Boot cuffs & Country Cozy afghan [Crochet]

Seriously??  It's been two weeks since I last posted?  How on earth does that happen?  Honestly!  Today marks the end of January -- does time EVER slow back down???  I most definitely feel like it's a constant 'go-go-go' around here. 

Amongst the 'go-go-go' of yesterday, we fit in some time to shop for some much-needed jeans and boots for Cassie.  Having some left over yarn from the double-braided cowl, a quick Boot Cuff pattern was searched out on Ravelry in order to add some fun accessorizing to Cassie's outfit.

The pattern was written to have the ribbed portion at the top, but it was hugging her leg very nicely.  So, we elected to add another 2 rows of sc, the second row being a decreasing row, and now... she has two different ways to wear this boot cuff.  Score. :)

Friday night, I actually DID elect to stay home instead of venturing on the one-hour drive to see Cassie's basketball game.    Candace had BB practice until 4:45, and Caitlyn was having a friend say over for the night.  Therefore, once dinner was eaten and cleaned up, the feet were propped up on the ottoman, a movie was put in the player, and I relaxed with the Country Cozy afghan!

Fitting in hair appointments is kind of a laughable thing.  But Cassie has been quietly begging for a cut;  her hair had been getting quite shaggy.  SO..... OUT came the scissors Thursday evening, and I had a go at it.  THANKFULLY, we both were happy with the results.  Hair crisis averted!  Whew....

Next weekend, we're back to BB tournaments; nothing new there.  To be fair, looking through pictures on the phone, I guess I should admit to having some down-time while at the tournaments.  It's simply not the same as having down-time at home, though.  ;) 

I don't know about y'all, but..... have you noticed the extra moments of light in the evening????  5:36PM the other night, and there was still a fair amount of light coming from the horizon :D

No quilting or sewing going on around here;  just some crochet from time to time as it fits.  We're one week down of the new/final semester of the school year;  not quite the home-stretch yet (*LAUGH!!!*), but that dreaded Senioritis is starting to infect a few of our kiddos.  Ruh-roh, Shaggy!

Happy Sunday!

Country Cozy afghan progress [Crochet]

Coming home from school today with an EMPTY schoolbag, and only one of the girls needing to be taxi'd into and back from town for basketball practice, I was feeling a bit motivated to head downstairs to work on some quilting.   However, by the time dinner was served, cleaned up, and Caitlyn driven off to practice, interest had been lost in heading downstairs to the sewing cubby.  Besides, the temps are dropping, and the basement has a lingering chill!

However, I pulled out the Country Cozy afghan that had been started........ *shrug*..... SOMETIME last year.  At first I thought the pattern needed to be searched out again, but when I simply looked back at the repeating pattern in my stitches, I was able to determine the pattern and added another few rows this evening.

 I'm vowing at this moment NOT to start any new afghan projects until I clear out some of my UFOs and WIPs!  ;)  

The current view of the floor next to my rocker glider....

* A lil' lapghan ripple UFO using up some left over earth-tones...

* a king size manghan ripple UFO is underneath that...

* a neutral granny ripple WIP was started in mid-December one day when I received a bag of yarn from my MIL

* a crochet rug WIP that I started last week in hopes to gift it to my brother for his new house

.... and the view just to the back of my rocker glider...

* a bag of yarn for the king size manghan

* a bag of yarn for my ongoing scrapghan that rests on my ottoman footrest

* another bag of yarn that holds the earth-tone left overs for my ripple afghan

It's time to finish off a project or two!  The Country Cozy afghan isn't expected to finish as a large project;  it should end up being a nice lapghan, or a nice couch throw.

Our lil' lady celebrated her 10th birthday Monday evening!

One of her gifts was a latch-hook rug set of a treble clef;  she's been working on it a little bit for each of the past two nights.  She's loving it so far, and she's advanced to the bottom part of the clef just moments ago -- she's excited to add the new yarn colors!!!!!

;)  Another yarn monster in the making ??

Okay.....

Now I KNOW I said NO NEW crochet projects...... 

.... but in ALL SERIOUSNESS, my brother legitimately has requested a pair of shorts similar to this.  He plays in an annual golf tournament that awards a "donkey prize," and I guess he's hopeful a pair of these FASHIONABLE SHORTS could guarantee a victory!  *snort*

I DO aim to please!!!

Smith Mountain Morning progress; Country Cozy afghan (new start!)

Hi everyone!!!!!!

Yes, you betcha, absolutely.....

Can you believe it??  Amy spent some time back in the quilting room!!!!!!

;)

Before I started up the official 'tracking clock,' I spent about 15 minutes cleaning up other crafting messes that my girls and myself have made over the past month.  I've been using my cutting mat to trim the labels for my crochet items, and my girls have been digging into my 'not-so-good' stash, making small pillows and bags.  There were cluttery messes all over!

My only focus today was to try to finish up all 28 connector blocks in the Smith Mountain Morning - greens project.  There were a few final brown strips that I needed to cut from scraps in order to complete the two brown 7.5" side strips before being able to press and move to the greens.

Hour 16 came and went, all the while pressing and cutting 56 green strips, piecing the 112 small white squares, and finally sewing them onto the blocks.  

16 and a half hours in -- all 28 connectors blocks and star blocks are sewn, pressed and ready for assembly into a quilt top center!

In typical Amy fashion, while sitting and looking around my crochet area last week, I was feeling burned out with my smaller cotton-yarn projects.  I have plenty of washcloths, the hat pattern mojo was wearing off, and my king-size manghan for Paul was giving me a small "I'm-done-with-you-for-now" moment.

So... off to Ravelry I went for a little inspiration...

The Country Cozy afghan pattern had been in my favorites for quite some time.  The examples shown weren't really sparking any magic, but when I started looking over some of the completed projects.... the single color finishes were fabulous!!!

I've been wanting a creamy-ish colored, single color afghan ever since I first learned in 2013.  With a full skein of Caron's Simply Soft 'Bone' sitting on my shelf, I was set (albeit, short lived.  The skein was emptied by day's end).

The garden has been processed for the week already, with much thanks to my MIL.  She processed up a case of potatoes (quarts) and a couple cases of carrots (pints).  The tomatoes are kinda stalled, so I don't have any of those to worry about today.  Digging potatoes hasn't really been on my todo list for all the years we've had a garden;  Paul usually handles that duty, so I'll continue thinking he'll take care of them.  The remaining carrots can wait until we decide what we want to do with them all.  The cabbage also awaits Paul's decision.

So.... with the Packer game coming on shortly, and ALL of my school work already finished for the weekend... I simply hope to kick back with some crochet and cheer the Pack to a victory over the Bears.  (and fret not -- I have some newly acquired Bone yarn for my Country Cozy!) ;)

Happy Sunday everyone!