Leslie's sweater is finished...finally

I finally finished Leslie's sweater. The sleeves will most likely be a bit big for her but hey, she can always grow into them, right?
























Now I just need to find the right pattern for Aaliyah and make hers.


Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Office with a great view

How would you like to look out your window and see this all the time?




Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

It's finally coming together

Well I'm excited. The sweater is finally coming together. It's taking such a long time, longer than it should. But then again I only seem to be able to work on it during the ride to and from work and during lunch. Whenever I try to work on it at home things get in the way. Okay so one of those things may be because I start snoozing but that's beside the point. I have one sleeve finished, except for the ribbed cuff, and one more sleeve to go and it will be finished. Then I can start another one.

After the sweaters I plan on making some Pocket Prayer Cloths. I will actually start those this weekend because I have a road trip this Friday and I'll have a lot of car time, unless I'm snoozing. Good thing I'm not driving. Girls weekend getaway - looking forward to it. I had better bring plenty of batteries for my camera so I can take all the pictures I want and not have to worry about the camera not working. I should have some to post here next week.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

As promised...

As promised in yesterday's update (see, that wasn't too long of a wait) here is an updated photo of the sweater I'm making for Leslie, my 4-year-old granddaughter. I have the neck, yoke and armholes. Now to get started on the body and finally the sleeves.












Bethanie's first day of High School. Isn't she pretty?















Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Halloween is coming!

Gosh golly gee whiz...it's been a long, long time since I've updated. In that time I've had the flu, we moved to a new house, my laptop died and I found out Granddaughter #3 is arriving in January 2010.

The holidays are coming and I've actually started my gift-giving crocheting. I'm making a pull-over sweater for my oldest granddaughter, Leslie:
















I'm actually farther along than these pictures but I don't have any new ones. I will post as I progress.

So...Louie...He has the enemy in front of him and he doesn't know what to do. He chases them along the fence everyday. They even tease and play with him.















Until next time, keep on hooking.


Terri

Memorial Day 2009

Today is the day we honor our service women and men who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Please take a moment to honor them. We also honor those fighting the fight today. My thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of them, especially to my son, a soldier in Iraq today. May he and all the others have a safe return home soon.

This is my son, Paul, with some Iraqis he made friends with. He says they were having tea.


















Over the weekend we went for a three-hour boat cruise. I'm glad we didn't get shipwrecked on a deserted island because I didn't pack a suitcase or my millions because after all, it was only a three-hour cruise. This is Louie enjoying his boat ride.























Until next time, keep on hooking.


Terri

Spring has sprung

We finally got our big boat out in the water. Well, it's not that big, only 14' but compared to our peddle boat it's the big boat. Anyway...we got out and took it for a flight...I mean we went pretty fast. It felt good.

And now I know Spring is here:

Aren't they cute???

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Boating

So we got the new rudder for our peddle boat. Kevin took off the broken one, put on the new one and off we went for a little ride into the sunset. It was wonderful. The fish were sure jumping. One of these days I'm sure one will jump right into the boat with us since the peddle boat sits low. Last summer one jumped right next to me and almost landed at my feet. Just glad it didn't.

Until next time, keep on hooking,

Terri

Inside looking out

Hey you...yeah you squirrels out there. Don't even think about climbing that tree and jumping to my window. I am the protector here and you will regret it. I will bark and growl at you until you give up and realize that you're not getting in.

The same goes for you ducks waddling below the window. You just try flying up here and see what happens. I have orange sauce and I'm not afraid to use it.

As for you cats out there, you will not get in here to play with the yarn. It's all mine, mine, mine. I mean, hers, hers, hers because I wouldn't dream of messing with it (well, I might dream it but I wouldn't actually do it...much) because the Mrs. likes to make stuff with it and sometimes she lets me have a fuzzy ball of yarn. Neener, neener, neener.

I am Prince Louie IV, Super Dorkie, protector of home and family.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Louie

Happy Easter!

We have the Easter Bunny; Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang have the Easter Beagle.

I have the Easter Dorkie.
Louie wishes everyone a Happy Easter.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Easter's on it's way!!! It's my favorite holiday after my birthday.

So it's been almost a month since my last blogging. My son, Paul, went back to Iraq for another six months. I kept myself busy making these adorable cropped cardis and matching totes for my granddaughters, Leslie and Aaliyah. I just hope they fit.
















