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.

Christmas Placemats

When my husband was deployed a few years ago I crocheted a few Christmas placemats. I used the same Bernat cotton yarn for this as I did for the Christmas Potholders I made recently.  Nothing to exciting about the pattern itself, it's just single crochet stitches.  But this simple pattern kept me busy for awhile while the hubby was away.

Speaking of my husband, I spent a wonderful day with him in Rothenburg ob der Tauber for Thanksgiving.  We got to do some shopping for Christmas nutcrackers and smokers.  Unfortunately, the store I wanted to go to for pottery was closed for the week.  November is considered the off season there and it was kinda crazy how few people there were walking around, especially in the famous Christmas store.  The 5 or 6 other times we have visited it has always been packed.  Next week when the Christmas markets start it will go back to being very busy.

As always, don't forget to check out the link parties at the bottom of the page!

WIP Wednesday: Another Mermaid Tears Purse

I was so happy with the outcome of my Mermaid Tears Purse that I decided I should make another one.  I'm using Red Heart Super Saver in Windsor Blue.  I haven't yet decided whether or not I will add a flower this time.  I might just go ahead and make one and then decide if I want to attach it at the end.  I really like how the purse is coming together so far.  It really is an easy pattern and like I mentioned before there is a video tutorial if you have a hard time following the written pattern.

I hope all my American blogger friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!  Since my husband and I aren't going to be here in Germany much longer we decided to pass on celebrating at home and will instead visit a nearby German town and do some shopping.  We want to stock up on some German kitchen items before we leave. 

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.

An Owl, Wooden Clogs, and a Bag

So my husband is finally home and I got to give him his gifts that I got in Amsterdam.  He loves owls so I got him a figurine.  And I knew I'd regret leaving without a pair of wooden clogs so I bought that as well.  He loved them so now I feel less guilty for going on vacation without him.

I mentioned yesterday I was going to attempt to make a bag off the top of my head because I couldn't find a pattern I liked.  I wasn't thrilled with how the bag was turning out so I started blog surfing when I came across the Hobo Bag Pattern.  Wish I would have found it sooner because it is exactly what I was looking for in a bag.  I'm going to frog what I started and try that pattern out.  I'm hoping I have enough yarn for it.

I finally went to see the tulips!

As I mentioned before, I spent 4 days in Amsterdam with one of my good friends.  One of the days we took a day tour to the famous Keukenhof Gardens.  Seven million flower bulbs are planted in the park each year.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us so it was cold and rainy most of the day.  Overall, we were glad we did the tour.  According to our guide this place has been the site of the most photos taken in the world.  Don't know if that is true or not but according to my camera I definitely took more photos here than anywhere else in Amsterdam.

All of the pretty flower colors has me anxious to finally receive my yarn order from Joanns.  The navy blue skeins that I have been working on just aren't cutting it anymore.  But since my acrylic yarn stash is pretty low, I don't really have a choice so I will keep on plugging away with what I have left. 

One Blue Scarf

Got back from Amsterdam a few hours ago and I'm ready for bed.  I had an awesome time and will post some photos tomorrow.  But since I missed blogging while I was gone, I'd thought I'd post a photo of a scarf that is almost done.  I started it the day before I left on vacation and plan to finish it tomorrow.  After 4 days of traveling my plan is to zone out in front of the tv and crochet.

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.