Joanne

Joanne
My life and crafting times.

Saturday 31 May 2014

Tutu Dress and Yuccas

I have been working on different project this past week. I finished another two pair of the slippers, Which was very good. 

I also worked on a cute Tutu Dress for our youngest granddaughter Caelin.
Some of the people have commented that it looked like a dress from Frozen. They are so right.

I got this as a free pattern from Free Patterns by Ness and Crochet Buddy's a group on Facebook. Patricia Klonoski is the creator of the pattern which she shares in that group for free!
Join here to get this and many many other crochet patterns for free. There are many wonderful patterns and talented ladies in the group.

Now here is the dress. The changes I made are that I picoted the edges (neck and armholes) as well I crocheted a flower. 

I am working on another two dresses in different colours for the two older granddaughters. I just wish I could figure out what I could make for my oldest granddaughter. She is 13 now and she is  getting her own personal style. Not always liking what Gramma would pick for her anymore. 

It has been very lovely here the last few weeks and so I have been spending time outdoors. I received a few yucca plants to put on our bank. It is quite a steep bank and so it is hard to work on. Not to mention all the weeds that have grown there over the last nine years.  

My yuccas are a very nice substitute. I am loving them. 

Yucca and weeds on the bank

My stray lupin among the snow on the mountain.

That about covers the last few days for me. 
Have a wonderful weekend sharing good times with family & friends.
We will be off tomorrow for a bike ride with the group we are trying out.

Joanne

Monday 26 May 2014

What a great weekend we had

We don't have a long weekend here in Canada, not in BC anyway.
So we are back to a normal Monday, Jim is at work and Arianna is in school.
Although Arianna and her class are going on a field trip. She was excited that they didn't have real school work to be doing today.

Friday while at the school a teacher that has ordered four pair of black slippers asked if I would make another 2 pair for. That is 6 pair from just one person. Wow that is a lot of slippers. She really likes them. I have one pair almost done.
 
Friday night I finished that mermaid costume. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. I just hope it fits the young girl that I made it for. We have not been able to connect so far. I hope to be able to go over this week. It isn't needed until later on in the summer. Her mom is a photographer and she wanted it to take pictures of her little precious girl in one. 
Here is the completed outfit.

Mermaid photo op costume about 18 months size
A close up of the head band and top.


On Saturday we went for the first time with a group of bikers. They are the West Kootenay Roadrunners. Nice bunch of people so far. I know Brian and Joanne of course. There were 7 of us that started out but we dropped on at our first stop. He needed to go home to be with his wife. So six of us left for a nice ride along the lake. I even made it around the hair pin corner at Coffee Creek! Woo hoo for me! That corner almost paralyzes me. I slowed down and took a deep breath and all was well.
I was quite tired by the time it was 8:30 and went to bed for the night. I didn't even wake up just before 5. Was asleep till almost 6. Nice

Have a great day and Happy Memorial Day to those in the states.

Joanne


Friday 23 May 2014

Another project on the go

Last weekend my daughter and her friend came for a weekend visit. They traveled for about 6 or so hours to get here. 
We had such a wonderful time. I was able to teach them some crocheting. Kristine my daughter crocheted a pair of combat boots for her boyfriend's grandson. I loved the colours she chose for them too. She did a very good job for her first project ... sort of she did crochet some dish clothes many years ago. 

Kristine with her very first pair of combat boots
You can find the pattern for this here. The pattern includes the boots, some hats and a few other items.


There is a dog laying on the back part of the couch and that is why it is so saggy. Jax is a very sweet Boston Terrier.

Alina had been working for a long time on a baby blanket. She was very proud of all the work she had been putting into it. But she did make a few mistakes which of course bothered her. So after a couple of days she decided it was time to take it apart and start over from scratch. The original blanket was done in a very strange stitch that I have never seen before. I call it one of two things a cross between sc and hdc or the Alina stitch. After taking apart and starting over again I had her crocheting rows of easily done dc. She was happy with how fast it was. 

Kristine helping Alina take her first attempt at a blanket. She is sad
I have been working on some more slippers, I made a pair for Alina which are a bright blue and bright pink. Those are my favorite so far. The colours were such fun to work with.
I have also gotten back to working on my great niece's  mermaid costume. I am not done yet but here is what I have done so far. 

