More RSC '15, other scraps, and Caitlyn's BB

For whatever reason, Paul's alarm went off at 4:30 this morning rather than 5:00.  He stayed in bed, snoozing away, but after a few minutes, I decided to get up.  Why not, right?!?!  The day was WIDE OPEN for anything.  It's amazing how different it is mentally on a Sunday vs. any other day of the week.  

Once he walked out the door at 5:40 a.m. heading off to work, it was downstairs for me.  I will give Deb credit for the task of making up two whole new pink RSC connector blocks instead of just fixing up the 9-patch center of my last boo-boo ones.  Ah heck... we all have oodles of scraps, right?  When lookin in my drawer of 1.5" scraps, you can't even tell I made up another 2 pink blocks!  LOL.

For the rest of the morning until noon, I tackled loads and loads of bonus blue/neutral triangles that have been collecting for the past couple of years.

The blue/neutral block was inspired by a pic I saw during a random search over Christmas vacation;  sadly, I don't have any linky information on it :(  The other ones, with the splash of red, were initially made for Judy's 2014 January Scrappy T block, and then I've extended that scrappiness by piecing 9-patch and/or crumb centers rather than using a big ol' 3.5" square.  I have 20 total blocks made (10 each).  I really don't know how many more I'll make;   my pile of blue/neutral bonus tris are finally dwindling.

As for schoolwork, I was able to complete a decent amount of it between games yesterday during Caitlyn's BB tournament.  Seeing the girls progress from beginning-to-end of the season is always fun and amazing to witness.  They have one more tournament next weekend to wrap up their season;  Cassie, however, continues to compete until the end of February.

Happy Sunday everyone!
Here's to another week.

FEBRUARY!  Spring is nearing day by day.... ;)

RSC15 - Connector blocks

Yay :D  Angela already posted the color planned for February, and I decided to spend a productive hour playing around with my pink and neutral 1.5" bins.

These have plans to become connector blocks when paired together with Bonnie's "Betty's Choice" scrappy blocks published in one of the Quiltmaker magazines.

And.... *forehead slap*!  After snapping the picture and posting to FB, I realized....... the inner 9-patch has the pinks/neutrals in the wrong places.

The neutrals should play nicely along the diagonals....

**shrug**

Ah well.  The pink blocks will be fixed up at a later time;  it's not even February 1st after all.

RSC14 and yarn selection for Mystery CAL [Crochet]

Much of this Saturday morning was spent relaxing with a coffee cup in my hand... HOME!  

Eventually, I wandered downstairs and played around with some sashing ideas for my 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.  It was enjoyable to simply...... RELAX with no pressure of time.

I have a new iron on my board;  a Black-n-Decker Classic.  My last one simply peetered out and wasn't getting hot anymore.  So far, this one is.......'eh.'  The holes on the bottom catch the edges of the fabric when I'm pressing smaller units :\.  But I chose this one over the completely 'dry' one (which had NO holes) because this had an auto shut-off.  Although, I'm rethinking whether I really need that feature.  It'd be nice to have a nice, flat iron with NO holes.  Something to think about next time.

I purchased my yarn for the Crochet Crowd (via Yarnspirations) mystery crochet along.  The plum showed up quite bold with the flash;  it's a bit darker than what seems present in the picture.  I was sadly disappointed in the selection of Caron Simply Soft at our local Walmart.  It would seem that  they've dropped quite a few of their formerly stocked colors :(  My original color-palette hope....

And I found that Hancock Fabrics has a sale on Simply Soft right now, but.....  **shrug**.... I just can't bring myself to pushing that "Submit Order" button.  ;) ((even though I have a gift certificate from my Mommie for HF)).  Frugal much???

In the meantime, I'm making progress on the newest ripple afghan:  the 12 Interlocking Ripples (Attic24's Neat Ripple pattern).

Mystery Crochet Along - I'm in! [Crochet]

Believe it or not, I actually have a couple of quilting projects under way, but nothing that is blog worthy OR blog allowed right now, but....

As previous posts show, I'm continuing to produce some crochet projects during my evenings in my rocker while upstairs with the family.

