Too much

I have entirely too many projects going at once and I don't feel like I am getting anything done. Blech. Add to that, new pretty shiny birthday yarns that I want to play with now and me deciding to get a jump on Christmas knitting and I am just overwhelmed. I have made a list of stuff that I need to do and tried to prioritize it. I think that has helped lessen the crazy feelings. I have also tried to take a step back from the Christmas stuff to work on things that need done soon. Unfortunately Christmas will be upon me before I know it. So I can't put it off for too long. I've also had a few good business ventures come along. Those will definitely be the first projects in the works. I'm super excited about the prospects of the extra crafting money. I have big plans that I hope I can follow through on.

But I did manage to get some stuff marked off of my list recently. So it isn't all bad.

Mom's scrubbies- an order from a co-worker of hers. She really likes the tulle dish scrubbers I make for my mom and wanted some to give out as Christmas presents. As these things, even in the larger version her friend wanted, take about half an hour to make, I said sure. (and as a side note, I've written a pattern for these and have apparently not made it available. I need to work on that)

Mom's bath poof- My mom is dangerous in a yarn store. Possibly even more so than I am. She was walking around the store picking up yarns and adding them to the pile. I asked what they were for since she doesn't knit. Oh they are for her. After I have turned them into something. :) And someone wasn't very helpful in the store who showed her a bath poof made out of cotton and who so helpfully offered to give me the pattern. So she knows she is getting the bath poof, but I also had enough left over for a washcloth for her face. Yay!

crochet scarf- When all my making stuff craziness has died down, I am making another one of these. I also got the pattern for this scarf from the yarn store in Charleston. Everytime I wandered by the scarf on display I stopped and fondled and admired it. So the owner gave me a copy of the pattern. For my first attempt, I grabbed a box of handspun yarns that my mom had found at a yardsale for $2 (go mom!). It was full of smaller balls of worsted to bulky weight. So I went up a hook size and worked the pattern, changing yarns when I ran out of a color, and ending the pattern when I ran out of yarn. I love it and want it to be cold so I can wear it. But I did underestimate how going up a hook size would effect the size. If I drape it around my neck, the ends just touch the floor. I made giant scarf. But I totally want to make more of these with some pretty varigated yarns.

sandals- These were a tutorial on Etsy's blog a while ago. You take an old pair of flip flops and an old t-shirt, an exacto knife and some good glue and you make new sandals. I think if I were to do this again, I would change the back from a tie on to a sling back shoe. Awesome. How often do you get to say "I made my shoes!"

Staying faithful until the end

So I know I talked about my inability to ever finish things or stick to anything. Well, in this post I will prove myself wrong. Every now an then a project comes along that consumes all of my crafting time. If that project is lucky and goes fast enough, I actually get it finished before I get bored and move on. This is one of those projects.

I would like to introduce my new knitting bag, which oddly enough is crocheted. It is not big enough for a lot of projects and stuff, but it is perfect for carrying to work on a daily basis. And holy crap is it cute.

It is even lined with pockets. I will love it and squeeze it and call it George. Oh and stuff it full of all of my knitting. Well and spinning. I needed a traveling spinning project to work on for the Tour de Fleece so at least I can say I've spun something. So I threw 2 oz of alpaca on my itty bitty Greensleeves spindle and I am going to see how far I can stretch 2 oz of fiber.

Baby on the brain

Well, it is on my brain, but not my baby (sorry Tracey). But I have been doing a lot of crafting for babies. There is my niece, Julia, who I have not made nearly enough things for. Or seen nearly enough. I think that needs remedied. Soon. So she gets a pretty spring dress. And I am starting an embroidery project for her.

And there are some other expectant moms in my life. So I've been making things. Even though I have a while. I just think I needed some quick and easy projects to do. And this sweater was quick. But it is a good thing the baby is due in the fall, because it would die of heat stroke in anything other than cold weather.