Not quite done yet but you can see it is a mermaid costume.
I am not going to share the pattern for this one as I am not happy with the one bought. It was not anything like the picture or the pattern didn't correspond with the picture. I went onto youtube and got ideas to help me along and here is what I ended up with so far.

That will be it for me this week. I am off to a PAC meeting this morning. Have a great weekend

Joanne

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Looking out

Yesterday I went out onto our deck and admired the greenery and new life out there. I love this time of year. The birds that begin to chirp at about 4am, the sun rising over the mountain that we live on, the grass being mowed (I love to hear that sound from afar for some reason), seeing the small water sprays coming off the rocks as I ride my bike some of which I could hear even over the sound of my bike and through my helmet. I am excited to see that my lilac bush is about to burst with these lovely lilac and white blooms.


I love flowers. I just wish we were around more during the summer where I could enjoy more of them around my home. So having these two bushes makes me happy.

Hope your day is putting a smile on your face.

Joanne

Thursday 8 May 2014

Spring is here

Spring is so here. I look out and the trees are leafed in now. I love this time of year, Although summer is my absolute favorite of all. 

The past few days I have been crocheting a little dress, headband and diaper cover. They are quite quick to do up to and so very cute! 

 I still have to complete the Diaper cover but it is looking very nice so far.


 This is the little set I worked on. The diaper cover is not done yet. I like it though. 
I got the free pattern here for the Little Sweetie Dress and headband. You can find the Diaper Cover here. I did follow the pattern for the Diaper Cover up until the ruffles were to be added. I used the trim from the bottom of the dress to make my own ruffles. They look quite nice.

We are having a good week with some sunshine. Last night Jim and I went on the bikes. It was my first ride of the year. Hope I can get a few more in over the summer. 

That about covers my crafting and creativity for this week. Enjoy your weekend 

Joanne

Thursday 1 May 2014

Busy busy

Good morning. As the post title says I have been very busy.

In January I started to crochet some slippers for a few family members and somehow managed to make a very small business out of it.Not sure how long people will want me to make some for but I am enjoying for the time being.

Here are a few pictures of the Crocodile Stitch Booties I have been working on. I made this pair for my mom while I visited for two weeks. She was quite happy with this pair.

Harlequin Crocodile Stitch Booties


Gradient blues Crocodile Stitch Booties
These are for four of our daughters. 
And this is only a few of what I have been making. Today I have worked on a pair of solid black. They are quite nice. I also added the buttons to a pair that are black with purple and a bit taller than the above booties. I am really enjoying this. 
If anyone would like the pattern for the lovely crocheted booties go here. The instructions are very clear with a lot of helpful pictures.

At the beginning of March my mother came for a wonderful two week visit. We sat around, chatted, went shopping in near by towns and went to some wonderful cafe's and restaurants. I think she was quite impressed by all the variety that is around our area.

I drove her home while our daughter Arianna was on spring break. We got to visit and see old friends and family during that two weeks. It was quite something to spend so much time with my mom. I don't think we have ever spent any one on one time together like that before.

On the way back home I got to take our three youngest granddaughters with us. They were here for two weeks. I have to admit that I was quite concerned about having the youngest for that length of time But she was such a sweet pea and I made it with not much troubles. Caelin was happy with me as her sub mom. She was a busy little gal though. 

Caelin rolling around at the park
Payton, the oldest of the three, got a Mike Wazowski t-shirts. She wanted for her and grandpa to wear their matching t-shirts. So they did!
I have my eye on you

We did lots of fun things such as go to the park, walk along a walking path, trampoline jumping, collecting rocks, setting up our trailer, make their own play dough and slime.

Makayla loved her slime

Three girls making the slime

When mom and dad returned from their Mexican vacation I was done in. I loved every minute of the my time with the girls. As they pulled up the driveway the girls were just finishing up their "practice Easter egg hunt"

Practice Easter Egg Hunts are fun too

Once the girls left I was quite ready for a rest. Lots of activities wore me down I guess. I am not used to so much activity especially with a 15 month old. 

After resting up and getting my energy back Joanne and Brian invited us to go on a day trip. We went to an old light house. It is not in use now but it is kept up by an historical society or something like that. It was a lovely day. 

Restored Lighthouse

Jim, me and Arianna in front of the lighthouse

There is a lot more that has happened over the last few months but these are just some of the highlights. 
Now off to start a new month. I am off this morning to bring another pair of slippers away.

Joanne