{ A yarny kind of Friday }

I often get asked how I managed to do get my housework done and still have time for crochet or watching a show or doing the things that I enjoy.

It's not the first time that I've talked about this, but it has been quite a long time ago so I thought I would quickly mention it again.

{ Hello September }

It is here!!!

September in all it's glory.

I get so happy when this time of the year rolls in.  I don't quite want to think that we are but a few months away from Christmas, but it's good to see the summer behind us.

This summer, for me, has been one of the busiest.  I've been on the go since July 1st and today, September 2nd, is the first time I have been able to sit on my bed, with my laptop, my tv and my yarn and just breathe and relax.

No worrying about taking care of anyone or anything, or worrying that I need to be sure my guests are well, fed, entertained and so on.

Much as I love having family and friends visit, it is exhausting, and I was surely starting to feel run down and overwhelmed.

Blessed with Yarn

I mentioned in my previous post, which you can read here, that I had been gifted a whole lot of yarn, and not just any kind of yarn, I'm talking Mohair, Angora, Cotton, Cotton Linen, Wool etc, most of it from France.

I am truly blessed to have received such a beautiful gift and my mind is already reeling with thoughts of what I can make with it.  It might even come in hand for some beautiful Christmas presents.

Anyway, let me show you what I got and why I'm so excited, and I'll also link any patterns that I have in mind for these.  If you have any suggestions on the use of any or all of these, please leave them down below.

In the world of yarn, I've really just stuck to the cheapest which means Walmart Red Heart Super Saver and though I enjoy working with it, sometimes it's nice to have beautiful expensive yarn at your fingertips.

This beautiful wool is going to become either a scarf or a cowl.  I'm thinking something inspired by Outlander for sure because the colors remind me of some of the knitted cowls, shawls and wrist warmers that Claire wears.

Gorgeous Angora.  I have never worked with Angora before so I am not sure what to make with it, again if anyone has any ideas, or good projects, please let me know.

For these I'm thinking of making the Campside Shawl. 

How gorgeous is this mohair?  I only have this single skein so I don't know if I'll be able to make anything at all.

And for the yarn above, the cotton linen, I'm thinking of making this wrap.   I am definitely going to have to get my knitting skills polished, it's been many many years since I've knitted anything of substance, as I prefer to crochet instead.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing with this cotton. 

Truly the possibilities are endless.  It's the small things in life that bring me the most joy, I know many people would find none of this too exciting, but for me it's like receiving a huge Christmas present in September.

Can't wait to get started :)

{ Painting Day and gifted yarn }

So I'm about to head to bed since it's already 9pm and tomorrow is back to work/school for everyone, but I wanted to come in a put up a post real quick, just to document my day.

First I'm going to show you what my husband's aunt brought me this weekend.  A bag full of yarn, I mean, the woman knows me well.

Some may be happy and excited with diamonds, I get super giddy with yarn.

I don't know what I'm going to do with it, it's not yarn that I usually use and the brand is not even ones I'm familiar with, so I'll have to research a bit online and see what I come up with.  Meantime, if either of you have used it before or have any ideas what to make with them, leave it down in the comments.  Please, and thank you :)

Super soft and these colors are gorgeous.

I saw someone make dishcloth with the yarn above, the Bellezza Collection Smania yarn, so I may do that with that specific skein.

I just absolutely love the colors, they are beyond beautiful, I'm just completely stumped as to what to use them for.

And these, which I know are usually used for scarves, so I may do that, not entirely sure.  Even if I don't do anything, they are so pretty that I won't mind having them on my yarn shelf just to pretty things up.

And since we're speaking of yarn, I made a few more blocks for my blanket.  I've now got 2 rows done and have started joining them using the Flat Braid method which I think is so pretty.  I'll take pictures tomorrow to show you all.

Ok now let me show you what I worked on today.  The green living room is finally coming along, it's nowhere near done, there are quite a few projects I still need to finish, but it's getting there.

Just in case you're wondering, this is the paint I'm using, it's the Chalk paint in Plaster color by Waverly Inspirations.  I love it because it goes on so well and I don't need to sand or strip anything before applying it.

