I Can't Count....

All is not perfectly rosy here in crochet land.  I am working on my crochet sweater/vest/what ever it is going to turn out to be project.  And after really, and I mean really looking at the pattern I have decided I have a bit of a counting issue.  You see I was crocheting away thinking I had 112 squares total to make.  After much deliberation  I decide to make the back a bit larger so that added 8 squares, 120 total.  Great!

 I have 40 completed squares so I am good to go, right?  Hmm......something still seems a bit off.  Actually I think I am a bit off as I was not calculating for my size at all.  I am not petite, actually I am quite tall.  And even if I am not  big chested I have broad shoulders.  Time for more calculations I think.

 Lets take a second to gaze at the beautiful tulips on my table because I think my blood pressure is about to seriously rise.

 The back should have 45 squares, and each side 54 which is a whopping total of 153.  153!!!!!  That is a big difference from 120, really what was I thinking?

Let's all take a deep breath, and maybe a few more.

The question is do I have enough yarn?  Remember I have had to double the yarn to get the right gauge......  This will either be a brilliant project or a colossal waste of time.  I guess we will see what happens.

By the way Max and I are totally safe from Mr or Mrs Alligator, you don't need to worry.  I would never let Max be the alligator's lunch.

I will be at my son's swim meet this weekend so no blogging for me.  If you have some spare positive thoughts, could you send them his way?  Thanks, and I hope you all have a safe and beautiful weekend.

My New Friend

Look who Max and I saw on our walk this morning.  This alligator is in the pond area right behind my house and down the street about 25 yards.  He kept shutting his eyes when I took his picture.  I believe Mr or Mrs Alligator is approximately 6 to 7 feet long.  Way too big for this little pond.  We have had a very dry Spring so the ponds here dry up so quickly.  The rainy season doesn't start for several months, so I bet my new friend will move to deeper water very soon.  The fun of living in Florida is that there are large reptiles living here right under your nose.  Max and I kept a great distance and we were on higher ground, but just the same I will be watching for my new friend in my backyard.

Hope you are having a fun Tuesday.

A Quiet Morning, Until........

 It was a beautiful quiet morning at my house.  The air was still, the sun was just trying to peek out of the clouds.

 The boys were still asleep due to the time change, well except for this one.

 There was some puttering to be done on the lanai, when............

 What is this?  The pool is going on. Instant alert!

 This is very serious business at our house.

 Max barks, and barks.

 He bites the water and barks some more.

 He runs around the pool until the bubbles go away.

 Mission accomplished!!!

 

Now complete and utter exhaustion!

Thanks for all my lovely comments on my last post. Happy Sunday!

Friday

Just to get you a bit up to speed on the happenings or lack of happenings at my end of blog land.

 In the mail today I received these fun crochet books from Amazon.  I looked, and looked and looked in my area for Crochet Bouquet and couldn't find it so had to order it.  I usually try to visit my local bookstore or yarn store for books, but as I said they didn't have it.  So while I was ordering these other two popped up and well, they were on sale, can you blame me?  I have just taken a quick peek but so far I am really impressed with 200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments and Trims.

 My MIL is here visiting this week.  She is 93 1/2 and pretty amazing.  I took her to Joann's for some yarn on Monday and she is knitting up a scarf.  I taught her how to knit when she was 85.  I have had some time to sit and chat with her so I am working on my crochet sweater/vest/whatever it turns out to be project.  16 squares completed and 96 to go.....that is if I have enough yarn.

Each square is 3 inches wide.  You can tell this is going to be a long project.  I am going to try and just look at the new books without letting all those fun flowers grab my attention.  I will not crochet a new flower, I will not crochet a new flower.  Hurry someone hide all my cotton yarn!

Hope your week was fabulous and that your weekend is even better.

Happy Monday

 Happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I got lots and lots done around my house and a bit of crochet, too.

 Five Flower scarves are blocked, and boxed up ready for the trip to my sister.  They are made from 100% cotton and are so fun for spring and summer.

I made one of these last year for myself and I have to say I wear it more than most of my knit or crochet items.  When I wear it people stop me and ask where I bought it, which is a compliment and an insult all at the same time, if you know what I mean.  Last year when wearing it at a fancy smancy mall near me I had four people stop me, a record.  So hopefully someone out in Etsy land will like them, too.

You know I love to keep track of my finished projects, so here we go.  The two crochet baskets will count as one finished project and two scarves will count as one.  So that puts me at 13 1/2 finished projects for the year so far.

 Until I know if more flower scarves are needed I thought I would try and work on this lovely sweater from Interweave Crochet Winter issue.  I spent yesterday afternoon making swatch, after swatch, after swatch, and not getting it right.

This yarn is so thin it actually is weaving thread.  I don't think I have ever used yarn this thin.  It reminds me of dental floss.  Super fine yarn is apparently not my thing.  I had to put on my reading glasses because I couldn't see where to insert my hook.

In order to get gauge I had to double the yarn and go up two hook sizes.  This of course creates the dilemma of running out of yarn pretty quickly.  So I am going to experiment, this could be a major bust!  I am going to alternate square colors so I use an even amounts of yarn.  I am going to start at the back and work out on both sides equally.  And I am going to make it into a vest instead of a sweater to save on yarn.

