Intro

 This is my first attempt to create a blog.  I want to have one to share my crafts and recipes, like many of the others I have seen and found free patterns and ideas from.  Most of those have been from mothers raising their children.  My children are mostly raised.  What I get the most joy from, however, are my grandchildren.  My granddaughter, Ashlyn, will be five in September.  My grandson Jayce,
Ashlyn's cousin, is 14 months and Ashy's little brother is due to be born in a couple of weeks.

I learned to crochet when Ashlyn was born.  I had always wanted to.  I'd actually tried, a few years earlier, but I didn't think I could do it.  I have advanced fibromyalgia and the way I first held the yarn really messed up my arm and shoulder.  When I tried it again, I figured out how to do it without causing so much pain.  I still can't always do it, and can't do it for a long time at once, but enough that I have lost count of all the big things I've made and couldn't even guess how many small things I've made!  It's a wonderful skill to have!

I started sewing in 1967, in Jr. High, at MacDonald Junior High School on post at Fort Knox, Kentucky.  It was something I only did occasionally for the next few years.  Then, at age 16, I got my first job, in the fabric department of the Wigwam store in Waipahu, Hawaii.  With my employee discount, as well as access to sales fabric before it got picked over, I realized that I could afford lots more clothes if I made them.  At first, it was a lot of work, but as my skill developed, it became more and more fun! 

Well, that is it for today!  I am trying to post two pictures.  One is of my grandson, Jayce, wearing a bib I crocheted for Halloween.  The other is my granddaughter, Ashlyn, modeling a dress I upcycled for her.  It started life as a doudy dress of mine, that did nothing for me.  I cut off the skirt, then cut a new bodice from the top part.  Then, I added a satin ribbon belt and voila, I had an elegant new dress that she looks beautiful in (her dog, "Ivory" who thinks she is my other granddaughter, insisted on being in the picture, too)!