I'm on FIRE!

So I made my sister's garters, then I decided to design one myself based on things of liked and disliked from others I've seen. I wonder, though, if anyone would be interested in purchasing the pattern.

Here's a pic of the first mock-up:

That was quick!

So this morning, before my migraine reached critical, I decided I would browse the crochet patterns on Ravelry and see if any caught my eye for Christmas gifts. I came across one, though, that I felt the need to do today for my little HeatherE. So, after 2 darvocet and a short nap, I sat down with a skein of Caron Spa in Naturally and whipped up this little beauty. It literally took about 20 minutes, and turned out beautifully!!

Absentee Hooker!

Oy! It's been quite some time since I've blogged anything on here. It's been an adventurous busy few months, and there's no indication that things are slowing down any time soon!

I have been playing with my yarn, though! I even took a little jaunt to Canada and managed to talk Hans into letting me buy yarn there! He walked through one of the yarn stores, too, much to my amazement!

Started back on the knitting attempts after my friend, Dianne, asked me to teach her how. Not sure how I accomplished it, but I was able to teach her to knit when I barely manage to do it myself, and she has taken off! She's reading patterns now and everything! So I got her a book and some special pink cotton hand dyed from Canada. Here's a picture of Di's first attempts:


So let's see, what have I done lately?










The first is preemie hats, "Tiny Ladies," a pattern that I was testing for someone on Ravelry. The second is the "Bridesmaid's Dress Sachet" that I tested for Tracie. Third is a chapstick holder I designed and created for my older daughter, Al, because she had chapped lips. Fourth is the hat that I created for my friend Jenn's daughter, Maveri.

Currently, though, I'm working on the garters for my sister's wedding. I have the first one almost done - just needs to be embellished and then cinched with the elastic thread, but I plan on doing that when I get up there so we're sure of a custom fit. The second - the tosser - I've just started, but it's the same pattern with a narrower (half size) band. I should be able to knock it out by tomorrow up to the same point the first one is at. Then I get to take both of them and go to Micheal's to play with ribbons and other embellishments!

For your viewing pleasure, the garter:

And so it continues....

Once upon a time, I was content to occasionally do some simple embroidery. Not anymore. Once the fiber bug bit me a year and a half ago, that was all she wrote. It started simply enough - crocheting a few things with some inexpensive yarns. Simple projects - hats, dishcloths, scarves and the like. Then I decided to move on to something a bit more challenging - thread. I haven't done a whole lot of it, but what I have done, I have really enjoyed. After that, it was on to the pointy sticks. While they haven't been mastered yet (the pointy sticks hurt my wrists horribly), I decided it was time to try out yet another fiber discipline - tatting. It's slow going, but,admittedly, I have only just started tonight. Still, it's something I want to master.

I'm not doing it just because I want to try to attempt as many things as possible. Actually, my little sister is getting married in October, and I am making her garter. I have a crocheted pattern that I think I like, but I found a tatted one that I adore. I'm hoping that it's something I can pick up as quickly as I picked up crocheting, and that this isn't an insane goal. Besides, tatted lace is just so very lovely. I would love to tat (is that the correct term??) something for my grandmother for Christmas.

In other news, I'm working on (almost finished, actually, thank goodness) a scarf for my mom's birthday. It's going to be late, seeing as how tomorrow is her birthday, though. I think it's going to turn out wonderfully, though. It's a soft, fluffy, light purple heather yarn that is just delicious.

I also am about to start on a gift for Hans. He's not much for crocheted items, but he liked the Fit To Be Tied, so who knows. I'm going to buy a very special yarn to make it, something that he'll actually use. I can't wait to get the yarn and get started! I love the thought of creating something for Hans that he may actually use.

Hmmm.... What else is going on right now? Not a whole lot. Life is busy, what with being PTA president, a Girl Scout leader and having cookie sales going on, plus Hans being out of town almost all the time. It's tough to find time to play with all my yummy yarns. Still, I make time. h

Will Wonders Never Cease?

