MaeLyn's Musings

 I like to make things. I'm not really content unless I have some project or another to be working on. Here are a couple projects I just completed. When JoAnn closed last year, I took advantage of the discounts at the very end to snag some yarn that is usually more expensive than I care to buy. This blanket was made of Bernat Baby Blanket yarn, which is usually over $10/skein, and I got 4 skeins for about $12. This yarn is very soft, but also thick, and so while I started the blanket in May or June of last year, I put it away for the summer because it was too warm to have on my lap as I worked! I picked it up again recently and finished it yesterday afternoon.  I really like the crosshatch pattern, although if I had been smart, I would have used stitch markers from the very beginning to help me keep track of the pattern. The finished blanket is about 4'x5' and will be great for snuggling under next winter.  The second project I finished yesterday is one that I started mor...

Every few years, the Young Women in our ward have a Spaghetti Dinner and Auction as a fund raiser for girls camp. People donate things to be auctioned off, and all the money goes to the girls camp. When I heard they were having the auction this year, I decided to make some amigurumi to donate. I crocheted the animals, then took them to the park for a photo shoot, and then made up little cards for them. It was a fun project and kept me busy. The dragons were definitely my favorites!   Here are samples of some of the cards. The auction was held last Saturday. We were seated at a table in the cultural hall, which had been decorated to resemble the Italian restaurant from "Lady and the Tramp". Hannah and the other young women served salad, spaghetti, and rolls for dinner. A silent auction was held on tables on one side of the room. Later, with our bishop serving as auctioneer, more expensive items were auctioned off to the highest...

When I'm watching a movie, I like to keep my hands busy. So a couple months ago, I decided that I wanted to make a small crochet animal for each of my nieces and nephews to give out at the family reunion this past week. My parents currently have 28 grand children, but my own children already have crochet creatures (see here ), so my goal was to make 24 stuffed animals. I ended making my 26th animal on the drive to Nauvoo. Here is what I came up with, along with the patterns I used. (Freestyle means I kind of made it up as I went along.) Penguin. Pattern from a book,  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Lion. Pattern from   Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Snowy Owl pattern   from Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Walrus . Pattern from  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Elephant. Pattern from  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Hippo. Pattern from  Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters Giraffe. Patt...

As we watched General Conference this weekend, several of us had activities to keep our hands busy while we listened: Peter spelled out Thomas S. Monson's name using pretzels. Hannah made ties for each of her brothers out of duct tape. I crocheted Super Monkey. (Hannah made the cape and costume.)

 Yesterday I finished crocheting this penguin. He turned out pretty cute, and a couple of the kids have been arguing over who has him. Yesterday my first Spring flower bloomed. I'm looking forward to having more bright daffodils and tulips around the yard. On Monday, as part of FHE, the family went to Lowe's and picked out some seeds and stuff for our garden. We've got a month or two before we can plant things outside, but we can start some seeds inside now and transplant them when it is warmer outside. I enjoy having growing things around. The kids have been keeping busy this week with various activities. LEGOs are always a hit, and we've got several cars, houses, and other creations floating around the house along with a ton of loose LEGOs that aren't attached to anything right now. When they aren't playing with LEGOs, the computer seems to be another favorite. All the kids have enjoyed playing "Escape from Monkey Island" at least once this w...

Last October, I crocheted a unicorn as a prop for Hannah's Halloween costume (She was Agnes from "Despicable Me"). It turned out pretty cute. Since then, I've made a couple more crocheted creatures. These last two are from a book on amigurumi that I checked out from the library. I had each of the kids choose one creature that they would like for me to make. I think Hannah chose the elephant and Josh chose the robot. I have two more that I plan to make - a penguin that John chose and a super monkey that Peter selected.  

I recently crocheted myself a hand bag. I don't usually carry a purse, but sometimes it is convenient to have something to hold my purse and keys if I don't have a pocket. I finished it yesterday. Here it is: Joshua saw my bag, and decided that he wanted a satchel. (He has been watching Indiana Jones movies recently... Maybe he got the idea from that? I don't know. He wants something to hold a pocket knife in when he someday acquires a pocket knife...) He found some blue and white (self striping) yarn and asked me to make it out of that. When my own bag was done, I started crochetinghis, while listening to Hannah mockingly call it a "man purse" and Josh yelling at her, "It's a satchel !" This morning I remembered some suede-like fabric I bought a few years ago thinking I would use it for a vest... and never did. I asked Josh if he would mind if I made his satchel out of brown cloth instead, and he didn't seem to mind, so that's what I...