Rainbow Rose Heart Pillow

There were a bunch of colorful roses laying around...

so a white pillow was crocheted for a place to "store" them for future projects .

A white pillow with white heart buttons that is...

 Rose pattern can be found here.

Yarn is from My Rose Valley found here.

Pillow made with Red Heart in white.

 Use an "I" (5.5 mm) hook

Root around for a pillow.

make a chain the width of the pillow.

your first stitch will be in the second ch from the hook.

 It's that simple stitch that I love:

 1 sc and 1 dc in the same stitch then skip a stitch,

 and keep repeating to end.

(No turning chains.)

Keep crocheting until the pillow cover is long enough

 to wrap all the way around the pillow.

See, no turning chains and edges look good.

on second to last row: sc across, but ch 3 and skip two stitches for button holes 

or however many you need to fit the chosen button.

 last row, sc crochet across again and 3-4 sc in button hole.

 Should look like this:

Fold in half and sew two sides together leaving button hole side open.

Sew button on inside of opposite side from button hole side.

Crochet roses and place in desired pattern.

Stitch the roses onto the cover.

Stuff the cover with the "rooted around" pillow.

And there you have it:

Rose storage on display. :-)

Lace Hearts

These beautiful lace hearts were sent to me from a kind and thoughtful friend.

Her name is Sandra, and she lives in Switzerland.

Sandra has a beautiful blog named Reflections and Nature that can be found here,

where the photography and writing is incredible.

More information can be be found on Sandra's blog about additional pretty hearts on this post.

I absolutely love these hearts.

I have several ideas for them...which would involve something in my office...

perhaps, something like this:

or maybe something hanging in the window,

where the sunlight could shine through the lace.

But wherever they land they will be a constant reminder of 

Sandra's amazing talent and caring friendship.

Thank you my friend!

Week Ending 8 of CANDO 2014: Relax and Nap

I CAN relax in spite of school starting up again.
I've been taking long naps...very long.
This week I CAN take 15 minute power naps.
I will set the timer on the stove so that I have to get up to turn it off. ;-)

So here's this morning result:

138.4

Down .4

My exercise routine is still on track.

Last week looked like this:

M, W, SA: 15 minute EXTREME weight work-out.

TH: 1 hour walk with a good friend.

(I'm finding that combining social activities with exercise, is a good way to go, for me.)

F: Yoga class called "Stiffer Bodies" with Little Bug and the NVO.

SU: Walking with intermittent 30 second bursts of jogging with the NVO.

Here are today's charts:

I report the following:

Starting to trend down again...although just a touch, it's the right direction.

If you would like a copy of this Excel spreadsheet to customize to your own plan, 

I would be happy to send it to you. 

Just drop me an email at digger.lizzie@gmail.com requesting it.

 CANDO homies report the following:

Have a good CANDO week and remember that the chart that includes

 everyone is posted on the CANDO 2014 page here.

YOU CANDO IT!

Meadow Larksfoot Infinity Scarf Pattern Version III - Pink and Navy

The sun is shining...we'll sometimes when it's not raining...and we're gearing up for spring; 

however, I can't stop making scarves!

So here's the pink and navy version to go with my pink rain coat:

 Blah.

 Too hangy.

 Too "out there".

Just right!

Picture this with dark blue jeans and navy boots...

I must find navy rain boots!

Made with Encore classic wool blend (worsted) yarn

and the pattern from here.

Rain or Shine

Enjoy your Day!

And the Bronze and Silver go to...

The NVO of the USA...

and Norway...sort of...

..for exceptional prowess in the sport of crochet tolerance!

We'll leave the Gold to the following:

and Snowcatcher....1!

This is the NVO after receiving his medals, in his Fjord Beanie:

Doesn't he look happy to have won?

See the Snowcatcher's magical blog for this fjord beanie hat pattern here.

Also check out her gold medal here for an extra added treat! :-)

Have a GOLD, SILVER or BRONZE Day!

A Fine Project via Fien

Check out this awesome use of the granny rose by

clever Fien in the Netherlands!

Aren't these adorable?

Fien emailed me these cute creations and was so kind to allow me to show them off to all of you.

The diagonal pink square, hanging in the middle, is one of the closet hanging sachets from this post.

And the granny rose pattern can be found here.

This project has also been added to the "CAL" page here.

Nice job Fien and thank you for sharing!

Week Ending 7 of CANDO 2014: Vegetables and Double Happiness

I CAN eat lots of vegetables.

 This last week I focused on eating more vegetables...
Vegetables are DOUBLE HAPPINESS!

 and this was my favorite meal:

Shrimp and veggie rice rolls.

These ingredients were rolled up in rice paper.

Then and I made hoisin sauce mixed with Adam's natural peanut butter

 and chopped peanuts for the inside of the roll.

Then dipped the rolls in a sauce of tamari, sriracha sauce and orange juice.

It was so good.

 Unfortunately, this last week I also focused on eating more...

of EVERYTHING.

I even visited the chocolatier...twice!

It was one of those out-of-control weeks.

So here's this morning result.

138.8

NOT DOUBLE HAPPINESS. ;-)

But I CAN give you something instead of the excuses that I had planned.

(Thank you TA for your words of wisdom.)

I CAN give you the truth.

The truth is...I took in more calories than I needed, 

many of those calories included sugar which made me crave more sugar

 (gosh the pickled herring even had a lot of sugar in it - no wonder I ate the whole jar in two days!) 

and I lacked willpower to resist the cravings in spite of not being hungry. 

I also ate after 6:30 PM.

However; there is some other good news,

 in addition to the vegetable good news, 

my exercise routine is on track.

Last week looked like this:

M, W, SA: 15 minute EXTREME weight work-out.

TH: A rest day

F: Yoga class called "Stiffer Bodies" with Little Bug.

SU: Walking with intermittent 30 second bursts of jogging with the NVO.

(As close to HIIT - high intensity interval training as I can get at this time.)

This week, so that it's not so overwhelming, I will focus on not eating after 6:30 PM

 and continuing a similar exercise schedule.

Water too!

Here are today's charts:

I report the following:

It is what it is...

If you would like a copy of this Excel spreadsheet to customize to your own plan, 

I would be happy to send it to you. 

Just drop me an email at digger.lizzie@gmail.com requesting it.

 CANDO homies report the following:

Have a good CANDO week and remember that the chart that includes

 everyone is posted on the CANDO 2014 page here.

YOU CANDO IT!