79 and a stressful day...

79

Only one square today;  a day fraught with the stress of unplanned-for auto repairs, amongst other things.


I think I'm doing well getting this posted :)

Mr. Bernard

Mr. Bernard, king of all he surveys from his corner perch in the bedroom.

Sunday Snippet In My Deck Garden and 77, 78

77

78

It was noted when I laid out all the squares together that I was very short on 3-d flowers.  Therefore, I'll be remedying this for the next few squares.

<--  Looks better in person, and I will probably do another with the same flower in a different background.










<--  This I LOVE!  You know how I love a good variegated yarn, and I'm thinking it made the perfect flower.  All three yarns here are Bernat Satin, a yarn that I become more enamored of every day.

Volunteer ferns threatening to crowd out the just emerging 'Patriot' hosta.  This a beautiful little hosta, which I may have to transplant at the end of the season.  I haven't the heart to mess with the ferns, I think they are probably more difficult to transplant.

We have very wet weather here, and not much sun on my deck.  When plants appear on their own and thrive, I like keeping them.

A case in point are these alder seedlings that seeded themselves into this planter three years ago.  I've been playing at training them to grow in ways that perhaps don't come naturally.

I hang beads and lovely things from the branches to pull them down, spread them out.

Sometimes I stake a limb...but mostly I love hanging things in my 'trees'.



Like this.

And this.

A fir tree that decided to grow in my chocolate mint.

Two small cedar seedlings and a violet that have taken up residence in a pot of sedums.

My constant companion :)

A quiet Saturday; 75, 76

75

76

Both of these squares are from 200 Crochet Blocks.  I have seen blogs with 'favorite books' on the side, each with a link (or so I presume).  Sure would like to know how to do that!  Perhaps that should be my mission for today :)

***Mission Accomplished!  See Left***

I like sticking with the same color pallette for a few blocks, until I get bored.

You never know how colors are going to work together.  In this case, I think #76 is a bit more cohesive than #75.




Variegated yarns, in my mind, were not really born to be used in Granny squares...they tend to overwhelm.   But I dearly love variegated yarn!  So I keep trying.

All 73 almost in one place + 74

Here are all 73,  all brought out and ready  to be laid out on my bed.

I'm standing on a step ladder, thinking that I can take a shot of all of the squares laid out at one time.  Not!  Here is one side of the bed, and:

And here is the other.  There wasn't room for all of them at once, so I saved out the 3-d flowers and some of the six inchers to picture separately.  I've planned 365, and after seeing how much space the first 73 take up, I wonder what I will do with them all!

All of the approximate 6" squares together, and:

All of the 3-d flowers together.  Probably because making these are not my favorite, I thought there were many more of them than this.  Since I envision all of the 3-d squares being sewn into a blanket for my granddaughter, I guess I'd better make some more of them :)

Mr. Bernard wondering just how he could be of assistance...

Surely I want a kitty centerpiece!  Why not!  He is a very good boy (mostly) and does not attempt to play with the yarn while I am working (much).

I'm very glad I've been able to convince Mr. Bernard that yarn is not for him.  When he first came to live here, I thought that making a toy for him would be a good idea.  I took a stick from another cat toy and tied about 2 feet of yarn to it, and I would dangle it for him to play with.  The second day after I made that little toy I went into the kitchen for a couple of minutes...and when I came back in it had swallowed all but 2 inches of the yarn!  Thank heavens it was attached to a stick, or he would have swallowed it all.  I was able to carefully pull it back out, but I know it bothered his throat.  But he is ok, fortunately.  No more yarn for Mr. Bernard.

Work in Progress, the next square.

74

The start of a new collection of squares.

#73, and the state of owing.

73

Is it true?  Have I actually made 73 different granny squares?  Tomorrow I'm thinking I will get them all out and arrange them together.  I'm hoping for a sunny day (never a certainty in the Pacific Northwest), to get good natural light

I'm working in 200 Crochet Blocks at the moment, taking a break from 50 Fabulous Crochet Squares, which threw me one too many 3-d flowers.

Oh I'm really looking forward to laying them all out and playing with them tomorrow!

Ok, back to worrying about the state of my credit cards now.  The last two months have thrown me one financial slam after another, none of which was foreseen.  Time to buckle down and pay off as much as possible every month, until things are back under control.

Although...I did have one card completely paid off as of two days ago.  Then today my car cost me $400 in repairs....guess what card is no longer paid off.  Sigh.

Also saving the saga of the demented car alarms for another day....just can't think about it.

3KCBWDAY1 Primordial Crochet

Primordial crochet

I've been holding onto my one skein of madelinetosh TOSH DK 'malachite' every since I found it it and made it my own.  Picked out a nicely shaped rock to cover and here is the result.  I am more than in love with it!

