Life Changes and Projects Worth Posting About

Why, hello there blog! (And anyone who might still be checking in.) It's certainly been awhile... but what's a couple of years between friends, right?  Seriously, two years ago was my last post - /facepalm.

Now I haven't been working on a whole lot of projects lately as soon our family census will increase by one little boy and even sooner we will be moving. Despite these distractions, honestly, it's like I lost my desire to be creative for awhile there.  Knitting, crochet, card making, spinning, art journaling - none of them were all that interesting to me for probably a good year of my blogging hiatus.  But, you know what?  Crafting is my hobby and I wasn't feeling it.  If I'm not feeling like doing something that is a hobby, why should I do it?  Instead,  I did a lot of reading, caught up on some tv watching and focused on other stuff.  But, I think its time to let my creative side have a say in things for at least a little bit! 

The one project that I have been working on is this lovely crocheted Lego baby blanket.  I chose colors as close to original Lego colors as possible, joined the blocks with white yarn and then added a row of single crochet in each color to finish it off and make a nice clean edge.   I wanted smaller blocks so I chose Plymouth Encore DK and a G hook to get the look I wanted.  Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out.  The whole thing took me about a month and a half to create and assemble, which is pretty quick as far as blankets go.  Now that I have actually finished something, other projects are popping into my head.  They just might involve dragons and be super cute too. More details to come!

Victory Against the UFO Bin!

Finally!  I finishing SOMETHING!! Ok, so it only took two days, but nevertheless it is a small victory in the war against my UFO bin.

Crocheted Stash Bag - pattern is by Purl Soho, yarn is Lily Sugar'n Cream Cotton Solids

Ok, I'll back up.  For those of you who do not knit or crochet, UFO is short for unfinished object.  Often fiber crafters, like myself, get all fired up and want to to make everything new and fun they find online.  Ravelry is good like that.  It provides us scores of lovely patterns to choose from and often they are just a click or two away from arriving in our hot little hands or email inbox.  More patterns are more better I say!

So, you can see how easy it is to fall into the habit of starting something and then finding something even cooler to start a few days later.  Sunday I finally scored a victory against my pile of UFOs.   It always helps when the project is quick and easy... only 12 more UFOs to go!  Sigh....

Attitude is everything

So, it's been awhile... about three months if anyone is counting.  Probably not, but a girl can dream right? :-)  Basically I've spent all this time not blogging... just living.  Since I last wrote a post I have had to make some big changes in my life, specifically with my diet and exercise.  At first I really wasn't happy with these changes.  I didn't think things were fair; Why should I have to work so hard to be healthy when it seems like most everyone else has it easy?  Bad attitude?  Um, that would be a resounding YES!

My husband and I also lost our kitty just a few weeks ago.  Molly was the first pet we had together and she truly was part of our family.  Losing her was so horrible... and I think it is really only within the past week or so that I have been able to be at home and not feel like something very important was missing.  It's amazing just how integral to your life a 17 year old cat that yells at you for food can be.  It's been a pretty rough few months around here...  and I have had a whole lot to think about.

With so much on my mind, there wasn't a lot of time for knitting or spinning or anything really.  I don't think I touched a project for at least a month if not two.  I just couldn't settle down enough to enjoy the process.  I did do a fair bit of reading during my blog hiatus.  Maybe that was because it would occupy my mind so I didn't have to think about the serious stuff that was going on.  I read The Hunger Games, The Help and a whole bunch of other less serious books on my Kindle.   It was really nice to get back to reading for awhile.  In middle and high school, my nose was constantly in a book and quite honestly I really miss having all that free time to read.  Nowadays I seem to read voraciously for a few weeks and then switch to some other form of entertainment for much longer periods of time.  I think that's because when I'm knitting, spinning or weaving I can talk with people or watch tv and still keep my hands busy.

I find more and more that I can't just sit and watch tv, I need to have a project to work on.  At parties I almost always bring a simple project to work on so that I can chat with people and not be completely immobile.  It's funny that I used to get so annoyed at my mom for not being able to sit still and watch a tv show without getting up 5 million times to fold laundry or organize something while she was watching.  Apparently it just took until my 30's for that particular genetic foible to kick in...