I've been meaning to publish this for almost 2 weeks now, but just haven't had the opportunity to sit down and do it.

I finished this purse New Year's Eve. Put it in my basket beside my chair, and thought nothing of it. Didn't bother showing Hans because, well, frankly, he doesn't give a damn about my crocheting; in fact, most of it annoys him.

So friends come over for NYE fun, and I show the purse to one of them. She looks at it and shows her fiance. Somehow, it ends up sitting on the couch, and we go to bed.

The next morning we get up and are straightening up for Hans' parents to come over and pick up the girls, and Hans notices the purse. He actually picked it up, inspected it, then told me he really liked it and was really impressed with it. I thought he was being sarcastic, as usual, but no, he was sincere. And if I doubted his sincerity, when his parents got here, he got it out of my basket and showed it to them, bragging about how I had made it! I can't believe it!

Let me tell you, that really meant all the world to me.....

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So. I. Suck.

I haven't posted much lately. Nay, anything lately. I have been working on some things, but one of them can't be discussed because I want it to be a surprise, and the other can't be discussed because it's a test pattern. Add to that all the stuff going on health-wise, well, it's just been a bit of a rough run. I had to go off my anti-inflammatory for nearly two weeks, and my hands are swollen, so I can't crochet much at a time. But I have all next week to rest and relax while my dear MIL takes care of the rest of my family. Yay scan week?

Yummy!

I have to go charge the batteries to my camera so that I can take and post some pictures. I just received my order from Elann (well, I got it Saturday, but it's been a busy week!!), and the Peruvian Baby Cashmere and Super Kydd are just delicious! Much better than I could have hoped for! I must admit that, even after petting Tracie's Elann yarns, I was nervous about buying something I had never seen in person before (she had gotten cotton blends). However, they not only met, but greatly exceeded my expectations! I have a project in mind for the Super Kydd, and have swatched it. I'm just hoping that it works out as I expect!

Okay, batteries are now charging, so in about an hour, I should be able to take some pics. I also have an update pic on the round ripple, which I haven't worked on in a couple of weeks because I've been trying to brainstorm, and a lace project that I have been working on.


In other news, it's time to figure out Christmas gifts. I've got a couple in mind right now, and thanks to Ravelry, I've been pattern searching for ideas, and queuing the patterns that I think may work for different people. I need to sit down and write out my list, though. That'll be a list, maybe for while I'm at Aliceon's open house tonight. Did I mention that I'm now a Girl Scout leader? Yeah. I have a Brownie troop, so tonight I need to sit at a table at the open house for the school. No worries, though - it's a chance to work on my projects!! I can yarn and answer questions easy peasy!

Okay, so I'm going to go clean the kitchen while I wait for the batteries to finish charging. Adios!

I've Been Tagged

So my good friend, Tracie, has tagged me with an interesting meme. I don't do them often, but this one could be kinda cool :D

The rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

7 Random Facts

1 - I'm very shy. I know many people would disagree, but you put me in a situation where I don't know anyone, and I will sit in a corner, not speaking or hide behind Hans until someone speaks to me. If I'm not thrown into social situations when we move, I will hide in my house, not meeting anyone until we move again.

2 - I hate jello. It's a texture thing. Same thing with oysters and undercooked eggs.

3 - I had 4 weimeraners as a kid, three of them at one time. Their names were Matilda (Tilly), Burgemeister (Burg), Hoss and Hazel. They were my loves.

4 - I just became a Girl Scout leader. Again.

5 - I love to bake and would bake every day if money and weight allowed!

6 - I am more than a bit obsessed with this whole crocheting thing, yet I really don't think I'm very good at it.

7 - I've been married 7 years as of this past Sunday.


Let's see - who to tag?

Marikay, whom I haven't talked to in a while and miss!!

Tina, who has become a dear friend over the last year.

Rebel, whom I've known for a few years now, and who is always good at adminishing me for not taking of myself!

Paula, my cooking guru friend from my mommy board of a few years.

