feeling a little crafty... and froggy

Last week, a friend asked if I'd be interested in testing her new pattern and of course, I said yes! I was especially interested once I saw what I'd agreed to knit. lol

Isn't it cute? I jut love the little cabled owl that has been popping up everywhere the past couple years.

With my limited stash in the rv, I didn't have the super bulky yarn she used for hers, but I did dig around and came across some Jo Ann Sensations Caribbean in a sparkly variegated green and held that double. I wasn't quite thick enough, but made a nice little sleeve for my iPad. After the photo shoot, I decided a handle would be useful so I single crocheted around the top and added slit handles to turn mine into a bag.

Details and a link to the pattern page can be found here.

I also finally pulled the crochet purse/bag out and finished it!

It became a nice little basket for the bathroom cabinet to keep items organized. I love how the variegated yarn flashed on this! I think I'm going to use more of this yarn to knit or crochet a net bag to tote my shower items to/from the shower building at the rv parks.

I also have been working a bit on my alpaca blanket and was working on block #4:

I kept feeling like I was wasting my time though. An alpaca blanket in a household with critters? Not very practical. Add that to the fact that the yarn is so thin it's knit up on US6 so the progress is going at a snail's pace? Yeah, not so excited. I love the yarn though so a couple days ago... I frogged it! 

At this moment I have exactly ZERO items in progress. lol Deciding what's next. I have yarn for 2 sweaters and some miscellaneous yarn as well. Decisions, decisions...

a little slower now

Well, the craftiness has slowed a bit the past week. Other things have taken priority lately - things like showing my trailer, packing up and shopping for an rv. I bought an rv this past weekend! It's a 28' class c and I really, really like it. I can't wait to get in there (and out of here) and start personalizing it a bit and getting the critters adjusted to the space. I have a feeling the cats will LOVE the loft above the cab. Thankfully, it's new enough that the decor is not hideous so I get to work around neutrals. =) Pics will come soon. I pick it up on Friday!

Craftiness has not completely come to a screeching halt. I've been working a bit here and there on my crochet bag and made some progress:

I love how the yarn is flashing. =) I just started the 3rd ball last night. I'd originally thought this yarn would make a good summer purse, but things have changed in the year since I started this. lol I'm considering tossing out that idea and instead turning it into a basket/bag for the rv - bathroom maybe? I'll make it a bit taller and work in some slit handles so it can be folded over for sturdier sides or left tall and carried by the handles.

MORE socks?!

Seriously? The last ones sat on the needles hibernating for over a year. These? Four days start to finish. =)

 

Okay, sure, they're knit on much larger needles (US sz6 rather than sz2), but still. Working them two-at-a-time was definitely the right idea and I have every intention of doing socks in this manner in the future. 

Love finishing one sock only to have a finished pair! The self-striping was fun too.

I love the afterthought heel with self-striping. My heel needs a bit of fine tuning, but these are meant as slipper socks so it's all good. =)
(Ravelry project link)

So... what's next? The crochet bag I haven't really touched since March! I've been working on it a bit since finished those socks and am nearly done with the 2nd skein now.
(Ravelry project link)

That leaves only one other project on the needles and that's going to have to wait until it cools down... a LOT. Alpaca and 95+ temps? Not gonna happen!

who me?

So... I started this bag ages (a month and a half!) ago and made some progress. I'd planned to finish it before the fiberfest, but didn't make it in time and lost my motivation so it sat, and sat, and sat... waiting for me to finish the last bits. I haven't been playing with yarn at all lately and was trying to figure out how to get back on the horse (or owl), debating starting a small, quick project to get the yarny juices flowing again when I decided yesterday to just pull something out I already had going and finish it.

I know! I was shocked too!

He seemed a little angry that I'd taken my own sweet time in finishing him.

But owls are apparently a forgiving lot and it wasn't long before he was happily mugging for the camera.

What a ham.

(Ravelry project link for details)

I do think I need to look into some ergonomic crochet hooks. Maybe it's the way I hold my hook - I do tend to have a death grip - or maybe it's the cotton that did it, but I get this not-so-pleasant pain at the base of my right thumb after a little while. Any suggestions?

Now, if I can just finish those socks...

(I'm not delusional enough to think the blanket will be done anytime soon.)

not much to see

At least, not much in the yarny department.

I've worked on my crochet bag and finally started the 2nd color. With the amount of stash I have... how is it I didn't have the cotton I needed to finish off this bag?! The main yarn is super busy, so I didn't think any of my brown cotton (all variegated) would work. Being in a small town and an hr from any real craft stores, I headed off to Walmart in hopes that I could find a solid brown.



