LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this hot pad.  I found the pattern at Ravelry and blogged about my first attempt.

I'd say my second attempt was more successful, although I cannot figure out how to make the square squiggle pattern that the pattern describes.  Instead I just do my own thing.

My goal for this year is to read 25 books.  I've read 14 so far.

These are them so far:

1.  Mission Shaped Children by Margaret Withers
2.  Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone by J.K. Rowling
3.  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
4.  Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
5.  Reflecting With God by Abigail Johnson
6.  Little Bee by Chris Cleave (I'm almost done this one, I highly recommend everyone read it as it is a beautifully written book with a compelling story)
7.  Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
8.  Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
9.  Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
10.  Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling 
11. Curly Girl:  It's More The Just Hair by Lorraine Massey
12. Leadership Can Be Taught by Sharon Dolaz Parks
13.  I read a book about interviews...but now I can't remember what it was called...it was really good with actual practical stuff to think about.
14.  I also read a silly kind of book about how to survive in a job that you don't like.  It was funny...but I can't remember the title either...

Other Books...

Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling -- still reading this...kind of slow going this time.
Be The Pack Leader by Cesar Milan -- I read about half of this and then kind of lost interest and returned it to the library because it was overdue.
Monk Habits for Everyday People by Dennis Okholm  -- still haven't started this...but somehow we spilled water on it and now it's kinda wrecked.  I guess I owe $25 to minister who had leant it to me.

My main problem seems to be that I read 1/4 or 1/2 a book and then lose interest in it or the deadline for reading it for my Discernment Committee has passed and I don't finish it.  I can think of 4 books so far this year that I've done that with.  I think I have a short attention span.

I love to crochet and I love to make things out of nothing.  I love to wrap the thread around my fingers and I love to feel the hook between my thumb and index finger.  I love to watch my project take shape.  There is so much TO love about handcrafting.

But, there is also so much NOT to love.

I can't stand making two of things.  2 slippers.  2 mittens.  2 booties.  Gah.  The second one never works as good as the first one did.  Or the first one is a schmozzle and the second one looks great.  By the time I'm on to the 2nd item i've practically lost interest and I'm already thinking of what I'm going to make next.  It's hard to stay motivated.

I hate weaving in ends.    I'm getting better at it, especially since I discovered weaving in ends with a needle rather then trying to use the crochet hook to weave which is a pain in the ass.

I hate realizing that you've made a mistake on the 3rd round when you're 20 rounds in.  I know the right thing to do is unravel your project and start over...but 92% of the time I can't do it.  I just can't unravel all that work and start over.

I hate trying to figure out how much yarn to buy or trying to decide if you have enough yarn to make a project.  Most of the time I can never estimate correctly or I will just throw caution to the wind and jump right in and then about halfway through I start to get that feeling that I won't have enough thread and then worrying through the whole project about the amount yarn.  Sometimes I'm right and I run out.  Sometimes though I'm completely wrong and end up with yarn leftover.  Sometimes I try to ration the yarn and will make my tension tighter or drop the odd stitch or start doing HDC instead of DC or whatever.  It's a strange game I play.

What I really hate though is not having enough time to crochet everything that I want to and having to stop crocheting to go to work.  lol.

What do you hate about crochet?  Or if you don't crochet, what do you hate about your craft?

I made these slippers for Andrew for Christmas using this pattern. The yarn is out of my stash.  It's a thick and utilitarian yarn--perfect for slippers.  I'm sure someone gave it to me because they didn't like it.

I've used this pattern before (read about it here) and I love it.  It's full of knobbly goodness.  I wore that pair I made for myself until the soles wore out (mostly from using not sturdy enough yarn).  I also made a pair for my aunt last Christmas (or maybe the Christmas before?) using nice thick yarn like this kind and she is still wearing them and seems to like them.  So, I hope that Andrew likes them too.

Andrew loves it when I make things for him and he has been asking for slippers for years now.  Every time he sees me making  a pair he asks for his own.  & now finally, after like 3 years, he'll have his own pair.

I made this as a square to be part of a patchghan on a forum i particpate in.  It's really supposed to be a hot pad, but I thought that it would be neat to make it as a patch for the ghan.

I used super thick yarn (more of that 'bad' yarn) and it turned out...interesting.  I could not figure out the squiggle pattern for the life of me...so I just kind of did whatever.  I think it turned out neat.

I've already made another one with more appropriate thread and with a better 'squiggle' pattern and it looks smashing.

Andrew's first day of Kindergarten was actually last week, but as usual I am slow with this kind of stuff.  I was at work, but Husband reported that Drop Off and Pick Up went very well.  He wasn't all that into getting his picture taken...but humored Daddy. 

I love the uniform.  Not too casual, but not over the top.  I can't believe I have a school-aged child!

