Aloha!

I can't tell you how good it feels to get back to blogging.  I will briefly try to sum up what has been happening in my life since my last blog entry.  After 4 months of not knowing whether we were staying in Germany or moving to Hawaii we got our orders for Hawaii the first week of January.  Within two weeks, we got all our items shipped and everything else in order and then flew home to visit our families in Illinois.  Yes, you read that right.  Two weeks to get everything in order to move.  Surprisingly, it went fairly smoothly.  Or I should say everything went smoothly that my husband's unit had no control over.  Any type of paperwork they were in charge of, not so much.  Although that isn't a shock considering it was their mistake that led to the whole mess to begin with. 

So we had a wonderful 3 week visit with our families.  Although I could have done without catching a horrible cold for a week.  We moved to Hawaii the beginning of February, bought a car, found a place to live and moved in by the end of the month.  Our household items arrived from Germany a few weeks ago.  If anyone is wondering how long it takes to move your stuff halfway across the world, the answer is almost 3 months.  Yesterday we finally got our computer set up so I'm back to blogging.  I give people credit that manage to blog on their phones, I just don't have the patience for it which is part of the reason I haven't posted an entry in months.  And you know, the fact that I moved thousands of miles to a beautiful island which has kept me busy as well.

Sightseeing and getting familiar with our new surroundings has taken up a bit of my time but I still always manage to get in a few moments of crochet here and there.   Right before we left Germany I started making a bunch of teeny, tiny squares. After spending hours and hours making these two round squares, I am now close to being able to put together the Penguin Cuddle Quilt.  I'm very excited to get this finished although I still have quite a few things to do around the house before we are truly settled in.

Again, it feels great to be back in the blogging world.  Can't wait to catch up on comments and get to reading all my favorite blogs.

Teeny, Tiny Squares

Have you ever started a project and you don't know why?  That's pretty much the place I am in right now in making squares for the Penguin Cuddle Quilt.  Now don't get me wrong, I've had my eye on this pattern for awhile but logically it just doesn't make much sense to get started on this at the moment.  

First of all, I don't even have enough yarn to complete it.  And since our move date is still up in the air I can't even place a yarn order at Joanns because it usually takes a month to get here.  Although this whole mess with our moving orders has been an over 3 month process to get fixed, who knows I could probably order yarn and it would still get here before we leave.  And of course there is still the possibility of us having to live here for another year.  But without knowing anything for sure, it still means no yarn orders for now.

Second,  I don't even have anyone to give the afghan to when I finish it.  I would have to add some more rows and columns so it would be large enough to donate to Bridge and Beyond.  

So even with knowing I won't be able to complete this anytime soon and I still need to figure out what to do with it when it is completed, I'm still going to go ahead and make as many squares as I can.  The whole moving issue coupled with the stress my husband is under at work has really taken a toll.  Like I have said before sometimes I need to do a little mindless crochet to keep me sane. 

Star Dishcloth

Slightly lost my crochet mojo these last couple of days but I did manage to finish a dishcloth.  Janelle's Star Dishcloth is a free pattern that was simple to follow and took hardly any time to finish. 

So it looks like our time in Germany will be coming to an end soon.  Finally after two months of waiting for the paperwork to be approved we got word that we will be out of here in the next few months.  Am I still a little bitter that all of this was caused due to a clerical error? Yes.  Am I even more ticked off that it took two months to correct a mistake?  Of course.  Am I surprised that nobody bothered to change our original leave date and just assumes its easy to make all the necessary appointments without official orders?  No, I am not surprised at this point the people that are in charge of our future did not think about the 2 week wait time for orders and the fact there are shortened work weeks in November due to Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving.  This makes it even more difficult to plan a move.  At least some people were looking out for us and are helping us get the necessary paperwork signed so we have a little extra time.  Yes, the extra time will mean we won't make it back to the States for Christmas but it also means we don't have to run around like chickens with our heads chopped off trying to get everything done at a rapid pace for a move literally halfway across the globe.  But on the bright side, even though our leave date is still up in the air at least now we know it is official that we will not have to spend another year here.  I wouldn't trade the experience of living in Germany for anything but these last 6 months have been so stressful that it really is time to move on. 

