Share's Crafty Corner

New Year, New Blog

2011-01-09T15:37:00.002-06:00

With this new year, I've decided to start a new blog. In the hopes that it will encourage me to actually blog more, I've moved from Blogger to WordPress and renamed the blog. So you can find me now at Share's Yarn Cakes. Hope to see you there!

Malabrigo March Madness, NATCROMO, COM...Oh My!

2010-03-29T13:48:00.007-05:00

Need I say more? Well, OK, maybe I do. March is a busy, busy month! It's National (and International on Ravelry) Crochet Month (NATCROMO/ITCROMO). It's also our 2nd annual Village Hopelessly Overcommitted Cast On Mania (COM). And it's Malabrigo March Madness (MMM). btw, it isn't a coincidence that COM is the same month as MMM. ;)

First, Malabrigo! Yep, I'm going backwards. *warning: shameless self promotion ahead* ...cause I need votes! I am a new Malabrigo Junkie. I've had this heavenly yarn in my stash for about a year, but never done anything with it other than occasionally take it out and pet it. And I wasn't really that in love with the worsted I had...the color YES, but the feel, no. So when MMM came around this year, I thought what better way to get me off my butt and try it. I'd always heard how soft it was but wasn't really seeing it myself...in the skein. Then I started using it! OMB! (That's Oh My Bob! for any non-Ravelers out there.) It really is amazingly soft and keeps getting softer the more I work with it! I am now officially in LOVE!

So what better way to show my new found love, than with a song! ...and an entry into the 2010 Show Your Devotion Contest. So here is my first ever attempt at 1) a video and 2) singing in public...so to speak. If you're on Ravelry, check out the Contest thread in the Malabrigo Junkies group and vote for me! ;) Voting ends the 31st...I think.

Now, onto NATCROMO! This year for NATCROMO, I got to be a little more active in the Ravelry Party than last year, but still not as much as 2008. Nonetheless, I was still crocheting and actively promoting crochet to others. I have worked on several things...

a dress for Thing 1's Ariel doll. She picked out the pattern (from the 80's!) and color. It just needs snaps and a little ribbon:

a scarf that will end up as a gift before too long (you'll have to wait to find out who for). It's taken a while to find out what pattern this Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace wanted to be, but this is it! It's the Alpine Frost Scarf (Rav pattern link) by Amy O'Neill Houck from Interweave Crochet, Winter 2008.

And then I've also been working on a couple of new designs too! ...but I can't show you those right now. ;)

And finally COM! Crazy thing to do! The idea is to cast on/start something new everyday of the month. Sounds a lot easier to do than it is. I couldn't keep up last year either and then ended up with a TON of projects that are either still WIPs or I've finally frogged. This year, I've tried to be smarter about it. I have never planned to try to cast on something every day...just wanted to allow myself the freedom to start something new with no guilt. All the things I've done for NATCROMO have been included as well as a few knitted things...

Like this Faberge Neck Warmer (Rav pattern link) by Nina Machlin Dayton (that is also for MMM) from the gorgeous Malabrigo worsted I was given in a swap last year:

(I'm about halfway through this neck warmer now...need to take a new pic!)

And this Cable Band Bag (Rav pattern link) by Jennifer Jones using the GORGEOUS merino/alpaca Pistachio and Chocolate handspun yarn from my Danish friend, Lykkefanten.

Clearly, they're all still WIPs, but ones with a greater chance at becoming FO's than the COMs from last year. :D

And all this while dealing with colds in our house that took all but one of us out for 2 weeks! ACK! Anyway, I hope you all have had a better and more productive month. But it's still been fun!

And as always...Happy Crafting! :D

2010 Ravelympics

2010-02-28T16:48:00.006-06:00

OK, I know I owe you a follow up post on the Pinewood Derby, but I got distracted by the 2010 Ravelympics! So I'll post about it next time.

Anyway, the 2010 Ravelympics, which coincides with the 2010 Winter Olympics, is almost over. The closing ceremonies will begin before too long and I'm proud to say I accomplished most of my goal for these games. I did not plan on competing as many projects as the 2008 games...nor did I intend to compete in WIPs Dancing (I'm already sick of my WIPs, which is why they're still WIPs). Instead, I planned to try to use up as much old stash as I could. And with the crazy month I've had, I'm very happy with my performance.

The games started with a Team Hopelessly Overcommitted Everlasting Synchronized Bag Jump...using Knitty's Everlasting Bagstopper pattern, we had a mass team cast-on during the opening ceremonies. That I know of, there were 12 team members ready to go on this...though it looks like only 9 managed a start (at least according to our tags). But it was great fun nonetheless! It seems fitting that the bag I cast-on for the start of the games was the last thing I finished at the close of the games.

I somehow managed to make this bag 4 rows shorter in the lace section than my previous bag. Not sure how I did that as I carefully measured both bags. Oh well! This can be the bread or produce bag. :D And how could I not be happy with a bag that finished gold in the Bag Jump and Stash Compulsory Dance?

I also competed in Junior Olympics, Mittens Moguls and Stash Compulsory Dance with my Chocolate Dipped Blueberry Mittens for Thing 2.

Just before the games started, I finished a matching pair for Thing 1...Mixed Berry Mitts. (Clearly, I shouldn't name projects when hungry.)

Now if only I could have finished both pairs of mittens in time for the 5" of snow we had the day before starting them! LOL Oh well! There's enough growing room in them to wear again next year.

Then I had 4 projects compete in Charity Curling, Single Skein Speed Skate and Stash Compulsory Dance (noticing a theme here?).

I think it's pretty interesting to see the differences in these squares. They're all using the same pattern, same yarn, same dyelot, but very different effects. I had hoped to finish 2 more (and thus using up all of this yarn I had), but other things kept getting in the way and besides, my hands were hurting at that point. But I will finish those other 2 squares and then find a good home for them. The original charity I had planned on donating them to is no longer accepting squares, but I've been given information about several others that would be happy to have them. I'll let you know where they go when they're all done. And I think I'll be making more squares for charity as well this year. It's for a great cause and uses up stash to boot! :D

Then there was a new event for these games...Aerial Unwind. I have to say, this may have been my favorite event! I had 4 projects medal here as well, but that also means I have 4 fewer WIPs! :D For this I frogged my Bamboo Scarf (loved the yarn and the pattern, just not together), my Luscious Lace Scarf (couldn't get the pattern to look right with my yarn), my Hand Spring Mitts (again, loved the yarn and the pattern, just not together...wished I'd had another skein of the yarn to hold double for it), and finally, my first attempt at a sweater for me...my Hey, Mom! OK, that last one was hard. I really liked the pattern and the yarn and the two together, but it's been so long since I've worked on it, I couldn't figure out where I was. I had also been having problems with adjusting the pattern to in the round without having big sections of stockinette at the center front as the pattern indicated. Rest assured, I'll try this one again!

So, all in all, I'm very happy with my performance in the games this year! :D And Malabrigo March Madness, our Village Hopelessly Overcommitted Cast-On Mania, and National Crochet Month all start tomorrow! It's going to be a fun fun month! :D

Happy Crafting! :D

Derby Time!

2010-01-18T18:49:00.003-06:00

My little space in the kitchen where I usually have all my fiber fun has been taken over this weekend...by the Pinewood Derby! Jitterfrog, my oldest son, is a Cub Scout Wolf. And as any Cub Scout parent knows...it's Derby Time! :D

This year, however, Thing 1 and Thing 2 want to get in on the fun. They've asked for cars too. And I said OK. Some may say that's being a good Mom, but in reality, it's just an excuse for me to make a car to race cause I love it too. LOL

Here's what my space has looked like so far this weekend...

Can you guess which car belongs to my daughter? ;)

For anyone interested, we sealed the cars using an all-purpose sealer (frequently used in tole painting), base coated in Titanium White and then followed with the lightest color to be used in the design (multiple coats were required, especially for the pink one). After all the detail painting is done, we'll seal it with a gloss varnish to make them nice and shiny. And we're using all water based products...easier clean-up and more color choices. Finally, if more weight is needed, we'll use those zinc weights to get us as close to 5 oz as we can.

I know we could use more weight for the twins cars since they'll be racing in the "open" class, but I'm thinking of theirs as practice cars for the future. But don't worry, Jitterfrog is doing most of the work! We've only helped him when absolutely necessary. I really can't wait to see it after he finishes painting. He's made a sketch of what he wants to do and it's pretty cool looking.

So, until the race for our Pack is over this weekend, I won't be doing much fiber related stuff. Except maybe sketching. I can do that just about anywhere. Swatching will have to wait a little bit though. I do have a few new designs I'm working on...including one that's knitted! I'm hoping to be able to get them done soon and to some wonderful people that have agreed to test them for me.

See, I told you I did other stuff besides just crochet and knitting! :D

Happy Crafting! :D

A Little Fiber Therapy

2010-01-11T10:37:00.004-06:00

Ever had one of those days when simple things seemed complicated? I've had a couple of those lately. And then I realized I didn't have any "brainless" projects to work on. What was I thinking? One should always have a few projects ready just for those days.

I finally decided to give the Everlasting Bagstopper a try. It's been in my queue for a looong time. I've even had the yarn in stash for about a year. And the garter stitch bottom, for sure, seems as brainless as it can get. So no problem! Apparently, the night I decided to cast on it was. I only got this far before problems started...

Yeah. Pretty sad. But hey! It takes a lot of work to screw those needles onto the cables...and figure out how much yarn you need to cast-on the right number of stitches using long tail cast-on...and then of course, the slip knot doesn't just make itself! ...yeah, still pretty sad.

Good news? I was feeling much better the next day. I got about a third of the way through the bag yesterday (between all the other things going on). And I think it's just the fiber therapy I was needing!

You see, I've got two new designs I'm working on (including a knitted one!) and ideas for another five or six that I'm itching to get working on. I think all of that plus the real life stuff just overloaded my brain. I've had problems sleeping cause I just can't seem to shut my brain off! So I figured, I just needed to take a little time off to relax the brain so I can focus and get all these things done! And brainless fiber therapy seems to be working! I think by the time I finish this bag I'll be able to jump right back in and knock out at least one of those designs. Then maybe, I'll make another bag so I can knock out the other one before Valentine's Day. Hmmm...could that be a possible theme? Stay tuned to find out!

Happy Crafting! :D

2010 Fiber Resolutions

2010-01-01T18:36:00.011-06:00

But first a look back at my 2009 fiber resolutions...

So here was my list for 2009:

I’d like to get my WIPs under some sort of control.

Make a least one sweater/cardigan thingy for Me ME MEEEEE!!!! And crochet/knit for me more in general! LOL

Learn knitted fair isle/stranding or at least attempt learning it.

Start Christmas gifts NOW!

Write and offer at least 3 new patterns.

Spin more!

I didn't do tooooo badly. LOL I didn't get my WIPs under control at all. They actually got worse! Unless you count the number I put into hibernation as getting under control. ;) I never did finish the cardigan for myself either. In fact, I think I'm going to frog it and start over. It's been so long since I've looked at it now that I doubt I could figure out where I was on it, so better to start again. I think. I did at least start a lot more projects for myself...even if I didn't finish them. I didn't get anywhere near close to knitting fair isle. I did start Christmas gifts early, but didn't finish any. I got a new spindle and did start some more spinning, but again, didn't get very far. And I officially only offered 2 new patterns. Sooooo, I didn't do as well as I thought after all! Humpf!

But I think getting a pattern published in Interweave Crochet...and on the cover!...more than makes up for my other fiber failings. Non? LOL

OK, maybe my goals were too lofty? So this year I should be more reasonable...right? Nah! That wouldn't be very Hopelessly Overcommitted of me would it? ;)

So let's see...for 2010...

I think I should try the WIPs thing again. Maybe I just need to go through all the WIPs and hibernating projects and decide...frog or finish!

I would still like to make a wearable piece for myself.

I want to finish the big Christmas gift I started last year, but never got to finish. If I get any other Christmas gifts finished, it'd be a bonus.

I'd like to spin at least half of the fiber stash I currently own. I don't have a big stash, so this shouldn't be too hard. And it would give me an excuse to buy more pretty fibers! ;)

And write and offer at least 3 new patterns. (What can I say, I like the number 3!)

Still a little lofty when you consider how crazy my non-fiber life has become over the last year. And this year, it will likely get even crazier. I'm still teaching Art Awareness for Jitterfrog's class for the rest of this school year. The twins may start preschool sometime this year (still haven't decided). Plus our Cub Scout pack has just had another pack merge with us, so we have more than doubled our pack size in a year! Thing 1, my daughter, wants to start gymnastics or ballet...she hasn't completely decided which yet. Jitterfrog is thinking soccer this year. And I'm still hoping to reclaim some space to get back to my other non-fiber crafts. So, even without fiber, it should be a pretty busy year! Can't wait to see! :D

Happy Crafting! :D

Sunset Ruana Revealed

2009-12-26T19:46:00.013-06:00

OK, I didn't post a "sneak peek" but if I had, it would have looked like this...

And you may have seen this on Ravelry already, but I'm officially talking about it here now. The Sunset Ruana (Ravelry link for queuing purposes ;D)...

It's a really big comfy ruana using Tunisian Entrelac. That's right, it's CROCHETED!!!!! Why should knitters have all the fun? LOL I've always loved the look of knitted entrelac, but haven't quite figured that out yet, so I wanted to do something in crochet. Most of the patterns I found using Tunisian Entrelac were for pillows, afghans or bags. But I wanted to do something more like the knitted projects I'd been drooling over on Ravelry since joining.

I submitted the original idea to Interweave Crochet way back in February and waited with baited breath to find out if my first attempt at submitting to a major publication (and only second ever piece submitted anywhere!) would be accepted. I was elated and lost my voice from screaming with joy when I got the e-mail that it had been accepted...with a few little changes (more about that later). Of course, I had no problems with the change and was excited at the possibilities. It was so hard not to talk about it though!