I watched some youtube vlogs while painting one of my DVD shelves.  It didn't take very long at all and since I want it old and distressed looking, I only did one coat and then went in and sanded the edges and a few areas here and there.

There it is finished.  Some may not like this look, but I love it, I love anything that looks old and beat up and like the paint is coming off.

This week I have to do the other shelf on the other side of the window.

Do you remember a couple of years ago, back in Arizona actually, I asked my husband to build me a shelf unit with wheels that would slide in next to my refrigerator because we didn't have a pantry in base housing???

Well since then we've had pantries and I could never figure out what to do with it, at one house it sat in my garage and then when we moved here, same thing.  I decided to bring it in this weekend, removed the wheels and the black and white paper that I had used for the back of the shelves and painted it green to match the walls. 

I am now using it in one corner of the living room to display some of my crochet blankets.

I feel like now it has a purpose and it's not just gathering dust in the garage, besides, I have more crochet goodies to add on to it, and I can even switch out quilts for the crochet as well.

Also began pulling down the different wooden shelves in that room and am painting them to distress them.  The picture frame was gold, I threw on a coat of green and will take some sandpaper to it and see how it looks, if it's not what I want, then I'll put on a coat of white and then sand it.

The shelves got a coat of green first and then one of white chalk paint.  Tomorrow I will distress them before hanging them back up.

All that is left in there is wall shelf and the DVD shelf to finish and then I want to strip and repaint and stain the dining table in there too.

So, yeah, plenty of projects to keep me busy, I'll be moving from room to room doing what is needed until I have the house finally as I want it.

Alright, it's almost 10pm and I have got to get some sleep.  I hope you've all had a wonderful long weekend and wish you a blessed week ahead.

{ Yarn Along }

I love Wednesdays, not only because they mean the middle of the week for me and closer to the weekend, but because it means Yarn Along and I can share with you what I've made or what I'm currently working on.

Don't forget to head over to Ginny's blog to join in or to see what she's working on :)

So before I show you what I'm working on now, let me give you a little Ta-Dah moment with my Daisy Square Pillow.  It turned out amazing, I'm SO happy with it :)

*sigh* it was so simple to make and I can't get over how adorable it looks, it just makes me so happy when I look at it :)

So there you have it, all finished and placed next to my other crochet pillow, the Blooming Flower :)

But now onto today's Yarn Along.

Following in Lucy's footsteps, I am crocheting a cover for an empty tissue box which is going to be turned into a holder for my Basil pot. :) I have a couple other boxes around that I'm going to do the same for with different color combinations and they will all be placed on my windowsill with my herbs.

As for what I'm currently reading, after my Kindle went Kapoot the other day :(  and while I wait to get a new one, I'm enjoying looking through some of my older books, like this one called A Garden Supper Tonight.

 I think what I love the most about this book is that it's divided into months and Seasons.  Most of the recipes shared have been printed as they were found or either passed down from generation to generation, so you'll see a lot of pinch of this, and a handful of that.  I LOVE it, it's how I learned how to cook, there was no measuring just eyeballing :)

So that's what I'm reading and that is what I'm crocheting :)

Wanna see what I got today?

If you're not into yarn, you may just wanna completely skip this post because really, I'm just going to babble endlessly about all the goodies I got this morning.

One of my friends was getting rid of a bunch of yarn and of course, being that I'm constantly buying it I said I would take them.  I'm so glad I did.

I ended up with a box and two baskets of yummy yarn.

I sat on my couch surrounded by the soft balls of yarn and tried to contain the ideas that just started flowing from my brain.

Granny Stripe blankets, doilies and runners and scarves and oh my goodness, I don't even know where to begin.

What I choose to do, I can envision lots of quiet time with my yarn and my hooks, but maybe the first thing I should make is another crochet bag to hold all these in. 

Yes, I think that's where I'm going first, so I'm going to leave you for I'm about to go sit back on that couch and ooh and aah at the pretty colors.