Pillow

Here is the pillow I made for my husband's Grandma (Great Grandma to our children) for her 84th birthday:

One side

And the other

I am happy to say that she was very happy with her gift.  I figured it was a safe bet though as I made her and her husband an afghan for Christmas using the same colors.  In fact, when she opened this for her birthday, she grinned and said, "Oh, it's all the same beautiful colors as the blanket."

An added bonus is that my husband was quite the happy camper since his Grandma was so pleased.  Definitely a win all the way around.  :)

Another Afghan

I thought I'd show off the afghan I made for the Ravelry Afghan Swap 2012.  I had a lot of fun making this and am really pleased with the way it turned out.

In Progress

More Progress

Finished and Stretched Out

The dark green border added a nice finishing touch.  And fortunately it was also well-liked by Laura and her family.

Close-up of the stitches.

Afghan Swap

As I've posted a couple of times before, I participated in an Afghan swap through Ravelry last year.  It was a lot of fun and I made a new friend along the way. I think it's high time I post some pictures of the lovely afghan Laura made for me - along with the other fun stuff that came in the box.

We love the afghan.  It is so soft and warm to snuggle up with.

Miss B and I think the stitches look like bouquets of flowers.

Some fun curly yarn for a future crafty endeavor.

A few other things.  There was another box of chocolates but my husband and kids tore into that before I could get a photo of it.

Laura, thank you again for a great year of swapping.  As I've said before, I'm so glad I was paired with you!

Personal Granny Square Challenge

I'm setting myself a One Granny Square per day challenge during 2013.  I want to have a few blankets made to give to family members for Christmas at the end of the year and I think this will help me reach that goal.  Right now, I'm starting with a basic Granny square but hope to move on to some different designs fairly soon.  I'm excited by the idea of this endeavor - which will definitely take some patience.  I like to see things come together quickly but that's not really accurate for crochet, is it?