More Crochet Projects...

Testing this out to see of I can still get on here! A lot has changed, but looks like the blog works just fine! 

I think I will just put up a few crochet projects... just to make sure my blog doesn't do something silly like time out.

I made this blanket for a friend on tiktok...

Blanket Watch 2023!

I was thinking about the blankets I made for the year 2023, and how it felt that I didn't meet my usual goal of making four adult blankets and one or two baby blankets. Last year I made three adult blankets and one baby blanket. I feel like I didn't crochet as much because of the new job. My mind was heavy on that. 

And I am okay with that. I had my work review today, and it went reasonably well, so I suppose I can relax now and crochet more in 2024. 

But at any rate, here are the three blankets I made. 

The name of this blanket is "Mama's Joy"

That is for my friend "Almond Joy's" Mother. 

I asked my friend what her mother's favorite color was. She said red, without any hesitation. Bright red. 

I cringed inside. Fire Engine red. Ugh. And all one color. UGH.

But I came through. I found some cherry red yarn and went for it. But it was like staring at the sun. That red did a number on my eyes! I haven't given it to her yet. It was suppose to be a Christmas gift, but that got delayed. She will be in town this weekend, so I will take it to her then. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees it!

This is a blanket I have made multiple times. I think some 6 times over the past decade, I believe.  

One of them was made around the 2022 winter Holidays, so I am not counting that one, since it was a carryover from 2022. I think I may have finished that one in January. But I finished the second one in July. It was a birthday gift for my Nurse Practitioner. 

But guess what happened. My NP retired! I didn't have her phone number or anything. She was just up and gone. I tried to do the Peoplefinder thing on the internet, but that fell through. Finally in December, I asked another NP if she had her phone number, and if she did, could she please text her to contact me so she could get her stuff. She did that, and last week, I was able to give it to her. She loved it!

Last but not least, "Mama Mary's Blues".

Now, this was not my usual crochet project. But it was in the same pattern book as the two above, and I have always wanted to make it. Boy oh boy, that was some craziness. It took me four months to make. FOUR months. That is too long. I didn't think I would EVER finish. OMG. 

But Mama Mary is one of my friend's mother. She was shocked when I presented it to her. It took her a minute to figure it out. 

"Is this mine?" she exclaimed. 

"Yes it is!" I replied.

This one was very special to me. I thought about my own mother while making it. And I gave Mama Mary the blanket around Mother's day. I realized my mother is gone, but even though she is gone, I was so thankful that I could give someone else's mother a gift instead. For some reason, that thought gave me solace. It gave me peace. 

So on to this year. I have already completed a baby blanket. 

I usually give myself a month, but I made it in two weeks flat. I needed something to do while I was being still with my covid. I quarantined it for a week before I washed and dried it. And I gave it to my coworker. She is odd in her design of commissioned blankets. The colors here were blush and sage, and I was at the craft store sending her pictures of yarn. She did a good job on deciding the color scheme from my pictures. She also likes three rows of three, because three is her favorite number. This baffles me. What does this three business have to do with the newborn baby? Hmm. 

But I took it, along with another baby blanket I made last year (I forgot to take a picture of that one), to my old job. It was good to deliver the one above to my coworker, and a baby blue and tan one to my workplace twin (we have the same birthday). They both liked the blankets. 

The one above -whoever my coworker was giving it to came by the job to pick it up within the hour... and went and caught a plane to Seattle. That was a lot going on. So that blanket should be in Seattle now with the newborn baby. 

So on to other blankets this year. I usually plan my year out, so it looks like I have one more baby blanket to make and two adult blankets make.

Feels like a slow year. And that's cool. 

Maybe I can work another one in if possible. You never know who's gonna have a baby on the way!

Happy Labor Day 2021

Summer was here. 

And now summer is over. Well, not officially. But may as well be.

Happy Labor Day! 

And this is a time of musing for me. For there are only 4 months left in the year... 4 months to get all the goals I had swirling in my head out into the open, and magically attain them all. 

I say that every year.  And my only big goal for the year has to be to withstand the pandemic, to stay clear of the virus and to stay alive. 

And it's bad that we are STILL in this situation. Then mix into the pot horrific fires out west and hurricane ravaged states, and well.. it's a doozy. That's all I can say about that. 

I have to admit that I am anxious, that I have quite a bit of anxiety. This is fueled by constantly peering at the news programs, wishing for, hoping for, praying for... anything, anything positive. I'm waiting for someone to say "It's all over. We return to our regular scheduled programming. We return to our regularly scheduled life."

