I have always been a creative person. I grew up wanting to be an actress. I majored in Theatre in college. I learned how to sew costumes, paint sets, recite a line with a believable English, Jewish or German accent. Latin accents always gave me a little trouble.
When I graduated I worked at different jobs while pursuing my acting dreams. In the midst of this I got married and pregnant in short order and all dreams were put aside while my young husband and I worked through the mysteries of marriage and parenthood. As it turned out my acting skills made me a very fun mom and while I never did win that Tony I did win the everlasting love of my 3 men, (husband and two sons). During this time I didn’t stop wanting to express myself creatively. I kept a journal. I painted many a room and moved furniture like a champ. I knitted a little, and loved Christmas crafts for myself and with the boys and I dabbled in jewelry making. Oh, and I cooked… a lot. You will see some of my experiments and adventures in food on another page very soon.
Then my sons grew up. They are so handsome. One is now married and a father while the other is still enjoying the single life. We are very close but we have our own lives now. When they started leaving the nest I didn’t get depressed or sad or whatever. I got excited. I decided to rediscover my creative self. Yes, I even did some acting. I began writing in earnest. I started a blog writing reviews on the books I read. Then I joined a wine pairing club and began blogging for them. I stated soaking up all of the experiences I could from wine pairing to cheese making. I got inspired to start my own garden and I as I write this post I am impatiently waiting for my tomatoes ripen to go with my fresh lettuces. I can’t wait to share what I grew with you!
For all of my travels in the last six or seven years and the groups and clubs I have been a part of there was one thing that brought crafting into my world. You know what I am going to say. You are right….Pinterest. That wonderful, evil place of images, inspirations and instructions. Suddenly I found myself perusing crocheting tutorials, quilting patterns, and jewelry styles.
It all came to a head in August when I found, on YouTube, tutorials for left handed crocheting. Lefties do things in a mirror image of righties so this was awesome. Crochet Geek opened me up to a
whole new obsession. I started small. I made my nieces, new moms, baby blankets. They were basically giant granny squares. The one pictured here is the colors of the Baltimore Ravens. According to my niece her son Isaac will be brought up right starting with the football team.These baby blankets turned out so well I decided to make all the Christmas gifts for family and friends. I started with my dad. He is cold all the time so I made him a lap afghan. It is color blocked and done all in single crochet. It is based on a knitted pattern I found through All Free Crochet. I am sure you are asking why did I use a knit pattern to crochet. Well, basically, because I liked it and I thought my dad would use it more if it wasn’t a granny square. Using the easiest stitch I knew, the single crochet I began. I used Simply Soft yarn. It felt strong and soft against the skin so it would last my dad a good long time. I think it turned out pretty well too.
I made individual columns of color, alternating shades. Then I hand stitched them together and added a border.
My Dad seems to love it.
I took on my mom’s present next. It was a really unique poncho. This pattern came from ravelry.com by way of Pinterest. I found the softest yarn I could find. It was Lion Brand’s Homespun yarn. It was so soft, thick and cushy I could just imagine my mom bundle up in it as she ran errands or watched tv with dad. I have to admit it gave me a tickle to think of my parents hanging out together wearing something I created for them. Back to the poncho. This was easier than the afghan. I was all one color and double crochet. The shape is a big rectangle that I then stitched together. For this project I learned how to use the slip stich to bring the sides together. I added three buttons on the neckline for two purposes. One, it looked very cool. The second was for practical reasons. She could button it up it when she wanted it around her neck for more warmth. The funny thing was I made it to look like the picture but my mom being the style maven she is wears it completely different. You can decide for yourself which styling is more interesting.
Me My Mom
Don’t let mom’s gorgeous smile sway you. You are judging the poncho not how beautiful she is! I think I like it mom’s way too.
With all these one stitch styles under my belt I decided to go for something a little more challenging for my sisters. I found. Enter Pinterest again. This time it was a “cascading potato chip scarf.” The pattern is actually found at Fave Crafts. I used different stiches in this project as well as multiplying them. The Yarn was from Red Heart and on sale! I love sales! I made both scarves in less that a week. The hardest part was keeping my counting straight when multiplying. It was so cool to watch it start curling as I crocheted. My sisters loved them and looked totally adorable Christmas morning modeling.
Pink and Gray Burgundy and Navy
I know, I know! They are adorable and perfect models!
Well this should do it for my first entry of crafting. Please stay tuned as I try my hand at some new crafts and show off my skills with old ones. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoy sharing them. Remember all it takes is inspiration then the effort is fun.
Please feel free to let me know what you think of the crafts, my writing or if you want to share what you are doing. You can contact me at
