Infinity Scarf

    Just finished this special order infinity scarf for a friend. She wanted it black and soft so I ended up buying Red Heart Hometown USA in black. It is soft and a thick and bulky yarn, a number 6.

    The first pattern I followed was supposed to be a nice size that when doubled would be down to about the sternum and a loose stitch. It wasn't,  the stitch(though beautiful) was too stiff and the scarf way too short. I had to tear it out and start over. This time I made up my own pattern. I upped my hook to I think a Q but my hook is unmarked. I did a chain of 95 and worked hdc in the round working in the back loop(the stitch is so loose I could pick up 2 loops in the back). I worked 7 rows which used 2 skeins of yarn.

    I love the result, I hope she does too.

Katniss Messy Bun Hat

    I tend to make a lot on my things from scratch, sometimes writing the patterns down as I go. This time I actually followed someone else's pattern. This is the Katniss Messy Bun Hat. I was going to post the link but honestly if you Google it you with find multiple pattern copies and videos.

   The gray hat I made for myself with the base chain of 9, I love how it came out but for my I wished it was a touch longer. The black one was an order and I made it with the base chain of 11.

    I really like this hat pattern and plan to make more in different colors.

Out with the Old, in with the New

   Last year was a tough year. Starting the year my husband had been in the hospital just before Christmas and it was almost like PTSD in our house. Everything he did made us nervous. We were so worried about him all the time. I actually spent many nights awake just watching him sleep. As time went on and as his medical treatment increased and tests kept coming back better and better we started to relax and slowly go back to life as normal.

    Life was cruising along OK, our year was getting better and then at the end of June a phone call from my step dad had my world crashing around me, mom was in the Emergency Room. She had been complaining about pain in her leg for a while and it kept getting worse, Her doctor brushed it off that it was nothing. She had gotten to the point that walking was getting very tough and she was going to go back to the Dr. She had gone into her motor home to get some stuff out of the fridge after having family visit and when she was coming out of the motor home her Femur snapped. She couldn't move and it was very hard for the paramedics to get her out of the motor home. They took her less then a mile away to the local hospital to stabilize her before being transferred to Kaiser an hour away. The next day they started to talk about surgery. Her pain was intense. It turned out that the cancer she had in 2013 that bore a hole trough her skull and wrapped around her brain stem had returned and had grown til it went all the way through the bone. They set her up for surgery to repair the leg. After the surgery started dad and I went downstairs to get something to eat, while we were eating the Dr came and found us. He was unfamiliar with mom's cancer but luckily his nurse wasn't. Mom has a very rare form of cancer called Hemangiopericytoma and this cancer can cause excessive bleeding which means that before surgery they have to do extra scans and a pre surgery procedure to minimize the bleeding. They put her into a different kind of traction and woke her up. When they let dad and I into her she was crying so hard, it broke our hearts. The nurse told us that she thought she had been in an accident and that she also thought that she had hurt my dad and their dog(as she is the primary driver). Turned out that when mom started waking up she asked the nurse what had happened(mom does not take anesthesia well). The nurse thinking mom had fallen and broke her leg told her she had had an "accident" instead of a planned surgery and mom had created a very vivid memory in her head, even after seeing us she had trouble believing that she had not hurt anyone. I NEVER WANT TO SEE MY MOM LIKE THAT AGAIN! It was horrible. After more tests and scans and mistakes she finally went in for surgery 4 days after breaking her leg. We instructed the nurses that if she asked they were ONLY to tell her that she had had a planned surgery, NOTHING ELSE! They put a rod in from hip to knee. She was finally able to start healing. Mom doesn't remember much from being in the hospital, between the anesthesia and medication they had her on she didn't know much of what was going on and a few times didn't even know who dad and I were. About 2 days after surgery she went to rehab and improved quickly there. After 2 weeks she walked out of rehab to go home. Now we could start treating the cancer. She ended up having a second spot of cancer in her rib. She was treated with 10 days of radiation and then started chemo. Unfortunately her cancer is so rare that her Dr doesn't really know how to treat it she is treating her with 2 different kinds of Chemo every other week, hoping it will work. She is still being treated and the cancer is getting smaller but it is still there. Her leg has been getting more pain in it again and she will see a surgeon this week(a new one as her's just retired)

     In August mom was doing well enough that I went to WI with my aunt to help my other aunt who had recently also gone trough treatments for cancer and still was recouping. She is an amazing woman too. She cared for my grandparents for years putting her own life on hold. Both of my grandparents have passed away now and she is still working her butt off and then got sick. What did she do? She went through treatments and still worked her butt off. She didn't have much free time and things still needed gone through after both of my grandparents passing. So my aunt and I went back to help go through, pack and purge things. We were working a lot but I really enjoyed being there with them. Half way through my stay my husband's first cousin and one of his best friend who was only in his 50's passed away. We were all still in shock when 3 days later my husband's oldest sister passed away, she was also in her 50's. I had to cut my trip short and come home, my husband and boys needed me. Her service was perfect. Sometime after that I found out that my cousin's husband had passed away too. I guess they always say that things come in 3's.