And once again to the readers of my blog, thank you for letting me vent.  Ranting about the military every once in awhile on my blog is helping to keep me sane.  I'm hoping when we get to Hawaii I will have more positive stories to share because these past 6 months it has all been negativity.

Washcloths Again

I have two recently completed washcloths to share today.  The first one I just came up with on my own using the basketweave technique.  The yarn I used I had bought a few years ago and the label must have gotten thrown away.  I do know that it isn't the typical cotton yarn, I think it was mostly cotton mixed with some other type.  I'm curious so I think I will have to scour the Internet and see if I can figure it out.

I loosely followed a Dishcloth pattern but at some point I realized my count was off and one side had an extra stitch.  Oh well.  Also I have discovered that I prefer Front Post stitches rather than the Back Post.  It seems like most of my projects lately have utilized both of these stitches.

And on a personal note, we still do not know when we will be leaving Germany.  It's amazing how a simple clerical error led to all of this.  Apparently now it is in the hands of the final person that has to sign off on it.  I'm just praying we will find out soon and  they give us a reasonable amount of time to move. 

Christmas Tree and Candy Cane Afghan

Last year was the first year my husband and I got to spend Christmas together since we've been married. Well technically, it was our first Christmas spent together in our apartment.  The year we moved to Germany 3 days before Christmas* we were stuck in a hotel on base.  It's hard to get into the Christmas spirit when you are heating up Easy Mac in the microwave and knowing that your husband will be deploying in a few months.  And did I mention the wonderful jet lag we were experiencing?  On the bright side at least we were together.  The following year we were thousands of miles apart due to his deployment.

Anyway, as last Christmas approached I realized I was in serious need of some Christmas decorations.  Luckily, Germany is amazing with all of their Christmas Markets.  I've bought a ton of ornaments, nutcrackers, and holiday decorations since I've been here.  Since I obviously love to crochet I decided that I needed a holiday afghan or two.

I decided to make an afghan using the Christmas Cheer Tree and Christmas Cheer Candy Cane patterns.  I'm pretty pleased with the final product.  The patterns were easy to follow which is always a plus.  Off the top of my head I don't remember the exact names of the yarn colors but I know I used Caron One Pounders.

*Military, stop moving people during the holidays!  Just wait until the new year. You can't transition into your new life in a different country when nothing is open on base like housing, etc.  due to the holidays.

Don't forget to check out these link parties and also the ones at the bottom of the page!

Completed Scrap Afghan

I am finally done putting together my Scrap Afghan.  Not 100% satisfied with the end result but I am pleased for branching out and doing something different.   Some of the squares bunched up a bit so it has a puffy kind of look to it and the border is slightly wonky looking.  Maybe someone with more crochet experience could weigh in with why this happened.  I'm guessing my tension wasn't even throughout and plus all the different yarns I used probably didn't help.  I still need to wash it and I'll try blocking it, which is something new to me.  I always thought you block with cotton yarn but I read all the time people do it with acrylic afghans so I will give it a shot.  Any tips or suggestions?

While my Scrap Afghan may not be perfect, I sure hope when I donate this to a charity (most likely Bridge and Beyond ) that the effort I put into this blanket is appreciated.  Even with the imperfections I still think it's a neat looking blanket. 

And on a final note, sometimes it's hard not to be frustrated when you are going through a rough patch.  In the last month, the military messed up our orders so we will probably not be making it home for Christmas this year.  It was something I was looking forward to since I haven't been in the States to celebrate since 2008.  I normally understand and accept that your plans can change at the drop of a hat with the military but this was the one thing I was really looking forward to and now it most likely won't happen due to a mistake by someone else.  But at the end of the day if this and having to shell out money to get a new computer and fix our car are my biggest problems, then life is pretty good. 

