Ooooo...My FAV So Far!

I'm LOVIN' on this square right now!!!

It's called Brighter Daze and I found the pattern on Ravelry.

You start out with a classic Granny center. Then, on your third round, you go OVER your second round to stitch into your first. Kind of like the long stitches.

But then it gets all CrAzY and Weave-ish.

Layers! Crochet is like an Onion. An Onion has layers...Ogres have layers...

I really like the square shape in the middle.

All finished!

Wagon Wheel Square

Today has been a great Catch Up day...so far!

I hesitate to even say that, because I'm now sure that Louie will have some secret science project he has to complete after school, John's glasses will mysteriously explode and Kat will have some sort of 

Fairy-Princess-Dora-Sassy-Fit resulting in my having some permanent hearing damage.

Don't let her Sweet Face fool you. She's a SIREN! The Volunteer Fire Dept. stopped by and wanted to tie her to their truck roof. When there's a tornado, she climbs the roof and lets loose to warn the town. You get the picture.

Anyway. But. For Now. My crochet is coming along!

Here's a close up of the Wagon Wheel Square I found here!

And here's the whole square:

Off to Hook Another!

Small Winterburst Square

I found the pattern for this next square here at One Crochet Day at a Time.

It was really fun to stitch and has a nice texture look to it!

My picture really doesn't do it justice.

I think I need to make one of those light box things to show off my stuff better.

But go check it out! The pattern was easy to follow and hers looked so pretty in one color, I decided to do the same!

A Week Ago

So. Here is my Last Tuesday Granny. This Tuesday.

Did you ever have one of those weeks? I'm sure you have.

Nothing goes right. Murphy's Law. If it can break or stop working...it will.

And then everyone feels blah, and crotchety, and crabby apple-y. Like you feel that everyone is on the verge of coming down with a cold. And since everyone feels ucky, we take it out on each other.

That was last week.

But it' a new week! And the coffee is brewing! And the birds are singing! And the children are laughing!

We'll see if it keeps up...

On to the Granny!

This one is call Bambino Square and it incorporates a couple of new things for me!

I've got the Long Double Crochet going on in the fourth row. And then I made clusters in the fifth row. Pretty basic stuff, but new and exciting to me!

Here's the finished square! Well. Finished for me. There's supposed to be another row, but I'm still paranoid about big squares, so I stopped when I thought it looked good!

I LOVE the Long Double Crochet! It makes me think of those first two baby teeth, poking up. Weird?

I found the Bambino Square here but I'm sure I found it via Ravelry (I just can't find it on my line up over there).

Please Stand By...

Due to Equipment Malfunction:

1. My children getting into my yarn and having a FIELD DAY

2. My overly optimistic choosing of Grannies Beyond My Skill Level

3. A slew of problems with my camera

My Granny Challenge has been delayed.

I think we're about re-grouped and should be back with your Regularly Scheduled Granny soon.

Seriously. It took me about 9 hours to de-knot and roll my beautiful skeins of yarn into yarn balls. 9 hours.

If my camera was working, I would have taken pictures. Ugh.

Little Circle Square Granny

These Grannies are starting to blur for me...I think I need to ump it up a notch!

But I really like the Classic Granny Look, too!

Like today's!

I found the pattern here at Signed With an Owl!

It's cute and was fun to stitch up! Her tutorial was great and easy to follow. I didn't have to squint once!!!

Tomorrow I'm going to be daring, however...and hook outside my comfort zone!

Granny...Number...I've Lost Count!

So. I'm back on track!

I just finished my 12th Granny!!! Would that be "Hot off the Hook"?

I found this one on Ravelry...again. Really. It's getting as bad as Pinterest!!!

This is a nice & basic square that was quick to crochet!

Playing Catch-Up

Or Crochet-Up???

I'm so far behind...I'm about to lap myself!!!

Well. I've missed Sat. and Sunday posting. But we had a FUN weekend!

So I feel guilty...but only a little!

I'll start with my Saturday Square.

This one is called the Sunburst Granny and I found the pattern here at Ravelry.

It's rather pretty!

But I don't want this to be a super long post, since I'm combining two days worth of squares. Short & Sweet!

Here's Sunday's Square.

It's called the Flower Button Granny. I found this one on Ravelry, too...here.

This is the first time I've ever marked a row! Exciting Stuff!

