Eleanor's Booties

Well, you might remember these from months past. 
(See posts here and here and here.) 

And they finally have an owner!

 Plus, I finally made the shoelaces!

I had a very fun time helping to host Eleanor's shower yesterday.  

She is a sweet, pretty girl!

Congratulations Mama!

Dried Apricots

 Yesterday was all about drying apricots.

It was quite a process.

I borrowed a food dehydrator from a friend.

Then I commenced to slicing, pitting, and de-stringing

the apricots.  I pushed their backs forward and

tore the halves in half, making quarters, of course.

These quarters had to go in a citrus bath for 5 minutes.

Then onto the dehydrator trays...

And into the dehydrator,

Then came lots of checking and WAITING...

and checking and nibbling and WAITING...

and checking and switching trays and nibbling

(as you might suppose, nibbling

was the BEST part!)

and taking a few out

and turning them and nibbling

and WAITING...

and so on and so forth,

until...

finally,

they were dry,

(around 10 hours later).

Was it worth it???

You'll have to ask me later,

when we start eating them!

Right now, I'm not sure.

With all this, I haven't had too much time

for hook work, but...

I've made a start on a pink pair

of Kay Meador's crocheted sneakers.

I'll let you know when I get to the pink part!

Crocheted Sneakers by Kay Meadors

Well, I finished my 1st pair of 

Crocheted Sneakers

by Kay Meadors

They turned out pretty cute, I think.  :)

Size:  0-3 months

Colors:  Denim and Cream 

(Pace - wool blend)

Hook:  E

Next, I'm going to try them in Pink 

and make them for a 3-6 month old

with a F Hook.

Stay tuned for a preview of these as well as other upcoming

Kay Meadors designs.

This is my first time of helping someone with their pattern

testing, and it is a nice challenge.  Thank you, Kay!

Crochet Limited by Produce

Hmmm....I haven't been able to crochet much lately.  Why?  Everything else is demanding my attention.

Today it was these:

Yum!  We had our first fresh batch of Green Beans on Monday night.  Now I have some more for tonight and tomorrow plus some for the freezer!!!

Our cherry tomato has given its first fruits as well.





Next, I will be moving toward the apricot tree.

Because LOOK:

Again, YUM!!!


 I think slowing down on crochet production is worth these yummy other endeavors.  Plus, my growing boys get more out of the fresh vegies and fruit than my crochet!  :)


I have worked in a little hooky time.  And I'm nearing the end on these:

Stay tuned for the finishing touches!

Yarn Bootie Progress

Well, Friends, I'm making progress,

slowly, albeit surely.

This IS my usual

M.O. (method of operation)

because homeschooling my

4 boys takes up most of my

time and church activities take

up another large chunk.

What time that is leftover

I must split between my

crochet, blogs, gardening, and songs.

So here is a picture just to keep

you updated:

Not looking like much yet,

BUT, it will!

So far, I loved the method Kay

uses to turn from the sole

to the bootie side.

And here are glimpses from another love:

Romans 1:20a  "...since the creation of the world God's invisible 

qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--

have been clearly seen, being understood

from what has been made, so that men

are without excuse."

I feel honored!

You know, I've been making the Kay Meadors bootie patterns for about 6 years now.  And, obviously, I love them.

...Then, I get on Ravelry.

And there she is!

As NaturalStateKnit.

So I claimed her as my friend A.S.A.P.

And then, to my very great surprise (and delight), 

she returned the favor.

She noticed my small bootie collection that is fast growing over there.

(If I had taken pictures of all of them I've made, oh my!  Enough said!)

Anyway, I'll come to my point

...in just a minute.

I felt like I'd met a celebrity and one that offered to be my friend as well!  :)

As Lucy at Attic24 would say, this circumstance made me heart-skippy happy indeed!

So, back to my point...

Kay Meadors is making new bootie patterns, 

this time with yarn instead of thread.

(Check out her work over at Natural State Knitting 

or at Ravelry.)

And...

she asked me to test the crochet patterns for her!!!

"Would I?" I said.  "Well, of course!"  :)

So I am and in order to do it I must venture away from my beloved thread and use yarn, sock-weight.  (So hopefully my fingers won't notice the difference too terribly!)

And...

since I didn't have any of that kind of yarn,

I simply HAD to venture over to our local yarn shop,

The Yarn Basket.

Miss Lorene fixed me right up.

I bought 3 colors (to allow for both baby genders, of course)!

The brand is Pace.  It is a washable, unshrinkable, wool blend.  Have any of you ever used it???

And, so, for certain and for sure, I have to show YOU, my blogging buddies!!!

Ta-daa!!

Isn't it PRETTY?

Denim, Cream, and Pink yarn loveliness!!!

I'm especially fond of the Denim!

I can hardly wait to get started, so...

I'm going now...

P.S.  I'll post the names once I get started to head you in the right direction over at Ravelry.