I think because the colors are somewhat muted that alternating the squares will not make it too busy.  I actually drew out the pattern to see how it would look.  It is a giant rectangle with openings for the arms, very similar to the blue vest I recently finished.  This could be a colossal disaster or the work of a genius, only time will tell.  I think what will happen is it will be fantastic and then the styles will drastically change to super tight, cropped sweaters.  Well too bad, I am going to wear it anyway.  That is if I don't run out of yarn first.

A Little This and That

First I'd like to thank you all for your insightful comments on my Blogging post.  I just wanted to make myself clear that I was not asking for more comments, just stating that I think it a bit odd when people don't comment back on your blog after you have repeatedly commented on theirs.  I think a simple, "Hello, or thanks for you comments," shouldn't take up too much time.  I don't think you have to comment on every post your friends write, no one has that much time, and I really appreciate all of you and the time you take to visit me on this little blog.  I loved reading your comments, bloggers are an amazing group, kind and so full of wisdom.

 We haven't had a picture of Max lately, and by the looks of the photo above he was not having any part of the camera.  He is sensitive to the paparazzi,  so I had to be patient and take probably another 20 pictures before he would look at me.  And by the look he is giving me in this picture he was not that happy with my camera wielding behavior.

 Max has a bad right hip.  When he was a puppy I could tell by his walk that his pelvis wasn't bearing weight evenly.  He wiggled a bit too much on one side.  Sure enough hip dysplagia was the diagnosis.  We watch him carefully and give him pain medicine when needed.  His hip is bothering him again after playing a little ball in the backyard with my husband, it troubles him to get up and down.  He actually slept by my feet last night on the bed, so he must have been hurting.  Even dogs need their Mom's when they are not feeling great.

 This week has been all about gardening and I am paying the price today with a sore neck and back.  I tamed the front of my house and planted marigolds and petunias in a boarder.  The marigolds are to keep the deer away, well today's photo should just be of the marigolds because the deer ate all my petunia's last night and left the marigolds alone.

 The back of the house has been cut back, weeded, weeded again, planted with annuals that are not showing up in this photo for some reason.  28 bags of stones have been added, (notice sore back above). 

 The azalea's are in full bloom, such an amazing color.

 Look at this sweet iris, such a soft color.

 A basket full of beautiful cotton yarn to make more crochet flower scarves for the Etsy shop.

Love this latest flower version I came up with while watching American Idol this week.  I'm not sure if you are watching this year or not, but I think the singers that have been picked are pretty talented.  Some years you just can't believe that some of those people made it in, but this year even if I don't like someones voice I can see why others like it.

So how was your week?  Did you get a lot done?  What are your plans for the weekend?  Hope you find some time for yourself.

Blogging Thoughts

Today I am getting my roof and sidewalks pressure washed so there are no pictures, my windows are draped in plastic so there is no light. In Florida we grow mold and mildew on everything so periodically we need to pay someone to clean it all off. Tomorrow and this weekend I will put it all back together, wash windows and outside furniture, not a fun task.  So I thought I would take a little time today to talk about Blogging.

Recently three of my blogging friends have decided to take a blogging break.  I completely understand because blogging does take up a good bit of time.  I just feel sad because I will worry about them and wonder if all is okay.  It is funny how these people you read about, slowly creep into your system and suddenly you feel like you are friends.  Have you met them in person or talked on the phone, not likely but they are there periodically and that is a comfort.

Blogging has turned out to be so much more than I ever imagined.  I started my blog solely so I could read my sisters blog and comment.  Gradually I read other blogs and started to comment.  Eventually I started to write on my own blog, and wonders of all wonders, people started to comment to me.  I am a slow blog, meaning that I have been blogging for a while and I don't have a million followers and comments.  I am always and I mean always just thrilled when anyone takes the time in their busy life to leave a comment here on Mereknits.  I try very hard to visit you back, and if I missed you once I will surely get back to you if you comment twice.

I am perplexed by some blogs.  I find it amazing when you leave comment after comment and that blogger does not take the time to write to you.  I understand if you have a million and eleven comments you can't get back to everyone, but on a smaller blog I find that just plain rude.  Lately I have been doing a blog spring cleaning.  I feel my time is precious and if I can't have some sort of relationship with you than I will find space for someone else.  I don't mean to sound rude, but time is short these days.  There are so many special people out there in blog land that would be thrilled with more blogging friends, I would like to spend my time with them.

I want you all to know that you are all very special to me.  Your kind words have helped me on many an occasion, more than you will ever know.  I find your creativity to be simply amazing.  You challenge me to be a better knitter, crocheter and above all a better person.  I appreciate every second you spend visiting me here on Mereknits, because I know your life is as busy as can be. 

To those of you taking a blogging break, I hope you will check in and let me know you are doing okay.  For those of you new to Mereknits, I welcome you with open arms and hope that I can be a great blogging friend to you.  For those of you that have been a faithful friend, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you all have a wonderful day.