WIP and Mr. Bernard

72

Basketweave afghan

Granny o' the day :)
















I started this afghan yesterday on a whim...as if I didn't have enough projects!  I had the yarn (Lion Brand Homespun 'Lagoon') sitting in the stash, and suddenly it called my name.  What can I say?  I figure, a couple of rows a day or so...

Mr. Bernard consented to be my model today.  He was looking out the window, and what I like here is that you can see his nice Siamese patch on the back of his head.  He is part Siamese or a related breed...his vet refers to him as 'lynx point'.

He's a bit standoffish, being affectionate only when he is in the mood.  He's only been with us a month (about), but I can see progress.

When he first came, if you pet him and it wasn't his idea, you would get nipped.  Also he has a couple of self stim behaviors that I am working on eliminating.  I wait until I see him behaving correctly, and go pet him with a little pieces of treat in my hand.

I pet him all over while delivering the treats one at a time.  I'm using teeny pieces so he doesn't really get much...he's on a kitty diet.

He's lost about half a pound so far, with another pound to go.  The amount he's lost so far makes a huge difference!  To me he looks just fine now, but the vet insists he has another pound to lose

The vet also thinks that cats that have Siamese in their genetic makeup are a bit more standoffish just by nature, so it is not surprising he's a bit like that.  What I love seeing is that he is starting to vocalize a lot more, because I love having a cat that 'chats'.  His purr is coming around more often, and is loud enough to hear.  I sure wonder what went on during the first 8 years of his life.....

The Closet! and 4 grannies

Ramona's closet in progress

In the last couple of days we have taken almost everything out of Ramona's closet and gone through it, something that hasn't happened for several years.  We have sent several bags (garbage sized bags) to Goodwill.  We have sent several bags to the dumpster.  If this sounds like it was difficult to walk into the closet, it was almost impossible to open the door.  We moved the rear shelving into position (after tossing the metal shelves that used to be there, which,  if I am correct, were bought by my mother with green stamps).  Does anyone besides myself even remember green stamps?  And ok, I didn't toss them, they are going to Goodwill, too.

Then I went and laid down for an hour, when  fatigue reminded me that I had surgery recently, ha ha.

My neighbor Karen gave use the pink and purple shelves when she moved recently.  After the renovation, they fit perfectly!  Thank you, Karen!  Ramona is thrilled!

Elizabeth and Charlie 

Since I was thinking of Karen, I am posting this picture of Elizabeth (my granddaughter) and Charlie (Karen's dog, who was about 3 months old in this photo).

Can we all say, awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww?

We miss you, Karen and Charlie!

68

69

 Have almost finished the poncho for Elizabeth.  Then I have a wrap to make for Clara's friend Tracy, and another for Clara Marie.  Recently finished a large shrug for my friend Tracy, who is facing turbulent waters in her life at present.  Wishing I had taken a picture of it before I let it go, though!

Here are the four latest grannies:






I'm rather infatuated with this Bernat Satin yarn, color Goldenrod.  I love how it works up, I love the color, I love it!

The teal yarn is exactly that, teal yarn.  It had no label when I got it at the garage sale, but I rather suspect it is Red Heart, it feels like it.

70

71

Sunday Snippet

Recovered enough from surgery to get back to crochet~

A couple of months ago I challenged myself to create a different granny square a day for a year.  I'm almost keeping up :)

'Held down the fort' for my friend while she took her son and his girlfriend out for his birthday.

This is the kitchen in progress...nice, eh?  Fortunately she has an small auxiliary kitchen in the basement, so they will not starve...

 Also at my friend's house, looking off the deck during a rare moment of sunlight.

My rescue kitty, Mr. Bernard.  Still settling in, but getting more comfortable every day.  

Sitting outside on my own deck, during a rare moment of dry skies.  It is actually sunny out there today, so will have to continue with after winter cleanup.

My own personal ray of sun :)

She has taught me the most important lessons of my life.  I am blessed.

Things are feeling better...

57

58

59

60

61 

62

 I've been crocheting again, and actually staying awake while I do it!  Must be almost recovered from the surgery, finally!

Wishing I could say the same thing about my car. It's always something, no?  My plan for today was to go on a rockhound trip, in order to gather opalized petrified wood.    The plan for tomorrow was to attend a play, Amadeus.

Ah well.

All of the squares here were done during this past week.  Mostly, I've been playing with color!  I think that the selection of greens in #57 is my favorite of the group.  I find that I'm becoming a tremendous fan of green, especially if it shades toward blue.  Yum!

63

64

65

66