Making a Fox

I started a new crochet critter this week after making fox hats for our grandchildren. The hats provided inspiration for Making a Fox. 

I am using my Boo Bear pattern with fox colours, different ears and a tail. Making more fox-like ears has presented a challenge. 

The first set looked great until they were securely attached. When they didn't look right, I cut them off and started over.

Next I tried a red triangular ear with white 'fluff' sewn on the inside. This was better, but still not quite right. It was too big and lacking the black bits found on red foxes.

I made a third version slightly smaller than the second incorporating a black tip before sewing white "fluff' on the inside. With the ear pinned in place, you can see I finally got it right. I'll make a matching ear before sewing them in place and finishing the face.

Next I'll make the body and arms saving the tail for last. Let's hope tails are easier to figure out than ears. Making a Fox is fun. 

As always, I will be sure to share the pattern when I finish.

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Crochet Fox Hats

I saw this pattern for a Crochet Fox Hat created by Sarah at Repeat Crafter Me ages ago, but wasn't planning on making it until our daughter 'hinted' it would be perfect for our granddaughter. Our granddaughter loves foxes. She would love a hat just like this one. How could I resist?

One of my plans for 2016 was to crochet using only yarn from my stash. Luckily, my plans are flexible because my stash was lacking fox colours.

I rushed out to Michael's to buy enough yarn for two hats. I couldn't make one for our granddaughter without also making one for our grandson. 

A few years ago, I made our grandson a snowman hat designed by Sarah at Repeat Crafter Me. I'm not sure what size I made, but it's stretchy and still fits. I made my first Fox Hat in toddler/preschool size. It looked big enough to fit our grandson, so I decided to make a slightly smaller more girly version for our granddaughter. 

I love that I now have two different looking Crochet Fox Hats to send. Let's hope I got the sizes right. 

I look forward to seeing photos of our grandchildren wearing their new hats. It would be so much fun to see their faces when they get their package in the mail. I'm sure they will be excited.

Love is ... making stuff for your grandchildren. 

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Another Bear

I finally finished Another Bear following my Boo Bear pattern. I say 'finally' because I started in November. Christmas preparations, vacation planning and spending time with our son who was Home for the Holidays took my attention away from crochet. Nevertheless, I managed to fit in short blocks of time to work on this bear until he was finally finished.

   

Tah-Dah! Meet Boo Bear #3. He fits right in with Boo Bears #1 and #2.

This time I used three 50 g skeins of Patons Angora Bamboo yarn in a warm sandy colour called flax. Patons Angora Bamboo is a luxuriously soft worsted weight yarn. Although it costs a bit more than acrylic yarns, I love using it to make my amigurumi creations feel extra special. For the head and hands, I used cream coloured worsted weight yarn with a small amount of black yarn (for eyes) and pink yarn (for mouth).

You can find my Boo Bear pattern here for free if you would like to make one too. You won't be disappointed if you do.

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Plans for 2016

My Plans for 2016 are simple. I plan to enjoy my day-to-day life and creativity without setting any specific goals. My plans include lots of activities that feel good. In short, my Plans for 2016 will focus on fun. 

I will continue to crochet, just not as much. Although I love to crochet, I also love to be active. Crochet projects necessarily involve many hours of sitting. I find myself wanting to move more; not join a gym or anything regimented, just more movement than crochet provides.

Last year, I added a Free Crochet Patterns page to the blog then added links to patterns I created throughout the year. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. This year, I have added a Previous Posts page. It lists all of my posts by title in reverse date order. This page makes it easy to find posts you may have missed. I also added a Total Pageviews counter to the right side bar. It's nice to know people are actually visiting my blog. 

I will continue to blog because I love writing, but probably not as often. For the past two years, I have written more than one post per week which is amazing considering I work full time. This year we are taking a month off to vacation in Cuba. We have never been away for a whole month. In a way, this trip is practice for retirement. We plan to travel when we retire in a few years and want to see how we manage being away for so long. 

Luckily our parents are retired and able to take care of our house and pets for us. Their help makes this trip possible. We are truly grateful.

I am looking forward to a tech-free holiday involving lots of movement combined with plenty of relaxation. For entertainment, I am taking my bike, journal, sketch pad, a couple books, and snorkel and fins. 

Last year, I enjoyed keeping a journal on our Canbicuba Bike Tour in Cuba. It helped me remember what we had done so I could share it on the blog. If you missed it, you can read about that trip here. I plan to journal again this year and share our travel tales when we return. 

This trip will be different though. We will be staying at an all-inclusive resort Club Amigo Marea del Portillo for a whole month. We plan to explore on our bikes within a 50 km range of the resort. We started training for this trip with indoor biking in December, but my efforts have not been as intense or as structured as last year. 

I want to keep biking so I can ride comfortably without getting a sore butt as tends to happen after an extended break. On the other hand, we won't have the same pressure to keep up with a group or cover set distances. Our pace can be relaxed and distances vary depending on how we feel. We won't have a bus providing bottled water or 'free' rides, so we have to ride smart. It's exactly the sort of riding I love. Yes, I'm excited already.

I am also planning to get back into sketching once I am away from on-line distractions. It's a great way to relax and something I loved doing as a kid.

I haven't read a book in ages, so I'm looking forward to reading these two.

I also haven't snorkeled in ages. It'll be fun getting back in the water.

Writing about our plans for Cuba, makes me realize I am totally looking forward to this trip.

These days, I prefer to make plans rather than set goals. My Plans for 2016 are on track for making this an awesome year at meo my crochet.

