FO's for fogiveness?

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!

FO's and Cast On Mania!

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!