Crochet Mandala - Part One...

I saw this tutorial for a mandala over at A Creative Being a few months ago and have been wanting to make one (or more) ever since. I like the way she finishes each round so it looks seamless.

Here is my start...

{hugs}
Laura

E-Reader Cozy...

Happy Father's Day - I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful day.

I love reading. I love my e-reader. I love to crochet.

So, I made a crocheted cozy for my e-reader.

This was an easy, fun crochet project. I used some leftover Cotton-Ease to make it.

I started by crocheting a chain to the width of my e-reader case and then doubling it. The brown stripes are three rows of half-couble crochet and the blue stripes are one row of single crochet. For the back, I made one row of double crochet on each short edge and then stitched them together with yarn and a large needle. Then I slip stitched the bottom up with yarn. At the top, I made a row of double crochet and then a row of single crochet. I created the fold over piece with single crochet at a width and length I liked. To make the opening for the button, I used a chain stitch. I sewed the button in place with the brown yarn.

This was definitely a "make-it-up-as-I-go" pattern. I started and then pulled it all out three different times. I can see a few things I would do differently if I made another one. But, for the most part, I am happy with how it turned out.

{hugs}
Laura

New Feature on Pinterest...

I love the new feature on Pinterest. It lets you know if you have already pinned a picture.

It's very helpful for me because I have over 900 pictures pinned to my crochet board. I use to open two windows, one of the main page and one of my crochet board. When I saw a picture that I thought I had already pinned, I would check my board to see if it was there. It was time consuming but worth it to me because I really dislike when I have something pinned twice.

Yay for Pinterest...

{hugs}
Laura

Orange Enzyme, Part 2...

On March 4th, I started an orange enzyme cleaner. It needed to sit until June 4th, three whole months.

I thought, "There's no way I'm gonna be able to wait three months for this to be done. That's way too long..."

Well, June 4th came and went and I am just now getting around to doing something with it.

Oh well. The waiting isn't hard when you are kept busy.

Here's what it looked like when I started...

And here's what it looks like now, just over three months later...

Time to get a bottle and see how it works. I'll let you know...

{hugs}

Laura

Jealous (just a little)...

My friend Penny has a dad with ten green thumbs. Seriously, he has to because he can grow zucchini that looks like this...

While all last summer mine looked like this...

Okay, maybe once or twice they looked like this...

But still, the man can grow anything. I am blessed that Penny shares her dad's beautifully grown veggies with me. I also got some english cucumbers. Yummy...

My hydrangea's are doing good though.

{hugs}
Laura

Little Things...

Lemon, rosemary and vanilla simmering on the stovetop... 

Pansy's are blooming beautifully...

Hydrangea's are starting to bloom as well...

Mother's Day gift from my son's girlfriend...

Isn't he cute? Please meet Forrest. He loves to eat...

Baby birds nesting in the tree in our front yard. I think there are three of them and they love to "talk". It's wonderful to listen too...

I hope you enjoyed your weekend...
{hugs}
Laura