Monthly Archives: March 2007

Horrible Weather

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We experienced very bad weather in our area yesterday. Please remember those families who lost loved ones here in Alabama yesterday. I’m not sure that anyone is ever prepared for storms like the ones that rolled through our state.

We were fortunate and were not harmed by them…it is always a walk of faith for me…we live in a mobile home and have one car so we are not always able to evacuate in these situations. The storms seemed so bad yesterday, that Paul took off work to come home just in case we needed to leave and go stay with close friends (thanks for the offer Christy!!).

Back to yesterday’s lesson, we didn’t get to quite finish because of all the weather activity in the area, and I would like to mention that I am grateful that Lisa offered to put these into proper crochet terminology for me, and those who are lost by my instructions! :)

So let’s get to today’s lesson….

These are the instructions for doing the shell pattern that will go on top of this row (of course, you are always welcome to stop here, if you would like as well!)

(BTW, you will notice that I switched yarn from my lesson yesterday, I thought the thicker yarn would be easier to see but the thinner cotton is very pretty!)

This is a picture of a fleece blanket that I completed last year for my home and the crochet around the edges:

To begin, with one loop on your hook, grab your yarn over your hook (this is called a “yarn over”…you bring the yarn over the hook from the back to the front and hold it in the crook of the crochet hook.) Put the hook into the first existing stitch on the blanket (the one we completed yesterday), yarn over again and pull the yarn through all three loops that are on the hook. Yarn over again and pull through two loops. Yarn over and pull through two loops again. You have just completed your first “double crochet”.

To create the shell pattern, you will complete 5 double crochets in the first stitch, skip the next stitch, Put your hook into the third stitch on your foundation row and pull your yarn under both threads, yarn over and pull your thread through the two loops on your hook. Only one loop should remain on the hook and this is your first completed single crochet.

Skip the next stitch and then begin the process again. The pattern will be something like double crochet 5, in each stitch, skip the next stitch, single crochet in the next stitch, skip the next stitch, and back to the beginning. This sounds far more complicated than it is…and thank you again for the offer to make it more read-able! :)

This is a very old method of finishing baby blankets and it turns out so nice…you won’t be disappointed!

When you have worked your way all the way around the blanket, slip stitch the end with the beginning and knot off your yarn.

Please let me know if you have any questions…I’ll do my best to answer them for you.

Today, is actually Frugal Friday and as promised, we are making on type of burp cloth.

I have started making my own because I found after one child, the gauze cotton burp cloth/cloth diaper things they sell usually don’t last more than a few months of washing before they begin to look horrible and I can’t imagine how they must feel for a little one who has their head rested on all those little fuzz balls!


…and this even if it’s washed with baby detergent.

These don’t take very long and are super cute as gifts, or for your little one if you make burp cloths to match the receiving blankets that we made last week.

(BTW, if you have a serger, this process with be much faster and I’m sure somewhat easier…I don’t, so we’ll be doing it all on a standard sewing machine.

To do this, you will need:

100% cotton fabric

print (very small amount) to match blankets, if desired

trim to match blankets, if desired

cotton batting

thread to match.

Start by cutting your fabric and batting. The measurements are 13″x17″. You need one piece of batting this size, and two pieces of white fabric.

Layer them, just like you would a quilt if you were sewing it on the machine: 2 layers of fabric and then the batting on top (this will make sure the batting is on the inside when you turn it).

Pin all layers together.

Stitch around all four sides, leaving a 2″ opening.

Trim seams, especially corners and turn right side out.

Stitch the opening closed.

Iron flat.

Fold, lengthwise, the burp cloth into thirds and mark down this line with straight pins to create a stitching line.

Stitch. This is what the stitching lines should look like:

Using your left over fabric from making blankets, you will need a strip about 5″x14″. Iron under 1/4″ on top and bottom edges.

Pin fabric at the top and bottom of strip. If you are using a trim, it will be pinned into place as well.

Stitch 1/8″ from edge on top and bottom. (Use a color thread to match the fabric on top and then white thread in the bobbin so that you won’t see stitching on the back.)

Trim the sides to 1/4″ and tuck them in to match the edges of the burp cloth. Stitch 1/8″ from the edge. Cut away dangling threads.

Press well and you are done!

These are such nice sets!

As always, if you would like to read other great frugal tips, visit Biblical Womanhood!

This particular post is one of a series I’m doing on frugal tips for preparing for a new baby. Though these burp cloths will initially be more expensive, they will last longer and properly taken care of, will be able to be passed down to more children.

In the coming weeks, we’re going to be covering maternity clothes, packing for the hospital, another style of burp cloth, making your own cloth diapers, stocking a freezer for baby’s arrival, and whatever else I can think of! :)

Prayer Requests

Please pray for families missing loved ones this morning after the storms yesterday.

Please continue to pray for Derrik (has been hospitalized with cystic fibrosis) and his family.

That I don’t confuse any of you too much with my tutorials! : )

Today I’m Thankful For

The safety of my family yesterday

A cup of yogurt with breakfast this morning…I love this stuff…and I haven’t forgotten that one of my projects is to learn to make my own!

Wonderful emails that I get from all of you

Nice weather today

The opportunity, hopefully, to finish a little more on our bathroom project this weekend.

Tracy’s Task

We still have homeschooling to do today. I also need to:

Make tortillas for a casserole we’re having for dinner tonight (we didn’t get to have yesterday)

Lay out Paul’s clothes for work tomorrow and church clothes for everyone for Sunday.

