Holidays

Well, Christmas has come and gone in the Shepherd household. No really, it's gone. We've already taken down the tree, all the decorations, and the outdoor lights. We usually keep them up until New Years, but since we are moving in less than a month, we figured we better pack them up right away to facilitate the bigger packing process. It's strange - with Christmas done, it's like a light switch has turned on in both of our brains saying, "Start packing!" Devin and I went and picked up some supplies yesterday and started packing a few boxes and listing some of the furniture we won't be taking on Craigslist. Everything is feeling like a dream right now. I feel like we have so much time before we move, but when I look at the calendar, my heart jumps when I see less than 4 weeks. That's all for now. Pictures to come still as promised (especially since Devin got be a beautiful Canon Rebel for Christmas!).

-chianne.

Busy Weekend

We started last weekend with Devin's work holiday party. It was at a lovely resort in Cannon Beach. We opted to stay there because it was stinking cheap since the CG was having their party there, and we split a room with some friends. Our room was on the top floor with the most spectacular view of Haystack Rock and the Pacific. I'll show you one photo I took while there as a teaser, but I will have to show you the rest later.

View from our room!

Saturday morning, after we had checked out of the hotel, we hopped in the car and drove to Salem to pick up Devin's mom and brother. (They had rode out with family that were going to stay in Salem, which is why we picked them up.) We drove back 3 hours to where we live on the Coast, but before we got home made a pit stop at the beach. You see, in all of Devin's mother's fifty-something years - she has never been to the ocean. Devin and Dillon made her close her eyes while we drove directly onto the beach. Then, they got her out of the car and made her face with her back to the ocean. They made her just breath the salty air and listen to the sounds for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, they let her turn around and face the majesty of the powerful Pacific Ocean. It was amazing to see the awe in her eyes. It made me realize how lucky I was to grow up visiting the beach often and that I get to live next to it now. We played in the cold sand for a bit and then went home. We had lots of laugh and delicious meals. Their trip ended too quickly.

Dillon wearing the scarf I made him! I need to find the rest of the pictures....

Now we're gearing up for Christmas which leads into packing up the house to move. It's weird to think in just about one month we'll be traveling cross country to our new home in North Carolina. Boy, do I have a lot to do!

-chianne.

Beard beanie tutorial

I have been busy at work learning to crochet lately...all because Devin wanted a beard beanie, and I sure as heck didn't want to pay $50 for one. The first one I made was alright (see pic of Devin), but now that I got the hang of it, they are turning out nicely. I made a few as Christmas gifts. I could not find a tutorial online to do it, so I'm going to share how I did it.
*I am very new to crocheting, so if any of the steps seem confusing, just let me know*

The first not so great one.

Beard Beanie Tutorial
-Yarn for both the beanie and beard
-I/9 (5.5 mm) crochet hook
-4 buttons
For the beanie: I used this website for the beanie pattern. I did several less rows because I didn't want it to fold up. The beauty of doing it in a round is that you can pretty much stop whenever it's long enough. I will make note that I made one of the beanies using a J hook and it produced the same great beanie but a little larger.

For the beard
1. Row 1-Make a slip knot. Using the I hook chain 45 sc.
2. Turning chain stitch. Skip 1 sc and continue the second row by working 1 sc into each sc in the chain. Make sure you have 45 stitches.
3. Repeat for rows 3-13 (you can adjust this if you want a thinner or thicker beard) *Make sure to do a turning chain at the end of each row or you will drop stitches, and your beard will start to look like a pyramid.
4. Row 14 - work 15 sc stitches just as you had for the other rows.
5. After the 15th stitch you are going to chain for 15 stitches not connecting to the beard.
6. Slip stitch the chain into stitch 30 of row 13.
7. Work sc into each stitch on the beard until the end of the row (stitches 31-45)
8. Row 15-16 - continue sc into the previous row. When you get to the disconnected 15 stitches, continue as normal working sc in each stitch. After the 16th row is complete, tie it off.
9. Finish by attaching a button on each corner of the beard. The beard can now be attached by putting the buttons into any of the holes in the beanie which is great for adjusting to different faces! Please don't copy this tutorial without citing back to my blog. Thank you!

Enjoy.
-chianne

Me with a beard :)

busy

I should be decorating for Christmas.
I should be finishing up crafts I made for family.
I should be boxing up said crafts to send off tomorrow.
I should be packing up my house since I'm moving in less than 2 months.

But what am I doing? I'm sitting laying on the couch watching the Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family. Sigh. I need some motivation today. Or a magic wand so I can accomplish these things while still watching Harry Potter.