Happy New Year!!!! :-D

It's 2013!!!!!!! 

WOW!!  I can't believe how fast the last year went by!
SO MANY great things happened for me in 2012.....I got my family room wallpapered, I started my blog (Yay!! LOL), I found A Primitive Place Magazine and Forum (my favorite place online!), I created lots of wonderful things, and I got my kitchen TILE floor -- yippee!!! :-D

I can't wait to see what 2013 brings!  I'll have my first blog anniversary in April, that will be very cool!!  And I have my List of Project Goals that I talked about.....basically, getting the main living area finished - all of it!  And then there's just regular ME-stuff -- like, I want to start an herb garden behind my house, and I want to make pretty things (like wallpaper boxes!), and make more furniture.
So I'm expecting to have a really great year!!! :-D

OH!  And I found a wonderful planner (I'm obsessed with "planners", and very picky about them, too)!!  I've never seen one like this before, usually I have to settle for calendars, because I can't find a planner that I want to use.  Look at this one!......

I LOVE how it has a calendar and then has sections to make LISTS -- usually, I have to keep a notepad with my calendars for my lists.....not in this planner!!!  See why it's the best one I've ever seen?! :-D
It was $10 at Walmart, which I would never pay for a planner normally, but I had a Walmart gift card that was a gift for Christmas!  So I splurged on it!!  Oh, I am going to LOVE it -- all the plans that I can keep all together in one place -- PERFECT!!!

For New Year's Eve, we did what we always do......not much!! LOL  Brian NEVER stays up to see in the new year, but my kids are old enough to, so we've been having some fun for the past several years!  Mostly we watch movies or play games, and then when the countdown is on, we get our special glasses and some sparkling red grape juice, and watch the ball drop!  We don't really watch the "show" that they put on.....I used to, but it has become more and more annoying to watch over the last 10-12 years, that I only change it over to that channel about 3 minutes before midnight, and leave it muted until the ball starts to drop!  I don't like ANY of the singers that they put on, none of the music (BLAH!!), the hosts are all completely uninteresting, and then there's tons of stupid commercials!!!!  I remember when I was a little girl, we watched Dick Clark and it was exciting and fun.  I don't know if it's ME or THEM, but it's all different and ruined now -- I'm sure it's THEM!! Hahaha!
I let the kids stay up until a little after 12, and then I fall asleep at my usual time - around 2am (yeah, I'm still doing that!).
THAT'S IT!

When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I spent a few New Year's Eves out in the city at First Night -- mostly in Worcester, Ma, but once I went to Boston for it!  That's when I realized that I wasn't the big party-person that my sister and friends were!!  I was more the at-home type.....and I've stayed home ever since!! :-D  My brother went to First Night in New York, and said it was the worst thing he's ever gone through! LOL  There are just too many people out there!  He couldn't move, he couldn't get in to the bars, it was too loud to talk to anyone.....he was there with his girlfriend and our sister that I was with in Boston 20 years ago when I had my epiphany!! Haha!  SHE loves that stuff!  *Sigh!*  She's crazy! :-D  Sorry, Karen!  (she never reads my blog, anyway! LOL)

So for the past few days, I've been SO enthralled with period clothing!! LOL  Soooooo......I decided to crochet something I saw in an article about late 1800s crochet patterns -- a caplet!! (I told you I have ADD!)  I found a pattern that had the primitive look I wanted, here's their picture......

I started with their instructions.....

But I changed them a little to make it open in front instead of just one piece.
(I used my huge skein of brown wool that I've had waiting around for a few years....I have tons of yarn just "waiting around"!)
I didn't like their pattern stitch for the bottom of it, it was kind of boring, and I wanted something a little more cozy looking.....so I just changed it to a shell stitch.....

It only took a few days, because it's small, and I worked on it every night! :-D
I love how it came out.....

It's actually a little small.....I should have checked it earlier in my work!  I thought about pulling it all out and starting over, but instead I crocheted an edging along the opening......

It helped it fit better!  And I made the button holes (because I'm going to add two buttons! :-D).....

*Sigh!!*....BUTTONS.....I have a bunch.....

They are all soooo pretty, but I want something rustic and not fancy....hmmm.....

These are nice, but.....

These are VERY rustic, I think they are made of wood!  But then there are these.....

I don't know if you can tell with the flash, but these are an exact match to the yarn color!  But they are a little small for my button holes!  So, I haven't decided yet....!!
And I might still pull it all and make it again a little bigger.....I'll have to wear it for a few days to see how it feels.  It felt wonderful to crochet again, though! :-D

Tomorrow, some wool that I bought just before Christmas should get to my Post Office (finally!), and then I'm going to start my next penny rug!  I'll wait until I start to post any pictures or talk about it.....it's coming, though -- I can't WAIT!!

So, that's some of my New Year's fun that I've had going on.....2013 is starting out to be fun already! LOL
I hope all my blog friends are having a fun and happy start to their New Year, too!! ^-^