Merry Christmas

Well, now that they have been received, I can post the pictures of the crocheted stuffies that I sent to my sisters for Christmas.

You gotta love an armadillo...

The armadillo was a project from the October issue of Crochet World.  It was my first time crocheting from a pattern and certainly my first time doing any sculptural crochet.  There was a bit of a learning curve and the tail of this creature was where I had the most difficulty.  I finally figured out what I wanted it to look like, but there was a lot of "non pattern" work that went into it. (That means I made it up as I went along)


 You simply cannot go wrong with a cardinal and a little mousie...

The little mouse was from a pattern in a special issue of Crochet Today called Crochet Gift List. I really learned a lot about crocheting figures and shapes.  Both were good magazines for learning.  After all, there are more things to crochet and knit than just afghans or scarves.  While I do love making both of those particular items, it was such fun to know that I could branch out, so to speak.

There is a bit of a story behind the cardinal.  I love cardinals and always have. They are such a beautiful color and they are the State Bird of Virginia, the state from whence I come.  That being said, let me share something with you. We recently lost a family friend in a car accident. She was a long time friend, an older gal that loved to be out and about. We were told by her son that she was slumped over in her seat at time of impact, so she probably had no knowledge of what happened.  Meanwhile out on the West Coast, very close to the actual time of the accident, my sister said she was visited by a cardinal, outside their house.  This seemed to be a female cardinal, one that she hadn't seen before.  We, of course, thought that this was a wonderful occurrence and like to think that, perhaps, this little female bird may have been somehow related to the passing of our friend.  The really cool thing is our friend's given name was...Virginia.  I'm sure that the little crocheted bird will be a loving reminder of our friend. I did it free hand, and while there were areas that could have been perfected, I think it will do just fine.

Well, I hope everyone had the holiday that they were hoping for.  Ours was a quiet one, which is our usual celebration.  We did go to a movie Christmas Day and saw Warhorse.  Pretty good movie, but Christmas Day at the movies is much busier that we had anticipated and there were some issues with that.  All in all, we have had a great weekend.

I'm looking forward to getting back to my usual schedule of going to the gym, NOT eating treats and generally getting back in my little groove.  We have been invited to a New Year's Eve party, but I'm really not crazy about going out on that holiday, so maybe we will decline that little soiree.

Well, stay safe and happy and get back in your own groove.  Remember there is a big difference in a rut and a groove.  Make that difference happen in your own life, you'll be glad you did.