Then Christmas came early, in the form of a box of super soft Limerick yarn from Wisdom Yarns (distributed by Universal Yarns). I hadn't known what color they would send for the sample piece. The colorway reminded me of fall leaves and I was so excited to get started! It took me about a week to work out some of the immediate changes that we made to the design before I could really get started working on the piece. I then spent the entire month of July working on the piece or the pattern every single chance I could. I had stupid injuries that occurred during that time as well that took some time away and I was down to the wire in getting the finished sample to them in time. But it was well worth it!

I was so excited just to be in the magazine. I mean, a pattern of mine, published in a magazine with all those other amazing designers that I admire so much (like Doris Chan, Danielle Kassner, Julia Vaconsin, Marlaina Bird, Ellen Gormley and Kim Guzman...just to name a few)! WOW! You couldn't wipe the smile off my face all summer long!

Then I got the most amazing, very best birthday present EVER!...albeit a day late. ;) Someone on Ravelry posted a link to the pre-order website for the Winter issue. Imagine the shock and amount of screaming and jumping that occurred when the link pulled up a picture of the cover with my piece on it! The kids were convinced I'd absolutely lost my mind and I couldn't calm down long enough to tell them. Jitterfrog (my 8yo son) came over to look at the screen to find out what was going on. And finally I screamed, "I'm on the cover!!!!" HOLY COW!!!!! And yes, I lost my voice again. LOL

I don't even know what to say! Never in my wildest dreams (well, OK, maybe my wildest dreams) would I have thought that would happen! It is unreal!

Now I guess I'd better get off my butt and go design some more! LOL In the meantime, go get a copy of the Winter 2009 Interweave Crochet...order on-line or find it on stands December 29th!!!!

Happy Crafting! :D

Resolutions Update

2009-08-05T14:57:00.004-05:00

I know, I know...it's been another month I've been away. But I had a reallllllly good reason! In fact, I took most of July off from the computer...or the internet at least. Between injuries, bad reactions to meds, work, kids and regular stuff, it was a super busy month. And yes, that's right, I said work! I was busy working hard on creating a new pattern that will be released later this year. I'll tell you more about it later, but for now, I'll update those resolutions. :D

My original fiber resolutions for this year were:

getting my WIPs under some sort of control
make a least one sweater/cardigan thingy for Me ME MEEEE!!!! And crochet/knit for me more in general
learn knitted fair isle/stranding or at least attempt learning it.
start Christmas gifts now
spin more
write and offer at least 3 new patterns

So where am I on this list? Let's see...

Thanks to Cast On Mania, I'm afraid there is no hope for getting my WIPs under control...unless I have a HUGE FrogFest! Which may actually happen. There are several projects I've reevaluated. It seems like there has to be something wrong if it's taking so long to complete it right? Some of them, I love the yarn and the project, just not together. And others, I've just completely lost interest in all together. But I'm trying to repurpose the yarn before I completely give up on it. Somehow it seems like I can justify the yarn purchase still if I find a use for it before frogging it's original purpose.

I have at least started more projects for myself this year. Doubtful how many will see completion though. And I do have a Hey, Teach! cardigan about half way done. Hmmm...guess I should get updated photos of that one. Maybe that will help motivate me to finish it.

Knitted fair isle...well, I had a reason I wanted to learn this, but I've run out of time this year for that, so I think it would be safe to put this one off till next year. I have so much other stuff going on now and school is about to start back up, so I'll save this one. But I did learn at least one new knitting technique this year...lace! So that sort of counts...right? :D

I did start Christmas gifts in February this year. Or at least, I started one. It's still a long way from being done though. So much for good intentions! Now, I'll have to kick it into high gear to finish it in time and I still have several more gifts to get started on...anyone know a good tutorial for Turkish cast-on?

I haven't actually spun anything yet this year, but I hope to remedy that soon! After seeing all the amazing yarn created during the Tour de Fleece, I've been inspired! I've ordered a beautiful new spindle for myself from Butterfly Girl Designs and I cannot wait for it to get here! I've drooled over this spindle for nearly a year, but it's always sold very quickly. I was absolutely elated to catch one the very day she put it up! Can you hear me squeeing with delight?

And that leads me to the patterns. I've already self-published one pattern this year. And I've just completed the second, which has gone to the publisher and will be released later this year. And there are at least 2 more I plan to self-publish this year. And boy did the ideas start flowing as I was working on this latest piece! I may actually have enough ideas for a book now! Though, for the moment at least, I think I'll stick to one at a time. LOL But safe to say I should meet this goal this year.

All in all, I'd say I'm not doing too bad! Does that mean I set the bar too low? ;-)

Happy Crafting! :D

Temptation

2009-06-27T15:54:00.010-05:00

Since I can't show you what I'm working on now, and I'm really trying to be better about posting, I thought I'd just share some loveliness and try to spread the temptation that is Malabrigo!!!!! ;-)

My first ever Malabrigo experience lead to the purchase of this gorgeous skein of Mal Lace in Buscando Azul...

Then, as part of our Village Hopelessly Overcommitted MYB Swap, I received this beautiful skein of Mal Worsted in Sapphire Green...

And my newest lovely aquistions are Mal Lace in Stonechat...

and Mal Sock in Impressionist Sky...

Tempted yet? :D

It is every bit as soft as the stories you've heard! And I haven't even worked with it yet...I just keep petting them! LOL

I don't know what these will become...except the Mal Worsted is destined to become a Faberge Neckwarmer (Rav link). And I'm thinking something non-sock for the others, cause they are just so gorgeous, I want to show them off as much as possible. Got any ideas?????

Happy Crafting! :D

More FOs!!!! :D

2009-06-21T14:06:00.007-05:00

Can you believe it? I have even more FOs to show you! :D

Here's one I thought I had shared with you before, but apparently didn't. It's the baby afghan for my DD, Thing 1. I started it while pregnant with the twins, but just got around to finishing it in March. Sad, I know. And I haven't even started one for her brother yet!

The pattern is Fenced-In Daisy by Mary Lamb Becker and comes from the Leisure Arts Book #2853, Our Best Baby Afghans. I had seen this pattern years before and loved it. I just had to wait till I had a girl...and fortunately I did! :D

I also finally got a photo of that Scouting for Food Bag:

I'ts not a great photo, but at least it's something to show. ;-) The pattern is The Green Shopping Bag from RecylceCindy and is made of plarn that was recylced from leftoever Scouting for Food bags (hence the name). And there are LOTS of other great recyling projects on her website too...even a baseball cap made from plarn!

And then I had a quick project this past week. My oldest went to Cub Camp and I got to work staff one day too. I got to teach the boys how to make a foam water bottle holder, but of course, I had to show off crochet too...so I made a crocheted water bottle holder for myself. It got a lot of compliments and was verrrrrry useful! :D

The pattern is Girls Water Bottle Holder by Chelle Grissam (rav link). I used all but about 11 yards of one skein of Lily's Sugar'n Cream Stripes in Country Stripes. I made a few changes too. I made the strap slightly longer, since I'm a woman, not a "girl". It does stretch a bit with a bottle in it and perhaps I should have made it not quite as long, but it still needed to be longer than the pattern stated. Also, instead of finishing off the strap and sewing it on, I continued and attached the strap with a chain stitch through the back loop and just continued on with the crab stitch edging through the front loops. This way it was all one piece and I only had one end to weave in. :D

I also started another new design that I was hoping to finish for Cub Camp. But the kids weren't cooperating with letting me work on it, so I didn't finish it. And this way it gives me more time to play and tweak the design. Maybe I'll even try submitting it for a Spring or Summer edition somewhere. Hmm... ;-)

That's probably the last of the FO's I'll have to show you for a little while. I'm going to be super busy the next month working on a project that I'll get to tell you more about later. But knowing me, that probably won't stop me from starting at least a project or two. LOL

Happy Crafting! :D

FO's for fogiveness?

2009-06-09T14:22:00.010-05:00

Will you forgive me for not blogging like I should be if I give you some FO's? :D I've completely lost track of my yardage and mileage, but my FO's are up to 16 now! I'll work on trying to recalculate the others...in my spare time. LOL

Anyway, I'll start with the most recent FO. I just finished it last night!

It's a mini North Roe Shawl (Rav link) that I did as part of Village Hopelessly Overcommitted's ongoing Lace Shawlette Study. We're learning lace without the committment of a fullsized shawl. This one will be a present for my DD's 3rd birthday next month. It's made from less than 1 ball of J&P Coats Royale Classic Crochet Thread (Size 10) in a vareigated pink.

And I must say, I now have yet another addiction...lace! It's so amazing the difference blocking makes and it's like Christmas seeing what you get! :D This is what it looked like right off the needles...

Amazing difference, huh?

I also finished 3 elephant themed projects as gifts for my friend Lykkefanten and her son, but unfortunately, got so excited about sending them, I forgot to take pictures. LOL And I still need to take pictures of the loveliness that she sent me too! I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it all yet, but DD has claimed the pink yarn for herself! LOL

I also made a mini Chauncey (Rav link),

and crocheted sock bookmark

for my Magic Yarn Ball swap partner MePlz. It was only my second ever swap and I'd not heard of a MYB prior, but it was so much fun putting it together! The sock bookmark is based on the idea of some knitted sock bookmarks I saw on Ravelry. I used this pattern (Rav link), made two socks then connected them with a ch 100.

And Jen (MePlz) sent me the most amazing box too!

That beautiful green ball is my first Malabrigo Worsted!!!! :D I cannot wait to knit it up! It's going to be a lovely Faberge Neck Warmer (yep, Rav link). And the adorable Egyptian sheep card (which if you know me, is sooooo perfect!) and the beautiful painted shale are displayed behind me right now! I just love them! Thanks again Jen!!!! :D

I also finished my Dragonscale Socks from the Crochet Liberation Front First Ever Book...you know, that one I'm in. ;-) I accidentally put my own little mark on them by putting in one of the heels inside out. LOL But I still love them! :D I used almost all of 2 balls of Knit Picks Palette in Tidepool Heather.

I also finished my first project using my own handspun yarn, but I don't have an FO pic yet cause I don't have a coffee mug that fits it. So I'm looking for a new one...just for my mug cozy! LOL

And to get completely caught up, I also finished a reusable shopping bag made from plarn recycled from leftover Scouting for Food bags. But alas, I don't have pictures of it yet either.

Sounds like I need to get busy taking pictures to get everything completely updated! LOL I have other news to share soon too, but not just yet...you'll have to stay tuned for that. ;-)

Happy Crafting!

Here Comes the...Bat?

2009-03-03T12:33:00.019-06:00

I made these little guys in June of 2008...yes, that's right nearly a year ago and I'm just now able to share them with you! :D

My Dad got married this past weekend! These cuties were made for him and his new bride.

They've had this thing for bats since their first date (or there abouts). It's one of those inside joke things. And when I saw the Little Bat pattern by Shala (Rav link here) come up on Ravelry, I knew I had to make it for them. Then when they were talking about getting married, I thought it would be funny to adapt the pattern to a bride and groom bat. They LOVED them!

I was also very happy to make the cake for them. It was a yummy dark chocolate cake with my best ever dark chocolate buttercream icing and topped off with dark and white chocolate shavings. YUMMY!!! And since they didn't want any "wedding-y" kind of decorations *on* the cake...I thought the bats were perfect to sit next to it! I think it worked rather nicely! :D

And because I really like my new StepMom, I wanted to do something really nice for her for the wedding too. So I made a Crocus Bud Shawl (Rav link here) for her. She's allergic to wool, so I found a really pretty bamboo thread (you know I have this thing for bamboo anyway!) to use for it. It has a really nice sheen and drape and is realllllly soft! And I was thrilled that she liked it so much she wore it for the wedding!

I don't have those pictures yet to share, but I will as soon as I can ... presuming she's OK with it. ;-)

It was a GREAT weekend! They were really happy and looked fantastic! My brother came to visit and I got to spend more time with him this visit than I normally do and it was great! He's my kids favorite new toy! LOL We all had an absolute blast!

Congratulations Dad and StepMom! :D

Hmm...I'll have to talk to StepMom about a blog moniker for her. ;-)

Happy Crafting!

FO's and Cast On Mania!

2009-02-17T12:39:00.007-06:00

Oh my! Didn't I say I was going to try to post more often this year? Clearly, I'm not doing so well with that one! LOL

Well, let's see...what's happened since the last post...OH! I know! I finished the Daisy Sweater for Thing 1 ANNNNDDD I finished the Provence Cabled Sweater for Thing 2!!!!!! :D Yep! 2 FO's and BOTH are sweaters!!!! :D I appologize in advance for the poor picture quality...neither the sun nor the kids have cooperated with me on getting good ones taken.

Here's the Daisy Sweater:

And here's the Provence Cabled Sweater (it's really a blue color not grey or purple):

Then, as a reward for being so good about not casting on new things for a month and a half (OK, I wasn't that good), the Village Hopelessly Overcommitted decided to make February Cast On Mania month! We are free to cast on daily with abandon! Completely guilt free project starting craziness!!! Obviously, this does not help me get my WIPs under control, but it has gotten me started on Christmas presents already. LOL

Feburary is also me me ME month! Another guilt free opportunity for us to make things for ourselves instead of others...for a change. I have not done as well with this one, but I'm working on it. :D

So care to see the list so far???? I've not cast on daily, but I did start with 2 BIG projects, so I think that kind of makes up for it. Let's see...

Feb 1: a BIG Christmas present ...so I can't say much more, but it's BIG! :D

Feb 2: Burridge Lake Afghan (Rav link) I'm past the first cable repeat on the first panel. Very slow going, but better since I took the time to chart it! Here's my progress so far...