With that I have been able to get into crafting of all kinds again in the past month.  I finished up a sock yarn shawl which I still need to block and take final pictures of and have started another small project for a friend of mine.  I also took an advanced weaving class and learned about using a pick up stick to make warp and weft floats in my weaving.  It's a neat technique especially because no matter what, the two sides of your woven project are always different.  I'm hoping to weave and spin much more this summer when the heat makes me not want to drape anything knitted on my lap.  I also have a afghan I am slowly crocheting.  That would be a very good summer project as well since the blocks are only 12" by 12". 

To go back to where this post started: In reflecting on everything that's happened in my life recently... I think I've grown a little wiser.  Admittedly, it's hard to change your mindset from feeling like a victim to realizing you are really blessed.  It's even more difficult to understand that the struggles you have been handed in life can mold and change you into a different and better person.  But, I have had wonderful people surrounding me and praying for me through all of this and my attitude has truly made a 180.

So, if you need the cliff notes version, this blog post is a very, very long way for me to tell you: 

Life is good and I am back on track!

Homemade Halloween Costumes and Recap

So, this year I got crafty for my Halloween costume rather than just cobble something together in a very last minute fashion.  Oh, I still did things last minute... I just MADE them this time :-)

For my first foray into simple costume making I decided to make a Brain Slug.  If you don't know the reference, a Brain Slug is from Futurama. A couple episodes that contain Brain Slugs are "A Head In The Polls" and "Raging Bender."  Netflix streaming has seasons 1-6 of Futurama available to see for free, so if you have a Netflix account and want to check "A Head In The Poles" out, click on the link and you will be brought to the appropriate episode.  Hubbie and I have pretty much watched all of seasons 1-6 recently and we absolutely love the show. 

Anyway, back to the whole crafting thing!  I decided to make my slug becuase I needed a costume for the Halloween Party with my FiberKnots last Tuesday and at that point I hadn't even gotten our Halloween stuff out of storage (I was a bit behind you see).  The night before we were having dinner with my parents and the idea to make this cute little crocheted fascinator popped into my head.  I figured, what the heck, I can crochet THAT in a day!  So, I finished him up, attached him to a headband and voila!  The Brain Slug is a free pattern on Ravelry by Kerstin Batz and you can make one of these cuties for yourself by signing up for a free account and then clicking on the project link below.

For my second and actual Halloween costume I decided (given I had a whole week of creation time) to make myself a viking hat.  I made some pretty substantial changes to the pattern such as using another knitter's pattern for the horns, adding a stripe of rivets up the front and down the back of the hat in gray and adding braids a la Brunhilda :-)  Also, this pattern was designed for 3-6 month olds, so I followed another knitter's directions for making an adult sized hat which worked out, but really was far too big for my head and ended up making the horns more floppy than I would have liked.  I just love how my braids turned out!  They are probably my favoriate part of the hat.  As an added bonus it is really really warm.  I wore it at work for a bit yesterday and was absolutely roasting!  So, if i'm brave enough to wear it on a day other than Halloween I should be very nice and toasty.  The pattern for the viking hat is by Becky Veverka and is yet another free pattern on Ravelry.  The link to it is below.

As for Halloween night itself, I would consider it a success.  We had 15-20 trick-or-treaters in total, which I consider quite a few for us since we usually have about 5. I didn't get any photos of the roving minions who knocked on our door, but I did get some of the spooky decorating I did. 

I mostly decorate the place with candles because I think they are a more classy kind of spooky and set a really nice mood.  I'm always trying to find new neat Halloween candles to burn so the trick-or-treaters have something neat to look at when I open the door.  In addition to the candles I also play some fun music like "Monster Mash," "Werewolves of London," "Thriller," and "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  The music geek in me includes in some spooky classical as well with Toccata and Fugue in D minor for the organ. 

