Besides "cottage" websites

I enjoy crocheting blogs and websites...in fact I enjoy crocheting. I just wish I was as good as some of the crafters on these sites. I would love to be able to sell my projects and to be able to create my own patterns and sell them too. My paternal grandmother and my aunt loved to knit. I remember the many gifts they gave my brothers, sisters and me for Christmas. I now wish that I had been interested in learning to knit when I was younger, long before they both passed away. I'm sure that they also knew how to crochet and it is in my opinion easier to crochet than knit. I still want to learn to knit...maybe I will have to buy a book and see if I can teach myself.

But back to crocheting...I haven't always enjoyed crocheting. I learned how to crochet in order to pass a Primary (LDS church youth program) requirement when I was about 11 years old, we also had to learn to cross stitch and knit. I did great when it came to the cross stitched pillow but my knitted pot holder was a bigger disaster then the crocheted whatever. Through out the years I would play around with crocheting, really not making anything...everything that I attempted would turn out funky and become a weird shaped doll blanket or a silly looking hat for my girl's dolls. It would be many years later when I decided to pick up a hook again and see if I could actually make something.

A little over 12 years ago I found my hook so I decided to try again to actually make something so I bought several skeins of yarn...navy blue, white, burgundy and forest green and was determined to make an afghan. That was a rather large project to test my skills or lack of skills on but because I was using a repetitive stitch...double crochet...I thought it would be easy enough. Maybe I should have started out with a baby afghan because it took me a year to finish and it didn't look good at all. I just couldn't figure out how come it was weird shaped and the sides were so un-even but it did serve it's purpose...to curl up in on cold winter evenings.

Another 10 years would pass before I decided to try again. I bought a book that came with a few hooks and with a little research I found out what I was doing wrong and how to keep the sides even. I decided to again attempt an afghan but this time it took me less than a month to finish and the sides were even...I was so thrilled with the results that I decided to make afghans as Christmas gifts. I went out and bought enough yarn for 4 afghans. I started in October, which it was hard to think about Christmas that early so I would sometimes watch Christmas movies to keep myself motivated...but of course by the time it was December I was sick of Christmas movies. I finished all 4 in plenty of time and I might say that I was rather proud of my gifts. Since then I have crocheted several more adult afghans, several baby afghans, dish cloths, pot holders, hats, scarves, baby mittens, slippers, ponchos and bath mats. My newest craze are bags and purses but my ultimate goal at the moment is to learn how to crochet sweaters.

the "cottage" me

I must admit blogging is new to me, not in the sense of not knowing what blogging is or reading other blog sites but actually using one. I do on a regular basis check out other blog sites one is Nicol's and I have also been looking at other blog sites that are mainly crafty type ladies some from England. I have found them all to be very interesting to read. Some of these crafty ladies are amazingly creative...I only wish I could be.

When Nicol and I talked about creating a blog site for our family I was excited but yet wondering what I could possibly "blog" about. You see I feel that I live a very boring life...go to work and come home, go to work and come home, over and over again. What in heavens name would I have to write about so today I decided to explain how I came up with my blog name. Those that do know me will already know this but here goes...I have dreams of having a finished "cottage" style house and beautiful "cottage" gardens. I love the look and feel of "cottage" living, hence this is how I decided on the cottage lady name for my blog site.

I love to look at books, magazines, websites and watch decorating shows that are centered around the "cottage" look. This style of decorating to me is very soothing, a home that is romantic, shabby yet chic using soft color and unfussy soft floral fabrics. I love the look of the vintage pieces and the not so vintage pieces mixed to create tranquility. For some this style might be too pale and washed out because the "cottage" look that I like uses a lot of different shades of white which includes pastels and does not use strong, bold colors.I like furniture that is slip covered, mostly in white and wood pieces that are painted white and lightly distressed. Which brings up another point...not everybody likes distressed or time worn furniture. I don't mind if it is lightly distressed but I really don't like the look of heavily distressed pieces.

As for the gardens, again I'm looking for tranquility, of gardens constantly in bloom through out spring, summer and fall with the types of flowers and plants that I grew up with. My paternal grandfather and my father both loved to garden and I loved the gardens that they created. I love white picket fences, arbors covered in vines, sweet smelling flower beds in full bloom, secret paths that just lead to more flowers, shade trees where I can sit and watch the birds and insects.

My home, my gardens, a small peaceful place that I can call my own, a place where I can mentally drift away from this mad, mad world we live in.

Call me a dreamer...but don't we all dream of tranquility???

Keeping in touch

I'm excited about this new blog, maybe, just maybe we can keep in touch more so than we have.