Feb 3: Fetching (for ME!) Finished one mitt and realized I didn't have enough yarn left to finish the other, so I had to order more. The new ball is a different dyelot and so slightly different color, but being on a different hand it shouldn't be too noticeable. I haven't had the chance yet to get back to this one, but here's the progress so far. (The ball in the pic is the new one.)

Feb 4: Super Secret New Crochet Design (more on this another time)

Feb 6: Crochet Dragonscale Socks (Rav link) (for ME!) from the Crochet Liberation Front First Ever Book...you know, the one I'm in! ;) This one, I got past the heel and halfway up the leg before it dawned on me that it was tooooo long! And that was after having to start over once cause my gauge was off and the larger size was even larger! LOL The marker in this shot shows where I have to rip back to :( and start the "scale" pattern to make it fit. I'm thinking I may just go ahead and start the second sock first before ripping out all this work. You know, just to make sure my plan for fit works.

Feb 7: Phoenix Mitts (Rav link) (again, for ME!) another from the CLF book. Really only started the cuff and put this one aside for now. Doing too many things with small size yarn and little hooks/needles and my eyes are paying the price! Probably won't be able to get back to this one until after I get my eyes checked. But I'm making it in a really luscious, super soft, pretty pink baby alpaca. :D

Feb 8: Cast On Mania Project My plan for this one was to cast on one "small" (ie. miniature) project a day for the month and then at the end, put them all together into something. So far, I've done 3...again with the eye strain.

Feb 9: Playing with new to me crochet techniques I'm trying a few things, first up is Tunisian Entrelac using up some ~~old~~ vintage stash. :D

Feb 11: Hand Springs Fingerless Mitts (another one for ME!) Love these! I'm almost halfway through the second pattern repeat and even though it hurts my eyes, I still try to do a couple of rows a day cause they're so pretty and I LOVE the yarn I'm using (Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Stream)

Feb 16: Hey, Teach! (you guessed it, for ME!) OK, I'm really just starting to swatch for this one...and not getting gauge yet.

So, been a busy month and I'm still working on another super secret project that HAS to be done before the end of the month too.

And you may have noticed my Stashdown 2009 ticker on the side. The goal is to complete 52 projects in 2009 or use 100 skeins of stash (whichever comes first). I'm only counting yarn from finished projects and I need to go back and add mileage too. Village Hopelessly Overcommitted is trying to help one of our members (LittlePenguin) reach the moon using yarn from our FOs! :D

Anyway, so far I've completed 4 projects now and used 8.39 skeins and 1362.3 yds! Boy, that makes it sound much more impressive! LOL

Happy Crafting!

2009 Fiber Resolutions and an FO!

2009-01-24T13:51:00.009-06:00

OK, I'm normally not so good with sticking to New Year's resolutions, but maybe, just maybe, I can stick to some fibery ones. :D

So here's my list:

I’d like to get my WIPs under some sort of control.
Make a least one sweater/cardigan thingy for Me ME MEEEEE!!!! And crochet/knit for me more in general! LOL
Learn knitted fair isle/stranding or at least attempt learning it.
Start Christmas gifts NOW!
Write and offer at least 3 new patterns.
Spin more!

Seems totally doable...right? :D

I'm even off to a good start! I've already published one pattern for this year! YAY! And, I've recently completed my first official FO for the year...my first pair of adult sized socks (and they're for ME!).

The pattern is Garter Rib from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Kn itted Socks. I used 1.45 skeins of Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in the Crush colorway and 3.25mm (US 3) DPNs and made these socks 2-in-1. I wasn't even trying to match stripes, but I got pretty close! :D They're a little big (apparently I have odd sized feet) but I still LOVE them! They are really comfy!

I've also been working on the Daisy Sweater for Thing 1 (my 2 yo DD). It just lacks one sleeve (they are knitted on) and taking care of some ends. The sweater for Thing 2 (my 2 yo DS) also lacks one sleeve...but it also needs to be blocked before I can assemble it. Hopefully, I'll make LOTS of progress on these and maybe even have at least one more FO to show next time! :D

As always...Happy Crafting! :D

New Pattern Available!

2009-01-18T11:40:00.005-06:00

I thought I'd start my blog off this year by releasing a new pattern! Daniela - Spiral Rib Crocheted Fingerless Mitts is now available for purchase from Ravelry. If you're on Ravelry, you can go here. If you're not on Ravelry yet, there is a way you can purchase it too...I just haven't figured that part out yet, but I'm working on it! That's part of why this post is a few days late. I'm having troubles figuring out how to make the linky things work on this blog.

Anyway, here they are...

The pink ones are done in DK weight Naturallycaron.com Spa. The others are done in worsted weight Naturallycaron.com Country. All are nice and squishy, comfy and warm. :D

I consider this an Intermediate level crochet pattern. It requires skills with post stitches, spirals and chainless foundations and is written using US crochet terms.

Included in the pattern are instructions for both DK and worsted weight yarn and a tutorial for the chainless foundation. The pattern is written to fit my hands, which are 7.5” around the palm and 6” around the wrist, because they were the only adult female hands I had available at the time. However, the pattern is adjustable and I have included notes for how to easily re-size them to suit your needs and preferences.

The pattern itself was inspired from last year's Pretty in Pink Swap over in the Village Hopelessly Overcommitted (on Ravelry). None of the patterns I wanted to do for my partner worked out, for various reasons, so I took a shot at designing my own. I loved the result of my very first attempt! I contemplated submitting it for publishing in a magazine, but realized there was no way I could wait till next fall or later to show you, so I decided to make it my first self published pattern available for purchase!

I'm excited about it and I hope you enjoy it as well! :D

Happy Crafting!

Blogiversary and Spinning Therapy

2008-12-29T11:55:00.011-06:00

It's my blogiversary!!!! Well, officially, it was 2 days ago...I missed it...but we'll pretend that it's today. I haven't been very good about regular posts, but I will try to be better this next year.

The last 2 months especially, I've been crazy trying to get my Christmas crocheting/knitting finished. I almost made it. I would have done better had it not been for stupidity. Two days before Christmas, I slipped and fell in the kitchen, while doing something stupid trying to make the babies laugh, and I badly sprained my wrist. For a little bit, I thought I had broken it! So I have not been able to knit or crochet a stitch since then.

But I discovered I could spin, so that's what I've done the last few days. I call it spinning therapy to rehabilitate my injured wrist. It works too! My wrist feels much better...even if my fingers hurt a little from all the drafting and spinning. LOL But so worth it! Here are my 3rd through 6th attempts ever at spinning...

Not bad huh? I'm quite pleased! The one on the left (the slightly finer one) is 100% merino. It's the same fiber I used for my first 2 attempts also. I wanted it really thin so I could play with plying and still end up with a non bulky yarn. Not that I have anything against bulky, I just don't use it much and I want to make something I'll use a lot. :D Then the one on the right is Romney. First time trying it, but I like how it came out. I also have some blue romney that my oldest has claimed. He wants me to "hurry up and spin it already so you can make something for me with it!" LOL Guess that's a compliment?

Oops! Just realised I didn't post my first 2 attempts! Well here they are...

The one at the bottom of the picture was my first ever attempt. It's about DK to worsted weight. The one with the quarter is my second attempt. Got a little finer with it and a bit more consistent. Learned a lot about overtwist with these two! LOL

But yes, I'm now addicted to spinning as well and have visions of spinning up sweaters worth... OK, maybe that's still a dream at this point, but I will at least invest in another spindle...or 2...to really get this going. Maybe Yertle will get me one for our anniversary????

And I need to figure out how to ply these now too. I'm seeing lots of things about Andean and Navajo plying and it's really all Greek to me at this point. But I'll figure it out and maybe the first post next year will include the completed yarn!

Hope you all had Happy Holidays and will have a safe and Happy New Year!

Happy Crafting!

Day of the Ninja!

2008-12-05T11:17:00.006-06:00

Today is Day of the Ninja, so I thought this would be an appropriate post.

One of my Ravelry Village Hopelessly Overcommitted friends designed this ~~adorable~~ scary Ninja Minion. I was lucky to get to test it for her, but of course, I had to make mine miniature. Can't remember if I posted this first little guy already or not, but here he is, my Mini Ninja Minion....

Then in November, I decided I needed to make another one for my swap partner. Since she likes blue and spends some time in the Carribbean, I made a Carribbean Camo Mini Ninja for her. I liked him so much, I had to make another one for myself.

But be warned...they are sneaky little ninjas! Particularly these little ones. You never know when or where they might show up. You can't hear them coming. And don't ever call them cute! They don't like it! *looking over shoulder for ninjas*

Happy Crafting!

Every Woman Needs a Tiara!

2008-11-26T15:26:00.003-06:00

That’s right! Every woman needs a tiara, because we are all Queens and Princesses of our own little worlds. Don’t be shy, you know you deserve it! So why not make a tiara for yourself?

This is really just a recipe for how to crochet your very own tiara, since the actual design will depend on what you like. Don’t worry, it’s easy. If you can slip stitch, you can do this.

This recipe is available as free download on Ravelry or through the link on my side bar. Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Crafting!

Experiments in Hand Dyeing, Part II

2008-11-26T14:09:00.005-06:00

OK, lessoned learned. Sometimes, people really know what they are talking about and you should listen. Whereas the Wilton dye did actually dye the yarns and they seemed to be colorfast, they were not light fast. In about 2 weeks, there was noticeable fading... I've folded down a part of each skein to show the side that wasn't exposed to light. Oh well! It was still fun to try! Next time, I'll suck it up and order some Procion dyes and give that a whirl.

But before that, I'm hoping to have some handspun yarn to dye! That's right, I said handspun...by me! I was making a birthday/Christmas wishlist for DH (who will be known as Yertle from now on...and not as a bad thing either) with URLs and everything. I showed him my friend KraftyKay's Etsy Shop and he told me to go ahead and place the order! So I'm getting a top whorl spindle and 8 oz of undyed fiber to play with! And another one of my friend's is sending me a little care package with some other types of fiber to play with too! :D I can't wait to give it a try!

Experiments in Hand-Dyeing, Part I

2008-10-05T12:24:00.006-05:00

I finally got to try experimenting with Hand-Dyeing again. I tea-dyed, well over-dyed really, some ecru cotton thread for the Ravelympics. It was pretty successful, so I wanted to try more things. This time, I wanted to try dyeing 100% cotton thread and 100% bamboo thread with Wilton's Icing Colors (cause I have lots of them and it just sounded like fun). But everything I read seemed like it wouldn't work for my threads.

I asked around Ravelry a lot and read a lot of blogs and dug into my copy of The Yarn Lover's Guide to Hand Dyeing. Cause I'm stubborn, I was determined to try it anyway. I took lots of notes and kind of pieced together a strategy to try.

I made 3 10 yd skeins of each thread type. For one skein of each type, I decided to do nothing to it except wet it before dyeing. For another skein of each type, I decided to do a mordant bath in Alum and Soda Ash before dyeing. For the last skein of each type, I decided to scour them in Soda Ash, then mordant in Alum and Soda Ash (again) before dyeing.

Here's how they came out:

The three skeins on the left are the bamboo and the 3 on the right are the cotton. I'll give details as to which had what done after the experiment is completely finished.

They seem to be colorfast. I rinsed and washed several times and could not get anymore dye to come out. I even pull a strand through a paper towel and they were all dry to see if any would come off on the paper towel...nothing. So far so good. Now, I'm testing them to see if they are light fast or if they will fade after all this work. I'll let you know how it goes. If all goes well, I'll post exactly what I did.

Happy Crafting!

Hopelessly Overcommitted and Loving It!

2008-09-22T10:55:00.016-05:00

Thanks to the Ravelympics, I have made many new friends. We all came together for the games as Team Hopelessly Overcommitted. Sounds perfect for me, right?!? Well, it was! I never knew there were so many other like-minded people hopelessly overcommitting everyday, not just to their fiber passions, but in life in general. It was great fun! We encouraged each other in competing for the games and, of course, committing to even more things! LOL We had sooo much fun that we just couldn't stop after the games were over. So a new group on Ravelry was born...Village Hopelessly Overcommitted! (All links in this post are Ravelry links. If you're not a member yet and knit or crochet, you should be!)

Thanks to these amazingly talented ladies, I've pushed myself and am learning new things and overcommitting to even more! LOL It's this group, that has encouraged me to give cabling a more serious try. Karen (Lykkefanten on Ravelry) designed this gorgeous cabled bag called Viking Bag as a cable test for her Viking Socks. As you may have already guessed, she is also a member of Team HO (which is just another fun thing about our team name!). She, and others in the village, helped me get through reading a chart, successfully, for the first time! And that lead me to do this....

In my typical fashion, it's about 90% complete. All I have left to do is seam it and add some sort of handles. But I LOVE this pattern! And I can't believe how easy it was to create such complicated looking cables! I am now totally addicted to cables!!! I plan to make more of these bags and try some other cabling projects too!

The same group, in fact the same people, also encouraged me to try something I never imagined could even be done...knitting two socks at the same time (no big deal right?)...one inside the other! GASP! Yes, it's true, it can be done! It's a double knitting technique and it works like a magic trick. There you are knitting on DPNs looking like you're making just one sock. When you finish, you magically pull one sock out from the inside of the other and Voila you have two completed socks. Magic I tell you.

Well, I have yet to complete my first pair of adult sized socks. So I wasn't sure that I was ready for attempting such a feat. I searched patterns and found something in my queue I thought could work. Not itty bitty socks that are the same color (for a matching pair) so as to totally confuse me, but Christmas Stockings. Yep, stockings, made on BIG needles with contrasting yarns so I can easily see what I'm doing and really get the technique down. Yes! This is it! And off I went and here they are...
It's the coolest thing ever!!!

I've also started on a Crocheted Circle Scarf for myself in a deliciously soft bamboo yarn, Babyboo from Knit One Crochet Too. I LOVE this yarn! In fact, I love this yarn so much, that it doesn't bother me that I have to frog it and start again because it was coming out too wide. Just means I get to pet the yarn more. :D Here's the progress I had made on it before frogging...

