.Instagram

I've decided to give blogging another try!  I can't believe it's been THREE years since I posted here.  My crochet obsession has grown and I've accomplished a lot in these last few years.  I'm going to share my Instagram address where you can see some of what I've been up to.

https://www.instagram.com/lisabendel/

I'm back!  Not that anyone reads this blog; I mainly created it as a way to document some of my crochet, collectibles, family, etc.  I have also been reading many blogs and have quite a few favorites that I visit several times a week.  They are listed below.  I have gotten so many ideas and inspiration from all of them!

First is the wonderful Lucy; hers was the first blog I found and it is at the TOP of my list!  She is amazing and her crochet is vibrant, colorful and beautiful!  She posts very lengthy, detailed tutorials (with lots of pictures!) and I have started several projects from her patterns.

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/

Another beautiful blog is Coco Rose Diaries.  So many beautiful pictures and ideas!

http://cocorosetextiles.blogspot.com/

.....to be continued :)

I Love Pinterest!

Very addicting, fun website where you can "pin" favorite pictures from anywhere.  You can follow other's boards, or pin something you like from another site.  I still need to organize my "pins", but for now, this site gives me a quick way to "save" something I want to return to later.

Thrift Stores

My Name is Lisa and I Am a Shop-a-Holic

I LOVE shopping!  And if it's cheap, it's for me!  I have too many interests and hobbies to be able to just buy what I want, and that's why I love going to thrift stores.  I love being able to buy paperback books for a buck and can get 10 or so for the price of a brand-new one at the bookstore.  I do still pay full-price or buy used online if there is a new book that I MUST have.  My son recently gave me a generous Barnes & Noble gift-card and I promptly spent the whole thing online that day.  My big box of books arrived about a week later.  This same son also gave me his "old" Nook, as he had bought a newer one.  I still haven't got comfortable with downloading books (although I have downloaded a lot of the "freebies").  There's just nothing like holding a book in your hands. I've also found many books about my new hobby, crocheting. They are all in good, almost-new condition and some of them are from the 1960's and 70's.  I just love vintage things! 

I collect bone-china cups & saucers and can usually always find a few at my local thrift stores.  In a way, it's kind of sad to look at these beautiful pieces and imagine who may have owned what was once a complete set of beautiful china (the thrift stores seem to always "separate" sets and mark each piece separately.  I wish for once they would leave some of the sets together and sell the whole thing for one price!).  I imagine the elderly lady who has since passed away and her stuff all boxed up and sold or donated to charity, etc.  I am going to take good care of her china and will keep it until I am gone.

Yesterday, I was browsing in a thrift store and came across this picture; it was hidden way in the back on a top shelf and I'm sooooo glad I found it.  I think it's beautiful.  I wish I knew who the artist was or what the title is.  I'll have to take another picture and try not to get the shadow of my arm in the next one!

More Grannies

My love of granny squares continues...I've made several in all sizes and will someday put them all together and make a blanket.  For now, I am enjoying making the squares and deciding on color combinations.  I get so much inspiration from the internet (see my lists of blogs that I follow; there are so many amazing ladies (and a guy, or two!) out there who do some beautiful crocheting).  Later today I am going to attempt to make a granny-heart and a granny-hexagon.  I'll post pictures when I have a satisfactory result!