Diamond painting – Daffodils – old thoughts

I’ve gotten a smidge past the middle point of my diamond painting. In real-life it looks pretty. It’s a real adventure trying to get a fairly clear photo of diamond paintings. The diamonds reflect light and can make it a mess of spotty bright spots. I’ll be happy to get it finished, framed and displayed on the wall. However, to me, it’s a bit monetish in that I need to step back from it to see its real beauty, which works out well for where I plan to hang it.
*(Monetish (moe-nay-ish) is not a real word. I made it up using the last name of Oscar-Claude Monet a French impressionist painter. I use to describe ‘something’ that one needs to step back to see ‘the something’ more clearly. A metaphor of sorts, I suppose.)
The weather has been absolutely lovely. It’s been mostly sunny and near 70°F. The daffodils in our area are blooming lovely. When we’re out for a drive, they’re like splashes of sunshine fallen to Earth, lined or splattered about the landscape.
I particularly love the fact that when the daffodils are in blooms you can look through the trees or across a field and see where the old homeplaces were. It’s quite a bittersweet view sometimes; to think once-upon-a-time a home stood amongst the trees or in the midst of a field. Perhaps it was a small place or a big place with a few children or oodles of children. Perhaps they danced around, picking daffodils and laughing as they discovered the yellow glow or pollen on their noses. I wonder how their lives progressed. I suspect it was much as it is today. I figure some of them grew out of their daffodil collecting days and scattered about the country making more dancing children and more homesteads. I wonder if any of them told their generations of offspring about the daffodils left behind. I wonder if their following generations ever appreciated that the daffodils are like a beautiful reminder of what once was.

Here’s wishing you all a wonderful rest of the week.
May your dancing with flowers days never end in your heart.

 


 

BumbleBeeuaty on Hosta bloom

Good Monday Morning!

This morning, I saw this beautiful bumblebee in my hostas. It rested long enough for me to get a fairly good photo. I was so happy with it, that I decided to share it here for your viewing pleasure.

I was going to write on the meaning of bumblebees… however, when I looked up the meaning, I read so many different ones that I couldn’t decide which one would be fitting to share.

So, I’ll just comment on what it meant to me, ‘Seeing a bumblebee, feeding in my flowerbed, was a blessing. It gave me a sense of hope and comfort for the Summer days to come.’

How about you, is there a moment spent with nature that makes you feel blessed and hopeful or comforts you?

Wishing you all a pleasant week of hope and comfort.


2019 Temperature Blanket Finished Update

I’m delighted to announce that I have finally finished my 2019 Temperature Blankets! ~Happy Dance~
They measure out at 38″x52″ (inches.)

I enjoyed making these blankets, every morning adding the 5 little rows of the temperatures from the day before… until about the 300th day… then for whatever reason my joy waned and my morning add-ons became a chore. It saddened me to loose the joy in my blanket journey challenge.
However,
I thought about you all, my blogging buddies, who’ve been with me every step of the way. It was your positive feedback that kept me going.

I say a heart filled grateful, Thank you, to all of you who has supported and encouraged me along the way over the past year. Your cheers have been the wind that kept my creative wings in flight. You’re the best!

In order to get the 365th day in, instead of doing the usual 5 rows a day, I did 4 rows for the last 5 day temperatures.
I’m happy to post these photos of the finished 2019 temperature blankets.

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2019 Temperature Blankets

I’m happy to say that I crocheted my daily temperature add-ons every day of 2019. I’m in the process of crocheting a border on the blankets. The border is taking a while because there’s so many yarn ends around the edges. The next and last update for the blankets will be when I get them 100% finished. I’m really looking forward to finishing them and making that final post.

I hope you all had happy times during this past holiday season.
I wish you all a joy-filled successful 2020.

 

 


 

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misc thoughts & hints for yarnies & loomers

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This blog post is a few miscellaneous thoughts and hints for yarnies like me. I hope one of them  may help make your yarn crafting adventures more enjoyable.

The Knifty Knitter cord loom is a fun little gadget. It makes a nice cord with 5 pegs, but if you want a smaller cord you can use 3 pegs.
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Jute or grass twine makes a lovely cord for trivets or even little baskets.
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I find that alot of times my Martha Stewart loom pegs don’t want to stay put. It’s a major irritation.
I first tried yarn stuffed in the holes, then tried bits of paper, then masking tape, they worked but I wasn’t happy with them. Then I tried painter’s tape and I haven’t looked back.
I use a layer(or 2) of painter’s tape over the loom holes.
I use a toothpick to break the tape over the hole and then push the peg in.
This method works really well for me.
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I had My first experience at rolling a ball of yarn that wasn’t end fed like the 4 ply skeins I usually use.
t0473I got frustrated at first with the skein tumbling and capturing everything including the attention of (our dog) Sheli. He and I got into a bit of a kerfuffle for a few seconds.
I stuffed the skein into a plastic grocery bag and hung it on my arm. I quickly discovered that not only was it protected from Sheli, but it fed easy and rolled beautifully.
I do love accidental discoveries. 🙂
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I bought my first couple skeins ever of bulky yarn. It’s Lion Brand Hometown USA
It’s a bulky yarn and is 81 yards long
I wanted to see how big a square made with 81 yards would be, so I crocheted a solid granny square. I used a size N crochet hook. The square came out to be about 12 inches x 12 inches
I decided to try a regular granny square and was amazed that it too came out to be about 12 inches x 12 inches… I would’ve thought that it would have been bigger. :/
lb81yardsAnyway, this was a pretty good experiment because now if I want to make an blanket of granny squares out of bulky yarn, I can better guess how much yarn I need.
I’m envisioning a big bulky blanket of 12 inch squares. I think it would be fun to try. I may make one sometime.

This is all my thoughts and hints for the moment.
I hope they’ll help make your yarn crafting more enjoyable.

You’re welcome to share your hints if you want too.

Here’s wishing you happy
adventures in crafting!
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🙂
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