What a week...

If this looks like a tired baby, that's because it is! Last Monday night into Tuesday morning little A woke up with a fever of 101.3, this little girl never gets sick and the only time she's run a fever was the first two days she was on the outside. Her little fever drug on for three days, it never got over 100 again though. Her eating suffered, along with her usually pleasant attitude and sleep. We ended up taking her to the doctor but nothing was wrong in the ways of illness. My friend Megan told me her daughter (who's a year older than A) does the exact same thing when her teeth are bothering her. Low and behold, the next day I stuck my finger in her mouth and looked around and found that one molar had poked through and I could see more quivering with anxiety just below the suffer of her gums waiting for their turn to pop out! She seems to be feeling better though. I hadn't seen her sweet smile for a few days then it came back with everything else (appetite and good sleeping) the day before her party.


Happy first birthday (party) little A! It was a lot of fun! She had a blast with her cousin and friend. They all played with the toys in her toy box and ate chips and cupcakes.


Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of pictures of the party or the decorations. See, as this was my first party I didn't realize time speeds up within a few hours of the party and when you think you have two hours left before it begins in reality it's like 30 minutes. You have to get it done while you have the time! I don't have all the mom super powers yet (which I'm sure will come I'm time?) and I thought I had plenty of time. Wrong! There was still much to be done and by the time I realize it, it was 2 and the party was at 2:30. But everything did get done and everyone had a great time, I just didn't get many pictures. I DID get video of the cake smash though. I'm not that bad of a mom! ;-)

I know I promised a project reveal but with little A being sick I didn't have a lot of time to work on things. But I have some things in the works, along with a tutorial for crocheting letters into your project. Seeing as I don't have any followers yet, I am willing to bribe you all! I know you're out there reading my blogs and I am willing to reward you for following too. Let's say the first, say 5 for now, people to sign up to follow my blog will "win"...


THIS! Well, not this exact object, this is a picture of the finished project from a tutorial by Three Bears. Found at:
http://threebears.Y.com/2007/10/15/little-boxy-pouch-tutorial/
Sorry, I don't know how to link yet from my app for blogging.
I saw this tutorial and have yet to try it. But I'm going to get fabric for it this week and make it. I'll also be making 5 extras to give away to my first 5 followers. Then, once every couple to three months I'll have a drawing for some new (probably small) project I'm working on, to give away randomly to one of my blog followers. Who doesn't love free homemade goodies?! I know I do! But anyway, that's my bribe/reward to you!



To end my rambling is a picture of my traveling yarn. I have idle hand syndrome, as I call it, and always have a project close at hand, including in the car, to help ease my need to create. Poor E, everywhere he looks there's a pile of yarn. He's so tolerant. Until next time!

Feet and Stashes

So this is my fourth time writing this blog post. The first three times were on Blogger+, which is a completely worthless app for the iPhone! It works great, in theory, but if you actually want to use it to post your blog don't hold your breath! Because you'll die! But besides that, it was a pretty good week. I got new summer socks! I'm a HUGE fan of socks, E gets me new socks for Christmas every year and they're probably my favorite present. But I did lose track of my days and thought I was a week ahead. I was pretty glad to get that week back.


The other day I went to Hobby Lobby, one of my favorite places, and stocked up on some fabrics for a new project. I can't tell you anything about my newest project because it's a secret, a present for my niece for her birthday. I don't quite know how E feels about another crafty stash hanging around the house, I think he has a mental block about the whole thing. He gets the garage for all of his goodies and I get, well I get the whole house, save the kitchen and upstairs living room.


I'm working on a few projects that I can't reveal yet because I don't want the persons they're intended for to see them. So I supplemented a picture of little A laying on Tonka's dog bed with her quilt and my pillow. The one project is for a friend of mine for her baby shower and the other is for my brother for Christmas '10. He's a patient guy, but I promise it's worth the wait! My favorite part about gifting home/handmade gifts is the reaction of the person receiving the gift. I made E a huge granny square afghan for our bedroom in our favorite colors and he got teary eyed when he opened it. Don't tell him I told you!


There it is! For your viewing pleasure. It's extra large and fits perfect on our king size bed.


Another thing I'm super excited for is the change of weather. When it changes so do my shoes. Summer is flip-flops or no shoes if I can help it, fall is chucks until about November-ish because my feet get so cold, winter I wear my boots, and once the weather starts turning spring like I switch back to my chucks. This particular pair has been a work in progress for about two years now. Those of you who wear or have worn chucks know they take a little time to be exactly what you hoped they would be.

Well, that's about it for now. Next week I'll try to have a reveal of something to treat your eyes, and next Saturday is little A's first birthday party, so wish me luck!

Fun Things that I Love

My mom, Little A, and I ventured to Wally World this passed Sunday, the day before St. Valentine's day and there was Twink walking around. I was looking for tasty things for A to eat and my mom was walking with Little A, who has been walking for a month now. All the sudden I hear, "Tabitha, Tab! Come here!" I look over and realize A is bravely walking up to this giant Twinkie with a cowboy hat. This little girl was scared of Santa, so seeing her reach out and touch this character was really funny.

This are our first piggy tails. We were getting ready to leave for the grocery and I thought I would try them out. I didn't think that, either 1) she wasn't going to hold still long enough for me to do it, and/or 2) she was going to pull them out as soon as I wasn't looking. Neither happened and I even got a compliment from a passer-by about how cute they looked. I was pretty happy.