I have wanted to do this pattern for a long time and I'm glad I'm finally getting around to it.

Remember those finger puppets from the Death Star Buddy Bag? Well, they were my design. And my son has asked for even more of the characters to be made into finger puppets. So I am working on writing up patterns for the 3 I've done (Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia) and creating new ones as well. One of my goals for this fall is to write them up and make them available. I might not be able to get all of the characters he wants figured out by then, but I for sure have a few more I can do. They're really fun! So keep an eye out for more posts about them. I promise to let you know when they're ready! :D

And as soon as I figure out how to add .pdf downloads here, I have a pattern, or recipe really, ready for the Beaded Wire Crochet Tiara!

Happy Crafting!

I'm Published!!!

2008-09-15T18:26:00.007-05:00

I can't believe it! I'm published!!!!!! My CLF Patch has been published in the First Ever Crochet Liberation Front Book! And not only that, but I'm on the cover!!!!!!!!

See it? Right next to the amazing Carol Ventura's Tapestry Crochet UFO Bag (the one with the skull and crossbones). I'm in a book with Carol Ventura!!!! I can't believe it! There are 36 fantastic patterns in this book. Plus articles and other great stuff. It's fantastic! It truly shows that crochet isn't just for granny squares! It's fabulous! And you can get it here!

Catching Up Post Ravelympics

2008-09-03T10:34:00.025-05:00

Wow! Has it really been that long since I've posted???? I guess between vacation and the Ravelympics I got totally carried away! :D Well, the Ravelympics are over now :( and I had soooo much fun! Guess this will be a picture heavy post just to get updated! LOL

For the Ravelympics, I entered 36 projects total. I completed 24 of those during the games and of the ones I didn’t complete, 4 were alternates anyway and the rest are at least farther along than they would have been otherwise. There were only 2 new projects that I didn’t get to at all. And I earned a medal for all 6 of the events I entered. I'm quite pleased with how I did. :D

And just before vacation (right at the start of the games), I received the yarn I won from Knit It Up's Name the Skein contest. Thanks to my wonderful husband, who came up with the winning name "Taffy", I received this...
I think the knitting Gods must really want me to make socks cause this is the second skein of sock yarn I've won in the last month! LOL So I'm working on it. I cast on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Basic Sock just before the games (pre-game warmup) and I'm now working on them in the car after school while waiting to pick up my son. I'm just about an inch away from turning the heel now. So far so good, I think...

And just to catch up completely, here are the projects I completed during the Ravelympics and just before:

Kid's Nap Sacks (checked off the Summer goals list!!!):

Fairy Tale Finger Puppets; My second pair of socks...this pair is for my daughter to coordinate with her twin brother who recieved the first pair; My Nutcracker Scarf:

Hostile Bunni and his Evil Minions for my oldest; a Doughboy for my Hubby as a joke (I got a little carried away and stuffed his hat too...I shouldn't have.); Mintley, the Cafe au Lait Miniature Thread Bear. (I over-dyed the ecru thread with coffee.):

The kids Buddy Bags (working on writing up a pattern for the Star Wars Finger Puppets...more on that later):

My In Bloom Bag (photo of the outside of bag is pre-seaming); and the Draft Stopper for my oldest:

The other 10 were Fantasy Knits and were only done in my head. LOL

That catches us up a bit. I'll talk more about the Death Star Buddy Bag and the wonderful friends I made during the games next time. And about some other GREAT news regarding the CLF Patch! :D

Until next time...Happy Crafting!

Yummy Yarn and Ravelympics FO's

2008-08-15T14:28:00.004-05:00

I just got back from vacation, which is why I haven't posted for a little while. We went to visit Grandma and I was focused on using my "alone" time for Ravelympics knitting/crocheting and of course, watching the actual Olympics. The rest of the time was spent chasing the kids around a new environment that was completely not baby-proofed...and they LOVED it! :D It was a lot of fun, but completely exhausting. And the a/c dying before we left didn't help things either. It's cool in here now and I'm ready to get back to work.

First, the day before leaving for vacation, I got a wonderful package in the mail. It contained the yarn I won from Ruth at Cinders Knits. And it is simply gorgeous!!! Thanks again Ruth!!!! :D Did I mention that I LOVE this yarn?!?!

I took the photos from both sides of the skein so you could see all the lovely colors in it. The slight touch of purple is really nice. Makes it seem like it's alive and growing (which would be awesome for it to grow more so I would have even more to love!). Now I just have to decide what to make with it. Socks? Scarf? What to do, what to do????

I was too tired from the heat and goofyness of the stupid a/c to cast on exactly on time for the Ravelympics. I was about an hour behind, but I did get started. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do much and then we left for vacation. I worked on my socks for the Sock Put and Gift Knits Pentathalon in the car there and back...and finished them! They're a little better than the first pair, but I still need to work on grafting so that I end up with those nice rounded toes instead of pointy ones. At least they're not the elf toes like on that first sock! LOL

I started an Evil Minion, for the Ami Toss, in the car on the way there, but couldn't finish as I forgot to pack the right color yarn for the eyes. And I made the Fairy Tale Finger Puppets while we were down there.

Not quite as productive a start as I had hoped, but not too bad. I have now finished 2 of my 22 real projects and 5 of the 10 fantasy ones. I am already doing better today. I did start the Hostile Bunni, for the Ami Toss and Gift Knits, late last night. I should be able to finish that one and the Evil Minion I started in the car shortly and I've got 2 WIPs, for WIPs Wrestling, blocking. So, I think it's possible to get pretty far on my list.

Due to the slow start though, I don't think I'm going to get them all finished. Not like I really thought I would finish all 22 projects in 17 days, but it was a nice dream. :D

Off to work on some more! Happy Crafting!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

2008-08-02T19:50:00.004-05:00

I've entered soooo many blog contests this year, I guess it was bound to happen. I was having a rather frustrating week. Then I logged into Ravelry and got a really great surprise. Waiting in my inbox was a message from Cinders of Cinders Knits and a subject line of You Won! I got soooo excited and was jumping up and down screaming for a while. The prize was a skein of BFL machine washable sock yarn custom dyed to your choice.

I won yarn!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! (OK, I still jump up and down everytime I think about it.) Now, the hard part was deciding what to ask for. I've never made adult sized socks or used actual sock yarn....yet. I know I rambled for awhile in my reply to her. But she helped me sort it out and it will be something similar (not exact as it's hand dyed) to this...

The second I saw this photo she sent me (and gave me permission to use here), I knew this was it! I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this! So, of course, now I'm even more excited! Thank You Thank You Thank You Ruth!!!! :D You should check out her Etsy shop and she's got more great pics of yarn she's doing on her blog too.

Now I need your help! As I said, I've yet to make adult sized socks. Don't worry, I'm still planning on making the socks from the poll earlier, but they will have to wait until after the Ravelympics. Although, it's realllly hard not to cast on for those right now! Anyway, what I need is help deciding what pattern to use this realllly gorgeous yarn on. I haven't got a clue! So either leave me a comment here or find me on Ravelry and let me know what you think I should make with this.

And, OK, I did win a pattern naming contest earlier this year. Fiona Kelly had a pattern for a felted lion that needed a name, and the second I saw it, the name just came to me...Marlion. It's a cross between lion (cause it's a lion) and Bob Marley. The colors in the mane just made me think of it. I don't know why. But it seemed perfect. And Fiona liked it too! So he was named Marlion and I won a copy of the pattern. Yay! You can see or buy it here or through Ravelry. Thanks again Fiona! :D

Oh, and did I mention you should check out Cinders Knits. ;)

Happy Crafting!

One down, many to go!

2008-07-30T20:29:00.005-05:00

I really didn't forget to post, honest! I have just been super busy trying to get a crazy amount of projects done in a short time (ok, at least it's a crazy amount for me). And finally, I have some things to show you. But sadly, only one completely finished. Let's start with that!

This is the first of 2, make that 3, Nap Sacks I have to make from Vickie Howell's New Knits on the Block. Two were always intended and need to be done ASAP! They are for my 2 yo twins for our upcoming vacation. I wanted to finish them before we left so they could start using them and therefore have a comforting piece of home to take with them. Now that my 6 yo has modeled it for me (and amazingly he fit!), he wants one too! There's no way I can get that done in time with the other projects I have planned to finish before vacation (and I don't have the yarn). But I've put it on the list. I think though, I'll make his a little longer so he can use it for longer than a day! Darn kid keeps growing! LOL

It's nothing majorly spectacular. But it is huge and I'm quite proud at my math skills converting it into a machine knit pattern and adjusting for the difference in gauge. And I think it came out pretty close to the size in the original pattern. So, I'm quite pleased with it. :D

I've also been working on some "surprise" Buddy Bags from annypurls. I'm going to stuff these with surprise goodies for the kids to keep them entertained on the long car ride. The biggest surprise will be the finger puppets. I can't show you pictures of them yet cause I really want to keep those as a surprise (they see me working on the bags). But I have come up with something awesome for my 6 yo and pretty fun for the little ones. Or at least I think so. I promise there will be another post on the bags after the vacation. And I'm going to make myself one or two of them to use as small project bags. I'll just change the strap a little. It's a very adaptable pattern. I LOVE it!

And of course, I'm still prepping for the Ravelympics. I am now entered (as of today) in 5 events with 17 active projects (and 5 alternates). And am considering also entering the Fantasy DecKnitathalon. Since it's fantasy, I'm pretty sure I can do that! HeeHee Besides, what's another 10-20 projects for someone on Team Hopelessly Overcommitted. ;)

Now back to work on those projects! Happy Crafting!

Finished Socks and Ravelypmics

2008-07-20T18:30:00.008-05:00

Yay! I finished my first pair of socks! And it only took me 3 to make a pair! :D Here they are...

The one I took on his feet came out really fuzzy. For some reason, 2 year olds just don't want to sit still! ;) I'm really happy with them. Thanks to all the great people on Ravelry and those of you that commented on my blog, I was able to make huge improvements. The holes are gone and the toe is round! YAY!!! I don't know if the sock bug has bitten, but it's a least nibbling. I'm going to go for a pair for his twin sister as part of the Gift Knit Pentathalon for the First Ravelympics!

That's right...Ravelympics! If you haven't checked it out yet, you should as registration ends Aug. 6th! I will be competing for Team Crochet and Team Hopelessly Overcommitted in WIPs Wrestling, Amigurumi-n-Toys Toss and the Gift Knit Pentathalon. Overall, I'm planning on 14 projects for the 17 day event. Screams overcommitted doesn't it? Perfect team for me! LOL

Anyway, for WIPs Wrestling, I will be attempting to complete the Daisy Afghan for my baby girl that was started while I was pregnant with her (she's now 2); the Monkey for my oldest DS that was supposed to be for Christmas last year; my first lace project - the Nutcracker Scarf that I finished most of in I think a week, but never quite finished; the Draft Stopper that was supposed to be for my oldest DS's room last winter; my very first ever knited project - a purse that needs a lining; my In Bloom Bag from Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker book; the Annimeko Cat I started a few months ago but put on hold cause I couldn't find pellets (well I have now!); and the thing that was supposed to be my first ever miniature thread bear. I also have 5 or so projects waiting in the wings in case, by some miracle, I finish all those and still have time to kill.

For the Amigurmi Toss, I'm planning a gag gift for my DH for Christmas (who I just found out doesn't read the blog, but now he might); Fairy Tale Finger Puppets for all the kiddos; at least one brand new miniature thread bear; a Hostile Bunni for my oldest DS cause he loved the blog story about him; and of course what's a Hostile Bunni without Evil Minions? So I'm going to try to make at least 2 of those (another blog story we loved).

A lot of the Amigurumi's are cross competing for the Gift Knits Pentathlon. In fact, all of them except the thread bears will. In addition, I'll be trying to do those socks for my baby girl.

It's official now...I'm crazy! I have to be to try to do all of this in 17 days while also going on vacation and getting ready for school to start again. What was I thinking???? I don't know how much of all of that I'll actually be able to get done, but I'm certainly going to give it a good try. It'll be fun no matter what.

Oh, and if that's not enough, I'm also trying to get 3 to 4 Buddy Bags done in the next 2 weeks as well as 2 napsacks. I've almost finished the first Napsack (no new pics yet) and I'm about halfway done with the first Buddy Bag.

Of course, I've really messed up that Summer Goals list now. But by the end of it, I will have finished about half of all of those goals and then some. I'll just consider the rest to be rearranged for the Fall. Yeah! :D

And I know I haven't done all the links to the projects. If you're on Ravelry, you can check my profile (share32006) to see it all in my projects/queue or just plug the names into the pattern finder. I've got to go run and get dinner on and feed everybody so that maybe they'll go to bed at a decent hour tonight. And maybe I can get some knitting done! :D

Happy Crafting!

The Princess is Done!!!

2008-07-15T14:33:00.009-05:00

YAY!!! She is finally finished! Well, sort of. She has no shoes or socks, but they would probably just get lost right now anyway. I'm going to learn more about making socks so I can make her a pair that actually fit. So, maybe for Smiley's 3rd birthday, she'll get shoes, socks, a crown (that's actually already made) and some new outfits for her princess. But for now, she's considered done! And here she is...

I did stray from the pattern a bit, as I have mentioned before. Her dress is knit in the round up to the bodice. Her sleeves have a crocheted edge rather than knit. I left of the "petals" from the dress. To combat the curl at the bottom of the dress, I sewed a satin ribbon to the underside, which also served to cover up the floats on the back from the embroidery. Now little fingers can't pull on them.

And her hair...her lucious thick hair can be styled in several ways, not just permanently sewn into braids. She has been a true learning experience for me, but not something I would recommend to others who are just starting out knitting. That's probably another reason she took so long.

