs and i must say i am starting to get impatient about it too.I think i have waited long enough.Even if he is a specialist.

I wanted to mention, I still have two spots left for the Pay It Forward. (see Pay It Forward Post to see what all the fun is about if you don't already know)

PAY IT FORWARD

I found out about this wonderful thing that is going on in the blogging world. It's called "Pay it forward."The whole idea behind this is Once some one has payed it forward to you, you pic three people to pay it forward to. Here in the blogging world, you pick the first three people that comment your blog saying they want to pay it forward too. I was chosen by Laurah of A Whole Load of Craft And now it's my turn to PIF to three others. Leave me a comment, and I will PIF to you. Here's the are the rules.

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog

Please be sure to e-mail me your cantact info and mailing address.you can e-mail me at crochet4charity@gmail.com If you don't give me a way to contact you i can't send you your gift.
Just be sure when e-mail ing me you put Pay it forward address in the tittle so i know it's not spam

Ideas For New Projects

Well as i said In my previous post,I haven't been well over the last several days so needless to say i haven't even thought about picking up a crochet needle,I got a few crochet magazines from Meijer's while out looking for a winter coat.I was really excited to find them as i have never been able to find anything but "Crochet!" magazine and some times that's hard to come by.I have scoured my local craft stores and bookstores for crochet magazines and they never carried anything but that one magazine.They always have ton's of scrap booking and knitting magazines but never crochet.Anyways, well today i finally feel a little better so i started thumbing through them.I am In the mood to make some preemie baby blankies and perhaps some really easy valentines things.
Well I found a pattern in "Crochet" magazine for a preemie blanket that i think would go well for a boy or a girl(it's on page 18)

It looks pretty interesting too.You don't start out with the regular foundation chain.Instead they have you start out by chaining 2,yo,insert hook in 2nd ch from hook,Yo,pull loop through ,yo,pull through 1loop in ch. I have never worked with a pattern that does this and not a "start chain." so I'm thinking of making this one.It also has the measurements for other size babies too.which is nice because alot of times the stitch guide isn't given on preemie blankets for other sizes.

They also have an adorable pattern for what the call "cottontail cuddlers"
It's an adorable "bunny ears" hat and matching mittens.I have never made a baby hat before.Not to say that i haven't tried many times but since i am new to working in the "rounds" i still struggle with where to put all of my stitches but I'm definetly going to put this at the top of my to do list as soon as i have some one actually show me how to make hats.

I also picked up a magazine called "Crafts 'n Things" I had never seen this magazine before or if i have i guess i never really paid any attention to it not knowing that it contained a section for crochet patterns as well as rubber stamping,soap making , and ton's of other crafts.I must say,though i never had considered learning anything but crochet,but after looking at some of the other projects in there, i think i might actually like to learn how to make my own soaps.They have the easiest instructions for doing it i have ever seen,And they don't require you to invest in allot of equipment or money for the projects. I had a friend some years ago that used to make her own candles and soaps and she had all of this equipment and huge blocks of "glycerin soap" etc etc. i was like man that's too much work!

So anyways, I think i may just have to check my local Hobby lobby out and see if they have some of the supplies to make these adorable "conversation heart candy" soaps for valentines day.I think it would be fun.They also had super simple bath salt and candle instructions too for valentines day.

The one thing I'm definetly going to make is a baby girls blanket on page 37 it's beautiful.It's white with a cute pink ruffle.Most of the pattern looks to be super simple as it's mainly Sc and Dc
they only thing that will be a new challenge to me will be a stitch called "SC2tog"
I know i have seen that in other patterns before and i always skipped making those patterns since they never would tell you how to do that stitch,But now that this pattern tells me how to do it.It really doesn't look that hard.The ruffle looks a bit challenging too.But i don't think (and i hope lol)It's nothing i can't do if i pay attention to what I'm doing and i don't rush i should be fine.

Crochet World Magazine has a cute "super market" bag pattern on page 10 It's made with white cotton yarn and pink trim with cute hearts you crochet and attach and in the center of the hearts they put little flower buttons that have smiley faces.I have never made a bag or purse before either but i think this is also something i want to put on my learn to do list.Though i think i would rather use it as a purse.It's too cute for the grocery store! LOL

I'm still looking for some Easy valentines day patterns for things like pot holders,refrigerator magnets,coasters,afghans,etc.

Not Been Feeling Well

I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Years.
I haven't blogged in a few days as i have been In allot of pain over the last week or so now.As some of you are aware,I have many health problems including severe back and leg pain.(I had a botched back surgery a few years ago.) I was hospitalized for a little over 3 weeks back in November.I had both blood poisoning and severe bone pain in my lower legs.The only thing they came up with is that after many specialized scans and tests,a specialist said that There is an area in the left leg that goes from the top of the foot up to the middle of my ankle that has no blood flow going to it which then caused the bone to die,on the right side it's from the ankle half way up my shin.They have no answers as to what caused this or even how to prevent it from spreading up my leg. I have to go and see a specialist at the University Of Chicago Hospital to have further testing and to see if they can figure out what is going on.I have been waiting to get into him because of the holiday season.It seems like forever i have been waiting some days.But i should be getting an appointment with him soon they tell me.Never thought i would say i can't wait to see a Doctor.