Popcorn and Stringbeans

I haven't mentioned that we are currently renovating our house.  We have lived here for almost 25 years and the house is about 11 or 12 years older than that.  Until now we have done very little to the house other than a little (and I stress little) bit of paint and replaced floors in the den and kitchen.  It is basically a ranch style house but is somewhat awkward in the layout of the rooms.  Even though the kitchen and den were semi-open to each other, the L-shaped living room/dining room were just about completely closed off.  The den area was especially difficult for positioning furniture due to the locations of a wood stove, built-in corner shelf and desk, breakfast bar, and TV cable.  Oh, did I mention that this room also has a sliding glass door and a set of French doors into the hall.  On top of everything else, the den is also a "sunken" den.
My daughter's in-laws purchased a lovely home this past year and I must say I had to keep myself from drooling over the wonderful floor plan.  After seeing it, I went home and told my husband how much I would love to have more open space in our house.  He agreed that it would be nice and we threw around a few thoughts about what we could do.  During the Christmas holidays a friend of mine mentioned how much she loved the open layout of a house where she had attended a party.  It sounded absolutely divine.  Again I went home and expressed my wishes for opening up our home to my husband.  This time he seemed even more interested in actually doing it.  Not long after this we happened to reconnect with an old friend who is a builder and lo and behold! we are now smack dab in the middle of remodeling.
The week after they started the work and tore out my kitchen and the walls that closed off the living room/dining room from the kitchen, I deserted my husband to fly to Italy to help my daughter with her new baby boy and her 2-year old daughter.  After 2 weeks of changing diapers and loving on my babies I returned to find things progressing slowly but surely.  The cathedral ceiling in the living room/dining room has been extended into the area where the kitchen used to be, the sheet rock is up, and our new roof has been applied.  Today my husband is taking down the old popcorn ceiling in our den while Stringbean (our tall, slim sheet rocker) is doing some more work.  And here I am in my bedroom, blogging.  Well, actually I have been trying to move some of the junk in the bedroom around so that I can have a better path.  I did find the leftover yarn from my grandson's puppy hat/diaper cover set.  Hopefully there is enough left for me to make him a new one.
Well, my husband just came in to ask me to find a mop to get some of the white powder up off the den floor so got to go for now....

Where oh where could it be?

Managed to locate the tracking number for the package I mailed on May 6th to my daughter in Italy.  The USPS says that my package left Atlanta, GA that very same evening; however, as of today it has not arrived at its intended destination.  Of course, my new grandson, who is one month and one day old, really is fine without the blanket in this warm weather and I can always crochet another one before he needs it.  I must say that I am very sad his puppy hat/diaper cover set are missing.  My daughter wanted to photograph him wearing it while he is still so small.  She and her family will be moving back to the States in July and I will try to have a replacement set made by the time they get here. He will still be adorable.
I have sent countless packages to my daughter over the past 3 years and all of them except this final one made it there safe and sound. Go figure!  Maybe it will still show up but I am not feeling very confident.

See how cute his big sister looked at 5 weeks in the hippo hat I made for her!  

This little guy needs a hat too!

First Ever Blog Post

Just decided that it would be fun to give blogging a try.  I enjoy reading other people's blogs and hope that mine may someday be worth reading.  As the title of my blog implies, I am an avid crocheter.  For some reason the simple act of hooking yarn relaxes me.  It gives me such a feeling of accomplishment when I complete a lovely piece of fabric that someone can enjoy for  many years to come.  My mother taught me to crochet when I was just a child.  She instilled in me a love and appreciation of handmade items.  Whenever an occasion to give a gift arises, I try to think of an appropriate item that I can make for the person.  This has given me an opportunity to challenge myself to try many different patterns.  I love experimenting with various yarns, stitches, and colors of yarn.

Since retiring two and a half years ago I have spent a lot of time exploring the internet for patterns and inspiration.  I had no idea that there was so much out there.  Ravelry.com is such an unbelievable resource to me.  If you are a crochetholic like myself do yourself a favor and visit them.

Here is a photo of  a blanket and puppy hat/diaper cover set I recently made for my brand new grandson.  I hope they eventually arrive; I put them in the mail  the week after Easter but so far they have not made it to my daughter yet.  I will be heartbroken if they never arrive.

Well,  I am off to see if I can find the post office form that might have a tracking number on it so my daughter can try to locate the box.  Wish us luck!