Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Out of Hibernation

On Monday night, I finally tried out the Christmas present from my wonderful husband.

Two Tone Tote Lining 1

Believe it or not, I got the darn thing threaded on the first try. I was quite impressed with myself given it's been over 3 years since I last sewed on a machine - and it had been 10+ years since the time before that. I LOVE my sewing machine. It's simple, lightweight and has enough fun attachments to make it seem fun but not overwhelming.

So what was I sewing???

Right there on the ironing board...

Two Tone Tote Lining 2

That blue cube of fabric is the inside lining for the eight pocket two-tone carryall tote. Yep - the tote bag has emerged from hibernation.

I got the lining instructions thanks to the tutorial by Cocoa Cream. Now - my lining is nothing fancy and my sewing skills are less than expert. My lining looks NOTHING like Cocoa Cream's as she took the time to measure and cut straight. I, on the other hand, was not so neat. Some would call it sloppy or unfinished or mediocre. Let's just call my lining "organic", shall we? And no close ups of it either.

All the lining pieces are finished so now comes the time consuming task of hand sewing them all into place. Plus I need to assemble all the bag pieces together. So while the project is out of hibernation, there is still much to be completed. But stay tuned - the end is in sight!

Monday, February 18, 2008

The MS&W Countdown




As of today (2/18/08) there is 2 months, 2 weeks and 1 day until MS&W 2008.

You may be wondering why I choose a turtle on the ticker. First of all, there was no sheep or alpaca to choose. Secondly, time seems to be ever so slowly passing by until the festival. And the festival not only means acres of fabulous fiber, it also means a wonderful weekend with my girls. :)

Completed Project: Chemo Cap

It must be a 2-for-1 Monday special here at the blog...another F.O. to share.

Thanks to "C" for recommending the site, HeadHuggers.org. I'm not sure if I'll mail the cap now or wait until I have 1 or 2 more done before I send it.

This was my first ever hat and I found the pattern to be very easy, though I am no fan of reverse crochet. It slows me down too much. Overall, I'd make this pattern again, though probably with a bigger hook so I could wear it.

Here are details - also available on Ravelry.

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Chemo Cap 02

Chemo Cap 01

Pattern: Homespun Crochet Hat Pattern

Hook: K (6.5 mm)

Yarn: less than 1 skein of Lion Brand Homespun in Sierra (? - this is questionable as I used yarn from my stash and I know I bought this yarn eons ago. Could be a color that has been discontinued.)

Size: It's too small for my Irish melon. (Hence, no photo of me wearing it. It's too funny.) I'm just hoping it fits whomever receives it.

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PS: Make that 3-for-1. Though I won't post details because it was an easy project. My hairdresser loved the Oscar Scarf (related post or details on Ravelry). :)

Completed Project: Purple Dream Blanket

The latest Christmas gift I've ever completed. It went in the mail today and should be with its receipient before weeks end. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. The border gave it a finished look and a run through the washer and dryer made it extra soft.

Here are the details - also available on Ravelry.

The completion of this project means another item crossed out on my list of 2008 crafty resolutions. Yay!

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Purple Dream Blanket 08

Purple Dream Blanket 05

Close-up of the border:
Purple Dream Blanket 06

Pattern: Improvised - double crochet for most of it with a ribbed border

Hook: J (6.0 mm)

Yarn: approx. 12 1/2 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun in Grape

Size: approx. 67 1/2" x 61 1/2"

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Monday, February 11, 2008

I'm here...

I may be MIA from the blog, but I am out here. Work and life has been busy so it has taken my time away from posting.

Good news is that the purple dream blanket is only a skein and a wash from being completed and I'm finishing up my first ever chemo cap for charity. Sadly, the sewing machine still hasn't been used so the tote bag remains in pieces. Maybe this weekend...maybe.

This week will be equally as crazy as I have to travel for work but I will try my best to at least post by the weekend (and with photos!).

Happy Monday, y'all!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Got Alpacas?

Thanks to Sean for sending this fantastic article from The Onion. If only it were true...

Congress To Raise Alpacas To Aid Struggling Economy

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Yarn Freeze

So I went from lack of motivation with too many projects on the hook to lots of ideas...and still too many unfinished projects on the hook. How did I remedy the situation?

I bought yarn.

But to be fair - I was only going to go to Joann's to pick up more Homespun to finish the purple dream blanket. But there was no sale to be had and I figured I could get a better deal online. I would also be able to buy this new yarn by Lion Brand for a baby blanket I need to make. While the Lion Brand site had decent prices (y'all know how to trick the system into giving you 15% off, right?), I found better prices elsewhere...which included really good prices on other brands of yarn and a flat rate on shipping. Before I knew it, I was hitting the "Place Order" button while my credit card winced in pain.

Upon reflection of what I had just done, I made a very difficult decision:

I am on a yarn freeze until MS&W in May.