     In September things had started to calm down a bit again but then on the morning of October 9th everything spiraled for not just us but a lot of Northern CA. We had strong winds and fires sparked up in the middle of the night and blew out of control, burning through the towns and homes, waking people from their sleep and sending them running with nothing but the shirts on their backs. Mom and I could not see each other for almost 2 weeks being separated by fires and road blocks. 202,921 acres burned in just Sonoma, Napa, Solono, Lake and Medicino Counties alone. 220,049 Total acres burned in Northern CA. We personally knew 33 families who lost their homes and are starting over. We were lucky, we were only slightly effected and not directly at home. Mom was also safe though she had to venture out through the fire areas at least a couple times a week because of her cancer treatment. Driving out through the burn areas made you feel like you were in a war zone. Homes, Stores, Businesses, Landmarks, all gone. The fires burned so hot and so fast that within hours our city looked like....well it didn't look like our city anymore. We are slowly recovering from the fires, the black hills have become green, properties are being cleared and some rebuilding has even just started in some areas. In the wake of our fires southern CA has now had their share of fires, the largest being in the Los Angeles. The southern fires have now burned over 281,900 acres and are still burning.

Through this year one of my son's has had a lot of health issues and missed a lot of school. he has been through a lot of tests and tried on many different medications in hopes of him feeling better. We have yet to have a specific diagnosis. It is hard seeing your kid sick and not being able to fix him.

Looking into the New Year I have been hearing the word HOPE used a lot, people are hopeful for so much. As I look into the New Year I am hopeful. I have seen so many people affected from the fires and they are not letting it get them down, they are looking ahead to the future, finding homes, rebuilding lives and coming out stronger then they were before, they are all full of hope. Looking at my personal life and family I am also hopeful, hopeful for my mom's health and that the Chemo gets rid of the cancer and her leg keeps getting stronger, I am hopeful that my son's health improves. I am hopeful that my aunt stays strong and healthy. I am hopeful that our families hearts heal from all the losses of last year. I had a lot of friends who suffered their own losses, and trials this last year and I am hopeful for all of them too. I am hopeful for a better brighter year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Knit & Crochet Scarf

I started this scarf years ago for my aunt as a gift. I knit the stocking using a rib stitch with worsted weight yarn and I think a size 10 needle but I really don't remember. I finished the scarf and still needed to weave in the ends and put a trim/fringe on it. I set it aside probably to work on an order and forgot about it. I found it recently when going though a bag of yarn. I couldn't believe I had never finished it. I dug in my stash and found some contrasting yarn and broke out my crochet hook and after much contemplation of what to do I went to town. I decided to make spirals with a size H hook along each end of the scarf. I think Ii did a chain 10 spiral but it was almost a month ago now.(Didn't blog much during Christmas) I think it came out pretty cute and it finally went in the mail to WI. I hope she likes it and is able to keep the chill out.

Christmas Gift for a family that lost everything but HOPE

I live in Northern California in Sonoma County where we were ravaged by the Firestorm in October. We knew 33 families personally that lost there homes and may more indirectly. One of these families we became friends with after they lost their home and a horse. They also had 2 of their 5 goats severely burned. They were very inspiring, they had lost everything but they never let it get them down. They invited us to their Christmas Housewarming party and knowing they had lost everything I wanted to make them something special for Christmas. So I made them each a little stocking for their tree and I crocheted them a cute little angel, the pattern is the Peace on Earth Angel...

....They loved them. There party was full of laughter and hope. Their goats had all just come home and we even took them for a walk around the property and they were so happy to follow their mom(human mom, haha) anywhere she went. We watched a beautiful sun set from their yard. When we left it was so nice to see a "home" filled with laughter, love and hope and not of tears and sorrow.

Elf Boot Cuffs

Cute little Elf Boot Cuffs I just made, I saw a picture on Pinterest and decided to create my own. They jingle as you walk and sparkle in the sun. They took about 3 hours per cuff(though it was trial and error) Her is my pattern if you want to try yourself. Read my After Thought at the end before you start. Enjoy.

Materials-

Size H crochet hook

#4 medium weight, 10ply yarn-
Caron Simply Soft Party in Spring Sparkle(green)

Caron Simply Soft Party in Red Sparkle

Caron Simply Soft Party in Snow Sparkle(white)

14 green small jingle bells 

With green Chain 51
Row 1- Hdc in 2nd Ch from hook and each across, Ch 1 and turn
Row 2- Hdc in each hdc across, change to white, Ch 1 and turn
Row 3 & 4- repeat row 2, change to green, Ch 1 and turn
Row 5 & 6- repeat row 2, change to white, Ch 1 and turn
Row 7 & 8- repeat row 2, change to green, Ch 1 and turn
Row 9 & 10- repeat row 2, change to red, Ch 1 and turn
Row 11- sc in each hdc across, Ch 2 and turn
Row 12- dc in first sc, Ch 2, sk 2  sc, *dc in next 2 sc, Ch 2 sk 2 sc repeat from * across til 4th sc from end, do those 2 dc in same sc and last 2 sc in same sc(the last of the row. Slst down post(@2)
Row 13-(Crocodile Stitch) 5 dc up post, Ch 1, *5 dc down next post, sk next 2 posts, in next post inserting hook facing start of row work 5 dc, Ch 1, repeat from * across, slst into end of row, Ch 40, bind off.
Pict up yarn at other end of red and Ch 40.
Lace up the 2 chs like a shoelace into each row of color til you reach the the top and tie(tighten) when worn.

Attach bells to each red point with yarn, I ran one piece of red yarn along each crocodile stitch adding bells at the points.

Repeat above to make your second cuff.

AFTER THOUGHT- If you were to start with the red row you can do the crocodile stitch like normal and work the green and white rows off of it.

Crochet Nativity Stocking

I made a new stocking for my sister-in-law for Christmas this year. I did the baby Jesus on the front and a white stocking on the back for "The Legend of the White Stocking" She loved it!. I will add the pattern onto my page with the Crocheted Christmas Stocking.