Crochet mood blanket 2014- the beginning

It took a little bit of figuring out but I think I have settled on a way to do my blanket finally. I decided on my colours for both my "good" mood and 'Bad" mood days.

I really like bright colours so even my "bad" days are still pretty colourful, they are just colours that are not my favourite. I want my blanket to end up being a bright cheerful patchwork of my year. I think they are all going to look great together.

I started my blanket with a special square to represent The Toronto Maple Leafs beating the Detroit Redwings in the outdoor winter classic. January 1st was cold and snowy so the blue and white also works for that as well. This was the first time I made a square with a dot in the middle. It was a fun square to make and I am looking forward to seeing random polka dots scattered throughout  my blanket.

January 2nd I spent with a couple of my friends at my favourite scrapbooking store, we were supposed to be scrapbooking together but I spent most of the day looking up crochet patterns on my computer! I received my last christmas present and just felt a lot of love. Red was the perfect colour for the day, representing love and Christmas.













January 3rd I went to an afternoon matinee with a girlfriend. We went to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It was a movie with a lot of dream sequences and imagination in it. I was enjoying my last few days of holidays, it was a calm and relaxing kind of day so the green really appealed to me.











I like the way they are looking joined together. I wanted to have solid squares, not traditional grannies with so many holes in them. I already have a couple of afghans like that. I couldn't do the join as you go method I had been learning because there isn't any spaces between my stitches. I am single crocheting them together. This means there will be a front and a back to my blanket. The back will just show a little seam overlap, nothing too major.

On January 4th I had a nice family day. I took my puppy to playgroup, we watched the Canadian world jrs game and we played cards together. I made a chicken stir fry for dinner, filled with celery and nice orange carrots and peppers. So my happy colour for the day is orange.

I am really enjoying this project, and I think about it ALL the time! I love seeing everybody else's projects on the Facebook page and on their blogs.

I'm back- and I'm excited!

I haven't blogged for a couple of years. Life was busy and I started doing project 365 on Facebook which fulfilled my need to share and record my life I guess.

Over this past year I started crocheting. I taught myself using youtube and it just took off. There are a couple of people I always look to for inspiration and encouragement and I will be mentioning them on here often. I don't ever want to take credit for someone else's ideas and projects.
Today I started a new project which is my motivation for getting back on here. I am going to make a blanket, a "crochet mood blanket 2014" to be exact. It is a great idea and simple to follow. You make a square a day (or a week) out of a colour that is reflective of your mood. Some people are picking specific colours for each mood. I am typically a fairly mellow content person so I was afraid my blanket would end up mainly one colour- boring. I have decided to pick some "good" and "bad" mood colours. I haven't picked all my colours yet but I did have a few in my yarn stash to get me started. All I can say is that it will be bright and colourful!

I was playing around with some different types of squares and also learning how to join as you go. Lucy at Attic 24 has great tutorials to follow attic24.typepad.com. The Facebook group has been busy all day and I have been changing my mind constantly about how to form my blanket. I know I want to create special squares for special occasions such as birthdays and holidays. It will be a work in progress and I am really looking forward to watching it grow.

See You Later

I am no longer going to have this blog. It has been a lot of fun and I still love checking out my other friends blogs. I guess the novelty has kinda worn off for me. Thanks to everyone who checked me out. I may be back some day!

Resolutions

I don't believe in resolutions. I find it funny that people put so much stock into one night. There is an entire year, 365 days in which you can work on yourself, make changes, start fresh- why do people think they have to come up with these plans at a specific time? Right now the gyms are packed with people trying to get into shape, weight watcher meetings are standing room only but in a month all of those people will be gone- given up on their plans for a new and better self. I am not saying you shouldn't try to get in shape or lose wight or whatever it is you want to change- I am just saying to not put so much pressure on yourself and set such strict deadlines. Life is a very long journey, you have lots and lots of time--- use it wisely but don't be so damn hard on yourself!! Every day is a new day, a fresh start, another step and remember..... we are all in this together : )