But I have been raising and nurturing something. My Garden! Look! there is green. And flowers. I'm shocked and so excited.
But the best part, BABY TOMATOES!!! I might actually get to eat something from my garden. Craziness! And they are now even bigger than they were in th

Christmas round up

So I finished all of my knitting that needed to be done before Christmas, before Christmas. Shocker! Sorry this took so long to post, but it had to wait for some people to receive their stuff and I've gotten distracted. So now for a review of what has been made.

Mary Jane Slippers for my SIL. She also got my Bella Mittens. I realized I don't like mittens and I know how much she likes Twilight.

Diagonal Lace Socks for my mom.

A customized Rubix Cube for Mike.

A D20 for my Secret Santa. :)

A Wookie for Amber and the Java Joint

A lab rat for Becca.

Some Felted slippers that were a bit too big for my MIL. But she did get to steal my FIL's hat because it was too small for him. So it worked out. :)

A scarf for Brian.

How to spot a knitter

I'm pretty sure the Yarn Harlot has talked about this before. And I know I still haven't done a post with all of my Christmas knitting. But I was amused at myself the other night.

Most people purchase their hats, gloves/mittens, and scarves from a store. Most people tend to buy these things as a set or at least make them coordinate.

Now a knitter only has so many things they can knit. Not like patterns, cause there are bazillions of those. But things like slippers, scarves, etc. So you tend to start repeating items. I have more scarves than I will ever need in my lifetime. So unless a knitter has unlimited people to gift these items to, they begin to stockpile. Now logic would dictate that once you have a scarf, you wouldn't make anymore. But logic would also dictate that spending 20 dollars on yarn that will be turned into socks and worn on your feet is a little excessive. We see where logic has failed me.
So your average knitter has several hats, scarves and gloves sitting around to wear. Naturally they are going to have their favorites. I for example like my slouchy beret hat made with the purple alpaca. But I am currently enamored with my colorwork tam, because well it is just that awesome. And still slouchy. I have been wearing my Clapotis to the exclusion of all else since I've finished it. And at our fiber guild meeting, I got a pair of fingerless mitts. They sparkle. I have realized how much I like the ones without the individual fingers. The stuff in between the fingers is just too bulky. So this is how I look when I go out.
Yeah, I don't match at all. It is a pretty good bet that if you see someone with knitwear that matches as well as mine does, they are a knitter.

Halloween is on its way

For Zach's costume I made a brain slug from Futurama. It is my friend Haley's pattern. It was super quick and easy. He is very usually anti-effort when it comes to Halloween costumes. But he let me make this for him. It is small and it has clips on the bottom so it will stay in his hair.











I have decided to go as the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons. I was going to go as Ms. Swan from MadTV, but I couldn't find fabric for the apron and I couldn't do the accent right. So I went to Goodwill and started grabbing all the clothing in pink that I could. I just have to sew the apron and put an edging on my shirt. I am looking for a bunch of stuffed animal cats. I can't wait. It will be fun.







I submitted the pattern for my crochet socks to http://www.knittingpatternaday.com/whysubmit.htm I am very excited and very nervous. I hope it gets in. Unfortunately, I probably won't know for quite a while if I got in. The nice thing with submitting it to the calendar is that I keep all my rights to it so I can submit it to something else or post it with the rest of my patterns. I might make it free once it is done, then make a snazzier pair and go for a magazine next time. I'm not sure what I would do to snazz it up. Maybe some colorwork or a lacy stitch pattern.

It's Tuesday (well it was when I started this post)

I had a busy weekend. I went to Barboursville Fall Festival with Tiffany on Friday. We got some yummy food, I contemplated buying a Coach purse knockoff, and we people watched. On Saturday I went to Chilifest. Ashland is having their chilli fest this weekend. I don't know if I can do it two weekends in a row. I also picked up a new book. Brisinger came out. With it being 40% off (store sale), my $5 in borders, and a gift card from like last Christmas I only paid 28 cents. Of course I haven't been reading it much if at all. I've been a bit distracted.



I have been working on the sweater. It is now 50% done. The way I am measuring is there are "6" pieces. I have finished 3. The back is 2 pieces, each front is one piece and each sleeve is one piece. I have the back and the left front panel done. The sleeves aren't really equal to the other, but I feel that will make me go faster.

