Catnip cleaning, some piecing and crochet baby afghans

I can now post the pictures of two of the three baby afghans I made for my Grand daughter Amanda's baby shower. There were lots of "ohhs and aha"s when she showed them. Mine were the only handmade gifts. But they are from the heart even if they are old fashioned.

I fell in love with this pattern while making it. I can imagine Logan's little baby fingers touching the bumps. It is a very tactile afghan. And these are machine washable and very durable. Use them up Amanda!

I also made two pair of booties. Not enough light in this picture....sorry!

MaggieMae is stoned on catnip. In fact, all five cats are on another level of awareness. Rolling and running and then stopping and enjoying their high.

We harvest our catnip in the fall and hang it upside down to dry during the winter. I decided to clean the catnip today. This is a major job. We had a 55 gallon bag of catnip bushes. Heavy glove time and I worked outdoors on my tailgate. Thanks goodness it was not windy. Tons of seeds and I only kept the blossoms. Lucky kitties!

All five cats were at the "trough" but by the time I grabbed my camera only three were left to photograph.

I am finishing up on the Kaye England pattern called "Star of Hope". I learned a nasty lesson yesterday.

DO NOT PRESS BIAS BORDER UNTIL IT IS ATTACHED TO THE BLOCK!

They fit perfectly with finger pressing. But after a tug from my iron they are too big. Kaye teaches no pressing until the block is complete. Finger pressing is enough. I forgot what she said.

So, here are my 12 center blocks. I had to trim some of the ends so my half rectangles are not the proper height. But I am happy with the effect anyway.