We return to our regularly scheduled life.

That is my goal for the year. 

I have been working from home for close to 19 months. I have had some good days, but right now, my days aren't the best (when it comes to work productivity, that is), and my eyes are glazing over.  Part of me wants to just take a leave of absence until this whole pandemic thing is over. But that is just wishful thinking. I pretty much expressed to my boss that I wanted to just take one day a week off, just to eat up some of my vacation time. I have about 4 to 5 weeks over what I can carry over to next year, and I just need to eat that up... even though I am not going on vacation. 

To ease my anxieties, and to shutter my weary glances at the constant rush of fear-based news flooding my television screens, I crochet.  I write. I busy myself with little projects around the house- cleaning out closets, cleaning out the garage, etc. 

But mostly, I crochet. 

Here is a recent crochet project completed in August.

The name of it is "Minty Dreams".

That beauty was for a 12-year -old girl's birthday. It doesn't photograph well, but the colors are minty green and pale plum. They are the girl's favorite colors. In fact, her mother said that they are every little girl's favorite colors. I did not believe this. So I asked a 9-year-old girl who lives across the street from me what her favorite color were. And wouldn't you know it, she said purple and green. 

Hmm... what is it with these pastel hues of purple and green? 

I guess it is a girly-girl thing. I think it came out really nice, though. And I am going to make one for the little girl across the street since I have extra yarn. It will make a nice Christmas present. 

(It screams "Happy Easter!" to me, though. LOL)

I think she will like it. 

And making it will ease my anxiety. 

And that is all I can hope and pray for on this Labor Day 2021. 

AKA Colors Inspired Blanket

(This is my first time posting from my phone. Let's see how this works out).

So I have been quite busy... here is a AKA colors inspired blanket I made for a coworker's retirement.

This is a second one I made for a coworker, commissioned by her husband.

Here are some close ups of the detail.

This is my favorite type of blanket to make. I know I have made at least 20 of them in different colors.

(Right now, I do not want to see any.more pink and green yarn. No sir. No ma'am.)

Wordless Wednesday: In Progress

Blanket Season, Part 3

*I made this tricolor granny square blanket (green, pink, and white), for my coworker's first grandbaby!  It took approximately 40 hours. 

Blanket Season, Part 2

Two newly crocheted blankets on deck!

The first is this beauty, a multicolored special.

I have made this one several times, as it is not gender specific. The coworker that picked out this blanket wanted a multicolored blanket because it reminded her of a rainbow, and this was her "rainbow baby".

I had no idea what this "rainbow baby" was. She explained that it was the baby one has after they have they lost a baby.

"Oh no," I said, trying to keep the HARD teardrop from falling down my cheek.

So when I was crocheting the blanket, I thought much about that. And I was happy to make this special blanket just for her.

So the second blanket on deck was one I've been wanting to make for the past two years, but no one has picked it out from my list.

I love this blanket, as I'd only made it once before for my nephew Justin.

So this one is for a new coworker, Brother Man D. I'd seen him sitting in a cubicle, and these folks are bad about introducing people around. I try to make sure I run up on folk and introduce myself. I make sure they have a badge, or can say what work group they're a part of. If not, I have to be prepared to jaw a joker. If you have snuck up in the workplace, we running you up out of here.

But that wasn't the case with him. So when he said he had a baby on the way, I know he was shocked when I thrust my cell phone at him and told him to pick out a blanket. He picked out the one above, the one I've been wanting to make. I was so elated!

A coworker hollered, "Has he been here long enough to get a blanket?"

This caused a huge intake of air from me, before I went off...

"Look here! Don't nobody care how long bruh been here! A baby is coming! I get to make a blanket!!"

I should not have gone off. This was someone in management looking at me crazy. Management is... special. And management got PROBLEMS.

Luckily this person has nothing to do with my annual reviews. So I can say what I wanna say!

I did think about this, though. What if Brother Man D decided he didn't like this job and got the heck on? Well, I would track him down on facebook.

And send him his blanket.

I just get excited when a baby is on the way! OH JOY!!

I like this blanket because of the color changes. It doesn't get boring. Making a blanket with just one yarn color gets a bit boring. I can set goals with this one: just work on one color until it is time to change colors, and that's the stopping point. I can see my progress better. And that's a good thing!