Aimee picked up some stuff for me when she was in Lexington, KY from Rebelle. She picked me up the new Interweave Felt magazine. There is a pattern/instructions on how to make a needle felted beagle. Oh yes I must make one that looks like Heidi. I also got a skein of Malabrigo in worsted weight. It has 216 yards and I can't figure out what scarf to make out of it. But whatever it is, it will replace the baby sweater as my "cheating on my sweater" project.

Why? Because it is finished. Wooo. Now I need to wrap it up and actually give it to the recepient. P.S. Someone at SnB wanted the pattern. Here it is. I left out two of the bottom part repeats before doing the shell edge. And I didn't do the sleeves, I just did kind of a picot edge on them.




Also some random crafting. I got some polymer clay and some bead rollers and took a stab and making my own beads. Maybe I'll make some stitch markers out of them. Cause I don't know what else to do with them. I apologize for the crappy picture. My battery was running out and I was trying to take them as fast as possible.

An eventful week

We had Knitting Guild at the Yarn and More last night. That was fun. I determined I cannot read or add. I have been very monogamous and have been working diligently on my Hey Teach sweater. Well, I have gotten to where I am about 20 rows away from starting the lace pattern and I though I would start looking ahead. Well I couldn't figure out how to read the chart to make all the stitches fit with the 115 I have cast on. I looked on Ravelry for ideas. I showed it to other people in the shop. No luck. Well, I read it again last night. I had completely overlooked the row right after the ribbing that had decreases that allowed the lace pattern to fit on 105 stitches. Where now the lace pattern chart makes perfect sense.

I also got a few new things yesterday. The first is this loverly spindle. Sharon's husband made and painted it. It's a Llama. I got to try it out too. It spins very well and for a very long time. These are limited edition and one of a kind. I got the first one. Neener neener neener. There are two more there now.

I also got this hat from Rachel. She made it for herself, but it didn't look right on her. I didn't see it on her so I can't confirm that. But it is so soft and squishy and lovely. I am very excited. It is a beautiful hat. I just need to remember to get the pattern for Aimee.

Speaking of Aimee, this is what happens when I get a mosquito bite. We were discussing it in the car on our way home from the guild meeting. It isn't really gross, but I figured I would be nice and stick a picture of my swollen foot behind a link so not everyone would be subjected to it. I wonder if I should get this checked out for an allergy. It is still swollen, a bit sore and itchy if I touch it today.

As I said, I am trying to be monogamous to the Hey Teach Sweater. But Zach got me My Blueberry Nights for my birthday. I think I have mentioned I love Norah Jones. Well, we watched it the other night and she had a hat on at the end of the movie that I simply must make. You can see it here. Sorry for the odd picture, but it is the only still I could find with the hat. I already have the yarn for it. I just need to sit down and figure out a pattern. Maybe I'll even write it up.

Speaking of writing it up, I finished my crocheted socks. I love them and they have been fooling people into thinking they are knit socks. I have decided I am going to write up the pattern and submit it to the Crochet Pattern-a-Day 2010 calendar.

Christmas with Mom

We spent the past weekend with my mom and her boyfriend, Brian. We had a late Christmas celebration. She liked her hat and scarf set. See her modeling attempt at left. I made out with some great haul. I got Isela Phelp's Loom Knitting Primer. A great book. And some looms to go with it. Got the long purple Knifty knitter so my Knifty Knitter set is complete. I got some socks. I know I'm forgetting stuff and she is going to yell at me when I talk to her. But I have to say my favorite item was Charmed Knits. I have been wanting this forever. I mean come on, Harry Potter plus knitting has to equal awesome. Well, apparently everyone did think it was the perfect gift for me. So perfect that they figured someone else would have already gotten it for me. Yay for mom for taking a risk. Oh and a knitting calendar too. One of the page a day ones.