This is my newest project. Pink, purple, and tan wavy blanket for a little girl. (not my little girl this time)

I'm making it with Lion Brand's "Hometown USA," which E laughed at when I told him the name. It calls for size N hook, but the N hook I have doesn't tickle my fancy, so I'm using a M hook. I much prefer the Susan Bates flat head aluminum hooks because I like the way the grab and hold onto the yarn better. I love the way this pattern looks and the yarn feels amazing to work with and in blanket form. I think this little baby will love it as much as I do.

A First for a First

My baby girl A's birthday was this passed Friday and I made her this quilt for her birthday. This was my first quilt and I wanted to give it to the most important person in my life. Next to my husband, of course. It's not perfect but it's perfect for A. She carries it around with her, hugs it, runs her hands over it, and smiles everytime she sees it. Nothing makes me happier than to know that she loves it almost as much as I do!
She also got her first baby doll from her Grandpa, who shares her birthday, from the American Girl store at the mall. She tottled into the store (because it's the first store on the left as you enter the mall) and the ladies all jumped to help the beautiful birthday girl. Her shirt proudly said, "Birthday Girl," on the front with her name and the number 1 on the back. Grandpa asked her which doll she might want and the ladies showed us the "Bitty Baby" dolls. The first one she picked up looked just like her, had blue eyes, reddish hair, and pouty lips (like the ones she got from her dad). It was almost creepy.
Her grandpa, without skipping a beat, said, "we'll take one." My dad loves little A so much. Grandpa/granddaughter love is such a sweet love indeed and even her Papa (E's dad) has that same sweetness with her, but in a different in a way. Grandpa secretly hid his birthday from the public at the mall until I told whoever wished A "happy birthday" that he turned 50 today, the day she turned 1. How special is that?
We all had a great day on Friday and a great weekend. Happy first birthday, Little A!

Another Project

I'm one of those people that has to have a plathora of projects going at one time. I suppose i do this so if I begin to go bored of one project I jump over I another one. Mostly in between large blankets or complex patterns I slide over to a hat because it's instant gratification and goes quickly, so I feel I'm truly accomplishing something with my crochet.

Yesterday, A's grandpa, my dad, came over to hang out with us (E works the weekend and our Saturday/Sunday are Monday/Tuesday) and he put her down for her nap. Let me take a step back, A has never gone to sleep without the boob and definately has never let anyone other than her dad and myself put her to sleep. I was ok with this despite the heaviness I felt in my breasts, and for some reason I thought we would try it again with E that night. A was a little upset and confused and tried to put up a fight but her daddy got her to go down. I sat in the living room and listened. When E came out he said, "she's out," I lost it. With a quivering lip I nodded and continued to play on my phone. He tried to make me feel better and told me I could always go wake her up an feed her, I laughed and shook my head telling him that if I did it would be for my own selfish reasons now that I knew she could fall asleep without me.

Earlier that day I had googled pictures of "wavy crochet blankets" and found a beautiful pattern that looked more like argyle rather than waves. But it struck my fancy and I saved the site and left it at that. After I had dried my eyes last night and E and I were sitting in the upstairs living room I felt my hands growing idle and itchy. This is a clear sign that some crafting MUST be done! But none of my current projects tickled my croche bone and I remembered that "wavy" blanket pattern. I pulled up the pattern and gathered some Hobby Lobby's "I love this yarn!" I'd been saving for a blanket for A and set about making the "wean-y blankie." I somehow felt closer to my daughter by starting this project for her. Then this morning as we were playing she found the small beginning of her future blanket. I rubbed it against her cheek and asked her if she liked the soft blanket, the smile I got in return was what makes making things for others truly worth every stitch.

Then this morning she protested and fussed so much I ended up nursing her earlier than her normal nap time, she fell asleep, and then slept for three hours! Two hours is normally her max napping time, though she has been a little under the weather. I hope she feels better soon. Happy Sunday!

First Day

A friend of mine on Facebook started a blog a few months back and everytime I see she has a new posting I eat it up. I soon realize I was eager to see what she would write next, which I thought weird of myself because I don't read many things online, especially blogs. Then I started thinking, "huh, I think I'd like to do that." So here I am, starting out on something I've never done or thought I would do, and at some point will grow weary of constantly writing. But like the new year or a birthday, I'm raising my glass and toasting to this new adventure! Cheers!

So to begin I'll tell you a little about me;
My name is Tabitha, but those closest to me call me Tabby, and I'm a stay at home mom. I live with my husband, who I'll call E, and my currently 11 month old daughter, who I'll call A. We've been married since July of '07 and have been togehter since October '05. We have two Welsh corgis, Mabel and Tonka, and two lop eared rabbits, Alfy and Joey. I love to craft! Yarn, paper, fabric, paint, you name it! Crochet is what I mostly do but E bought me a sewing machine for my birthday so I'm teaching myself to quilt (thank goodness for "...For Dummies" books!). I'm a semester away from completing my bacehlor's degree in psychology but thanks to A had to put on hold. Also thanks to her, I have probably changed my mind about psychology and choosen something that will allow me to spend more time with my family. But for now I'll just enjoy my crafting sessions during A's nap times and dream about the future.

I hope this wasn't too boring, I plan on posting pictures of things and maybe post some of my own patterns I've written up! I'm sure I'll be adding more tidbits about myself too. Too new beginnings!