Quilt

Clean in my current home zone

Today’s Scripture Meditation

Mrs. Wilt at The Sparrow’s Nest has her latest Proverbs 31 thoughts up. This time, they are covering:

Prov 31:11-12
11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
(NIV)

Prov 31:23
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
(NIV)

I love this series. She is doing such a good job and I must confess, Proverbs 31 is where a lot of my time is spent too. I know that I have shared with a few of you that my heart has really undergone such a change since I was first married. I wish that I could say that since day one of our marriage (Mrs. Wilt brings up a good point that it should even start before the marriage) that I had brought my husband good and not evil all the days of my life. The truth is, I still struggle…though I try to be very careful with my words and actions, I have to constantly examine my heart because our heart’s motives are more obvious to others (especially our husbands) than we would like to think and sometimes I still find my thoughts to be rather selfish.

I do think about how my husband and my children would view me if I were gone today…would Paul know how much I love him and am devoted to him? Would he see me as being a loyal and faithful wife? Would he think that I respected him? Would he think of me as a precious jewel? Diligent and careful in all the ways that I represent him? Our family? Our Lord?

What about my children? Would they know that I faithfully served my husband? Would they have seen respect modeled for them in a way that would teach them to do the same where their father is concerned? What kind of example would I be for them in their own marriages, with their own spouse and children?

*Ahem*….let’s just say that I see a lot of room for improvement daily. I want the Lord to shape and mold me in a way that would please Him and honor my husband.

Proverbs 31…what a model! I’m so grateful that the Lord is so forgiving! :) …….but, I will continue to walk daily with hopes that I can step a little closer to her example, and to that of my Lord!

May your home be blessed with joy and love today!

With my love,

One More Day…

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Aren’t you glad that there is yet another day? I am so glad for even this one day…we don’t have anything planned…nothing significant, in fact, we are expecting really bad storms later today.

Even so, it’s so nice to be able to take another breath, to kiss my husband in the morning, to hear my babies laughing in the other room…..there are so many things for which I am thankful. Praise the Lord for this day.

This morning, as promised, I’m busy working on our blanket tutorial…because of my family obligations (which will always come first), it may take a little bit to get the whole thing up on the site so for now, I’m going to post it in bits:

Begin with a sewn baby blanket. If you’ve missed these instructions,
you can look back over yesterday’s posting for step by step directions.

Please remember that crochet is not my thing. If you can write these directions so that they will have correct crochet terms, please do…I would love to have them permanently on the site with the correct terminology, but for now, I’m going to do my best to explain it so that you can make your own.

The first thing that we have to do is create a foundation row of stitching on top of which, we will go back and stitch in the shell pattern.

Begin by pre-poking holes in the blanket where you will be stitching.

You can view these instructions on yesterday’s posting. Today, you will want to go a step further and poke a crochet hook through as well, to stretch the hole a bit before you begin to work. This does take some time, in fact, it’s the most time consuming part, but don’t worry, the rest will go much faster.

Start stitching by holding the thread behind the blanket, poke the crochet hook through the hole and pull the thread through the hole.

You should now have one loop on your needle.

Reach up with the hook and grab the thread and pull the thread through the original, first loop.

This is what the finished first stitch will look like:

Poke your hook through the next hole, again grab the thread, pull it through the hole, you will now have two loops on your hook. Wrap the
thread over the hook, pull this thread through both loops.

Continue around the blanket. When you reach the place where you first began to stitch, you will need to slip stitch to join the beginning and the end.

To do this, you should have just one loop on your hook. Reach under the top two threads of your beginning stitch. Grab the thread and bring it back under the top two threads of the first stitch and the loop on your hook. You should be left with one loop on your hook, and now you are ready to begin the next step.

Prayer Requests

Derrik, I’ve mentioned before, with Cystic Fibrosis. I was emailed and told that he was having a very difficult time breathing yesterday. He wasn’t expecting that he would live through the night. Please pray for him and his family.

Our home, our family, our area. We are all under severe weather threats today…the Lord is so good to have always protected us during these times. Please pray for us today as they pass through our area.

Today I’m Thankful For

Another Day

Progress on blanket project today

Hugs and Kisses from the B this morning…there is nothing like ‘em from a three year old!! : )

I finally finished my pre-registration process for the hospital yesterday…so glad to have that one behind me.

We finished the school shelf (well, almost) …I love the feeling of a newly de-cluttered area of my home! I owe this project to Courtney…I haven’t felt so well so she’s brought me books and supplies from the shelf, I’ve went through them, organized them and thrown out what was needed and then she’s replaced them on the shelf and organized them so that they would be easy to find.

Tracy’s Task

Because of impending weather, we are trying to get much of our work done this morning in case of a power outage this afternoon.

On my list this morning is to:

Edit my About newsletter for tonight’s release
Make dinner early (so that we will only have to warm and serve it this evening)
Lay out Paul’s clothes
Clean
Finish blanket project
Hopefully finish cloth diapers to be shared tomorrow
Homeschool (now started)
Laundry

I think that is it for today…I would like to fit some quilting in …we’ll see how that goes!

Today’s Scripture Meditation

Ps 40:8-17
“I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD.
I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.
Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me.
For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot
see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me.
May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame.
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, “The LORD be exalted!”
Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.”
(NIV)

With my love,