Back burner

The last few months I've been making 5 inch and 10 inch squares and 5 x 10 inch and 5 x 15 inch rectangles.  I was going to donate them to a charity that provides afghans to a military hospital.  However, the need for blankets isn't as strong ( Yay!  That's a good thing!)  as it has been in the past few years so it looks like this particular charity group is winding down.  So,  it looks like I have a couple of options.  I can  stitch up this blanket and send the completed afghan to Bridge and Beyond.  Or I can continue looking for some type of military charity that would accept completed afghans.  Ideally, I would love to donate to a military hospital in my area but with us moving to Hawaii I'm guessing warm afghans aren't a necessity. Either way I have a few other projects that need my attention right now this will be put on the back burner.

Busy, Busy Summer

So, I have been sitting here at the computer trying to come up with something to talk about on this blog post.  You would think it would be easy considering it's been two months since my last post.  I guess in some ways I have too much to discuss since it has been a pretty busy and hectic summer.

My mother-in-law came to visit for about 3 weeks.  We had a great time going to Switzerland, Czech Republic, and quite a few places in Germany.  The day she left my parents arrived and stayed for 2 weeks.  We went to Berlin and Salzburg and of course some nearby towns in Germany.  It was absolutely wonderful to spend time with our family members but 5 weeks of non-stop visitors was a little much.  And of course the day I take my parents to the airport I have to immediately get all my medical records in order so my husband can get his official orders to Hawaii.  All I have to say about the quality of medical care here on our base is I'm not a big fan of having the government being in charge.  Very disappointing to say the least although not at all surprising.

Anyway,  here is a list of goals I have set for myself this fall:

1)  make the Kit Kat Purse for my friend's daughter.

2)  count up how many hats I have ready to send to Bridge and Beyond and make how ever many I need to reach my goal of 100 hats sent this year.  I think the last time I counted I only had about 7 more to make.

3)  Put my vacation photos on Facebook and send my Flat Stanley adventures to Sandy so she can post them on her blog.

4)  Continue working on my next big secret crochet project.  Stay tuned!  I have a feeling I will be talking about it in my next blog post.

5) Start putting together my Scrap Afghan.  


Thank you everyone that continued to post comments on my blog!  Sorry I have been absent for so long and haven't gotten a chance to respond.

Patriotic Baby Blanket

A patriotic baby blanket is what I have been working on lately.  I have 3 skeins of Red Heart's Stars and Stripes yarn that I didn't know what to do with so I figured that something small like a baby blanket would work.  I'm hoping I will have enough yarn to finish. I'm using the One Skein Baby Blanket  pattern.  I'm using smaller skeins that almost equal a One Pounder like the pattern suggests.  Now my husband looked at me strangely when I showed him what I was making but I figure that living on a military base there has to be at least one person out there that would love a red, white, and blue baby afghan. 




Thank you everyone for the nice comments you have left on my blog.  It's reassuring to know there are still wonderful people out there in the world.  Lately,  I've been so frustrated with some of the people in this community.  I guess I took it for granted that if you are in adult you act like one.  Maybe I'm just lucky that all of the people I know back home treat others with respect and are kind, wonderful people.  I'm just not used to being around people that are so unhappy with their lives that all they want to do is sit around and gossip about others.  I hope in Hawaii things will be a little different and we will have the opportunity to meet more people that aren't in the military.  For me, I just don't think it's mentally healthy to only be around the people you work with all the time.  For civilians, can you imagine working and then having to go home and always be surrounded by your coworkers?  Yes, they don't live inside your house but you will see them all the time wherever you go on base.  Have you figured out why my husband and I like to get out and travel as much as possible?

Alright enough of my pity party.  I just needed to vent my frustrations.

Crocheting to keep me sane

Still working on items for the Crochetville Charity CAL.  These items will eventually be donated to the Bridge and Beyond.  The hat was made with Caron One Pounder yarn and the black was maybe Red Heart Super Saver.  The blue dishcloth was made with German cotton yarn and the variegated green one was Sugar 'n Cream.