This is the 20th year I've made baby blankets. I am sure that I've made at least 40. And last year was the first year that it looked like I would not have to make any blankets, but I made one for last year. There will be FOUR so far this year, including the ones above.

Oh joy!!

Blanket Season, Part I

I am making baby blankets right now. I am happy for that, as I didn't make any blankets this year for babies, and this is the first year in some 20 years that that has been the case.

"Nobody is having a baby this year," I whined all year long to whoever would listen.

But alas, a couple of folks have babies due in February. So at least 2020 is taken care of. And suddenly, a coworker asked me to make a blanket from one of her expecting friends, who is due around Christmas.

The crochet year has been saved. GLORY!

So I just finished that blanket.

I like to model them on my slate dining room table.

But I forgot. So I had to bootleg it, meaning allowing the recipient to model the blanket.

And since Lady A commissioned the blanket for a friend, she was the de facto model.

I threw her in a chair in the cubicle area, and took a few pictures!

This was a pretty cool blanket. I've gotten in the habit of making small versions of the blankets so the buyer can see what they want.

After seeing it, she requested three stripes of white composed of three rows of white each.

*ladylee looking puzzled*

"My favorite number is three!"

"Oh, ok," I said.

And she didn't want a spot of white in the middle. That's easy enough to skip, and just start with baby blue yarn.

I think it came out really nice.

It came out about six inches too big, but that's okay. I made it in about a month or so. Could have been faster, but I was finishing up another blanket at the same time.

It is about 3 feet by 3 feet. (I started the white stripes too late in the blanket). The baby can use it in his toddler years!

That was a fun blanket to make. I hope the parents and baby like it.

Wordless Wednesday: Days of Baby Blanket Crocheting

Friday Love

I've been a bit down about people leaving the world...

It's always nice to celebrate babies entering the world. It has been one of the happy times of the summer thus far for me.

Here's a blanket I made for one of my coworkers. His little one is due on August 30th.

First, the squares. I think I made 72 of them.

Nothing is ever that neat, though. They looked more random like this.

Finished product! All folded neatly...

Now it's modeled on the table like a fashion magazine.

More bootleg modeling of the blanket!

Finally, a beautiful close-up.

You know, I really don't care to make blankets like these, as it has always been a chore over the last 19 YEARS (doesn't feel that long since I first learned) to sit and painstakingly whipstitch each square together. And nothing can be crooked, or I have to take it apart. Luckily, that didn't happen here. I also spent an hour on YouTube watching videos on how to whipstitch better, where you can't see the seams.  So I am happy that this time, the experience was actually fun.


And that's a good thing.


With that said, have a great weekend.

A Blankie for Notorius J

I am always making baby blankets, and of course, I made one for my new nephew.

But I never posted the finished blanket.

And it was quite different. I wanted to make one I'd never made before. And here it is:

It is a striped one, where blue and white alternate. That was a lot of fun to make, and it didn't get boring. (If I have to change colors, that keeps it interesting).

It's a bit too big for him (on purpose), but I know he will be able to use it for a very long time.

Friday Food-For-Thought: A Parable of Squares

(For reader Lisa B... who loves some good food for thought. Maybe she will come out of Lurk City and comment. Or even better, text me.)

I sometimes sit in my big chair and prop my feet up on the ottoman and crochet 'til my heart's content.

And sometimes it creates a mess.

Goodness gracious. I was crocheting up a storm, wasn't I? When it gets that bad, that means I've been getting it in. I have the netflix playing, just binge watching some shows.  I think that night, I just got tired of crocheting and walked off and went to bed. I wake up to yarn and a blanket on the floor.

And I have made a complete mess.

But that's okay. For I can pull out my trusty vacuum cleaner, and in less than 5 minutes, the area looks fairly presentable.

Fairly.

I usually crochet enough squares to fill up a gallon-sized storage bag. Around about that time, I think about hooking them all together. So I pour them out on the table and count them up.

Here's my mound of squares. I crocheted these since the beginning of the year.

That's a whole bunch of squares. 323 squares to be exact.  That's a whole slew of squares right there.

Really though.

It's not enough. I need 836. So I have a long way to go.

Look closely at the squares though. Do you see something... strange and out of place?

There are two yellow squares in my pile of cream squares. I can't use those yellow squares in the current project, as they are left over from another project. I tend to find old squares when cleaning up, you see.