The candle above is actually one I bought last year that has finally gotten interesting.  I burned it last Halloween, but it wasn't long enough to burn the wax down and get the flickering of the light to come out the eyes.  Apparently it needed to good nights of use before it got cool.  The good news is that I'll probably be able to burn this same candle for 2-3 more years before it runs out.  Talk about getting my money's worth!

So I hope everyone had a good Halloween... I certainly did!  We finished out the night by watching the episode "Hush" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series and an episode of Castle, which unfortunately was pretty spook free.  For some reason they decided to show the Halloween episode last week instead even though this week's was a repeat or anything.   Strange....  well, I'm off to try to avaoid eating all the candy we have left over.  Seems like that trick is on me! 

My Mystery Project is Complete! The Sarafia Baby Blanket

This blanket project is one I planned for months.  It all started back in December when I found out that my brother in law and his wife were going to have a baby (my first nephew!) this coming June.  After getting thirough the holiday rush I started really thinking about something for the baby back in January.  I looked at numerous patterns on Ravelry and finally decided that I was going to crochet the baby blanket rather than knit it, so I would get some real practice at the craft.   Once I had narrowed that part of things down, it didn't take me too long to decide to make the Sarafia Baby Blanket. 

I love how the pattern is so simple yet beautiful at the same time.  Simplicity was definately key to me being able to finish the project in time.  I wanted something that wouldn't be too difficult for me, since I'm pretty new to crochet, but I did want to challenge myself at the same time.  Most importantly I wanted to make sure to make a blanket that got used... one that could have things spilled on it and be thrown into the washer and dryer like any other thing you might spill on.  Finger crossed.... I think I did it. 



Probably one of my first squares and just about the only thing I posted while working on it.  Keeping this project a secret for two months while I worked on it was just about as hard as doing the actual work!




All the colors I used for the squares.  The yarn I used was Lion Brand Baby Soft, which I have to say is a great yarn.  Each skein has 459 yards and is only about $5.50, which is an insane value. The only issue I came across was that sometimes the yarn was of inconsistent thickness which made some blocks inherently bigger, but I got over that quickly enough. 




The squares are starting to add up!  I had to make 48 in all for the blanket.  Let's just say I could probably still crochet that square by heart :)




After I finished all the squares I had to piece them all together.  I ended up mattress stitching them together so that there wasn't much of a seam between the pieces and the blanket would be very strong when completed.




One row all sewn together.  I grossly underestimated how long this part would take, I will not do the same in the future.



Everything all sewn together, woohoo!





Blocking on our bed... I so didn't even have enough materials to do this.  Must acquire more before next blanket project!



Just opened by mommy to be!



They were even nice enough to pose with the blanket for me.  I have such nice and patient family members don't I? 



Demo Potholder all done!

I actually have a couple more big projects I need to share with you, but... they were both baby shower gifts and therefore a surprise and thus I haven't posted a thing about them until now.  So, in an effort to get my sicky butt to bed early I thought I would start off with the finished demo potholder I started working on last week.

My first Fanciful Flower Potholder came out very well and I am extremely pleased to report that it is the thickest potholder I have ever encountered.  While this may not seem so important, let me point out that the first potholders I ever crocheted were so loosely constructed that inevitably I burn myself whenever I use them.  Granted, they were my first crochet project ever, so my gauge wasn't particularly consistent, but this latest potholder is - by design - at least twice or three times as thick and therefore very effective at protecting your hands!

After making this first one I did go out and get some new pretty cotton in better colors for working on the set I will be making for charity.  So, overall, this is a great free pattern and actually quite easy to follow.  I highly recommend it!  You can find the pattern here.

Work in Progress Wednesday: Fanciful Flower Potholders

A couple days ago I started working on the demo potholder for some I wanted to make for a charity auction.  I haven't had much time to work on it lately, but wanted to share how much I had completed thus far.  