Aww they are exhausted from all the fun








Got some knitting done on my first sock. Almost to the heel. Like 1.5 inches left. Pattern from Knitty






So this is what my FIL's scarf was supposed to look like. Oooooh...Ahhhhh!!! Look at that lovely cable pattern I made up. Fear my mad designing skills. Well, until it started rolling into a tube. Kind of defeats the purpose of a decorative cable if it is on the inside of a tube. And of course since it was knit in acrylic, no blocking or ironing to get it to stay flat. So I ripped it up.








And turned it into this. A mock rib crocheted scarf. Got it halfway done when I ran out of yarn. Going to AC Moore to get some more today. So close to having Christmas presents done I can taste it. What is that you say? It's after Christmas? pish posh. It's still cold so they will still be useful. I hope

It's Christmas Eve

and I am on the computer blogging and updating my Ravelry projects and Zach is playing video games. We are the next generation. :o) Unfortunately there is still baking to be done. Well just the chocolate covered cherries. But I know I'm going to need more chocolate and those miniature baking cups. And Krogers scared me enough already today (I had to wait for a parking spot and this store is never crowded, ever). And there are still presents to wrap. Only two of them are Zach's that would have to be wrapped by tomorrow. And one of them isn't getting wrapped, because it is 4 feet long. He knows what it is. Maybe I'll make him go look for it instead of having him unwrap it.
So apparently even if you only have a dog, you still have to do the obligatory "sit on Santa's lap" pictures. Here is Heidi. I am so proud of her. It only took like 10 pictures to get a really good one of her looking in our general direction. And there were several other pretty good ones. And this is with a pet store full of people, other dogs and things to eat distracting her. So she got a little present early.
















But I have been knitting, crocheting and looming my little heart out to get things done for Christmas. I managed to get the Katamari done for Jess, the DNA strand for...someone, and a hat for me. Yeah I know. But it is super cute and comfy and covers up the fact that I didn't brush my hair today. Tres chic, no? I found the Katamari pattern here . I found the DNA strand here. But mine is the crochet version. After Christmas I have about 5-6 patterns to write up and this is one of them. Kimberly even said she would host the DNA pattern on her blog. Wooo. The hat can be found here.












Holy Cow! Make that 3 finished Christmas presents today. I rock! Oh yeah! Only two more to go. But I am going to take the rest of the night and work on something for me. You know, cause the hat wasn't enough.

Update of Epic Proportions

Nah, not really. But I really should update more often so I don't end up with super long posts. Last weeked was Hannukah with my Dad and that side of the family. I had lots of fun. Got lots of silly little presents. Got a scarf done for which I promptly stole some buttons from my Grandma. Although she is probably going to end up with this scarf so technically I just borrowed them. Right?

Used some lovely wool from Knit 'n Hook. **digs around for label** Well I don't remember what it is. But click on the picture for more detail. The yarn gets thicker and thinner throughout leading to a cool look. It is very warm, but wool makes my skin turn itchy and bright red (thankfully not my hands) so it will be gifted.

Speaking of gifts. Remember these lovely slippers. Well my dad and Donna took me to Crafts 2000 in Parkersburg and told me to get whatever I wanted. Very dangerous proposition. But I restrained myself (sort of) and got the supplies to begin needle felting. Since the only thing I had felted were these slippers, they got the brunt of my beginner hands. I think they turned out cute. Next is a bag. Blue with some green blueish brown roving. Not sure of the design. Might just wing it. The pattern I am using is loosely based off of a design from:

Everyone ooo and ah. My first knitting book. I chose this one because 1. not on my wish list 2. I am a member of a Stitch 'n Bitch 3. I wanted a minimal begginner/more intermediate book with lots of patterns but still some explanation.

