Long time no bloggy

Hi there friends!

Wow! Summer has sure caught up with me!  Lately my outdoor activities has been a priority, and crafting has sort of taken a back seat. Never the less a few things have been crocheted, knitted, and sewn around here. I'm trying to put some of these together to share with you in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, keep cool, and for heavens sake keep crafting!!!!!

( I found this on Pinterest) sooo true!

:: playing and learning ::

Hello friends!

Hope everyone is having a great start to spring, I know I have. Even though horrible allergies and an even worse flu have had their grip on me for a few weeks now, I've still managed to play with some yarn, and learn a thing or two in the process.

I decided to make a tiny flower garland to welcome the nice spring weather we've been having lately,  I've been loving all the soft pastel colors that this season brings with it. I'm especially rediscovering pink, I've always loved how that soft color adds a touch of femininity to everything. Hard as it may be to include into  my household decor, (Mr. W. is not too crazy about pink)

I will at least try to accent a bit here and there with the most subtle shades that I can find.

What I'm most excited about is how much my knitting has progressed, I've been practicing a lot lately, and have dared to try more than just garter and stockinette stitches.

The little leaf pattern looked difficult, but once I started and got the hang of it I was amazed at how easy it was.          So two lovely girls in my family got skinny scarves made out out of these little leaves. My biggest challenge was knitting a lace pattern.  Did I get it? Yes, so easy peasy!!!  Not too shabby for a beginner if I must say so....

Gotta go now, More hooky things to finish up, and a bit of knitting too.

XOXO.  SEE YA!!!

Anna E. DeSoto

:: My backyard, part two ::

Hello my dear friends,

Just a short post to say hi, and to show you a bit of what goes on in my springtime.
This year has been really good for Calla Lilies, I've had fresh bouquets every week for the past 3 weeks. These are such elegant and sturdy flowers, they last from Friday to Friday as long as I change the water a couple of times a week. I also want to show you my first spring rose. Next to the blooming Wisteria, my first spring rose is something I really look forward to.
My roses are doing exceptionally good this spring as well. I'm looking forward to a few bouquets before summer.

I am most excited about our little tomato patch, so far so good. But more about that later. :)

Have a great weekend everyone.
Blessings!!!!

Spring in my backyard

Hello my dear friends!

I hope that this spring has brought newness and freshness to everyone.
I realize that many of you are still dealing with the tail end of winter. I know last week my family in Chicago was still dealing with freezing weather.
But take heart, spring always comes around, and when it does, it brings with it such beauty and a desire to start fresh, that its well worth the wait.

One of my favorite springtime events is watching my Wisteria bloom. First the velvety buds, then a flower or two, and before I realize it I step out of my back door and stand under a canopy of the beautiful lavender blue blooms that hang almost like bunches of grapes.
The scent is heavenly, and to hear the bees and bumble bees just buzzing and collecting pollen everywhere, is almost too much. I sometimes can't believe that all this beauty is in my own backyard!!!
I cannot even begin to describe the total loveliness, just beautiful blooms on bare wood, no leaves to distract or take away from their beauty.
I enjoy being in my backyard as much as I can, I try to sit out there to read, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, or just sit and do absolutely nothing.
In a week or two, the blooms will all have fallen, (that's another beautiful stage, it's like flowers falling from the sky) and new leaves will start to grow. These will be our much needed summertime shade. This is the most beautiful climber I have ever seen anywhere.

So many other things going on in my backyard, and I will share them all with you over the next couple of weeks.

For now, I hope you all have a wonderful week, full of all of Gods
awesome creations.


Hugs and hugs to all!!!!

:: A little bit of this and that ::

Hello my dear friends!


Once again I've gone and disappeared for a bit. I really don't know what it is lately, maybe I get too busy with my hook and needles that everything else just gets put on the back burner ( on low). I really don't know what it is, but I can assure you, there is always yarn in my hands. I'm either crocheting or knitting something, as you can see from my pics. I'll share the completed pieces later.

Lately though, I decided to dust off the old sewing machine. I'll admit, I have sewn a few things which I have neglected to share. ( trust me, nothing too spectacular.). But lately I've been in kind of a recycling, restyling, repurposing kinda mood. You know how it is, you want to get rid of stuff, but then you start to think, hmm, how can I reuse this, or the fabric on this shirt is too nice to throw out, or or or...... Ya know.
Well, last week it came down to one pair of jeans! Yes my dears just one little pair that were still in really good condition but for some reason were not all that comfy. I really never wore them much. I'm a strong believer in spending a few more bucks for a well fitting comfortable pair of jeans. Soooo, I remembered that back in the 70's ( I'm giving away my age huh?) my sister and I got into the "turn- your- old- jeans-into a-skirt" craze.
I think we kinda went overboard and ended up with these horribly sewn denim skirt and no jeans to wear. Waa waa waa.
Anyway, armed with a bit more sewing experience, and a few hints from really good tutorials, I decided to try and recycle these barely worn pair of jeans.
And you know what? They're not turning out so bad. I'm not quite done with them yet, I still have to add a new waistband. And I'm trying to decide on weather to hem them, let them fray naturally, or crochet a nice little edging. I guess that'll be the last thing I'll do. I'll share when I'm done.
For now, back to finishing everything else. Sometimes I wish I were an octopus with hands and fingers. :-/

Well my dear friends, thank you so much for stopping by. I really do appreciate all of you. Hugs, and more hugs to all.

P.S, I apologize for the bad pics, I'm working on that, really. :)

:: One project at a time ::

Good morning friends,

Just a quick note to share one of my latest projects. I crocheted this fancy frock for my granddaughter from a pattern I found in one of my old Interweave crochet magazines. The only difference from the original is that I chose not to add the cap sleeves.
The bodice is simple double crochet, and the skirt is an open work stitch.
I lined the skirt with coordinating 100% cotton. ( fat quarters )
And voila!!!!
She loves it.

Have a great day everyone!!!

:: The sweater that never was ::

Hello my darlings,
I've been away too long. Sometimes I come to this little place that in the past was often updated and always visited, and wonder where have I been?
It's a bit stale and dusty this little bloggy space of mine. But here I go again! A new year, a new beginning.

Back in October I wrote about my trip to my hometown of Chicago. By the way, I took pics but since my camera stayed behind my phone pics were not good enough for posting.
Anyway, for my trip I decided to crochet myself a Bonnie new sweater. With much enthusiasm and very little time I started to crochet this wrap sweater from the stitch n' bitch book by Debbie Stoller. It seemed to be coming along just fine! But then I decided to try it on before I crocheted the lacy edge.
That's where everything short circuited.
OMG!!!!! It was horrible!!!! My gauge was good, it looked ok, but the fit was really awkward. Too snug in the under arms, the collar was kind of funky, and the sleeves made no sense at all !!!!
Don't get me wrong now, I'm not blaming the pattern, I must've done something terribly wrong!!!
So, after all that work ( more then three quarters of the way). I did the unthinkable, I frogged it!!!! It was very frustrating.
Not only that, but now I'm stuck with a gazillion skeins of red yearn that I wasn't even too sure about to begin with.
Enter, my little Ireland and her love of the color red. My daughter gave me a few ideas, and voila!!!! This little knitted tunic top was the result.
She loves it!!! And I loved knitting it.

One little problem, what will I make with the rest of that yarn? Red isn't exactly one of my favorite colors to wear. I guess I'll add it to the bottom of my stash, who knows what ideas Valentines day may bring. Well my dears, if you have any suggestions please feel free to share.

Have great weekend!!!! XOXOXO