The pattern is fairly straightforward... you start by crocheting the base in a circle using only the back loop of each stitch to make the next one.  Then once you complete that, you crochet the petals of the flower on top of the base by using the front loop you didn't use originally.  It's a neat design because the potholder ends up being doubles in thickness so you have lots of heat protection between you and an oven hot pan. 

I really like how this first one is coming out and want to do a set of four for the auction.  I'm not terribly happy with the colors of cotton yarn I have on hand and how they are combinging, so this little project might truly turn out to be just a demo.  I foresee an AC Moore trip in my future....  Oh, the yarn I am using for this demo potholder is Lily Sugar 'n Cream.

A Work In Progress Wednesday Without a WIP

So, I've been kind of working single mindedly on just one project lately.  It is almost done, but I don't really want to talk much about it until it is actually completed.  While I have worked on my Simple Beginners Toe Up Socks, I haven't really done anything worth reporting.  Since I have no wood wip's to show you I'm instead going to show you everything that is languishing in my pile of hibernating projects.  After I finish my main project, I am hoping to get back to these sadly neglected ones that are calling out t in an effort to guilt myself into working on them.  Currently they are softly calling to me like the tell tale heart under the floorboards.... 

These projects are the most egregiously neglected:

Teal Forest Scarf

- started 8/27/2009 -

My first try at lace knitting.  It was hard, I got bored, or preoccupied... or something.  I put this down ages ago and since have done lots of lace and am fairly comfortable with the techniques involved.  I bet I could whip this out in notime!

Medieval Hooded Scarf

- started 9/11/2009, frogged 11/8/2009, made corrections to pattern 8/11/2010 -

This was my second attempt at lace and first encounter with a badly written pattern without any errata available to help me.  I tried making this several times, ripped it out each time and then put it down for almost a year.  At that point a knitsib mentioned that I should chart out the pattern to figure out what was wrong.  I did and have managed only this swatch of the pattern.  Some day I have to declare my victory over the pattern and actually make the darned thing!  Maybe I'll even get to finally wear it to King Richard's Faire like I originally planned.  It's pretty chilly when I go there, so the hooded scarf would have been a good costume element to have.

Medieval Pouch

- started 8/31/2010 -

This is yet another King Richard's Faire projects.  I started it for last year and then quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to go due to having all my weekends booked :-(  So, that's why I stopped mid project.  I had no more motivation. I actually think I need to rip back a few rews just to make the griffins not pucker so much.  It's tough when you are carrying yarn behind 16 or so stitches... no matter what there seems to never be enough slack. 

Autumn Round Ripple Afghan

- started 11/14/2010 -



Ok, so this one isn't so bad.... I powered through this afghan back in November but quickly ran out of yarn and had to stop.  Please note that I cannot proceed without more of said yarn.  You think that might enter my head and oh say, motivate me to purchase more.... nah!  Anyway, I love this project and it will be going on the back of my couch once finished.  It has no deadline, hence it's half finished existance.





A Walk on the Beach

This past weekend, hubbie and I were able to get away for the first time since Christmas.  While we didn't have a particularly busy weekend planned, we did get to spend some quality time together and relax.  We started off  with a nice walk on the beach.  While it was still a bit chilly and windy, it was a nice walk and I was able to finally take some pictures of something that wasn't snow or full of the blandness of color that winter provides.  

Self portraiture at it's finest... in high winds, lol.



No problem!  Too damn cold to swim anyway :)

A tiny jetty in the middle of the beach.  Perfect for perching AND taking project photos!

I finally was able to get a nice picture of my finished Checkers Scarf crocheted in Cherry Tree Hill in the limited edition colorway Afflication Anyone?

After our little beach excusrion we went home and worked on our craft of choice.  Brian worked on his Warhammer 40K minis.  This is his form or relaxation, whereas I spent my time crocheting and reading.  Then we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.  It was a wonderful day and I can't wait until we can do something like this again!



