So close, on the edge!

Ok, so maybe the title was a bit dramatic. 

But what I'm referring to of course, is my blanket!

I've now crocheted together 80 squares, 8x10 rows.

Here it is more laid out for viewing purposes:

I've actually surprised myself and immediately after crocheting the final rows, I began sewing in the ends!! I know, no procrastination on a not-so-fun job, I can hardly believe it myself! ;) 

Seriously though, why must I procrastinate about everything that's even just a little tedious or irritating to take care of? 

Phone calls are the worst!

Anywho, I've even started work on the border today after I got the last ends sewn in. Woohoo!

I am so into this blanket now, it's ridiculous.

I want to work on it until it's done and I can hardly put it down!

By far, my most favoritest ever crochet make. ♥

This week saw us back at Ikea. I haven't been there since maybe November? 

Of course, I walked away with an orchid. How could I when they were even on sale?!

We also got some baby proofing items for our mobile little one, new curtains (the living room ones barely cover the window as we found out when the sun shone for 2 hours a couple weeks ago), and a new duvet cover. We've been using the Christmasy red blanket from my parents since November and now that it's getting brighter and the snow is gone (!), spring is on our minds. Time to lighten up!

This was the cheapest of the three contenders and now that we have it in our room, we are happy we went with it. 

Hubby especially loves it, and I have been teasing him about liking "French country" style stuff. ;)

My sister got Miss Muffin a tea party set. :)

But I think the cat is more interested in it than Muffin since she's been stealing pastries every chance she can get!

So that's about it. Just mainly wanted to share my progress on the blanket!

(and obviously my pretty new orchid)

See ya around soon!

Maybe next time, I'll have one more completed blanket under my belt! Woot!

2014...already??

So here we are in 2014, I can't believe it!

I had such an eventful 2013 that it went by so quickly, too quickly! I spent the first half of the year with huuuuge anticipation for June and it seemed like time was craaaaaawling... then BAM! January 1st, 2014!

Obviously, as anyone who has ever had a baby knows, time FLIES when you have a little one... We were no exception to this phenomenon. I'm hoping that I will learn to keep up with it or at least get used to it... I'm still just blown away some days that I have a daughter and she's already ...months old. Can't imagine when it becomes ...years old!! 

So yes, I am hoping for a lot of things in 2014, but mainly just the chance to enjoy it fully. As in, time not whizzing by me!

I have lots of photos backlogged for the blog... Nothing new there these days so I'm just going to once again skip them and share some more recent ones. :)

Our beautiful tree.

Playing with f-stops, tripods, and Christmas lights...

 

My gorgeous bowl of white hyacinths that started blooming perfectly just before Christmas.

And bokeh!

 

Getting back into lightroom and editing photos into B&W.

Just love the mood.

 

My lavender/blue hyacinths that bloomed right before New Year's.

 

Enjoying what my camera can do in literally no light.

 

And I had so much fun with the fireworks display on New Year's Eve!!

 

 

(These are my favorite because it's like gold glitter in the sky!.....it has my name all over it! Lol!)

So that's pretty much it!

Thanks 2013 for an amazing year!

Pansy patio

I love pansies. I love my balcony. 'Nuff said.

By the way, Blogger was making up for being a butthead (or maybe it was my computer) but the photos were uploading lightening fast last night --> why I had a marathon session of posting pictures. Had to take advantage, ya know!
But then when I was uploading the pictures for this post... it started acting up again! :D Go figure.

The shades of the pansies above and below remind me of watercolors. Love them!

The tomato plant has been growing super fast and has lots of little yellow flowers! :)

So there you have it! 

I love pansies. Yep yep. 

The one thing I am missing a picture of are the nasturtiums I have growing... but I'm sure you'll see them before the summer is over. ;)

Hope your Monday is off to a good start!

 

On my table.

This time of year is the best. I looooooove having flowers ♥

I can't believe that these roses from my shower last weekend are still going strong! 

Crazy beautiful tulips look crazy beautiful even past their prime. 

You can see we have leaves on the tree out the window!! :)

And these are the changes we made to the living room...

I hope we don't run into problems with the tank being on the shelf, but I sure do like the way it looks!

And we changed the stool out for a little antique table, but this is what went in place of the shelf...

I can't wait to sit there and rock my sweet baby! :)

37 weeks as of tomorrow. Getting so close to the end!

:) 

I've done some small crocheting but I haven't taken pictures... maybe I'll get around to that today since it's looking like it might rain today. (Good -- my garden needs it!!)

Living room and patio

What's the deal, Blogger?

I literally had apartment pictures uploading ALL last night... and basically these were all I got to upload.

So below you can see the corner of our living room. Hubby's handmade coffee table, our Ikea Ektorp couch and chair, Ikea Lack table, Ikea Expedit bookcase, Japan pictures in Ikea frames, flea market find rag rug, and my humble first crochet blanket. 

So what if we like Ikea? 

It's student budget friendly! :)

Those Japan pictures are supposed to get hung on the wall above the couch. But we ran into a slight problem of sheetrock walls --> we'd have to drill to put them up --> I hate drilling for so many reasons.

So for now, we have stark white walls. 

And I'm kind of ok with that. 

This is the window and patio door corner of the living room. 

More Ikea furniture. 

The TV stand (Ikea Hemnes) was bought from a sorta friend though when they moved...so techinically, not from Ikea! ;)

Hubby loves having his game consoles in little cubbies and drawers to put his games and controllers in. I like not having so much visible clutter. (Although in this picture, it seems there are some wii remotes on the shelf with our ipods...)