The final pre-freeze splurge arrived on Wednesday from Knitting Warehouse. I laughed when I was tracking the package online - 10.6 pounds of yarn! Egads! It's a record for me.

Knitting Warehouse Yarn Order Jan 08

So let's start with what prompted this spree in the first place: the Homespun yarn in Grape to finish the Purple Dream blanket.

Purple Dream Blanket 04Purple Dream Blanket 03Purple Dream Blanket 02

When I took the photos earlier this week, the lighting in the room was awful and no matter how I tried to fix the flash, I couldn't get very good shots. These photos are fixed up a bit except the last one - that one is au naturale. The blanket has almost 8 skeins in it and 4 more skeins to go. And yes, that's the new papazan. It's so comfy!

Next in the order was 2 skeins in each color: Almond, Lemon Drop, Pistachio, & Blueberry.
Cupcake

This is Lion Brand's new Cupcake yarn that I'm going to use to make a baby blanket for my most-recently prego pal. They are keeping the gender of the baby a surprise so I need to make a gender-neutral blanket. This is the one I'm making (free pattern from Lion Brand if you sign in):

Cupcake Yarn Baby Afghan

As the Cupcake yarn is new and I was buying it without seeing or feeling it in person, I decided I needed to order a back up. Hence, I bought some Cotton-Ease in similar colors, though I picked a reddish-orange color instead of the pale yellow.

Two skeins each of Maize, Lake, Lime and Terracotta.
Cotton-Ease 02

The bright colored acrylic yarn is for little Brodie's crocheted alphabet project. Yep - I'm gonna make 26 little stuffed pillows in the hopes that it helps her learn her alphabet.

Two skeins each of Caron Simply Soft Brites in Watermelon, Mango, Lemonade, Limelight, Berry Blue and Rose Violet
Caron Simply Soft Brites

I'm using the patterns by Woven~n~Spun. No worries - the letters won't be as big as the "J" pillow I made.

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Hmmmmm.....Where am I going to put all the new fiberliciousness? The yarn cabinet was full before the big purchase.

Craft Cabinet

At least I know I'll be able to find room for these... Prior to the ordering, I used some of my Christmas gift cards at Joann's to buy circular needles. I'm hoping that having them will get me motivated to learn how to use them. We'll see.

Circular Needles
Susan Bates sizes 2, 3, 4 & 5.

I also found these adorable wooden statues with which to decorate the craft room.

Faeries 02

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All the new yarn must sit and wait for me to use it, for in addition to the yarn freeze, I'm also on a project freeze until the Purple Dream blanket is completed. It was to be a Christmas gift and then it was supposed to be done by MLK weekend. For the love of cheese, it must be done before Valentine's Day!

And did I mention the other projects hanging out?

I started both of these projects because they are easily transportable during my commute and I was trying to use up yarn in my stash.

An Oscar scarf made out of Olive Fun Fur I got for Christmas:

Oscar Scarf

The beginnings of yet another baby and/or kid blanket made with flower motifs:

Flowers 01

And don't forget, the yet unfinished Eight Pocket Two-Tone Carryall Tote and the Spiral Pentagram Motif Shawl.


So the yarn freeze will (AND MUST!) continue until MS&W in May.

I WILL BUY NOTHING until then.

Seriously.

Have a little faith in me, would you? :)

Friday, January 25, 2008

I am around here somewhere...

...and I've got a massive post in the works. I spent Wednesday night taking oodles of photos and cropping and uploading them all. The outline of the post is in my head but it hasn't all made it to the draft post.

The other thing that's kept me away from the blogosphere is that I am not allowed to start any new projects until I finish the purple dream blanket. I've still got 4 skeins to add to it and I spent last night's tv time with hook in hand, double-crocheting like the wind. Still...so...much...to...finish.

And with the huge yarn order that just arrived, it's difficult to focus on the blanket. But I will finish it!

And I will blog again!

In the meantime, have a fabulous Friday. :)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

::yawn::

I've got curtains to hang and laundry to fold and bills to pay and oh so many craft projects to finish, not to mention the ones I want to begin....

but I just... can't... get... motivated.

I'll be back once the creative bug bites me in the a$$.

Completed Project: Cotton Crochet Coasters

I finished and mailed out the coasters and coffee cozies I crocheted for the girls using the yarn we bought while they were here for Girls' Weekend in October. Unfortunately, in my haste to get the packages in the mail, I neglected to take a photo of the coffee cozies. So all you have below are the details and photo for the coasters. When I finally make my own coffee cozy, I'll post about it.

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Coasters 04

Pattern: Motif III.23 from “The Harmony Guides Volume 7: 220 More Crochet Stitches”

Hook size: F (3.75 mm)

Yarn: a small amount of a 710 yard skein of
Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Ombres & Prints in Earth Ombre

Size: about 4 3/4" to 5" point to point

Modifications: I stopped the motif a few rounds before the end so it was coaster size.

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