Enough Love to Go Around Afghan Block

After about a week of this block absolutely kicking my butt... I got some much needed help from a fellow crocheter at the FiberKnots weekly meetup last night.    Ok, so me having problems with this block shouldn't exactly be surprising.  The description for the month's block did say that this block is not for beginners.... meh...  I like a good challenge!  While making this block didn't so smoothly, it didn't take all that long either.  From getting stuck on the beginning of row 2 last week to finishing everything up tonight, I'd say this block took me about 4-5 hours to complete, which I don't think is too shabby.

The pattern I used was the 2011 Crochet Block a Month filler square for January which was Enough Love to Go Around by Penny Davidson.  While I started with her directions, I have to say that I didn't follow her pattern for long.  Unfortunately I found her directions extremely hard to understand, which could be due to my inexperience, so instead I followed a rewrite of the pattern by BlameCrayons which you can find on her blog here.  I thought her directions were quite clear and relatively easy to follow even for me. 

Now that I have three 12" blocks done, I'm really starting to understand just how big an afghan made of 24 12" inch blocks and 12 6" blocks will be.  Actually, I think I need to do some math to figure out how things will go together... or if I have the correct number of square to make things work for that matter.  Well, it's too late now.  My brain went into sleep mode so figuring out a diagram for the afghan would be nothing but an exercise in futility.  Night all!

Work in Progress Wednesday (just a bit late): Checkers Scarf

Since I've had so much going in lately, I decided to start a very simple crochet project that I could easily throw in my purse and have with me at all times. On Monday I started working on the Checkers Scarf by Sally Beaty in a special colorway of Cherry Tree Hill worsted weight superwash merino called Affliction Anyone?  This yarn is one of four different colored skeins I bought online from a hand dyer that based her colorways on MMORPG, The World of Warcraft.  This one is supposed to remind you of the colors of the warlock class and since most of you probably haven't played the game, I'll just tell you that the colors are spot on.  

I have been holding onto these four skeins of yarn for quite some time now because I wanted to use for a really good project because I literally can't get any more of the yarn.  The person who dyed it is no longer in business :(  Unfortunately, I only found out about her lovely yarn very close to when she stopped producing.  Oh well, you win some you lose some.  

I really like the pattern because a) it is really easy and therefore memorize-able and b) it's a basic granny square type look, but the way you turn each row makes the double crochets lean and look really interesting.  I should be able to finish this up this weekend since it really is so easy to work on.  This past week has just been so busy that I really haven't had any time tow work on it at all.  So, I'm just happy that I have as much done as I do.  It's also really nice to not have a deadline for something, seems like life has been filled by those lately.  Anyway, until we chat again... happy crafting!

Another Afghan Block Bites the Dust!

I had a pretty busy week last week, so on Sunday I decided to sit back, relax, and spend my Sunday afternoon crocheting another block for my afghan.  Pineapple Blossom was written by April Moreland and is one of the February blocks for the CAL.  It was pretty easy as these blocks which was a good choice since my brain was so fried from the shenanigans of the week :-)

In addition to making the two different 12" blocks per month that are selected for the CAL, I'm going to also make another 6" block that is optional.  I figure that way the afghan will be more interesting to look at rather than being just made up of blocks of one size.  That way I can also choose to do a smaller block one day, rather than putting in the time to make a big one, which can take me the better part of an afternoon without any major interruptions. The real question is, which block will I start next?  I think I've managed to do both the easy ones first, so I may just be destined for failure or at least frustration until I can sit down with one of the awesome crocheting FiberKnots in a couple weeks.  Waaaaah!

Work In Progress Wednesday: Crochet Water Lily

This week I'm actually working on a whole mess of projects.  Most recently I've been crocheting quite a bit, working on a rather large project and also working on the monthly aquares for the 2011 crochet along block a month afghan.  Today's WIP is a water lily/lotus I decided to make because it was just so darn cute!  It's turning out pretty well, but I still have more than half of it left to go.  I'll make sure to post a picture of it when it's done. 

The pattern I am using is the Lotus Kyusu Cozy by Hilary Robbeloth and the flower itself is only part of the pattern.  The whole pattern is meant to be a cozy for those little Japanese side-handle tea pots.