Brandee, who, in conjunction with Tracie, taught me to crochet a year ago.

Rachel, a hook liberator on Rav whom I have come to have a great respect for.

And last, but not least, Claudia, my scarf exchange buddy in Germany!

Stitch Stirring Limerick

I'm a part of a group that is working to get we crocheters a little more into the mainstream by collectively blogging on writing prompts posted by our beloved leader. Today is the first.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a poet, this should be fun and easy. Your mission is to write a limerick–or several–about crochet. No starting with “There once was a man from Nantucket…” though!

What is a limerick? A limerick is a short poem, oftentimes humorous (although it doesn’t have to be), which consist of five lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 should all three rhyme with each other, as should lines 3 & 4, thus creating a rhyme-scheme of aabba.

Need more info to get you started? Do a Google search on “example of limericks”.

Have fun!

There once was a girl in Florida,
Who ended up crocheting a yarmulke.
It began as a hat
but sat way too flat,
And now is a festive (word that rhymes with yarmulke!)


There once was a lady from faraway
Who decided she wanted to crochet.
She took a hook and some yarn
Then went in the barn
And that's where she's been all day!


There once was a boy at home
Who loved to crochet little gnomes.
They took over his room!
He had nowhere to groom!
And he had lost all his tomes!

I hate it when the math burns me!!

So I had all my plans for the round ripple - 6 rounds pink, 1 round white, 6 rounds green, 1 round white, 9 rounds pink, 3 rounds white, 9 rounds green, three rounds white, 1 round sc pink followed by 1 round rsc pink to finish. Sounds perfect, right? I had 1 more skein of yarn than the original pattern called for to ensure I didn't run out. I planned it all out! I thought I had it all figured out! Nope. with 3 1/4 rounds of the 9 green to go, I ran out of green. And, of course, no stores carry the green I was using. So I had to frog 3/4 of a round and figure out how to make it all look decent with more white, less green. I hate math.


In other news, though, we had a lot of fun on our trip to see Hans' grandmother in New Orleans. We got there and one of the first things she tells me is that she has a project for me! She then showed me a nylon mesh potscrubber that she had made at a church function. She told me she wanted more, and she had the mesh and hooks already ready for me! Of course, I needed to go out and buy my own hook and some mesh in colors I wanted, too, so off we went to Joann. And how wonderful that we did!! They had their Sensations hooks on sale for fifty cents each! So, of course, I got a whole extra set - I had only brought two hooks on the trip with me - plus a new dress maker's tape measure and the nylon netting. We went home, and I got started making more scrubbies. Grandmommy was just amazed at how quickly I turned them out, but really, they're very simple. The worst part is the netting can tear up your fingers if you're not careful.

Of course, now I have a whole new set of hooks, and I had nowhere to put them, so I had to make myself a new hook case, another thing that amazed Grandmommy. I was glad we were there when I did it, though, because she had the coolest button I got to use that matched the yarn perfectly.

I'll have to take and post some pictures later. I just got my nails done, and now I have to go clean my house in preparation for a baby shower here on Saturday.

Edited 9/5/07 @ 8:35pm to add pics of hook case:

Strange conversations

I had to go to the eye dr because I have this tearing issue with my left eye that's been going on for about 6 weeks now. As I was sitting in the waiting room, working on the round ripple, this older man comes up to me.
"How very peculiar! (he obviously was from a country where speaking is more of an art than it is here ;)) I have never seen young girls doing work like this before in this country! Old women, yes, but young girls like yourself? Never! (now, I am not, by any means, a "young girl." When did 30 become a "young girl??" LOL!) Mother, look! It's a young girl knitting!! How wonderful!!"
"Actually, I'm crocheting. A lot of my generation does. Why, I even have an entire group of women that I meet with monthly so we can crochet together."
"And what is this you're making?"
"It's an afghan for a baby."
He and his 99 year old mother (he made sure to introduce me and tell me she was 99) walk about 4 feet away so the mother can sit.
He to his mother: "She must be from Ghana, don't you think? I've only ever seen the young girls in Africa do things like that. I think she must be from Ghana. She has to be. I liked Ghana."
It was just the oddest exchange I've ever been a part of. And crocheting means I'm from Ghana?? That one made me crack up! I have a very southern accent, and don't look the least bit exotic! You look at me, and you usually KNOW that I'm a Belle!

