Frogging and free time

 Obviously my brain was not really engaged when I decided to start my baby blanket. I was well on my way to finishing the first skein of yarn, when I realized that there is no way that I have enough yarn to make this blanket. I checked the pattern and realized I needed almost double the amount of yarn than I had. So a few nights ago I frogged the 18 rows that I had completed. So sad....

I think I originally chose this pattern for another yarn that I had purchased. I have started the blanket over with that yarn. 

I should have enough to finish the blanket this time.

I found another knit pattern, Textured Blankie, that I like where I can use the pastel baby yarn. I have to order circular knitting needles for it though. I don't have the correct size.  I just received a coupon from JOANN in the mail and I have a gift certificate so I am going to go shopping online for some treats.

I have my first finish of 2021! It has been a long time coming. I finished crocheting my Breezy Infinity Scarf. It is a very lacy pattern.

Yes, I know, it doesn't look much like an infinity scarf, but it must be blocked prior to sewing the seam. 

That will only take a few minutes once it is dry, so I am calling this done!

My son had his hernia surgery on Thursday. Turns out he had a hernia on each side not just one side as he thought. Hubby has been staying with him in PA since Wednesday night and I have been home alone....which is why that scarf got finished.

I have had a bunch of free time all alone the last few days....except for work, having Mom's carpets cleaned and then dealing with her burner which wasn't working as it should. Other than that, I went down a memory lane rabbit hole this weekend. 

First, our daughter turned 30 on Saturday. This is Hubby with her just after she was born.

We surprised her with a Card My Yard display to help her celebrate!

Then while I was home alone on Saturday, and had some free time, I listened to a very old album. I think I have all of his albums, vinyl of course. Still remembered all the words to the songs. 

Then I found the Final Osmond Family Concert which I "watched" while scrubbing an oven rack. Oh man, was I a fan of the Osmond family growing up. I even managed to go to a couple of their concerts as a kid. 

Hubby is due home today and we are supposed to get socked with snow tomorrow. I wonder if I will have a "snow day" from school? More time to craft!

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I think I will work on Three Boats a little bit today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Slow Sunday Stitching

I will be enjoying some stitching and reading today. Maybe a little organizing also.

I have added some stitches to Three Boats. You should be able to see that the tree trunk has a few more stitches and I have finished the sand on the left except for one lone stitch along the edge.

I have also been busy adding stitches to October Morning. I finished stitching the orange/yellow color of the tree. Now I have to fill in the empty spaces.

I will probably fill that in today..

Our daughter went home yesterday. We enjoyed having her visit for a week. It was a nice distraction. 

Ruby enjoyed playing with her new squirrel house.

She also spent some time chewing on her bone. We went for a lunchtime walk around the neighborhood most days and she convince Hubby to play ball with her in the backyard several times a day. 

Hopefully they will be able to visit again some time soon. Originally she was supposed to visit in two weeks to celebrate her birthday (30) and Hubby's (60) with dinner and a Broadway show, but well........COVID. So many milestone celebrations have been cancelled, but at least we have all been relatively healthy and have avoided this dreaded virus. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafting, reading and family.

I am working from home and crafting in the afternoons as mom has been in the hospital and I have been unable to visit her. It gives me more time to craft, but I would like to see her in person. I know I really shouldn't complain as there are families with relatives in nursing facilities who haven't seen their loved ones in 10 months, but this is new for me and difficult. Mom entered a rehabilitation facility yesterday for a few weeks as she is quite weakend by this latest hospital stay. She is not happy about that, but I don't think I can care for her myself at this point.

My daughter has come to visit with her pup Ruby this week, so that is a nice distraction. 

We haven't seen her since Thanksgiving. She and her husband work exclusively from home and rarely venture out, so it is safe for her to visit. Her state is contiguous to ours, so the restrictions on quarantining are much less also which allows for this visit. I had a great view of daughter, Ruby and Hubby the other day.

We are not to taking any chances as Hubby is still taking care of his elderly mother and has to help my son next week when he has his surgery. I will then have to help Hubby's mom while he is away.

So now that I have updated all of you on the family items, how about some crafting and reading updates. I have been steadily adding stitches to October Morning. This is my go-to stitching when waiting for students. It is easy to put down and pick up without losing my spot or wondering what I just stitched. You can see that I have added quite a lot of color to the trees next to the evergreen.

I have also retrieved my crocheting from my mother's home and have started working on it while watching TV in the evening. I add 2 or 4 rows each night. It is progressing along quite nicely.

I have finished another book: "The Story of Arthur Truluv" by Elizabeth Berg. 

This is not the type of book that I usually read, but it was recommended by another blogger and I did enjoy it. 

Now I am reading "Dragonfly in Amber" by Diana Gabaldon. It is the 2nd in the Outlander series. I am not sure why I started this book as I didn't love the first one, but I am reading it slowly. I do want to read it to the end, but I can't say that I am loving it. There are too many historical references that I am not knowledgeable about, that sometimes make it confusing.

So those are all the updates for now. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Little by little, day by day

 I have made much less progress on Three Boats than I would like to, but life has definitely been getting in the way. Here is where I was three weeks ago. 

I have added some stitches to the sand and to the tree trunk. This is where I am currently.

I found time yesterday to get a bunch more done as Mom is back in the hospital and visitors are not allowed so I had a lot of free time. 

Thanks so much to Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this Stitch Along each week.

Please take the time to visit the other talented bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy,

 Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah,

Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, 

Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Everything has been slow the past 2 weeks......stitching and most everything else too. I am staying at my mother's house most nights now as I don't think she can be left alone (she isn't ready for that yet either...if ever again). She has an aide all day long. 

When I was home, I was visiting with my son. He returned home last weekend so that he could return to work on Tuesday, after a negative COVID test. I am not sure when he will be able to visit again. He needs hernia surgery at the end of the month. Hubby will most likely have to travel to him to take him to and from the surgery and stay with him a couple of days. I am sure that will mean more COVID tests. Life is so very complicated at the moment. 

Since Mom goes to bed fairly early....before 9, I have had some time on my hands. I have been reading some books. I recently finished "The Christmas Boutique" by Jennifer Chiaverini. 

I just finished "Naked in Death" by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts). 

Both of these books were quite interesting though very different. I had never read a J.D. Robb book though I have read many by Nora Roberts. I will read more of these when I am looking for a mystery.

I have also started a new crochet project at mom's house.  I had bought a bunch of yarn when AC Moore went out of business. I decided to use what was left of some variegated pastel yarn to make another baby blanket. My attempt did not start off well. I tried and tried to follow the directions of a blanket I found on Ravelry that is crocheted a big square, but no matter how many attempts I made, I could not successfully complete the join so that I could move on to the next row. Now I have made many, many blankets, but this pattern stumped me and I abandoned it after completing this small square many times.

I moved on to another pattern that interested me, the Diagonal Bobbles Blanket. I am much happier with how this is progressing, although I have had a couple of rip outs with this also. Mostly counting mistakes on my part. I am 6 rows in at this point.

I will work on this a little bit each time I stay at mom's.

I added some yellow stitches to the tree on October Morning. 

I have also added some more sand to Three Boats.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. After putting away my Christmas village, I am hoping to find some cross-stitching time today.  

Thanks for stopping by!