This one has turned out to be perfect. I hate beginner books. I (beware of EGO ahead) catch on pretty quick. So I move through the beginner stages of most crafts during my first project. After that, I want something that will challenge me and more importantly, keep my attention. But I don't want it to be frustrating i.e. I am running between my beginner "how to knit" guide and the internet trying to figure out a stitch. This book has that and more. Each pattern that uses a special stitch explains that stitch in the beginning of the pattern. There is even a glossary that shows all the basic stitches (knit, purl, cast on, bind off, etc). Also I loooooove the patterns. No stodgy old scarves for me. It gives me cute and hip bags, scarves, hats, sweaters, everything. And in the beginning of the book is a long section on how to adapt patterns to make them my own and to fit me like they should. So this book will have me covered from beginner, to intermediate (some playful stitches), to advanced (where I severely alter/design my own patterns). Oh that and I had a 30% off Borders coupon and just needed to spend a bit to get my Border's Bucks.

Have I mentioned yet that I am becoming obsessed with Amigurumi? No? Well I am. Here is proof. Not content to follow patterns, I must make my own. But didn't she turn out cute? Except the eyes. I hate her eyes. I am thinking I will use felt next time. Heidi likes her too.

Mission: Baby Shower complete

Angela's and Lisa's Baby shower was last night. I finished Lisa's Lion baby bath wrap yesterday at lunch, finally. There is something about row after row after row of single crochet that makes me want to die. Angela's has been done for a while. She got a blanket, booties and a hat. They both went over very well. I sat by the fireplace and got sleepy after eating pizza. So a very good party. It was even over early enough for me to sneak of to Stitch 'n Bitch. I sense this will become a weekly occurance. They are having a party this Saturday. Silly grandma celebrating Hanukkah/Christmas this weekend. Well, it really isn't her choice. But still, Zach found these http://veganyumyum.com/2007/06/knit-night-cupcakes/ How flippin' awesome would these have been to make for a knitting party? Well obviously pretty awesome since that is why the lady made them to begin with.

Well I hate row after row of single crochet except when making Amigurumi things. Which is my newest craze. Essentially defined as some sort of animal or object crocheted adorably cute and misshapen using single crochets done in the round. There are books and patterns and I want to make them all. My favorite book (only known by the title) is Amigurumi Super Cute Happy Crochet. How could you not want to own that book? P.S. This adorable, head-heavy turtle is a Christmas present for one of my work studies, Dana. You know. The one who decorated my office Christmas tree. Yup. At least I reward them for work well done.
I finished my Jayne Cobb hat from the t.v. show Firefly. I loom knit this on the Yellow Knifty Knitter. Dear God is it ugly. but I think it is quite spot on. It is actually very comfy. I will get the pattern up here soon.

And from someone who is much better at pattern writing then myself, we have Victorian Lace Christmas Ornaments. http://loomlady.blogspot.com/ Lovely easy pattern = very lovely easy (and inexpensive) Christmas gifts

It has arrived

My ESG Wonder loom from http://www.decoraccentsinc.com/ has arrived. Hooray!!! And of course my pact to not make anything non-gift related went right out the window. It is a bit top secret right now. I am working on making a glove on the looms. I haven't seen a pattern for anything like this yet. Hopefully it works out. Hoping to submit it to http://www.loomknitterscircle.com/ if I can get the details worked out. So far it is going good, but I've hit a snag with the fingers as I don't have a thumb loom. Decor Accents takes 5 weeks to deliver and I don't really have that kind of time. Might have to resort to making my own or knitting them flat for now.

A non-looming project. Actually this is going to be a baby present, hopefully, we'll see about getting it done. It might have to go to a certain biology nerd. It is the crochet version of http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/knit-patterns-dna.html that I was talking about in an earlier post. She gave me permission to adapt it to crochet. Yippee. Look at it curving all on its own. Makes me proud.

I am very proud of these. While acquiring Knifty Knitters, each one comes with one of their hooks. Even my Decor accents loom came with a Knifty Knitter hook. I don't like them because the rubber handle (which is like 1/2 an inch thick, which causes my wrist to hurt) comes loose and starts twisting. That doesn't really work when trying to lift some often tight yarn. So I took some Polymer clay I had sitting around the house from a previous craft project and dreamed these babies up. I wonder if Loom Knitter's Circle would accept these as a pattern. I love them because each pack of clay is like 2 dollars and the extra hooks are 97 cents. And I can shape them to my hand. Hmmm...runs off to write up the pattern to send in.