Playing Catch Up

I know, I know - I've been neglecting my yarnie blogging duties! I mean to update all the time, I swear it, but there are things that keep preventing me! Like Ravelry, or Heather's new stuff, or just plain bad moods....



Still, I have some things to talk about, most of which is yarn-related. There's one thing, though, that I want to mention first that's not yarnish - My sister is participating in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society half marathon in Atlanta this year. Any donations to help her reach her goal in raising money for research would be greatly appreciated. This is a cause that is pretty near and dear to us, as one of the potential side effects of my treatments last year is developing leukemia or lymphoma in the not-so-distant future. We've also lost a few dear friends to leukemia, and there's more research needed in the areas of adult blood cancers. So if you don't mind, even if it's just a dollar or two, it would really mean a lot. And, it's tax deductible.





Okay, done with the PSA/solicitation. Not something I would normally do, but I just felt it was important. Now back to your regularly scheduled yarning!



I mentioned Ravelry eating up my time. Now, if you don't know about Ravelry, and if you own yarn and hooks or needles, you need to click on that happy little link I have each time I say the word Ravelry on here and check it out! It's an incredible place for we crafty types to go, organize our stash, patterns, WIPs and FOs, books and fibery friends, among other things. It's also an incredible resource for deciding whether a pattern will work for you, choosing yarn subtitutes or asking fiber (and some non-fiber) related questions. Seriously, one stop shop for all your knitting and crocheting needs. Go. Now. http://www.ravelry.com/, just in case you missed the happy clickies above. It's my new home on the net, and I spend ENTIRELY too much time there.



In other (kinda related) news, this past Saturday was Stitch n Pitch at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays game. Great, great fun! I grabbed Tracie and headed to St. Pete so we could get our Ravelry buttons from Pischi, a lovely a lady I'm so happy to have met! I also got to meet Michele and her hubby, someone I need to get to know better! I bet her hubby and Hans could get along well! (meaning I could talk yarn without him getting as irrtated!!)



So here are a few pics from SNP 2007:

Round Ripple Babyghan

I got a a gift card to Hobby Lobby from my brother for Christmas. I don't have any HLs near me, so I ordered online. I got 6 skeins of Bernat Cottontots in three different colors with the sole idea of making a round ripple babyghan. So far, I'm loving this pattern. It's Lyn's Round Ripple Baby Afghan - a beautiful and simple pattern, easy to figure out and follow. I can't post a pic right now because we're hurtling down I-75 at 85 70 miles and hour, so I'm not able to photograph and load pics. Take my word, though, my plan is working out really well so far. I'm doing it in three colors - 6 rnds of CA, 1 rnd of CB, 6 rnds of CC, 1 rnd of CB, 9 rnds CA, 3 rnds CB, 9 rnds CC, 3 rnds CB, then 1 rnd CA to finish her off. I think it's going to look really nice going in that manner. Already I'm on rnd 14 and am happy with the effect.

As I said on my Ravelry comments for this pattern, I want to do another one of these using Baby Coordinates or another fingering/sport weight (or lighter) yarn so that I can try the fading effect that Tracie gave me directions for.

What's going on...?

Tracie has inspired me to complete a very frightening task - inventorying my WIPs. Yeah. Here goes....

Active:
-round ripple babyghan
-Fit To Be Tied purse (just need to sew in liner and seam)
-mini 1 project tool case (my own pattern)
-knitted pashmina ( no pattern, just learning with it - simple garter stitch)
-loom knit scarf
-s hook scarf

Inactive:
-messenger bag prototype (Soon, I promise!!)
-Cozie Blankie - Just too tedius and boring....
-I'm sure there's more, but we're speeding up I-75 in Macon, therefore I'm far, far away from my projects....