One choice... but it works. This is also probably the first time in years I've paid FULL PRICE for yarn! Thank goodness it was cheap cotton. I like the stitch I'm using, but boy does it eat yarn. Thankfully, I started with a mondo skein of cotton so I don't have tons of ends. Getting excited to finish this though. It's been going far too long - cotton's a little tough on the hands.

The garden is getting it's share of visitors these days:



The peas are way bigger than that now. They got beaten down by the storms that passed through last night, but are bouncing back nicely. =) The flowers look a little worse for wear, but I did make a few photos before the storms had a chance to do their harm.

maybe I should play the lottery

Wow! I guess I can't say I never win anything anymore. First a book, now a wonderful crochet pattern!

I won a copy of the Dudley Do Wright shawl pattern from a blog I recently started reading, Peacefully Knitting. I've been working on my crochet skills since last year and am trying new things with it this year and just happened to be thinking a shawl would be a great next step before committing to an entire sweater. lol I have the perfect yarn in my stash for this shawl... might be up next after I finish the bag I just started this weekend. =)

The bag? I started hooking a new bag on Saturday and want to have it finished before the Hoosier Hills Fiber Fest next month so I can use it for shopping. =) I had a basic idea for a bag, went in search of patterns but not finding just what I had in mind, I decided to wing it. I got inspiration from a couple designs, sketched out what I had in mind and searched out an appropriate stitch pattern. The full bag will be a surprise once it's finished, but here's the start:

(Ravelry project link)

Any guesses where I'm going with this? lol

Hope all the moms out there are having a wonderful Mother's Day and are being adequately spoiled! =)

What's this?!

Not one...

not two...

but THREE finished objects today???

Yep! I now only have TWO UFOs! And one of those only needs a strap added (all crocheting finished) once I manage to actually find one. The other is a crochet blanket started earlier this year that I really need to start working on again. Been awhile since I didn't have any UFOs from previous years lurking around. heh

**The pics all link to the project pages on Ravelry if you're interested in details. =)

Sweet, tart and a little twisted

I finished the bag I'd started in my last post. No finished pics yet though. The bag itself has been done a couple weeks, but I still need to find a strap for it. Just haven't made it to a store that has that sort of thing quite yet.

I also started a scarf.

I'm about halfway done and planning to make a hat and gloves with the same yarn. It'll go well with my chocolate brown wool coat. =)

I also baked just a bit.

A little sweet, a little tart... lemon bars! Haven't had these since I was a kid so when I saw these in The Joy of Vegan Baking, I just had to try 'em out. Seriously, good eats! =)

Chik'n... from scratch! (and a little crochet)

To add to my "comfort food" weekend... I tried the chik'n seitan recipe from Vegan Comfort Food.

How have I not made this before now?! It's so incredibly easy! Just vital wheat gluten, soy flour and some water, then cooked in a broth. I actually breaded and baked these for oven-fried chik'n (recipe from the same cookbook). I'll tweak the seasonings in the breading a bit next time, but it was good as written. Definitely another winner!

I also started something new on the yarny front...

details to follow when it takes more shape. =)

Variegation Frustration

Variegated yarns almost always frustrate me... they pool or flash... or they don't... usually the opposite of the effect you were hoping for. So now, I'm causing myself even more headaches by creating even more variegated yarns for my stash. Am I a masochist? heh

I wanted to work up my new hand-dyed yarn into something I'd use often. I thought, hmm, a small bag that would fit my cell phone and a bit of cash and possibly my keys would be perfect. Previously, I crocheted a cover for my droid and it's worked well, but it really needed some sort of strap to make it easier to cart around. Too many times I've been frustrated trying to hold it while shopping or at the check stand or even out of a walk when not wearing a jacket with pockets big enough for my phone.

I don't have photos of the ones that didn't make it, but I first tried a crochet design found on ravelry. I got about halfway and realized I didn't have enough yarn... but didn't like the way the colors were all over the place anyway. I pulled out a set of dpns and set about knitting up a small bag, similar to what I ended up with, but slightly wider resulting in great flashing. Sadly, I didn't have enough yarn for that either. So I frogged that one as well. Next, I tried a more vertical design - a rectangular-bottomed bag with a drawstring. HATED it. The colors were all over the place and I just didn't like the bag at all. Frogged once again. heh This was my final attempt.

I like the more subtle, diagonal stripe here and love how the colors worked up in the seed stitch. I just need to figure out the closure. I tried buttonholes but didn't like the look. I was thinking of adding simple loops for buttons, but I'm kind of like how the needle looks (but with something else). Any ideas?