Anyway, this made it all worth it...

Yesterday was the twin's 2nd birthday. We all had a blast. Smiley clearly loves her princess and her brother's turtle. I missed that shot as well as the shot of Bear with his turtle. He loves him as well, but you know guys.... LOL

Of course, I made their cake, like I always do for the kids. It's just something I must do. And I love doing it. I'm quite proud of this one though...

I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough fondant, so that's why the windows were iced instead. Turned out, I did have enough, but I probably would have messed the rest up trying to go back and add them later, so I just left them. And in case you didn't recognize them, it's The Wiggles in their Big Red Car. My twinadoes are big fans! They sing and dance all day long to The Wiggles (even when there is no music on!). And they recognized them right away and had big smiles. They just loved it! It was the perfect day!

Now off to work on some more stuff! Happy Crafting!

Queen of WIPs

2008-07-10T15:44:00.005-05:00

Yes, that's right, I've designated myself Queen of WIPs. And here's my crown to prove it...

See, it's even on my head...

This is crocheted with wire and beads. My first time crocheting with either, btw. It was created for a challenge for the Ravelry Silly Strings group. Back in May, we were all dubbed queens (yes I'm behind). We had to figure out what we were queens of and set forth to crochet ourselves crowns/tiaras representing it and do it with wire. This was tough! I've never crocheted with wire before and it's a lot harder than it looks! There were some great creations made by people who clearly have better wire skills than I, but I'll get there! :D

I knew right away that I wanted a something along the lines of a traditional (in shape/style at least) crown/tiara. Just had to figure out what to be Queen of...and of course figure out how to work with wire. So I got out my sparkly silver (diamond looking right?) seed beads, some 32 gauge wire and a for wire only steel crochet hook and started playing. After many attempts, I finally a really simple almost bracelet looking thing (sorry, I can't find the photo).

Not exactly what I had in mind. Too thin, too flimsy, too everything but what I wanted. And all my attempts and anything other than chaining left a lot to be desired as did my attempts even at chaining larger wire. So, I had to figure out a way to use my chaining with flimsy wire skills to create something that would fit my idea of a crown. Oh yeah, I also have to come up with a theme!

The WIP idea came about pretty early too actually, but I was sure how to do it or if it would even make sense. I kept bouncing other ideas around, but this is the one that kept coming up and hence, I dubbed myself Queen of WIPs. Not necessarily because of the number of crochet and knitting projects I have in progress (I know there are people who have more), but for all the other things in my life that are also works in progress (me, the kids, my other crafts...just to name a few). So to that end, I put in some color to represent the ever changing "Works in Progress" that we all are. The green is not only my favorite color, but is also meant to be vine-like. The pink dot over the ‘i’ is symbolic of a flower. And I can use it as something cool to put on my head to let the rest of the family know when Mommy’s working and needs to be left alone. LOL (And there is another definition of WIP for ya!)

I'm quite please with how it came out. And it can actually be considered a Work in Progress as well, even though it's technically finished. It's inspired me to try other things in wire and darn it, to figure out how to do more than chain and slip stitch in wire! :D So that's one thing I can cross off my Summer Goals list.

Speaking of Summer Goals, my baby girl's Princess should be done in time for her birthday Monday as well. I finally finished the hair! YAY!!! Although I may never do doll hair again! I've just got a couple of other minor things to do. I didn't like the 'crown' in the pattern. So I made up my own. I don't want to sew it to her head as I wanted to make this a doll that can grow with her. So it's removable and as such I probably won't give it to her till she's a little older. Besides, that will give me more time to figure out the socks! Try as I might, I could not make a sock from the pattern that would actually fit the doll. So that will have to wait until I know more about socks and can make her some a different way. And the stupid shoes haven't worked for me yet either. But I'm going to give them at least one more try before giving up. She may just end up being a barefoot Princess. I do plan on making additional outfits for her. But that definitely won't happen for awhile! I'll post pics after she's all 'dolled' up. :p

I'm also changing some things on my goals list. I'm going to save the Hourglass Jacket for August or September, cause I decided I wanted to do the longer sleeves and it's just too darn hot right now to think of that. So I've replaced it with the La Mer Scarf from the Summer 2008 Interweave Crochet magazine. It's done in Tunisian Crochet which is totally new to me. I had a very small taste of it during the NATCROMO CAL and wanted to learn more about it and since the Tunisian Crochet group on Ravelry is having a La Mer CAL, it seemed like the perfect time. Here's my start on it....

I'm using Patons Grace in Spearmint and an I cro-hook. The color really is nicer than this picture shows. I'm liking it a lot and it's going pretty quickly, even with all the frogging. I'm already about half way done.

And I'm going to make the Anny Purls Buddy Bags for an upcoming vacation. I'm going to stuff them with fun stuff to surprise and occupy the kids with for the long car ride. And my oldest just lost his only loose tooth, so I have a little more time on the Alien Tooth Fairy pillow (now if he'll just make a final decision on color it would be great!). That reminds me, I have to figure out what project I'll take with me for that vacation! Hmmm....

I've also been participating in a contest over at Aunt Kathy's Place. It's fun. My Princess's dress was even the mystery photo last week! HeeHee! I'm still tickled by that! :D It's fun and you should check it out.

Anyway, that's all the updates for now!

Happy Crafting!

First Sock!!!

2008-07-05T12:27:00.009-05:00

Woo Hoo! I finished my first ever sock!!! I know I said I was going to do the first sock for me, but I decided to start slower and make a sock for the little ones first. You know me and mini things, so it seemed to make sense to try a small one and finish faster. :D

The pattern is Lion Brand's Knit Child's Solid Socks using Caron Simply Soft Shadows Soft Merino colorway on US Size 5 DPNs. I made the 2-3 year size. And I'm happy to say that I had perfect gauge on this! So anyway, here it is...

Not too bad for a very first ever sock, I think! But there are a few problems:

Captions are kind of small, so I'll talk about them in more detail. I think you seasoned sock knitters will see the problems right away anyway.

Problem 1: There is a very small hole in the cast on edge. I think it's not a big deal. I used the backward loop cast on and it made a very stretchy cast on. Considering that I have been told I cast on tightly, I'm actually pretty pleased with this. But, it's not perfect and there is room for improvement.

Problem 2: I don't really know the technical terms, after all, this is my first sock. There are holes right at the point that you go from shaping the heel to working on the foot (is this the gusset?). Now this one bothers me! They are not exactly small holes, as you'll soon see. And I'm not entirely sure I even did the slip and wrap thing correctly either. I don't like holey socks, so I would dearly like to fix this!

Problem 3: Grafting. Need I say more? Well, OK, maybe I do. Again, new technique to me and don't know if I did it right, but I certainly tried (about 6 times!). My toe did not end up nice and rounded as in the pattern picture. Instead, I got a pointy toe that only an elf could appreciate.

Now onto the other side of the sock:

Problem 4: Why yes, that is a strange thing protruding from the side of the heel. It's some kind of strange bump that sticks out when the sock is flat and when on a foot, it kind of turns into a squared edge. Really weird!

Overall though, I think it doesn't look too bad, laying on the table, for a first sock. It does look enormous for a 2 year old! But then I had to try it on the squirmy one...

Don't know how many of you have tried it, but it's very hard to get a 2 year old to hold still while you take a picture of his foot while also trying to keep his twin sister from jumping in the shot cause she's jealous of the attention and wants a sock too! Oh, and then the 6 yo big brother gets upset cause you messed up the pattern he created with the mats and tries to fix it while you're taking the shot. Needless to say, it took several attempts to get a shot this good (albeit not very good). :D

Anyway, here you can see the problems more clearly...pointy toe, big holes, strange protusion. And one more problem. See on the table the sock looks huge! On his foot, the huge part is from the heel up. The length from the toe to the funky heel protrusion is not quite long enough. Of course, maybe this would be fixed if he had that extra room being taken up by the point in the toe. Did I mention I had perfect gauge on this?

So, all you experienced sock knitters out there, please help me! :D What can I do to improve my sock skills? How can I fix these problems? What did I do wrong????

Happy Crafting!

Princess Progress and a New Toy

2008-06-29T12:44:00.009-05:00

WooHoo! I'm making progress on the Princess and I think I may actually be able to finish it in time to give it to my baby girl for her 2nd birthday in a couple of weeks! YAY!!!!! OK, so I got tired of working on hair plugs (which btw, I think I've figured out a better way to do it, but I'm sooo far into it I'm just gonna finish doing it one strand at a time), so I opted to try to finish her dress instead. I've promised her that I won't take any pictures of her until her hair is finished (what, you don't talk to the dolls and animals you make?), so here is just the dress.

I strayed from the pattern a bit. First the skirt is done in the round instead of two separate pieces for back and front. This worked out well since I think I overstuffed her a little and she needed those couple of extra stitches to get into the dress! LOL Also, instead of attaching a garter stitch band to the bottom of the sleeves, I did a row of single crochet. I think it looks nicer and fits with the other crocheted edges better. All I have left to do is add the waist band, but I'm going to leave off the "petals" (cause I think it looks regal enough without them) and add ties to the back of the neck. And oh yeah, see that curl on the bottom...I've got to figure out how to get rid of that! I bought some satin ribbon that matches the skirt. I thought maybe if I sew that onto the backside it might help? What do you think? Is there a better way to do it?

And a couple of weeks ago, I bought an Ultimate Sweater Machine. I'd been thinking about it for awhile and kind checked out a group on Ravelry to see what others thought of theirs. And finally, I decided to do it. So with my 50% off coupon in hand, I took the dive. It was about a week before I even got to take it out of the box and I haven't really gotten to play with all that much since then either. But this week, I tried the baby blanket pattern from the machine's pattern book and decided to use up the yarn that came with the machine and some old 80's stash and in a couple of evenings, I made this...

It's not completely finished. I still have ends to weave in and I'm still working on the crocheted border. Again, with the stupid curl! So clearly, I'm going to have to do more than just one row of single crochets to straighten it out. This would have take me months to do by hand! I'm really loving this machine right now!

I was originally planning on donating this, but my DH is trying to talk me into keeping it as a "first" project from the machine. So that years from now, I can look back and see how far I've come. I'm still not sure what the fate of this will be, but I know that I am for sure going to use up some of the other 80's stash to make things for charity. Like this scarf that just needs the pom-poms added...
It was technically my first project off the machine, but the yarn is just really not my thing. It's very bright and happy and I think would be perfect for a child, but to me personally, it kind of looks like clown barf. (I tried to make the photo smaller as to not scare you too badly.) So the clown barf scarf will be donated and I think I have enough of this yarn leftover to make a hat too. Is it horrible of me to donate something made from a yarn I can't stand??? And there are other yarns I have from the 80's that I personally don't like, but think it could do some good for someone else. But what's better, to donate the yarn itself or something made from the yarn?

And I know I didn't really need another project to start, like the baby blanket, but there is a method to my madness. I was using this to practice the sew as you go techinque on the machine. I'm planning on cheating and using the machine to make the nap blankets from Vickie Howell's New Knits on the Block for the twins. I find stockinette stitch to be extremely boring. Don't get me wrong, mindless projects are great and have their place, but I have sooo much I want to do and not a lot of time this summer for mindless projects, that I'm going to make good use of my new toy. In fact, I may never knit plain stockinette stitch by hand again!

I feel like I'm making good progress on my Summer Goals list. I'm really glad I did that now. It's helped me stay a little more focused that I would have been otherwise. Oh, I forgot to mention I have finished another project. I just can't show it to you right now, but I promise I will as soon as I can! I'm particularly fond of this one too, but you'll just have to wait! :D

Happy Crafting!

Rings, Rings and More Rings

2008-06-22T12:35:00.018-05:00

And more hearts! :D Warning: I got my image upload problem resolved and as such this is an image heavy post! :D

OK, it's official! I have crafting ADD! LOL I have soooo many other projects I should be working on right now. But I couldn't resist a little mini challenge for the Ravelry Silly Strings group. And it felt good to actually finish something! I think it has actually inspired me to really get to work on those summer goals (so I can start on more stuff). :D

Anyway, the challenge was "What’s the finest thread you can actually crochet with to create a wearable ring?". How can I resist that??? Well, I almost did. I was really trying to be good and not start anything new till I get some of my WIPs finished. But I needed a break and needed to finish something quick! I was losing steam on my projects and having a hard time getting inspired to even work on them. This challenge seemed like the perfect thing! So here is what I came up with....

First a simple green band....

that evolved into a sinlge flower ring...

that evolved into a Garden Fairy Ring...

that led to a Floral Fantasy Ring...

And then I couldn't help myself, I had to make another one of those hearts! This time I made a Nano Heart Ring for my baby girl so now we match...

They were all made with sewing thread and a .75mm hook. I know, I'm crazy! :D But it's so fun! Now I just need to give my eyes a break for a few more days. LOL

And then to further stray from my summer goals list, I went to the LYS yesterday. They were having a GREAT sale and I couldn't resist. So I picked up some yarn for things on my list to do... just not on my summer goals list. But I got some lovely Babyboo from Knit One Crochet Too in this lovely Blue Ice colorway that will become a Circle Crochet Scarf by Michelle Gibbs for me.

I walked around the yarn store petting this yarn the whole time! It's soooooo soft! I haven't worked with bamboo yet, but now I can't wait! I see many more bamboo projects in the future!

And then I got some Sirdar Snuggly Tiny Tots DK to make some sweater thingies for the twins. More on that later. :D I may go back and get some more to make one for my oldest too. But first I want to be sure he'd wear it and not be freaky about it coordinating with the babies. HeeHee

I also got some help on the Daisy Sweater while I was shopping. So now, I can continue on with that. The princess almost has a full head of hair. I'm waiting to get new pics till the hair is done.(See some things on my summer goals list!) That's about it from the list so far. But I have renewed energy for it, so we'll see what I can get done this week! :D

Happy Crafting! :D

Summer Goals

2008-06-18T10:44:00.002-05:00

Well, I still haven't resolved my issues with uploading pics to this machine, so I have nothing to show you. But, I read Dove Knits blog about Summer goals, which linked to a contest about Summer goals on skeinsherway and I thought "why not?". Maybe listing them will actually make them come true?

