What can you learn from Mono?

A little over a month ago, on my birthday no less, I was diagnosed with Mono. This has got to be one of the worst things I have ever had but there are a few good things that came from it.
     1. The world will not end if I wear pajama pants to the store.
I am a staunch protester of going out in public in your pajama's or any other ill-advised outfits but I did it. Guess what? The world did not end. Actually no one even noticed. It will not be a habit though.
     2. You can NOT dry socks in the microwave.
My poor husband has been awesome through this whole thing but laundry wasn't really a priority for me during those first few weeks. So while trying to find a way to quickly dry his socks we all learned that putting them in the microwave will only catch them on fire. This is knowledge that will serve us well in the future.
     3. My children do know how to clean house.
After all these years of pretending that they couldn't do anything more than their bottom line chores, when the going got tough, they actually pitched in and did quite a bit of cleaning. This knowledge will serve me but not them well in the future.
     4.  As much as I think I would love to not have anything to do, it's just not true.
The first few weeks I didn't do much more than sleep and didn't really have a choice. The next few weeks were rough. I have watched every show and movie that I can stomach. As much as I love crocheting, there is a point where enough is enough. I found myself thinking "Is there not some errand that just can't wait?" and "I really just want to sweep the floors!". I'm feeling a lot better now but still have to be careful to not over do it and some days I just want to get up and clean my house from top to bottom. Most of the time my life is so busy that I don't have time to breathe. Through this I have learned that I wouldn't want it any other way.

The solution for my Crazy Hair?

A: Headbands

 I made myself a cute little matching set of the fingerless gloves and a hat to wear when I walk in the mornings as it gets colder. One big problem, My crazy curly hair keeps a hat from staying on my head. So I started to buy me one of those fancy headbands that are made just for this (keeping your ears warm when your crazy enough to exercise in the cold). While I was looking at them I realized that I could make something like that if I wanted. As usual I started looking for patterns online and couldn't find exactly what I wanted so this one I created completely from scratch. It was immediately  taken by my beautiful daughter so I had to make her one. 

Then I made a few more for gifts for Senior night for the girls on her volleyball team.

Complete with fingerless gloves.

 I found this pattern as a pamphlet at the craft store. The original pattern that I followed in the photo to the left uses sock yarn. I love these gloves, everyone loves these gloves but making them with the sock yarn took about 6 hours for each pair so I decided to try to write a pattern of my own that would use larger weights of yarn and not take as much time. It took me a few tries to get it right but I did.

And these are the result.

I love them, everyone loves them.

It only takes me 3-4 hours to make a pair now. I really love that!!

And of course there has to be a Blue and Gold pair!!!!

Can gloves go Fingerless?

 I found this pattern as a pamphlet at the craft store. The original pattern that I followed in the photo to the left uses sock yarn. I love these gloves, everyone loves these gloves but making them with the sock yarn took about 6 hours for each pair so I decided to try to write a pattern of my own that would use larger weights of yarn and not take as much time. It took me a few tries to get it right but I did.

And these are the result.

I love them, everyone loves them.

It only takes me 3-4 hours to make a pair now. I really love that!!

And of course there has to be a Blue and Gold pair!!!!

Can I do a Mile-A-Minute?

This was the first time I had tried doing one of the mile-a-minute afghans and I really enjoyed it. The pattern was from the Leisure Arts book, Our Best Baby Afghans. Of course I had to make a cute little hat to go with. I decided to try to make a flower to go on it that would match the blanket and I was very pleased with how well it turned out.

Lace-up a baby blanket. Really?

I loved making this blanket and I really want to make another one at some point. I've wanted to ask how it has held up, I was a little worried about how the lacing would do when washed but I haven't worked up the nerve yet. It is one of the most unique items I have done and I love that. I truly hope they are still enjoying it.

How do you Brick it up?

This is the most tedious blanket I have made. I love it, love the feel and the look but it took SO long to finish. There was a lot going on at the time, I was working on it while my Father in law was in a Hospice House dying and it seemed like it would never be done. This is a really nice pattern and I'm still wondering if there isn't an easier way to accomplish it.