oh baby

I finished up the first baby gift for my manager last night!

(Ravelry project page)

If/when I make another of these, I'll make a couple changes, but I think they turned out quite nicely. I just hope the bag is big enough. The baby is expected to be on the bigger size... I plan to write up my pattern notes soon. =)

And I started a pair of booties for him too:

 

 (Ravelry project page)

Baby stuff is so fun! =)

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!

FOs, 50% off and dyeing

 I finally used some more of my hand-dyed yarn!

I used about half of the gradient purple/teal yarn on a knitted cat toy and I wanted to use up the last half skein of Noro from my stash so I crocheted up a couple more toys with it. I ran out on the second so I finished it off with some of my hand-dyed yarn (the one with the bright green). Felting was a pain. My washer is a top-loader, but it's less than a year old so apparently much more gentle than my old machine. lol I ran these through 3 times in hot water, then popped them each in mason jars with a bit of dish soap and shook away, alternating with cold rinses. I finally got tired of shaking and decided they were felted enough. The cats won't mind. =^..^=

Michaels had a 50% off coupon this weekend. I went shopping...

I sold my kitchen table and chairs earlier in the day and had cash in hand. First, I hit Michaels and picked up a set of Clover interchangeable circular needles. I've been thinking about sorting through and purging some of my knitting needles. Now, I have to! lol Well, I don't have to, but I'm going to now that I have an interchangeable set. =) I have too many straight needles leftover from my early knitting days, back when I actually used straights. I can't even remember the last time I used a straight needle for anything. I don't even really use the dpns anymore, opting instead for circs in nearly every situation. I prefer wooden needles, so most of my metal ones should go to someone who will use them. That's a good project for these hot days! I'd printed two coupons for Michaels so I took the 2nd to Jo Ann's and finally picked up the loom kit I've been wanting for a long time. I have linen yarn in my stash purchased with the intent of knitting dish towels for my kitchen. Now, I'm thinking of weaving some up instead. =)

I did tackle that ball of strawberry yarn in the pic. I found it in the clearance bin and hadn't yet tried dyeing superwash yet. I hanked this and gave it a soak, then put it in a shallow dish with a little water and mixed up a strong blue Kool-Aid (2 packets mixed berry and about 1/2 c water) and squirted across the skein. After nuking to set, I mixed up a weaker solution (1 packet mixed berry) and squirted some of that around after shifting the skeins around a bit.

Not sure exactly what I'll use this for, but nice that it's washable! =)

a little yarny goodness

Ahhh, I finally got a bit of an urge to play with yarn again and pulled out my bag of WIPs last weekend.

Since I moved at the end of July, I've worked on a crochet bag (Ravelry link) a bit. This is what it looks like right now:

Yeah, I'm not impressed either.

There are also a pair of cotton socks in the WIP bag... that look exactly the same as they did when I posted about them last April. heh

The last thing on the needles is a blanket. I started the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket (Ravelry link) last April. Yeah, almost a full year ago and I was still maybe 2/3 of the way through the first block. lol That's what I've actually been working on a little this week. Now? It's about 16" x 20" and looks like this:

It's not massive yet, but it is garter stitch and done on a US6 so really, there's more knitting there than it seems. =) I'm liking the color combo though.

Weather's been crazy here, vacillating between snow, 70s, hail and torrential downpours (that we're having right now), but we have had some sunshine and critters are happy about that:

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! =)

for your listening pleasure

Still on a bit of a crochet kick. Maybe that's my issue - I just need to switch back and forth  between knit and crochet to keep myself going. Dish/wash cloths a couple days ago, now a hat. I worked up this little hat last night with some mystery yarn purchased from a (now-closed) charity yarn shop in Seattle much too long ago.

(Ravelry link)

Best guess is it's a mercerized cotton. I used the newborn sizing and it turned out more like a preemie size. I need to work on my tension apparently. I've been crocheting mostly amigurumi and those need to be done tightly to keep stuffing from showing through so I'm working on loosening up my tension for other projects. Baby stuff is great to practice on. Small, quick and cute. =) I think this one might need a flower...

As a side note, I'm using the GoodReader app to access my Ravelry library of pattern downloads on my ipad. AWESOME! I searched for a pattern, saved it to my pattern library and was then able to download it to GoodReader to crochet from - no printing, no turning on my computer. Happy, happy!

Now that I have a way to easily listen without having my computer on, I've finally jumped into listening to podcasts too! I've been trying out a smattering of crafty podcasts, looking for some really good ones. I've found a few that are okay, a couple I'll skip listening to again, and a few I really like. So far, these are my faves:

Just One More Row

The Knit Wits

The Knit Girllls (video podcast)

I've even gone back and listened to the back episodes of JOMR and am now catching up on TKW. Nice little distraction while working... esp when work can't keep up with me and I have to drag things out to even get close to getting my hrs in. lol The video podcasts are a little too distracting sometimes to watch while working though.

Any other great ones I need to check out?

V is for Vendetta

My dogs seem to have declared war on a very dangerous foe:

The tulip.

Yeah, they don't look very threatening to me either. Maybe the dogs know something we don't?