As I am omni-crafty, I have goals in many areas. But I decided to list here, separately, just my goals for knitting and crochet. So here goes...

Knitting Goals:

1. Finish the Princess to be able to gift it for DD's 2nd b-day. (Her brother's turtle is already done and waiting.)

2. Finish the Monkey to be able to gift for oldest DS. (Maybe for birthday and maybe before that just because it's finished! :D)

3. Finish 1st knitted sweater! Just waiting to be able to meet up with some other more experienced knitters to be sure I haven't bound-off too tightly on one shoulder as I don't want there to be issues later that are too difficult to fix.

4. Knit first socks! :D

5. Cheat a little and use my new knitting machine to help speed up the process of some projects that are all stockinette stitch! Sorry, I know some of you find it relaxing or whatever, and I'm all for a mindless project now and then, but not this many...so I'm going to cheat! :D This will help me with making an Alien Tooth Fairy Pillow for oldest DS and napsacks for the twins (both from New Knits on the Block). Oops! I haven't told you about my new toy yet cause I haven't been able to post photos. Don't worry, I'll work extra hard this week to resolve those issues so I can tell you all about it next time. :D

6. Find someplace to get poly pellets that doesn't require buying 6 lbs! so I can finish up some toys for the kiddos (like the bowling set from New Knits on the Block).

If I get all that done before the end of August, I will be soooo happy! If I finish earlier, I'm gonna finally get around to the lace projects for me. I have the yarn already, it's just a matter of finding the time. :D

Crochet Goals:

1. Finish secret gifts for special day for someone very near! (sorry can't say more since they may read this.)

2. Finish my Experimental Baroque from the Happy Hooker. :D

3. Finish the Legion of Queens challenge for the Ravelry Silly Strings group. (This was the challenge from May...oops!)

4. Get crackin' on the Teddy Bear Picnic Scene for the Ravelry Miniature Crochet group's challenge due end of August.

5. Get started on the Hourglass Jacket from StitchDiva for me! Again, got the pattern and the yarn...just need the time!

6. Figure out how to make the dress for DD that I sketched out a couple of months ago.

7. Make more blue squares for the eventual afghan.

8. Work on some other design ideas. :D

And for both lists....start working on Christmas presents!!!!!!!!!

I think that will keep me busy in what spare time I have between running 3 kids around for summer activities. :D

Happy Crafting!

And the winning sock is....

2008-06-10T19:45:00.002-05:00

Basic Sock Recipe by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!!! :D Just barely eeked out Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock by Wendy Johnson. (Both are Ravelry links) There weren't many votes and one was mine that I kept moving around just playing with the poll thingy. But I've queued them both anyway. I'll start with Stephanie's and if all goes well, my second pair will be Wendy's. :D Seems fair!

I've been sick this weekend (which is why I'm late posting) so I don't have much more finished. I did start on a few new things....I swear it's a sickness! And my DH has changed my computer yet again, so I can't post any photos cause they're all on the other machine! I'm working on getting them transferred to this one, I just want to wait until I know for sure if this is the machine he's going to let me keep. He's only switched me 3 times in the last 2 weeks! :D At least he's upgrading me everytime!

So as soon as I get my photos back, and new batteries for my camera so I can update some shots, I'll post photos. But I at least wanted to let you know about the socks!

Happy Crafting!

Help me decide which sock!

2008-06-01T11:18:00.005-05:00

OK, I still don't have any new finished items to show you. I'm still working on everything, it's just slow going right now. And as if I need something else to start......

I wanna try knitting socks! It seems like such a big thing in the knitting world! I haven't really gotten into it or understood what the big thing is about making socks when you can go buy them. But there must be something to it since sooooo many people are really into it. So, I'm gonna give it a try and see if I can figure out what the big deal is. :D

The question is where to start? I found some "basic" sock patterns in Ravelry that I thought might be good, but even in "basic" patterns, there are lots of patterns! So help me choose! Please! :D

The yarn I've chosen to use is Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in Crush colorway. I didn't want to make a huge investment in sock yarn until I know whether or not I'm gonna like making socks. I've heard so much about Second Sock Syndrome that I didn't want to spend the money if I was only going to make one sock. :D If all goes well and I enjoy it and decide to make more, I'll get the really good stuff then. I've already got my eye on some ShiBui Sock colorways that I will have to make something else out of if I don't enjoy socks! :D

And how do you decide on toe-up or tow-down????? Is there a big difference?

Anyway, to the patterns...... All these patterns are links in Ravelry (since most of you I know from there):

Knit Socks - LM0131 by Grace Alexander
Basic Sock Recipe by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Magic Stripe Basic Socks by Lion Brand Yarn
Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock by Wendy Johnson
Sock-u-lator Sock Pattern Generator by Lucia Liljegren

And by all means, if you know of some other really good free pattern (again, not ready to invest much in this yet) for a first sock attempt, let me know! Leave me a comment or vote in the poll. Whichever pattern gets the most votes will be the one I give a go!

And to my crochet friends, you know I've got to try a crochet version too, but the pattern I really want to try for crocheted socks isn't out yet! So I'm eagerly awaiting the first CLF Book release! :D

Happy Crafting!

No Pic Update

2008-05-25T21:10:00.003-05:00

I have no pictures to show you today. But I am working feverishly on several things....

The princess doll, my nemesis, is currently having her hair done. It's a tedius process to do it strand by strand, but I think it will be worth it in the end. My baby girl will be less likely to be able to pull it out and it will be fuller than if I just sewed a bunch to the top of her head like the pattern suggested. She does have a face now to go with her completed body and about a quarter of a head of hair.

I did about 5 more rows on my Go for Baroque from Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker. Still not sure about the sizing. I think I will have to finish up the upper portions around the neck before I will know for sure if the fit will work. It's kind of hard to tell right now, so we'll see.

I'm also way behind on my testing project. So I will have to kick it into high gear on that this week.

The back of my first knitted sweater has actually been done for a couple of weeks now. But before I cut the thread, I really want someone to take a look and make sure I haven't bound off the shoulders to tight. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get to the local knit nights or the LYS for help yet. We just had a visit from my MIL and 2 SIL's this weekend and I'm expecting my brother at the end of this coming week, so I probably won't be getting help on the sweater till June.

I started on an Amineko this past week. I've just got one leg, the ears and the muzzle to do before putting it all together. I also had started on the bowling set from Vicki Howell's New Knits on the Block. I've already had to put it on hold though. I realized halfway through the first pin that I forgot to pick up some pellets for stuffing it on my last trip out for supplies. And since I also need those pellets for the Amineko, they will both probably end up on hold till June as well.

But that will give me time to work on the testing project, the princess' hair and my mini scene project. Oh, I haven't told you about that yet???? Well, it will have to wait until next time....my youngest is running a fever and I have to go comfort him. :D

Happy Crafting!

A few FO's....

2008-05-18T11:03:00.004-05:00

Ready for a shock.....I have finally finished one of the 3 knitted toys that were supposed to be Christmas presents for the kids last year! :D This one really could have been done in time for Christmas, but I didn't want to give one kid their present and not the rest, so I held off on it. Well, now I'm determined to finish these darn things so they'll quite staring at me and I can add more WIPs! :D I just got a really good deal and stocked up on a lot of yarn for projects I really can't wait to get too.

So without further ado, here is the finished turtle.....

Isn't he cute???? I decided to leave off the hat though. I just thought it was too cute without it and I didn't want to cover up his adorable little face. :D So one down, 2 more to go.

I have also finished up the body of the princess (sans hair and face). But she is all stuffed and sewn up. Unfortunately, I don't have an updated picture yet. I'll wait to get at least her face and hair done before I do new ones. And I haven't worked anymore at all on the monkey....yet.

And I can now post about my very first ever garment! I made the Short and Sweet by Angela Best (from Debbie Stoller's book The Happy Hooker). I turned it into a Short and Sweet Thank You / Birthday present for my SIL. She's done some really nice things for me recently and I wanted to do something special for her in return. I used Red Heart Soft Yarn in teal, cause it's her favorite color and was really the only yarn I found that was the right shade. I may have better luck finding the shade in a different yarn when the fall yarns come out, so maybe I'll get to make her another something for Christmas.

I was really happy with the way it turned out. It went really fast (minus the time it took me to get to the store to get more yarn that is) and was a really fun pattern. I haven't heard yet whether or not if fits, so I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. I asked my brother to send me some pics of her in it when he gets a chance (provided it fits). I also told him that I would make her another one if it didn't fit. BTW, Georgia (the mannequin) is a much bigger girl than my SIL, even at her smallest, so it definitely doesn't fit her as well. But it's still pretty cute!

That's about it for today. I've got to go get my oldest ready to go to a party. Until next time.....

Happy Crafting!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T12:41:00.004-05:00

To all Moms everywhere

May you have the best day ever!

First Pattern Finished!!!!

2008-05-04T20:11:00.004-05:00

YAY! My first officially written original pattern is finished and ready for submission! My CLF Patch ......

This is the new and improved version (and yes, a picture on the bomber jacket is coming). I made several changes to the original design. One was to not graph it on knitting graph paper! LOL The yarn ball came out more ball like this time instead of the egg shape on the previous patch. The new patch is slightly larger than the previous one, but I think it is better balanced and definitely cleaner. I'm really happy with it!

I am submitting this for the first ever Crochet Liberation Front book. I'm hoping it will make it in, that would be too awesome! I promise to let you know as soon as I hear!

I would also like to send big THANK YOU's to my testers, Gabrielle, Sandy and Krystal! Their input was fantastic! (Sorry, I don't have a blog address for Gabrielle. She may be too busy with her studies to have one right now. :D) And I really appreciate them taking time out o their busy schedules to do this for me! I've got something up my sleeves to do as a Thank You for them too! :D

Happy Crafting!

Finished Projects!!!!!

2008-04-26T18:05:00.005-05:00

YAY!!!!!!! I finally have something to show you! :D

I finally finished the Noro Silk Garden Scarf for that my 6 year old. He loves it! Of course the first thing he says is "It's not winter anymore". Be that as it may, it is still gorgeous and he can wear it next winter! :D

I know it's been awhile since I last posted, but I've had a good reason. I was working on getting my first pattern written up and sent to testers! Another Yay! :D Once I get feedback from my testers and make any adjustments necessary to the pattern, I'm submitting for possible publication in the first ever Crochet Liberation Front Book! I improved the CLF Patch that I posted earlier and that's what I'm submitting. (I know, you want to see it, but I don't have pictures of it yet....stay tuned!) I'm excited. Even if I don't get published, it has been such a rush to work on just the possibility! And I've already got several more ideas in the works that I will maybe try to submit somewhere else, future CLF books, or maybe just self publish. We'll see.

Anyway, you want to see more finished stuff! This week, after saying I wouldn't start anything new till I finished some old stuff, I cast on a new project. But in truth, this one had been planned for a long time. May 5th-9th is teacher appreciation week. My 6 year old LOVES his teacher! So he asked me to make her a bookmark to go with the book gift certificate he gave her for Christmas. He picked out the pattern, Lace Heart Bookmark by Darilyn Page, and the color, purple (her favorite). And here is what it turned into.....

I'm also almost done with that gift I mentioned, so I'll be able to post photos in a couple of weeks after it's been received. I don't know if the recipient reads this blog, but I know her hubby does! :D

I don't think I've made anymore squares for the big blue afghan since the last posting. I've got many more to do on that. And even though I'm trying hard to not start new things, I found a pattern on Ravelry that I fell in love with and just have to make for myself. So I went out today and bought some lovely green yarn that I'm going to use to make Jennifer Hanson's Hourglass Jacket. Finally, something just for me!

I'm also going to start soon on my first knitted sweater. This one will be for my baby girl. I figured I'd start with a little sweater to see how it goes. I bought the pattern before Christmas, but have just finally gotten up the nerve to try it. I don't think that the pattern is hard, I'm just nervous about sweaters!

Speaking of Ravlery, I have put my Water Fountain up for the Crochet on Ravlery March Finished Object of the Month. I do a shameless plug and say "stop by and vote for me!" :D I'm post #78 on page 4, btw! :D

That's about it for right now. Yes, I still have toys to finish, and a baby afghan, and another baby afghan to start and blah blah blah! I can't help that I suffer from crafting ADD! But I am working on it all and I promise to keep you all updated! :D

Until then....Happy Crafting!

Freeform CAL and other goodies

2008-04-06T15:27:00.013-05:00

I haven't been able to post for a little while as real life happen to get in the way. But the good news is that my super busy month is OVER!!!!! I still have a lot on my plate left to do, but the really big stuff is out of the way! YAY!

I haven't yet finished my last surprise for NATCROMO (yes, I know it's over). It's mostly done...just needs assembling. As soon as I can figure out the best way to do that, I'll finish it and still dedicate it to NATCROMO, since that's what inspired it.

Speaking of NATCROMO, the month has ended and so has our freeform CAL. I think I've delayed on this one just because it was so much fun, I didn't want it to be over. But I finally finished it and here it is (pardon the lego in the background)......

Reminds me of some really colorful fish, that's been caught up in a colorful net and has some really big colorful barnacles hanging off of it! :D I'm trying to decide what to do with it now. I have a few ideas and as soon as I decide and do it, I'll post pics of the truly completed project. But this still can be taken off of my WIP list!