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Winter Walking in the Bog

Winter is my favourite time of year for walking in the Bog near our house. I feel lucky to live so close to the Sifton Bog which is one of the most southerly acidic bogs in Canada. From our house to the pond at the end of the boardwalk and back takes about 55 minutes. It's a perfect distance for me and our little dog. We can either take the trails through the bog or walk around on the sidewalk.

We often take the sidewalk to avoid the mud. In the winter when the ground freezes or when it snows, we love to hike the trails. The trees shelter us from the wind and the mud is either frozen or covered.

It finally snowed, so we thoroughly enjoyed our walk in the Bog New Year's Day. It was cold, sunny and clear - my favourite kind of winter day. The Bog looked so bright and cheery under a layer of fresh snow and ice.

I love living near this special place. Winter Walking in the Bog is the best.

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2015 In Review

I continue to blog because I love writing. It's hard to believe I've been blogging for almost two years already. In 2014, I was amazed to surpass my goal of one post per week, writing 63 posts with almost 17,000 views. This year, I am even more amazed to have written 76 posts receiving over 28,200 views (45,200 views total) from all over the world. I'm still not sure how I feel about Blogger stats. I have to be careful not to compare my blog to hugely successful sites. It helps to remind myself - this is a hobby. It's something I do purely for pleasure.

This year I was happy to add a "Free Crochet Patterns" page to my blog. I am new to pattern writing. It takes a lot of time and patience, yet I enjoy the process. I wonder if I will create something new in 2016? No pressure. I prefer following my creativity without making demands. My goal is to keep this whole thing fun and relaxing. 

I had intended to create monthly collages throughout the year to make it easier to complete this "2015 In Review" post . Of course I didn't do anything until today and couldn't remember how it was done. My link from last year explaining the process was no longer valid. Luckily I was able to find instructions on creating photo albums here and collages here.

I've worked all day reviewing my posts deciding what to include. Check out this series of collages providing a visual overview of 2015 at meo my crochet. As you will see it was another busy and productive year. 

January (Fluffy Ripple Blanket, Moss Stitch Infinity Scarf, Sweet Summer Ripple Doll Blanket, Packing for Cuba)

February (Daughter's TBT Birthday Wishes, Bobo Bunny Pattern, Bike Tour in Cuba)

March (Bunny Patterns, Greg Curnoe Posters, Travel Tale, Evie Bunny, Boo Bear, Pink Piglet, Crochet Chicks)

April (Freddy Frog, Crochet Kitty, Lucy Lamb, Curbside Scores, Son Moving to Guelph, Four More Chairs, April Birthdays, Easter, Blog-worthy Meal)

May (Pot People, Empty Nesters, Little Lambs, Ellie Elephant, Breakfast Crochet)

June (Devinci Drama, Baby Green Goblin, Fathers' Day, New Bike for Work, Starting Something Green)

July (Summer Staycation, Canada Day, Fergus Weekend, Party for our Neighbours, Happiness is a Choice, Mom's 70th Birthday)

August (Sunflower Doll, Elora Gorge, Moe, 30th Anniversary Niagara Weekend, Professional Photos of me Biking to Work)

September (Summer Crochet, Cat Bum Coasters, 60th Anniversary Celebration, Point Pelee, Husband's Birthday)

October (Fall Crochet, Crochet Companions, Boulder Trip)

November (More Owls, Crochet in the Car, Honey Boo Bear, Tidying Up)

December (Christmas, Lasagna, Training for our Trip)

I hope it brightens your day to read about my adventures in crochet and life. All the best to you and your families in 2016. Happy New Year!

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Our Christmas

Our Christmas focused on family traditions and food. It was as wonderful as always, although we did miss family who could not join us this year. 

My husband's brother and his wife are traveling on a 4-week Asian Adventure. We've been entertained with their Facebook updates and photos from their travels, but we missed them at our family festivities this year. Their daughter (our niece) celebrated Christmas with her boyfriend's family near Goderich, so we missed her as well.

Our daughter and her family are starting their own Christmas traditions in Boulder, CO. They had their turkey dinner Christmas Eve. On Christmas day they opened gifts then ate home-made cinnamon buns for breakfast. For dinner, they ordered Chinese takeout, allowing lots of time to relax and enjoy the day with their kids. We miss them, but completely understand how difficult it is to get together when they live so far away.

Our Christmas started with my parents joining us for coffee and gifts around 10 a.m. (much later than when the kids were little). Our gifts adorned a table in our dining room this year, since we didn't put up a tree. It was suitably colourful and festive. My parents brought a gift for our dog who was very excited. She loved her new squeaky stuffy.

 

 

They also bought a fun gift for our son. A beer glass with the words:

And what to my

Wondering

EYES

Should appear,

But a big bag of

CHIPS

And a six-pack of

BEER!

Then they brought out the chips and beer. He loved it. 

 

More gifts were unwrapped. Everybody made fun of me for picking up the paper as the gifts were opened. I don't seem to be able to leave paper clutter, but everybody is used to my weirdness, so we laughed.

 

Our son tried out his antique wooden juggling pins catching on quickly.

After gifts, my parents went home. We walked to the Sifton Bog. The record-breaking mild weather was such a change from last year.

We were so pleased to see a couple of Santa's reindeer across the pond. 

 

Father and Son with Son finally taller than his Father.

Mother and Son with Son demonstrating his strength.

 We enjoyed walking in the Sifton Bog with all it's cool sights.

Back at the house, my husband did something in the garage involving his Audi TT and spark plugs. It kept him busy all afternoon, while I prepared our traditional turkey dinner.

Drinks, snacks and more gifts before dinner.

The table (smaller than usual) set and ready for the festivities.

We started with our Christmas Crackers. Lots of laughs, lots of food and good times with family. We thoroughly enjoyed Our Christmas.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

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