Funny Friday - Music Charts

WIP Wednesday - Mystery Afghan CAL

I am still a little behind on this Mystery Afghan CAL but luckily we get an extra week to do Clue #6 (which I haven't started yet).  I was right along with the weekly clues, until I had a house guest.  Even though this particular person doesn't mind if I crochet in the evening, I still felt it was a little rude to do so, so I fell behind.  That is okay though.  I'm not too, too far behind and as I said, I get an extra week to try to catch up.

Anyway.  There are 20 squares of each of these but I am just posting a photo of one of the squares for each clue we've had so far.

Clue #1

Clue #2

Clue #3

Clue #4

Clue #5

Clue 6 joins the squares together, in a fashion that I have never done before.  My goal is to finish the squares by Friday and over the weekend, join the squares (hopefully I can complete that by next Tuesday).  Wish me luck.

Sha la la la la - Live for Today

The Grass Roots are one of my all time very favorite bands - I have loved them since I was a little girl.  Today, I heard "Live for Today" on the radio.  I have always loved this song because that is just how we should live - for TODAY !!

I remember when this was a new song being played on the radio (yes, I'm that old).  I really like this video of a young Grass Roots introduced by the legendary Jimmy Durant (ah cha cha cha cha!)

DIY Saturday - New Backsplash

When I moved into my house, it had this cute country print wallpaper on it in the kitchen.  My mother had put it up probably in the 1980s (I bought my house from my parents when they retired back to their hometown in Florida)

It wasn't really my taste and I wanted to change it for a long time but just didn't know what to change it to...plus it didn't really bother me that much since my mom put it up and it makes me think of her.

 Cute, right?  But country and not me at all.  Here are a couple of more BEFORE photos.

It looked okay and as much as I didn't want to cover up something my mom had done, even she agreed that it was time for a change.  So.....I found this cool company called Dali Decals.  They sell these decals called Modern Mosaics.

So...I thought, hey why not give that a try.  I wanted a tile look as my backsplash but didn't want the expense and the work that came with it...so why not try this?  Much, much, much cheaper than tiles.  When I ordered it - it was delivered in a big roll...like this

I chose the color scheme called San Clemente because it matches my vintage 1950s dishes and pyrex and had the teal color I wanted but wasn't toooooo teal - just enough.  I love teal and brown together so this was perfect.  If you don't like the colors they have, they will custom make the color scheme you want.

So...my friend Susan came to visit and help me put it up (you need 2 people - trust me on this).  I couldn't have done this by myself. We measured, measured again and measured again...what is that saying "Measure twice, cut once" or something like that.  We measured many times because we wanted to get it right.

Then it was as simple as cutting to size and putting it up and slowly peeling of the back, It is really just a big sticker so to speak.  Kind of like scrapbooking on the wall - haha!

 

So what do you think?  It is really much prettier in person and really looks like tiles - I LOVE IT !!

Funny Friday - Justifying Yarn Purchases

WIP Wednesday

I currently have 2 projects that I am working on.

First....a baby afghan.  I have a co-worker that is going to start trying to have a baby (yes, she isn't even pregnant yet but why wait to the last minute).  I decided to make a pattern that I've made twice before because I think it is so pretty and it is fun to make.

The first time I made this was for my niece, who was born in 1981.  Then I made one for a friend, whose son was born in 1986 (I think).  I don't have pictures of those afghans but I made them long before I understand the concept of yarn weight.  Back then, I bought what I could afford and what was available.  The only store available was K-Mart and they sold Red Heart so that is what I bought.  I didn't know about baby weight vs. worsted weight and such.  Needless to say, my baby blankets were pretty BIG!

I'm a self-taught crocheter and back in those days, there wasn't craft stores like Michael's around or the internet to research.  I had a "how to crochet book" that I got at K-Mart and that was the only place where I could buy my supplies at the time.  (They don't even have a craft section anymore)

Anyway.....the "vintage" pattern is Rainbow Set and is from a Leisure Arts Booklet - Leaflet 191 (as you can see, you can also make matching booties and jacket).  Since the booklet is now out of print, you can purchase the pattern on Leisure Arts website.

I picked out some beautiful colors (in baby weight - haha).  I decided to use Baby Bee (Sweet Delight), which is sold at Hobby Lobby.  Aren't the colors pretty?

It starts out in the center like a granny square ( I do enjoy granny squares)

After getting the center square done, you work with white yarn for a bit.  Which is where I am now.
What do you think so far?

Now....I was not going to start another project until this was finished but.....
I accidentally found out about Yarnspirations Mystery Afghan Crochet-a-long (CAL).  I just so happened to see it on Facebook (or maybe it was Ravelry) on the day after it started.  I tried a mystery CAL before and totally did not like it so ended up not completing it. But since I was starting the day after the first clue on this one came out and could see it would be a bit more symmetrical than my previous mystery CAL, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

I used one of the color palettes suggested by Yarnspirations (Version 5).  I liked the softness of the colors.

 So...clue Number 1 (of 10) was easy enough...make 20 granny squares

Clue Number 2 was pretty simple and added a cross on top of the squares

I have finished clue Number 3 and almost though Number 4 but don't have photos of those yet so will post on a future WIP update.  I am a tad behind since Clue #5 started yesterday and I haven't finished with clue 4 yet but I don't think # 5 will take me long so hopefully by the time clue 6 comes out next Tuesday, I will be all caught up.



PS:  I'm already thinking of my next project but it will be knitted.  I have promised myself though that I won't begin it until these 2 projects are complete.

Funny Friday - See Spot Fall