Crocheting has been keeping me busy while my husband is away but I still feel a little down in the dumps.  As much as I have loved living in Germany, I think I'm ready for the fresh start in Hawaii.  Living on a military base in a foreign country is almost like living with people you go to high school with.  And it really is literally living with people you work with.  Traveling has been a escape for us where we aren't constantly surrounded by all the drama.  I've become close friends with a few people here but for the most part I keep to myself.   I'm hoping in Hawaii I'll be able to meet people outside of the military community. 

Soldiers' Angels

I would like to proudly show off something that I did not make for a change.  This is a crocheted storage bag that was sent to my husband while he was deployed in Afghanistan by a complete stranger.  Soldiers' Angels is a wonderful organization where people can support the troops by sending care packages.

This is the bunk bed my husband slept in for a year.  He worked the night shift so the bottom bunk where he slept is covered up so light doesn't get in.  As you can see he proudly displayed his patriotic bag for everyone to see.  He also has a Josh Groban tshirt that someone sent through Soldier's Angels that he  brought home with him.  He wears it to the gym all the time.

My point in posting is that someone took the time to make a handmade item for my husband to brighten his day and it did so much more than that.   My husband is very supportive in my hobby and knew that someone put some time and love into his gift and for that he was very appreciative.  I'm extremely thankful that not only did my husband make his way home safely from Afghanistan but so did this wonderful crocheted gift.

Déjà vu: Movie Night and Washcloths

After over 2 years of not seeing a movie at the theater my husband and I have seen 2 in the last week.  Last night Hunger Games finally made its way to the theater on base.  While the movie was good, I still think the book was better.  If you only watch the movie without reading the book you will miss out on some of the important details. 

I managed to get a few more washcloths done.  I used 3 leftover balls of the German cotton yarn and was able to make another washcloth.  The blue, yellow, and lavender one was previously started. I ran out of yarn so I added a lavender border. 

Tomorrow I leave for my trip to Amsterdam with a good friend of mine.  During our husbands' deployment we discussed going when they got back as kind of a reward for sticking it out here in Germany when so many of the spouses decided to go back to the States for the year.  It was a difficult year because most of us had just arrived in Germany when we found out our soldiers would be deploying in just a few months.  So I'm proud of the small group that took on the challenge of staying here and trying to make the most out of the year.  It's just going to be the two of us on the trip because our husbands don't have any interest in seeing the tulip fields. 

Movie Night

Did not get to do a lot of crocheting yesterday because my husband and I went to a movie and then hung out with friends.  We've been at this base for almost 2 1/2 years and this is the first movie we went out and saw here.  One big difference in going to see a movie on a military base vs. a regular theater is they play the National Anthem before the start of the movie.  It's a bit cheaper to see a movie here but we also don't have a big selection of movies.  We usually have to wait at least a month before a new release makes its way here and then it only plays here for a weekend.  And when I say weekend I mean it will play once a day, not 7 or 8.  We live on a small base so at most they will have 2 movies a day. Still though, it's nice to have the option of seeing a movie if you want to because the other alternative is watching the movie in German if you want to watch it here in town or driving a ways to find an English theater.

By the way, we saw 21 Jump Street if anyone is interested.  Great movie.

First Post!

I started crocheting in 2009 but I wish I had learned sooner.  I have found it's a great way to calm my nerves.  Crocheting helped pass the time when my now husband left for Basic Training and AIT.  It helped me relax when after only being married for a few months we PCS'd to Germany.  And of course it got me through the year I was in Germany having just moved there while my husband was sent to Afghanistan.  And now I have my fingers crossed that it will help keep my mind off our big move to Hawaii later this year. 

I tend to crochet mostly for charity because I love the feeling of turning a pile of yarn into something that can be used by someone else.  I mostly crochet for HAP  and the Bridge and Beyond.  I'm always on the lookout for a new charity to support so please feel free to share with me in the comment section if you know of another worthy cause.