Keeping Pete Warm

As all of you know who read my blog, we're heading to Moab, Utah for a few days. This is not exactly a pleasure trip but rather a necessity. We've been keeping an eye on the weather and all it says is COLD! It's 20 to 30 degrees colder there and we think it's cold here at home. On top of all that, they're expecting snow/rain showers on Saturday when we're holding Josh's outdoor memorial in the old town park. All I can say is I hope they can build a big, big bonfire.

We've been talking about the clothes we need to take. I've been encouraging David to take long underwear, but he refuses to wear it. He says he'll be fine. I'm taking extra. I just don't want this situation to be any harder just because I'm cold.

Then it dawned on me - what about Pete? He needs to stay warm too. He's so used to being in the house that he will really suffer, but I don't want to leave him home either. This morning I decided to get creative and try to make something - fast!

I found this old sweatshirt that I hadn't worn for awhile.

Then I cut the sleeve off at the seam.

I measured about how long I wanted the neckline to be and cut a slit through both thicknesses of material.

I cut a slit big enough to fit Pete's leg through

I rounded the bottom corners which will be under his tummy.

I repeated with the second sleeve so now I have two. I made the neck a little longer on the second one by moving the leg holes further back. I stitched around the raw edges with my sewing machine, but you wouldn't have to do this if you didn't want to. I saved myself some money this way too. The price of these runs about $10 at Walmart. A person could do this with an old sweater too, but you would definitely want to stitch the edges.

Now I still had the sweatshirt left, so I cut the 

sleeves at a slant to the neckline and stitched it closed.

I just used a simple zigzag stitch.

I cut the neck down to match the "sweater" I had just finished.

Here the neck is sewn smaller.

Now I have a "cape" that I can put over his head and still keep the rest of him warm.

And this is how it turned out. Looks good don't it?

Trying New Things

First of all, my daughter asked me why I haven't done any blogging in quite awhile. I told her that there are so many blogs already out there that address some of the same things I do that I didn't see any reason to write about it. Well she said she enjoys reading MY blog so I promised to try harder.

So then I was thinking, what can I write about? One thing I have to say about myself - I do what I feel inspired to do. I'm not really doing a lot of gardening right now. It's cold outside and I haven't really been in the mood. When the weather starts to warm up, I get the undeniable urge to work outside in the garden. When it's cold outside, I would rather find something to do in the house. Also, when Christmas is looming, I get busy making Christmas gifts. For 2011 I worked on crocheting shawls for my daughters and my mother.

Mom with her shawl.

Candy's Tulips

They were very time consuming. This past year I was so busy canning and had many requests for home canned products that I decided to give everyone my pepper/garlic paste. I really had no desire to crochet but I created quilted appliqued wall hangings for my daughters and even kept one for myself.

So each year I do something different. Early in 2012, I crocheted a wool poncho for my son.

Little did I know that it would be the last thing I ever created for him. To start out 2013, I made a baby quilt for our friends' newborn.
 I am currently working on a quilt for my daughter that I started several years ago. So now that I've rambled on about my various projects, I decided what I need to write about.

Several people have commented on my many interests. They express admiration because I do so many different things. I am basically a curious person. I want to know how to do home crafting that was part of everyday life for people before modern conveniences made those abilities obsolete. I always say that I want to know HOW to do certain things even if I never do it more than once. One year I got onto a wine making kick. I made all kinds of fruit wines - apple, elderberry, peach, pomegranate, etc. I don't know if I'll ever make wine again, but I know how.

Maybe you would like to try something new or different but it seems really daunting or complicated. Maybe you think it would be too expensive. There can be so many excuses, hmmm, reasons why we don't try something new.

• The biggest reason so many of us don't try something new is fear; fear of failing. Well guess what, it's okay to fail. That's one way we learn. For all the successes I enjoy, I have nearly as many failures. 
• Another reason is we want things to turn out perfect. I have some perfectionist in me that I have to overcome all the time. Now granted if I focused all my energy on one thing, it may be perfect. My hat comes off to anyone who is a true artist who has found that one thing that satisfies their need to create; I'm just not one of those people. I recognize that my "home made" items will probably never be perfect, but that's okay. 
• The reason many people use is that they don't know how to do something or they don't know where to start. Well that really is an excuse. Thanks to the Internet, you can find instructions on how to do just about anything you could possibly want to try. There also lots of books available. I learned how to crochet with books; but if you can't figure it out from a book, there's likely someone willing to teach you a skill. Just ask around and find that person. If you want you could pay for lessons, but many people are more than willing to teach you what they know for free. 
• Sometimes it's taking that first step that holds us back. It's just a step. Take the first step and then the next and before you know it you'll have accomplished something new and exciting.

 So what would you like to try? Don't let anything hold you back. Go for it!