Hi all,
I used this pattern http://www.angelfire.com/va3/heartfeltangels/littlestarafghan.html to crochet a star baby afghan several years ago. I know its possible for me to read this pattern but right now I'm about to pull my hair out! I cannot get past the first round. As soon as the pattern reads "2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in first ch 2 space" I get lost. I did find some old explanations in other threads but they were so old the photos had gotten stripped out.
I can make it through the first round and I believe I did it right because I have all 5 sections that are supposed to be there but cannot figure out where to put the next dc and where to put all subsequent shells.
Thanks for helping one frustrated crocheter!

My DH and I closed on and moved into our first house on July 3rd! We moved into the same town that my grandparents have lived in since right after my father was born (our neighbors have been their friends for 30+ years!). My 90 year old grandpa was so excited for us to own our own place, he really wanted to help us move. Since he's not about to run up and down stairs to carry furniture anymore, he did what he knows well... he gardened.
We left the house at 8 am and my DH returned an hour later with our first load of stuff. Grandpa had pulled all the weeds in the neglected veggie garden in the front lawn and started planting bean seeds. He gave me a hose, rabbit fence, and a bucket for weeds. I can't count the times he called just to make sure we were watering and weeding them.
Six weeks later, I picked our first bean crop. He planted them so close together I could barely get to the plants in the middle of the plot! They were beautiful and it took all I had not to drive to his house with my beans but I knew my Grandma would kick me out if I came with beans because Grandpa had planted her's too!

My husband and I have lived in the same apartment for more than a year so when time came around to plan my container garden for this summer, I had elaborate plans for squashes, trellises, tomatoes, herbs, lettuce and many more. Out of the blue, we found our dream home!
So, all of my incredible plans had to wait because we would be moving sometime in mid June and I don't want to lug all those hundreds of pounds of dirt and rocks to the new house (neither did DH )
I needed something big enough to at least plant a few tomatoes in that was sturdy enough to last through a trip across town. After thinking about it for a few days, DH and I decided to build a portable garden box out of wood.

We used a handful of 1x8 boards as well as some 1x1 for the corner pieces and legs.

The whole process wasn't too enthralling so I didn't take any photos. To give your imaginations a jump start, think of sawdust, the panic of one DH when he couldn't find the charger for his drill, and what seemed like hours of sanding.

We basically mapped everything out, cut to the size we wanted (the box itself is 2 ft x 3 ft with 1 inch gaps in the bottom for water seepage and 1 inch legs for ground clearance), and sealed the heck out of it with an outdoor use wood sealant. To protect my baby tomatoes from any nasties in the sealant itself, the box is lined with plastic.

Now on to the good stuff!
Here is the box in all her glory. We put handles in to aid in carrying when we move. It weighs a TON after being filled.


Inside with the liner


Being filled!


Garden!


I have two 6" Patio tomato plants plus basil that will be in soon.


It will be a beast to move but it turned out exactly as I had wanted. How often do you get to say that?!

I have been searching for an artificial flower vendor online who sells purple alstroemeria (Peruvian lily) but have only found stores that sell pink varieties. Anyone have suggestions or past horrible experiences they need to warn me of?

I'm wracking my brain to figure out a unity symbol for a wedding ceremony that wasn't mixing sand, mixing wine/water, or lighting candles but have come up short. Candles are out because the ceremony is outside, the groom thinks the sand is cheesy and although I haven't presented the idea yet, will probably feel the same way about the wine/water.

I'm sure there have to be some fantastic ideas out there, since Craftsters are more creative than most!

I really want to grow herbs indoors but my cats have taken a liking to anything green and growing. I don't blame them; chives probably make cat food taste better but I really want to use them for my own cooking.

How should I keep the cats away from the plants or grow the plants in a place that would keep them safe? The kitchen table is far too accessible, the top of the fridge is too dark and I have almost no counter space (apartment).

The only thing I could think of was to create a way to hang the pots from hooks on the walls but wasn't sure how to do that without ruining my walls and/or floors.

I'd like to preface this all by saying that all people involved in this story are in their early 20s.

My best friend from high school is just about 20 weeks pregnant with her first. This past week she went in for an ultrasound and found out she is having twins! I can't imagine what twins as a first would be like!

I'm invited to her shower that is coming up soon and I don't know what to get her. The last thing I knew, she wasn't planning on finding out the gender of the baby either so there are two little babies that could be any possible combination of sexes.

Since I'm still pretty young and have never been pregnant myself, I haven't gone to many baby showers and have no idea what is wanted. I'm sure she has a registry but her family will more than take care of the generic baby items plus furniture. What would someone, who is trying to be thrifty and unique, give on such an occasion? What is something that a mother-to-be would need and appreciate someone thinking to buy for her?

I am moderately crafty and can crochet, sew, and similar things so there is some hope for handmade gifts. I am in completely unfamiliar territory in this one(a wedding shower, however, is a different story).

Thanks for your help!

Back in Challenge 26 (Dollar Store Challenge), I saw someone make a beautiful paper crane mobile out of scrapbook paper (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=238256.0). I wanted to make one of my own but seeing as how I didn't know how to make paper cranes, I was a little more than stuck.
My husband was patient and taught me how so I FINALLY got it done! It is hanging in a (formerly) empty corner of our bedroom above my DH's nightstand. I didn't test to see if he could hit is head on it but he might just have to walk around it 
(Ignore the apartment-white walls)

I chose three prints of scrapbooking paper all in black and cream: script, paisley, and butterflies.


It is now the object of my kitten's obsession but I had enough foresight to to make it too short for him to reach from our bed or the table below... I hope!
What do you all think?

I wanted to make a winter wreath for the front door to our apartment that didn't look too Christmas-y... so that ruled out ornaments, poinsettia flowers, lights and many other things. So I came up with this!

I bought the wreath form at Michaels and the additions were from the Dollar Tree. There was a two-pack of the beaded fruit and silver tipped pinecones, a bag of artificial cranberries on florist wire and a bag of silver pine cone Christmas ornaments. This cost about $6 and some change total. I'm pleased and I get to leave it up all winter long!

My husband and I got a new kitten named Squints three weeks ago and he has been a pleasure and a challenge all at the same time! My DH was out of town for work for the weekend and he decided that he had enough of sleeping in the house where the heat wasn't working and did something about it. Squints spent most of the night trying to burrow under the covers and snuggle up under my chin and waking me up in the process.

I was a little irritated because I thought I had deserved a good night's sleep.

I did something about that today.

A trip to Hobby Lobby and some time in front of the sewing machine and I ended up with this:



He likes it! After finishing it, he slept another 3 hours. He has room to grow too.
I have enough fabric to make a second bed for our more mature, and probably just as cold, kitty.