Beaded necklace

I sometimes dabble in crochet but it is not my favorite thing to do. I think I hold the hook too tightly and my fingers always hurt after I crochet. I also favor the finer stitches that knitting produces. However there are just times when you can’t pass up a crocheted project!



I made this necklace for my mom for mother’s day this past May. It was perfect and so quick. I have some more beads for others; I just need to find different wire. I couldn’t get the strands to hang flat, I’m not sure if that is because of my tight gauge, or the light beads. These will make wonderful gifts.

BRAIIIIIIIIIIINS!

These little guys were intened as Christmas gifts but were not completed before the accident so I gave them as a birthday gift for my brother's birthdya back in May. I know, I'm terrible about blogging. I love the Creepy Cute book and am planning on making several more zombies, knights and monsters.

100th post/2008 wrap up

I love how my 100th post also coincides with my 2008 wrap up.



I knitted/crocheted and or finished 5 pairs of socks, one of which is from my own handspun, 1 pair of mittens, 5 toys, 2 washcloths, 1 blanket, 1 scarf, 1 hat, 1 shawl from my own handspun, and 1 Christmas tree ornament.

I am very proud that I was a bit more selfless with my knitting this year. The duck was for a coworker before I left for my full-time job, the elephants and washcloths were for my cousin's babies, the crocheted toys were for Scott and my brother and the shawl was for my mom. I think I was most proud that I finished the Saffron Cables blanket and my mom's shawl. I never thought that I would finish something so large; it is the most used knitted item in our home. My mom's scarf was the most beautiful thing that I created from the almost very beginning to a completed item.

I also improved on my spinning throughout the year.


The most important thing I learned this year with my spinning is to make sure that I spin all that is needed to finish a project at the same time. I did not spin enough "Walking on the Sun" to finish my shawl, the second attempt at this yarn is a bit thicker than the first sitting but that is fine with me.

There were also some items that were not finished:


I finished 3 single socks (one of which is a knee-high from my own handspun) which are still waiting for their mates, 2 sweaters, 1 which only needs half a sleeve and the zipper, 1 shrug and 4 shawls, 3 which are not pictured (Lily of the Valley, Peacock Feathers and Ene's Scarf), also not pictured 7 socks various stages of completion.

My 2009 plans are to spin one skein of yarn a month to decrease my fiber stash. Now I know that by doing so I will only be increasing my yarn stash, but let's ignore that for the moment. I also want to start finishing my lingering WIPS, especially the sweaters. I would also love to knit a pair of socks a month, but I know that is a lofty goal. I did not finish a single sock from the 2008 Rockin Sock Club, I would love to be able to do so, along with knitting down my sock stash. This will probably not happen, but I would love to try to at least keep up with the current club that will be shipping out soon.

Well there it is, my 2009 goals out in cyberland for all to see and for all to keep me honest. This might be the first year that I set actual goals that I can keep track of so December will be interesting.

Catch Up part 2

I had grand plans for hand made gifts this year and I was well on the way to actually doing it before Christmas until the accident happened. This January my brother will be going to his first grown up job in the corporate world so I found the best gift ever, the crocheted Corporate Zombie from Creepy Cute Crochet. I picked up this book and instantly had to start making an army of cute. My first attempt was the monkey to decorate Scott's desk at work.


I love how his came out; I really think that the clay eyes really make this little guy. I started to make and assemble the corporate zombie, the cyber zombie(my brother is a huge World of Warcraft player) and the ninja. The day of the accident I finished the ninja:



This picture isn't the best because I had to take it inside at night but you get the idea. I will finish the others for him soon and continue to build an army of cute!

With my mom's and brother's help I was able to finish and stuff this little heart sachet with the pine needles from the first Christmas Tree that Scott and I put up during our first year of marriage.



This was knitted from left of Socks that Rock in Mustang Sally from the first year of the Rocking Sock Club.

Where is (s)he? Getting dizzy.

I never meant to be away from the blog this long, but there has been some crazy stuff going on here. As I try to catch up I offer you this:




A Woodin from Knitty.com stuffed with catnip for this effect:





I think she likes him because every so often I find him in another room, or in our bed. It was a really quick little project and I finished in a few hours and hand felted. However I feel the best way to felt this little guy is demonstrated by Nemo in those pictures. I used some Patons Merino yarn and left over Cascade 220 from Rogue.

Ravelry is making me realize that there are a few FO that I’ve never blogged about. This is one of the few crochet projects that I’ve done:


This is the Galaxy Afghan made from Caron Simply Soft. As you can see these little guys have claimed it for their own.





I’ve wanted to start another blanket for some time now and have had my eye on the Sampler Afghan from Cables Untangled. However I am starting to worry that the panels may not line up right and I will be unhappy with the look of the blanket. So my attention has turned towards Saffron Cables from the fall 2006 Interweave Knits. I’ve been sitting on my 10% off coupon from Blue Moon all year with the idea of using it for a blanket. However I am now having second thoughts about using STR heavy weight in Midsummers Night. I don’t think that I’ll be able to get gauge and the blanket will be too small. Blue Moon has a yarn called Peru that seems like it will provide the right gauge but I’m not sure how it will stand up. I also wanted a yarn that I can throw into the washing machine(on delicate) because I refuse to have blankets dry cleaned.

So here are some questions for everyone:
1.How do you clean your hand knitted blankets?
2.What pattern do you think I should knit?
3.What do you think the best yarn to use would be?

Thank you all in advance for your input.
~C

Look a FO!

Sorry I’ve been MIA, things have been chaotic around here. I haven’t had a weekend off in a long time, which means some weeks I’ve been working six days straight. Thankfully I will have the all important July 21st weekend off. I also have been sucked into Ravelry.com, my invite came a few weeks ago and I am in love. Now I will be documenting my projects more, especially since I have a place to store all of my notes. There has been a FO and some sewing:





Pattern: Geometric Accessory Bags from One Skein
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock lightweight in “Lapis” left over from my jaywalkers.
Hook: 3.75 mm (F)

This was such a quick project; I finished crocheting it in two days while watching some evening television. There wasn’t enough yarn so I had to do one less row than the pattern calls for and with my tighter gauge this little bag measures less than the 5” it should. I found some pretty fabric at Joann’s and a 7” zipper that matches the blue part of the yarn pretty well. This is my first hand sewing project and I just winged the whole thing but I am happy with the way it came out. It is just large enough to hold my stitch markers and sheep tape measure.


He looks happy in his new home.