Movies, Movies and More Movies

There are a few things that I like to do when I have some spare time- scrapbook, read & watch movies. I watch movies at home on DVD occasionally but I really prefer to have the whole theatre experience. I like to see movies before lots of people see them and I get too many opinions- I like to make up my own mind about movies. I like all kinds of movies, from action to science fiction, drama, animated, chick flicks with my least favourite being the ones with 12 year old boy humour (Adam Sandler- Ben Stiller- you know what I mean). Over the Christmas holiday I managed to take in 4 films and I am happy to say I wasn't disappointed in any of them I went to see Sherlock Holmes with my parents and Shawn. I have had a huge crush on Robert Downey Jr for most of my life. It started with Less Than Zero and Air America. I loved him in Ally McBeal- I know he has had his issues but come on, the man is amazing! I had been really looking forward to this movie for the past year. It wasn't the best movie I saw over the holiday but it was enjoyable and worth seeing and Robert does take his shirt off a few times.

Katie and I went to see Up In The Air. It was very good. The story line is a bit depressing and really hit home with us after what Shawn went through this year. I think Katie got a new perspective as to how Shawn may have felt when he got laid off- he didn't really let the girls see how hard and depressing it was for him- we tried to keep it positive at home but there were times that were tough. I thought it ended on a hopeful note and George Clooney does a great job ( doesn't look to shabby either!).

I went out for lunch and to a matinee with my friends Gen, Michelle and Deb to see The Blind Side. This movie is very uplifting - it is based on a true story. I love true story sports movies- they always hit me in the heart. I don't always love Sandra Bullock but she really, really impressed me in this movie- by the second scene I had forgot it was even her playing the role. I would recommend this movie to everyone, it is a great, uplifting story.

This was my favourite movie of the holidays. It may just be my favourite movie of all time. Nicole, Josh and I stood in line for 2 hours to see this and it was well worth it. I knew from the first trailer that I saw that the movie was going to be visually stunning but I had no idea how great it actually would be. The 3D effect is very subtle- you feel like you are in the movie- it is not the old things popping out into you face kind of 3D. I really liked the story, I thought it had a wonderful message and the 3 hours went by in no time. Nicole and everyone else I have talked to all liked the movie and Josh thought it was Da Bomb- high praise there.

So there you have it- my take on a few ways you can spend some free time.

Another Christmas has Come and Gone

Well yet another Christmas has come and gone. All the presents have been opened, the decorations have been put away and I have gone back to work. Every year as the girls get older Christmas undergoes some changes. When the girls were little we had letters to Santa, visits to the mall and cookies to bake. The girls no longer write letters to Santa- I get lists now instead, I did get a photo of Nicole and Josh with Santa so that made me happy. Katie baked cookies so we put them out with a glass of milk for the big guy. I hope that doesn't change for a long time.

Every Christmas eve since I was little my parents have hosted an open house. It was a way for us to see lots of friends and family with out having to go out and a bout. This year was a change in that Nicole spent most of Christmas eve with Josh's family as they celebrated with his mothers relatives at his house. It was strange not having Nicole there for a lot of our evening and dinner but she and Josh did show up and opened the traditional Christmas eve present of Pj's with Katie and my niece Jadyn. We sang carols, ate my mom's special meat pie and got to spend time with friends.

Christmas day we opened gifts at home, headed over to my parents for brunch and presents then came home, watched a movie and had a nap. Then it was time to go over to Shawn's folks for some turkey. Nicole was off with Josh again, this time to his dad's parents house. I am glad we were able to get all these plans in place without to much bother, Nana and Popa did miss Nicole but we had Josh and her last year so it is only fair that we share! I am not looking forward to the year that we have to figure out both the girls and their significant others.

Boxing day for the past few years has been at our house with whatever new Wii game Santa brought. This year we got Wii resort. I love the Wii- it creates so much fun and laughter- and apparently lots of concentration as you can see from the photo below.

Yes Christmas changes, adjustments are made but as long as we are all together at points- that is all that matters.

Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing all my blog friends a very Merry Christmas. Have a safe, happy and relaxing holiday with your friends and family.