*ladylee wails loudly and pulls out her hair in disgust*

*ladylee cries uncontrollably and beats head against the wall*

*ladylee gets depressed and sits in the corner and broods*

"Man, LadyLee," you may say.  "You sure are getting all worked up over those two yellow squares amongst the cream squares. Calm your tail down."

"NO! There are two yellow squares in the pile of my cream squares!!!," I holler. "Can't you see that??!!!!"

I stomp my foot. Two times. "You've really pissed me off by now, by trying to talk and reason with me. I know you are being helpful... but can't you see the two yellow squares? They will ruin my whole project!!

Hmmm...

You may be looking at me a bit O_o right now. But don't trip.

We do this all the time.

In life.

I think of people in their accomplishments. I am surrounded by highly accomplished people. Over their lifetimes (especially my older friends who are in their 40s and older), we have accomplished SO much stuff.

Then there are those hard times, those moments and issues that depress us and leave us feeling bad about ourselves. There are those failures and disappointments in life.

In other words, there are those yellow squares in life.

My yellow squares (my issues and problems) are scattered amongst many cream squares (my accomplishments).

And interestingly, my accomplishments outweigh my problems. But it doesn't feel or look that way in the face of the problems. The problems get ALL the attention. It is almost as if they, dare I say, begin to define us. I know for myself, other stuff gets dug up in the process. I have a deep dark dank broom closet in the back of my heart where I keep the things that bother me (all there with my Good Book of Cuss).  It seems when problems arise in my life, stuff seeps out of that closet along with it. Ugh. And it all must be dealt with.

Interestingly,we give the personal issues more weight than the long laundry list of our accomplishments. Afterall, like the yellow squares above, they do stand out amongst the white squares, don't they?  They are bright, almost glowing, overshadowing the cream squares, plentiful in number as they are,

And that's just how it is in life. Our problems overshadow that long laundry list of all that is good in our lives.

Afterall, we are conditioned to be that way. Just watch the news. News comes on in the ATL some 8 hours a day here. And it's mostly negative. We are conditioned to zone in on the negative instead of the positive.

I have been working on reversing that conditioning. With very good results.

For when problems and adversity arise, and I consider it all. But I do understand now that adversity shows me who I am and what my feelings truly are. Change has to be made. I can face myself and grow from it. I grow as a person. And most importantly, my faith grows. And faith is like a muscle. It must be worked and strengthened.

And here's another thing to think about. And I heard an exceptional sermon on this a couple of weeks ago:

It's not the problem that's the issue. For we all have problems. We always will.

It is your RESPONSE to the problem that matters.

How are we responding to the problems?

Are we responding in faith? Or in fear?

Each determines the series of thoughts, decisions and actions we take...

Now that's something to consider.

And it's a question I have asked others (and most definitely myself) over the years.

I will take it a step further, though.

What is your (and my) pattern of response when it comes to reacting to adversity, problems, tragedy, failure and issues? Especially in the face of all your (and my) accomplishments, triumphs, and achievements over the years?

I am sure the answer is all over the board. Hopefully we have all grown and matured over the years.

I know I have.

After all, shouldn't light cast out the darkness?

And with that, I look back again at my huge mound of crocheted squares.

I don't flip out and have a conniption fit. That won't do me any good.

I pick the yellow squares out and I throw them in the trash. Sure, I want to hold on to them. Afterall, I spent some 6 minutes making those couple of yellow squares. That took time. I have residual thoughts of them, even after I throw them away. I can learn from it. Next time, I won't make more squares than I need.

I make a decision to go on and press on with my white squares... for they are many.

(Funny what I learn from a harmless mound of squares. I tell you I can get a revelation out of just about anything).

So that's for you, Lisa B. You're my best friend in my head, lol. Through our conversation this week, you caused me to have to think about some of the issues I keep hidden in the dusty back broom closet of my heart... and I am better for it. This food for thought was just for you.

And for all my readers, too.

Have a good weekend.

On purpose.

Year in Review: The Original Baby

The last post was about Bliss' newborn twins and the impact that had on me.

And this post is a continuation of that post. But it is about Bliss' 16- year-old daughter.

We can pretty much stop right there. Bliss has a teenage daughter AND she was busy preparing for twins.

That's a lot going on.

And you know how we were when we were teenagers. Teen angst galore.

And I wondered how this teenage girl was feeling during this time?

I myself once was a teenage girl.

Yes, that sounds silly. But let me rephrase and put it into context: I was once a 17-year-old teenage girl whose mother was expecting a baby, my brother Milk and Cookies.