I wanted new curtains for this room. These actually (from Ikea, LOL!), but hubby doesn't like them. And we already got into a huge argument over the dining room curtains, so I figured I will pursue my curtain agenda another time. ;)

Oh, are you wondering what that wooden stick in front of the TV is? 

It's hubby's pretend kendo sword that he made. :) Geeks!

So out the door to the balcony.

Here's my potted pansy collection. Part of it anyway. :)

And here is the set up next to the table. 

My going-away-present herbs. A long box full of nasturtiums and sweet peas that I am hoping will eventually grow up the trellis. Seedlings that have since been taken to the garden (where they wilted, froze, dried, and died in the matter of a day -- UGH!). And the tomato and chili plants that hubby wanted. At the base of the tomato, I planted some arugula seeds that have since sprouted. Yay!

There are still some things I want for the balcony, like a hanging pot, lavender, and some solar lanterns. But all in all, I'm pretty pleased.

So there you have a glimpse into our home. The rest is nothing too special and I'm sure you'll see glimpses if you follow the blog. 

I can't be bothered to fight with Blogger over pictures when I feel like the house is ever-changing anyway. ;)

Also because I have pictures from the arboretum to share (uuuh daffodils!) and there is always something to share from the garden. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Since last time...

Since last time...

I've taken more photos of the little daffs. :)

They're just so outrageously in bloom. And since the weather has been cold but not completely freezing, they've lasted really long outside. 

They're still blooming!!

Speaking of the weather, we've finally had some rain. 

I love the sunshine, but rain is far more efficient in melting snow, therefore I haven't complained once about it! :)

Look at the progress from our courtyard!! 

After making an executive decision much to the hubby's disapproval, I bought curtain fabric from Ikea and we now have new curtains in the dining nook.

I'm quite happy with the way they turned out, but I think hubby needs more time to get used to them. Since he wasn't fond of them to begin with. ;)

I love the effect of the stripes, it makes the (tall) room look so very tall.

 

I really need to do something about that hideous light fixture that came with the apartment though. 

I call it a mosquito light because it even flickers when you turn it on. Ick.

Ah, decorating is expensive...

See what was on the table above? 

I couldn't resist as they were on sale this past week at a department store here. 

I had my mom help me pick out a promising one. 

Hopefully it brings me as much pleasure and inspiration as the white one (which is still blooming next to the TV). :)

Nature is so amazing, such detail!

Speaking of nature, my little plantation is coming along nicely.

Almost every single seed planted has sprouted. 

I'm just worried that with spring being a few weeks late, I may have started these too early (even though according to the packages etc, I was a little behind schedule already).

It looks crazy messy, but it's controlled chaos. I promise. :)

Should we talk crochet?

I was the lucky recipient of this gorgeous crocheted rug from my mom's talented friend.

It's a beautiful mustardy yellow and I think it's far too pretty to be on the floor. 

I kind of want to hang it on the wall, but I think I need to figure out HOW and WHERE first. :)

It's like a sun! And a flower!

What's not to love? 

I've been working hard on the blue sunbursts for the couch, but it doesn't stop me from fantasizing about new projects. 

Yes, I have one baby blanket still in the works for this little girl but I am her crocheting mama, and one blanket is NOT enough!!

I am so in love with this Viking Baby Ull yarn and it was on sale at the yarn shop... So I bought the purple, blue and yellow... and the other two are from my stash.

Well,  the pink between the purple and blue is Silja yarn, but it goes so nicely with the rest. 

I have no pattern in mind yet... but I'm thinking maybe plain granny squares?

Then again, a flower motif square would be cute too.

Too many choices!!

 

 

 I have more than just WIP's though. 

I have a completed flower wreath! 

It's already on the front door, welcoming us home. :)

The yarn I used was (I think) Silja and Viking Baby Ull.

The pattern was from the wonderful Attic 24 and linked here. 

The actual wreath is just cardboard that I traced circles (using a round plastic bowl and lid) on and cut out. 

Then I wrapped blue yarn around it (talk about tedious work!) and then I glued the flowers on using fabric glue.

All in all, it's a simple project and I was more than happy with the result!

I can't decide which flower I like most. :)

As for the blue sunbursts... I have a total of (almost) 21. I have been thinking about just how big I want this blanket to be and I am toying with the idea of making it 9x10 squares... but then again, I think, maybe I should just make it until I run out of yarn and see where that gets me?

I really should take a break from these squares and finish my rainbow baby blanket... I think that should be what I will tackle today on this glorious day OFF.

By the way, I have 13 days left before maternity leave starts... 8 morning shifts, 2 evening shifts... I cannot wait!!

 But then again, at the same time, I am secretly freaking out that I'm so close to having a daughter that I am totally responsible for the well-being of.

And yet, I can't wait. :)  

Completely unrelated, I've been trying to get a good vertical portrait of Kissa since we want to hang pictures of the three of them... But she is sometimes the WORST to get a good picture of!!

Like this one is super cute and all, but it would have been THE picture if she didn't stick her tongue out! :D 

And when you try to repeat the magic she looks everywhere but the camera... so then you call her name and she looks pissed off. 

And heaven forbid you blow at her to get her to look at the camera, you get a look like this one:

Kitty is not happy. 

:D

Well, thanks for stopping by!

Hopefully I'll be back before too long with more photos to share! :)