And there's my Crochet Weekend!

I've got some more stuff I want to share...Grandparent Lunch, Birthday Party...

So STAY TUNED!!!

ps. Also, today's Square. Coming Soon!

Light & Airy Early Morning Granny

Ooo La La!

I'm early today! Bringing you today's Granny before 9 am!

This one was super quick and I only used one color, because I think the design is pretty on it's own.

See what I mean! Here's a close up:

I found the pattern here. It's supposed to have a few more rounds, but I chickened out and quit while it still looked good!!!

Now it's time to Power Clean for the party tomorrow and hit the store to grab the grub!

Traditional (?) Granny

When I first saw this Granny here, I thought it was a traditional Granny. Then I noticed there isn't as big of a space between the double crochet clusters. It's a nice twist!

What do you think?

And now...another Artsy Fartsy Lighting Shot

Well. Our cRaZy week is almost over.

Tomorrow = Grandparent Luncheon at Louie's school in honor of Grandparent's Day. And John's first micro-soccer game. Should be hilarious!

Sat = John's (very belated) Family Birthday Party. Then an outdoor church service. Then a pig roast dinner at church and the Husker game.

Sunday = Our Parish festival. Always fun! And then our Pack is doing clean-up for a service project.

Totally Do-able! But I've got to clean the house & garage in there sometime...and do about 90 loads of laundry! Oh. And I think our sink still is full of dirty dishes from the day. Oh. And I might be procrastinating. Can you tell???

Today's Granny...

Today's Granny is a great combination of two things I really enjoy:

Crochet (which I know how to do) + Quilting (which I would like to know how to do)!

It's called the Log Cabin Granny and I found the pattern here at Dutch Girl Diary. Erin has got a great tutorial with lots of pictures to keep you on track!

Wanna see mine???

Isn't it cool? You can make yours a lot bigger, but I'm finding that my smaller squares have less of a chance of going all wonky on me! I wanted to stay true to my color combo for this challenge, but I can see these made up in a crazy variety of colors!

We've got this crazy busy week & weekend going on. I'm finding the time I set aside to get these squares done really is helping me to calm down and relax. Yay for Crochet!!!

Circle In the Square Granny

PHEW! I'm cutting this one pretty close!

Today's Granny is called Circle In the Square & I LOVE IT!

Love it...Like I want to make a whole Blanket out of It!!!

I found the pattern here.

So cute & simple! I can picture a whole afghan in crazy colors!

Love that inner circle!!!

And...it was a total bonus that the square only took me about 20 minutes!!!

Granny Fail!

Well. It was bound to happen. I was getting all cocky and puffed up with my Granny Success.

FAIL!

I'm embarrassed to even post photos of this one, but I want to stay true to my challenge. And with all the good comes bad...right??? Plus, maybe you more seasoned crocheters could give me some critique on what probably went wrong. I'm thinking it's my tension, but what do I know?!?

Or I could blame my new Hook! I'm tempted to go with that...but I know my tension is not what it could be. I tend to crochet really tight. Like so tight I have a hard time poking the hook through on the next round. With this challenge, though, I've been pleased that my stitches have been loose and easy. So...before this starts reading like soft-crochet-porn (hook, tight, loose, easy...)! Here she is!

Can we say Wonky??? Yikes! Tension? I've stretched and stretched and I can't get her straight!

I need to give some credit, though...the pattern I just murdered was found here. See how pretty it is supposed to be?!?

And my zoom lens found some very pretty sections of my square...

The center turned out great!

Pretty little rows.

See! She looks great in bitty pieces! 

Here's my new Hook. It was working great in the beginning!

A Granny A Day...

As promised...Here is Granny Numero Four!

LOVE IT!!!

I found this adorable Granny here at Attic 24! And everything else at Attic 24 is also pretty amazing!

This square had me learning something new...the Bobble Stitch. I was pretty nervous after it took me forever to figure out the Magic Circle. But Attic 24 does a fantastic job explaining what to do. Even a confused leftie like me could figure it out!!!

I'm becoming deeply involved in this color combo. I think it's puppy love...

Now we're back on track for tomorrow!

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

ABC a'la ME!

I was sitting here catching up on my Blog Reads when I found this fun idea over at

artsy-fartsy mama!

It reminded me of my Old School MySpace days. I know. How 2003 of me.