This just in!
Mikey over at the Crochet Crowd, is hosting a Mystery Crochet Along (sponsored by Yarnspirations) coming up in just a couple of weeks.  His 'teaser video' truly did a great job of amping up the excitement for what seems to be a FAB-ulous afghan for the making!

I'm in!

Scrappy Random Ripple [Crochet]

Scrappy Random Ripple ~(54" x 65")

I've had some extra time on my hands at home this week due to two of the girls not feeling well :( 

:(  There really isn't a greater helpless feeling than that feeling when you want to wave a magic wand to make them feel better.  But.... that magic wand simply doesn't exist.

Trying to keep my anxiety at bay, I kept busy by putting more rows onto the Random Scrappy Ripple (pattern:  Neat Ripple by Lucy at Attic24).    

Anxiety, you ask?  Gah.  Yup!

I really didn't mind staying home Wednesday with Cassie;  it was an easy day to write up sub plans for;  most classes were in need of a work/practice day after learning a new skill or two on Monday/Tuesday.
I was back at work Thursday..... until I received a phonecall from the school nurse that Candace was fading fast (with a 101 fever).  So, I scrambled some quick notes together for the rest of the afternoon;  scrounged up a sub to cover my afternoon classes, and was heading home.
It's a good thing I stopped in the highschool office before I left though to check out the substitute situation for Friday -- this was a 'just in case' move, per Nurse Kelly's request of keeping Candace at home if her fever didn't break.
Holy Moly!  All five of my 'go-to' substitutes were already scheduled for the day.  But... our secretary (with some input from our Principal) worked her magic and fanagled the substitute schedule.

Planning for a substitute isn't the easiest.  And my 6th period class is of my biggest concern right now.  I wasn't there on Wednesday.  I was at least able to finish up their class period on Thursday.  But....if I were to be gone Friday---what to do with them?  I actually allowed them to give me some input on the game plan.

BECAUSE---I also have an afternoon mtg on Monday; therefore, I won't be with them.  And then again next Wednesday, I'm out with an all-day meeting.  Blah!  Thursday marks the end of the semester, so... it just is escalating a little bit into...."ummm, well... what to do?  What to do?"

So, sure enough....Candace spiked 102 Friday morning.  It's a good thing I spent 3 hours on Thursday afternoon planning notes and videos for my classes.  I forwarded them along to the school secretary to be printed out for my sub.  I updated the websites for each class.  I wrote up a dozen or-so emails to students who were scheduling times with me to reassess some skills.  All but one responded back to me by lunch time;  everyone was able to be flexible and reschedule to Monday before or after school.  I'll tell ya, technology SURE has its advantages!!!

Anyway---so yeah.  I was feeling anxious Friday (yesterday).  It's kinda cumulative of Candace reallllly not feeling well... and me being out of my classroom... and the guilt that comes with being out of my classroom.

**shrug**

Just sharing a little insight into the mind of me as a teacher...

So, anyway.  Once I was able to focus on the crocheting, the anxiety slowly subsided.  Crazy enough, it never really went away.  BUT, I reached a point in the Scrappy Random Ripple where I felt...."It's done."

This afghan was started at the end of November after I attempted to tidy up my living room area of yarn mess.  I had leftovers from other projects scattered around, and I had also purchased some scraps from a local thrift shop.  They seemed like they would play nicely together.

I snipped a small piece from each ball and placed the snippets in a little container.  A die was also placed in the container.  The plan:  I would have one of the girls choose a piece of yarn blindly from the container, and then have her roll the die.  The afghan would grow by the number of rows shown on the die, using the color selected.    Completely random :)

And, of course, with yarn still scattered around (albeit, a bit more organized that in November), it's a perfect idea to start aNOTHER ripple!   ((I realllly do love this pattern!!!!!!!!)

Another year in the stands underway

Cassie and Caitlyn, both, are here-there-n-everywhere already with their basketball gear in tow lately.  