I do have a couple flowers the boys don't seem to have it out for...

yet.

(Ravelry project page)

Let them eat (cup)cake!

Anyone want a cupcake?

It's my mother's birthday today so I whipped up a cupcake for her. Cute, isn't it? No fat, lots of fiber, much less messy than a traditional cupcake. Can't go wrong with that!

(Ravelry link)

I've been looking through some of my many, many queued projects (seriously, way too many on there!) and chose one to knit one up over the past couple days.
 

Super simple and pretty brainless knitting - I barely had to glance at the pattern. I'll have to get a better shot on a day that's not windy and rainy... even if the name of the pattern is Hurricane. lol

(Ravelry link)

I also started a sock for my iPad.

I've had this pretty, elasticized cotton in my stash from the charity knit shop in Seattle, but only one ball. Not enough for a pair of socks... but should be enough for this... I hope!

(Ravelry link)

I'm planning to cast on for my own Saroyan scarf/wrap. Just deciding which yarn to use. Looking through the projects, it looks good in just about anything as long as the yarn isn't too textured. Even variegated yarns look great as long as they're not too loud. Time to dig through the bins and see what calls to me, I suppose...

Spring has Sprung!

Finally!

And with inspiration from the beautiful colors of Spring popping up all over, I'm also finding inspiration in the form of new patterns. I've been hearing commercials for Tuesday Morning for years, but had never ventured into one... until a couple weeks ago. A little disappointed upon entering and discovering what appeared to be closer to a thrift store than other discount shops I've been in, I decided I'd power through and see what was hiding in the depths of those aisles (having heard of great, yarny deals). Though I did find some nicely priced, name-brand yarn (mostly organic cottons), nothing called to me strongly enough to make it into my basket (lord knows, I don't need any more cotton, even pretty organic skeins). I did discover a pile - yes, a PILE - of craft books. I think at one time, the pile might have had some sort of order, but when I happened across it, it almost appeared someone had up-ended a couple boxes of books onto a shelf and hoped for the best. Spotting a few yarny titles, I dug...

They ranged from 60-75% off the cover price. Not bad! I picked up The Happy Hooker while in Portland (with a 50% off coupon, of course), but the others were all finds at Tuesday Morning. =) There are some really nice summery patterns in Louisa Harding's Summer Classics. Sweater Renewal has some great ideas for those thrift store finds that haven't had the most gentle care. This skirt is made with the body of a felted fairisle sweater with an added crochet waistband and hem. Funky, but I'm kinda loving it!

Hollywood Knit Style has a few cute patterns, though I'd never have purchased it anywhere near full price. The crochet references (150 Crochet Trims, Textured Crochet) will undoubtedly come in handy as I continue to build my crochet skills. Maybe pulling these out will be the motivation I need to get going on projects again... or maybe I'll go take in some more of those Spring colors!

Where have YOU been?

Hmm?

Oh, wait. I'm the one who's been MIA. =)

Not a whole lot of yarny progress has been made recently and no exciting news otherwise to share. I did pick up snaps and ribbon for my sweater, but haven't yet pulled it out and finished those little details so I can take proper project pics. The temps haven't been in a range to really motivate me to finish a wool sweater.

I did crochet up a couple tiny baskets out of the same odd yarn I used on one of the kitty's snakes. I just free-handed them and amazingly ended up with just a few inches left over. One more odd ball gone. =)

Handy for organizing a shallow drawer. =)

(Ravelry link for yarn details)

I flew out to Portland a few weeks ago and started a pair of socks on the way.

I have one sock... and a toe. *sigh* They've been stalled since I returned. Pulled them out for a pic today and managed to get a muddy spot on the light pink heel even though I chose a spot in full sun, checked for wet spots and only put the one on once I got out there. Sheesh, they're not even done yet! I got most of the stain out and will put them through the wash when #2 can join the bath. I received this ball in a grab bag. I was happily surprised with the contents of the bag - 19 balls of yarn for $25 (DBNY)... and I only gave two skeins away that I knew I'd never use (ugh, fun fur with multi-colored metallic bits?). What a deal! I decided I didn't care if the socks were mirror images of each other so I just started #2 where #1 left off to avoid yarn waste. I'm using one long circ in place of my usual dpns. MUCH easier on a plane! No worries about dropping needles or stitches falling off as the sock goes in and out of a bag. Love the socks! It's such an easy pattern to memorize, it only took one repeat and I could put the pattern away.

(Ravelry link for pattern/yarn details)

I did whip up a small project last Friday. Had a book stand that needed a bit of padding...

Pulled out a cheap ball of acrylic and worked up a simple cozy.

Now my new toy has a soft place to sit while I watch movies on Netflix or one of the great photography workshops online (as I did this past weekend). =)

(Ravelry link for details)

We're still down at work so I've had way to much time to kill, but haven't been playing with yarn. The apt search in Vancouver (WA, not BC) didn't go so well so I'm still stuck in IN a bit longer. Rethinking some plans to make this all work. I did find out today that I'll definitely be working again in a couple weeks though! WOO! It's nice having some time off, but I sure do miss the paychecks!

So... what have YOU been up to?