And I thought back to how I felt around that time. And I asked Bliss if I could send her daughter a card and write her a letter about how I felt about it all. Bliss gave me a slight text "side-eye", expressing that I didn't need to reveal any tricks. LOL. Of course I wouldn't. I just told her that it would be positive and helpful.

I wrote about who I was and what I was doing around that time. I am sure it was a little different from her situation. I was 17 at the time, and I was beginning my sophmore year of college (I started college when I was 16). I was in school full time and I had a full time job. And I was running behind my boyfriend.

So I had a LOT going on. (My goodness, I wish I had half the energy I had back then. Wow.)

Anyway, my mother told me she was having a baby. I didn't really believe her. (She had a tumor or fibroid or something. They took a ultrasound, and lo and behold, there was a baby behind the tumor).

So my circumstances were way different (I didn't detail all that in the letter). I wasn't pissed about it, but it was all a lot going on. I had a lot going on myself so I just did my thing.

But I detailed in the letter that her little sisters would be in such awe of their big sister. I know because my baby brother was in such awe of me. The reason for that is that by the time these little ones become old enough to talk and walk, their big sister would be an adult.

(Now I also have a sister who is 11 years younger than me. We didn't get along well in our younger years. My sister saw me get in just as much trouble as she did, so she put two and two together. I was a mere child, just like her.)

But my brother has ALWAYS been wide-eyed when I came around. Even to this very day. And when I see him now, even some 25 years later, he still looks to me just like that little baby laying in his crib looking up at me. And that is how she will remember her baby sisters, even as adults.

She will be a superstar to her sisters, and with that comes great responsibility. Like I did with my brother, she will be able to break things down to her baby sisters much better than their parents... and she will have ALL the personal stories to back it up. She will have them saying amongst themselves, "Our big sister knows everything!"

I wrote about how it was such an important assignment from God, this being a much older big sister.  She will sow so much into their lives. And later on in life, they will sow so much into hers.  I wrote about how my brother has a special kind of wisdom from his experiences fighting in the wars overseas. He has seen things that I have not, nor will I ever see. And her little sisters will have life experiences that will benefit her life, also.

And that's a wonderful thing.

My three page letter to her was one of encouragement during a time where it may seem like much attention may be given to the newborns, and not so much to her. I don't think that is the case, but you know how babies are: everythingn is about them. Everything. And rightfully so. We were all babies once, and had to be taken care of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I wanted her to have something that she could go back and read from time to time, if need be. Or maybe it is something she can tuck away with her other keepsakes. It was something just for her.

You know what felt nice? Writing a handwritten letter. How often do we do that these days? I thought about typing it out (mostly for her mother to proofread and approve first). But I decided to just put pen to paper. And I liked that. We live in such an email and text age. Writing a letter like I often did as a child was a good feeling.

And you know me. I also made a card.

It is a little simpler than I like... But It conveys what I wanted it to convey...

Now, you know I am LadyLee. LadyLee is not only my blog name, it is also my street grafitti tag name. So I also put the card in a package that I tagged with some of my world class grafitti art!

Looka there, man! That makes me want to go climb a building with a can of spray paint, and...

Nevermind. I am too old for that. Might fall and bust my tail. And we don't need that.

Why don't I just write on paper...

I sent something else too...

A scarf.....

 A nice pretty scarf!!

Uh no... It's not a scarf.

Not a scarf at all.

No, no, no. It's something better:

It's a blanket!

Now... how on EARTH would I make the newborn twins four baby blankets..

And NOT make a blanket for the "Original Baby"?

Even though she is 16 years old, she is still her mother Bliss' baby.

She will always be her baby.

Always.

And I wrote that in the letter.

I name all my big blankets. This blanket is the "Honeydew and Cream Dream".   I have a ton of Honeydew yarn, as it is my best friend LadyTee's favorite color. I have a bit more than I need and I didn't know what I was going to do with it. So I made this blanket. I am gearing up to make another one just like it for LadyTee.

And the Original Baby needed something of her own, something to remember this time by.

I am sure she got so much more from so many family and friends during this time. And this blanket is something else she can add to her collection to commemorate becoming a big sister.

It was my favorite gift to give in 2013, as I kept it a secret from Bliss also. I wanted it to arrive out of the blue. And that it did.

So, the birthday sweepstakes continues. Make sure you get in on it!

And have a good weekend... On purpose!