Anywho...I had to play along!!!

ENJOY!

A. age: 34 or (as I like to say) mid-30's. Ever since I turned 30, I've been confused because the numbers all mash up. 31, 35, 33, 38...is there a difference? At any rate, I was born in '77.

B. bed: We've got a king. It ate our bedroom, but it's comfy and we all can fit on it during a thunderstorm.

C. chore you hate: Doing the dishes. You wash them, put them away and in a mili-second my family has gotten them all dirty again. It never ends.

D. dogs: Not currently. We had a Papillion named Maverick. Our house/yard isn't Dog Friendly, but if we ever move we're getting a cocker spaniel!

E. essential start of the day: Going #1! Sorry to be blunt...but I'm not one to wake up overnight to go...so come morning I gotta GO!

F. favorite color: GREEN

G. gold or silver: Silver

H. height: 5 foot 10. I'm a giant!

I. instruments you play: Piano, Flute & Trumpet. I hadn't played the trumpet since senior year jazz band, but I was able to belt out Taps for my Cub Den at a Flag Ceremony so I'm owning it!

J. job title: I like to call myself Queen Bee of the Pooh Pahs. But really, I'm a SAHM, so I pretty much do everything.

K. kids: Three. Eight, four & two. Boy, boy & girl.

L. live: In the great state of Nebraska! The Good Life...

M. maiden name: Lochman (Lock Man)

N. nickname: AIM, Ames, Mimi Tay

O. overnight hospital stays: Three. Their names are Louie, John & Kat.

P. pet peeves: Impatient Drivers. Really? Your time is so much more important than the rest of ours? You have to run that red light? You have to honk at me if I stop at a red light? You have to cut us off to race to the next red light? Grrrrr...

Q. quotes: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind, don't matter and those who matter, don't mind." Dr. Seuss

R. righty or leftie: LEFTIE!!! Does this still count as an "R"? 

S. siblings: ZERO. I'm an only.

T. time you wake up: 6:50. Ugh.

U. university attended: University of NE at Omaha.

V. veggies you dislike: Brussel Sprouts & Lima Beans. Peee-Ewww.

W. what makes you late: We are those annoying people who are always 15 to 20 minutes EARLY! However, a couple of times we have cut it close to being late and it's been because of Poop-Tastrophes. You can imagine.

X. x-rays you've had: Teeth, Wrist (broken), Ankle (bone chip)

Y. yummy food: Ice Cream, Strawberries, Mexican Food, Italian Food, Potato Dumplings, Celery w/ Peanut Butter, Nutella, Cheese...

Z. zoo animal favorite: Penguins! All the way. They crack me up and yet they're so beautiful and graceful in the water.

A Granny A Day...

Today I'm posting Yesterday's post!

Our Sat. was going great! The Huskers were playing...our first game in the Big 10. Good food. Family time watching some football. Got my square done.

Then our middle one started coughing. That nasty, deep, croupy cough. And the fever came on. Not terrible, just 101-ish. Enough to make him a cuddly, quiet & sleepy version of his normal self!

So I climbed into bed with him to take full advantage of this unusual cuddle opportunity and I fell promptly asleep. At 8 o'clock! No joke.

So...this afternoon I'll be doing two Granny Posts!

Granny #3

Meet "Nuthatch". I found the pattern here at eggbird designs!

I really like the way it turned out! And I forced myself to learn how to start a piece via Magic Circle. Very scary for a left-handed novice! Thanks to youtube...I think I have it down!

Here's how she looked a few rounds in.

Crochet Jelly Fish aka...Amy needs to weave in her loose ends!

A final look. The Magic Circle really does make the center look nice and solid.

Now I'm off to crochet today's Granny so I can share it with you later. Unless I fall asleep at 8 again!!!

A Granny A Day...

I just finished my second square and I'm pretty excited!

Isn't she pretty??? I really like this one! I found the pattern here at Yarning.

I love the first two rounds!

I'm not sure what my camera was doing...but I kind of like how artsy fartsy this one looks! Oh...er...I mean I made this photo look all artsy fartsy on purpose!!!

Whoops! I guess I didn't think ahead about the squares being all different sizes! I think I'll plow on and then I can always add rounds, or make some extra squares to make my throw all nice and rectangley!

See....my Second Square is a perfect quarter of my First.

Fingers Crossed!!!