Correction:

**I** am here-there-everywhere with CHILDREN and basketball gear in tow. ;)

I needed to make a decision of exactly where and which child I would have in tow yesterday.  Cassie's tournament was 30 miles due north while Caitlyn's was about 70 miles northeast.  I was in single-parent mode since Paul is in the midst of his night shift.

Clearly, Cassie's closer tournament won the vote.  This time.

And afterwards, the girls ganged up on us parents teamed up for some bonding over soda and pizza.  All 8th graders.  Gettin' big... and sassy :D  Truly great girls all around.

The week ahead is full of basketball too.  I understand now when parents have told me in the past they feel like the taxi service before/after practices and games out-of-town.

Next week, Caitlyn's tournament will be winning in the "Which tournament will you choose to watch while in single-parent mode?" game.  Yuppers.  Paul will be in the midst of his day shift next Saturday, and both girls have tournaments in opposite directions.  *shrug*

It's what we do, right?

At least I have my Hello Kitty pajama pants to relax in once finally at home at the end of the day.

And ....

how 'bout those Packers, right?!?!?!!?!?!?!    Whaaaa-hoooooo!

Happy Sunday everyone.

Easy Peasy Scrubbie cloth [Crochet]

While browsing through a bin of yarn this past weekend, this Scrub It from Mary Maxim struck me as interesting.  A sample cloth was available on the display rack, and I found it right up my recent alley of creating wash cloths for the house.

After searching Ravelry for 30+ minutes, I was coming up empty handed on a simple washcloth/dishcloth pattern.  !!!  I know, right?!?!  There literally are hundreds of patterns out there, but I couldn't find a simple, easy peasy pattern.  **shrug**

So, I made up my own.  Super simple.  Easy Peasy!

This yarn calls for size 5mm knitting needles, so I used my H8 (5mm) hook.

The pattern established is a multiple of 2 (plus one).

I chained 32 +1 (33 chains), resulting in a cloth 9" wide.

Row 1:  Sc in 2nd ch from hook, dc in next ch.  Repeat *sc in next ch, dc in next ch* across the row, ending with a dc. Turn. (32 stitches)

Row 2:  Ch 1.  Sc in first dc, dc in next sc.  Repeat *sc in next dc, dc in next sc* across the row, ending with a dc.  Turn.  (32 stitches)

Repeat Row 2 until desired length achieved.

I quite literally ended my final row with 3 inches of yarn left!  (Just enough to tie off and weave the end in!)  Now, my toughest decision to make:  do I use the cloth for our dishes, or for our faces?!!?!?

A ninth birthday in winter

Out of all of the cakes this dear girl could choose from -- pinks, purples, frilly cupcakes -- ....

NOPE!  She chose the Packer cake.  I was pretty pleased :D  And all of those Packer helmets are rings, so that was an awesome bonus on top of the wonderful buttercream frosting!

Amongst her gifts, one of the most exciting for her was that she was able to get some fish.  It's kinda fun to think that three lil' $0.38 goldfish were the highlight of her day!

We stopped at the local Thrift Shop as well where she found a game and toy.    She truly was having a great simple lil' birthday shopping day!

While walking around, I couldn't help but feel a little bit emotionally mixed at this beautiful baby afghan on the shelf.

Priced at $1.65.  I understand it's a thrift shop.  I understand that whomever donated it possibly doesn't have the same passion and understanding for handmade afghans as those of us in the craft.  I understand that I can't judge nor know the whole story behind how it came to the donation pile.  It was beautifully crocheted.  It wasn't just a simple design;  it was quite lovely.  And as badly as I wanted to bring it home, I knew it had no rightful purpose at my house when it could end up being something affordable and special to someone else who may truly need it.  

The day was gorgeously sunny!  The drive home, with the sun beating down on my jeans was splendid!  The time at home with the sun overhead, glaring through the windows was wonderful.

BUT, folks... we can't let that sun deceive us...

This was the current info at 3:00 in the afternoon.

And this morning........this MONDAY first-day-back-to-school morning......

SEVENTEEN BELOW, with windchill of -32.  !!!!!!!!!!

Folks----- I know this is Wisconsin, but... we Wisconsinites are STILL HUMAN!  That's cold!   LOL