Luigi the Tom Cat Pencil Case...

Happy first week of school Y'all!

We were all only semi-excited to return to school this week.  As much as I love Autumn, there is a pleasure in the slow, relaxing days of summer.

I am not a mom that starts the back to school shopping in late July when all the stores are teeming with academia supplies... no, we wait until later in August, get in and get out with only what we are sure are the basic supplies and wait to make our detailed list until after we meet the teacher.

This year, everyone found a pencil case that made them happy... except for Sammy... Sammy who is everything cats these days, especially her beloved TomCat, Luigi.

Feeling the itch to crochet but not able to pull myself into any project too heavy in the plus forty celsius temperatures, I figured a crocheted Luigi pencil case might satisfy both she and I.

And I'll just snooze here on the deck sofa while you work.  :)

Again, I should write up a pattern for what I have done, but basically I worked up two grey circles in single crochet for the ends of the case.  I embellished one with ears, nose, eyes and whiskers to look like Mr. Handsome above before working a stripey rectangle in single crochet for the body.  A closed ended zipper was sewn into place to make my rectangle into a tube and the circles were sewn to the ends to close it all up.

Luigi's tail was a stripey tube stuffed and sewn to the zipper pull.  :)  I thought it added a little charm to him.

Sammy went off to her first day of grade three with an extra little bounce in her step and Luigi went back to his place on his couch.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jeanette

Monday Lovin' {{WORDless Wednesday - October 28}}

A day late... I know.. but Wednesday wasn't my day either according to the random note Sammy left for me:

Ah well... Monday's coming!

Jeanette

Sammy the frog catcher

hi its sammy and i am a frog master! i move fast just like the frogs i catch.  i look at the frogs and let them go,  mom helps me to find out what kind of frog i find

this is a small green frog

I almost walked right on top of this big leopard frog!

This is a large brown toad that I caught after the sun had gone to bed my sisters and me were playing hide and go see

this is a cool wood frog from near my pond  it makes a cool noise

school starts in 3 days but i hope i still get to catch frogs  bye now from sammy
thanks for reading my blog

Pins and needles

Good morning!

Our summer has had a feeling of being on 'pins and needles'... not only waiting to move houses but...

Our dear Sammy had a fall from the monkey bars at the end of May that ended with a bone break and surgical pin placement in her left elbow.  She's been an absolute trooper through it all - the hospital stay, surgery, after care of pins that protruded from her skin (on purpose for quick removal) and finally through the pin removal surgery yesterday.

All fixed up and ready to go!!

She smiled through the whole waiting process... I tended to fidget.  So I knit or I crocheted instead.

For those who see me "in real life" know that I practically live in my socks and Birkenstocks.  (I know! I know!  Nicole tells me I have seriously scarred her with my fashion choice. lol)   I rock my hand knit (or crocheted socks) at the grocery store, at church, during winter and summer and the seasons in between and had even considered calling this blog "the socks and sandals farmer" as I tend to garden and work in the barn in my socks and my sandals.

Through the course of Sammy's broken elbow adventure  -  in hospital waiting rooms and such I have had a pair of socks on my knitting needles as well as a sock in progress on the crochet hook - both projects just about finished.  And when asked why my go-to project is SOCKS even in summer, I reply that "Winter is Coming" (for all of my fellow Game of Thrones fans).  :)  Seriously though, they are small enough to pack along in my purse and aren't heavy and warm on the lap while working away on them.

Turning the heel!

I will admit that knit socks take me longer to make than the crocheted ones and that I am partial to the thickness of the crocheted ones - perfect fit for my sandals; but I enjoy the two at a time, toe up knitting process of the knit socks better.  No fancy patterns just straight up knit, purl and single crochet.  :)  Simple and lovely.

What types of projects/activities keep you SANE while waiting through tense times?

Jeanette

catching bugs with Sammy

hi i am sammy i love bugs.  i once caught a dragonfly.  on the weekend i caught a moth and a butterfly in the pasture.   we looked at them then let them go.

my sister found a ugly bug in the barn.

here is a spider with her egg sack.

and here is a cicada shell from a cicada.  it was on a tree.

thank you for reading.  from Sammy