Valentine's Day 2017

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  It's not too late to whip up some beautiful crocheted hearts to sprinkle among your favorite peeps, so go to my Ravelry page for the free pattern!  Please post your hearts, I love seeing the projects that crocheters have come up with using this pattern (making two and filling with potpourri has been a fave).

Unfortunately, my sweetie is out of town this year, so I'll be doing the next best thing:  crocheting and watching trashy tv :-).  I hope everyone's day is filled with fun and love.

A Valentine's Crochet Rose

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Hope you have a beautiful, happy day.

And the best way to create such a day?  Crochet some roses.  Here's a great pattern shared by Petals to Picots, and she's got a really beautiful blog site, so check it out and enjoy!

Hearts Abound!

Happy Valentine's everyone!  Hope you're embracing the pink and red today.  For some last minute decorations, please enjoy my Simple Heart pattern from Ravelry.

I love all the projects that these hearts have inspired -- potpourri-filled hearts, coasters, and even the cover of a Valentine's card!

Have a happy day!!

Rippled Heart

Whew, so with a few days to spare, I posted my Rippled Heart pattern on Ravelry last night.

It's a fun V-day project, and I was thinking, if you make 2 of them and sew/slip stitch them together, what a cute change purse it would make!

Other than that, I'm getting ready to venture out and try to go to the grocery store to get some additional provisions before the next storm hits!  The TV news folks are still saying 10 to 20 more inches, starting around 3 PM today and going until 7 PM tomorrow.  Although I am starting to really enjoy this new lifestyle of mine (get up, do an exercise video, change into clean sweatpants, and start crocheting while watching the soaps or a Gilmore Girls rerun...  oh, and lots of sorta healthy snacking!), I feel like real life is going to intrude soon enough, and I'll be too soft to return to it. Oh well, I guess I'll just milk it as long as I can, then face the music when the time comes :-)

Today's Thought:  Food Rule # 4 -- Avoid food products containing high fructose corn syrup.  Mr. Pollan says that it's not because HFCS is any worse for you than sugar but because it is highly processed.  He also points out that we get a lot of it unknowingly because it is in a lot of foods that have not traditionally been sweetened, like breads, condiments, and snack foods.  Even if products say "no HFCS" or "real cane sugar", don't fall for it -- sugar is sugar, and we need to cut down on it.  So, how have I been implementing this rule?  I've cut out sodas almost exclusively from my diet.  It was tough at first, but by switching to real fruit juice with a splash of club soda or sparkling water or unsweetened iced tea, it hasn't been so bad.  I did break down and buy some of the Pepsi Throwback, which is made with real sugar.  Even though it's not any better than the soda with HFCS, at least it's not as processed and I think it tastes less sweet.

Let It SNOW!

Argh, I'm feeling like I'm back in upstate New York but without the clean-up!  We've had so much snow here in DC, and it's beautiful and all, but really, people around here can't handle it, and I'm starting to get cabin fever.  Another big snow is predicted for this weekend, so most likely, another weekend of postponing errands.  Well, the upside definitely has been the chance to snuggle up and crochet!  Full steam ahead with Mom's Vest, that project remains numero uno priority.  I've also got another heart pattern that I've been doublechecking and hopefully will have out in time for Valentine's Day; otherwise, I'll make you all wait til next year ;-)

Nothing on the techie front to report either, though I'm still determined to get my actual website up and running.  It has slid in priority, though, since I've been discovering ways to make the blog more interactive and have really been concentrating on developing the crochet tips content.  I'm still toying with getting a podcast going as well, but believe me, you don't want to hear my voice right now with the lingering congestion!  So, we'll see...  baby steps!!

Today's Thought:  Food Rule # 58 -- Do all of your eating at a table.  And, no, a desk doesn't count.  Mr. Pollan rightly points out that, when we eat while we're working or driving or watching TV, we tend to eat mindlessly and without attention.  So, we end up eating much more than if we were at the dining room table without distractions.  So, last night, dinner was served at the dining room table, with no TV or radio on in the background.  As a result, we had a nice meal and good conversation (we talked about how in the world humans ever discovered how to make bread!)