I'm still going to my Monday night therapy group a/k/a CLACK, my Monday night crochet/knit group. Best therapy there is, especially after Paul left again.

We finally decided to clean out our peddle boat, which was still chained to a pole from Hurricane Ike (so it wouldn't blow away). It had been repeatedly filling up with rain. It was disgusting - slimy, filthy. But we (meaning Kevin) scrubbed it out and once again it was its natural shade of blue and white. We planned on taking a ride in it but we got in and tried to peddle and it wouldn't do anything. So out we get, pull it back out of the water, and find that someone had broken the rudder. So now we have to wait for who knows how long for the replacement to come in. We were so looking forward to getting on the water. Our bigger boat isn't ready yet but I'm sure by mid-May we'll have it ready and out.

Until next time (and hopefully it won't be a long next time), keep on hooking.

Terri

Two reasons to Celebrate!

1. My granddaughter, Leslie, is 4 years old!

2. My son, Paul, is coming home from Iraq!

Too bad I don't get see Leslie for her birthday as they live out of state from me. And my son is only home for two weeks before he has to go back but it will be so nice to actually get to hug him for real instead of the hug emoticon on Yahoo chat.

More later on this.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Time change again; squares for lapghan

So the time has changed again. This day sure did go by fast. Which left me little time to work on some 8 x 8 squares that my crochet/knit group is doing. We are making a couple of squares each for a lapghan for a member's friend who has cancer. I did the first one in a rose color with a light gray border (I know, it looks green on here) then decided that it wasn't "manly" enough. So then I did a light gray square with a dark gray border (which looks blue and green in the picture. Why does it do that?). Ahh, better and more manly. And of course the second one came out too small; maybe if I blocked it and stretched it, it would be the right size. It's only an inch too small.

I think the reason is that I changed yarn type for the second one but didn't change the hook size. I am going to either go up a hook size or add two rows with the original hook to get it the correct size. Not sure who is going to put it all together but I would like mine to make the cut and not end up on the cutting room floor.

Not much going on here around here so I'll sign off here.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Stick to Hooking

Big Le Sigh...I really should stick to hooking. It's what I do best. Those pointy stix just don't get me. Or is it me who doesn't get them? Either way it's not working very well for me.

I thought I was going to do something easy enough, a dishcloth. At some point(s) I noticed that my points went through some of the strands of yarn instead of the whole loop and of course I didn't notice it until after I knit a few stitches behind it. So the last one I noticed I tried to take off the three stitches that were knit correctly and put them back on the left needle so I could fix it. Well it didn't work. I now have a big ol' pile of red yarn barf instead of a nice red dishcloth.

I still carry the needles and some yarn with me but so far I haven't taken them out. They seem to co-exist nicely in my bag with my hooks but I dunno...

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Louie likes his beefy bone.

Sunday, a day for golf

So today was too beautiful to stay inside so we decided to go play 9-holes of golf. I did good and Bethanie did pretty good. I think she might have beaten me but then again, she was the scorekeeper so who knows what she was writing down. Kevin played his usual good game.

Kevin giving Bethanie pointers on the 8th hole.

This is Bethanie and Kevin at the driving range after we finished our 9-holes.

I hit three or four balls then gave it back to them. Guess now I need to make some golf-head covers. Don't know what they're for but a lot of people have them so I guess we need some, too.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

I have a knitted FO!

So I decided my practice piece was the right width for a cozy for my iPod Nano and I kept practicing until the length was right. I finished it up a few days ago but wasn't sure about the bind off because I didn't want to ruin it. This morning I decided to take the plunge do the bind off. Came out a little loose but still workable. I simply sewed the sides together and made a carry handle and viola...my iPod can now stay warm!





As for my WIPs, I'm working on a Grab and Go Tote, made with the Caron one pound from the March 2009 issue of Crochet! magazine. Although the picture shows the yarn as a deep blue it's really a lavender color.


Until next time, keep on hookin'.

Terri
now a hooker chick with stix

Have a cookie...

I've crossed over to The Dark Side cue ominous music. My crochet/knit group (a wonderful group of ladies) have been waiting for me to convert from the side of Goodness and Light, and I gave in this past Sunday night. That makes me a Hooker Chick with Stix. Here is my practice piece. This is only three rows, I think.

