Hey, check this out!!
Saw this site while browsing the net. Couldn’t resist keying in my blog URL. Key in yours. You could be sitting on a goldmine!!
My blog is worth $6,209.94.
How much is your blog worth?
So.. tell me. What line do I stand in to get my $6k?
Wednesday, March 18
Just had my last sip of water around 45 minutes ago. Sitting here thinking about my cataract surgery in the morning, reread the list of don’t's and need to remember to take my glasses with me. I am ready!! Ready to see clearly with BOTH eyes. Need them for crocheting….
Look what I have been working on. The Shell Stitch. I like it but boy is it tedious. It has to be just so or it won’t look like a shell.
I am following a pattern in this crochet book from Better Homes and Gardens. Distributed exclusively by Leisure Arts.
There are some really nice projects in this book and I am making two of them. From the same skein of yarn. A cap from one end and a headband from the other. Lucky me, I will have enough yarn for both.
Here I am starting off the headband. Several rows completed. I am making the pink one.
Headband measures 22″ and I am at 9 1/2″. I have a ways to go.
My hat on the other end is just about finished. I am adding a few extra rows. (There I go again. Making changes.) I just noticed that the INCREASES created a triangle pattern. Like slices of pie. The stitches look “cleaner” not messy where the increases are. I think I will make a few more hats using these directions.
I also made this clutch from that SAME skein of teal yarn. Hubby saw it and his first words were, “You are getting fancy!!” Indeed I am.
For those following along… no, I haven’t started quilting yet. But I did buy a new rotary cutter and pinking shears from Michaels. Used a 50% off coupon for both. Had to make 2 trips though. I am seeing lots of pretty things made from quilting. The urge to sew is getting stronger.
Wish me luck tomorrow. I’ll be back soon to tell you all about it. Patch and all.
Monday, March 9
One year ago today, I launched my blog, This Year’s Dozen. I got 24 views that first day. I am sure mostly from my on-line friends. Curious to see what I would chat about. 
By the 3rd month, 10,000 views had been tallied. And in nine months, December 2008, my blog had two of its highest daily totals. 1,070 and 1,210 views. By year’s end, the cumulative total was 128, 300 hits.
And to-date my readership continues to grow, thanks to YOU!!
I truly appreciate all of you. Those who make This Year’s Dozen a daily stop off and to all 275 of my e-mail subscribers. Thank you for posting comments on my blog and sending them via e-mail. You have given me inspiration and encouragement just when I most needed it. You have given me ideas and offered suggestions just when I needed them.
I promise to continue my artistic journey to learn new things and share them with you. So… please… please… DO come back often. And please do keep the comments coming. THANK YOU!!
Sunday, March 8
Introducing Rudy the Rectangle’s sister, RUBY!! I decided to make another Rudy but the idea of a sister won out. A big sister.
To tell the truth, I really just wanted to try out a different way of attaching the arms. I made holes for them as I crocheted the back to be inserted rather than just top sewn.
I am somewhat happy with the outcome, though I think I can improve on this even more. With the legs. I have to figure out a way to add holes horizontal as well as vertical. Or do as my back-seat crafting hubby suggested… put the legs in the front. I just might try it.
Didn’t want to forget to accessorize. Girls just want to look cute and have fun!! So I made a little beaded bracelet and a banana curls hair thingy. She has a hanger at top to hang from a doorknob or bedpost.
Go here for free pattern to make Curlicue Hair Bow. It was easy to make. All double crochets. Can be tied as a hair bow or even used as a bookmark.
http://www.caron.com/projects/br/br_banana_curls.html
Off and on, for years I have been saving plastic Crystal Light containers. I would get an idea, make one or two, toss the rest. Then start the cycle over every few years.
Currently I had been storing them to hand out to my crochet classmates to hold their crochet hooks. But since I gave up being able to learn in a free class of 50 students, I was, again, just accumulating them.
There are many uses for these containers.
Here are just a few:
To make this vase like I did, you just need a few supplies.
Directions to make one VASE:
Clean off label residue, punch hole in bottom large enough to insert scissors. Cut out the bottom, tape cut edges to keep container from cracking as you work.
Cut a small rectangle of cardboard and punch hole in top. Wrap yarn around cardboard. (See photo)
Begin wrapping container. Continue until plastic no longer visible or until you are satisfied. Tie off on the underside.
Decorate as desired. Insert round block of styrofoam in bottom to use as pen/pencil holder.
If Crystal Light containers are not available, use any type round container with open top and bottom. Should work the same way. Have fun!!
Monday, March 2
It is March already and per my Craft Calendar, it is time for me to learn quilting. Not going to say I am excited since I am enjoying crocheting. I will dust off my quilting books and get started… next week. But first, I want to finish up a few crochet UFO’s.
Didn’t get much chance to work on anything over the weekend. I started my Spring housecleaning a bit early. I think spring is miles away but I had loads of energy and got started anyway. That took up all of Saturday and most of Sunday. The only crocheting I was able to work on was Rudy. HE IS FINISHED!!
If you are just learning to crochet, then Rudy the Rectangle is the perfect project. I learned how to make an embroidered French Knot, improved on making circles and tubular crocheting and how to make a border.
I am also getting better at reading crochet patterns.
One improvement I plan to make, when I make the 2nd Rudy, is how the arms and legs are attached. I am going to use the technique I learned for sewing the thumb onto my mittens. Make an opening first and then inset the arms/legs into the opening. Not sure how that will work, but I am going to try it.
Hand sewing them was ok but I think it will look better the other way.