I've also completed a few blocks from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks book. I'm just thinking of them as individual projects right now. If I think too much about turning them into an afghan, I'll probably never finish it (or at least not for a few years!). But that is my ultimate goal with them. Possibly even turning them into the largest afghan I've done yet and make it to fit my bed. We'll see. For now, just one block at a time.

I've just started another project as well, that I'm really excited about, but can't tell you a thing about it in case the person it's intended for reads this. You'll just have to wait until after they've received it, and then I'll spill the beans.

I'm also working on improving my CLF Patc h. I'm going to be writing it up and submitting for possible publication in the first ever CLF Book. It didn't win the contest for an automatic entry in the book, but I got enough of a response from it that I figured I'd submit it anyway and see. I'm also going to submit at least one story as well. So here's hoping! It would be too cool to be published! And I have soooooo many other ideas running around in my head too! Can't wait till I can actually get time to try some of them out.

And for my knitting friends, I have picked up the pointy sticks again (and apparently didn't forget how to use them!). I just have to bind off on my oldest's Noro Silk Garden scarf. It's 1x1 ribbing, so I'm debating between binding off in pattern or this Tubular Bind-off thing I ran across on Ravelry. Any thoughts? And I think I've decided not to block it. I kind of like the denser look to the unblocked ribbing and I can always block it later if I decide. Besides, I seem to have issues with not getting around to blocking! :D Anyway, I hope to have updated pictures of it next time.

So much to craft, so little time! Happy Crafting!

Another Secret Revealed....

2008-03-24T11:51:00.022-05:00

"Ah!" Mario sighed. "What a beautiful sight! The refreshing sound of the water as it falls into the fountain. The cool mist that lightly sprays me as I stand next to it. I could stand here all day and enjoy the beauty of this moment. I know! I will toss coins into this fountain and make many wishes to come back here again someday."

OK, clearly, I am not a great novelist! But this was still a lot of fun. This crocheted water fountain was inspired after being named the Chair of the Water Subcommittee for our NATCROMO (National Crochet Month, in case you didn't already know) Party on Ravelry. And yes, I've been working on it for a while.....but really only off and on so it didn't actually take me a month to finish, it just seems like it! :D Even the little "coins" are crocheted!

This was really my first foray into making it up as you go crocheting! And believe it or not, this was my first time doing spirals! I've done many more since then and now know the correct way to do them. But I think I didn't do to badly on this. I had originally wanted to put some kind of statue on top, you know the kind....they either spit or pee the water into the fountain. Unfortunately, I couldn't decide what to do, or how to do it properly, and I really wanted to get this done. So after a trip to a beautiful garden this weekend, I decided on just a plain "stone" conical pipe. I think it actually suits it quite well. In fact, I'm not sure that a statue would have been better suited for it. I may have to play with that idea more and try one later anyway. I just think it would be funny! :D

Oh and to update on the last post....I did not win the CLF Book Competition. Although I do thank those of you who voted for me! :D It was enough to convince me to submit the patch to the book anyway! So we'll have to all wait and see if I will actually make it in or not.

And here are updated pictures of the Freeform CAL....

The yellow "fin" looking thing was really fun. It was made of really impractical super tall stitches. I would never have thought of trying to make stitches so tall! I got up to 15 wraps before I ran out of room on the throat of the hook and decided to stop. The only thing I would have done differently would be to space them out farther. Someone else did that and it made a really beautiful graceful flowing "fin" rather than my rather angular "shark" like fin. (That was for you Mike! :D)

Anyway....Happy Crafting!

One Secret Revealed!

2008-03-14T11:21:00.008-05:00

OK, now that I have officially entered it into the CLF Design Competition, I can now reveal one of the secret projects I've been working on. The competition is to design something, in crochet, that is related to the Crochet Liberation Front and somehow includes the logo in the design. Someone had mentioned something about a beret and that got me thinking about military insignia. So I had a couple of ideas (some of which I may do anyway for submission to this book or later ones or just for fun), but the one that really jumped out at me was a patch, like on the sleeve of a bomber jacket. So this is what I came up with.....

I had a few issues with it, as I mentioned in a previous post, I thought the deadline was March 1st, so I busted butt to get it done by then and then stacked my schedule with all the things I had to put off that last week of February for the weeks following March 1st. So when I had a few bumps, I didn't have time to re-do, even with the extra time. And the weather hasn't been on my side for getting photos, but I finally found a day that was relatively sunny and my dear sweet husband agreed to be my model (and loan me his jacket!). Overall I'm happy with the design, there are a few minor things I would change doing it again.....including maybe switching the black and white around. And definitely, set the red before using!!!!!! I should have known better, but for some reason I took the labels word for it being colorfast. UGH! Still I'm pleased.....wish me luck! And if you're on Ravelry and a member of the CLF, you can vote for me! :D

And of course, in honor of National Crochet Month, I've been a busy beaver working on projects. I finished another bath puff and started a matching back scrubber (sorry no pic of that yet). Filled an acrylic tumbler with ice water and continued working on the NATCROMO Freeform CAL and two other secret projects that I will hopefully be able to finish and reveal soon.

And if you are on Ravelry, definitely, stop by the NATCROMO party group! We're having lots of fun in there and we've even gone so far as to make it International Crochet Month! And if you've never tried freeform before (like me), check out the freeform CAL. It's a LOT of fun! And great even if you have done freeform before.

Happy NATCROMO! And Happy Crafting! :D

Happy National Crochet Month!

2008-03-08T18:38:00.011-06:00

It's here! Yay! :D

Yikes! I forgot to post last week! OK, I didn't really forget, I just got so busy that I ran out of time. So here's a little bit of what I've been doing....

In honor of National Crochet Month (NATCROMO), I'm trying to do a project a day. Well, OK, maybe not finish a project every day, but at least have some crochet project going on every day that I can work on. So this week, I started and finished a bath puff in Lily's Sugar n' Cream Denim Twist.....

Started what was supposed to be my first thread bear, but the color reminds me more of flesh, so I may turn this into some kind of doll instead......

Made a "diet" Dark Chocolate Orange cupcake (for my Miniature Crochet Group CAL).....

And I'm still working on a few secret projects for our NATCROMO party on Ravelry. In fact, instead of just doing two projects for that, I'm up to three now. But since they are "secret", I can't show them to you until they are completed and revealed at the party!

Also, I finished my entry for the CLF design competition. I thought it had to be posted March 1st, so I was rushed to get it done in time. I only found out about it like 2 weeks before the 1st and it took me about a week to decide what I wanted to do. I finished the morning of March 1st, just needing to take photos, when I found out I had until the 15th to post them. Oh well! I stacked my schedule in a way that doesn't give me time to do it again (without colors bleeding slightly) before then, so I will go with what I've got. I'm happy with the design and hopefully that part will be seen over the slight bleed. Anyway, I can't even show you that yet, cause the weather has been icky for photo taking and this is one I want to be sure to get the photo just right on, so......you'll have to wait to see it too.

I have managed to sneak in a little fun (as if this isn't fun already) doing my first freeform project. It's a NATCROMO Freeform CAL. I'm having a blast with it, but really wondering what this is going to come out to be.....

This picture was taken after the 3 day of instructions. We get a new set everyday.....yes, I'm behind on the photos.

We are having our first big NATCROMO party day tomorrow. I would like to have at least one of my secret projects done by then, so I'll probably be up all night!

And to top it off....It snowed this week! That's right, snow! See....

So, this will be another super busy week! I'm supposed to have my pages for my son's yearbook completed before Spring Break on the 17th and I just got the stuff to do it this past Friday! Hopefully, I'll still have time to get in my crochet a day! :D

Happy National Crochet Month! And Happy Crafting!

Crochet Crazy!

2008-02-24T13:52:00.008-06:00

I'm officially Crochet Crazy this week! But, finally, as promised, here are some other ideas for those Itty Bitty Hearts......

First, need a little green to wear for St. Patrick's Day? How about a Shamrock Pin?

Or for your little one, maybe a Shamrock Headband?

For the Shamrock Pin: Make 3 hearts in green pearl cotton, using the Crochet Valentine pattern on a size 2.75mm (C) hook. Make stem using a 2mm hook and the same cotton. Chain 11. SC in second chain from hook. SC in each chain across. Finish off. Sew the hearts and stem together to ressemble a Shamrock, then sew to a 3/4" pin back. Voila! You're ready for St. Patricks Day!

For the Shamrock Headband: Make 3 hearts in green pearl cotton, using the Crochet Valentine pattern on a size 2.75mm (C) hook. Make stem using a 2mm hook and the same cotton. Chain 6. SC in second chain from hook. SC in each chain across. Finish off. Sew the hearts and stem together to ressemble a Shamrock. For the headband, make a chain long enough to fit around the wearer's head. Sl st together and finish off. Sew Shamrock to headband. Easy Peasy! :D

I've had these done (mostly) for awhile now. I just had some assembly to do, but kept getting distracted by other things. Again with the distractions! ;) But this time it was legitimate.....well, mostly. I'm currently working on about 4 projects and 2 more waiting in the wings that all need to be done in the next 2 weeks. I'm submitting one for a competition to try to get a design automatically in the first ever Crochet Liberation Front (CLF) book! Another one is for a February Challenge. The other 4 are secret fun musings for our National Crochet Month (NATCROMO) party on Ravelry.

Unfortunately, I can't post any pictures of those projects yet. But I can show you what else I did since the last post. It took 2 nights of midnight crochet to produce......Miss Ellie Phant!

Isn't she photogenic? Believe it or not, this is my first amigurumi! And I fell totally in love with her while working on her. I'm even planning some accessories for her. I will have to make another one (or 3) for the kids...they can't have my Ellie!

I know what you're thinking....what about those knitted Christmas toys? Are they finished yet? NO! I'll get back to them in a little while. Well, since March is National CROCHET Month, maybe I should hold off on the sticks till April? Anyway, I promise I will get them finished! Someday. Before next Christmas! :D

Happy Crafting!

Distractions!

2008-02-17T14:50:00.005-06:00

OK, last week, I said I was working on some more projects using the little Crochet Valentine hearts. And I am.....I've just been distracted this week.

My littlest ones have been extra clingy and started either coughing (DD) or having a runny nose (DS). So I've had to pay extra attention to them so that hopefully they will feel better and not end up with full blown colds. We've had enough of the sickies around here! :D

But I was also distracted with knitting mittens for my oldest son who was complaining about his fingers freezing and was constantly trying to "borrow " my wrist warmers! I need those! So I took him with me to the yarn store to pick out yarn for them that he liked, was machine washable (remember, he's only 6), and would also coordinate with his Noro Silk Garden scarf. We decided on Berroco Comfort DK in Primary Blue.

I used double strands and 1x1 rib on the cuff (since the scarf is also 1x1 ribbing). Finished them in a week! I know, I can't believe it either! That makes 2 projects I have completed, start to finish, in a week! Perhaps my ADD is getting better? No! I just wanted to have something finished to post! Well, that and he really needed them before the weather got really cold again. Still working on the scarf....it probably won't get much wear this season. And Hubby's will not see use at all till next season as I've only done a few inches on his.

Also, in case you didn't know, March is National Crochet Month (NATCROMO). And in the Ravelry group, Crochet Liberation Front, I've been appointed Chair of the Water Subcomittee for our NATCROMO party. This is fun! In the spirit of it, I have some really fun ideas that I'm working on. I can't say what just yet, it's a secret! (At least until I'm finished!) But......since you came here.....maybe I'll give you a special preview......

Any guesses as to what this will be?

You'll have to wait and see! But I promise to get back to the hearts this week! I really do have some other just for fun ideas for them. Until then, here's another "little" preview for you.....

Happy Crafting!

Hearts, Hearts and More Hearts

2008-02-09T12:34:00.001-06:00

In perfect timing for Valentine's Day, I saw a crochet heart pattern on Ravelry that just looked too cute. I just had to try it. I had just finished feeding the babies and decided to try it out while they were watching Noggin on the laptop for a few minutes. The only thing I had handy was a size C or 1 (2.75 mm) crochet hook and some size 5 DMC Pearl Cotton . So, I made these.....

Too cute right? Well, these little things really inspired me. I had so many ideas come out of it, that I still haven't had time to make them all. However, I did make some of my favorites...

I still have more I want to try, but they may or may not get done in time for Valentine's Day. I was trying to get as many of them as I could posted to give people a chance to make some for themselves if they wanted. But with 3 little ones and 8 other projects currently in the works (not to mention all the other life stuff), I feel pretty good to have gotten these done. Also, my model wasn't cooperating! Can you imagine...an 18 month old who won't sit still!?!? :D

And in case you're interested, the pattern is Crochet Valentine by Sara Graham. All of the projects above were done useing the size 5 DMC Pearl Cotton and the size C or 1 (2.75mm) crochet hook.

For the Itty Bitty Heart Ring, make the heart according to the pattern, then before finishing off, add a chain long enough to fit around finger. Join with slip stitch to other side of heart, being careful not to twist the chain. Finish off.

For the Itty Bitty Heart Headband, make 3 hearts according to pattern. Make a chain long enough to fit the head of intended victim, joining ends with slip stitch. Finish off. Sew hearts slightly overlapping onto chain.

For the Itty Bitt Heart Bracelet, make 7 hearts (or whatever number is needed to fit wrist) according to pattern. Thread fastener of your choice through a strand of the pearl cotton (or sewing thread that matches), and tie knot. Thread spacer bead (again, of your choosing) and cover knot. Sew to one edge of one heart. Finish off and weave in ends. Thread through the other side of heart, add bead, and thread through heart again. Then thread back through bead and sew on to edge of next heart. Finish off and weave in ends. Continue in this manner until it fits around wrist. Don't forget to add the jump ring or whatever clasp you have chosen and a final spacer bead to the last side of the last heart. You could make this longer to make a choker or necklace too.

I do have a couple more things that just have some minor assembly needed. Maybe I'll get those done and posted before V-day. If not, I'll just post them anyway whenever they're done! They don't have to be just for Valentine's. And some aren't meant for that holiday at all......

