Sunday, November 16, 2008

Another Birthday...

Last Wednesday, November 12, was my birthday - my 50th. My co-workers didn't do the black birthday thing for me like I'd asked, thank goodness! Instead, one of my crazy coworkers did this - this is what I found when I walked into my room that day:





My co-worker made this for Halloween last year and used it in a display at his house. Honestly, when I saw this, I laughed so hard about it!

A group of ladies took me out to lunch that day and that was fun too. All the staff signed a birthday card for me, and one particular co-worker, a wood manufacturing instructor, told me that "at this age, if you were a tree, you could be harvested!" Okay, so I work with a crazy bunch of guys, but they are the best and so much fun, and I've known them for so long, that anything they say and do doesn't suprise me anymore!

I didn't do anything exciting for my birthday. I just don't get excited about birthdays anymore. But when people remember me that day, it is nice. I did have such a great time that day and really look forward to the "50's Decade" now.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Magic Ball Afghans

Here are pics of the Magic Ball afghans I've made. A "Magic Ball" is made of small pieces of yarn scraps. I tie them together and knot, leaving a tail. Then I wind them into balls. The result of those Magic Balls has turned into afghans. For my afghans, I've used two strands of yarn - one is the Magic Ball yarn; the other a solid color from skeins. I use a size "P" hook and half-double crochet stitch throughout. I chain until that is either the length or the width of the afghan I want, then just do hdc rows until it's the size I want. I leave the yarn tails from the Magic Balls hanging out just for interest, but they can be woven in as well.

The first is one made with Red Heart Supersaver "Dark Navy" (discontinued color) as the second color:



The next one is made with Red Heart Soft White as the main color:



The last one is made with Red Heart yarn in Black:



I've started yet another one with Dark Navy. These crochet up so quickly, and it's fun to see how the colors come together. You can used planned colors too - just choose your colors and cut yarn into different lengths and tie together, the roll into a ball. As long as I have Magic Balls, I'll probably continue making afghans out of them.