Planned:
-dress for heather
-Thycaghan
-knitted lace stole


So there you have it - things I'm doing, things I'm not doing and things I want to do, to an extent. There's lots more, and every day I add to my list of things to do, but I have to take it slowly,, right? Already you see my ADD showing through. And that's not even counting all the shelved projects!

Pointy sticks!!

So I've been working with pointy sticks (AKA - Knitting needles) for a couple of months now, on and off. Haven't worked with them very much - until today, just enough to get my tension kinda figured out on the garter stitch. Today, though, I decided to truly accquaint myself with the purl stitch, making a lovely stockinette stitch. And it's working! Knitting is a bit rougher on my hands than crocheting, but I have a n umber of projects I'd like to do that really do require knitting as opposed to crocheting, namely cables and lace. So off I go. Add to that the fact that my Grandma sent me a pair of her needles (number 4!!!!) and her vintage yarns.
So I'm off. Soon I'll post some pics.

Package has arrived!!

I received the package from my aunt yesterday with the knitting needles and yarn that were my grandparents'. There is some awesome vintage yarn in there, and someone started a beautiful argyle something - I think it's a scarf, but I'm not sure - it could be the beginning of a sweater - perhaps the front left panel. Beautiful dark brown, seafoam green and off white superwash fingering weight wool.... There's also a couple of skeins of cotton/acrylic rug yarn.... and a few others, too....

I also got the three squares for Dani finished and off to Tracie. She's going to take a couple of pics and send them to me.

Not much else going on in the yarn world right now, though. I went down to help family with moving prep, so my hands aren't exactly crochetable right now, and most certainly not knittable.... soon, though. I plan to do some stuff here at home today and then spend tomorrow relaxing (maybe).....

Playing

I haven't said much lately. Mostly because I haven't finished much lately. I seem to have a problem with actually finishing projects. Right now, though, I'm working on some squares for Dani's requested comfortghan. It's for a 1 year old who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. I hate that there's even a need for a comfortghan for a one year old, but I'm more than happy to contribute......

I've also been working on a super seekrit projeck and a babyghan. Oh yeah, and I need to finish the purse. And the grannyghan. And a couple of other things, I'm sure :D

More to come, soon :D

Oh, goody!!

I talked to my aunt a little while ago. She and my grandmother have been cleaning out Grandma and Grandpa's house, and trying to find new homes for various items. Among the things that have been slated to make the trip here to Florida are a quilt someone started, and almost finished, a few decades back. All I need to do is the edgings, and I will have a beautiful quilt for one of the beds. I'm also evidently getting a plethora of knitting needles, crochet hooks and yarn. I'm so excited! Not only is this stuff that I use, but it's stuff that my grandparents used, things they created different items with. It will be so special to me to know that I'm using the same knitting needles that my grandparents used, that I'm using yarn that they had bought. It's like having a little part of them with me, and something I can eventually pass on to my daughters or grand daughters.

Thoughts an designs

I'm trying to work out exactly how I want to construct the afghan I"m making. I decided, after making the butterfly square for the comfortghan, to make a thyca-ghan. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I have the yarn in the correct colors.

Dunno why I'm blogging this - it's more incomplete thoughts than anything.... oh well....

Comfortghan

Brandee has a colleague who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. So our crochet group is putting together a comfortghan to give her in shades of pink and cream. I did am doing three squares. Actually, I've done 2, and am working on the third on our drive to the Charlie Daniel's concert tonight, where I will give the squares to Brandee...

Square 1 - Butterfly Garden designed by Chris Simon in Caron Simply Soft Plum Wine:





Square 2 - Lacy Sun designed by Dayna Audirsch done in Caron Simply Soft Soft Pink:




I'm also working on a square in off white Simply Soft, but it's just a very basic bubble stitch... sc, dc, dc all in the same stitch, skip 2, repeat....