Stay tuned! And Happy Crafting!

OMG! A project finished in a week?!?

2008-02-02T17:34:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right! Believe it or not, I actually was able to start AND finish a knitting project in a week, despite a 6 year old and 18 month old twins running around and screaming the entire time! I'm so thrilled! And if that's not enough for you to be impressed (if you know my knack for not finishing), it was also only my second time working with DPNs!

So what is this miraculous project you ask? It's the Spiral Rib Wrist Warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's a pretty simple project, but like I said, it was only my second time working with DPNs, and really the first time (hard to believe I know) doing ribbing. TA DA!!!

Oh yeah, these are done in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in Navy Blue. Sooooo soft! Even my little 18 month old daughter asks to pet them! :D

I was also able to convince my 6 year old not to use his draft stopper as a scarf. It took a little longer than I thought, so I was just able to felt it yesterday. And I forgot to pull it out of the dryer while it was still a little damp, so I'm going to have to spritz it with water again and block it. But my DH already got me the kitty litter to use to stuff, so I'm excited! Hopefully I'll be able to finish by next weekend.

Wondering how I got my DS to let me felt it? I thought you'd never ask! ;) Remember that blue Noro Silk Garden I wrote about in the last post? Well, I did it with this:

He LOVES it! In fact, he just went with me to the LYS to pick up 2 more skeins to finish the scarf and maybe make a hat. We also got some coordinating Berroco Comfort DK to make gloves or mittens. I wanted something machine washable for the hands, because lets face it....he is 6! The scarf is already half finished (done in the same week I finished the wrist warmers I might add), so hopefully I'll finish the second half this week as well. It would be nice for him to get some use out of it before while its still cold enough!

Now my DH has also stated that he really likes the scarf and would like one for himself! This makes me sooo happy! But I wasn't sure if he would really like that bright green after a while, so instead I found some Noro Silk Garden Chunky in a similar colorway, minus the bright green. It also has some darker, more muted blues in it. Anyway, I thought it would be a color he would enjoy more. We'll see.

I also whipped up some little hearts that have gotten my mind running! Now I have several designs I want to do using these little guys as a base. So stay tuned for that! :D

Edited to add: I forgot to mention the bookmarks! I was blocking them last post and now they are completely finished. My 6 year old picked out some Pearl Cotton today for a bookmark he has requested for his teacher. He hasn't decided on which pattern yet, but we have time. He wants to give it to her for Teacher's Appreciation Day which isn't until March (I believe). I told him I would let him pick out the colors and pattern and I would make it for him. So there will be at least one more!

All in all, it has been a very busy, and very productive week! What's that you say? What about those toys that were supposed to be Christmas presents for the kids? I promise I'll get back to them after all of these scarves are done! Which reminds me, I still need to block my Nutcracker Scarf! Looks like another blocking party is coming soon!

Happy Crafting!

It's a Blocking Party!

2008-01-27T14:42:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right, I'm having a blocking party this weekend. I'm blocking 2 lace bookmarks and my Nutcraker Scarf. Well, ok, I haven't actually blocked the scarf yet, but I'm planning on getting it done before the day is over!

Also, I have FINALLY finished knitting the draft stopper for my oldest DS. He looked at it and told me that now, he wanted it as a scarf! So I'm weaving in all the ends (still!) just in case. But secretly, I'm hoping he will change his mind cause I was SO looking forward to felting it! If he does change his mind (today I hope), I'm dropping in the washing machine right away so he can't change his mind! And besides, I just bought a skein of Noro Silk Garden to make a scarf for him. I think I'm gonna have to go buy more of it though, cause when he saw it, he liked it so much that he asked for a hat and mittens to match! I guess that should be flattering that he thinks so highly of my knitting. :D

I've still got the kids toys on hold, so clearly, I won't have them finished by the end of January. I think I've just needed a break from them. But since they've been on hold, I've finished knitting a scarf, 2 bookmarks, the draft stopper, and started on a pair of spiral rib wrist warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I've noticed my hands have been really cold this week while trying to knit that even the babies have complained about it! So they seemed like the perfect thing. I'm knitting them on DPNs (my second time using them) using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in Navy. Although not my favorite color, they are turning out pretty. Seems like everyone was out of the yarn in the color I wanted, so I make just have to make another pair in some sort of green when they get stock back in.

I also bought myself a skein of Noro Silk Garden to maybe make a pair of wrist warmers in. I'm not sure. It is just one skein, and I'd really like to do something that shows off the gorgeous colors of the yarn. Maybe I'll go back and buy some more of this colorway and try an entrelac scarf or something. At least that way, I'd get to try yet another new technique! :D

I think I'm becoming knitting obsessed! It IS rather addictive. I think I'm just trying to get as much done as I can while DH is home. I know he will be working weekends for awhile here shortly since it's one of his busy seasons. In fact, I'm enjoying him giving me so much time for ME this weekend, that I haven't done any of the things I'm supposed to, like going to the grocery store and laundry and what not. Oops! I just can't seem to tear myself away from knitting (or writing about knitting) for long. This has been a fantastic ME weekend! And it all started with a blocking party! :D

Happy Crafting!

Leftovers from the 80's

2008-01-20T20:25:00.000-06:00

This weekend I decided to try to rework the office and reclaim my space! So I bought some shelving units and fabric boxes to help me organize all my craft stuff. There is actually another one of these to the right.

As I began to unpack boxes, I found my missing yarn stash. I knew I had more yarn than what I've recently bought, I just couldn't find it. And as a bonus, I found a lot of yarn I didn't remember (even buying) from the 80's! I don't know if I'll ever use some of them, but it brought back some good memories and more than a few chuckles. Right now, 7 of these lovely blue fabric boxes are filled with yarn. And I know I have enough yarn elsewhere to fill at least another 3.

I also found some projects that have been hibernating for a while (my family is notorious for not finishing projects). And I took the opportunity to take some photos of these projects and a few others. First, my Mom's afghan.

This was my very first major crochet project. It really was the reason I asked my Great Aunt to teach me to crochet. My mom had seen this pattern on the back cover of a book and fell in love with it. So I told her to pick out the colors, and I asked my Great Aunt to teach me to crochet so I could make it for her. Since I was 8 or so at the time, it took me quite a while to finish it. In fact, being so young, working on such a large project (5' x 5'), I got distracted and it sat on hold. I finally finished it for her when I was in college! But she loved it all the same and used it all the time. Now that she has passed, I have it again displayed proudly on a quilt rack that I also inherited from her. Maybe one day I'll pass it on to my daughter. And maybe one day she'll even want to learn to crochet. I just hope she won't be as bad about finishing projects as the rest of the family.

Then there is the train baby blanket. I started this one while pregnant with my first, but never was able to finish it. I had turned my attention to a different blanket for him, which I did finish and will get photos of soon. But now, I have another son and perhaps I'll finish it for him. But first I have to find the book with the pattern.

That's next on my list.....sorting all my craft books to add to my new shelves (or wherever I can fit them). I also have to add all my other crafty baubles to my shelves.

I shall have my craft room back!!!!! She laughed maniacally. :D

Happy Crafting!

I think I'm a candidate for Adult ADD!

2008-01-17T11:45:00.000-06:00

Seriously! It's not enough that I'm still working on 4 projects from Christmas and 1 from pregnancy, now I've added a new one. And I have a list of about 12 others I'm wanting to start soon! And that's just in the needleworks! That's not counting my projects in other crafty genres.

Oh, and I finally got around to taking a pic of my first knitting project (after garter stitch coasters)....a stockinette purse.

Sad thing is, it's still not finished. I've been looking for the right fabric for lining it. I think I've found one I like and so now I just need to sew it in. But I was pretty proud of it. I even designed a crocheted sunflower pin to embellish it. Although, I'm thinking of re-doing the sunflower. I haven't felted yet (still working on the draft stopper), but I think that the petals would look much better felted. So there is yet another project to add to the list!

And even though I'm still not finished with the Christmas knitting (update later), I just couldn't wait to start on a new project for ME! I really love the Moda Dea Dream and have been looking for a pattern to use it on. Well, when the yarn came up on sale at 50% off, I HAD to get it. So, I found a project (that was actually already on my list to do) that I really liked. So I cast on for my Nutcracker Scarf by MJ Saunders.

This is my first lace project. It is also the first time I will do a provisional cast-on and a picot bind-off. I'm looking forward to learning new techniques. But I think I've already messed something up AND only 5 rows into the project. Of course, that's not counting the 50 or so times I tried the provisional cast-on before I felt like it was good enough to continue. Hopefully, MJ will be able to help me figure out what I did wrong. I'm loving it so far. It's like petting the yarn while working with it! I LOVE it! :D

Knitting Project Updates

2008-01-12T21:43:00.000-06:00

OK, I finally took a moment to update some photos. If you saw this when originally posted yesterday, sorry for the lack of pics. I still haven't figured out how to get Flickr pics to post, but I did figure out how to get them on another way. So, here we go....

The turtle really could have been completed in time for Christmas. However, since I was making one toy for each kid, I didn't want to only give one to one kid. So, I decided o put him aside and wait to work on the others. That way, I can give all 3 of them their toys the same day.

The monkey has only had his body stuffed. His head is ready to stuff and I still need to knit 6 hand/feet parts. And of course seam and stuff and assemble. But my main focus of late has been on the princess, since she was so much farther behind.

The princess now has a dress, mostly done. I learned new techniques on the dress! I got to finally use circulars for the first time and DPNs as well. The DPNs were difficult and I had to frog that part of it at least once, but I got through it and managed to finish. I think I didn't do too badly. Now, I've just got to seam the bodice, add the sleeves and trim and finish the crochet edging. I'm debating about whether or not to add the "petals" that are in the pattern. Maybe I'll knit a few up to look at on the dress and see. I've also still got to figure out how to seam up the arms and attach to body, stuff the body, add hair and facial features. Then of course, there's the socks and shoes and a crown. So, there is still a LOT of work to be done on her, but I'm feeling much better about it. The big stuff is finished. And the skirt took a lot longer to do than I had anticipated. But then again, I don't get to work on this stuff very often.

And in between all of these, I've also been working on the draft stopper for my oldest son's window.

In case that's not enough to be doing for now, I just bought some Moda Dea Dream to make a "Nutcracker Scarf" for myself. As soon as I can find where the kiddies put one of my US11 needles, I'll cast on for that as well.

I'm telling you, I have the attention span of spam! I just cannot work on one project and one project alone until it is finished. I always have to have about 40 things going on at the same time. I guess that's just because there is so much I want to do, and so little time! LOL

Anyway, a big thanks to my friends on Ravelry for helping me with these knitted toys. I definitely couldn't have gotten this far without them! :D

Happy Anniversary!

2008-01-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

Today is my 12th Wedding Anniversary!!! I can't believe it's been 12 years already! I'm a lucky girl....I got to marry the love of my life and have 12 wonderful years and 3 beautiful kids!

And, I've figured out how to add some photos!!! Hurray! Now I just need to get some more FO's to add so I can have a Finished Objects Gallery instead of WIPs. ;) So, hopefully, for our anniversary, DH will give me some time to myself so that I can work on some knitting! I know it's a silly thing to ask for for an anniversary, but, it's what I could really use right about now! Oh well, guess I'll get really romantic for our 15th anniversary! LOL

Crafty New Year!

2008-01-02T14:57:00.000-06:00

What kind of crafty goodness does the new year hold for you?

For me, I plan to finish the kids Christmas gifts by the end of January. Yes, that's right, Christmas gifts from '07 finished by end of Jan '08. I don't think it will actually take me that much longer, but I added an extra time cushion in case anyone gets sick again. And since I only get the knit for about an hour every few days.....well, you see where I'm going. So thats one project (or technically 3). I also want to finish my first felting project....Lion Brand Yarn's Draft Stopper. Hopefully, it will be done before the cold weather goes away. I hate being behind! I also hope to get back to a project that I had to table a few years ago when I found out I was pregnant with twins. Maybe I'll be able to get it up and running by the end of this year. As for needle crafts, I think I would like to learn a new knitting technique.....lace. And maybe use that to make something for myself (what a novel idea! LOL). Maybe try a sweater (or 3) for the kids. Then I'd also like to go back to some crafts I haven't been able to do in years, like painting and polymer clay. I also have a few new techniques I'd like to try with cake decorating this year. Guess it's a good thing I have so many kids to "practice" on, huh? :D

There are many, many crafting books I'd like to add to my collection, but I should probably organize the ones I have (and inherited) first. So, I guess that gets added to my list......organize my new craft room (as soon as I get all the kids toys out of the room).

Oh yeah, and figure out how to post pics to the blog! I've seen some blogs that have a gallery of photos on the side, and I'd like to figure out how to do that. Still really new at the blog thing, but I think it's gonna be fun.

So, here's to a Crafty New Year! Let's get crafting! :D

Finally Joining the 21st Century!

2007-12-28T15:03:00.000-06:00

OK, I've finally decided to start a blog! Welcome to the 21st Century! :D

This will be mainly about whatever current crafty project(s) I'm working on, which seems to be mainly knitting as of late. I don't have a lot to say right now. I'm in the works on 3 different knitted toys for my kids, all of which were supposed to be Christmas presents. Thanks to a relapse of walking pneumonia (great gift for Christmas!), I was unable to finish them in time. But I still plan on finishing them ASAP and will gift to the kiddos as soon as they are all finished. Can't wait to be well enough to get back to work on them. I've been running too high a fever to even think about touching them! So I'm taking that time to start this blog! (I figure the keyboard is much easier to de-germ.)

Anyway, I'm gonna give this a go. Not really sure about it still, but we'll see. Hopefully, I will get over this stupid pneumonia stuff soon and be able to get back to doing the FUN stuff!

Have a Safe & Happy New Year!