BTW - there's more yarn hanging in my shower right now. =)

WIP Wednesday

Ah, the messenger bag.

Yes, this is the one I started ages ago!

I've spent the past few days here in Buffalo working on the body portion of the bag - perfect while watching movies in my hotel. It finally came off the needles last night! Woo! Not enough left to make the strap from the same yarn - that leftover bit will be knit up into an interior divider instead (ugh, more stockinette). Wishing now I'd thought to bring the contrasting color of this yarn so I could knit up the strap as well. I did bring a bit of cotton though, so I'm not yarnless. lol The plan is to overdye this tan in a chocolate brown and use this

for the strap. What do you think? (Any suggestions on dyeing also gladly accepted.)

Current WIPs

Let's start with the most recent, shall we?

 This blanket (Ravelry links, y'all) was started back in mid-Feb... this year. I was working in Dayton. When I left, this went into its bag and has not re-emerged since. I really need to pull that out. I knit/crochet a lot more on the road than I do at home and I've been mostly at home since Dayton.

You want to go back a bit farther, you say? How about this?

My Top Down Button Front Capelet, started back in September in Buffalo. Yeah, hasn't made it very far though... I'm getting the urge to pick this back up as well.

More? How about the felted messenger bag that got as far as a swatch and about a foot and a half in length?

Hey, it's only been on the needles since July! heh I'm taking this to Ohio with me in a couple days. Nice, brainless knitting. Probably taking that capelet too just to have a choice.

Can you take a little more? There's the afghan I started last April and had big plans for...

 I'd planned to finish a square each trip out on the road. I guess those plans didn't quite pan out. heh I do think this has some emotional baggage attached though. Someone else in the house decided to follow suit and give this afghan a go and well, I kinda lost my will. I was debating whether to finish this block and move on or just frog what I have done and maybe come back to this later on. I'm thinking frog. So, one less project on the needles...

Speaking of frogging. Remember this?

I'm frogging this today too. Finally.

Let's dig farther, shall we? Last, and smallest... a book scarf started for my mother during her crazy Harry Potter phase.

Yeah, that was started in September... 2007. hahahaha Most boring thing I've ever knit... and on such teensy needles to boot. I think I'll take this too, try to knit on it and if that doesn't happen, I'll frog it.

It's apparently Spring cleaning time for WIPs too! Off to frog...

Had to come back and add this pic. Frogging complete! =)

Yay! Feels good to finally have those off the needles and the possibilities wide open once again. My mother about passed out when she saw me frogging the sweater. How could I possibly rip out something so close to being finished?! heh I didn't love it, that's how. I LOVE the yarn and want it to be something I will love and wear for years to come. That sweater wasn't it. Man, that was fun to frog too! Not sure now why it took me so long to get around to doing it...

Oh, as a follow-up to yesterday. My mother did finally tear herself away from the tv and go to the store... at 1:30 in the morning. I guess there's not much on that time of night. That, and I'm guessing, she didn't worry about "putting on her face" for a trip to Wal-mart in the middle of the night.

Back to the Needles

Hey, wasn't this mostly a knitting blog?! heh Haven't been doing so much of that lately. I think being stuck in the desert in ridiculous heat finally sucked the will to knit out of me... I'm starting to find the urge again now though. I bought this yarn with the intention of making a felted messenger bag. It was from a non-profit shop in Seattle and cost next to nothing (well under $2 for three cakes of super bulky wool). It's been stored in a suitcase under my bed the past few months, waiting for inspiration to strike and prompt me to do some math to figure out stitch counts for the simple pattern I had in mind. That day (technically, night) finally came around 1 this morning (still on AZ time even though I'm in IN for the weekend).

Step One: Knit a swatch - unavoidable here!

Step Two: Beat the crap out of it... er, FELT it... to judge shrinkage

Step Three: Knit... A LOT =)

Beautiful Arizona!

Busy, busy, busy. Got all my photos downloaded to my computer and uploaded way too many to my flickr account! Here's a taste. If you want more, follow the link. =)

So many of the cacti are in bloom. Such a contrast between the beauty of the flowers and the harsh spininess of the cacti!

Even the decay is beautiful!

These were all shot at Colossal Cave Mountain Park near Tucson. The park is beautiful, but the cave tour is a bust. Too expensive for what you get (half hour tour) and all the damage in the cave. The "curtains" were pretty cool, but not worth the $8.50 for the tour.

Things are in bloom back home too. I started another market bag on the flight home. Halfway finished!