Sunday night I cast-on 10 (actually Kevin did the first cast-on but I'm not supposed to tell anyone so shhh...). I didn't do anything with it Monday because I had crocheting to do. So Tuesday during the bus ride to work I decided to practice. So I started row three. Remember I only cast-on 10 but my row ended with 9 stitches. Frog, frog, frog. Cast-on 12, knit one row, end up with 13 stitches. Frog, frog, frog. Cast-on 10, and so far I've come out with only 10 stitches for all rows.


So anyhoo...I decided to start this really pretty Filigree Bowl. I hope to finish it soon so that I can stiffen it and begin using it. I didn't realize that it takes up to three days to dry. I've never done this sort of thing before so I'm hoping I don't screw it up.
















Way back in March 2005, March 10th to be exact, I became a grandma for the first time. Thank you, thank you. And about a week afterward I decided to make this crib pillow for her. The theme for her room was Care Bears and at the McDonald's had itty bitty Care Bears in their Happy Meals so I put one in the pocket of the pillow. My youngest daughter, Bethanie, liked it so much she wanted me to make her one for her bed. She picked out the yarn and well, I haven't made it yet. Mainly because we moved shortly thereafter and I haven't found that yarn yet. I told her it would have been made already but she picked Aggie colors. But I also had a one pound ball of yarn in a pretty Dusty Rose and can't find that one, either.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

FO's

I finally have some FO's (finished objects) to display! First I have two dishcloths. Although you really can't see the pattern in the green one it is an open, airy design, done in a simple DC/Chain pattern. The red one has the FDP and BDP, which really help with scrubbing. And yes, it's red although the picture does look a little orangey. I needed something small to carry around with me to do on the bus to and from work and during lunch because I didn't have anything to read and I get bored easy.



Next is the Fall Shawl, which Bethanie is trying to model. Her arms weren't long enough to hold it from end to end and the back comes down to her knees. But it's finally finished. Doing the shawl was no problem, it was just a simple DC pattern; it was doing all the fringe that made me put it away and keep it away for a while but I finally started the fringe this past Monday (1/19)and finished it yesterday (1/23). Yay!!!! And it's warm, too.



Finally, the Afghan Throw. I did this in the Lion Brand Homespun - Waterfall. It's so warm and cozy. This is going to Jennifer and Alex because it was their Christmas present. I should have had it finished in time but I had set it aside to do other things and it just didn't happen. But now I'll be sending this and the dishcloths to her.

Now I need something else to do. Leslie's birthday is coming up in March. Maybe I'll try some summer clothes or hats or a swimsuit cover-up. When I find something I want to try, I'll write back about it.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

It's January

Gosh, can you believe it's been like 6 weeks since I last posted? Let's see...we've had Christmas, New Year's, and Bethanie's 14th birthday since then. Kevin's is tomorrow.



So did everyone have a nice holiday? I had a nice Christmas and a wonderful New Year's. I went to visit Jennifer and her beautiful family. Bethanie went too but she and my parents drove to Kentucky and I flew to Nashville. Kevin stayed home as he was in the Holiday Open Shuffleboard tournament. And he ended up getting very sick that week.

Alex teaches Bethanie a dance.

My little granddaughters, Leslie and Aaliyah, were so funny. Leslie is almost 4 and she is so articulate for her age. So smart. Aaliyah is 19 months and loves the word NO even if she doesn't really mean it. They are both very well behaved for their ages. Jennifer and Alex have done a great job with them so far. It was great to see them. I can't wait until the next visit.

I finally have a FO and WIP that is almost finished. I'll have pictures of those really soon.

Until next time,

Keep on Hooking
Terri

It's Wednesday - Again.

Gee, it's been a whole week since I last posted. What has happened...hmmm..oh yeah...

IT'S SNOWING IN HOUSTON!!! Can you believe it? Yesterday it was in the mid-to-upper 70's and today - snow. Mind you it isn't sticking but hey, we'll take what we can get. The last time it snowed was Christmas Eve four years ago. If I had batteries for the camera I would take a picture.

So here is what I'm working on for Christmas: Triangle shawl (still); lapghan; socks. I'll post pictures as I finish them, and I will get camera batteries so that I can do that.

Until next time, keep hooking.

Terri