I know, I know...I am super late at this.  But, better late then never.  I can't remember what days we did things anymore, but this is all in the right order.

I wanted to go to Bath, but it was very expensive to stay right in Bath so we spent two nights in Newport, Wales.  I really liked Wales and wish that we had got to see more of it.

We stayed at a Premier Inn.  It had a Beefeater Restaurant (pub?) attached to it.

It was at the Beefeater that I had this meal which was awesome! It was a vegetable risotto with grilled chicken. Note the Whole Red Pepper cut in half and grilled.  It was so good I had it twice.
This is what Husband had.  Some kind of Steak And Ale Pie with Peas, Chips, and Gravy.  Typical English Fare.
Here we are in Bath.  They were having some kind of exhibition with Pigs and there were Pigs like this everywhere you turned. They were all decorated differently and popped up all over.
We spent a good 2 hours in the Roman Baths Museum. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

I love this shot because it shows so much history in one snap. you can see the Roman Baths right at the bottom, then the medieval building just above, and the modern building with the window that opens.  Also Bath Abbey is in the background.
This is the square just outside of the Roman Bath Museum.  The people on the other side of the wall are in the Museum.  There were wonderful musicians that would come and play for half an hour and then trade off.  Bath definitely had a very sophisticated and artsy feel to it.
The Royal Crescent, which we had learned was built as private homes for the rich and were mostly rented out for individuals wanting to take part in the Waters.  There was a small museum with very knowledgeable staff.  It's rumored that Nicholas Cage owns one of the apartments.
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This is a Weir.  I had never seen a Weir before and was not expecting to turn the corner and look over the bridge and see this.  I think I may have gotten a little excited and started shrieking at Husband to come look at this most beautiful and wonderful thing in the water.  He was not all that impressed.  I guess weirs are fairly common in England.  Read about Weirs here.

Here we are the next day at Abbergaveny Castle in Wales.  We mainly picked this castle to visit because it was free, but I'm so glad we choose to do something out of the way because it was gorgeous in Abergavenny.  The sky was so blue and it was such a nice day. 
The castle is in disrepair, but that did not detract from the history of the location.  We got the impression that the castle had been sacked and burned numerous times over the years.

In Wales all the signs were bilingual:  in English and Welsh.  I quite liked this sign.
This is the building that houses the present day museum.  I just loved how ivy and the flowers were growing up the side of the building.  Everything looked so organic.

Here we are back in England.  This is a pub on the way to the Lake District.  The sky was Grey, but it wasn't rainy. 

This is the back side of the pub.  There was a little brook that ran right behind the building.  Another beautiful, lush, green snapshot.

After lunch at the Pub we headed on up to Windemere, the first lake in the Lake District.  Another gorgeous spot in Northern England. 

Andrew hanging out at the Pier.  He desperately wanted Ice Cream at this point and did not want me to be taking pictures..  lol
The day before we left we went to Bowland Wild Boar Park.  It was very kid oriented and the animals seemed quite happy in large enclosures.  There were baby chicks that Andrew got to hold and stroke.  (In true English fashion they called it Chick Stroking)  He was having a great time until the baby chick pooped on him.  That didn't go over well.

Anyways, so that is the gist of our trip.  We all had a marvelous time and can't wait to go back.  It was a great idea having Husband and Andrew go ahead of me so they had a longer time with the ILs.  I quite enjoyed visiting all the different attractions.

Next time I would like to make it to France or somewhere on the Mainland.  And maybe visiting London.

Cheers!

And it's only just finally started to look like something...

I estimate a completion date of March 12, 2014.

I made these 3 hats for someone I know. I think they turned out adorable.

I found the patterns on ravelry. When you wear this one the part with the chains looks like a butterfly. It's hard to see until it's on someone.

Another beanie! I had to actually think of gauge while I was making these hats.  Gauge is usually something I never worry about when crocheting so these hats were quite challenging for me.  There was a lot of unravelling. 

I am absolutely loving this cabled hat pattern.  Too bad it doesn't photograph very well. :(

My goal for this year is to read 25 books.  I've read 10 so far.

These are them so far:

1.  Mission Shaped Children by Margaret Withers
2.  Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone by J.K. Rowling
3.  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
4.  Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
5.  Reflecting With God by Abigail Johnson
6.  Little Bee by Chris Cleave (I'm almost done this one, I highly recommend everyone read it as it is a beautifully written book with a compelling story)
7.  Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
8.  Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
9.  Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
10.  Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling 

I've got several books on the go right now...

Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Be The Pack Leader by Cesar Milan
Curly Girl:  It's More The Just Hair by Lorraine Massey
Monk Habits for Everyday People by Dennis Okholm

I also need to read Leadership Can Be Taught by Sharon Dolaz Parks by my meeting on August 24th.

So much to read in so little time...