Ahhh, summer...

Yup, it's definitely summer around here.

Days spent lounging by splashing in pools, sucking on popsicles, playing baseball in the yard, washing endless loads of pool towels (and we don't even have a pool!), dinners on the grill.

And lots and lots of time with the boys.  I love it, but it also means that my crafty time suffers a bit, especially when I collapse into bed at the end of the day and only manage to read a page and a half of a book.  

Two things have kept me in the creating mode

this crocheted baby blanket for my cousin's new baby:

And this awesome class with Amy Powers:

Textured Grid Baby Blanket by Bernat

Bernat Baby Sport Textured Grid Baby Blanket

It has been a fun little blanket to hook up.  You repeat 6 rows 12 times so by about the third or fourth set, you've got the pattern memorized.  The crosses add just the right amount of airiness and the popcorns add some fun texture.  I can just imagine a little baby chewing and sucking on those little puffs of yarn.

Happy Go Lucky stitchalong

This class has been so much fun.  I haven't been able to stitch as much as I wanted, but I did get all the planning done:

*wrote my 25-item happy list (see below)

*sketched little doodles to go with each item

*chose a color scheme

*colored most of the sketches and their backgrounds

*selected the fabric, cut it to size and drew in the grid

*colored the fabric squares

*started transferring doodles onto the fabric

I have learned so much from Amy--she is so positive and encouraging and incredibly talented.  I did manage these three squares so far:

colored-in grid ready for drawings and stitchings

 Can't wait to get back to this happy little project!

Hope you are making some time to be creative, even when it's not easy to do.

Thanks so much for looking!